In a separate thread
about city streets we began discussing creation of 3D contour maps of hills, mountains, and such
Can anyone suggest the best way(s) to do this--hopefully ?

I have used diplacement maps in Photoshop to create waving flags & banners; would this be one possible avenue? Or would a 3D application such as Bryce, Terragen, 3D Studio Max, etc. be most useful? Hopefully the latter is not the only method, since for many of us the high price tag of those programs makes them prohibitive.

I'm a complete novice at this sort of art, although I do own a couple 3D programs, so any help/advice would be appreciated. I can see it being very valuable.