Few output and import/export questions

[briareos_kerensky]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum and will soon start testing out Terragen to supplement 3ds Max. I have a couple of questions before I begin, however:

1) Does Terragen output render elements like 3ds Max does? In 3ds Max to cut rendering times I output z-depth and velocity channels and use them in post-production programs (Photoshop, After Effects) to control the strength of the effect itself.
2) I read that Terragen can import 3ds Max cameras: is the import limited to cameras controlled by just keyframes or does it extend to cameras moving along a spline or other constraints?
3) I normally use mental ray to render, often with the daylight system (mr Sun + mr Sky, controlled by a EPW file); can the lighting in Terragen be controlled via EPW files or it's completely "manual"?
4) Any recommendation for tutorials and/or books? I browsed the net a bit but most are for Terragen 2 (or are these tutorials still relevant?)

Thanks in advance.

[Hetzen]

Hello briareos_kerensky welcome to the forums

I use Max with Vray and can help with some your questions.

1/ Yes, you will need the Professional edition to render passes.
2/ You have to bake the animation out of Max.
3/ Manual, but the sun position controls make it easy to set for real world data. You could potentially automate through a script writing a Chan formatted text file.
4/ Terragen 2 links are still relevant in 3.

[briareos_kerensky]

That's great, thanks.