Okay, I've been plodding along with this software for some time now and I've kind of hit a wall with my textures. I've been using the "surface shader" for 97% of my textures but I understand that the same basic effects can be created with powerfractals with in many cases, more impressive results. I played with Volker's tutorial at one point but school kind of took over my life and in my experiements since I've had trouble figuring things out. The biggest obstacle I'm facing is the ability to limit the fractals to a certain area, say, above 100m and between 20 and 30 degree slopes. Any suggestions or is the surface shader option a better bet since I don't really want to dive into the functions?
with your powerfractals just use a distribution shader for the blend shader, that way you can restrain it to certain slopes and altitudes. :)
Iain
also try playing with fuzzy zone in your surface layer.....it makes a difference...
You can still use the Surface Layer to control your distribution and connect whatever other shaders you want as child layers of the surface layer.
Matt
With the node based design, pretty much anything is possible. Its just a matter of assembling the nodes in certain ways.
For creating surfaces, I use the surface shader most of the time as well, and connect power fractals into that as needed. I use the power fractals for color and/or displacement, and these can be stacked and masked as needed for unlimited variation.
Thanks for the suggestions that should help alot!