More active community / release date question.

[Jgone]

Hello, i understand this might sound like i'm bashing terragen/community, but i assure you these questions have no ill intentions.
Just curious.

1. Is there a forum / site that has a bit more going on than planetside forums ? I would love to read more about terragen and see what people come up with. One could say i'm a bit addicted.

2. After i purchased my Terragen 4, i received a mail that i would get the key in August when Terragen 4 releases.
Correct me if i'm wrong but didn't august just.. fly by ?
I have a feeling that there has been a notification of delay or something that i have missed. Could it be ?

Again, i don't mean to be negative towards the devs or anyone else. Love the product and will keep supporting it as long as i can.
I actually haven't even touched the TG4 Beta. Just want to wait for the full release.

[Dune]

1. This is the place to be! But it's very quiet lately, I have to admit. Used to be much more going on. Perhaps it's getting too complicated for people? So we need more enthusiasts working with TG and posting.

[Matt]

1. I think with social media the Terragen community might be more scattered than it was in the past. For example, people on Facebook wonder why people on the forum don't post to Facebook, and people on the forum wonder why people on Facebook don't post on the forum. And people are sharing Terragen images far and wide through other media, but maybe it's not connected enough. I don't know what the solution is yet, but I sense that there is a growing need for a more modern hub for all things Terragen. Maybe it could be built on top of this forum, or maybe it should be something new.

2. There has been a slight delay, and I'm sorry about the delay and lack of proactive communication about it. In the next 24 hours we're going to email everyone who pre-purchased TG4 or purchased the 1 Year Maintenance package, so be on the lookout for that. TG4 licenses will be sent out very soon, and the email will give a more precise estimate of when that will happen. It won't be long now

Matt

[Kadri]

Matt just a basic thing but even an image forum with top banners and thumbnail preview can make a difference.
I know from the Lightwave forum that after they changed the image gallery from thumbnail to without thumbnail previews the viewer participation got down. I heard that it can be hard to add to forums sometimes but it would be a small nice addition.

But that is really only a small thing probably as social media like Facebook does have changed the playground in a much broader scale unfortunately and not just here.

[Matt]

Matt just a basic thing but even an image forum with top banners and thumbnail preview can make a difference.
I know from the Lightwave forum that after they changed the image gallery from thumbnail to without thumbnail previews the viewer participation got down. I heard that it can be hard to add to forums sometimes but it would be a small nice addition.

That's one of the first things we would like to add. It would be a required feature of a new hub, but maybe it can be added to this forum too. We'll look into it. It's interesting to hear that there was a measured difference in the Lightwave case - that is good to know.

But that is really only a small thing probably as social media like Facebook does have changed the playground in a much broader scale unfortunately and not just here.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a bad thing overall. Terragen has lots of active users. Most of them aren't here on this forum, and we shouldn't dictate where people hang out, but there are new challenges for getting information where it needs to go.

Matt

[Kadri]

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a bad thing overall. Terragen has lots of active users. Most of them aren't here on this forum, and we shouldn't dictate where people hang out, but there are new challenges for getting information where it needs to go."

Yes that is right. It is a hard topic. Planetside gets more people maybe in that way.
You know probably if the effect of Facebook is better for you certainly.
It is just that i am not sure. Facebook does have it's own priorities then a dedicated forum like this.
If you get more users from there there is nothing much to say about this.
Searching and finding things about Terragen like aspects is another side that is better handled obviously (as it is now at least in Facebook for example) much better in a forum.

[Dune]

To be honest, I don't like Facebook at all, and will never get down there, and it's a great pity TG users take their stuff/sharing there and not use a dedicated forum. We used to have much more fun together! For me, that makes it a lot less pleasant to share ideas and setups, knowing it can be taken and used to show off at Facebook. But that's just my 'problem' of course.

[bobbystahr]

Well for me I always post here first and the FB page 2nd as this is where the TG users I wish to see/comment on my work hang out for the most part. I think a big part of forum use is seasonal. I recall when Moderating at renderosity that posts to the various forums would fall off from June to October, and the quality of Freestuff submissions I had to review would seriously fall off as well.
I as well thing a thumbnailed Gallery here would be a big plus.

[bobbystahr]

To be honest, I don't like Facebook at all, and will never get down there, and it's a great pity TG users take their stuff/sharing there and not use a dedicated forum. We used to have much more fun together! For me, that makes it a lot less pleasant to share ideas and setups, knowing it can be taken and used to show off at Facebook. But that's just my 'problem' of course.

It's very useful for more social concerns like announcing music gigs and keeping track of who is playing where and when which is why I joined Ulco, but I share your distaste for the gossip nature od 'social' sites...turns them anti social rapidly.

[Dune]

I know it's pretty useful for a lot of things, but my main concern is privacy and the big data gathering and exploitation.

[bobbystahr]

I know it's pretty useful for a lot of things, but my main concern is privacy and the big data gathering and exploitation.

heh heh, I empathize but at 68 if they don't know everything about me already they're seriously slipping, and they're welcome to everything I post,,,jpg's are so lossy they're welcome to em and any models I post are so amatuer I'd not dream of selling them.
Where as you my friend are a highly skilled pro with a burgeoning career ahead  from the looks of your commissions so I get your position.

[Kadri]

I know it's pretty useful for a lot of things, but my main concern is privacy and the big data gathering and exploitation.

If you use Hotmail,Gmail,Google for search and does have a smartphone you are already quite covered for any kind of privacy paranoia
http://www.precursorblog.com/?q=content/google%E2%80%99s-omnipresent-tracking-much-harder-leave-isp-privacy
Facebook adds just it's own share. Post, like and share less or only as you need.
I don't post images there directly anymore because of their policies for example.
Mostly Youtube links...opss that is part of Google too....

And of course you don't have to use it at all if you don't want to.
But i think you are too much afraid of what is only a part what is surveying us to the extreme already.
Finding your home address Ulco is an one click procedure for example-most probably-.
We are already in a 1984 world. Especially if you think about the NSA etc.

I think not participating isn't what can hold out someone of this anymore except for living on a island without any electronics.
There needs to be more strict rules-changes.

[masonspappy]

My sense has always been that image postings to Facebook forum seldom result in any technical discussion about the image such as settings used, etc.   Postings to this forum often entail highly detailed discussion of techniques and methodologies.  Since Facebook has such a large user base it's easier to 'discover' an artist posting there than here.  So I think it depends on what your looking for. I'm not a big fan of empty compliments (which I see a lot on FB) because it's not a real critique of the image.   Here..oh boy, people will let you know what's wrong, and that's the road to better images. I can go to FB and get people's 2 cents worth of feedback, or come here and get 20$ worth of feedback.

Having said that, blue nodes still suck.   

[Hetzen]

You are what you are. Just add to their statistics by being individual.

I like FB. I don't regurgitate what my day's been, although I have friends and groups that do. I just pipe up when I have something to say. Otherwise I like keeping tabs on friends who also pipe up. Somehow, time and distance from people condenses.

[Hetzen]

Having said that, blue nodes still suck.   

Blues are fun. You can do what you like.