Terragen Bible

[pixelpusher636]

It's finally here! No, someone's telling porky pies (big fat lies) but it could be. Anyone up for putting an official TG Bible together for real? I'm not the greatest technical writer and the knowledge of the subject matter is kind of minimal.

What I do have is printmaking, setup/layout skills and a print shop at my disposal to print and assemble a professional quality book.

The forums are great but it's kind of nice to have a physical book sometimes. We would also have a searchable digital version as well once the book was setup. Those who helped considerably would likely receive a free or extremely discounted physical copy with shares in proceeds from sales. If anyone has the desire and wants to team up I'm game.

Am I getting ahead of myself? Is this even something (besides myself) that anyone would want or find useful?

Jay

[aknight0]

The idea has been brought up before, in the depths of Terragen time: https://planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,12906.0.html.  Looks like the thread immediately went off topic, but some interesting historical background there.  

I'm assuming this would be more of a walkthrough book, rather than a print-out of the documentation?  Personally, I'm not big on physical books for software because they become obsolete so quickly.  That being said, Terragen might be an exception based on how slowly it changes.  I mean, sometimes I find useful info on this forum from almost 20 years ago, so...maybe?  Sounds like a cool idea, though it would be a big project.  

[WAS]

I'm not one for tutorial books (I like reference books), but having something like this would just be too good to pass up on.

[pixelpusher636]

I'm not talking about a tutorial book per say, (aknight has that covered already with terratuts) possibly some how-to's but more of a manual of sorts. A breakdown of nodes, tips, tricks etc. Any of you every read "The Blender Book" by Carsten Wartmann? Something more along those lines. Just to be clear I have had this book since the early 2000's and it's still useful even as Blender keeps evolving in an unrecognizable way. Meanwhile Terragen remains backwards compatible and for the most part unchanged.

aknight I remember that thread well and it went off topic very quickly but for the most part in an interesting way. Some guy named Matt even chimed in about fractals, multi resolution shadow maps and all kinds of nerdy cool stuff.   Very good read for sure but it went off subject so fast the original idea never progressed, Maybe that's the highlight I should have taken away from it.

[Dune]

It would be a HUGE undertaking. Even with a few nodes one can keep on combining and getting interesting (publishable?) results. I wouldn't know where to start....

[WAS]

It would be a HUGE undertaking. Even with a few nodes one can keep on combining and getting interesting (publishable?) results. I wouldn't know where to start....

That's why I like reference books. You learn those nodes in and outs and can easy imagine ways to do things. 

[pixelpusher636]

It would be a HUGE undertaking. Even with a few nodes one can keep on combining and getting interesting (publishable?) results. I wouldn't know where to start....

Maybe I was thinking too big or not thinking things through. I should be clear I will spend however long it takes to format and setup this book. The real question is if I will need any time at all given the feedback.  Maybe a reference book is the better way to go? I'm open for suggestions and please someone just say if this is a no go idea and we can finally put this topic that resurfaces time and again to bed once and for all.

I seriously just want to learn TG and you always see in the forum people wanting a guide etc. and thought we could make all sides happy (including myself) and just do this. It's tragic to me that such an amazing piece of software doesn't have a book.

Let me know your thoughts..

[billhd]

For inspiration and ideas you might look at this old classic tome...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/708849.Real_World_Bryce_4_With_

Will you be using a Gutenberg or Heidelberg?

There's nothing like holding a book.  For this type of matter they start going out of date quickly though.  But like the very good book above, can maintain their relevance by attention to methods and results.  

[Dune]

I think, and this is my personal idea, that a book will not be made as it's too big to handle. It will take someone very much time to first of all list what's going to be written (chapters, and such), then to find information in detail about every aspect, then to discuss the best ways to present the data, and then to write it all down in a logical way (for the noob as well). And then there's the problem of the size of the book. Some node structures don't even fit (readable) on a A4 sized book 
I've been thinking about making a book myself with some of my best TG work, but also wanted to present the node structure, and thought it would not be possible (or interesting perhaps).

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi Everyone,

Whether a book is published or not, I think that pixelpusher636's comment "I seriously want to learn TG ..." accurately reflects what many Terragen users desire, and echoes my own experience as well. 

For example, I've often looked at the node network example images accompanying the forum threads and wondered to myself, "What's the thought process that goes on behind all this?  I don't even know where to begin."  I've even mentioned this to Matt and Cris a number of times.

Over the past year we've been updating the online documentation for each node in Terragen and during this process, new ideas have arisen on how best to illustrate the many ways in which a given node can be used.  Some of the newer updates include a section at the end of the technical descriptions called "Fun With ..." and it's here that we hope to address the practical, and perhaps not so apparent uses of each node in order to unlock their full potential.  This is an example: https://planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Get_Position_in_Texture

Here's the thing; as I've update the documentation I've actually begun to think in "blue nodes", that is to understand when and where to use a mathematical function in order to get the creative and artistic look I'm after...and if I can learn that, anyone can.

So just for fun, periodically click on the "?" button that's available on each of Terragen's features or nodes to open the online documentation and see if there's something new.  Please feel free to message me with any topics, ideas, or examples that might be good to include in the documentation and I'll do my best to see that it gets incorporated so that we all can seriously learn Terragen!

[pixelpusher636]

For inspiration and ideas you might look at this old classic tome...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/708849.Real_World_Bryce_4_With_
Will you be using a Gutenberg or Heidelberg?
There's nothing like holding a book.  For this type of matter they start going out of date quickly though.  But like the very good book above, can maintain their relevance by attention to methods and results. 

billhd Ahh! I remember that one. I think I actually owned that one at one point. I was definitely a fan of Bryce for many years. Thanks for the reminder!

I think, and this is my personal idea, that a book will not be made as it's too big to handle. It will take someone very much time to first of all list what's going to be written (chapters, and such), then to find information in detail about every aspect, then to discuss the best ways to present the data, and then to write it all down in a logical way (for the noob as well). And then there's the problem of the size of the book. Some node structures don't even fit (readable) on a A4 sized book 
I've been thinking about making a book myself with some of my best TG work, but also wanted to present the node structure, and thought it would not be possible (or interesting perhaps).

You are probably saving me innumerable hours Dune. I had anticipated it taking quite sometime; but now seeing the comments I'm thinking it would have been considerably longer and would have seriously taken away from some actual Terragen time. �

Hi Everyone,
Whether a book is published or not, I think that pixelpusher636's comment "I seriously want to learn TG ..." accurately reflects what many Terragen users desire, and echoes my own experience as well. 
For example, I've often looked at the node network example images accompanying the forum threads and wondered to myself, "What's the thought process that goes on behind all this?  I don't even know where to begin."  I've even mentioned this to Matt and Cris a number of times.
Over the past year we've been updating the online documentation for each node in Terragen and during this process, new ideas have arisen on how best to illustrate the many ways in which a given node can be used.  Some of the newer updates include a section at the end of the technical descriptions called "Fun With ..." and it's here that we hope to address the practical, and perhaps not so apparent uses of each node in order to unlock their full potential.  This is an example: https://planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Get_Position_in_Texture
Here's the thing; as I've update the documentation I've actually begun to think in "blue nodes", that is to understand when and where to use a mathematical function in order to get the creative and artistic look I'm after...and if I can learn that, anyone can.
So just for fun, periodically click on the "?" button that's available on each of Terragen's features or nodes to open the online documentation and see if there's something new.  Please feel free to message me with any topics, ideas, or examples that might be good to include in the documentation and I'll do my best to see that it gets incorporated so that we all can seriously learn Terragen!

Kevin Kipper I must say if you are the fella updating all the wiki entries my hats off to you Sir. I use the question marks to get redirected quite often when I want to know more on a particular node. 90% of the nodes I've clicked the question mark for more info delivered. Thanks for filling in the blanks.

I do have a question in mind for you. The node preview window (which doesn't have a question mark) I have issues sometimes having a close enough view to the camera to see what I need to. I have to zoom way out because it's off 0,0,0 coordinates too far maybe? I've thought that the bottom left icons the eye, target and bird assisted in this but I don't know. Can you enlighten me?

Thanks for the feedback folks.

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi pixelpusher636,

I'll try and answer your questions, but if I've missed the point please feel free to elaborate a bit more on what you're trying to accomplish.

If you're having problems seeing small objects in the 3D preview that are close to the camera, it's probably due to the near clipping plane setting.  You can press the "]" key to increase the near clipping plane and "[" to decrease the near clipping plane.  The result is that the objects should now be visible in the viewport.  You may need to reset the clipping plane if you move your camera further back from the small objects.

If you have objects positioned far away from the origin, there are several ways in which to focus the 3D preview on them.  Perhaps the quickest way is to right click in the 3D preview and select "Center on object or shader" and choose the item from the drop down list.  Alternately there are 4 buttons below the 3D preview to assist refocusing the 3D preview to some part of the scene.

Here's my understanding of how those buttons currently work.

The "Reset view camera position" button offers several options: 

• "Reset view to current camera" returns the 3D preview's point of view to the keyframed position and rotation of the camera assigned to the current render.  There doesn't have to actually be a keyframe for the camera for that frame.  However, I've also noticed that after clicking this button to return to the viewport to the camera's position, I often have to click on the "Select different camera or viewports" button and select "Current render camera", otherwise the 3D preview won't updated as I scrub the timeline forward or backwards.
• "Center on focus point" orientates the 3D preview's center to the last defined focus point.  The focus point is set with the button labeled "If selected, the point the camera orbits about is set when you click in the view".  The viewport remembers this location until it is reset, therefore you can always return to it.  
• "Center on object or shader" fits the already selected object or the object chosen from the drop down list within the 3D preview.  This option is also available by right clicking in the 3D preview pane.
• "Center on origin" orientates the 3D preview to center on the origin of the project, i.e. coordinates 0,0,0.  

"Set the camera's look at point" button

• Labeled: "If selected, the camera's 'look at' point is set when you click in the view."
• Usage: Click on the button, and as you move the cursor over the terrain a yellow triangle will appear, highlighting a polygon of the terrain and indicating the look at point.  Left clicking the mouse immediately sets the look at point to the highlighted polygon and the center of the 3D preview will be orientated to that location.

"Set the camera's orbit point" button

• Labeled: "If selected, the point the camera orbits about is set when you click in the view."
• Usage: Click on the button, and as you move the cursor over the terrain a yellow triangle will appear, highlighting a polygon of the terrain and indicating the orbit point.  Left clicking the mouse sets the orbit point, but the 3D preview *will not* be orientated until you click the "Reset view camera position button" and select "Center on focus point". 

"Enable or disable "Free Orbit Mode" when orbiting" button
(Taken directly from the online documentation) This button activates "Free Orbit Mode". This mode allows the camera to roll freely during orbit movements, rather than being fixed to the original roll orientation. This is particularly useful when navigating with the camera at points far from the coordinate origin, for example on the other side of a planet, where the original roll value will not be parallel to the planet's surface.

[aknight0]

Are you talking about the node network view?  You can pan it with the middle mouse button.

Oh, you're talking about this preview window right?  That one annoys me too, it doesn't re-generate the terrain when you pan away from the origin, so you can't look at small things away from the origin as far as I've been able to figure out.  

[pixelpusher636]

Are you talking about the node network view?  You can pan it with the middle mouse button.

Oh, you're talking about this preview window right?  That one annoys me too, it doesn't re-generate the terrain when you pan away from the origin, so you can't look at small things away from the origin as far as I've been able to figure out. 

That's exactly what I'm talking about aknight0! Kevin thanks for your effort, I probably didn't elaborate enough. I don't like knowing that aknight0 has the same issue, probably means their isn't a workaround? Please Kevin say I'm wrong. 

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi guys,

Thanks for clarifying which part of the GUI you were referring to.  It's called the Shader Preview and here's a link to the online documentation for it:
https://planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Shader_Preview

Clearly there are some limitations with the Shader preview, including as aknight0 has mentioned, it doesn't redraw or refresh when you've moved to a different part of the terrain.  (image attached)

While the Shader preview window is useful for many things, I think you might be better off using the 3D Preview when you need to zoom in close to a terrain feature, object, etc.