Terrain Layers Editor
Although GenesisII will generate realistic looking surfaces automatically, geographic users will want to control the details of the surface rendering directly. To facilitate this GenesisII uses the concept of Terrains or Terrain Layers.

Each terrain describes a set of characteristics that can be applied to the landscape, for example surface color or vegetation. Terrains are defined in the Terrain Layers Editor, which is found in the Advanced group of icons. Most terrains are placed on the landscape surface using shapes such as polygons, lines or points. This vector placement is controlled using the Terrain Placement Editor, or data can be imported from GIS files using a plugin.

Terrain Layers Editor

The image shows the Terrain Layer Editor with no terrain tayers defined.

Terrains
Terrain List Box: List the available terrains. Click New to add a new terrain. Select a terrain to edit it's characteristics.

Identification
Name: An arbitrary name for the terrain. Duplicates are allowed, but not recommended.

• Line Width. Line width on the surface for linear terrain features. Applys to terrains placed as lines or polygon edges.
• Color: The color vector data is drawn in the terrain placement editor.

Adding a Terrain

There are currently six different types of terrain available. The terrain type must be selected from the dialog box when a new terrain layer is added.

• Surface: This terrain type modifies the landscape surface properties - color and texture - only. Surface textures are placed on the landscape using vector shapes such polygons or lines. This terrain type is usually used to add man-made features such as roads, or define fields of different crops, but can also be used to define rivers.
• Ecology: Used to control the placement of vegetation according to ecology - factors such as altitude and aspect control how vegetation is placed on a landscape surface. For precise vegetation placement - hedges for example - use the Vegetation terrain type.
• Model: This terrain enables the placement of models on the landscape. Models are defined in 3DS format and may contain texture information. Models are typically used for such tasks as viewing the environmental impact of a telephone mast on a landscape.
• Overlay: Overlays an image onto the landscape surface. Previous versions of GenesisII used a seperate renderer for overlays.
• Vegetation: Used to place precise areas of vegetation onto the landscape. Typically used to add hedges or areas of woodland.
• Urban: Simple urban modelling. At the current state of development GenesisII's urban modelling support is targeted at drawing generic urban or suburban buildings in the mid to far distance and is not suitable for close-up urban rendering.