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Terragen™ 2 TG2 Overview     TG2 Image Gallery     TG2 FAQ     TG2 Tech Preview Introduction Terragen 2 (TG2) is now the primary development focus of Planetside Software. TG2 is a complete rewrite of Terragen from scratch, and is a significant advance beyond the capabilities of Terragen v0.9. Apart from being a much more powerful renderer, TG2 has a much more flexible architecture which will allow development to proceed at a considerably greater pace. Core Features Terragen 2 features the following as part of its core architecture : Cutting-edge adaptive subdivision renderer. Modular, plugin-based architecture. Render entire planets, sweeping vistas, tiny rock gardens, or anything in between. Import 3D objects for rendering. Export high resolution objects. Render millions of boulders or trees using "instancing"; even billions of virtual objects Add multiple heightfields to your scene. Use procedural terrains that can span an entire planet. Apply almost "infinite" fractal detail to terrain and other objects. Overhanging terrain using procedural displacements, image-based displacements, or imported geometry. Volumetric clouds or fast "2.5D" clouds. Production quality anti-aliasing and motion blur. Terragen 2 The core technology in TG2 was used to render planets for Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002 (article in Cinefex 93) and was also relied upon for hundreds of CG terrain shots in a big budget film during 2005. Download Mars animation At the heart of TG2 is a cutting-edge 3D renderer. It is capable of rendering surfaces with extreme procedural displacement and produces images and animations with production quality anti-aliasing and motion blur. Procedural, image-based or object-based shaders can build complex surfaces from simple objects, relying on the renderer's adaptive subdivision algorithms to dynamically adjust to extreme stretching and creasing. Seeking Shade Volumetric cumulus clouds, overhanging terrain, procedural foreground detail. Rendered with TG2, except for minor colour adjustment. TG2 blurs the distinction between geometry and displacement that is common in most high end production renderers, making it an ideal solution for highly complex natural objects such as terrain. TG2 comfortably handles natural objects of all sizes, from entire planets to pebbles on a beach, all in the same scene. While the emphasis is on rendering procedural surfaces with extremely high detail, image-based textures and imported geometry are supported, and the resulting surfaces can be exported at various resolutions in popular 3D object formats. Cloud Study at Washington Pass This image was rendered with TG2, except for minor colour adjustment. Clouds were rendered using TG2's volumetric cloud shader, which can be controlled with maps and arbitrary density shaders. The terrain was converted from a DEM of Washington Pass, WA, with additional detail added by displacement shaders. Our long term development is now concentrated on Terragen 2, using the TG2 renderer and plugin architecture. The bulk of the work is done, and our next step is to combine the accessibility of Terragen's current user interface and fast, integrated atmosphere system with the underlying power and flexibility of TG2. Deep Canyon was rendered with TG2, except for some sharpening (original without postwork here). The hills at top left and the general canyon shape were derived from a DEM from the Grand Canyon region. The final canyon walls and rim were exaggerated procedurally. Terragen 2 Release Schedule In 2006 the first Terragen 2 Technology Preview will be released, giving users hands-on access to the software. Development will continue towards a final release of Terragen 2 for Windows and Mac. Our intention is that Standard, Creative and Deep editions will cater for different user requirements and budgets, and we hope to continue the tradition of releasing a free non-commercial edition that is more than just a demo. Terragen v0.9 We will continue to support TG v0.9 until TG2 is available. Our main development focus now is definitely TG2 however, and we do not plan to add any significant new functionality to TG v0.9. We will certainly still address crashing issues and the like, and we have not ruled out future releases of TG v0.9. Upgrade path Registered users of v0.7 through to v0.9 will receive a discount of at least $100 (USD) towards Terragen 2 when it is available. This applies to those who register in the future as well as to current registered users. More about TG2 TG2 Image Gallery Terragen 2 Technology Preview Terragen 2 FAQ