Terragen 2 and Animation Wind effects

[rkphelps]

Does Terragen 2 have Animation wind effects for trees and grass objects?

If not are there plans for adding this?

Also are there plans for adding a particle system for animated snow or rain or dust blowing?

Example: I would like to do an animated clip showing rain clouds rolling in with heavy winds blowing trees and loose leaves and grass, then lightning and rain falling etc. Could this be possible in the near future?

[Goms]

well, no.
i think it could be possible in future, but for this you need physics, a hole bunch of good models and experience.
If you do it manual it could be possible even now, but it would need so much skill and so much models and so much of everything...

[Oshyan]

I don't think there is any package you could use currently that would create such a scene satisfactorily without quite a lot of work. Vue has built-in wind animation, but no particle system, so the rain and many other things would be hard to do well. A general-purpose, high-end 3D package like Maya, Softimage, or Max would probably be best, but again a lot of work would be required.

We don't have specific plans to add built-in or automated animation effects like wind to TG2. A particle system is something we have considered, but again we do not have specific short-term plans to add one. I do think it would add a lot of capability to the TG2 toolbox, but it's also a lot of work to add it.

In the short-term, any support of animated objects would be implemented either through object sequences, or using an open object animation format like Collada.

- Oshyan

[rkphelps]

"We don't have specific plans to add built-in or automated animation effects like wind to TG2"

Oshyan, I hope you guys change your mind and at least decide to add a built-in wind animation system to Terragen like Vue has. It seems like a natural thing to have for creating a world environment with your animation package.



"In the short-term, any support of animated objects would be implemented either through object sequences, or using an open object animation format like Collada"

Good Collada import/export would be great, this is the direction Lightwave Core is heading and I want to see Terragen and Lightwave Core work together as seamlessly as possible.

[Walli]

well, you only can built in a wind "engine" if you built in a plant "engine". Otherwise there would be many upset people because the plant object they downloaded from xy does not work with wind.

Or you have to at least define a special "setup" how plants have to be build and what extra information they need to deliver.

And finally - probably this is also something that third party developers can create...