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In computer graphics
Computer graphics

Computer graphics are graphics created by computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer....
, a heightmap or heightfield is a raster image
Raster graphics

In computer graphics, a raster graphics image or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally Rectangle grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a Computer display, paper, or other display medium....
 used to store values, such as surface elevation
Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the above mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a s...
 data, for display in 3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a Cartesian coordinate system#Three-dimensional coordinate system representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images....
.






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Heightmap
Heightmap Rendered
In computer graphics
Computer graphics

Computer graphics are graphics created by computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of pictorial data by a computer....
, a heightmap or heightfield is a raster image
Raster graphics

In computer graphics, a raster graphics image or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally Rectangle grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a Computer display, paper, or other display medium....
 used to store values, such as surface elevation
Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the above mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a s...
 data, for display in 3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a Cartesian coordinate system#Three-dimensional coordinate system representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images....
. A heightmap can be used in bump mapping
Bump mapping

Bump mapping is a computer graphics technique where at each pixel, a perturbation to the surface normal of the object being rendering is looked up in a heightmap and applied before the illumination calculation is done ....
 to calculate where this 3D data would create shadow in a material, in displacement mapping
Displacement mapping

Displacement mapping is an alternative computer graphics technique in contrast to bump mapping, normal mapping, and parallax mapping, using a texture mapping or heightmap to cause an effect where the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface are displaced, often along the Locally surface normal, according to the valu...
 to displace the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface, or for terrain where the heightmap is converted into a 3D mesh.

A heightmap contains one channel
Channel (digital image)

Color digital images are made of pixels, and pixels are made of combinations of primary colors. A channel in this context is the grayscale image of the same size as a color image, made of just one of these primary colors....
 interpreted as a distance of displacement
Displacement (vector)

In physics, displacement is the vector that specifies the change in position of a point or a particle in reference to a previous position. When the previous point is the origin, this is better referred to as a position vector....
 or “height” from the “floor” of a surface and sometimes visualized
Visualization

The term visualization may refer to:* Creative Visualization* Educational visualization* Flow visualization* Geovisualization* Illustration...
 as luma
Luma (video)

As applied to video signals, luma represents the brightness in an image . Luma is typically paired with Chrominance. Luma represents the achromatic image without any color, while the chroma components represent the color information....
 of a grayscale
Grayscale

In photography and computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample , that is, it carries only intensity information....
 image, with black representing minimum height and white representing maximum height. When the map is rendered, the designer can specify the amount of displacement for each unit of the height channel, which corresponds to the “contrast” of the image. Heightmaps can be stored by themselves in existing grayscale image formats, with or without specialized metadata
Metadata

Metadata is "data about other data", of any sort in any media. An item of metadata may describe an individual datum, or content item, or a collection of data including multiple content items and hierarchical levels, for example a database schema....
, or in specialized file format
File format

A file format is a particular way to encode information for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa....
s such as Daylon Leveller
Daylon Leveller

Daylon Leveller is a terrain/heightfield modeling program made by Daylon Graphics Ltd. of British Columbia, Canada. It was written by Ray Gardener in 1998 and is now at version 3.0....
, GenesisIV
GenesisIV

GenesisIV is a rendering program made by Geomantics Ltd. of Balquhidder, Scotland.GenesisIV is similar to Terragen in that it uses an atmosphere lighting model, but differs in that this trades off some sophistication so that it can be implemented in hardware using OpenGL shaders....
 and Terragen
Terragen

Terragen is a freeware scenery generator program for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh developed and published by Planetside Software. It can be used to create renderings and animations of landscapes....
 documents.

Heightmaps are commonly used in geographic information system
Geographic Information System

A geographic information system captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that refers to or is linked to location.In the strictest sense, the term describes any Information systems that integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays georeference information....
s, where they are called digital elevation model
Digital elevation model

A digital elevation model is a digital representation of ground surface topography or terrain. It is also widely known as a digital terrain model ....
s.

Programs that use heightmaps

Heightmaps are widely used in terrain rendering software and modern video games. Heightmaps are an ideal way to store digital terrain elevations; compared to a regular polygonal mesh, they require substantially less memory for a given level of detail.

In the earliest games using software rendering, the elements often represented heights of columns of voxel
Voxel

A voxel is a volume element, representing a value on a regular grid in 3D computer graphics space. This is analogous to a pixel, which represents 2D computer graphics image data....
s rendered with ray casting
Ray casting

Ray casting is the use of ray-surface intersection tests to solve a variety of problems in computer graphics. The term was first used in computer graphics in a 1982 paper by Scott Roth to describe a method for rendering Constructive solid geometry models....
. In most newer games, the elements represent the height coordinate of polygons in a mesh
Polygon mesh

File:Dolphin triangle mesh.pngA polygon mesh or unstructured grid is a collection of vertices, edges and faces that defines the shape of a polyhedron object in 3D computer graphics and solid modeling....
.

Rendering software

  • Terragen
    Terragen

    Terragen is a freeware scenery generator program for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh developed and published by Planetside Software. It can be used to create renderings and animations of landscapes....
     – terrain renderer


Generating software


Many 3D computer and video games
Computer and video games

A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a display device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster graphics display device....
 use heightmaps to store and generate terrain data. Benefits of such a system include ease of implementation as well as modding
Mod (computer gaming)

Mod or modification is a term generally applied to Personal computer game, especially first-person shooters, Role-playing games and real-time strategy games....
. Players can easily generate their own heightmaps for use within the game using widely available software. Heightmaps are usually complemented by texture maps
Texture mapping

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture, or colour to a computer-generated imagery or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D....
 that are then applied to the terrain in-game for extra detail and realism.

  • NovaLogic
    NovaLogic

    NovaLogic is a software developer and publisher established in 1985 and based in Calabasas, California. The company was founded by current CEO John A....
    's Comanche series
    Comanche series

    Comanche is a series of simulation games published by NovaLogic. The goal of each of these games is to fly military missions in a Comanche helicopter....
     – first popular computer game to use heightmap terrain, advertised as a “Voxel
    Voxel

    A voxel is a volume element, representing a value on a regular grid in 3D computer graphics space. This is analogous to a pixel, which represents 2D computer graphics image data....
     Space” engine
  • Battlefield 1942
    Battlefield 1942

    Battlefield 1942 is a 3D computer graphics World War II first-person shooter computer game developed by Swedish company Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh ....
     and Battlefield 2
    Battlefield 2

    Battlefield 2 is a video game by the Sweden developer Digital Illusions in which players fight in a modern battlefield, using modern Weapon....
     use heightmaps generated using Terragen
    Terragen

    Terragen is a freeware scenery generator program for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh developed and published by Planetside Software. It can be used to create renderings and animations of landscapes....
     and modified in the respective editors.
  • CryENGINE 2s Sandbox editor
  • Far Cry level editor
    Far Cry

    Far Cry is a first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek Studios from Germany and published by Ubisoft on March 23, 2004 for Microsoft Windows....
     – level editor that imports heightmaps
  • Neverwinter Nights 2
    Neverwinter Nights 2

    Neverwinter Nights 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. It is the sequel to BioWare's Neverwinter Nights , a successful game based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game....
     – The Electron toolset
    Electron toolset

    The Electron toolset was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and is included in the computer role-playing game Neverwinter Nights 2. It allows people to design their own adventures and distribute them for others who own the game to play....
     can be used to create heightmaps, while the Electron engine
    Electron engine

    The Electron engine, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, is a 3D computer graphics video game engine, based on BioWare's Aurora Engine. It is used in Obsidian's Neverwinter Nights 2....
     is used to traverse them
  • OpenTTD
    OpenTTD

    OpenTTD is an open source game engine for the Chris Sawyer game Transport Tycoon Deluxe. The most recent versions, beginning with version 0.6.0 released in April 2008, have been written in C++....
     scenery editor
  • Myth
  • Outcast
    Outcast (game)

    Outcast is an action-adventure game Video game by Belgium Video game developer Appeal, released in 1999 by publisher Infogrames. It was named the "Adventure Game of the Year" by GameSpot the same year....
  • Spring – Open source 3D RTS engine
  • Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
    Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri

    Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is a Tactical shooter first-person shooter computer game developed by Looking Glass Studios and self-published in 1996 in video gaming....
  • SimCity Societies
    SimCity Societies

    SimCity Societies is a City-building game Construction and management simulation Personal computer game developed by Electronic Arts and is part of the List of Sim games....
     – Expected to use height maps for terrain generation.
  • Crashday
    Crashday

    Crashday is a destruction derby/racing/car stunts game co-developed by Replay Studios, Moon Byte Studios and Atari, and published by Atari. It was released in February 2006....
     – Uses Heightmaps in its Track Editor. Custom maps can also be imported by copying them into the heightmap folder.


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