New to TG2 and trying to learn the system. I've had some experience with 0.9 but was definitely not an expert, and now I'm trying to figure out new features and controls. My end goal is photo-realism.
So, here's a test image! One specific which I haven't been able to figure out yet... I wanted to create a sand and/or rock border on the far edge of the water, but not in the immediate foreground, and I couldn't figure out how to do it. How do you confine a terrain shader to a particular altitude (i.e. a meter or two above and below the waterline) and also restrict it to only one geographical section of the scene?
Any comments or criticism are appreciated!
A simple shape masked by a distribution shader would probably be the easiest way.
Welcome to the forum, figment. Your first render already looks fine, and Yossam is right; a simple shape with soft borders used as mask for a distribution shader with shore altitudes and low fuzzy zones, which in turn acts as a mask for the surface shader containing the border nodes would work fine. If you just want to drop the front end into deepness, you can use a distance shader and a displacement shader.
Great first render!
Thanks for the suggestions! I'd started experimenting with simple shapes a bit but hadn't quite gotten the results I expected so I thought maybe I was going the wrong direction with it... I'll try again, maybe with a bit more patience this time.
I wish I could claim this was my first render. But, in addition to my previous playing around with TG 0.9, I've also got a lot of experience with other rendering systems... I use Maxwell and Keyshot regularly at work doing visualizations of CAD models, and have been experimenting with Maxwell and VRay for quite some time at home doing architectural visualizations and some artwork. So fortunately I have a reasonably good idea of what I'm trying to accomplish.
You'll find your way in TG3 then, no doubt.