occlusion shader requested

[MrTomate]

Hello, i'm new in the TG2 community and in process of learning this great stuff.
I have had a few questions which i answered my-self by exploring the threads but i've also noticed that some of the questions have tricky solutions :
- my exemple : the most significant is making foam on water only near the coastal which can be hard to make without painting mask (which can be a long process) unless you are math genius (i'm not)...

So... I guess I have a solution: adding an occlusion shader node.

People who use 3D softwares oftenly know this. This shader can be very usefull if used as a mask

For those who don't see what an occlusion shader is, i've attached an image.
It produces occlusion color where volumes are in contact or close enough... Often used for contact shadowing. You decide the distance, the colors and how it's distributed.
Applied on water, it could be a perfect coastal mask for exemple and also useful for lots of things
what do you think?

[FrankB]

this would indeed be very useful

[old_blaggard]

Most of the complex math that you mention that people have done is actually an implementation of occlusion. The only thing that makes it complex in my experience is figuring out exactly how to coax the various coordinates out of TG2's system.

[nikita]

The main problem with water is that it involves two different objects and it's hard to make a shader take information from one object to another. I don't see how occlusion could help.

btw: For lighting, Ambient Occlusion is already implemented.

[MrTomate]

Most of the complex math that you mention that people have done is actually an implementation of occlusion. The only thing that makes it complex in my experience is figuring out exactly how to coax the various coordinates out of TG2's system.

Hmmm.. but TG2 seems to be more a math approach than a graphism approach (from my experience : i work in a 3D small company). Doing such things without maths would be good for TG2. The workflow for TG2 is very unusual.
We would prefer VUE 8 because of such restrictions ...

For lighting, Ambient Occlusion is already implemented.

Indeed i've seen that for lighting but i've tested it and i actually don't see any connection with the occlusion i mention above... it seems to be just how GI is calculated.

The main problem with water is that it involves two different objects and it's hard to make a shader take information from one object to another

Actually in 3D (with vray/mental ray/and any physical renderer) the occlusion shader doesnt need to be applied to all objects.

see :
Only cubes have occlusion shaders applied
on the right, standard occlusion; on the left i have inverted the occluded and unoccluded colors to show it's not shadow
The spheres even don't touch the cubes.

[Henry Blewer]

The lighting off separate objects is being looked into. Oshyan mentioned this in another thread.

A great feature Terragen 2 uses is the clip file. This is a saved section of a node group. After the node group is created, select the group of nodes with a bounding box, or shift clicking each. Then use the right mouse button to save these as clip file.

In the File Menu is an option to Insert a clip file. This loads the node group. Now move the group where it is appropriate and connect it to the blending input (usually).

This allows the use of pre-built node groups for surfacing or lighting, even animation. When the clips are well organized, the work flow can be quite fast. 

[MrTomate]

The lighting off separate objects is being looked into. Oshyan mentioned this in another thread.

A great feature Terragen 2 uses is the clip file. This is a saved section of a node group. After the node group is created, select the group of nodes with a bounding box, or shift clicking each. Then use the right mouse button to save these as clip file.

In the File Menu is an option to Insert a clip file. This loads the node group. Now move the group where it is appropriate and connect it to the blending input (usually).

This allows the use of pre-built node groups for surfacing or lighting, even animation. When the clips are well organized, the work flow can be quite fast. 

and? I knew that but I don't see any link with what we're talking about here...

[Henry Blewer]

What I was trying to get across is this. After the particular node group is made, it is easy to include to the next project.

You are interested in occlusion lighting. This has not been implemented yet. But it is possible to build a lighting set up which would do this. I am not good enough yet with functions to do it, yet. I have seen threads about this and renders done which use occlusion lighting.

Aside from that, the power of Terragen 2 is the node network. It is harder to use, at first, because of this. I have tried Vue, and found it good. The problem for me with Vue is the way it does the work for you. I found it limiting.

As for the rendered occlusion you are using in other 3D apps, this will likely be added in the future. I do not know when.

I'll see if I can find some links in the forum for you which might help.

[Henry Blewer]

I did not find anything... Sorry if I was not very helpful.

[MrTomate]

ok, i didnt know if occlusion was being added in the future... so, happy to read that...
thanks anyway njeneb

[Henry Blewer]

I can't speak for Planetside, so this is speculation. But I read every thread, and sometimes things get hinted at.