Terragen Sky - Early Access!

[raymoh]

@Kevin Kipper :
Of course, I'm glad to hear that a Mac version is "planned" (whatever that means...).
I would be even happier, of course, if, after more than half a year after the first announcement, the update to version 4.6.xx of Terragen for Mac would finally be released...!

[OldFlak]

Any eta on next update - not been any for some time now

[Matt]

There's a new build of Terragen Sky today:

Build 2023-05-07.01

- Spherical output supports resolutions up to 16k (with a Professional license).
- Improved the speed of renders, especially at higher resolutions.
- Ctrl+O opens the Open File dialog.
- Ctrl+S opens the Save File As dialog (for the project).
- File save dialogs update the filename extension to match the file type filter.
- Better error reporting when a render fails.
- Hovering the mouse over some error text shows the full text in the main window's status bar.
- Buttons and tabs are shaded with more salient edges when hovered over.

To get the update, run Terragen Sky and click the big "Check for Updates" button.

[Matt]

I'm also developing a GPU renderer. That's taking up most of my time and is the reason why there haven't been many visible updates this year.

Here's a rough roadmap for upcoming releases (subject to change!)...

June/July/August 2023:
- Ability to add/remove cloud layers
- Movable cloud centres (in X and Z, not just Y)
- Editable "localisation radius" (e.g. extend clouds to the horizon)
- Paintable masks (*maybe*)

End of 2023:
- Mac builds
- Linux builds (*maybe*)
- GPU rendering (might not support all features at first)

Of course there are many other features in our issue tracker, many of which will be included this year, but I've only listed some of the most important ones.

[raymoh]

Thanks for the approximate schedule.
I'm well aware that you're a small development team, but a new Mac build only by the end of the year? Seriously? That would be a year wait by now.
But then I would expect a stable Mac build with feature parity to Windows, not a new Frontier build.
Apple will release another new operating system in the fall. So the adjustment work could start all over again for you...

Wouldn't it be more honest, especially to us Mac users, to communicate the possible discontinuation of Mac versions because of too much effort to adapt?
What I don't want is another announcement at the end of the year that the Mac build will be delayed until spring.
While I would very much regret the discontinuation of Mac versions, I would welcome an honest answer, without excuses. Then we Mac users would finally know where we stand.

[Matt]

@raymoh The above is a rough roadmap for Terragen Sky, not Terragen 4. I'm working on the TG4 Mac build this week.

[pokoy]

Matt, is there any chance you would spend some time on some pressing issues with TG4 as an update? Looking at TGSky it will take quite a while with quite a chance of never providing the TG4 feature set, and TG4 has some long standing issues.

[Matt]

Matt, is there any chance you would spend some time on some pressing issues with TG4 as an update? Looking at TGSky it will take quite a while with quite a chance of never providing the TG4 feature set, and TG4 has some long standing issues.

Yeah, let's talk about this in a separate thread for TG4, and let me know what the most pressing issues are. Bear in mind that, for some of the walls we've been running into with volumetrics, I think the best bet for the long run is the new renderer I'm developing.

[Matt]

There's a new build of Terragen Sky today:

Build 2023-06-10.02

- Bug fix: Finished renders were being auto-saved even while "Auto-save when finished" was not checked, if an auto-save filename had previously been chosen.
- If saving an image fails then an error is reported in on the Render panel.
- Changes to the display of render errors.
- The Numpad Enter key works with text edits.
- Improvements to File Save dialogs.

To get the update, run Terragen Sky and click the big "Check for Updates" button.

[Dune]

Thanks Matt!

[Matt]

Some recent updates to Terragen Sky:

Build 2023-09-13.01

New features in Live Send 360:
   

• Outputs a JSON file alongside the image. This has useful data for syncing with other applications, including sunlight position, sunlight colour and sky rotation from the Environment Rotation Roller.
• An option to repeatedly resend the image every 'N' seconds, where you can choose any number for N.
• An option to automatically resend the image after loading a preset that has a pre-rendered image. It may send a few times in short succession as multiple resolutions are loaded.
• An option to automatically resend the JSON data whenever the Sun moves or the Environment Rotation Roller is used.

Text edits have better click-away behaviour: When using a text edit widget the mouse is captured until you've finished editing or clicked away from the text, so the first click away won't accidentally do anything to other widgets.

Bug fixes and other changes to scroll bars and scrollable panels.

Build 2023-09-10.01

Regression bug fix: Some cloud types were being rendered incorrectly. This regression occurred in the last build (2023-08-23.01).

Build 2023-08-23.01

Radiance HDR (.hdr) output. This option is available when saving a rendered image, setting up Live Send 360 or saving a copy of a pre-rendered preset.

In the preset browser the menu item "EXR: Save a copy as" has been replaced by "Save HDRI as" which allows you to save as EXR or HDR.

Live Send 360 always outputs at 2048 x 1024 regardless of the resolution of the image currently being displayed.

UI improvements related to the project filename (title on the main window, default filename in file dialogs after New Project).

Render time information continues to display in the UI after the Save Image button is pressed.

As usual, to get the update run Terragen Sky and click the big "Check for Updates" button.