Render Ideas

[zionner]

Hey All

I need some ideas from new renders..nothing too difficult...but im starting to find it hard to think of ideas

Thanks
Zionner

[Will]

You could try recreating the Scottish highlands.

[Oshyan]

I suppose it all depends on what kind of things you like. Personally I find there's no end of challenge and enjoyment in recreating real places with your own twist or particular preference. So picking random DEM data and then researching images of the area, or finding a really nice image first and then finding the DEM data to match it - both can be lots of fun.

- Oshyan

[Will]

I tried my hand at matte painting a while back using real life images and terragen, it was a fun alternative to just using purely digital stuff.



regards,

Will

[zionner]

Thanks Guys, Umm...out of interest...how do you use DEM Data...as i've never tryed it

[rcallicotte]

Cool, Will.  Great job.

I tried my hand at matte painting a while back using real life images and terragen, it was a fun alternative to just using purely digital stuff.



regards,

Will

[Oshyan]

Thanks Guys, Umm...out of interest...how do you use DEM Data...as i've never tryed it

Currently TG2 does not natively support any DEM formats so you would need to convert to a supported format first. You can use the free 3DEM for this purpose, though it only supports a limited amount of formats and terrain export resolutions. For more capability Global Mapper or [http://www.daylongraphics.com/]Leveller[/url] are good options but they're both a bit expensive. In all 3 of these programs I would convert to .ter for export. Then you can simply load your exported terrain directly into TG2 and begin your scene creation.

You can also find already converted terrains ready for use in Terragen on sites like Ashundar and Terranuts, in their respective file download areas.

- Oshyan

[zionner]

Thanks Oshyan

[Volker Harun]

Else go for Oshyan's tutorial http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=21 and create an entire planet - it is always fun discovering new shores 

[BPauba]

I would say focus on "studies" instead of scenes. work on recreating small aspects of nature such as ground texture (mud, dirty, sand, grass, granite, etc) maybe also effects that take place on the textures such as : strata, dry cracks, stress cracks, erosion, color variation, etc). Those will help you out alot.

[nvseal]

I agree with BPauba. Studies can help increase your understanding of TG 2 a lot. You might even be able to turn some of your studies into actual images. You may want to look up pictures and try to recreate aspects of them in TG 2 such as ground textures or rocks. Surfacing planets will also enlarge your understanding of the fractals.

[Volker Harun]

Agree with the two above - surface studies in small scale are quite delicate but fun. I created that way about 3 'standard shader groups'.
Those were sometimes that simple that I was afraid somebody would notice ,-)

[BPauba]

I wish I had more time to do these sort of studies myself, I have done plenty of them but now that I have started summer session I really do not see to much time in the future to do them! Ill try though. I would really enjoy seeing others' progression in the matter though, and maybe a short interesting description of their findings .