Learning Terragen 4

Started by Adions, September 25, 2018, 04:39:42 PM

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Adions

I`m just playing with Terragen 4 and try to understand it better. Here is my second result. What do you think?

After some time experimenting with Terragen I had the filling that my workflow is quite slow. I have some Questions that could improve my speed.
1. Is there a short key to disable or enable the Crop function in render view?
2. Is there a way to keep the render result after I push the render button again while I am using the Crop function (This function is in every other render I know standard)? Instead of rendering only the Crop region and replace the rest with black.
3. Is there a way to create a history of the render results to compare the Images? At the moment I have to save the images manually and view it in an other program.
4. Is there a way to make all the Icons of my Library Items bigger? I have a hard time to see the details of my Foliage and objects.
5. How can I visualize a shader or a surface layer that is not part of the shader tree and not connected to the Planet node? When I want to create a mask or a color variation with a Power fractal shader I have a very hard time to see my results. The "enable test colour"
is a great feature, unfortunately it works only when I place the node in the sahder tree and connect it to the Planet node. It would be nice to have a preview or a visualization any time, just like in World Mashine.

I discovers the "D" key to disable and enable nodes in the NodeEditor.  ;D A big time saver! Do you have some more tricks or shortcuts to speed up the workflow?
Thx already for the great support!


masonspappy

Quote from: Adions on September 25, 2018, 04:46:33 PM
3. Is there a way to create a history of the render results to compare the Images? At the moment I have to save the images manually and view it in an other program.
From main Terragen View"   EDIT > Preferences > File Saving
Check "Make Backup copy..." and "always Save Project Files..."
"Item" dropdown should be  " Automatic Render output"
Default Path should be something like "C:\Temp|TERRAGEN_OUT"
Quote from: Adions on September 25, 2018, 04:46:33 PM
4. Is there a way to make all the Icons of my Library Items bigger? I have a hard time to see the details of my Foliage and objects.
Don't think they all can be enlarged at once.  Best I've been been able to do is select the actual image for preview, then click magnify glass icon to enlarge the image.  Would have been better if icons sizes in initial preview could have been made larger.
Quote from: Adions on September 25, 2018, 04:46:33 PM
I discovers the "D" key to disable and enable nodes in the NodeEditor. 
If I have several high density populations , I create a new group node, then move those populations into that node. Then they can all be enabled/disabled with a single keystroke

WAS

Quote from: masonspappy on September 25, 2018, 05:44:45 PM
If I have several high density populations , I create a new group node, then move those populations into that node. Then they can all be enabled/disabled with a single keystroke

Genius, surprised I never had thought of this instead of a long object group column. Lol

RichTwo

Learning Terragen 4??? Looks like you already got quite a lot figured out.  Me?  I'm still in the weeds about most of it...
They're all wasted!

Oshyan

Very nice early results! You are getting the hang of it quickly. :)

A few quick answers to your questions:

1: There is no shortcut key for crop enable/disable. But you can find a full reference of shortcut keys by going to the Help/Application menu (on Mac) and select "Mouse and Key Settings".

2/3: There is no built-in way to view a "history" or "stack" of renders in this way, but the auto-save that mason explained can help at least make the process a bit less manual. We do plan to make improvements to the Render view over time.

4: Not currently, no.

5: There is a small, square blue icon button on the upper-right of most shaders. This opens a shader preview in a separate window. It's a bit limited because it's always centered on 0,0,0, but you can zoom in/out, for for Displacement shaders, you can also adjust the camera angle to see it in 3D by using the standard 3D Preview camera controls.

- Oshyan

Dune

5 is not a big problem; I always end with a test surface shader, which I switch on for testing only. Of any shader you attach to it, you immediately see the results.

DocCharly65

Besides to all the suggestions just a "nice render!"
Remembers me a bit to the Paramount intro. I like it :)

DannyG

New World Digital Art
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René

#9
Already a very attractive render. Looks like a classical painting.

Adions

Thx everybody!  :D
@Dune I will give the test Shader a try. Great Idea!