So I'm trying to decide which version of Terragen 3 I should buy. Creative or Professional. The sale is a good time to buy. I'm leaning more towards Creative as my budget is a little tight right now.
There are some differences listed on the comparison page that I'd like some more details and clarification of what they are or do.
GI cache to disk
Render layers and elements
Spherical camera
FBX import/export (cameras, lights, nulls)
Camera data import/export
Rotation order on camera import
Terrain geometry export
EXR output (renders, heightfields)
Render objects as holdouts (matte objects)
Image file processing node
Custom mesh deformation on objects
Enhanced renderer view (RGBA)
Georeferencing of heightfields/DEMs
2D Shadow map accelerates cloud rendering for localized clouds
Voxel buffer accelerates cloud rendering for localized clouds
Hi,
Here's some specific information:
GI cache to disk
This allows you to read and write GI cache files, which are described here:
http://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_2_Global_Illumination#Rendering_with_GI
Render layers and elements
These are described here:
http://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Render_Layers_and_Render_Elements
Spherical camera
The spherical camera is a special camera that renders a 360ยบ degree view of the entire scene in one image. This can be useful for environment mapping and lighting in other 3D apps, for example.
FBX import/export (cameras, lights, nulls)
FBX is an interchange file format. You can find out more about TG's FBX support here:
http://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=FBX_Reference
Camera data import/export
You can import and export camera data to .chan/.mov and FBX formats. This lets you match cameras between TG and other apps. An example of how this is useful is for rendering some elements of an animation, or even a still, in TG and some in another app and using the camera import/export to make sure camera movements match.
Rotation order on camera import
Different 3D packages can apply rotations to objects in different ways. In this case TG can do translation from rotation orders in imported camera data to TG's rotation order.
Terrain geometry export
You can export terrain geometry using the Micro Exporter node:
http://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Micro_Exporter
EXR output (renders, heightfields)
You can save renders and heightfields as OpenEXR images. OpenEXR is a high dynamic range image format.
Render objects as holdouts (matte objects)
This is described here:
http://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Render_Layers_and_Render_Elements#Object_Groups
Image file processing node
This allows you to load an EXR (or a sequence of EXRs if you have the Animation module), apply TG's tone mapping and motion 2D motion blur effects, and output a new image or image sequence.
Custom mesh deformation on objects
This allows you to deform the mesh of objects using TG nodes, effectively displacing the actual mesh of the objects as opposed to applying it as a surface layer.
Enhanced renderer view (RGBA)
You can view the different colour channels of rendered images directly in the Render view.
Georeferencing of heightfields/DEMs
This allows you to georeference heightfields and DEMs. Georeferencing is a way to locate real world data in it's real world position. For example you can download DEMs of real terrain and use georeferencing to place multiple DEMs together in their correct locations. An upcoming version will also allow you to georeference images, aerial photos for example.
2D Shadow map accelerates cloud rendering for localized clouds
Voxel buffer accelerates cloud rendering for localized clouds
These are two different acceleration methods which can speed up rendering of localised clouds. Localised clouds are clouds you can explicitly place in the scene, for example you might use it to place clouds only over a mountain top.
Quote from: jo on December 20, 2013, 04:38:40 AM
Georeferencing of heightfields/DEMs
This allows you to georeference heightfields and DEMs. Georeferencing is a way to locate real world data in it's real world position. For example you can download DEMs of real terrain and use georeferencing to place multiple DEMs together in their correct locations. An upcoming version will also allow you to georeference images, aerial photos for example.
Can you use SDTS files or would you have to get a SDTS to DEM converter?
Hi,
Quote from: MentalFrog on December 20, 2013, 03:35:10 PM
Can you use SDTS files or would you have to get a SDTS to DEM converter?
All the formats supported are listed here:
http://www.gdal.org/formats_list.html
The formats supported are the ones with "Yes" in the rightmost column ("Compiled by default"). SDTS is included.
Regards,
Jo
Thanks for the help. Now I'm leaning towards the Professional package. :D