Make flat (yes again, but more complex this time)

[TheBadger]

Hi,

I have a canyon. At the bottom a river made with a lake object.
I just saw that the water makes the ground totally flat in a few viewing options in TG, and when exporting an object of the terrain, the water is made as a flat plane... Which was interesting, because I did not know you could export water from TG.

Anyway, I would like to make the valley in my canyon as flat and smooth as the lake makes it. But without the water. And in the case of my scene, I would like that to fallow the natural slope of the canyon.

So my questions.
1) How do I get the river to; A) be masked to only happen in the bottom of the canyon. B) to get the river to not be flat at 45degrees, but slope down with the flow of the terrain, but still be flat on top, though at an angle. c) How do I mask the terrain by the lake object then (so that the effect will be on the terrain, not the water)

To explain a little better "C". After I did A and B, I then want the terrain to look like the surface of how the water would look, but without the water. And while this is a complex way of doing it, I don't know of a way to get that look that I am getting in the "terrain view" in TG.

What I just wrote makes scenes to me, so if its not clear please just ask. If it does make sense to you but you know of a better/simpler way, please share.

Here are some screen grabs to show it:

[attach=1]
[attach=2]

Now I know this is a strange way to want to do it ( I think it is ), but after I get the floor flat like the lake looks, then I want to use image maps on that to form the river, and then put the lake object in that just as mentioned above... Make sense to you? A better way? IF there is a better way, I still need to make the water "stick" to the terrain slope, so, HELP! 

[choronr]

Try the attached clip file.

[TheBadger]

Thank you Bob. I will get back into this in the morning! Cheers.

[Dune]

If you're using a map anyway for the valleys, you'd better draw in the river as well. If you keep the lowest areas abolutely black, and the sides of the river not getting into the 'first gray', you'll have a flat river. In TG you can then add some soft perlin noise to fluctuate the whole terrain, inclusing the river. If you stretch the perlin perpendicular to the valley, and hit seed a few times, you may get a nice sloping river in certain areas. You could even mask it inversely by the terrain image map, so the perlin won't extend to the tops of the valley, but only change the bottom areas. For a still that works fine.
The way I made rivers stick to valley bottoms is using a simple shape, so that's completely different.

[TheBadger]

Hi,

still having an issue with this.
I have an image map I made in PS. Its a canyon shape that I am using to displace a terrain in the negative, cutting the shape into the terrain (no other nodes). Easy.

Then I added a PF intended for everywhere other than where my mask is. I thought that only the terrain that was not masked would change (even when using the mask again on the PF). No mater how I do it it does not work the way I want.

I like very much the effect of the rim raising and lowering with the added PF, but I *need* the canyon floor to remain constant and flat. I have tried masking it, get strange results; one part will be like I want, but the other half will now be displaced in the positive, so that half the canyon will be above the terrain, and the other half just like I am asking about.

How do I clamp the canyon floor to stay at sea level, but allow the rim to rise and fall with the rest of the terrain if I use a PF or a DEM? (hope I am using the word clamp correctly here)

I tried to use the info (and the clip from Bob) in this thread But I am missing something. I am not connecting nodes right or something. Though I have tried all the possibles I think. there are only two nodes without Bob's clip.

Here is a tgd and mask I put together for the sake of this conversation. Its not my project files, just the issue in the simplest possible terms I could put it. May be best to just show me what I am doing wrong.

Thank you.

[Dune]

Did you make the second map with just the canyon floor black? Or is it a map that's been repeated, with the total size of the first map in black? Then you'd have to use a sss the same size as the first map to eliminate the working of the second map in the area of the first map.
If the canyon floor is white in your first map and black in your second, there shouldn't be a problem. With the first you lower the white until the height you want, the second map will stay level where it is black. But the canyon floor needs to be black then! So to make the map, you can first negate the first map, then draw with black into the white outside the canyon.

[Dune]

Or do you mean this?

[TheBadger]

Hi Ulco,
I downloaded your tgd. But I am sorry, I don't see what you are trying to teach me. Your file has the same problem. I changed the offset to positive and got the canyon, but there is no flat bottom, it has the exact same problem.

If the canyon floor is white in your first map and black in your second, there shouldn't be a problem. With the first you lower the white until the height you want, the second map will stay level where it is black. But the canyon floor needs to be black then! So to make the map, you can first negate the first map, then draw with black into the white outside the canyon.

So simply inverse the color of the map?

I'm really sorry man, I just don't understand what you are saying to me here. Could this be the problem: When I tried it the way I thought it would work when I first tried it at all, it kinda worked. After looking at it again, I see that the PF, and the DEM I was playing with displaced the default ground not only up, but also below in some areas (of the default terrain). So if I make a image mapped terrain on the default planet, then should I be somehow masking the PF or DEM to only displace in the positive??... If so how should I do that as I am completely confused again.

It would just help so much if I could see this work correctly in the first place.

The other way I thought to do this is with a series of overlapping planes, where each part of the scene is on a different plane object. Never tried that before though, so not sure how it would blend from one plane to the next.
I have been working on each aspect of this in a separate tgd file, making clips of the parts, now I am just trying to put it all together. This is the only real problem I have been having for the most part. When I planed this out I thought this would be the easiest part, but its the only part I am not doing well with.

[Ashley]

If I understand what your after this might help. Its a simple setup of mountains/hills smooth transition into a flat terrain.

Starting with a new scene, create the following
- power fractal shader
- simple shape shader
- merge shader

Plug the PFS into the MS first input, and the SSS into the second input (shader A) and the MS output into the compute terrain.
In the mix control of the MS set "choose altitude" to "Highest(raise)".
Set "feature scale" and "displacement amplitude" in the PFS to 1000.

What you should see is the PFS being cut to the SSS base.
To take this further I converted this network to a height field and was able to control the blend on the transition between the PFS and SSS.
I've attached a clip for you to see.

Tip: If you select lowest (cutaway) in the MS it will produce the inverse effect (canyons).

Hope that helps, was an interesting challenge for myself anyways.
Cheers
 

[Dune]

Oh, you want a really flat bottom? Didn't get that. Then I'd also mask the first fractal by the mask.

[Kadri]

Another basic way might be using a plane.

[Kadri]

I don't know how much flat you want the bottom part of the displacement Michael.
Using a careful made image mask without AA (the jpg file does have parts that look white but are grey actually for example) in it can make it look a little better.
You probably don't use that jpg (they are bad for detailed work) file.
A mask made exactly for this work is a little more helpful but you will still get little beveled parts on the bottom even then (with only a mask).

You can add the same mask ones again in the chain and push it in the positive direction a little and get more flat edges but then the middle part of the mask is different.
Try and see if it is a help. Maybe it does help for what you want to use it.

You get nice shapes that way too. I am trying a new image because of this now

[TheBadger]

Thanks everyone!!!

I will have some time with my family this Sunday morn, then spend the day trying to finish this. I will try everything you all have posted and see what happens.

Very grateful

[archonforest]

Thanks everyone!!!

I will have some time with my family this Sunday morn, then spend the day trying to finish this. I will try everything you all have posted and see what happens.

Very grateful

Have a nice time with them

[TheBadger]

@Ashley
Thanks. The clip is pretty cool anyway. Saved it. Im trying it in this case now. But its cool regardless.

@ Dune
no mater, I am an idiot.

@KAdri,
Downloading now.

I am trying a new image because of this now

curious what you have thought of and are trying! It would be nice to think that my endless questioning leads you and others to something useful. Then at least I am of some use here

@archonforest
Thanks man. My kids are one and a half, and 4 and a half. So they are still prefect. Have not learned fear yet, and are interested in absolutely everything. Everything in the world is still a miracle to them. They saved my optimism. My wife is just a sweetheart