Hi,
I just took a look at your gallery. The image "Eilean Donan Castle"
http://www.uponinfinity.com/prints.html is very nice.
You asked about my "photo compositing". After looking at your site this thread makes a lot more sense to me now. You were right (IMHO) to choose Terragen2 over other software if your intention is to make photo prints via 3D. Especially if you plan on doing photo compositing. Tg2 can produce images that blend with the real thing better than any other software that I have seen; For terrain at least. And again this is all just my personal feelings of the software.
My interest in terragen2 initially was to use the software in my nontraditional printing workflow; platinum, color transfer, Gum bichromates, lots of methods, even printing by intaglio. TG2 was a great way to get images that I didn't have a chance to make with a camera. But since I have been reading these forums, my interest in 3D has grown exspentially.
My education is all in Fine art and film. And my work background is broadcast television. I was an editor before going back to school. So when I found TG2 I was completely sold at first sight! I saw what people were doing with it and knew this was the way to go for me.
The software is easy to use once you understand it. But learning it in the first place has been a long painful process for me. So I have only a little "good" work done with it yet.
Here is a link to an artist that indirectly got me to terragen2,
http://www.dylancolestudio.com/ He uses actual photos in his work as well.
Imagine that kind of stuff (
take a look at the image of the people bathing in the river) in a B&W platinum! All the people in just the perfect place, the light just right.
He is a matte painter as you can see, I understand that is one of the primary uses for TG2, and I guess thats what some of the people from this community do. But I think TG2 is better than just a background maker and terrain visualizer! The renderer is great in my view, you get good images from default.
So this is where modeling comes in. Those buildings by the river in 3D would be hero objects. unique models made for a prominent position in a final work. That is why I mentioned Silva3D and NWDA. They provide models in TG2's native format at a good price. But your not likely going to find Something like the buildings I mentioned any place for cheep. So making them is a good option. Thats just my example, anything singular would do. But if you don't want to model, walli at Silva 3d will make you what you want for a fee.
Ok now after that long awkward testimonial, here is some more information related to your testing, in case you haven't seen it yet. Maybe someone else will need it.
http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=2537.0So your not the first to do what your doing, but your the first (I think) to write down the instructions. Good job for that!
Here are some more images that influenced me to buy terragen2. No, theres no obvious visual relationship. But I like treating portraits like landscapes. LOgic is not a requirement for being an artist. It may help though.
http://www.vervegallery.com/?p=artist_biography&a=MG&photographer=Misha%20GordinHeck, your a photographer, just take a look at the entire artist list and gallery.
http://www.vervegallery.com/?p=represented_artists
