Sun question

[michigan_1112]

This may sound rather....dumb, but is there any possible way to add a mask or overlay to the sun? I have tried every way that I can think of and am getting no where. If there isn't, it might be a nice side feature to include sometime.
I am trying to do an image with the sun breaking the horizon of a planet and all I can get is a nice colored circle. Any help would add years to my life

Thanks in advance.

[Oshyan]

You can't currently apply any sort of image or shader to the sun. You can either turn off the sun's disc entirely and add a sun in post work, or you can try creating a "sun" using a planetoid with extremely high luminosity. You could potentially then apply a texture, or use a large atmosphere to simulate a corona. Keep in mind that if seen from space the sun would realistically be so bright that you could not discern any detail on it - it would just look like a big bright spot.

- Oshyan

[michigan_1112]

Thanks Oshyan. Thats kind of what I thought. I think I will try the planetoid idea. I appreciate the quick response.

Jim

[Cyber-Angel]

At relative distances using direct unaided observation of a star such as the sun (Highly unrecommended) it is impossible to see any discernible surface features due to the intense glare given off by that star. If you wish to do observations of the surface of a star such as the sun you need to filter out the glare (For example the SOHO satellite uses a disk in the center of its image plane to to this) and then observe the surface detail of the corona.

if you wish to observe the full surface of that sun then you will need to use wavelengths other that the visible light spectrum such as X-Ray and Extreme Ultraviolet even in K (a) band Infrared.

Regards to you.

Cyber-Angel

[Dark Fire]

Nobody cares if details on the sun are technically impossible - a lot of stuff made with T2TP is technically impossible. There are actually some other reasons for adding an image or shader to the sun. For example, you may not want its colour to be consistent - you may want it to fade to a different colour towards the edges. Also, suns do not have to be used as suns in T2TP - somebody could come up with an imaginative alternate purpose. In conclusion, mentioning technical impossibilities is pointless when talking about T2TP...

[rcallicotte]

Good point, Dark Fire.  I still like knowing what the real facts are first, though, before we bend the rules.  For example, knowing how the sun creates red sunsets probably doesn't happen in real life like we can do it in TGTP, but someone figured out how to do it here when someone said it probably wasn't possible.  The basic reason it works in TGTP, though, is based upon real lighting physics.  So with that real world knowledge someone figured it out.

[Dark Fire]

One of the problems that has come up a lot on these forums is the lack of advanced physics built-in to T2TP. Still, I agree that knowing the facts is useful - that topic on wake angles was really enlightening. However, there is no need to stats the obvious - everyone knows that, if you look at the sun, you can't see abnormailties like sunspots...

[Cyber-Angel]

Look, I like everybody else here am really enjoying TG2TP and please don't think I am not; it doesn't hurt to shear knowledge in a subject area if you happen to know some thing about the subject. Yes even I understand that there is distinct lack of hard physics in Terragen and there probably will always be for the long and foreseeable future, again not my problem.

What amazes me is that in these discussions people with a little modicum of real world knowledge seem to get told to shut up by what I call "Down Voters" which is to bad since knowledge is power and helps maintain a balanced discussion then those of us who a have clue will continue doing what we have being doing.

I am not sure where "Technically Impossible" entered the lexicon of the debate but one thing is abundantly clear I did not say any such thing, further more I encourage progress and experimentation and the imaginative process which is why we are here is it not?

I will go out on a limb here by saying that all software has boundaries and limitations, some more so than others even freeform software  like TG2TP has them theoretically meaning that there are things that are form a technical standpoint, impossible to do; the trick is to find ways around them that work and come to these forums and post a feature request so that future versions of the software don't have those boundaries, the ideal software product has no limitations of any kind, but this product is not any ones horizon any time soon.



Regards to you.

Cyber-Angel

[rcallicotte]

Cyber-Angel,

I liked hearing your explanation.  Torch on!   

[Dark Fire]

What amazes me is that in these discussions people with a little modicum of real world knowledge seem to get told to shut up by what I call "Down Voters" which is to bad since knowledge is power and helps maintain a balanced discussion then those of us who a have clue will continue doing what we have being doing.

Still, I don't know of any country which has not seen sunlight within the last decade. Do you?

[sonshine777]

What amazes me is that in these discussions people with a little modicum of real world knowledge seem to get told to shut up by what I call "Down Voters" which is to bad since knowledge is power and helps maintain a balanced discussion then those of us who a have clue will continue doing what we have being doing.

Still, I don't know of any country which has not seen sunlight within the last decade. Do you?

I agree with Cyber-Angel on having someone who is knowledgeable about different physical aspects of the real world as it relates to Terragen 2. Plus Cyber-Angel was only adding to what Oshyan had pointed out about looking directly at the sun.

[/quote]
Still, I don't know of any country which has not seen sunlight within the last decade. Do you?
[/quote]

To answer your question. We have the ability to look at the sun because we see it through  our atmosphere which acts like a light filter and diffuses the harsh sun light. It also is why we get such beautiful sunsets on earth. In space there is no atmosphere hence no filter.

I think that you may be able to help make an image look more realistic if you could use the atmosphere of your planet as a type of filter. Also have you tried turning off the disc and increasing the suns corona as more of a light flare coming around the planet?

[Dark Fire]

Look, my basic point is not that we don't need knowledgeable people on the forums. My point is that we don't need anyone to point out what is, quite literally, blindingly obvious. What the knowledgeable people should be doing is spreading their random useful knowledge like here.

[icarus51]

Hi all,

After trying and trying and trying again i have managed to render my Squeezed sun. Playing with Sunlight, 3D object and Object scale i obtained this picture.



No photoshop no postwork, only Terragen and file .obj like a planet. Naturally is possible to do better but for the moment it's a victory for me.

The same thing i've obtained for the Moon.

I attach my .tgd project.

Greetings.

[Tangled-Universe]

That's looking very nice
Thanks for sharing this with everyone.

[Henry Blewer]

Nice work Icarus.