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#21
Yeah, so obviously ChatGPT doesn't actually use Terragen. Several of the suggested nodes above don't even exist within Terragen. I'd have to say that probability that its answer was correct is exactly 0%.
Granted, it would be nice to be able to tunnel through a procedural terrain with some kind of boolean node, but for now I think you would have to export a portion of the terrain as a mesh, then construct your tunnel in a 3d modeling app, and import the mesh back into Terragen.
#22
Last post by raymoh - March 22, 2026, 03:38:13 PM
Recently, there have been more and more disruptions/interruptions on your server, resulting in Terragen constantly complaining that the "license has expired" or the app doesn't start at all and the website is no longer accessible. It would be great if you could get this under control again. It's getting annoying over time.
However, if this is just normal server maintenance, it would be nice if you at least communicated this.
#23
Great question. I've done some research on this in the past and hopefully this may help. Here's an example for one surface of an object exported in OBJ format and its associated MTL file.
newmtl Sidewinder_NotSmooth
Kd 0.95 0.95 0.95
Ke 1 0 1
Ka 1 1 0
Ks 0.5 1.0 1.0
Ns 500
Tr 0
d 0.5
Ni 1.123
Tf 0.5 0.2 0.8
map_Kd Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Color_1001.png
map_Ke Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Normal_1001.png
Bump Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Height_1001.png
map_Ks Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Metallic_1001.png
map_Bump Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Height_1001.png
map_Ns Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Roughness_1001.png
map_d Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Normal_1001.png
map_Pm Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Metallic_1001.png
map_Pr Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Metallic_1001.png
map_Ps Z:/Library/Images/Vehicles/Air/Sidewinder_Missile/SidewinderMissile_SubPainter_v001_Metallic_1001.png
In a PBR Metallic Roughness workflow the metalness image provides the specular information.
You'll want to assign the image associated with the MTL's map_Ks parameter to the Default shader's Metalness image parameter in Terragen. Currently Terragen does not automatically do this; but this behavior may be updated in the future. The Metalness parameter should be set to a value of 1 because all three of the Default shader's metalness parameters are multiplied together for the final value.
The Default shader automatically maps the MTL's Ks value to the Default shader's Fresnel Reflectivity parameter.
#24
Last post by Dune - March 20, 2026, 02:53:11 AM
For forced displacement you'd need a considerable amount of vertices per leaf to make it look nice. For the average leaf, bump works a lot easier and usually very nicely. Will you be so close with your camera?
Opacity should work, I would say, even then.
#25
Last post by Dune - March 20, 2026, 02:50:12 AM
OBJ's don't import completely, AFAIK. It's better to import spec (and other) maps from the default shader within the object. And save as TGO for future use.
#26
Last post by PuffnStuff - March 20, 2026, 02:15:52 AM
So... does anyone know the proper .mtl syntax to import a specular map through TG's obj importer?
TIA.
#27
Last post by PuffnStuff - March 20, 2026, 02:14:15 AM
Errr... trying to apply opacity to leaves while forcing displacement on them, rather than default or ray-traced.
#28
Last post by Stormlord - March 15, 2026, 06:10:05 AM
Nice, it looks very livid!
STORMLORD
#29
Last post by Dune - March 13, 2026, 11:14:47 AM
Cool render!
#30
Last post by pclavett - March 13, 2026, 10:45:25 AM
Hi guys ! Back after a long time out of the loop. had a lot of things going on and frequent trip to take advantage of the few years left to be able to travel. Right now, the state of the world is such that trips are out of the question (at least for me) and what better way to spend time than to do some Terragen. Here is a render of a spot in Colorado called the Dallas Divide. DEMs obtained from the USGS, worked in GAEA and then imported in Terragen. The Foreground was another separate terrain done in Gaea. Lots of species of plants and the riverbed is a mix of FAKESTONES and OBJECTS. Take care ! Paul
