The file is 16-bit. And the histogram seems to be blank.

Well that's pretty much all my ideas. Guess you'll have to wait for the Sun to rise on the UK

This is the only way I know - so far - and it's very long, convoluted, and I'm SURE there is a better way to do it - but it works.

1) Install ISIS 3 - instructions here http://isis.astrogeology.usgs.gov/document...uide/index.html
2) While letting that happen - grab one of Randy's DEM's - I'm using the Victoria Crater bundle as an example
3) Find DEM_1m_VictoriaCrater.cub.gz (it's in the ISIS_EQUI360_OC folder ) and expand it
4) Run isis2raw
5) In the 'FROM' window - point to the .cub
6) Copy and paste the path and filename into 'TO' - but change the extension to .dem or something simiar
7) U16BIT data type ( screenshot attached)
8) Hit Run.... if this bit doesn't work - it's almost certainly your ISIS3 installation that needs looking at, make sure you got all the Base Data.
9) Find the .cub and open in text edit and find this part...

/* Core description */
CORE_ITEMS = (1278,1694,1)

10) Open Photoshop, and open the .dem.raw that ISIS3 produced
11) Width is the first of those three figure under CORE_ITEMS. Height is the second. Depth should be 16 bits, Byte Order as IBM PC, Header as size 0
12) Hit OK
13) Save out as 16 bit PNG, celebrate, have lunch, dump into your favourite animation package.

I'm hoping to figure out a workflow that involved just ImageJ or Photoshop without ISIS3 (as it's a hell of an install, and a pain in the butt to get running for a temperamental artists like me )

1080 Full HD version
http://www.archive.org/details/ColumbiaHills2009DemAnimation

Thanks to Gary Murphy for suggesting archive.org as a place to put it

Superb work Doug, it didn't go unnoticed on other websites & blogs

Nancy talked about it on Universe Today, Emily did the same on planetary.org/blog

Has it shown up anywhere else? It'd be cool to know.

I HAVE noticed that it's jumped to 9000 views on Youtube. I beat the 5000+ Helen got for her world record Thriller dance routine

Beautiful work as ever.

Doug, I get an email newsletter called "Good Morning Silicon Valley," and I think it has fairly wide circulation. It's pretty pithy and as far as email newsletters go, entertaining. You were "Off Topic" for September 28th. Sorry I didn't mention it until now, but I thought you might know! Guess youtube does let you know the referrers. I noticed a twitter post of yours from awhile back.

http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2009/0...-topic-344.html

That probably got some clicks outside the usual enthusiasts.

NASA Ames is working on a stereo pipeline for automated DEM generation: http://ti.arc.nasa.gov/project/ngt/stereo/

Their documentation has instructions for HiRISE. MOC and CTX are in there as well, although I will point out that their camera model for CTX is incorrect so any CTX DEMs created with this software are inaccurate.

Is this news?

First PDS Release of HiRISE DTMs

Direct link to HiRISE DTM page

Absolutely phantastic !!

This must be the *perfect* complement for my single-image shape-from-shading (SFS) based DEMs.

While the SFS-DEMs provide real 3D detail down to the single-pixel level (i.e. without "draping" of the high-res 2D image over the terrain) it is unfortunately not very accurate in the mid- and large scale variations. ... but this is just where the HiRISE DEMs seem to be impressively accurate... so one of the next things I would like to try is to combine the high-frequency SFS-based 3D details with the accurate low-frequency variations of the published HiRISE DEMs.
... the result should be really interesting.

If you view any of those fly-overs, be sure and set the QT viewer to full screen - the resolution is that good, and worth the experience. I'm not sure I would have taken the same flight path over Columbia Hills but it's an amazing ride nonetheless.

Not having the knowledge nor the time to make use of these DEMs myself, I hope some more enterprising members of this forum try their hand at producing some flyovers.

Care to elaborate on what is wrong with the CTX models? It might be an easy fix to send to the ISIS developers as our camera models are their camera models.

I've picked four favorites from the new batch - plus a few others from Pete - which I'll be trying to get rendered this week. Probably not as polished and pretty as the Columbia Hills anim, but they should be a bit of fun

I don't know what it is that's off, I was just told by the software folks at MSSS that there was an issue. Trent Hare is getting in touch with them to figure out what the problem is.

Okay fine. I'll bug Trent next week when I see him. A while back MSSS did work with Larry Edwards that involved ASP. Since the open source release his custom camera models for MOCNA and CTX are no longer a part of our software. We now use ISIS to provide those. I hope to get this all worked out as a lot of our users are creating 3D models from CTX.

Trent got in touch with our software folks this morning and we figured out that the issue was the prototype vs. the official release of the stereo pipeline. Joe Fahle says that the camera model in ISIS was obviously wrong until iak/mroctxAddendum003.ti, but now there is little difference between the MSSS CTX camera model and that used by ISIS. So, it sounds like the newly released version should be all right...sorry about that, I was told not to use the pipeline because of this issue in December, after the "new" release, so I assumed the problem still applied.

The results of processing the new HiRISE team DEM's are beginning to appear. They're not as polished and pretty as the Columbia Hills one. Main reason is time. These are taking approx 1-2 mins per frame, at 750 frames each, so even with my i7 desktop, plus Q6600 render zombie (with occasional pauses for Helen and I to have some practice in dealing with the upcoming zombie apocalypse via L4D ) - it's 6-12 hrs each. So I had to turn down the 'pretty' quite a lot just to get through them in terms of rendering - AND in terms of processing. BJ's all new img2png helps speed up the processing pipeline massively.

Early results so far :

Athabasca Valles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQYDElIMQ2s
from http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/dtm/dtm.php?ID=PSP_002661_1895

Mojave Crater
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp8WU05W0Jg
from http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/dtm/dtm.php?ID=PSP_001481_1875

My render queue still includes Gale Crater, Bahram Vallis, Candor Chasma, Juventae Chasma. If you see a particular DEM from HiRISE and think " I MUST SEE THAT " - shout, and I'll see if it's worth animating.

Interesting how there's a crater right on top of the Mojave Crater wall.

But I suppose if you drop enough asteroids on a planet some will land in unlikely-looking places...

Still pretty wow !

Wow there's a lot of texture in those DEMs! Marvelous. Can't wait to see the rest.

Here's a couple of images created from the new HiRISE DEM's.

Olympus Mons Basal Scarp
using the DEM from http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/dtm/dtm.php?ID=PSP_001432_2015

Potential New Gully Bright Deposits
using the DEM from http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/dtm/dtm.php?ID=PSP_001714_1415

- Adrian

WOW ! those movies are simply breathtaking ... Mars not only in 3D but in true 4D -> awesome.

Just a quick question: how many 3D posts (or polygons) are there rendered in each movie frame ?

It's done in the renderer as required by each frame - I've done actual models of most of these as well, up to about 1.2 million polygons, and in the near-field, these renders look better than those models. Certainly several hundred thousand in each rendered frame. Technically - you could pull about 50 million polys out of each one.

Man, am I glad I finally got a new computer for Christmas...fantastic work, all!!!!

Update : - Gale Crater uploaded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh_bfrl9wk0

Dude, you made it onto the Huffington Post!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/27/m...s_n_439304.html

TOTALLY AWESOME.

Gold standard Forum this is!

Craig

This is simply awesome. But only 1.2 million polygons - are you thinning the polygon mesh by reducing the number of polygons where the terrain is flat?

I think it's being selective in not generating more polys than the are pixels to enjoy them - so in the distance, they are less dense. It regenerates every frame, producing the polys as they're needed. You can turn it up and down, and I basically turn it up till till it start having artifacts, or stops improving in detail. There are far better ways of dong it - you and Adrian have the know-how there. I'm just a tempramental artist

Its interesting to compare Doug's Mojave crater flyover to the flyover posted on the HiRise HiClips page: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/media/. (The link to the movie itself is: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/media/clips/...002_web_720.mov)

Interesting in what way Good/bad/indiferent

I prefer your lighting, and you have a better flight path IMO (which is entirely subjective). They have the drop on you with the texture overlay though.

Doug, your animations are great. The flyover on the HiRise site has finer detail on the ground, it seems. Maybe they made their animation with a different data set than the DEMs that they posted. Personally, I also prefer their color overlay.

Two more - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wswCRehrBNY - West of Juventae Chasma and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4w4d_pfBS0 Bahram Vallis.

they are sweet doug - well done!

take a break now, otherwise you'll have nightmares about render farms and tie points. but hey, at least they'll be in 3D! that said, i'm still looking forward to your home-brewed DEM...

pete

I believe I can fly.
Thanks Doug.

Finally got the chance to watch these full screen and in HD. Just... wow. Greedily I await the next.

Just getting the data that Pete helped me make (in the same way a surgeon 'helps' a patient have surgery) into 3DS Max.

Early results = promising.

I'd amend that to

early results = awesome!

If this is only "early results", I can't wait to see the finished work.

It's rendering now. Start with Pathfinder pan view like that screenshot - fade it out to DEM - fly up and out, round the back of Twin Peaks - over to Big Crater, a high pass over to the top of the DEM, then fly back past North Knob to the landing site with a view of Big Crater, and fade BACK to the Pathfinder Pan.

Time for DEM hatrick....

One of Pete Grindrod's DEM's - Candor Chasma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaEdssbD1LU

One of the HiRISE teams - Slope Streaks (NW scarp slope of Olympus Mons, I beleive)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQFyW4a-oDw

And the one I've been dreaming of for 3 years. Mars Pathfinder. DEM by Pete (with hindrance and biscuits by me ) last week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE_Ih0hgnlw

Fantastic animations! Congratulations, Doug!

Go ahead and take the rest of the week off Doug and send me the tab for the first round at your favorite bar tonight.

When I first popped the pathfinder pan back over the pathfinder dem.... I swore quite loudly.

"**** off, no WAY is it going to match that well"

And it did.

I'm trying to improve it with an HRSC or CTX image as a virtual table-cloth under the place-mat that is the HiRISE dem. Sadly - the HRSC DEM of that site isn't available ( as far as I can tell. There were two observations on that orbit. 3147_0000 and 3147_0001 gues which one's pathfinder. Now guess which one's got a DEM available on ESA's PSA... yup - the OTHER one)

Doug,
Simply amazing. When you redo this one, can you add a few seconds pause after a slow fade back to the Pathfinder pan? That would be great.

I'm doing a MAJOR 2.0 that's quite different - but will end with a fade probably, to the twin peaks.

It starts about 20km above the deck

For some reason only Quicktime wants to play it smooth... for anyone with older machines...
Really is gorgeous, thanks for sharing.

Eoin