BMP Exporter    BMP Inflator    BMP Calculator

The Windows BMP Inflator allows you to open the BMP images created by the BMP Exporter, and is able to recreate the terrain with the original proportions, based on settings you enter. I decided not to call this a BMP importer, because it is specifically designed to open the files created by the BMP exporter, and the files need to be 8 bit greyscale uncompressed images which are a valid terrain size. It cannot import just any BMP file. However if you have an BMP image which fits these criteria, but was not created by the BMP Exporter, then you will be able to open it with the BMP Inflator. To make this a little easier, you can use the BMP Calculator to help you calculate the correct scale factor. The image being inflated also needs to be the same size as the current terrain you are using in Terragen when the plugin is invoked, the BMP Inflator makes no attempt to resize the image to suit.

Although the BMP Inflator is able to recreate terrains so they are very close to the original, there will inevitably be some loss of precision, or even stepping if the terrain elevations cover a large enough range. This is unavoidable, because the BMP file has only 256 possible height values, whereas Terragen has a practically unlimited number of possible height values.

The Interface

Mac version	Windows version

The BMP Inflator is easy to use. Here's a guide to it's settings :

• Units radio buttons
  These two radio buttons let you choose between using Metres or TG Units for measurements, where appropriate.
  

  Please note : If you checked the "Use .FEB file" option in the BMP Exporter when exporting the terrain, then the following settings will be automatically loaded from the FEB file.
  

• Base height
  This setting controls the base height or elevation. This is the value that the lowest point of the terrain will be assigned when the BMP file is inflated into a terrain. If you used the BMP Exporter to export the BMP file then this value will be loaded automatically if you used an FEB file, otherwise you should enter the value specified in the "Base height" field by the exporter. By using the same base height value the terrain will be recreated starting from the same height as the original, so that all your water and surface map settings etc. will still be correct.
  

• Scale factor
  This setting controls the scale factor the BMP Inflator uses to generate the height values when it's recreating the terrain. If you used the BMP Exporter to export the BMP file, then it will be automatically loaded from the FEB file if used, otherwise you should enter the value specified by the exporter. This will mean that when the terrain is recreated it will be very nearly the same as the original. Alternatively, you can use the BMP Calculator to help you calculate a suitable scale factor. This is especially useful if you want to inflate a BMP file that wasn't originally generated by the BMP Exporter.
  

• Point spacing
  This setting lets you set the point spacing used for the terrain. If you used the BMP Exporter to generate the BMP file then this value will be loaded for you if you used an FEB file, otherwise you should enter the value specified by the exporter.
  

• Calculator button
  Clicking this button invokes the BMP Calculator. If you are using a BMP file that wasn't already exported by the BMP Exporter, and therefore don't have the scale factor, or perhaps you want to change the dimensions, then the BMP Calculator will help you to calculate the correct scale factor.
  

• Cancel button
  This button closes the plugin window without recording the changes you've made to the settings.
  

• OK button
  This button closes the plugin window, records the changes you've made to the settings and brings up an Open File dialog box.
  

Requirements

For Export Only needs the TGPGuiLib to run. This file provides cross platform interface functionality. To find out more about the TGPGuiLib and download the latest version, visit it's website.

BMP Exporter    BMP Inflator    BMP Calculator

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