Newbie help! cant control plants...

[maxrazor]

This is my first time posting, and i was wondering if you guys could help me.
Im trying to create a scene but I dont know how to apply altitude limits to the trees.
I just started trying out the free plants today, and im having trouble, because i need them of the tops of the mountains and out of the water.
Any help would be appreciated.

[dhavalmistry]

use distribution shader and connect it to "blending shader" at the bottom of the population properties page

[maxrazor]

Ok I understand the Distribution shader part, but where is the "Blend Shader" ?

I know, im really new at it when it comes to terminology. Im learning TG2 for my school Special Project.

[dhavalmistry]

check the pic below....

[maxrazor]

Thank you very much! 

[Oshyan]

The "blending shader" advice is not quite correct. Here are the specific steps:

Open the settings for the population node of your tree object (something like "Pop tree-object.obj"). You can do this by clicking on it in the Node List on the left of the Objects layout, or double-clicking the node in the Node Network view.

At the bottom of the population node's settings, check the "Use Density Shader" box.

Click the button to the far right of that with a + and small > arrow on it. In the menu that pops up select Create New Shader->Colour Shader->Distribution Shader V4.

Click the same +> button again and now select "Go to Distribution Shader v4 01", which will bring up settings for the Distribution Shader.

Now just enable the distribution limits you want, for example on the Altitude and Slope Constraints tabs, and tweak the settings as desired.

Edit: Ah, beat me to it. Picture says 1000 words.

- Oshyan

[Dune]

Regarding this, a question pops up; why doesn't the population node not have a standard input for density? Like the surface shader has its standard blend input. This would be (a little, I admit) easier if you work in the node window. Same goes for a plane. Not important, just a question.

[Tangled-Universe]

Regarding this, a question pops up; why doesn't the population node not have a standard input for density? Like the surface shader has its standard blend input. This would be (a little, I admit) easier if you work in the node window. Same goes for a plane. Not important, just a question.

I agree.
I exclusively work in the node-network, so I always create a surface or distribution shader and copy/paste its name in the density shader input for the populations.
I think it could be a nice if a population was created along with a distribution shader attached to it as density shader. Good idea!

[Dune]

Or just an input in the population node. I's easy enough to pull a line over... By the way, copy/paste is an idea (until this new feature is implemented  ), I always create a distri shader first, give it a name, and have to find it in the list through the population density shader.

[Henry Blewer]

I have done what Dune suggests, when my brain is fully functioning. I create a node group and add distribution and/or image maps there.

[Tangled-Universe]

Or just an input in the population node. I's easy enough to pull a line over... By the way, copy/paste is an idea (until this new feature is implemented  ), I always create a distri shader first, give it a name, and have to find it in the list through the population density shader.

Well, probably like you I have often 100+ nodes networks and then finding one specific name in the list is a pain. Copy/Pasting the node's name is fast and as an extra it is automatically checked/activated as well hooray!

[Dune]

Indeed, so do I. But lately I tend to put a lot of nodes into (the interior of) a surface or color adjust shader. Gives a clean working space, with a lot of ++, however 

Sorry to have hijacked this topic (a little)...

[Hetzen]

If I'm working in a heavy node network that relies on 'Get ...' nodes or using the same constants many times, something that has been really useful is creating an internal network inside a Constant Node re-named to "00Common". Inside this I set up my "Get Position", "Get Altitude", Constants "0", "1", "0.2", "0.8", "Pi", etc. So when I want to plug one of these commonly used values, I click on the "Assign Shader" button on a node's input or dialogue, and right at the top of the list is my "00Common" group, where you'll find your common values. This puts an arrow marker on the node input, and gets rid of lots of wayward connection strings in your node layout.

I've also set up masks in the same way in an internal network called "00Masks".

This maybe a little more advanced than the OP required, but it's a good working practice that helps keep your layout neat and tidy, and organised in a way that makes setting links up very easy and intuative. Try it, works well.

[cyphyr]

I do the same for repeatedly used models. If I have many small populations they dont each have to load the same model seperately. Its already loaded in a group called "Pop Models".
Richard

[Hetzen]

Nice one Richard, I hadn't thought of using links to the same model before.