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Importing Digital Elevation data into Bryce 7

Charlie JudgeCharlie Judge Posts: 12,316
edited February 2014 in Bryce Discussion

I can still import my older digital elevation files with the '.dem' extension into Bryce 7 Pro.. However I have a number of digital elevation files with '.DDF' extension which I can open in Bryce 6.3. Bryce 7 shows the ".DDF' extension as importable but when I try to open them in Bryce 7 they start to load and then I get a media I/O error. Is this a known problem or should I report it to DAZ even though Bryce is not currently in the development cycle?

Yes, I know I can work around the problem by opening them in Bryce 6,3 or some other program and then exporting as a '.dem' file or a Tiff image which could then be used in Bryce 7; but this adds extra steps to the workflow.

Best Regards,
Charlie

Post edited by Charlie Judge on

Comments

  • Rashad CarterRashad Carter Posts: 1,799
    edited December 1969

    Charlie Judge said:
    I can still import my older digital elevation files with the '.dem' extension into Bryce 7 Pro.. However I have a number of digital elevation files with '.DDF' extension which I can open in Bryce 6.3. Bryce 7 shows the ".DDF' extension as importable but when I try to open them in Bryce they they start to load and then I get a media I/O error. Is this a known problem or should I report it to DAZ even though Bryce is not currently in the development cycle?

    Yes, I know I can work around the problem by opening them in Bryce 6,3 or some other program and then exporting as a '.dem' file or a Tiff image which could then be used in Bryce 7; but this adds extra steps to the workflow.

    Best Regards,
    Charlie

    If they load into Bryce 6 okay then load them into Bryce 6 and save them as Object Presets into a secure location that you can then load directly into the Object Library in Bryce 7. This seems like fewer total steps than the tiff/bmp conversion stuff.

  • Charlie JudgeCharlie Judge Posts: 12,316
    edited February 2014

    Hello Rashad:

    Thanks for your reply.
    Yes I know I can get them into Bryce 7 by first opening them in Bryce 6 and then exporting them as a '.dem' file or as you suggest by saving them as an object preset.; but it still makes extra steps. So, I wondered if whether or not this was a bug in Bryce 7 that should be reported.

    Best Regards,
    Charlie

    Post edited by Charlie Judge on
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,111
    edited December 1969

    @Charlie Judge - it's been a while since I used DEMs and never used DDFs so I'm a bit lost (and that's why I didn't reply yesterday already). You found a way around, which is good, but not satisfactory. I hope Jay will drop in here. He's the one who has a lot of experience in this matter.

  • Steve-LSteve-L Posts: 7
    edited December 1969

    Hello, I've not tried it as I don't use DDF or DEM files but this link might help. Someone else asked a similar question there and got an answer but didn't post anything further to say whether it worked or not but it's worth a try.

    http://forums.esri.com/Thread.asp?c=93&f=983&t=61361&g=1

    There's also some extra info here talking about the same conversion code - http://thecadgeek.com/blog/2009/03/acquiring-converting-dem-downloads/

  • Charlie JudgeCharlie Judge Posts: 12,316
    edited December 1969

    Hi Steve:

    Thanks for your reply.

    I am familiar with the sdts2dem program and it works well; but it is somewhat of a pain to use. It is a simple program that you have to copy to whatever directory the SDTS (DDF) data is in and the run it. While it works under windows it opens an old DOS type text only window for input. It was much simpler when I could open an individual DDF file in Bryce 6.3. I'm not sure what changed in Bryce 7 that I can't do that anymore.

    USGS has adopted the seamless NED system and abandoned the SDTS (DDF) format but SDTS(DDF) data is still available from GeoCommunity. http://data.geocomm.com/dem/demdownload.html


    Best Regards,
    Charlie

  • Bonito LilBonito Lil Posts: 72
    edited December 1969

    I've just spent an afternoon trying to find out how to import sdts files, and then getting the same import fail. But I think I've found an up-to-date converter at http://www.gdal.org/ -- it's open source.

  • JamahoneyJamahoney Posts: 1,791
    edited December 1969

    Ooops, never saw this thread....so apologies, Charlie.

    On the importing .DDFs issue....nope, have never used them let alone .DEM files, too. While I do a lot of DEM work (LROC and HiRise), the files I use are mainly of .IMG type. I use IMG2PNG to convert them into 16-bit .PNGs, and from there do the usual Bryce import (works in both 6.3 and 7.1 platforms).

    That's no use to you, it seems like the 7.1 is the problem, but don't know whether it's a local problem or a general one. But, if it's as you say, you don't have many steps really anyway aka: using B6, and then over to B7.1...etc., to get to where you want. Heck, the steps for mine above can be three-fold (and more sometimes): converting, usually cropping selections in Wilbur (I would use PS, but can't afford it), and then into Bryce.

    Jay

  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,111
    edited December 1969

    I finally found some time working on Mars height maps using 3DEM and HDRShop. I have a two page PDF on my website (see sig). Go to Bryce Documents > Mine > Diverse > 3DEM Terrains in Bryce or click on this link http://www.horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/3DEM-Terrains.pdf if you're interested.

  • JamahoneyJamahoney Posts: 1,791
    edited September 2014

    Excellent, Horo...very handy to have and know about (have saved the PDF - for reference). I'm not sure if Charlie is still around, however, I've played with several 'wares for doing this type of stuff in the past (try tackling ISIS3), but it was Byrce's simple use with the final converted 16-bit PNG (and the camera for simple animations) that made it easier to get things done quicker.

    Cheers
    Jay

    Post edited by Jamahoney on
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,111
    edited December 1969

    Cheers Jay, glad it may be of some use to you. In fact, I thought about you when I pondered whether to make the PDF public or not There's always more than one way to do things. You helped me with the Moon DEMs (IMG2PNG) two years ago.

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