Leveller Documentation


Quick Start

Leveller tries to have an intuitive interface, so if you want to just dive in with the basics, this section is for you. Before going any further, you'll find it helpful to arrange this browser window so that you can read this text and also see the Leveller window.

You've probably got Leveller already started, and you're looking at something like this:

This window is a view onto a Leveller document. You can have as many views as you want, but the rest of this manual will explain that. To get quickly started, do this:

Press the A key for a few seconds, and then the Z key. The grid in the left part of the window should slide back and forth underneath you.

With your NumLock key turned on, press the 4 and 6 keys on the numeric keypad, which should make the grid spin around. The 8 and 2 keys will make it pitch up and down, as if you were nodding your head. If you've played 3D video games, you'll immediately get the hang of this. The 1 and 3 keys slide you left and right, as if you were sidestepping, and the 7 and 9 keys roll your head around. Finally, the + and Enter keys on the numeric keypad move you up and down.

That's basically it for flying around. In Leveller, the grid (also called the terrain or the heightfield) stays put, and you fly around it to get the view you want.

You probably noticed that the funny line and dot in the right part of the window changed position as you flew around. This part of the window is an overview map that shows the heightfield looking straight down at it.

Since the heightfield is perfectly flat by default, the map is pitch black because there is no relative difference in height values in the terrain. To create some bumpy terrain, choose the Terrain, Plasma Fractal... command from the menu bar, and click OK when the dialog appears. Your Leveller window should now look something like this:

Now it's more obvious what the map is for. As you fly around, you'll see that the square dot on the map indicates your camera position, and the line indicates your line of sight. The length of the line grows shorter if you look up or down, so it also indicates your camera's pitch angle.

You can click and drag on the map to change the camera position and the line of sight. The left mouse button changes the position, and the right mouse button changes the line of sight.

This section is almost over, but let's try some editing. From the toolbar on the right, choose the Raise tool. It looks like this:

Now move the mouse over the map so that the mouse pointer is near the line of sight. You should see a white dot on the camera view showing which part of the heightfield the mouse is over.

Click and drag with the mouse over the map. In the camera view, you should see the heightfield bending as you literally 'raise' it from the ground.

When you're satisifed with your changes to the heightfield, press F3 or choose the Filter, Smooth command. Notice how the heightfield is smoothed to make your changes look more natural.

That's it for this section. The rest of Leveller is explained in the rest of this manual.