Thanks for the replies...I do think it would be nice to be able to momentarily see it in hi-res. I've just begun working with TG3 again after pulling my hair out with VUE crashes and having it sucking my 8-core machine into oblivion, so I'm still learning.
In this case, I have a very particular location where the camera needs to be on a path, within about a 5-10 foot area. The DEM is easily viewed in 3DEM or any number of other programs (same one I'd used in VUE), and it's detailed enough to see what I need to see. But with TG3, it's been difficult to find the viewpoint because of the resolution problem. I've had to create a camera high above the terrain, looking straight down, and then back in and out enough to get some idea where I am--then render that view (more time waiting) so I can then guess I'm in the right place. Because the location is atop a low rolling hill, I finally generated a jpg of the DEM in another program to compare that with the terrain in the fractalized TG3 preview, looking for the vague light/shadow outlines in the fractals to be sure I was in the right spot. That works...but if I could just render the preview momentarily in hi-res it would be much easier. (I think others have also said this, but the constant redrawing of the fractals every time you touch something, losing the picture and waiting for that last 20%, is a bit frustrating. Perhaps a very simple smooth shaded view could help for these quick looks.)
Even so, I'm actually not at all complaining about the program, nor am I disappointed with the learning curve. I used TG2..actually started with .09. The interface takes some getting used to..is there a 4-view orthographic display I haven't found yet? Most other 3D apps have it, so there must be a reason and it would be somewhat familiar. Wind animation for vegetation would be huge, maybe the biggest drawback for me at the moment. But my first test render of the above DEM looked very nice, the fractals adding more detail is excellent, and it looked much more realistic than the VUE version. So I'm pretty positive about the results I'll eventually get.
Thanks again...