A newbie question.

[sura_tc]

Hello, I am a beginner Blender user. Currently, I am creating sci-fi related models to add some immersion to my personal novel.

It looks like I will be creating sci-fi related stuff for a while. You can see stuff I am currently working on Blenderartist site @ http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?379696-Frigate-class-spaceship-%28For-my-novel%29


I've been looking into creating landscape as well as space w/ planets. But it's not just landscape. I need to create landscapes with sci-fi elements, such as sci-fi cities and whatnot. I do have visions; problem is the method of creating them.

Having started 3D modelling in Blender, I can vaguely see myself using only Blender to create what I need albeit crudely.

At first, I tried Vue the free version and it didn't take me long enough to realize that I needed several modules to get the result I needed and when modules were combined, the price tag was too much for a hobbyist. Terragen is significantly cheaper at 199 because I am not looking at animations. I need still-renders.


So, here comes my question.

I've looked at the "share image" forum and saw no renders of space or anything sci-fi. Is Terragen capable of recreating planetary view?

Also, is it possible to import models from Blenders? I am assuming it can but how easy it is to import? (Like, do shaders carry over correctly?)

Optionally, how easy it is for Terragen to import humanoid models from Poser & Daz3D? (Like hairs and eyes)

Thanks.

[Hannes]

First of all: welcome to the forum!!
Yes!!!!! TG is capable of creating planetary views. See the TG native image gallery:
http://planetside.co.uk/galleries/terragen-gallery
There are some SciFi images.

And yes, you can import models into TG. I guess, Blender can export the obj format?! Whatever is obj can be imported into TG. Sometimes the shaders have to be adjusted and sometimes there are issues with normals, but theere's a lot of threads in the forum dealing with this.

[Oshyan]

Terragen is actually quite good at rendering space scenes. In fact planetary-level renders are often faster than ground-level renders because of TG's native level of detail optimization and other factors. There are indeed a number of space renders in the gallery Hannes linked to. You can also just download the free version, install it, open it, then use the 3D preview navigation controls to point your camera down at the ground, then move backward waaayyyy out into space... the default Terragen scene *is* a *whole planet*. Yes, it's a rather boring planet, but there *are* mountains everywhere and a highly realistic global atmosphere by default. Making a whole planet look realistic can be a challenge, but Terragen gives you the best building blocks out there, as far as I'm aware; making full planets in Vue is a lot trickier from what I understand.

- Oshyan