How to modify existing UDK heightmap in another program

njackson4190

I have a couple of questions regarding programs to create/modify terrain from existing engines such as UDK.

Currently I have a rough terrain made in UDK and I really do not want to change the major shapes of it. So is there any way to take the existing heightmap out of UDK and import it into another program to add in erosion and other effects? Is it possible to save that heightmap over the existing one in UDK and have it automatically update when you refresh?

I was thinking of exporting the terrain from UDK into Zbrush and sculpt in any details I want, then render out a heightmap and bring that into UDK. I do not know if that would work, has anyone tried that before?

Shift`

It all depends if you are actually using a Terrain or a Landscape.

Terrains can be exported as .T3Ds and Landscapes come out at .RAW and .R16.
Zbrush doesn't have native support for either so you may have to find a converter or using something like World Machine.

njackson4190

Currently I am working with a Terrain. I know you can convert it to a landscape, may be something I'll have to try out. I was looking into using world machine, can you edit existing height maps with it?

ed_3D

Yep it's definitely possible what you could do is export the heightmap out of UDK as .r16, import it into World Machine, run it through erosion or some other filters and then build and export the new heightmap as r16 and import it back into UDK

njackson4190

Sweet, well I will definitely give that a shot for sure. So what if I wanted to blend some of that terrain onto static meshes? Would it be best for me to keep it as a landscape or should I make it a mesh once I get the erosion added to it?

I saw this: https://sites.google.com/site/seamlessandunique/

Close to the bottom he explains how to blend terrain and static meshes together without getting any harsh seam. I want to achieve this kind of effect with rocks and sand. However it looks like his terrain is a static mesh. Is it possible to achieve this effect using landscapes?