Does Terragen 2 Deep exports the following formats??

Started by prasad5787, March 08, 2010, 10:50:41 AM

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prasad5787

Hi All,

Sorry if this Q is placed already in the forums before. I couldnt able to find in the first two pages shown in the search list what I am looking for..

I am just wondering is it possible to export terrains in
      .3ds
      .skp
      .ddm
      .ddf
      .kmz
      .dae
from Terragen 2 Deep version.

many thanks,

- Prasad.

MrTomate

I don't think it's possible... Anyway, i've read it's possible to import .ter file in 3ds max
May be with this plug-in (not tested yet) : http://www.brothersoft.com/gw--ter-importer-182598.html

tell me if it works  ;)

Henry Blewer

I think the Lightwave heightfield exporter is the only choice. Most 3D programs now can handle many types of object formats.
http://flickr.com/photos/njeneb/
Forget Tuesday; It's just Monday spelled with a T


carbon_adam

#4
dont bother trying...

QuoteThe Heightfield Export LWO node seems to be overlooked a lot, but if what you need is *non*-camera dependent geometry, then this is the best way to go. Your terrain isn't in a heightfield format? Never fear, just feed your procedural terrain shader network into a Heightfield Generate shader input, set the area and resolution (this will determine coverage area and detail, hence geometry density, respectively), and then press the Generate button. Then attach your Heightfield Export LWO to the Heightfield Generate, and you're set. The only limitation is if your terrain has overhangs, this won't capture them of course.

- Oshyan

so u see..its not really worth trying because the overhangs don't get included(which is why you want a mesh in the first place)..whats needed is a mesh exporter with all the nice 3D noise, or perhaps some 3d mapping function like mudbox for a low res mesh. perhaps in chunks of with LODs..the lightwave exporting is not having any advantage in Terragen 2. ..how many people use lightwave anyway..I work in the games industry and I don't know a single person over the last 10 years who uses it, and I would never ever buy lightwave just to use it to export the scene from Terragen into some other 3D app.

If you want to play with applying noise to create a real 3D (not 2.5D)mesh surface..use Terragen(or whatever)to export a heightmap and then export it to Acropora..which is a full 3D noise app using voxels..u can find it here.

http://www.voxelogic.com/


If the Programmers  of Terragen invent a true 3D output  they will become my personal hero..and while Acropora is interesting it doesn't really apply nice terrain noise like worldmachine or terragen..I wait for the day..I've been waiting for at least 3 years.

Kadri

Quote from: carbon_adam on March 09, 2010, 10:00:46 AM
...and I would never ever buy lightwave just to use it to export the scene from Terragen into some other 3D app.
...

I don't like to arguing over software thus i will only say that you don't have to buy Lightwave to use the LWO format.
There are many small and bigger 3D programs who can read it. Poseray as an example can read it. It is free.

Kadri.

carbon_adam

ok didnt know that!..I am not trying to say which software is good or bad im just saying full 3D export doent exist in any 3D terrain app..that is ones which support 3D noise...that being Terragen and Vue

Oshyan

As others have said, currently LWO is the only format supported for export. We'll be adding additional formats in the future.

Creating a robust export option for terrain alone, not to mention terrain plus textures, is more difficult than it sounds though. To get useful levels of detail, you either need huge amounts of geometry, clever camera-proximity geometry level of detail adjustment, or some clever combination of low(er) resolution geometry and sophisticated displacement maps (large textures). Maintaining broad compatibility with this is a challenge, not to mention just the large amounts of data.

- Oshyan

carbon_adam

#8
Some sort of streaming database I would imagine..the mega texture technique does this, though I know a 3D surface has alot more info than a 2.5D surface.  I have also thought there should be a way to limit what data needs to be reprsented as 3D model info, so you would still have a terrain then only the sections that are overhangs as models..though this is also not easy to determine.  Ive also done some terrain work for our games that uses the same shader on the terrain as the models..except I use the models UV's..it makes a nice match and surprised me how nice it looked..it would work well with the above approach.

Cant wait!

tncomp

There is a new release of Acropora that takes noise to a new level. You can import terragen/worldmachine or any other heightmap for that matter and then:
- perturb it with volumetric, perlin, fractal noise,
- add regional constraints
- carve into it
- add cave structures, lofts, grooves, layers,...
- export to common mesh formats
- export voxel space (RLE format also supported)
- and much more.

Cheers,
Thomas