Question for graphics pros; involves 3D models

[Specialk92282]

So I have a really basic C sharp graphics engine and I'd like to convert my school's campus map into a 3D environment and load it as a directx mesh (.x)

This of course would be normally very time consuming, but I figure there must be a way to make short work of it. I don't have a lot of experience with 3Ds max or any of that stuff, but here is what I would like to do:

Take this map:

http://www.tamuk.edu/map/map.gif

Extrude the black sections ONLY.

Knock out the white areas so they appear "sunken in" (roads etc).

I figured that there must be a way to import this image file into a 3D editor and do this stuff using some sort of color range selection followed by an extrusion.

Any help is appreciated...

 

[Czar]

its called a displacement map

but, you would have to remove all the text from the image.. and it would have to be a pretty damn dense mesh for it to look good

would look a whole lot better to just model it, doesnt take that long, expecialy with the buildings, the roads would be more time consuming

 

[43st]

That would probably take 1-2 hours in AutoCad. Trace the map, extrude the buildings, extrude and intersect the road. Very simple operations, the part that takes time is tracing the raster image into the vector lines

 

[Specialk92282]

Wow, thanks guys.

Which would be better Autocad or 3DS Max for something like this? Again, I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of stuff, so simple is better.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

You can even import the GIF into your 3D modeling program as a diffuse map and then map it onto a 2D plane and use that as a guideline. You can then cut and extrude/bevel to make the buildings, etc.

3DSM would work fine for that.