TERRALIVE - Node network workflow - preparation and feedback thread

[Tangled-Universe]

Hi All,

Here is some more info on my sessions on Saturday and Sunday, january 19th and 20th.
During both sessions we'll build a scene from scratch using a World-Machine 2 based heightfield.

Saturday I will cover:

0) node network workflow and hierarchy, how is the network structured? how to interpret what needs to be done where?
1) importing heightfields/clipfiles into your scene.
2) detailing terrain using redirect shader, strata & outcrops and a voronoi based function network
3) restricting these displacements by altitude/slope
4) shading the landscape
5) adding fake stones
6) adding water

See attached image for the aimed end result of this session.

Using this scene as a basis on Sunday I will cover:

1) Importing trees/grasses into your scene
2) Object/population placement into your scene
3) Masking populations
3) Managing population sizes
4) Tweaking populations' appearance, add natural variation through various methods
5) Tweaking objects' shaders
6) Background on rendering of objects/populations
7) Render recommendations for final project

End result for this session will be posted tomorrow, stay tuned!

Don't miss the show! Get a Silver or Gold pass today!!!

Especially the first session is quite comprehensive and will cover many many aspects of scene building in Terragen.
The sessions will be presented in short chunks and then summarized.
The summary and all resource files, except for the scene objects, will be available for download.

The level is aimed at beginners to intermediate. A few aspects of the scene might be considered as advanced.
Based on your self-assesment I'd like to hear how you feel about the content of these sessions?

Thanks in advance,
Martin

PS: Partipants will also get a "commercial use" cloud package after the show from NWDA. It contains a lot of good stuff and has a money value of 69 Euro (about 90 USD).

[zaxxon]

As a new user of T2 your agenda fits perfectly with my objectives. Having already searched the forum archives for many of these steps, having this material presented in a natural sequence with a working example is about as good as it could get for me. Not to be giddy here, but this is really a fine thing that you're doing, and will definately shorten the "painful" aspects of learning this software.

[otakar]

As someone who's been playing with TG 2 since its release (and v0.9 before that) I have done all of the above in your list many times. If you want to keep it to the basics I will certainly understand, but since you asked for feedback I'd certainly be grateful if you can slide in as many tips as you can in terms of 'best practice' to optimize speed and keep the network clean and well organized as well as achieve better results of course. Discussing the less obvious parameters in the nodes used would be another thing I will be looking for. Thanks for the preview!

[Dune]

Sounds good, Martin. It seems you have covered everything and it should be a tremendous experience for those who want to see a pro working his way to a final render!

[FrankB]

As someone who's been playing with TG 2 since its release (and v0.9 before that) I have done all of the above in your list many times. If you want to keep it to the basics I will certainly understand, but since you asked for feedback I'd certainly be grateful if you can slide in as many tips as you can in terms of 'best practice' to optimize speed and keep the network clean and well organized as well as achieve better results of course. Discussing the less obvious parameters in the nodes used would be another thing I will be looking for. Thanks for the preview!

I've seen Martin's demo setup. While perhaps the description of topics covered sounds relatively basic, I can assure you the scene that's being developed is quite complex. It's easily worthwhile even for experienced users! Knowing Martin, he won't be able to hold off on any pro tips that will cross his mind ;-)

cheers
Frank

[Tangled-Universe]

Thank you Frank

Otakar, as Frank mentioned some aspects of the demo setup are quite complex and I'm indeed especially keen on sharing all the knowledge and answering all the questions you like.


In the meantime, here's the result of the sunday session.
(I may add a few more objects to raise the final quality of the work, but it will for sure not be of lower quality than this )

Cheers,
Martin

[otakar]

Sounds good, Martin. Looking forward to it whether I can be there live or not.

[TheBadger]

  OH YEAH!