Data sources & attribution

ValTerra for Autodesk 3ds Max displays and imports data that other organisations built and published. Each of those datasets comes with a credit condition. This page lists every source, the exact credit it requires, the credit ValTerra places for you automatically, and the part that stays with you when you publish your work.

Why this page exists

Three practical reasons.

Your legal review needs one address. Studios that clear imagery before delivery ask the same questions: where did this data come from, what licence is it under, and what must appear in the deliverable. Everything needed to answer that is on this page, with links to the primary sources so nothing has to be taken on trust.

Some credits travel with the file. A credit that is required in a published image is worthless if it only exists in a menu. ValTerra writes attribution into the pixels and into the file metadata of Photo Studio captures. The list of fields below is verifiable with any metadata reader.

ValTerra does not redistribute anyone’s database. The software is a client. Map, imagery and elevation data travels from the provider to your machine at the moment you request it, under your own account where an account is required. We do not host, mirror or redistribute any of the datasets named here.

What ValTerra can display, and who credits what

Data source	Where it appears in ValTerra	What ValTerra does automatically	What stays with you
OpenStreetMap	Schematic buildings, roads and city layout imported into your scene	Writes the OSM credit into the user properties of every imported object and into the import report	Show the OSM credit when you publish a render, animation or still that used the geometry
Open elevation tiles (Tilezen/Mapzen Terrarium, hosted by AWS Open Data)	Terrain meshes	Writes the terrain credit into the user properties of the terrain object and into the import report	Show the elevation credit when your published work shows the terrain
Google Maps Platform	Globe view and Photo Studio captures, using credentials you supply: your own Google Maps Platform key or a Cesium ion token	Shows the Google Maps logo in the viewport whenever Google map content is on screen, and burns the Google data-provider line into every capture and panorama, plus file metadata	Do not remove or crop that line. Your use of Google map content is governed by your own agreement with Google

OpenStreetMap (ODbL)

Schematic buildings, roads and city layout are generated from OpenStreetMap data.

The required credit, in the exact form to publish:

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).

“© OpenStreetMap contributors” must be a clickable link to https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright. That link is not decoration: the OSM Foundation’s attribution guidelines treat linking the credit to the copyright page as the way of making the ODbL licensing clear, so the link covers both the credit and the licence notice in one line. Where a link cannot exist (print, PDF, video, a burned-in title card), print the URL in full: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright.

Where ValTerra puts it. The string Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) is written to the user properties of every object created by an OSM import (property name VT_OSM) and to the import report shown after the import finishes. The credit therefore survives merging, XRef and hand-off between artists, and a technical director can audit a scene for OSM-derived objects with a property query.

Where you must put it. A render, animation, still or matte painting that used OSM-derived geometry is a Produced Work under the ODbL. Produced Works require attribution; they do not oblige you to publish your scene, your model or any other data under a share-alike licence. Credit the way your production credits other sources: in the end credits, in the image caption, in the acknowledgements, or beside the frame. Work that stays inside your studio and is never published carries no attribution obligation at all.

If instead of publishing a picture you plan to hand the imported OSM-derived geometry itself to someone else as data, that is a different question under ODbL sections 4.4 and 4.6, and it is worth your own legal advice before you do it. ValTerra is a client application, not a derivative database, and nothing in this page is legal advice.

Elevation data

Elevation data: Tilezen/Mapzen terrain tiles via AWS Open Data.

Terrain tiles by Tilezen/Mapzen, hosted by AWS Open Data.

The Terrarium tiles ValTerra reads are assembled from national and international elevation datasets. Several of those datasets require credit as a condition of their licence, so the full source list belongs in your deliverable’s credits when the terrain is visible in published work. The canonical list is published by the Tilezen project at https://github.com/tilezen/joerd/blob/master/docs/attribution.md (opens in a new tab) and is reproduced below verbatim (retrieved 21 August 2026).

The canonical credit block

Reproduce this block, or the source-by-source list under it, wherever your production credits other data sources.

* ArcticDEM terrain data DEM(s) were created from DigitalGlobe, Inc., imagery and
  funded under National Science Foundation awards 1043681, 1559691, and 1542736;
* Australia terrain data © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2017;
* Austria terrain data © offene Daten Österreichs – Digitales Geländemodell (DGM)
  Österreich;
* Canada terrain data contains information licensed under the Open Government
  Licence – Canada;
* Europe terrain data produced using Copernicus data and information funded by the
  European Union - EU-DEM layers;
* Global ETOPO1 terrain data U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* Mexico terrain data source: INEGI, Continental relief, 2016;
* New Zealand terrain data Copyright 2011 Crown copyright (c) Land Information New
  Zealand and the New Zealand Government (All rights reserved);
* Norway terrain data © Kartverket;
* United Kingdom terrain data © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right
  2015. All rights reserved;
* United States 3DEP (formerly NED) and global GMTED2010 and SRTM terrain data
  courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Short credit list

Where a full block does not fit — a caption, a slate, a single credit line — this shorter list names the same sources. The block above, quoted from the Tilezen project, stays the authoritative wording; use it wherever there is room for it.

Terrain tiles by Tilezen/Mapzen, hosted by AWS Open Data.
ArcticDEM courtesy of the Polar Geospatial Center under NSF-OPP awards.
Australia: Geoscience Australia.
Austria: Digitales Geländemodell (DGM) Österreich.
Canada: GeoBase / Open Government Licence – Canada.
Europe: EU-DEM, produced using Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union.
Global bathymetry: ETOPO1, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.
Mexico: INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía).
New Zealand: Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
Norway: Kartverket.
United Kingdom: Environment Agency, © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right.
United States: USGS 3DEP, GMTED2010 and SRTM.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).

Source by source

Credit is a condition of the licence. These sources are published under licences that require attribution. If your published work shows terrain drawn from the region, the credit must appear.

• Australia: Geoscience Australia. Digital Elevation Model of Australia derived from LiDAR 5 Metre Grid, released by Geoscience Australia under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Statement: © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2017.
• Austria: Digitales Geländemodell (DGM) Österreich. Released via data.gv.at under Creative Commons Namensnennung 3.0 Österreich. Statement: © offene Daten Österreichs – Digitales Geländemodell (DGM) Österreich.
• Canada: Canadian Digital Elevation Model (CDEM). Released under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Statement: Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
• Europe: EU-DEM, produced using Copernicus data. Released by the European Environment Agency. Statement: Produced using Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union - EU-DEM layers.
• Mexico: INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía). Released under Mexico’s free-use-of-information terms. Statement: Source: INEGI, Continental relief, 2016.
• New Zealand: Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). NZ 8m Digital Elevation Model 2012, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand. Statement: Copyright 2011 Crown copyright (c) Land Information New Zealand and the New Zealand Government. All rights reserved.
• Norway: Kartverket. Digital terrengmodell, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Statement: © Kartverket.
• United Kingdom: Environment Agency. LIDAR Composite Digital Terrain Model from data.gov.uk under Open Government Licence v3. Statement: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015. All rights reserved.

Public domain or unrestricted; credit is requested, and ValTerra credits them anyway. No licence compels these lines, but the publishers ask for them and they cost nothing.

• ArcticDEM. Released without licence restriction. Requested citation: DEM(s) were created from DigitalGlobe, Inc., imagery and funded under National Science Foundation awards 1043681, 1559691, and 1542736.
• Global bathymetry: ETOPO1, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Not subject to copyright protection within the United States. Formal credit: DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce.
• United States: USGS 3DEP, GMTED2010 and SRTM. Public domain datasets; the U.S. Geological Survey requests credit on redistribution, presentation or publication. Statement: 3DEP (formerly NED) and global GMTED2010 and SRTM terrain data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Optional, kept as good practice. Crediting Tilezen/Mapzen and the AWS Open Data programme for hosting the tiles is not required by any licence. ValTerra credits them because they made the dataset usable.

Where ValTerra puts it. The string Terrain tiles by Mapzen / AWS Open Data (Terrarium) is written to the user properties of every terrain object created by ValTerra (property name VT_Terrain) and to the import report. The full block above is the version to publish.

Google Maps Platform

Photorealistic views and imports in ValTerra run on credentials you supply. Two are supported, and you choose which to use: your own Google Maps Platform key, or a Cesium ion token. With a Google key you create the Google Cloud project, you accept Google’s terms, and Google bills you directly for what you use. With a Cesium ion token the equivalent relationship is with Cesium, and Cesium’s terms pass Google’s own Maps Tiles API policies through to you. Either way, ValTerra never proxies that traffic, never redistributes map data and never sees your usage.

Attribution is always on. Whenever Google map content is on screen, the Google Maps logo is visible in the viewport and the data-provider line is visible with it. Every Photo Studio capture and every stitched 360° panorama carries the attribution line burned into the image itself: the word Map data, the year, Google, and every data provider reported for the tiles visible in that frame, in full and unabbreviated. The line is generated from the copyright field that Google returns with the tiles, so it lists Google’s own imagery partners for that location rather than a generic credit.

There is no preference, no environment variable and no licence tier that switches this off. Trial, Lite and paid seats behave identically. That is a requirement of the Google Maps Platform terms, and it means a capture that leaves ValTerra is already compliant when it reaches your compositor.

What you must not do. Do not remove, crop, obscure or overwrite that line in any image that still shows Google map content. This is both Google’s requirement and a term of the ValTerra End User License Agreement. Cropping the credit off a frame moves the consequences of that act to whoever cropped it.

Promotional material. Any ValTerra promotional video segment that shows Google map content is kept to 30 seconds or less, is marked “for promotional purposes only”, and is about what the software does. Product images on this site that contain Google map content keep the in-frame Map data line visible and uncropped.

Trademarks. ValTerra is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google LLC. Google, Google Maps, and Google Maps Platform are trademarks of Google LLC. No Google logo is used anywhere in ValTerra’s branding, marketing or on this website. The Google Maps logo appears in exactly one place: inside the plugin’s viewport and in captures, as the attribution Google’s terms require.

Autodesk trademarks

ValTerra is an independent product by Shall We Art and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Autodesk, Inc. Autodesk and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. ValTerra is not an Autodesk product and is not distributed by Autodesk.

What ValTerra writes into your files automatically

This section exists so a legal reviewer can verify the claims above with a file in hand rather than a promise on a web page. Behaviour described here is what the shipping release does; attribution embedding landed in v0.4.84.

In the pixels. Photo Studio stills, day-series frames and stitched 360° panoramas containing Google map content carry the attribution line rendered into the image, drawn after every post-process stage so nothing can paint over it. On panoramas the badge sits in the nadir zone of the equirectangular frame.

In the file metadata. Saved JPEG and PNG captures carry an XMP packet with the same attribution string in three standard fields:

Field	Namespace	Content
photoshop:Credit	http://ns.adobe.com/photoshop/1.0/	The full attribution line for that frame
dc:rights	http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/	The same line, as an rdf:Alt with x-default
xmpRights:UsageTerms	http://ns.adobe.com/xap/1.0/rights/	The same line, as an rdf:Alt with x-default
dc:description	http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/	Optional capture description, when one is supplied

The packet is carried in an APP1 segment in JPEG files and in an iTXt chunk (XML:com.adobe.xmp) in PNG files, which is what any asset-management system, agency ingest or metadata reader expects to find. Nothing is obfuscated and no proprietary container is used.

In the scene. Objects created by an import carry their credit as an Autodesk 3ds Max user property: VT_OSM on OpenStreetMap-derived buildings and roads, VT_Terrain on terrain objects. Both also appear in the import report.

Deliberately left clean. Alpha mattes and sky masks are written without any burned-in text, because a mask is data rather than a picture and text in a mask would corrupt the composite. In a colour-plus-mask pair the attribution rides on the colour frame, which is the frame that shows the content.

Known gap. 16-bit TIFF output currently passes through without an XMP packet. The visible in-frame attribution is present in TIFF captures exactly as in every other format; only the metadata packet is missing, and it is on the fix list.

Questions about attribution

If your legal or compliance team needs a written statement about any source on this page, a licence reference we have not linked, or confirmation of what a specific ValTerra file contains, write to us through the form on the Contact page and include the file name, the date it was created and the feature that produced it.

ValTerra is developed by Valerii Nikulin, sole proprietor (FOP) registered in Ukraine, trading as Shall We Art. Formal notices go to the address published on the Contact page.

Nothing on this page is legal advice. It states what the data sources require and what the software does, so that your own advisers can decide what your production needs.