Documentation

[rcallicotte]

This sort of design for the basics of TG2 documentation would be very useful - http://www.eggswhyzed.com/messiah_docs/index.html

[Oshyan]

The Node Reference has that format, essentially. The main User Guide is written in a different way, so that's not entirely applicable as a formatting convention in that case. It will be available as a standard PDF, which enables offline reading and printing as well, an oft-requested feature.

- Oshyan

[rcallicotte]

Cool.  And I'm not rushing the timely progress.   


[Edit - Hey, by the way, how do we create an account to get into and modify the TG2 wiki?]

[RobbyS]

A simple download PDF Guide would be enough, but this seems to be a very hard way to get... the TG 2 launch was pushed in the future during the last monthes (or should I say years?), but a PDF file is impossible to bring on this site??  will it come this year?? 

[dwilson]

[Edit - Hey, by the way, how do we create an account to get into and modify the TG2 wiki?]

You just use your forum username and password.  The wiki uses the same credentials as the forums

[rcallicotte]

I tried, but couldn't get into the Wiki to do anything.


Set $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; at the bottom of LocalSettings.php to show detailed debugging information.

[Goms]

I don't even think it will provide a great increase in knowledge if a documentation is real released.
It's not possible to give a complete overview about what shaders could be combined for what result. You will still have to figure out this things for yourself.
And what a shader does is something you can easily find out with some tests.
Also this gives you an idea about the effect of the different settings; which would be needed also with a documentation.
Ok, there are some points where a more in-depth description would be great, but this questions can also be posted in the forum.
Maybe i'm wrong and the documentation will provide every possible thing to know; but for now i have the feeling that some people are expecting too much.

[Oshyan]

dwilson, when do you get that error message? When you login, or attempt to edit? I just tried logging in and it still works fine for me. Is anyone else having a problem?

I don't even think it will provide a great increase in knowledge if a documentation is real released.
It's not possible to give a complete overview about what shaders could be combined for what result. You will still have to figure out this things for yourself.
And what a shader does is something you can easily find out with some tests.
Also this gives you an idea about the effect of the different settings; which would be needed also with a documentation.
Ok, there are some points where a more in-depth description would be great, but this questions can also be posted in the forum.
Maybe i'm wrong and the documentation will provide every possible thing to know; but for now i have the feeling that some people are expecting too much.

Goms, I share your concern about the level of hand-holding that people seem to expect the documentation will provide. We are doing our best to make it as complete as possible, but we simply can't document much more than the baseline of most functions and scene elements because there are far too many possibilities, and even different methods of achieving the exact same effects. What the documentation will do is give people a good start, and an understanding of the user interface and functions. The node reference, when complete, will give people a good springboard for further experimentation. But again experimentation will always be necessary, and quite frankly there will probably still be a need for a good amount of testing, trial, and error. Nonetheless I hope the docs help people a good amount.

- Oshyan

[dwilson]

dwilson, when do you get that error message?

Oshyan, I can log in fine.  It is calico that is having problems logging into the wiki

[Oshyan]

Sorry, just got the name wrong. So Calico?

- Oshyan

[pixelthekid]

The node reference, when complete, will give people a good springboard for further experimentation. But again experimentation will always be necessary, and quite frankly there will probably still be a need for a good amount of testing, trial, and error. Nonetheless I hope the docs help people a good amount.

- Oshyan

If you don't mind, I'd like to add that TG2 is so great in this regard.  I've spent the better part of the last few days experimenting and TG2 sits there and cranks out images even when I toss crazy node combinations at it.  I'm really impressed with the stability of the software.  I frequently crash Vue when trying to do anything that takes me off the beaten path.  I can't tell you how important this is to my work flow to know that TG2 is going to hold up under my seriously noobtastic experiments.  It's nice to see the final image and think "well, that render looks like poo, I wont do that again" where in other software my experiments result in a crash that never lets me know what happens if I try combo X.

Love it.

[Oshyan]

That's good to hear! I know that experience in this area varies, but we have definitely tried to make even unusual settings and combinations work in most cases. Usually memory use is what becomes an issue, and this tends to be when resolution and/or detail get higher. As long as you avoid that you can generally render almost any combination of settings.

- Oshyan

[Goms]

I'm really impressed with the stability of the software.

A Year ago i wouldn't have expected to hear this sentence about tg2.

Goms, I share your concern about the level of hand-holding that people seem to expect the documentation will provide. We are doing our best to make it as complete as possible, but we simply can't document much more than the baseline of most functions and scene elements because there are far too many possibilities, and even different methods of achieving the exact same effects. What the documentation will do is give people a good start, and an understanding of the user interface and functions. The node reference, when complete, will give people a good springboard for further experimentation. But again experimentation will always be necessary, and quite frankly there will probably still be a need for a good amount of testing, trial, and error. Nonetheless I hope the docs help people a good amount.

I'm trying to write a basic manual about terrain-creation in TG2 since a few weeks, but its really hard to describe  the possibilities in a "noob-friendly" way.
It's the "dilemma" which every Tech has: the more it can do, the more complex it is.
And TG2 can do an amazing amount of stuff.

[rcallicotte]

Still having problems -

Set $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; at the bottom of LocalSettings.php to show detailed debugging information.

[FrankB]

all will be well, and here is why: PS can never ever provide full documentation itself. It can do a better job on it, but never holistically beyond explaning what each node parameter stands for and what effect it has.
So in my mind, the documentation of the nodes is going to be a reference, not more.
But that is not a problem, because more and more tutorals that come along will help with practical use cases, so that users will be able to really becom more proficient in using Tg2. In the end, the wiki will play a key role, with its user contributed know how.
I also believe that the time has come for more video tutorials. I'm sure it will happen.

Cheers,
Frank