Where to start! Beginner Questions

Started by Artofgp, July 03, 2017, 06:51:44 PM

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Artofgp

Quote from: Dune on July 06, 2017, 02:13:04 AM
There are several ways to do that; either make your own (Photoshop) 16-bit greyscale heightmaps, imported as image map shader, and used for displacement or mapping. Or kneed a mountain in another software and make a vector displacement map, import and vector displace it. Or use the painted shader (or warped simple shapes) to shape certain parts in TG itself (warped simple shapes are good for rivers, e.g.). And after adding a compute terrain, you can laterally displace the terrain by internal power fractal masks, or painted masks, or imported greyscale maps.
But TG doesn't work like ZBrush.
Or have a little patience (can't say more).

Interesting, I didn't know that was the way! Complete opposite to World Machine. BTW, Dune... your terragen pieces are amazing :) Very inspirational!

Quote from: bobbystahr on July 06, 2017, 12:55:42 AM
Quote from: Artofgp on July 05, 2017, 06:38:10 PM

Is there a way to carve out or shape a certain area? (ex:create canyons and rivers, or shape mountains in a certain formation)



Search create canyon

I don't actually ever hang in a forum so sorry for my lack of understanding how a forum functions! I will search more often for answers to my next questions! :)

Quote from: otakar on July 06, 2017, 12:54:30 PM
For vegetation, the most accessible is the file sharing section here. My longstanding gripe is that the forum is not really suitable to present this very well, it's not easy to search and sometimes you can't tell the quality of the models until you've played with them, but there is a lot of stuff there now, the bulk of it for free for personal use. Oh and don't forget NWDA (www.nwdastore.com), some well priced models and entire project files and there are even free assets on offer.

And welcome, this is a friendly place you'll find... ;)

Thank you, Otakar! I haven't gone searching around yet but I will from now on and see what I can get out of it. Vegetation seems to be the nitty gritty to making some of the scenes on the site realistically amazing!

I did end up getting Speedtree. I need to mess around with it to come up with some unique alien vegetation assets soon.

You guys have been awesome! Thanks everyone

Confused Dabbler

Hello,

Nice going! I'm a new arrival to terragen as well; I'm using the free version of Terragen Four. I believe you can download free versions here: https://planetside.co.uk/free-downloads/

I have some other newbie questions.

1. How to use the free terragen presets pack? I tried uploading them as an object and nothing happened. And when I try to open any of the files my computer says there isn't any application set to open them. Shouldn't terragen do that?

2. I have attempted to use the objects function; I downloaded some free plants from xfrog and populate my world. The "nodes" (?) show up, but nothing happens when I render. I cannot seem to find any tips from youtube about this.

Anyway, I know that I can do so much more with terragen than bare mountains, clouds, the sun, and lakes.

Anyway, thank you!

Attached[attachimg=1] is a sample of what I can eke out of terragen with my current knowledge of this.


bobbystahr

#17
Quote from: Confused Dabbler on May 14, 2019, 08:50:12 AM
Hello,

Nice going! I'm a new arrival to terragen as well; I'm using the free version of Terragen Four. I believe you can download free versions here: https://planetside.co.uk/free-downloads/

I have some other newbie questions.

1. How to use the free terragen presets pack? I tried uploading them as an object and nothing happened. And when I try to open any of the files my computer says there isn't any application set to open them. Shouldn't terragen do that?

2. I have attempted to use the objects function; I downloaded some free plants from xfrog and populate my world. The "nodes" (?) show up, but nothing happens when I render. I cannot seem to find any tips from youtube about this.

Anyway, I know that I can do so much more with terragen than bare mountains, clouds, the sun, and lakes.

Anyway, thank you!

Attached[attachimg=1] is a sample of what I can eke out of terragen with my current knowledge of this.



0. Welcome to Terragen world first off
1. the presets are clip files(collections of nodes to do stuff) and have a .tgc(terragen clip file)extension and the need to be connected to a Surface layer to perform their function. see pic below. So you add the .tgc with an insert clip file from either a Right click in the nodes area or from the File->insert clip file. For problems like the object issue and many others it's often helpful to upload a .tgd file here so we can inspect what you've done...there are many ways to do it wrong....

So I'd advise using the Search feature under loading .obj or .tgo files and get back to us if you are still confused.

Hope this was helpful.
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

Asterlil

Welcome from another noob! This forum is a great source of advice, and they are very tolerant of our blundering about. I recommend the video series by Vlad Chopine, known on the forum as Geekatplay. Even though they were made when Terragen was at v3, they are very useful and project-based.

XFrog has a whole page of free samples, but some of them are a bit blocky; I use Blender to smooth out some details, since I use the models in that app as well. I have also learned from this community to use PoseRay (free) to iron out problems with OBJ files before importing them into TG.

This is a fabulous piece of software, and it will reward your persistence. The bruises on your forehead will fade, and you won't even remember banging your head on the desk.

bobbystahr

Quote from: Asterlil on May 14, 2019, 01:22:26 PM
Welcome from another noob! This forum is a great source of advice, and they are very tolerant of our blundering about. I recommend the video series by Vlad Chopine, known on the forum as Geekatplay. Even though they were made when Terragen was at v3, they are very useful and project-based.

XFrog has a whole page of free samples, but some of them are a bit blocky; I use Blender to smooth out some details, since I use the models in that app as well. I have also learned from this community to use PoseRay (free) to iron out problems with OBJ files before importing them into TG.

This is a fabulous piece of software, and it will reward your persistence. The bruises on your forehead will fade, and you won't even remember banging your head on the desk.

well said Asterlil
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

Oshyan

I'd also point you toward the excellent beginner-oriented tutorial series from TerraTuts:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk_FvdzzZy-i5NvYoiNlcRBW6I2DCP7E

They don't cover everything yet (by far), but they are already a great introduction to many things, including using populations.

- Oshyan

SILENCER

#21
[attachimg=1]I use Terragen on the job quite a lot.

Sometimes in Previz for backgrounds (such as huge 16K sphericals) or even for full enviro shots, space shots on finals.

I did quite a few spherical maps for film we've been previzzing for awhile, plus Matt kicked us down some Terragen VDB files last year. We tossed all of it in LightWave with Octane, and the previz looks fabulous.

In fact, I'm using it on a freelance gig AS I TYPE THIS.

Terragen is used all the time.  Autodesk just has the press agent.

bobbystahr

Fabulous image mate and I totally love "Terragen is used all the time.  Autodesk just has the press agent." ha ha ha ha ha...good one as well
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist