Terragen 2 Release Announcement Discussion

Started by Oshyan, December 12, 2007, 07:10:04 PM

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PG

Yep. think how much those shots in the Golden Compass must be worth. Large companies that use Terragen in production have massive render farms for these kinds of things. Remember Transformers? One of the shots of bumblebee on that platform being shocked with those...whatever they were, took 4 days to render each frame, Shrek 2 had a similar render time on one of the scenes in shreks house.
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JimB

#781
The elements on Golden Compass were rendered on two quad cores and my laptop. Like I said in an earlier post, I don't have a massive render farm. Animation was done by rendering the elements in XSI. I have done fully animated clouds since though, but not rendered on a big render farm again.

Don't assume anything about VFX, especially some things you read in the press.
Some bits and bobs
The Galileo Fallacy, 'Argumentum ad Galileus':
"They laughed at Galileo. They're laughing at me. Therefore I am the next Galileo."

Nope. Galileo was right for the simpler reason that he was right.

SilverCity

I'm somewhat new to the Terragen community, so this may have been mentioned before. One thing that may help to sell T2 is a book or DVD manual/tutorial that would show how to best use the software. While the user base helps out with file sharing and various webstites, there should be at least one book/DVD that would consolidate the finer points of T2. Something like the books for Blender. Or the Geekatplay videos. Terragen 0.9 was easier for me to understand than this node based editor in T2. I'm sure a lot of people would have more confidence in purchasing, if they knew how to use this latest version of Terragen.

PG

#783
Maybe you don't Jim but you're not the only CGI designer in the world. In fact Dreamworks have a reported 1000 processors in their own render farm, and they do some pretty neat films.
Quote from: SilverCity on May 27, 2008, 06:50:37 PM
I'm somewhat new to the Terragen community, so this may have been mentioned before. One thing that may help to sell T2 is a book or DVD manual/tutorial that would show how to best use the software. While the user base helps out with file sharing and various webstites, there should be at least one book/DVD that would consolidate the finer points of T2. Something like the books for Blender. Or the Geekatplay videos. Terragen 0.9 was easier for me to understand than this node based editor in T2. I'm sure a lot of people would have more confidence in purchasing, if they knew how to use this latest version of Terragen.
Indeed, the function nodes in particular need a little explaining, along with some of the more obscure shaders like the Lambert shader. If we could find a willing publisher then we may even be able to get members of the Terragen community to contribute what they know. Cos let's face it, the developers ain't got the spare time to go about writing books.
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lightning

hey guys i want to say sorry to planetside and others i shouldn't of said all that stuff especially with the 'sentence enhancements'
i was just really annoyed about my latest render it took 50 hours for nothing really i mean what a waste of power :(
after reading the last couple of pages i have now decided i will zip my mouth about the delay and let PS get on with there job i would rather have them take ages and come up with a software that will rock the 3d world to its core rather than release it now and be full of bugs and errors (like the latest alpha!!!)

anyway i watched stealth the other week (at last) and i must say the graphics where amazing and you could so tell it was terragen! any other software could not produce those sort of results!!
and remember terragen was used in house as i pointed out a couple of weeks ago!!!

I think when terragen is released it will totally revolutionize the 3d world especially matte painting!
i have been doing matte art since i was a kid and its one of the most hardest things to do!
now with terragen out it makes it sooooo  much easier with a lot better results :)
i think terragen 2 alongside with cityengine and photoshop will dominate and completely change how matte artists work ;)
p.s
oh and mowhawk that free plant thing was a joke ;D
i am planning to release a pack of 3 bushes soon though ;D

Cyber-Angel

I think that more and more you are going to see convergence in software technologies to the degree that you may see software in future that is a complete production suite in one package, this would take you from early preproduction and concept development, through principle photography, post production which would cover FX work , Editing, colour grading and matching and compositing all the way to final print.

If you think about convergence where different technologies are brought together in a single device, this has happened with cell phone technology which allow you to do more then make phone calls these abilities include but are not limited to: Internet Browsing, MP3 Playing and Digital Photography and Video among other things, this could well happen with software so people aren't wasting time opening different software titles so they can get their work done.

Studies have shown that opening having to go between different software is distracting and takes between 25-30 minutes to regain concentration given the mean average time, take this time over an organization  over a quarter as time waisted, and seen form that view point as lost revenue then factor that by what that means across a nation it dose have an affect on GDP.

What would be nice is if you could have every thing you needed to do your job in a single application without having to open multiple applications, with the deleterious effect they have over time on productivity with a great potential for employee down time as a result: a single software title that worked for all sectors and market segments that was modular in design so you get what you want your software to be, and not tools you have no use for as they are specific to certain types of industry only.

This software would have a number of options about how it would brought, these include physical media for retail stores, internet download and hosted (Software as service) these would suit different class of costumer.

Regards to you.

Cyber-Angel  ;D
                     

arisdemos

Well now PG I didn't name any noses as proctologically image mapped, and so if the shoe or whatever doesn't fit don't put it on. As to my being more polite I believe that what goes around comes around, and an unlevel playing field instills little civility and even less respect. Polite is nice, but a shism does exist within this forum, between the potential buyer with limited TG2 power/function and the pre-paid users who are the active customers, and often think  or act (as the saying goes) as though they are always right. The truth is that maybe the graphics person who waits to make his buy is meanwhile creating within his own sphere works that are in the professional sense above and beyond what is generally seen on this forum.  It is not polite nor fair for some fool with more money than brains to tell someone who does not own TG2 to create/compete at a disadvantage or ("get off the pot") shut up. 

The real case I was trying to make was that pre-paid users lickspittle or not are the minority market potential. It's the nameless masses who's pictures will probably never gain any standing in this little forum tea party who are the ones that ultimatly will render this software company the financial success it seeks. If this real market does not learn to use and like Terragen 2 without risking their capitol blindly during  hard economic times, then Planetside better invest the monies of its pre-payers very very wisely. Of course if you can find enough of such people (those who think 200 dollars isn't much to fret about in the larger scheme of things), maybe P. T. Barnum was right on.

The only hold this or any other software has on me is how well I can use it during the creative process. I have stopped using TG2 right now and for the time being will observe the efforts of the pre-paid users to judge the state of the programs progress. Some of what I see so far stimulates me, but without hands on performance other people's work will probably never move me to buy. I will wait for a while longer to see if Planetside decides to once again open the presently closed circle of what I consider its most functional learning curve, a free leading edge TG2 release of limited function. If this doesn't occur until the price become prohibitive, then TG2 it was very nice meeting you.

Arisdemos 

rcallicotte

I understand some people might not be able to afford $200.  But, those aren't the people in the graphic arts industry.


Quote from: arisdemos on May 28, 2008, 01:08:40 AM
Well now PG I didn't name any noses as proctologically image mapped, and so if the shoe or whatever doesn't fit don't put it on. As to my being more polite I believe that what goes around comes around, and an unlevel playing field instills little civility and even less respect. Polite is nice, but a shism does exist within this forum, between the potential buyer with limited TG2 power/function and the pre-paid users who are the active customers, and often think  or act (as the saying goes) as though they are always right. The truth is that maybe the graphics person who waits to make his buy is meanwhile creating within his own sphere works that are in the professional sense above and beyond what is generally seen on this forum.  It is not polite nor fair for some fool with more money than brains to tell someone who does not own TG2 to create/compete at a disadvantage or ("get off the pot") shut up. 

The real case I was trying to make was that pre-paid users lickspittle or not are the minority market potential. It's the nameless masses who's pictures will probably never gain any standing in this little forum tea party who are the ones that ultimatly will render this software company the financial success it seeks. If this real market does not learn to use and like Terragen 2 without risking their capitol blindly during  hard economic times, then Planetside better invest the monies of its pre-payers very very wisely. Of course if you can find enough of such people (those who think 200 dollars isn't much to fret about in the larger scheme of things), maybe P. T. Barnum was right on.

The only hold this or any other software has on me is how well I can use it during the creative process. I have stopped using TG2 right now and for the time being will observe the efforts of the pre-paid users to judge the state of the programs progress. Some of what I see so far stimulates me, but without hands on performance other people's work will probably never move me to buy. I will wait for a while longer to see if Planetside decides to once again open the presently closed circle of what I consider its most functional learning curve, a free leading edge TG2 release of limited function. If this doesn't occur until the price become prohibitive, then TG2 it was very nice meeting you.

Arisdemos 
So this is Disney World.  Can we live here?

PG

Yeah and saying that those people have more money than brains, while being completely stupid because I have absolutely no money whatsoever and could barely afford food this week, is again being deliberately mean to people who have done nothing other than like this product so how about you grow up, let people buy what they want with their money and for the love of God stop insulting people who've done nothing to you.
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bertrand

Am I living on planet Mars if I think that anyone who's able to afford the kind hardware needed to use TG2 should also be able to fork out $200 on software? This doesn't seem like such a wild assumption, does it? Or is the subjective value we put on software so low...?

rcallicotte

Bertrand, it's all relative.  What's important to someone?  If it isn't important, something else must be.

As far as hardware requirements, I have found that a pretty low end computer worth about $500 can run TG2 just fine...before this recent Alpha came out.
So this is Disney World.  Can we live here?

Seth

Quote from: bertrand on May 28, 2008, 10:38:54 AM
Am I living on planet Mars if I think that anyone who's able to afford the kind hardware needed to use TG2 should also be able to fork out $200 on software?

mmmh i have an old computer (that i paid in several times)and it took me a while to have the money to pre-pay TG2... i have low money job and two kids... some people just have priority...
but, if your job is CG, $200 doesn't seem to be a lot of money because your priority will be to have good software and some are reaaaally more expensive than TG2 :)

bertrand

Fair enough, Calico, Seth.
I don't have millions in the bank and my job isn't CG so I can put myself in just everybody's shoes.
Then again, nobody who thinks they can't afford 200 bucks on software - be if for good reasons - can complain if they don't fall into Planetside's customer target group. I was at an event with the boss of Autodesk the other day. Some guy from the local chamber of architects complained about the company's policy of offering expensive, non-backward-compatible upgrades on a yearly basis. The answer was that perhaps architects should start running their business in ways that let them afford good tools. In other words, if you can't afford my software than I won't have an interest in having you as a customer. I have my problems with Autodesk, mainly the anti-competitive acquisition policy, but I kind of see his point. This is why even small, young companies like NextLimit, Chaosgroup or Feversoft all charge $1000 for their beta versions - because the people who matter to them will buy it at this price and selling it cheaper to a larger client base (namely hobbyists like you and me) does not make business sense to them.
So the guys without the $200 can complain all they like, but chances are Planetside won't give a dime because they're not looking to these guys as their future client base. They're just not part of the equation...

rcallicotte

#793
I will add along with Seth that it took me awhile to save up the money, once I realized it would be possible to try TG2.  I just have never seen software like this and am glad I got it.

[edit - I agree with your insight, Bertrand.  Software is too expensive, I think, but it's relative to the customer base.  As far as TG2, I have no idea what that base is.  Perhaps Planetside can give us a little insight about that.]
So this is Disney World.  Can we live here?

bertrand

Having said that, I don't think Planetside's problem is whether they charge too much or too little. Their problem is that they obviously did not develop TG2 as a multithreaded applications and when they tried to make it so realised they had to rewrite the entire code from scratch. At least that's the way it looks from where I stand.
Right now I'm sure the pricing of the future, stable product is the least of their concern ;-)