Planetside Software Forums

General => Open Discussion => Topic started by: Nacer Eddine on March 20, 2014, 11:03:38 AM

Title: lost with terragen
Post by: Nacer Eddine on March 20, 2014, 11:03:38 AM
I find a lot of trouble using terragen, maybe i havent found tutorials, I want to  learn a lot, specially :
waves, foamy, waterfalls, fogs,   ...

sometimes its very simple, like this picture. juste using power fractal and alpine fractal shader


(http://im45.gulfup.com/SlWZJ.jpg) (http://www.gulfup.com/?iunsUM)



but if i want to do some tunings, ah this is another step.
my be iam a beginner with terragen. i know that i need times and experiences, but i think if i found tuto i will win times.
Title: Re: lost with terragen
Post by: Dune on March 20, 2014, 11:35:01 AM
It is good to get to grips with the basics first. It took me years to get to the point where I am now, and still lost in the dark sometimes. It is also better to find out stuff by yourself than just inserting tgc's or opening tgd's by others, while not exactly understanding how they work. Though it's also good to examine tgd's by others and see how they got to a certain point. There are plenty about, also in older threads, using the search button and scouring those old posts will yield a fine harvest of learnable stuff. Read, read read. That's what I used to do. Gather bits and pieces here and there, examine, test derivates, combine.....
Title: Re: lost with terragen
Post by: archonforest on March 20, 2014, 11:52:04 AM
There are tuts on the YouTube and some can be found in the Forum. Also GeekatPlay came out with 2 DVDs! ;)

Otherwise do not worry. Many of us going in darkness/mud about TG but this program is so exciting u just not give up...
Title: Re: lost with terragen
Post by: otakar on March 20, 2014, 05:43:41 PM
Hello, the topics you mention are indeed very advanced and there are not many users who have mastered even one or two of those. You just have to get away from the concept of presets or plug-ins. Most every setup is unique to a particular scene and though you can reuse certain parts, you almost always have to adjust for your scene.

I say learn about masking and displacement first, figure out how surfacing/texturing works, how reflection works and lighting in general, before you approach more complex projects. Water is a whole topic by itself.

With time you will find there is seldom one way to do anything, and hardly ever is there a set workflow to follow. Clips posted here and tips given sure have helped me a lot, but they always just give you one piece of the puzzle and leave you to figure out the rest.

Be creative and if you ever get stuck post your work and ask the forum. Just don't expect a full solution to achieve a complete scene :)

Bonne chance!