it is possible to accurately recreate Earth in Terragen 3?

Started by Ariel DK, January 14, 2015, 12:36:59 AM

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bigben

I also had a look at the cloud clip you shared.  For using the blue marble image to restrict the clouds to over the land can I suggest adding a Colour to greyscale colour function and a Colour adjust function after the image(s).This will give you a bit more control over the distribution e.g. by using a negative black level you can add a lower density of the cloud over the water.

TheBadger

It has been eaten.

Ariel DK

Hmmm, what version of Terragen does God use?

Ariel DK

#48
NEW APPROACH
hi all, long ago, I did not see real images of our planet.
I found a new (and perhaps obsessive), problem here.
I will see that TG is capable of creating extremely detailed clouds
(I can go from the orbit to the surface without problems), but the reality is visually different to what we can show in terragen... why?
It is very simple: our planet is full of extremely complex patterns of clouds ... and it's not a joke
These patterns are very visible and cause a huge visual impact on the orbital landscape of the planet
however, all these patterns can be recreated in TG: http://gannaingh32.deviantart.com/art/Orbit-152516845 or  http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,8624.0.html
but, to all this immense work, we must add the fact that these patterns are closely related to land masses, since clouds tend to "adapt" or respect the coastal patterns.
Also, certain types clouds are formed only in specific areas such as peninsular areas and large islands (florida and oceania, for example)
IMHO, it makes no sense to create a realistic planet Earth, if in the end, you end up giving yourself artistic license with something as important as the clouds.
some ideas to achieve these "Located clouds patterns"?
This is an example of what I'm saying:
Hmmm, what version of Terragen does God use?

Oshyan

Well, I think your idea(s) of creating masks based on continent shapes is a good start. Some of BigBen's work on procedurally-generated masks should help. There may be ways of creating other "selectors" in procedural ways, e.g. edge selector for coast-appropriate cloud formations. That's something you could look into. Ben is pretty good with those kinds of techniques. You could also work on creating procedural noise functions to act as a mask for these cloud types, and then just aim for macro shapes in these procedural noises that emulate the kinds of large-scale shapes and distributions you see for different cloud types (as shown in your example image).

However you go about it, it will take a lot of work. But it seems possible to get some really good, realistic results, and it's definitely an important part of the "realistic Earth" concept and project.

- Oshyan

bigben

It is indeed complex, but quest for attempting this can also be very illuminating. The same problem exists with the surface of the planet. Short of city lights, my model has no cities or other human infrastructure.  For the atmosphere though, there are some possibilities to extend the concept further.  My Earth model includes a 36k mask of the land masses for masking the ocean and beyond that low resolution image maps of climate-influencing factors could be used to provide additional "true to life" variations. 

The tricky part is describing the variations in ways that can be implemented, but let's take mountain ranges as rain shadows as an example....  You would need masks based on slope direction and altitude - straightforward, and a vector for the trade wind direction ... a little trickier but possibly describe the average direction of the wind based on latitude. Combine those 2 and you may be able to have clouds forming more on one side of a mountain range than the other.   

It is indeed a complex challenge but there is much to be learnt in its pursuit ;)

Ariel DK

#51
Quote from: bigben on April 01, 2015, 05:27:34 PM
low resolution image maps of climate-influencing factors could be used to provide additional "true to life" variations. 
all is interesting! refers to something like this?
Hmmm, what version of Terragen does God use?

bigben

That depends on what it's mapping ;)  I'm thinking things like solar irradiance


or rainfall


or rainfall rate


etc...

Ariel DK

FINISHED?

I decided to revive this thread for last time...
and well, this is also my last post for some time
I'm a bit disappointed with my final result, because I wanted to create a semi-procedural clouds (or fully procedural) for my earth model
but the final result was a high detailed masked clouds, very effective at 500 km altitude, but not as much under 150 km altitude.
there's always room for improvement, so any advice is welcome.
the results speak for me:
Hmmm, what version of Terragen does God use?

Oshyan

I think your results look rather good. What is the source of the mask?

Remember that this is a very hard problem. No one else has fully solved it, in Terragen or any other program. I think your results here are some of the best I have seen in terms of accuracy and realism in an orbital view. Some of your previous images that I think were entirely procedural were also very good. So you have made some good progress, you have "pushed forward the state of the art". There is still work to be done, but this is a step closer. :)

- Oshyan

Dune

Welcome to the forum, Allen. And thanks for posting your work. I'm sure a lot of users will find it useful.

Ariel DK

Hi Oshyan, well, this is only the standard 43k cloud map by NASA, (blue marble collection). I've just created three detailed clouds layers, with a high contrast in the density node. nothing special. ;)

and welcome to the forums, Allen. I really appreciate your interest and any support.
I'll also post the TGC file, in file sharing.
Hmmm, what version of Terragen does God use?