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Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki

This is the primary source of documentation on Planetside's Terragen software products, including Terragen Classic and Terragen 2. This wiki contains official information as well as community-written content. Official documentation is clearly delineated from user contributed information by section below. We hope you find this to be a valuable resource and we encourage you to contribute any information you can in the community-generated areas. For help on how to use and contribute to a Wiki system, check the Help section.

If you are a licensed user of Terragen and you need direct support, you can contact us via our contact page.

Terragen 2/3 Official Documentation

Guides

Quick Start
For those pressed for time, this is a very short and simple list of steps to take to create and render your first scene. Please refer to the "Creating Your First Scene" document below for a more full explanation of each step.

Creating Your First Scene (PDF 600KB)
A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic Terragen 2 scene.

Terragen 2 User Guide Part 1: Fundamental Concepts and User Interface Overview (PDF 800KB)
The User Guide is a series of documents that give an overview of all the major work areas of Terragen 2 and how to construct a basic scene. It is designed to be read through completely over time.

Terragen 2 User Guide Part 2: Fundamental Rendering and Shader Concepts
This part of the User Guide explains some of the fundamental concepts used for rendering and shaders.

Terrain and Water
Detailed information on creating and controlling terrain and water features.

Surface Mapping and Shading
Detailed information on applying surface maps, i.e. texturing, in Terragen 2. This section is oriented toward surface maps as applied to terrain, but much of the information also applies to object texturing.

Animation Module Guide
This is a guide to using the Animation Module. It has information and tutorials about creating animations using TG2.

The Library
This is a guide to using the Library and Library window in TG3.

Network View Guide
This is a guide to using the Network View in TG2.

Painted Shader Guide
This guide explains how to use and get the most out of the Painted Shader.

Populator Guide
This is a guide to using Populator nodes. Populator nodes help you to quickly and efficiently add many objects, such as trees, to a scene.

3DS Max and Maya Tutorials
Learn how to work with TG2 and 3DS Max or Maya with these in-depth tutorial videos, courtesy of Xfrog Software and Jan Walter Schliep.

Advanced Cloud Function Tutorial (clouds follow terrain)
Get an in-depth understanding of the new cloud control functions in Terragen with this tutorial by Martin Huisman

Reference

Terragen 2 Node Reference
Describes all the TG2/TG3 nodes.

Glossary
The Glossary explains terms relevant to TG2/3.

Input Settings Reference
Lists all the input settings, such as mouse clicks and hot keys, that can be used in various views. You can find the input settings for TG2 here.

Menu Reference
Describes the menus in the Terragen 3's menubar. You can read about Terragen 2's menus here.

Window Reference
Describes the different windows used in TG2/3.

Animation Module Reference

Gives an overview of the Animation Module as well as a reference for animation related windows and views.

Import-Export Reference

This reference describes TG2s import and export capabilities.

Gathering Projects Reference

Describes the project gathering process, which allows you to gather a project and related assets into a single folder.

Global Illumination

Explains what Global Illumination is and how to use it in Terragen 2.

Render Layers and Render Elements (Terragen 3 Professional)

Explains the Render Layers system in Terragen 3 Professional, including Render Elements.

Preferences

Describes Terragen 3's preferences, which let you customise how the application behaves. You can find out about Terragen 2's preferences here.

Terragen Resources

Terragen Resource List

Find Terragen-compatible software, 3D models, content, and other resources.

Terragen 2/3 Community-Generated Content

Using Terragen 2
A quick overview of using TG2.

Terragen 2 Tips and Tricks
Some quick tips and tricks for using TG2.

Terragen 2 Tutorials
A list of tutorials, from beginning to advanced, to take you through how to do certain things with TG2.

Tutorial planning Area
A list of planned or desired tutorials

Objects and Object Collections
A list of objects created for TG2 by the community and a list of stores and collections available for free or at a cost.