The location of the Sat Dat Splat installation program may vary. I use Firefox and Windows 7, and when I download anything it ends up in c:\Users\jasonpsage\Downloads as pictured here. When you locate the installation file, give it a double-click to fire it up.

When you fire up the installation program, you should be greeted with the dialog presented here. If not, we might be on the cusp of a technical support call.

EULA 101 - The EULA is the End User License Agreement. Most folks skip past this screen, so let me tell you the important parts: Jegas, LLC isn't liable for any damages you incur from using this software, and we might send some information about your machine when you register to make sure folks aren't "pirating" this software. That's it in a nutshell.

Once you've presumably read and accept the agreement, click the top radio button labeled "I accept the agreement"; doing so will enable the "Next" button so you can continue with the installation process.

Pre-Install Notes: These are actually worth the brief read. I just wanted folks to know going into this, that the free download is crippled with watermarks, this online help is available and that getting a Satellite image converted is only one step of what is necessary to get the gorgeous terrain renderings we're presumably after.

Here you select your destination installation folder. Generally the default will suffice. Additionally, if you use the default, other Jegas software will neatly tuck into this area to keep them together.

Select where you want the Sat Dat Splat shortcuts to be located in your start menu. I find with the way Windows 7 works, it seems to matter less because you can search for what you want to run similiar to a web search engine. Again, the default will usually suffice.

Here you can elect for a desktop icon and/or a quick launch icon. Now I've yet to see a Quick Launch Bar in Windows 7, only in Windows XP. Regardless, the one I find handy is the Desktop Icon. I also have a folder on my desktop for "shortcuts". If I don't use one for a long time I move it there so I can get later if I need it while helping me keep my desktop from getting to cluttered.

Ready To Install! Yay! Just take a quick look at the presented settings that will be used because when you click next... It's On! Installation actually commences officially and it happens pretty fast so we're almost done with installation.

Post Installation Notes tell about the folder and satellite imagery provided with Sat Dat Splat for you to try out. We will cover this topic in the next chapter of this help. (Scroll down ... You're close!)

Congratulations! You successfully installed Sat Dat Splat.. but there is still much to do... such as getting a Satellite image converted to something you can use in your own projects! We assume you are a developer or an artist of some sort if you grabbed this software, but if not... know that you can still convert satellite imagery from the USGS site and use almost any graphics program to view the data you coverted.

When you first fire up (launch) Sat Dat Splat it should resemble the image pictured here. If not... You've been had! lol

Now like the instructions say for step #1, we need to select our source file. Generally you'll be using your own data but to try this software out and help you get aquainted with it, we've supplied a sample.

Click on the elipses button (triple dots ...) on the right side of the first white text box which will bring us to our next screen shot.

Here you have the familiar windows explorer "Open Dialog". This dialog only accepts files with a *.hdr file extension. On the left side of the Dialog, please click on the Libraries Icon. Then click the Documents folder. In Windows XP your goal like us using Windows 7 is to navigate to the "My Documents" folder.

Once your in the Documents (Or My Documents) folder, look for the Sat Dat Splat folder as pictured here. Double click it to enter it.

Once inside the Sat Dat Splat Folder, you need to enter the folder with the sample data. The name of this folder is "NED_79352188". Please double click the folder to enter it.

The open dialog should filter out the other files in this directory making your next move fairly easy. Double click on the file named "ned_79352188.hdr".

Now that you have selected a source file, we need to select a destination file before we can initiate the conversion.

We recommend for this demonstration at least, you save your results to the same folder as the header file we just selected. Please click the elipses buttong on the right side of the second white text box to get the familiar Windows "Save Dialog". Navigate as necessary to find the directory pictured here.

After you have navigated to the directory pictured in the previous paragraph, type "test.bmp" into the text box (without the quotes) in the bottom part of the "Save Dialog" as pictured here. Then click the "Save" button.

At this point, the long button in the middle of the screen should become enabled so you can click it. We are ready at this point... Please click the "Sat Dat Splat" button. You should see the application begin processing immediately. Note the Progress bar needs to make two full passes from zero to 100%. The first pass is the processing of the file and the second pass is for the saving of the output to disk.

When the file is completely finished being converted, you should see the message box dialog pictured here. Now to view the output, there are a few ways to get there:

• (Slow) Open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the "My Documents\Sat Dat Splat\NED_79352188" folder
• (Faster) Click on the bottom file cabinet on the right of the Destination file's elipses button
• (Fastest!) Click on the magnifying glass button.

If you chose to click on the second file cabinet button, you'll get a Windows File Explorer window already navigated to the folder specified in the corresponding file text box as shown here. In this case, you should see the "test.bmp" file we just created listed. If so, double click it to view your results.

Here you are! Finished product! The white lines shown here do not appear when satellite images are processed with a registered version of Sat Dat Splat. Please Register.

The desired size field allows you to make perfectly square output heightmaps and also allows you to keep heightmaps within the size capabilities of your target graphics engine. It doesn't not allow you to make images or raw heightmaps that are larger in any dimension than the source satellite image.

For example, Unity Game Engine has a maximum allowed size for Raw16 file imports of 4096. If you have a satellite image that is 6000x5000, you can set the Desired Size field to 4096 and get a 4096x4096 raw16 file as your result that is compatible.

Now there are some things you should know about the Desired Size field:

• When the value is ZERO, it is ignored entirely and the full size of the satellite image in converted whether Raw16 or Bitmap.
• If either dimension of the Satellite image is LESS THAN the Desired Size field, it is ignored entirely.
• When the Desired Size field is validly below both dimensions of the satellite image, the data used for the output comes from the top left of the satellite image.

The Scale Field is a percentage value. It allows, as it name suggests, you to scale the output of the Satellite image. This is important when you are dealing with different graphics rendering software that doesn't give you a way to adjust the data you give it.

For an example, if you import a satellite rendered image as a raw16 into the Unity game engine, the landscape will often be unusually "tall" and appear disproportionate. By setting a scale factor of maybe 50 (50%) you can reimport the data and get better results. This is an iterative prospect, but once you find the "scaling sweetspot" for your graphics engine of choice, it will make the process much smoother.

Creating the Raw16 formats is actually the most difficult when you find out the satellite image you downloaded is to big and the resultant Raw16 format file from Sat Dat Splat just won't import into your favorite graphics renderer.

Fortunately you can use both the Desired Size and the Scale fields to assist you, but in reality the real "trick" to it is finding both the maximum size your graphics engine can import dimension wise and how to select images off the USGS web site that are close to your desired size. Why? So when this software grabs the top left portion of a satellite image for the Desired Size you specify, you get most or hopefully ALL the "terrain features" you wanted.

This takes some iterations of experimentation to get right; it doesn't help that many programs including this one do not render Raw16 height maps visually let alone Satellite images in their raw format.

Before you get discouraged, let me tell you that I've attained killer results in all the major game engines using this software... and Raw16 is definitely worth the extra effort due to its resolution being twice that of a gray-scale bitmap.

This image shows what I think is the proof that Raw16 is worth the effort. Why? This is a shot of the Grand Canyon made from a satellite image converted in Sat Dat Splat. The Image was created with 50% scaling but you could leave it at 100% and get a sci-fi outer world look. The proof is that there isn't any "stepping" which is often present with gray-scale height maps (once imported and rendered). Here the Grand Canyon, with only a monotone texture of sand looks pretty amazing.

Click the thumbnail and see for yourself, better still try it yourself! Download Unity, and import a Sat Dat Splat image you downloaded off of the USGS web site. Have Fun! I like flying through the river like TopGun or something.

This process looks more intimidating than it is, I promise!

Let's start with clicking our way to the source of the data, here: United States Geologicial Survey.

Once you're there, click on the "Maps, Imagery and Publications" link shown here in the picture on the left.

Next click on the National Map Seamless Server link as shown in the picture to the left here.

Next click on the Seamless Server link on the left of the webpage you just navigated to as shown here in the picture on the left.

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

Now there is a bunch of stuff on the left, but I outlined the important tools to navigate around. also there is help on the USGS site for using their interface. By default, when you arrive the magnify tool is selected so anywhere you click on the map will cause it to CENTER on that location in your browser, and be drawn zoomed in.

Now there is a "SCALE TOOL" in the upper right of this page that works like the magnification tool in Google maps; in case you've seen that before. If not, it changes the zoom level of the map.

After you have zoomed in on an area you wish to download, you can use the "Download" tools. These are pointed out in the provided screen hot on the left here. You basically are allowed to drag a square over the region you wish to download and then the system bundles up your selection into a download or download batch (when multiple files requested do to size). I show how this looks in the next screen shot.

I have in the picture three points of interest.

• ONE: The download tool which allows you to drag a square over a region you wish to download.
• TWO: This what the download tool's square region indicator looks like. It's pictured here selecting an island in the Hawaii islands. Once you lift up the mouse button a window immediately pops up so you can download which brings us to our next bullet point.
• THREE: When this download window popus up, its crucial that we click the "Modify Data Request" button shown in the picture. The default file format is NOT RECOGNIZED by SAT DAT SPLAT. The format we want is GRIDFLOAT, so go ahead and click Modify Request when you reach this point.

Here in the Modify Data Request Screen, I need to point out that you need to give it a few seconds to fully load. If you don't and start to look around it tends to jump around (move the scroll position as it adjusts).

Now, what we want is to find the list item with a checkbox because that is the item we are actually going to download. I pointed out what I mean here in the provided screen shot with a circle and a green checkmark.

Once you locate the proper list item, you will see on the right "ArcGRID" in the drop down list box. This is where you want to make a change, as it is the Data Format column in the list. The format we're after is GRIDFLOAT.

In the screen shot here, I'm selecting GRIDFLOAT file format from the list. You'll want to do the same.

While we are here I wanted to tell you about the other options you may have available to you. For example, the default Satellite data set is "1 Arc Second" but there is at least another I know is also available in GRIDFLOAT format and that is "1/3 Arc Second". The difference is resolution of the satellite imagery. 1 Arc Second I believe is the result of the satellite taking a radar "picture" to get the height elevation once per second as is flies overhead in orbit. 1/3 Arc Second is the same thing but at 3 times per second resulting in a much higher resolution "scan" of the earth's surface.

By changing which list item is checked in this "Modify Data Request" screen you can change the nature of your satellite images; just remember to change the file format to GRIDFLOAT so SAT DAT SPLAT can convert it.

Once you are done making your selection, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Save Changes & return to Summary" button.

NOW - YOU GRADUATE! You're now ready to grab your first satellite image(s)! Congratulations! NOW the Fun Starts! Click the Download, unzip the file when its ready and fire up SAT DAT SPLAT and convert it!

GREAT JOB!