This is a work in progress that i'm working on, I'm learning seriously Terragen by an year ( but 'i'm using and i know of it from a long time ago), i use also WorldMachine and Grome software, i like a lot terrain editing and rendering in general, and i hope to realize amazing pictures.
In this case i would to create a north landscape with a labirinthof dark rocks and deep lakes. Not very satisfied with the shader for the rocks, and for other things. I would to apply a dark grey aspect to the rocks, i used as you can see in the scrrenshot of the nodes, a basic colour(power fractal shader) and the a clip 'dark tundra layer' and after a image map to mask some part ( the lake water map). I want to apply a shader to the rocks that simulate rock as schist, not found in the forum some examples... maybe someone has an idea for this? Another part that i want to improve is the clouds and athmosfere, i think that clouds are too heavy, (see the renderings on the lake). Maybe i will add some vegetation, some bushes, little trees, will see this.
Thank you in advance for the interest and for all suggestions or positiv critics that can you give me. :)
Walter
Interesting scene :)
On the clouds: I would probably change the color of the clouds so they are lighter and probably I would make them softer. Also I would put down the coverage of the clouds just to let some light through as u have nice huge open space there. For the rocks...I would try some 1-2 layer of shaders with different colors(darker grey, lighter gray, dark brown or green) It could spice up the look ;)
Some veggies would be good for sure :)
Thank you for the answer @archonforest, :) , i' m working on the clouds now, i agree with you. I have to do some more experiment for the rocks, trying different possible solutions. I also want to improve the heightmap, it is too flat in some parts. I like to work in WorldMachine because i can see immediately the overall aspect of the heightmap, and it seems easyer within WM adding erosion filters. Next time i will show some updated picture. :)
Yeah pls keep the forum updated ;)
Another rendering from the lake surface, smaller dimensions of the picture. I lighter the colour and the depth of the cloud, maybe need a bit again. Rock shader untouched, will work on it tomorrow. Also i'm considering to add some building but i need to draw some sketch before. Stay in touch! :)
Looks like a fantasy scene. I already see a dragon there :D
Those rocks are rock ;)
Quote from: kalwalt on May 30, 2014, 01:06:59 PM
Thank you for the answer @archonforest, :) , i' m working on the clouds now, i agree with you. I have to do some more experiment for the rocks, trying different possible solutions. I also want to improve the heightmap, it is too flat in some parts. I like to work in WorldMachine because i can see immediately the overall aspect of the heightmap, and it seems easyer within WM adding erosion filters. Next time i will show some updated picture. :)
I don't know if you downloaded the presets from planetside but I find for folks new to TG3 they are quite instructive and TG3 will insert the clip(.tgc) file where it's supposed to go in your Shaders network and then all you have to do is adjust the different parts of the clip file to the altitudes and slopes of your terrain. As I'm colour blind I use them often as a starting point.
QuoteI don't know if you downloaded the presets from planetside but I find for folks new to TG3 they are quite instructive and TG3 will insert the clip(.tgc) file where it's supposed to go in your Shaders network and then all you have to do is adjust the different parts of the clip file to the altitudes and slopes of your terrain
Thank you @bobbystahr, yes, i have downloaded the presets, it is very useful. Adding clip (.tgc) files was one of the first things thart i learned. Also in the forum i found many resources (examples scene, other clips...). About the rocks i found some topic on basalt rock http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,2839.msg28717.html#msg28717 (stones.tgc), but when i try to insert the clip, Terragen crash. This happens running TG3 under wine in linux, don't know if it is related to the OS or because the clip file is old... anyone has tried this clip (stones.tgc) recently? this maybe could be interesting for my project.
It has a parse error there. I did some fix up on the file and now opens.
Quote from: archonforest on May 31, 2014, 08:41:34 AM
It has a parse error there. I did some fix up on the file and now opens.
good on ya man....thanks , happened t me as well
Thank you @archonforest for the help, but it crash yet :(. I'm going to try it on my window partition.... will see.
Quote from: bobbystahr on May 31, 2014, 08:49:43 AM
good on ya man....thanks , happened t me as well
Welcome ;)
for kalwalt: hmmm weird as when u insert a clip file usually it is not connecting to the workflow automatically. U have to put it in the flow manually..at least on my computer. Yeah try it on windows.
Very weird issue :(! and in windows it not happens :) ::)!! I have to find the reason, maybe i will open another topic for this. Not many people use TG3 on linux, i think but maybe someone else have had this problem before. I can try to export the clip from windows and import it again in Ubuntu. I made a little test rendering within stones.clip and it seems that could be interesting for my project, of course i need to do some changes. But @archonforest How do you correct the clip file? i know that this is a .Xml file but don't know the convention used by TG3.
So the error message said "parse error in line 1066" or something. I opened the clip file in text editor and then copy paste the text into excel to see line 1066. So I looked that line and realized that it is an empty line. Then I went back to the text editor file and deleted all empty space in the document. Then saved it and exported the clip file in TG3 again and it worked. Most probably there was an invisible character that was creating the error.
I read about parse error before here on the forum and someone said when u have this error u should chk the file in text editor as most probably there is a foreign character that creates this.
So this is what I did and it worked. :D
Good to know, at the end with a workaround i was able to insert the clip into a fresh project (in Ubuntu), i opened a new topic for this issue see here: http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,18416.new.html#new, and now i'm ready to study this piece of clip for my project.... ;)
I did a new rendering from another point of view, i improved the shader for the rock, now is brighter and it seems more realistic. Also i changed a bit the clouds: now they are lighter (maybe too much, i feel like i have exagerrated....). About the flatness of the top of the mounts, i have addeed some parts that breaks this flatness look in the WM picture. Next step add some vegetations....
... a new fast rough rendering with the new terrain! i think it's better! :D
This is seriously coming from a fantasy story :D
Yes, something like that! ;)
In this new rendering i used a cloud clip from the resource in the forum (Clouds_Stonngae.tgc), i'm quite satisfied with it, but i'm experiencing some artifacts with a model that i created, It has a color map and specular map, but not sure that i appllied corrrrectly in the render node. the model was created with 3dcoat. I also created the bump map, but terragen crash when i applied to it. I will open another topic for this, because i didn't found any advice looking in this forum ( i mean topic regarding the best process to export from 3dcoat to Terragen for the bump map).
...and the clouds seems too sharp to me how to improve them? my rendering setup:
detail: 0.548
antialias: 7
gi cache detail: 2.66
Gi sample quality: 2.36
Gi blur radius: 8.45
which setting i need to change to improve the quality?
Thank's :)
image dim: 1440 x 1080 pixels
rendering time: 4.40 hours
You seem to be having problems with what I recognize, as an alpha map problem on your model. What shaders did you put where on the model (which channels have which maps?) Maybe we can help you sort this. As you made the model maybe post it here as you have it shaded and we can have a look see.
Thank you @bobbystahr for the answer, i will post tomorrow all the infos and the model in another topic... now it's too late here, time to sleep :) ;)
I liked this one "lakes in the north01_03-combined-f-rend.jpeg"
Thank you @The Badger! to @bobbystahr i opened another topic for the issue above see here: http://www.planetside.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,18439.msg179160.html#msg179160
i changed the athmosphere and cloud settings in a more scifi manner ( i think), also the artifacts on the mesh are solved. ( thank's to @bobbystahr!) Next steps i will improve the model. :)
[attach=1]
That new atmo has a nice effect on the terrain as well
Yes, i agree with you, i have to improve my knowledge on that part (cloud and atmo) i think the clouds looks yet s bit sharpy. But maybe because i rendered with 1440 x 1080 pixels? increasing it also increase the quality of the clouds?
Quote from: kalwalt on June 06, 2014, 10:46:38 AM
Yes, i agree with you, i have to improve my knowledge on that part (cloud and atmo) i think the clouds looks yet s bit sharpy. But maybe because i rendered with 1440 x 1080 pixels? increasing it also increase the quality of the clouds?
Check out some of the cloud .tgc's in File Sharing...lots of inspiration there