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General => Terragen Discussion => Topic started by: Nathan.c on May 03, 2020, 01:56:31 PM

Title: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 03, 2020, 01:56:31 PM
I can't get any texture to show up on the grass clump. Odd thing is, if I hover my pointer over the transform arrows in the 3D window I can see a hint of greenish texture, take it off and it's gone. As far as I can see it's set to default shader 01
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: sboerner on May 03, 2020, 03:56:22 PM
Could be one of few things. The model UVs are mapped into the 0-1 space, correct? And is the image map shader set to use the object UVs?

If the answer is yes to both then maybe post a couple of screenshots of your node settings, or a stripped-down file that just includes the populations if you can share the model.

Edit: Sorry, my apologies. I just reread your post and see that you are using a default shader, not an image map shader. The default shader will handle the model's UVs if they are mapped to 0-1 space. So maybe check the mapping first. If that looks good then my previous suggestion about uploading screenshots or the file still holds.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 03, 2020, 05:51:10 PM
Hi thanks, I've just loaded TG with the basic start-up settings and tried it again, but it's still showing no textures, Object UV is selected, everything is default.

Edit. Forgot to say, changing the diffuse colour also doesn't make any difference.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: luvsmuzik on May 03, 2020, 07:43:45 PM
Make sure the texture image path is correct and not the one original to the object. Do you have the image in the object folder and loaded into the default shader with your path from your computer?  Also make sure default diffuse is not set to 0....(0.5 gray minimum for image textures).
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: sboerner on May 03, 2020, 09:35:18 PM
It's clear that the textures on the trees are working, so maybe compare that object's network to the grass network to see if there are any differences.

May I ask what your source was for the grass object?
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 04, 2020, 05:56:53 AM
Trees I downloaded from here and are added from the library so their textures are in their individual folders. The source for the crass clump is what's built into Terragen, and the only setting that's not set default on that is the diffuse colour.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Dune on May 04, 2020, 08:47:06 AM
The internal grass clump is by default grey, so you should color it in the color tab, and that should work.
Better though is to color it in world scale, so use a pf with some grassy colors, lead it through a transform shader, set that to final/world position and plug into color input. Work on the pf sizes for a nice distribution of tints, and you can even add more pf's after the first with a single (!) color as additional grass colors.
Then also raise the translucency a bit (0.5 or so), make it a grassy color too, set a bit of reflection and you could decrease opacity to 0.8 to keep more light between grass blades. Then try again.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 04, 2020, 09:51:15 AM
I got fed up with it and reinstalled Terragen, fixed. The only thing I can think of is when I updated Terragen recently that may have corrupted something. Anyways I'm happy now, thanks for the help.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 06, 2020, 01:22:17 PM
Problem has returned  >:( Fake stones are the same & cards (whatever they are). I haven't changed a thing, I can change the diffuse to every colour under the sun and it'll stay & render grey ??
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: cyphyr on May 06, 2020, 04:46:42 PM
Can you upload a simplified tgd. with non-terragen native objects (if any) removed please?
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 06, 2020, 06:23:29 PM
I will do tomorrow, had enough of it tonight. 

Thanks.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 07, 2020, 04:55:16 AM
I've just found out this morning that if I change the diffuse, save & close then re-open TG and repopulate.. the colour changes take effect.  I tried this 3x and each time the colour changed after reloading, it just wont change on-screen until I do that, any suggestions to that update ??

Here's a basic setup terrain with a clump.

Nightmaregrass.tgd
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: cyphyr on May 07, 2020, 05:36:51 AM
I can't see anything wrong with your grass clump population.
The only thing this may be is that when using RTP (Ray Traced Preview) there is a small button next to it that enables and disables previewing the texture.
This is not always enabled when you switch to RTP.

RTP.JPG
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Dune on May 07, 2020, 06:24:07 AM
Nothing wrong indeed. You probably 'misused' the preview. You can also view grass as textured (button).
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 07, 2020, 06:51:53 AM
Quote from: cyphyr on May 07, 2020, 05:36:51 AMI can't see anything wrong with your grass clump population.
The only thing this may be is that when using RTP (Ray Traced Preview) there is a small button next to it that enables and disables previewing the texture.
This is not always enabled when you switch to RTP.

RTP.JPG

That works, is it supposed to do that as I've read a couple of tutorials that don't mention toggling that.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: cyphyr on May 07, 2020, 08:40:57 AM
Yes that is exactly how the RTP works. Basically the less it previews the faster it works. Switching texture, atmosphere and lighting on or off in the preview allows you to see what you need as fast as possible.
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: Nathan.c on May 07, 2020, 09:56:52 AM
Ok. Thanks for the help  8)
Title: Re: Grass clump.
Post by: sboerner on May 07, 2020, 12:08:37 PM
It's a good idea to make small test renderings from time to time, as in Dune's example. Especially when the 3D view doesn't seem to be making sense. Just use low quality settings and a small image size (or crop) so they go quickly.

I keep a spare "roving" camera handy just for this, so I don't have to disturb the placement of the main camera.