A Get Started Terragen 2 Tutorial for the Terrified

[schmeerlap]

Thanks 6y4. I hope it has encouraged you to progress further with TG2. The very knowledgeable community here will, I'm sure, help you to advance your skills and enjoyment even further.

John

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks John. Helped to get a better understanding of Terragen2. Much appreciated.

[Alkin]

Hi Everyone.

John,

This is very nice tutorial and it is fully reveals the capability of the program. But IMHO some essential for understanding the tweaks of the program are missing. What i mean by that is that we see a lot of "do that" and "change this to", but do not see explanations why are we doing it and what it is going to lead to. For example: when we are tweaking Strata and digging inside settings, we eventually come to the point where you tell us "Click the Warping tab and ensure Distort by normal is Unchecked, and Lead in warp effect is None". But what does "Distort by normal" means? And why are we leaving it unchecked?
This is just one question out of many. I am sorry if i offended you, i just merely stating the questions i got following this guide.

Sincerely,
Alkin (noob)

[bobbystahr]

Hi Everyone.

John,

This is very nice tutorial and it is fully reveals the capability of the program. But IMHO some essential for understanding the tweaks of the program are missing. What i mean by that is that we see a lot of "do that" and "change this to", but do not see explanations why are we doing it and what it is going to lead to. For example: when we are tweaking Strata and digging inside settings, we eventually come to the point where you tell us "Click the Warping tab and ensure Distort by normal is Unchecked, and Lead in warp effect is None". But what does "Distort by normal" means? And why are we leaving it unchecked?
This is just one question out of many. I am sorry if i offended you, i just merely stating the questions i got following this guide.

Sincerely,
Alkin (noob)

My response to situations like that is to do it both ways and see what happens...live and learn.. ...

[Alkin]

Thank you for your replay.
I am following the path you just mentioned, but its not always as revealing as i would hope.

[kasalin]

Fantastic tutorial !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Vandy]

Hello, John and All.

I certainly want to add my thanks to this wonderful tutorial.  It certainly accomplished your goal of helping people new to Terragen 2 to become more comfortable with its capabilities.  And -- to boot -- you've given us a beautiful image to create and recreate by experimenting with Terragen 2 settings.  Thanks, John.

I've attached a copy of what my Ben McDuff mount looks like.  I've post-processed it in Photoshop only to correct color balance.

Enjoy.

Regards,

Vandy
Durham, NC USA

[attachthumb=#]

[kasalin]

Does the Power fractal  (grass bump) that is marked in the below pic have a mistake in the tutorial ??
"Apply high colour" is checked ... I think that is a mistake here ?

I have gone through the tutorial very carefully.... and there was no colour indicated referring to this....

In the original text of the tutorial is said:

Now, ensuring you have Surface layer (grass) node highlighted in the node list (click on it just to
make sure) click on Add Child Layer and select Surface Layer. The new Child Surface layer
should be visible in the node list (if it isn't, click on the plus sign to the left of its parent Surface
layer). Ok, assuming your on the new child surface layer, rename it "Surface layer (grass mix)" On
its Coverage and breakup tab down the bottom enter the following values 0.5 for Coverage, and
with Fractal breakup checked, 0.5 for the breakup. Create a new Power fractal in its Colour function
slot (you should know how to do that now via Colour Shader). Go to that new power fractal's popup
window, and on its Colour tab check both Apply High and Low colours, and via the colour
picker enter light and dark grass colours (this time you could give them more of a reddish-green
tint). Enter values of 0.25 for both Colour contrast and offset, and 7.5 for roughness. And close the
pop-up window. Now click the Displacement tab of the Grass mix surface layer, and clicking the
green cross of the Displacement function Assign shader > Power fractal (grass bump). Enter a
value of 1.7 in the Displacement multiplier.
Maybe we should do a quick crop render so we can have a look at our grass. On the Quick Render
parameters section click the Crop Region tab and check the Do crop region checkbox. Then in the
3d Preview window pull the top guide down so only the bottom third of the scene renders. Now that
we have reduced the area to be rendered we can afford to increase the image size and detail quality.
(if you have an older release of Terragen you may not have the guides in the 3d Preview window,
and you'll have to use the slide controls in the Crop parameters section).
Below is the crop render I did to view the nearby grass texture......


Pls have a look at the photo !!

[neuspadrin]

Not on my tg2 computer, but if memory serves correct apply high color is automatically checked by terragen... I often also check apply low and actually use them depending on the job of the fractal, but I think it doesn't matter?

******

Just checked, yep auto does the high color check.

[dandelO]

Checking high/low colour only applies colour to the area that it describes. (that's not a very helpful description, I know, read on)
If only high colour is checked - the area occupied by low colour is left blank. This means that you can see the underlying colours from previous surfaces while the high/low(depending on which you check) applies colour on top of those previous shaders.

The 'lowest' fractal in the network should have BOTH colours checked(e.g. base colours node) because there is nothing below it. This means that if you uncheck one colour(high or low), the other area will be completely black, because nothing is shading that area at all.
If, however, you have a nice surface and would like to add additional colours, that you will see placed above the previous ones, only check -one- of the fractal colours(either will do). If you check both of them, it will -completely- cover the underlying surface, you won't see any previous colours on the surface you're texturing.

To balance high/low colours, use the 'colour offset' control. Less than zero(negative values) means that more low colour is applied, higher than zero(positive values) means that more high colour is applied. This is handy when using only one colour, too. e.g. using only 'high colour' and reducing the offset makes less of the colour appear. Use a higher positive offset to apply more of the high colour. The reverse of this is also true for 'low colour'.

I'm not sure I have got the right end of the stick with your problem, Kasalin, but in general, that's how the fractal colours work. - Only checking one fractal colour leaves the portion occupied by the other colour blank, to let the underlying shaders show through. It's a great way to keep adding layer upon layer of colour on top of other shaders.

[choronr]

Checking high/low colour only applies colour to the area that it describes. (that's not a very helpful description, I know, read on)
If only high colour is checked - the area occupied by low colour is left blank. This means that you can see the underlying colours from previous surfaces while the high/low(depending on which you check) applies colour on top of those previous shaders.

The 'lowest' fractal in the network should have BOTH colours checked(e.g. base colours node) because there is nothing below it. This means that if you uncheck one colour(high or low), the other area will be completely black, because nothing is shading that area at all.
If, however, you have a nice surface and would like to add additional colours, that you will see placed above the previous ones, only check -one- of the fractal colours(either will do). If you check both of them, it will -completely- cover the underlying surface, you won't see any previous colours on the surface you're texturing.

To balance high/low colours, use the 'colour offset' control. Less than zero(negative values) means that more low colour is applied, higher than zero(positive values) means that more high colour is applied. This is handy when using only one colour, too. e.g. using only 'high colour' and reducing the offset makes less of the colour appear. Use a higher positive offset to apply more of the high colour. The reverse of this is also true for 'low colour'.

I'm not sure I have got the right end of the stick with your problem, Kasalin, but in general, that's how the fractal colours work. - Only checking one fractal colour leaves the portion occupied by the other colour blank, to let the underlying shaders show through. It's a great way to keep adding layer upon layer of colour on top of other shaders.

This is the best description of the issue I have read ...thank you.

[domdib]

Yes, good description dandelO. But it makes me wonder - if you are only using one colour in every power fractal above the base colour, wouldn't it make more sense to use surface layers with fractal breakup instead, as you then also get slope and altitude constraints built in? (although I suppose the same argument could be made in the opposite direction - power fractals with distribution shaders as blending shaders - except that the surface layer can still have a separate blending shader) Is this just another example of TG2's ability to skin cats in multiple ways?

[dandelO]

Aye, many, many ways to do the same thing. My advice to any new TG2 user is to read this power fractal lesson thread by Volker Harun... http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=2287.0

It will teach you more about TG2 in 2 pages than anything else out there. It did me, anyway.

[domdib]

I second that advice - a great tutorial. Volker's been a bit quiet lately- I hope he surfaces again soon.

[schmeerlap]

Hi Karin. It's been a while (three or four months) since I've applied myself to TG2 or any other such apps (A family matter). As I recall the "Grass Bump" shader in the tut is used as a displacement shader (connected to the Displacement  nodes of a couple of grass shaders) to attempt to give the grass some roughage. So the high colour (white) is checked to give that shader positive displacement. You should find that the two Grass shaders it is connected to have something like a 1.7 Displacement multiplier in their respective Displacement sections to further amplify the Grass Bump's displacement. But, yes, do follow dandellO's advice and seek further clarity in more dedicated tutorials. In the meantime, do soldier on, you're getting there.

John