Severe need for documentation

[gregsandor]

Try using two color images. Power fractals can be merged in to provide variation to the coverage.

I saved a lot of memory I think by combining some of them into RGB images, using one map for each channel then splitting them with color to scalar nodes.  Works fine, though I haven't seriously tested it to see if it actually saves memory, or if the other changes I made are responsible for the improvements.

[uggi]

Terragen doesn't just need documentation, it needs video tutorials and recourses.
Who the hell reads huge pdf pages on how to create something, when a few simple youtube videos show it without confusion and wondering if you misinterpretated something.

That's what really bothers me about Terragen. It's one of the few 3D programs I've come across that doesn't have proper video tutorials. I learnt Zbrush and 3dsmax in only a few months, purely by video tuts and training dvd's. But learning Terragen is desperately combing google, this forum and hundreds of unclear documentation pages.
The only reason I chose Terragen over Vue was that I came across those basic tutorials, which got me started, but after that you're pretty much screwed

For zbrush or 3dsmax you can find video tutorials about every function on youtube, and limitless free recourses like base meshes etc. Try the same for Terragen...

Great program, but difficult to get started.

[gregsandor]

Learning Terragen is desperately combing google, this forum and hundreds of unclear documentation pages.
The only reason I chose Terragen over Vue was that I came across those basic tutorials, which got me started, but after that you're pretty much screwed

For zbrush or 3dsmax you can find video tutorials about every function on youtube, and limitless free recourses like base meshes etc. Try the same for Terragen...

Great program, but difficult to get started.

You want video tuts, make them.  I'm busy making terrain models.  If you have a question or two about a practical problem in TG, I will (as well as the other users here) be happy to help.  It took every one of us no little effort to learn how to work with TG, and we'll help. but generally if you demand spoonfeeding you'll go hungry.

Go to the files section of this forum and download a sample project and mess around with it, then try to customize it.  When you break it, use the search function and figure out why, and then if you can't figure it out, post a question.  In that order.

[Oshyan]

Many of the video tutorials for e.g. 3DS Max, Zbrush, etc. come from the community, which in the case of both those apps is much larger than TG's at present. We do have plans to make some video tutorials ourselves, but the most interesting, complex, and in-depth stuff usually comes from other users or vendors (e.g. GeekAtPlay, etc.). As TG and the community grows, the chances of more material like this being published increase. I think it's really just a matter of time and scale.

- Oshyan

[PeanutMocha]

In order to learn TG2, I'm experimenting with individual parts, one at a time, to see how everything works.

Since it is challenging to learn the program, I decided to write brief blog posts about my journey.  Keep in mind, I'm a student not a master.

http://terragen2.wordpress.com/

The content of the blog will be guided by my own interests and projects.  If anyone wants to contribute let me know.

Hope it helps someone.

[nesthead]

Please will someone at Planetside give some idea when some basic documentation will be provided. The sort of thing I mean is a node reference that isn't just a set of pictures of all the node screens but also tells me what to put in each field. (Even better if it tells me what the effect of me altering the field will be but let's start small and work up.)

Reading this forum, as I have for years now, you see poster after poster asking simple questions which are generally answered for the first few times but eventually the good people of the forum get fed up of the same questions and say search the forum for yourself.  I see people posting once or twice and then never appearing again. I can't believe that they all know all they need to know and I suspect that most of these are lost potential customers.

This current system is like an old fashioned adventure game where you pick up bits of advice and knowledge like lamps and pieces of gold to enable you to go on to the next level of ability.

My fear is that I may grow old or even die before I understand the system and that the people who have, through this forum, helped me so far might also get tired of the fact that not only have they paid for the application but are also operating as extremely cheap support staff for it.

From Planetside's point of view there are many examples of applications (and computers) that have been far better than the rest of the market but have failed because the developers were far to busy with the next technical developments to properly finish the original application.  You must be losing customers through this problem.

Nobody is under any illusion about documentation being fun to do but it is as much a part of a good application as the exciting technical bits are.  It is not an optional extra for a professional application which I am sure is what you consider Terragen to be.

[Dune]

There's so much possible, that it's hard to write a comprehensive tutorial. There will always be hidden ways to do something, and for me that's a lot of fun, and something to keep me sharp. You can't teach someone to paint a Rembrandt by writing a thorough tutorial, if that's a fair comparison. But I see your point about Planetside losing people who do not have the tenacity to dive into the matter. I also think the basic tutorials/documentation give a good starting point to get decent landscapes.

There should be one (or two) people who gather all that's available in the tutorials and forum(s) and combine it into the total 'bible of TG2', but that would take quite some effort (or payment). And still, not all effects to be had can be described precisely, as there are too many variables.

[PeanutMocha]

There will ALWAYS be better ways to use tools that are intended to support creative endeavorer.

If you take something as straightforward as C++, there are tons of books out there on the subject and yet blogs and forums thrive discussing things that go beyond the basics.

We are missing "the book" on TG2, but it will ever only cover the fundamentals of how the tool works and what can be done with it.  There will always be discussion among experts and learners about new things that can be done or better ways to do things.

[Oshyan]

The best answer I can give you is that we'll have a much better node reference by the end of the year, if not sooner. It will be wiki-based, we will provide the major base for it, with significantly more detail than is currently available. Users will also be able to augment with additional info they discover, or techniques they use. Additional "how to" documentation will follow; we are thinking of a potentially equal split between written and video, though we will continue to focus on the basics, as trying to show techniques for creating every natural phenomenon under the sun is simply not practical.

- Oshyan