Newbie Question...

[asmodeus]

I just downloaded Terragen, and I think it's really cool  . But when I render an image, it's very pixelated and not at all smooth like the example images I've seen. Is there some sort of property I change somewhere to make it look better?

[rcallicotte]

I recommend going to the beginner's tutorials.  The very first one explains a lot.

[gregsandor]

I just downloaded Terragen, and I think it's really cool  . But when I render an image, it's very pixelated and not at all smooth like the example images I've seen. Is there some sort of property I change somewhere to make it look better?

In Render Preview try this to start.

[child@play]

a detail of 0.6 will definetly be enough. another point to keep in mind would be the atmosphere samples, found under the atmosphere/quality tab, 48 samples should be okay to start with.

and what calico said

[BlueRose]

http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=19

Above is the link to a really good tut called Creating your First Scene, and I worked thru it last weekend and found it excellent and easy to understand, and helped me make my first TG2 image in about an hour

[gregsandor]

a detail of 0.6 will definetly be enough. another point to keep in mind would be the atmosphere samples, found under the atmosphere/quality tab, 48 samples should be okay to start with.

and what calico said

48?  I start at 4 and move up from there for faster tests.

[child@play]

well, he said that he's getting pixelated results. 4 atmo samples would be too little for smooth clouds

[rcallicotte]

I use 48 for my atmosphere as a constant.  I like this look.  For testing, I only worry about low cloud samples and low render settings.

[gregsandor]

I use 48 for my atmosphere as a constant.  I like this look.  For testing, I only worry about low cloud samples and low render settings.

1025 x 1025 terrain overlaid with two image map shaders, one at 4100 x 4100, and a detail overlay at 7757 x 9715.  The model includes several image maps at 2048x2048. 
Render settings are .5 detail, AA=2, GI rel=1, GI sam =1.  No clouds.

4 atmosphere samples, Haze density 1:  2 min 47 sec.
48 atmosphere samples, Haze density 1:  4 min 15 sec.

The higher samples produce a more polished sky, but when im setting up the ground and composing, its fine.  With more haze (and I suppose with clouds) the difference is noticeable.  Shadows on the ground seem better with higher atmosphere samples.

I am surprised to see that increasing the haze decreases the render time at both sample settings.

4 atmosphere samples, Haze density 8:  2 min 17 sec.
48 atmosphere samples, Haze density 8:  4 min 14 sec.

[Mohawk20]

Hmm, you should run that test again with some 3D clouds, then you will see a lot more difference!

[Oshyan]

I just downloaded Terragen, and I think it's really cool  . But when I render an image, it's very pixelated and not at all smooth like the example images I've seen. Is there some sort of property I change somewhere to make it look better?

Are you using Terragen 0.9 or Terragen 2? I know this is posted in the TG2 section, but I wanted to make sure as there is a well known mistake for new users of Terragen 0.9 that would explain this quite well - the detail slider under the Preview Window actually controls the main render detail as well. If you're using Terragen 0.9 move this setting all the way to the right and it should help.

- Oshyan