Recent posts
#1
Last post by Matt - November 07, 2025, 05:40:38 PM
There's an import bug-fix update to Terragen 4.8 - Build 4.8.62 (Release Candidate).
If you have an active license of Terragen 4 Professional or Creative, use the Check for Updates feature in the application to get links to the latest 4.8 builds. If you're on a perpetual license and your maintenance includes 4.8.xx builds then you can get this update even if the maintenance expired.Quote===========================================
Build 4.8.62 (Release or Release Candidate)
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Important bug fix: There was a bug in the rendering of clouds of type Easy Cloud and Cloud Layer V3 that added significant noise in some situations when rendering with the Path Tracer. The Path Tracer is not used to render clouds directly visible to the camera, but nevertheless their appearance was altered wherever the clouds were occluding surfaces (e.g. terrain or objects) that were rendered by the Path Tracer. In a typical landscape scene this could add a strong discontinuity in the noise levels from above the horizon to below the horizon, and made the adaptive sampler work harder to resolve the noise in the affected areas, usually increasing render times. The bug presented itself only when rendering with the Path Tracer, not the Standard Renderer. Cloud Layer V2 and Planet Atmosphere were not affected in any render mode.
Notice: We advise users to adjust render quality settings on scenes that were affected by the cloud rendering bug. Now that the bug has been fixed, renders can take longer in scenes that used high AA or high "Voxel scattering quality" to compensate for the old behaviour. Adjusting render settings back to normal levels should result in higher quality images and shorter render times. A good range for "Voxel scattering quality" (in GI Settings) is between 200 and 400 when the image is dominated by clouds directly visible to the camera, and 100 is better when clouds are mostly for secondary effects.
Bug fix: The program was crashing in some situations when using a license server through a configuration file on a network path.
Bug fix in the Free Non-commercial edition: Parameter views for object reader nodes (OBJ Reader, TGO Reader etc.) were taking up more screen space than they should, because they were missing the "Mesh Modifiers" tab and this caused the tab's contents to be displayed between the two main tab groups.
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Build 4.8.52 (Frontier Build)
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Fixed a bug in the Path Tracer that sometimes caused the Robust Adaptive Sampler to output bad pixels if nearby pixels were sampling 'holdout' objects. The bug might have caused problems in other situations too.
Experimental changes to improve the Z-depth rendering of items drawn in the 3D Preview. This potentially affects the drawing of bounding boxes, wireframes, shaded and textured objects, and some shader-specific drawings (e.g. the dotted lines of a Simple Shape Shader). Most of these items will be hidden behind other items according to the Z-depth buffer in the view, except for shader-specific drawings and some special objects which are always drawn on top to maintain visibility. Please give us feedback on the new behaviour so we can further refine it.
An experimental solution to an occasional problem where the 3D Preview would become unresponsive to some types of interaction.
Bug fixes to the visual 'disabled' status of node outputs and connection lines in the Node Network.
Other internal changes that are not meant to affect outward behaviour.
If you have an active license of Terragen 4 Professional or Creative, use the Check for Updates feature in the application to get links to the latest 4.8 builds. If you're on a perpetual license and your maintenance includes 4.8.xx builds then you can get this update even if the maintenance expired.
#2
Last post by Matt - November 07, 2025, 05:35:59 PM
@midnight.mangler We've fixed the bug and there is a new update to 4.8.
If you have an active license of Terragen 4 Professional or Creative, use the Check for Updates feature in the application to get links to the latest 4.8 builds. If you're on a perpetual license and your maintenance includes 4.8.xx builds then you can get this update even if the maintenance expired.
#3
I figured out the HM scale issue. When you export "ter" format from WM it embeds the world extents that are specified in the project settings dialog. Default is 12k. It's independent of heightfield resolution so that number can be set to whatever you want to create the desired pixel/vertex density per meter as that is what Terragen will use to determine your terrain extents on the default planet.
I am using Y planar mapping
I am using a distance shader to blend differently scaled versions of the texture to camoflauge tiling issues. (I come from Unreal background)
I am not sure what I was doing wrong before because now my terrain retains its shape. I think I must have disconnected or neglected to wire the computer terrain node into the default shader main input.
Thank you everyone.
#4
Many of the parameters like the Default shader's "Colour image" that accept an image map will default to the object's uv coordinates. In order to be able to scale the texture I find that it's better to assign the texture map via an Image Map shader that is assigned to the Default shader's "Colour function" parameter. Within the Image Map shader you have control over the placement and scale of the image on the terrain.
Terragen's default unit is 1 meter. If you want one pixel of your square 16,384 height map to cover 1 meter of terrain then set both inputs of the "Size" parameter in Image Map shader to 16384.
#5
Last post by Dune - October 30, 2025, 02:49:02 AM
Do you add the default shader as a child to a surface shader after the terrain has been made, and after the compute terrain? Then a transform shader shouldn't mess with any previous displacements.
You can also use an image map shader to import your texture. Scaling can be done within.
You should take care that image maps/textures are repetitive, so I wouyld always prefer a procedural approach for bigger rock textures, or at least mix them in.
You also have to take care that later textures have their own displacements, so you might need to smooth the rock displacement, for a field of grass for instance. Or separate them using a merge shader with a controller (image map, or fractal, or slope by distribution shader).
The latter question, I don't know how to answer - I hardly ever work with imported HM's.
#6
I'm trying to build a layered terrain texture with some PBR textures. Tiff format authored in Substance Designer. Color/Roughness/AO/Height
Using a custom ter built in WM.
What I want to accomplish is having my rock shader be my "alpha" layer. In other words, sit on the whole terrain, and then build a few generic dirt and grass textures to help imply coverage for a scene I'm working on as an enviro map.
I can't find a built-in way to scale my texture tiling in the default shader, and tutorial has suggested using a "Transform Input Shader" after the default shader to handle scaling my texture repeats.
But when I connect my TIS the terrain loses its height information and becomes a planar surface.
I want to eventually use a distro shader to add in the dirt and grass as layers each on top of the stone respectively.
Is there a better way to do this than stacking default shaders with masks?
I also want to make my terrain scale in TG one meter per pixel. The HM is 16,384 and it seems to be limited to 12,000 in world for custom terrains? I can't find a way to change it.
#7
Last post by pokoy - October 25, 2025, 06:50:00 AM
Quote from: Matt on October 24, 2025, 07:44:21 PMNo offense taken, so don't worry about that. Thanks for the considerate reply.
I think we will be able to show a lot of these things coming together next year, and I hope that will allay some of your concerns. Terragen 5 will have all the power of the TG4 node-based interface (we are conscious of that being a familiar mode to many of you) as well as new modes of interaction.
Thanks Matt, looking forward to it.
#8
Last post by Dune - October 25, 2025, 02:54:37 AM
As a matter of fact I have been reluctant about the change of UI, Pokoy, as the current UI has everything I need. But that's personal indeed (there are 'bigger powers'). And I'm also in line with your trust, especially after Matt's continued assurances.
#9
Last post by Matt - October 24, 2025, 07:44:21 PM
No offense taken, so don't worry about that. Thanks for the considerate reply.
I think we will be able to show a lot of these things coming together next year, and I hope that will allay some of your concerns. Terragen 5 will have all the power of the TG4 node-based interface (we are conscious of that being a familiar mode to many of you) as well as new modes of interaction.
#10
Last post by pokoy - October 24, 2025, 07:27:36 AM
Matt - please take my note with humor if possible, sorry if it sounded offensive. However, please note the underlying critique is targeted towards the fact that TG has seen only minor improvements, with requests for substantial features reaching far into the past, some being close to 10-15 years.
I guess everyone's priorities will vary, but to me TG Sky is just not something I'll ever find useful, especially since it doesn't offer anything over TG except for a different UI.
As for the UI, I don't see how TG Sky's UI will be suitable for all the functionality that TG provides (and needs to provide). While TG Sky is built around a render preview with only a few parameters exposed to the main UI, TG's main UI element is and will probably always need to be the node editor with lots of UI elements that would not fit visually into TG Sky right now - these two are entirely different paradigms and I personally struggle to see how TG in its full extents will translate to TG Sky.
That said, I trust in your vision, still, for those waiting to see substantial updates to TG the wait has been very long, while the switch to a subscription based model turned out to be costly without much return (again, everyone's priorities will vary). There were features brought to TG that I personally value very much, it's just that a new TG based on its UI is close to unimaginable to me. Maybe you have something to show so users can discuss and give you early feedback.
Please don't take this personally as it's my personal opinion only. Especially since I know a single developer can't move everything forward at once, it all takes its time.
Sorry for bringing this up and hijacking the thread.
