A couple questions from a newb

[Frequency99]

1. Is there a setting to limit the % of CPU Terragen uses to render? If my CPU runs at 100% for over about 30 hours, it overheats (I'm rendering long scenes. I know I could just break them down and render parts at a time, but that's a pain in the neck).
2. Can the erosion plugin 'reverse erode' a terrain landscape
3. Is there a way to see the keyframes in a list or something? All I can figure out is that the camera numbers change color on a keyframe, but I am losing track of where I put them on long scenes

Thanks!!!

[Frequency99]

I'm also having a problem with flickering is anyone has any ideas, here is a small example:

a few frames showing the flicker

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi Frequency99,

Thanks for you questions.

1. Yes, you can set the maximum number of threads that Terragen uses to render in two places.  The first is found under the Renderers > Advanced Tab > Maximum threads parameter.  The default value is 64.  The second method is found under the Preferences > Startup > Override automatic number of cores detection.  Enabling the checkbox and entering a value in the "Preferred number of cores" field will limit the number of cores/threads that Terragen uses during render.

2. If you're referring to Terragen's built-in "Heightfield Erode v3" operator that works on heightfields, under the "Result mode" setting you have the choice to either erode the heightfield or create a Difference (Erosion Field).  I'm not sure if that's what you mean by "reverse erode" a terrain.  Here is the documentation for the Heightfield Erode v3 operator: https://planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Heightfield_Erode_v3

3. You can visualize the keyframes for any keyframed item by opening the Animation Panel via the Main menu > View > Animation Panel or pressing F7 on you keyboard.  Here's the documentation for the Animation panel which has links to the timeline and curve editor features: https://planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Animation_Panel

4. The flickering you're experiencing is due to the indirect lighting or GI.  You need to render out the GI Cache first, then using the cached files Terragen will interpolate the global illumination between frames.  For more information on this process please take a look at Part 23: Render Settings Global Illumination in the "Terragen for VFX" video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0dtt4IusJM

[Frequency99]

Hi, terrific; thank you for the information. For the flickering, can you be a little more specific? It sounds like a setting or something you are talking about. The video you pointed to is over 4 hours long.. 

[Hannes]

May I chime in here:
This is the procedure to create a GI cache file:
Go to the Render tab, Quality, GI settings. For normal rendering without GI cache file(s) usually "Automatic GI cache (no file)" is checked. Assuming you have set up your scene the way you like it, check "Write to GI cache file". Set the location, where your cache file will be stored, go to "Sequence/Output". You don't need to change anything for the output location of the rendered images, since TG will only compute the GI. In "Sequence step" type in "5". Thus TG computes every 5 frames. Hit "Render sequence". You'll get a sequence of .gic files at your GI cache location.
When you're done, go back to "Quality", "GI settings", check "Read GI cache file(s)", and locate the first of your just created .gic files. The "Blend mode" should be set to "Interpolate (for animations)". "Number of files to blend" is set to "5" as a default and should be OK for most purposes. Like that TG interpolates the GI cache "frames" and creates a (hopefully! ) smooth GI lighting.

Then go to "Sequence/Output" again, set "Sequence step" to "1" again (Important!!! Otherwise you'll only render every fifth frame). Done.

[Frequency99]

Brilliant Hannes, thank you!

[Hannes]

You're welcome  

[Frequency99]

Ok I am doing Hannes as you suggest for the flickering. My scene is 5000 frames long, so this basically means I have to render it all twice, once for the GI files and then again for the actual scene. i was a little disappointed to discover that Terragen wont in any way use my GPU as I have invested in a pretty good one. I'm also on an awesome i9-10850k but I can only use half the 20 CPUs or else they get to hot. I'm looking at adding a water cooling system, but boy, the specs to really use this kit are pretty high, and the render time is like 10 to 15 minutes per frame. Any render performance tweaks would be greatly appriciated

[Hannes]

...so this basically means I have to render it all twice, once for the GI files and then again for the actual scene.

No! As I wrote, when you create your GI cache file, you're not rendering. You just create the GI cache files. It's faster, than you might think.
OK, it might take some time, if it's actually a 5000 frames sequence, so there is still 1000 frames to calculate (not to render), but honestly 5000 frames is quite a lot!!

[Frequency99]

Sure, process twice, render once :-)

The first 'processing' which clearly was not rendering, took seven hours. Now I am starting the second processing, called rendering, which is processing at one frame every 15 minutes. It does look like the flickering has stopped, which is a huge improvement, so seriously, thank you for the help on that. The only problem now is that to render out my 3-minute scene, which is 5000 frames, it is going to take over 52 days to finish at the current rate, and this is on about the highest end matching that existed a year and a half ago.. and I have it only at 720 I really want this scene to be in 4K, but that would take a year of rendering..

[Hannes]

Seven hours!!!! Well, it depends on the settings, I guess. The higher the Micropoly detail and the anti aliasing, the longer it takes to compute the GI. What are your settings, and what are you rendering?

Actually 15 minutes per frame is not that bad, but a 5000 frames animation is quite some undertaking!!

[Frequency99]

Micro detail is .5 and anti-aliasing is 4

This is a 3 minute flyover that is the background for a documentary opening credit scene (3 minute scene)..

[Hannes]

These settings are definitely not too high. But you know, it's 5000 frames to do. I ran the numbers. If the calculation of the GI (every 5th frame) takes about 20 to 30 seconds per frame, thaen your seven hours are correct. And as I said 15 minutes per frames doesn't sound too bad, if it's more than just plain terrain.

[Frequency99]

Thanks for your help! I have it rendering and will just let it run. I tied a few of the frames together and the flickering did stop, so that's great. Its just a matter of learning patience I guess :-)

[Hannes]

Good luck!!