Terragen file compatability within 4.0 and latest 4.6.31

[xpez2000]

Hi,

quick question: 

I have been updating with the latest release as they come out. 
I finally have enough chops with Terragen to use the render farm Pixel Plow.

I just noticed their farm supports Terragen  version 4.5

If I reinstall an earlier version of Terragen 4.5 will it open my saved file made in 4.6? like photoshop or C4d etc..

I would have already tried but its getting late for me and I will try it eventually..

But I am just asking so when I get up in the morning and comeback to this someone will have answered and save me the trouble of trying to do it..LOL and I can just get started rebuilding the file or they will have a better idea on the work around or it works and I can just download the 4.5 version. 

thanks for the advice!

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi xpez2000,

Generally speaking Terragen projects are backwards compatible with old versions of the software.  What you may notice as you load a project created with 4.6.31 into 4.5.71 is that warning messages will be displayed in the "Errors and Warnings Window" for the new parameters in the 4.6.31 version that do not exist in the 4.5.71 code.

With that said, there may be subtle differences in a rendered image between the two versions of the software, if a shader was updated or "tweaked" between the two versions.

We're working with Pixel Plow to get the latest version of Terragen on their render farm.

[xpez2000]

Thanks for the reply. I guess for now I have to reinstall 4.5 and open and resave. I sent a message to Pixel Plow to see if I can submit a 4.6 file without problems. Hopefully they can. I do wish they had a chat feature on their website.

Thanks again !

[xpez2000]

To give an update on this. Instead of waiting to hear back from the Pixel Plow which they never responded, I just decided to send the file for rendering to see what happens. Anyway, it seems that you can render the 4.6 files which the PP scene uploading interface labeled as Frontier. The only caveat is that you cannot render "extra output" with the Frontier versions according to the file submit interface... this must be the extra passes.

So if you have a renderfarm in mind for your project with extra passes looks like you have to stick with 4.5.

[digitalguru]

We're working with Pixel Plow to get the latest version of Terragen on their render farm.

Can you also ask them if they can implement OCIO? It wasn't supported last time I used them, good job I did a single frame test before commiting a sequence
 I comp in elements from other DCCs/Renderers and it's shame to compromise a color management workflow for the sake of TG renders.

[xpez2000]

For that I would do a test and submit with the OCIO settings on the frontier 4.6 version. and see what it looks like. The color was looking normal on my single frame render and not faded out as it would with the RAW unchecked OCIO.

It would be great if Terragen would allow multiple versions installed on our machines. I tried to install the 4.5 and I got message saying only one version at a time...

So I have to de install 4.6 and reinstall 4.5. If I want passes. Its not that hard to add a curve to get things to match up in the comp but it does make things a little easier.

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi xpez2000,

On a Windows computer here's how I have multiple versions of Terragen installed.  

After installing a version, make a copy of the Terragen installation folder and rename it something like Terragen 4 - 4.5.31.  Now you have a copy of that version of Terragen you can run anytime.

The version of Terragen in the Terragen 4 folder remains the most recent install.

With that said, you may need to uninstall Terragen, then install your oldest version, i.e. 4.0 and repeat the above process until you're back to Terragen 4.6.31.

[Dune]

Perhaps if you would empty the folder named Terragen 4, after having copied and renamed the original of course, and install it there, it won't 'see' the newer versions. Don't know, worth a try.

[xpez2000]

i copied the folder to another drive and uninstalled the program then reinstalled the only 4.5 version I could see on the PS website. version 4.5.71

I just sent another test image to render and it still shows this version as a Frontier version. So maybe they have an earlier release that is 4.5.

 I guess i have to go back farther to version 4.4.71 if I want to use extra image passes. Thats all I see on the Planetside website.

[Kevin Kipper]

Hi xpez2000,

I guess i have to go back farther to version 4.4.71 if I want to use extra image passes.

Are you referring to saving the output of render layers from a Pixel Plow render?  If so, yes you can do that on Pixel Plow. Just set up the output path and the render layers as usual and submit the job.  Perhaps test it with one or two frames before submitting the entire job.

Here's another thread discussing the same question:
https://planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,29572.msg290276.html#msg290276

[xpez2000]

I was referring to rendering out layer extra images on Pixel Plow. I just noticed on the PP job submit interface that there are a few check boxes to tell the software which version it should use! 

Before I was just relying on whatever the default settings were.

On my next render test I will preselect the version. Its actually the very first step.

getting closer to setting up my render!  I was working on other stuff for the last few days..  

thanks for the tips.