A method for generating large-scale terrain based on image set

Large-scale virtual terrain has broadly been used in many fields, such as battlefield simulation, video game, films, GIS etc. Based on analyzing existing algorithms of creating virtual terrains, this paper presents a novel algorithm to synthesize large-scale virtual terrain from an image set. Firstly, many realistic terrain-blocks are generated by processing images properly. Then, based on definition of radial weight matrix, a large-scale terrain is synthesized by stitching the terrain-blocks. As long as user selects images and design distribution of the images, a whole and realistic large-scale terrain can be created automatically. At the same time, the algorithm allows user to control the generated terrain by adjusting the distribution of image and other parameters. The experiment results show that the algorithm can generate terrains with various scales and styles, fast and effectively.