Exporting tgd file

Started by BigTom, May 05, 2010, 09:03:46 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Matt

#15
Hi Tom,

In your project, the Heightfield Generate node isn't contributing anything to the scene, because the Heightfield Shader that it feeds into is disabled. The Heightfield Generate node only affects your scene when it is connected to a Heightfield Shader that is enabled and displacing the planet. With your current setup, if you try to save that heightfield it will have no correlation to anything in your scene.

In order to make a .ter representation of the scene you have created with your heightfield image, you should feed your final shader ("Displacement shader 01" in your screen grab) into the "Shader" input of a new Heightfield Generate node. You can do this as follows:

1) Right click in some empty space in the network view, choose Create Heightfield Operator -> Heightfield Generate. Don't use the Heightfield Generate node already in the scene because it will not let you perform the next step because it would create a circular connection.

2) Drag a connection from the output triangle at the bottom of Displacement shader 01 (or whatever the last shader is that feeds into Planet 01) to the input labeled "Shader" on the top of your new Heightfield Generate node.

3) Double click on the new Heightfield Generate node, enter the X and Y values for the size in metres of the area you wish to sample into your heightfield. The values you were using before should be OK.

4) Press Generate Now. The fractal settings have NO effect - they are only used to generate random terrain when you have not input a shader to sample.

5) Then right-click on the node, Save file as... choose .ter.

Unfortunately I don't know how well TG Classic will handle this or whether the DXF plugin will like the "unusual" size of the terrain, since it won't conform to the standard sizes which TG Classic is most comfortable with, and maybe more importantly it won't have equal spacing between data points in X Y and Z scaling.

Perhaps a safer option would be to use the Heightfield Export LWO operator, after you have gone through steps 1 to 4. You might be able to load LWO files in Sketchup, there may be a plugin for that.

If that doesn't work, to get your image heightfield into Sketchup you may need to look at more direct conversion routes from the image you started with. As Oshyan says, Wilbur might be a better choice for this kind of conversion. Also, try searching for any programs that can convert heightfields into 3D objects. I'm sorry that there isn't a direct route to DXF with Terragen 2.

Maybe there is a plugin for Sketchup to load heightfields images directly? If Sketchup is an app worth using, someone should write that.

Matt
Just because milk is white doesn't mean that clouds are made of milk.

Oshyan

I think the important question here is whether any TG2-specific functions are actually contributing value to the workflow. If TG2 is just being used as a simple file converter, it's really not the best tool for the job. If on the other hand TG2's displacement, heightfield effects, or other functions are actually helping to produce the final terrain shape, then it's worth figuring this workflow out. But from what I understand that's not the case here and a dedicated heightfield app is a better choice.

- Oshyan