Height Maps

To create a height map I used Photoshop. To do this I used one of the maps of Pearl Harbor to get the layout of the environment. Once I had the layout imported into Photoshop I created my height map. To do this I made the high ground a light color and the low ground a dark color. For this technique to work its best to use black to white, so low ground will be shaded in black and the high ground either white or a light grey. 
 
Here is a height map I had created to import into 3ds Max. 
 The height map to the right created a basic layout of the harbor. I had to simplify the shape of the islands by taking out the surrounding docks and making a really simple outline of the islands. 

I had to simplify the outline because when using this height map in 3Ds max it was obscuring the outline of the islands and not giving me an accurate shape. The image to the left is the simplified height map which I then imported into 3D studio max.