https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=JavaJones 2026-04-16T11:00:26Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.31.0 https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Rendering_Optimization_Guide&diff=12795 2020-02-19T19:23:55Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Reduce Samples for Soft Shadows */</p> <hr /> <div>= Defer All Shading =<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading is a newer rendering method which generally provides higher quality results on surface shading and in atmospheres, especially clouds. When properly optimized it can usually achieve equivalent or better quality than non-deferred shading in a similar amount of time, but it may require some settings adjustments to achieve optimal results.<br /> <br /> === Anti-aliasing Controls Shading Quality ===<br /> <br /> One of the primary things to be aware of with Defer All Shading is that the anti-aliasing settings are now the primary determinant of surface shading quality (but not geometry density or quality). As a result you will want to be mindful to balance the AA settings for the best combination of quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ==== Typical Anti-aliasing Values ====<br /> <br /> For scenes that are primarily composed just of terrain and clouds, with few or no objects, you may be able to keep AA relatively low - such as 4 or 6 - and achieve good quality. When more objects are included, especially those with fine geometry like plant populations, it is likely you will need to use higher values like 8-12. Always use the lowest value you can as this setting directly affects the number of samples that are taken for every pixel, and can have a large impact on render time. In some cases that render time may be essentially wasted if the amount of aliasing (mostly seen as unnaturally jagged or sharp edges) in a typical render is not particularly high. As always you can test on crop renders to get a good idea of the right values in a shorter time.<br /> <br /> ==== Adaptive Sampling ====<br /> <br /> Adaptive Anti-aliasing Sampling is one of the best tools available in Terragen for reducing render time while maintaining quality. Simply put, it uses evaluations of contrast and noise distribution in the image to try to focus AA samples in areas where they are needed most, while avoiding using more samples than necessary on less noisy areas. This can save a lot of render time vs. simple uniform sampling, especially when there is a big difference between how noisy or aliased some areas of the scene are (such as fine geometry in a grass object) vs other areas (such as a smooth snow shader, or a clear sky). <br /> <br /> ===== Robust Adaptive Sampler =====<br /> <br /> Beginning in Terragen 4.3 a new &quot;Robust Adaptive Sampler&quot; option became available. This was further improved in Terragen 4.4. Essentially it uses new and more intelligent ways of evaluating noise levels and distributing samples to better balance render time and image quality, and avoid certain problems of the more simplistic adaptive AA algorithms used previously. It is strongly recommended that you use the Robust Adaptive Sampler option when using Defer All Shading. You can begin with the default values, but even better results can be achieved in many cases by increasing the level of adaptivity (First Sampling Level) or adjusting the Pixel Noise Threshold.<br /> <br /> ===== First Sampling Level =====<br /> <br /> The First Sampling Level essentially controls how &quot;adaptive&quot; the anti-aliasing is, i.e. the range of possible sampling values, from the maximum number (set by the anti-aliasing value itself, e.g. 8) to the minimum number, which is some fraction of the max. The smaller fraction the minimum value is vs. the maximum, the more adaptive the AA is, and the more potential render time can be saved. However higher levels of adaptivity do have the potential to result in increased noise in some areas, or to completely miss some important details in the image. <br /> <br /> ===== Pixel Noise Threshold =====<br /> <br /> The Pixel Noise Threshold (PNT) allows you to control at what point the adaptive sampling system will determine that a given level of identified noise is &quot;too much&quot; and will thus use more samples to reduce noise in that area. More samples = smoother results but longer render time. The higher the PNT value, the more noisy the image can be before more samples are used. In other words the adaptive sampler becomes more &quot;tolerant&quot; of noise with higher values. An important part of this to keep in mind, however, is that the adaptive sampler can only use a maximum number of samples as specified in the main anti-aliasing value, and can only reduce samples by the fraction you set in the First Sampling Level. So you can have a relatively high PNT, but still be using too many samples if your actual AA value is high (e.g. AA 12) and/or the First Sampling Level is conservative (e.g. 1/4).<br /> <br /> If noise is a problem in your image, generally speaking you will want to start by increase the main AA value if it is not already at 6 or above, before adjusting the PNT. In many cases the default PNT will work fairly well, however as the AA level rises you may want to adjust it to save render time in areas that are not very noisy. When you do adjust the PNT, do so in very small increments. Notice how the default values change with different AA values and use those relative values as a guide. One of the highest default PNT values of 0.15 at AA2 is, in absolute terms, not that different from the value at AA16 of 0.01875, both are mere fractions of &quot;1.0&quot;. Yet 0.01875 is actually a much lower value in terms of how it affects the threshold for evaluating noise in the render and it will consequently have a much higher impact on render time than a value like 0.15 or even 0.05. So change the PNT values slowly in the direction you want, higher for faster renders which allow more noise, lower for longer renders with less noise, and test along the way.<br /> <br /> Ideally what you want to do is determine the minimum AA value that will achieve the level of noise and anti-aliasing that you want on the hardest to sample areas of your scene. This can be done by using small crop renders with Max Samples enabled for First Sampling Level, and focusing on areas such as shadows or fine geometry detail that will be hardest to achieve smooth results in. Once you find a max AA value that achieves good results in these areas, you can then enable successively greater fractions of First Sampling Level and then use the Pixel Noise Threshold to adjust the balance of noise vs. render time for the rest of your image. All that being said, if you don't want to take the time or energy to test that much, the defaults are a good place to start.<br /> <br /> ===== The Importance of Correct Exposure and Contrast =====<br /> <br /> Because the adaptive sampler relies on actually analyzing the contrast of neighboring pixels in the image, it's important to try to get as close as possible to your intended exposure and contrast levels for the '''final''' image from within Terragen. Post processing is an important part of finishing many images, but ideally you would avoid too much &quot;pushing&quot; (increasing exposure) or &quot;pulling&quot; (decreasing exposure) in your post processing adjustments. Not because there will be any image degradation due to the processing itself, but rather because the adaptive sampler will have allowed a certain noise level (set by the PNT above) that may become more visible if exposure is increased or, conversely, if you reduce exposure, you may end up making certain areas less visible that were given more samples due to their level of contrast in the original render, making those additional samples unnecessary. In other words you can save render time by nailing the exposure in-render.<br /> <br /> === Don't use high Micropoly Detail ===<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading renders in a way that ultimately produces smoother and more detailed terrain shading (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality. The default 0.5 MPD is usually sufficient when Defer All Shading is enabled. When loading older projects created prior to the introduction of Defer All Shading remember to check the MPD value as it may have been set higher to achieve high quality when this option was not yet available.<br /> <br /> === Reduce Samples for Soft Shadows ===<br /> <br /> As noted, Defer All Shading results in higher quality surface shading, and this includes Soft Shadows on the terrain as well. So you can use fewer samples for Soft Shadows while still avoiding noise. Beginning in Terragen 4.4 the default soft shadow value is 4, which is a good starting place even for prior versions where Defer All Shading is available. You can test this with a crop render using Defer All Shading vs non-deferred shading to ensure it is working well.<br /> <br /> = Path Tracing =<br /> <br /> New in Terragen 4.3 is a more accurate and realistic-looking Path Tracing render method. You can find out more about it on the dedicated [[Path Tracing]] page. This can be a time-intensive rendering method and there are some specific optimizations and settings to be aware of to get the most out of your path traced renders.<br /> <br /> === Do I Need Path Tracing? ===<br /> <br /> The first thing to consider is whether your scene will actually benefit enough from path tracing to justify an increase in render time. Many scenes do, but there are enough in which the difference will be relatively small that it's worth considering and testing the impact on your actual scene before committing to a full, high resolution render. Use crop renders or lower resolution tests to evaluate the potential benefits.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing is most effective where there is a lot of geometry (e.g. imported object populations), or generally more potential for bounced light. It handles complex interactions of light bouncing better than the normal renderer. But for example in a mostly-terrain scene with a few scattered objects and a lot of direct sunlight, you're probably not going to see much benefit. If you move the sun lower in the sky to create lots of shadows, a sunset for example, then you might see more benefit. But the greatest gains will tend to be in thicker vegetation, or on more complex objects.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing also doesn't really affect the atmosphere, its main effects are on the ground, the terrain and anything sitting on it. So don't enable it if you are hoping for some improvement in the sky. It can, however, create more realistic lighting on the ground from the sky, to some degree.<br /> <br /> === Optimizing Render Time and Quality ===<br /> <br /> ==== Path Tracing Uses Defer All Shading ====<br /> <br /> Path Tracing enables &quot;Defer All Shading&quot;. Defer All Shading is a rendering method which makes much more detailed terrain (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality when Defer All Shading is used on its own, and good optimization for that rendering method will help minimize render time impact with full Path Tracing is used. Reference the Defer All Shading optimization section above for more specific setting recommendations and details.<br /> <br /> ==== Use the Robust Adaptive Sampler ====<br /> <br /> The new Robust Adaptive Sampling helps a lot to reduce render time with Path Tracing in particular, while maintaining quality. You can use a value of AA8 or AA6 with Robust Adaptive and 1/64th samples as a starting point. Increasing the amount of adaptivity, i.e. the &quot;First sampling level&quot;, will reduce render time but can add to noise. If you use AA8 you can consider 1/256, but at AA6 you might want to stick to 1/64.<br /> <br /> Then adjust the Pixel Noise Threshold *only* to get the level of noise under control. Start with the default value and go down if you want less noise, or up if noise looks fine but render time is too long. You may find you can get away with a lower Pixel Noise Threshold. Do renders in crops to reduce time needed for checking the best values, and you should include an area of shadow in your crop for most accurate results.<br /> <br /> Note that Robust Adaptive is improved in v4.4 vs. 4.3 so if possible use v4.4 or newer. For a more detailed discussion of Robust Adaptive Sampling and Pixel Noise Threshold, see above under Defer All Shading.<br /> <br /> ==== Avoid High GI Cache Values ====<br /> <br /> The GI Cache Detail and Sample Quality values do have an effect with path tracing, but they only control GI contributions from the atmosphere into the path tracer, which is used for the terrain illumination. The Path Tracer essentially replaces the cache-based GI system for rendering the terrain and objects, but not for the atmosphere. So these GI settings can generally be fairly low (e.g. 2/2 or 3/3) because the atmosphere contribution is fairly diffuse in most cases, and the terrain and object lighting will be made accurate by the path tracing itself. <br /> <br /> Put simply: you don't need high Cache Detail or Sample Quality values to get good path tracing results on your terrain.<br /> <br /> ==== Test and Crop ====<br /> <br /> Above all you will almost certainly want to run some tests before committing to a final Path Traced render, especially one at high resolution. A Path Traced render may take several hours even on high-end hardware, so it makes sense to spend some time on shorter renders of cropped areas to help ensure that when your full render finishes, the results are what you expect and are to your liking. So select one or more crop regions that include areas of shadow, dense geometry, etc., and then test variations of the above setting recommendations to find a good balance of quality and render time. Then you can commit to a full render knowing it won't take more time than necessary. And thereafter you'll be saving render time each time you render that scene and variations of it since for the most part only dramatic changes to the scene construction will affect what the optimal values are.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Rendering_Optimization_Guide&diff=12794 2020-02-19T19:22:50Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Adaptive Sampling */</p> <hr /> <div>= Defer All Shading =<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading is a newer rendering method which generally provides higher quality results on surface shading and in atmospheres, especially clouds. When properly optimized it can usually achieve equivalent or better quality than non-deferred shading in a similar amount of time, but it may require some settings adjustments to achieve optimal results.<br /> <br /> === Anti-aliasing Controls Shading Quality ===<br /> <br /> One of the primary things to be aware of with Defer All Shading is that the anti-aliasing settings are now the primary determinant of surface shading quality (but not geometry density or quality). As a result you will want to be mindful to balance the AA settings for the best combination of quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ==== Typical Anti-aliasing Values ====<br /> <br /> For scenes that are primarily composed just of terrain and clouds, with few or no objects, you may be able to keep AA relatively low - such as 4 or 6 - and achieve good quality. When more objects are included, especially those with fine geometry like plant populations, it is likely you will need to use higher values like 8-12. Always use the lowest value you can as this setting directly affects the number of samples that are taken for every pixel, and can have a large impact on render time. In some cases that render time may be essentially wasted if the amount of aliasing (mostly seen as unnaturally jagged or sharp edges) in a typical render is not particularly high. As always you can test on crop renders to get a good idea of the right values in a shorter time.<br /> <br /> ==== Adaptive Sampling ====<br /> <br /> Adaptive Anti-aliasing Sampling is one of the best tools available in Terragen for reducing render time while maintaining quality. Simply put, it uses evaluations of contrast and noise distribution in the image to try to focus AA samples in areas where they are needed most, while avoiding using more samples than necessary on less noisy areas. This can save a lot of render time vs. simple uniform sampling, especially when there is a big difference between how noisy or aliased some areas of the scene are (such as fine geometry in a grass object) vs other areas (such as a smooth snow shader, or a clear sky). <br /> <br /> ===== Robust Adaptive Sampler =====<br /> <br /> Beginning in Terragen 4.3 a new &quot;Robust Adaptive Sampler&quot; option became available. This was further improved in Terragen 4.4. Essentially it uses new and more intelligent ways of evaluating noise levels and distributing samples to better balance render time and image quality, and avoid certain problems of the more simplistic adaptive AA algorithms used previously. It is strongly recommended that you use the Robust Adaptive Sampler option when using Defer All Shading. You can begin with the default values, but even better results can be achieved in many cases by increasing the level of adaptivity (First Sampling Level) or adjusting the Pixel Noise Threshold.<br /> <br /> ===== First Sampling Level =====<br /> <br /> The First Sampling Level essentially controls how &quot;adaptive&quot; the anti-aliasing is, i.e. the range of possible sampling values, from the maximum number (set by the anti-aliasing value itself, e.g. 8) to the minimum number, which is some fraction of the max. The smaller fraction the minimum value is vs. the maximum, the more adaptive the AA is, and the more potential render time can be saved. However higher levels of adaptivity do have the potential to result in increased noise in some areas, or to completely miss some important details in the image. <br /> <br /> ===== Pixel Noise Threshold =====<br /> <br /> The Pixel Noise Threshold (PNT) allows you to control at what point the adaptive sampling system will determine that a given level of identified noise is &quot;too much&quot; and will thus use more samples to reduce noise in that area. More samples = smoother results but longer render time. The higher the PNT value, the more noisy the image can be before more samples are used. In other words the adaptive sampler becomes more &quot;tolerant&quot; of noise with higher values. An important part of this to keep in mind, however, is that the adaptive sampler can only use a maximum number of samples as specified in the main anti-aliasing value, and can only reduce samples by the fraction you set in the First Sampling Level. So you can have a relatively high PNT, but still be using too many samples if your actual AA value is high (e.g. AA 12) and/or the First Sampling Level is conservative (e.g. 1/4).<br /> <br /> If noise is a problem in your image, generally speaking you will want to start by increase the main AA value if it is not already at 6 or above, before adjusting the PNT. In many cases the default PNT will work fairly well, however as the AA level rises you may want to adjust it to save render time in areas that are not very noisy. When you do adjust the PNT, do so in very small increments. Notice how the default values change with different AA values and use those relative values as a guide. One of the highest default PNT values of 0.15 at AA2 is, in absolute terms, not that different from the value at AA16 of 0.01875, both are mere fractions of &quot;1.0&quot;. Yet 0.01875 is actually a much lower value in terms of how it affects the threshold for evaluating noise in the render and it will consequently have a much higher impact on render time than a value like 0.15 or even 0.05. So change the PNT values slowly in the direction you want, higher for faster renders which allow more noise, lower for longer renders with less noise, and test along the way.<br /> <br /> Ideally what you want to do is determine the minimum AA value that will achieve the level of noise and anti-aliasing that you want on the hardest to sample areas of your scene. This can be done by using small crop renders with Max Samples enabled for First Sampling Level, and focusing on areas such as shadows or fine geometry detail that will be hardest to achieve smooth results in. Once you find a max AA value that achieves good results in these areas, you can then enable successively greater fractions of First Sampling Level and then use the Pixel Noise Threshold to adjust the balance of noise vs. render time for the rest of your image. All that being said, if you don't want to take the time or energy to test that much, the defaults are a good place to start.<br /> <br /> ===== The Importance of Correct Exposure and Contrast =====<br /> <br /> Because the adaptive sampler relies on actually analyzing the contrast of neighboring pixels in the image, it's important to try to get as close as possible to your intended exposure and contrast levels for the '''final''' image from within Terragen. Post processing is an important part of finishing many images, but ideally you would avoid too much &quot;pushing&quot; (increasing exposure) or &quot;pulling&quot; (decreasing exposure) in your post processing adjustments. Not because there will be any image degradation due to the processing itself, but rather because the adaptive sampler will have allowed a certain noise level (set by the PNT above) that may become more visible if exposure is increased or, conversely, if you reduce exposure, you may end up making certain areas less visible that were given more samples due to their level of contrast in the original render, making those additional samples unnecessary. In other words you can save render time by nailing the exposure in-render.<br /> <br /> === Don't use high Micropoly Detail ===<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading renders in a way that ultimately produces smoother and more detailed terrain shading (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality. The default 0.5 MPD is usually sufficient when Defer All Shading is enabled. When loading older projects created prior to the introduction of Defer All Shading remember to check the MPD value as it may have been set higher to achieve high quality when this option was not yet available.<br /> <br /> === Reduce Samples for Soft Shadows ===<br /> <br /> As noted, Defer All Shading results in higher quality surface shading, and this includes Soft Shadows on the terrain as well. So you can use fewer samples for Soft Shadows while still avoiding noise. Try a value of 2 when Defer All Shading is enabled, rather than the default of 9. You can test this with a crop render using Defer All Shading vs non-deferred shading to ensure it is working well.<br /> <br /> = Path Tracing =<br /> <br /> New in Terragen 4.3 is a more accurate and realistic-looking Path Tracing render method. You can find out more about it on the dedicated [[Path Tracing]] page. This can be a time-intensive rendering method and there are some specific optimizations and settings to be aware of to get the most out of your path traced renders.<br /> <br /> === Do I Need Path Tracing? ===<br /> <br /> The first thing to consider is whether your scene will actually benefit enough from path tracing to justify an increase in render time. Many scenes do, but there are enough in which the difference will be relatively small that it's worth considering and testing the impact on your actual scene before committing to a full, high resolution render. Use crop renders or lower resolution tests to evaluate the potential benefits.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing is most effective where there is a lot of geometry (e.g. imported object populations), or generally more potential for bounced light. It handles complex interactions of light bouncing better than the normal renderer. But for example in a mostly-terrain scene with a few scattered objects and a lot of direct sunlight, you're probably not going to see much benefit. If you move the sun lower in the sky to create lots of shadows, a sunset for example, then you might see more benefit. But the greatest gains will tend to be in thicker vegetation, or on more complex objects.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing also doesn't really affect the atmosphere, its main effects are on the ground, the terrain and anything sitting on it. So don't enable it if you are hoping for some improvement in the sky. It can, however, create more realistic lighting on the ground from the sky, to some degree.<br /> <br /> === Optimizing Render Time and Quality ===<br /> <br /> ==== Path Tracing Uses Defer All Shading ====<br /> <br /> Path Tracing enables &quot;Defer All Shading&quot;. Defer All Shading is a rendering method which makes much more detailed terrain (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality when Defer All Shading is used on its own, and good optimization for that rendering method will help minimize render time impact with full Path Tracing is used. Reference the Defer All Shading optimization section above for more specific setting recommendations and details.<br /> <br /> ==== Use the Robust Adaptive Sampler ====<br /> <br /> The new Robust Adaptive Sampling helps a lot to reduce render time with Path Tracing in particular, while maintaining quality. You can use a value of AA8 or AA6 with Robust Adaptive and 1/64th samples as a starting point. Increasing the amount of adaptivity, i.e. the &quot;First sampling level&quot;, will reduce render time but can add to noise. If you use AA8 you can consider 1/256, but at AA6 you might want to stick to 1/64.<br /> <br /> Then adjust the Pixel Noise Threshold *only* to get the level of noise under control. Start with the default value and go down if you want less noise, or up if noise looks fine but render time is too long. You may find you can get away with a lower Pixel Noise Threshold. Do renders in crops to reduce time needed for checking the best values, and you should include an area of shadow in your crop for most accurate results.<br /> <br /> Note that Robust Adaptive is improved in v4.4 vs. 4.3 so if possible use v4.4 or newer. For a more detailed discussion of Robust Adaptive Sampling and Pixel Noise Threshold, see above under Defer All Shading.<br /> <br /> ==== Avoid High GI Cache Values ====<br /> <br /> The GI Cache Detail and Sample Quality values do have an effect with path tracing, but they only control GI contributions from the atmosphere into the path tracer, which is used for the terrain illumination. The Path Tracer essentially replaces the cache-based GI system for rendering the terrain and objects, but not for the atmosphere. So these GI settings can generally be fairly low (e.g. 2/2 or 3/3) because the atmosphere contribution is fairly diffuse in most cases, and the terrain and object lighting will be made accurate by the path tracing itself. <br /> <br /> Put simply: you don't need high Cache Detail or Sample Quality values to get good path tracing results on your terrain.<br /> <br /> ==== Test and Crop ====<br /> <br /> Above all you will almost certainly want to run some tests before committing to a final Path Traced render, especially one at high resolution. A Path Traced render may take several hours even on high-end hardware, so it makes sense to spend some time on shorter renders of cropped areas to help ensure that when your full render finishes, the results are what you expect and are to your liking. So select one or more crop regions that include areas of shadow, dense geometry, etc., and then test variations of the above setting recommendations to find a good balance of quality and render time. Then you can commit to a full render knowing it won't take more time than necessary. And thereafter you'll be saving render time each time you render that scene and variations of it since for the most part only dramatic changes to the scene construction will affect what the optimal values are.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Organizing_Your_Terragen_Project&diff=12707 2020-01-11T02:05:36Z

<p>JavaJones: Headings and ToC</p> <hr /> <div>When you start a new Terragen project the Node Network pane is laid out nice and orderly, but by the time you get to the end of a project it can look like a spider’s web, with all the connection lines crisscrossing each other.  In this article we’ll look at the many ways Terragen can help us to keep our project organized.<br /> <br /> ==== Organizing with Groups ====<br /> <br /> Let’s start with Terragen’s ability to group nodes together and create the bookmarks that appear along the left side of the Node Network pane.  By default Terragen already has some nodes grouped together, like the Terrain and Atmosphere groups.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Groups Defined.PNG|none|800px|Bookmarks and Groups]]<br /> <br /> <br /> The easiest way to create a group is to select some nodes and press &quot;Ctl+G&quot;.  You could do the same thing by selecting the nodes to be grouped and choosing &quot;Edit &gt; Group&quot; from the Main Menu.  <br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Groups EditGroup.PNG|none|619px|Main Menu Edit Groups]]<br /> <br /> <br /> You can create an empty group by right clicking in the Node Network pane and selecting &quot;Create Other &gt; Group&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Groups CreateOtherGroup.PNG|none|800px|Right-click Create Other Group]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Alternatively, when the Node Network pane is active, press &quot;N&quot; or &quot;Tab&quot; to bring up the Quick Node Palette and start typing the word &quot;group&quot;, then double click on the word &quot;Group&quot; from the Node List.  If the word &quot;Group&quot; is already highlighted in the Node List then you can simply press &quot;Enter&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Groups QuickNodePaletteGroup.PNG|none|800px|N or Tab key for Quick Node Palette]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Now you can drag the nodes you want to be grouped together into the empty group.  At this point, you should select the group and move it around a bit, to make sure all the nodes are constrained within the group.  If a node has not been included in the group, it should show up having a white border line around it.  Once a group is created a bookmark will appear on the left side of the Node Network pane.  Clicking on the bookmark will center the group in the Node Network pane.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Groups HighlightGroupBookmark.PNG|none|684px|Group assigned as bookmark]]<br /> <br /> <br /> You can change the name of the group by double clicking on the group node and typing a new name, and change the color of the group by clicking on the color icon and choosing a different color.  The Special Group parameter should always be set to &quot;No&quot; for user defined groups, because Terragen uses this parameter internally to identify the default groups of a scene.  When the Global Bookmark parameter is checked the bookmark will show up on the left in all Node Network panes, but when unchecked will only show up in the local Node Network pane that it resides in.  For example, adding a group within an object’s internal shader network and leaving the Global Bookmark parameter unchecked will only allow the bookmark to show up in the node's internal shader network, but when checked will show the bookmark in all the Node Network panes.  <br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Groups GroupDialog.PNG|none|800px|Group node dialog pane]]<br /> <br /> <br /> === Organizing with Null Shaders ===<br /> <br /> Another technique for organizing and keeping the Node Network clear of connection wires and visual clutter is to create or place commonly accessed nodes within one or more Null Shader nodes.  To demonstrate this, add a Simple Shape Shader node to the scene.  When we try and assign the Simple Shape Shader as a mask for the Base Colour shader, the shader shows up alphabetically at the end of the Node List unless we were to rename it.  This list can grow quite long by the end of a shot, and once we assign it as the Base Colour mask, the connection wire stretches across the Node Network, which can add visual clutter to a complex scene.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Nullshader AssignMask.PNG|none|800px|Right-click Assign Shader]]<br /> <br /> <br /> One way around this is to add a Null Shader node to the scene and rename it to something like &quot;0_Masks&quot;, so it will show up at the top of the Node List.  Right-click on the Null Shader node to open its internal network, then create the Simple Shape Shader node there.  Alternatively, you could Cut and Paste an existing node into the Null Shader node’s internal network, but you would then have to reassign the mask wherever it had been used.  When we exit the internal node view and assign the Simple Shape Shader as the mask for the Base Colour, we can find it at the top of the Node List under the heading 0_Masks.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize NullShader AssignMaskList.PNG|none|800px|Shader at bottom of list]]<br /> <br /> <br /> This can save a lot of time searching for items in the Node List by the time we’re done with the shot, and notice how the connection wire has been replaced by a small arrow to indicate there is an internal connection to the mask input.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize NullShader InternalArrow.PNG|none|800px|Arrow indicates internal connection]]<br /> <br /> <br /> === Organizing with Clip Files ===<br /> <br /> Another big time saver is to save common node setups as Clip files.  These can be recalled at a later date and loaded into any Terragen project.  Select a group of nodes and right-click, then choose &quot;Save Nodes as Clip File&quot;. <br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Clip SaveNodesAs.PNG|none|800px|Right-click Save Nodes as Clip File]]<br /> <br /> <br /> The Create Clip File dialog appears. Enter a description and any tags or connection notes, then save it by clicking on the &quot;Create Clip File&quot; button.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Clip CreateclipFileDialog.PNG|none|800px|Right-click Insert Clip File]]<br /> <br /> <br /> To import the clip file, right-click in the Node Network pane, choose &quot;Insert Clip File&quot; and select the clip file.  The saved nodes are imported into your scene and ready to be used.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Clip Insert.PNG|none|800px|Clip File dialog pane]]<br /> <br /> <br /> You can even copy and paste nodes between Terragen projects, or to and from text files and emails, which can be useful for sharing small clips. For more information about using Clip Files, please see the Terragen Guide [[Working with Clip Files]].<br /> <br /> <br /> === Organizing with Notes ===<br /> <br /> In the content files included with these tutorials, we make extensive use of the Note node to document what we’ve done.  You can quickly add a Note node using the Quick Node Palette, or right-clicking in the Node Network pane and choosing &quot;Create Other -&gt; Note&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Note CreateOtherNote.PNG|none|800px|Right-click Create Other Note]]<br /> <br /> <br /> The dialogue window allows you to rename the Note node as desired, and type your comments in the empty area.  You can also change the color and size of the text as needed.  This is a great way to remind yourself what you were doing, or leave notes for other artists working on the shot.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize Note Dialog.PNG|none|800px|Note dialog pane]]<br /> <br /> <br /> === Organizing with Project Settings ===<br /> <br /> The final organizational tip is to use the Project Settings button at the bottom left of the Terragen project.  Here you can add comments and authorship information.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial Organize ProjectSettings.PNG|none|800px|Project Settings dialog pane]]<br /> <br /> <br /> You can download a Terragen Project file for this tutorial to further explore these organizational tips and tricks.<br /> [[Media:Tutorial_OrganizingYourTerragenProject.zip]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Surface_Mapping_and_Shading&diff=12706 2020-01-09T05:05:08Z

<p>JavaJones: /* The Base Colours Node */</p> <hr /> <div>[[image:work_in_progress.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> ==Introduction==<br /> <br /> In Terragen 2 Surface Mapping, in other words texturing, is accomplished using one or more “shaders” - nodes that affect the surface of objects and terrains, controlling colour, displacement, and other aspects. Basic surface mapping focuses on a small number of shader nodes, primarily the Surface Layer and Fractal Breakup nodes. You can also accomplish a wide range of spectacular and more unusual effects using the power of the Node Network. We’ll cover the basics here for now and you can refer to the Advanced Techniques sections (when available) to learn more.<br /> <br /> If you haven’t already done so, click on the Shaders tab to get started.<br /> <br /> ==The Shaders List==<br /> <br /> On the left you will see the Shader List showing all the current shader nodes in the order in which they are processed. Nodes at the top of the list are at the bottom or base of your surface map and they will be covered by nodes further down the list (depending on distribution settings). This is similar to how the Terragen 0.9 surface map system worked. Child layers are also present and again work similarly to Terragen 0.9 – child nodes are restricted to the coverage of their parent, but they cover the parent as well.<br /> <br /> At the top of the Shader List you have buttons to add a standard layer and child layer. Under Add Layer your first and most frequently used option is Surface Layer. A sub-menu shows you additional Surface Shaders you can use. Child layers can only be added when an appropriate parent layer is selected, generally a Surface Layer. Not all shader nodes allow child nodes. Please see the [[Terragen 2 Node Reference|Node Reference]] for details on additional Surface Shaders and child layer compatibility.<br /> <br /> As noted above layers higher in the list are covered by layers below them, so naturally it is useful to have a way to rearrange and otherwise manipulate each layer. The Move buttons at the bottom of the Shader List will move the currently selected node up or down. You can also completely remove the selected node by pressing the Delete key. Currently you may only have one node at a time selected.<br /> <br /> Just as in other node lists, clicking on a node in the Shader List will bring up its settings on the bottom-left. Additionally, like the Terrain and Atmosphere layouts, a small realtime shader preview is shown to the right of the node list for any currently selected node. The preview is currently just a simple flat square, but the standard camera controls can be used in this area to adjust your view. This can be useful when experimenting with displacement since the default view is directly from above.<br /> <br /> ==The Base Colours Node==<br /> <br /> Looking at the contents of the Shader List itself you will notice there is a single shader node to begin with which is logically named “Base colours”. This node will form the basis of most of your surface map systems, just as the “Surface Map” default layer was the basis for any Terragen 0.9 surface map tree. However, unlike the base layer in Terragen 0.9, the Base colours node has somewhat different settings from a typical surface layer. Click on Base colours to bring up its settings pane and we’ll take a detailed look at how it works.<br /> <br /> At the top you’ll see the common node controls to enable/disable the node and change the node Name (note: name must be unique). Below that is a control called Seed which is not found in standard Surface Layers (but is present in many other nodes). The Seed value represents the current, specific state of a noise function. These functions are used throughout Terragen to generate random but realistic detail for everything from terrains and surface maps to clouds. A specific seed value will always produce the same results in a given node provided all other settings are the same. You can use the Random Seed button to get a different random look to your fractal noise.<br /> <br /> At the bottom you’ll find more standard node settings which deal with the “blend shader” functionality. Blend shaders work similarly to traditional masking in practice, although the actual process and specifics are different. Briefly, to use a blend shader simply check the Blend By Shader box and then type a valid, existing shader name into the box to the right. Alternatively you may select the node from a list by clicking the bottom to the right of the box. Once a valid Blend shader is connected you will see the output of your current node is now controlled by the Blend shader input. The effect will vary depending both on the node type and the Blend shader you select.You can also invert the Blend shader or use “Fit Blend Shader To This” for greater control. Blend shaders and these additional settings are covered in more detail in the Advanced Techniques sections. <br /> <br /> Now let’s look at each of the various settings tabs. The Scale tab is selected by default and you will find several controls for scale here. Scale basically controls the overall size and distribution of the patterns in a surface layer. These patterns are generated by a fractal noise function built-in to the shader. The Feature Scale setting determines the overall average scale of features in the shader and this will have the most noticeable immediate effect on scale. The Lead-in Scale is essentially the size of the largest features that will be present in the shader output and naturally Smallest Scale then determines the size of the smallest features. All of these are measured in meters, the default unit of measurement in Terragen 2.<br /> <br /> The range between the Lead-in Scale and Smallest Scale will determine the number of “octaves” of noise that are generated. This value can be changed directly if you have an idea of a specific detail range you want, but generally it’s easiest to adjust the other Scale values. Note however that the more octaves each of your shader nodes are generating, the longer your scene will take to render. The effect is not significant for only a few shader nodes but it can quickly add up, especially when displacement is involved.<br /> <br /> The Color tab is where a lot of the real functionality of the Base Colours node is controlled. One of the most important aspects of any surface layer is of course the color. Here you actually have two colors to work with, a “high” color and a “low” color. These do not correspond to the actual height of the terrain, so you can really just think of them as color 1 and color 2. The Base Colours node uses two colors to provide an easy and quick way to add some contrast and variation to the default surface map and to provide more interest in your base surface layer. The controls on this Color tab adjust the distribution and blending of these two colors, which then defines the most significant aspect of the surface itself – color.<br /> <br /> Try unchecking on or the other of the Apply Color boxes to see the scene with a single color. You will note that the top gray color has the largest effect and that this layer alone still retains some darker areas even with the dark color turned off. This is due to the internal fractal noise functions which we discussed earlier when looking at the Scale tab.<br /> <br /> Now make sure both colors are turned on and we’ll experiment with the colors themselves. First try adjusting the slider for High Color. You will see an immediate effect on the color swatch to the right as you adjust the slider. This slider controls the overall brightness of the color. To select the actual color simply click the color swatch on the right to bring up a standard color picker. Use these controls to pick your color then click OK. Notice that any adjustment you have made to the brightness slider on the right of the color picker is also reflected in the slider for this color.<br /> <br /> Try picking different colors for both high and low colors. You should now see a good mix between them in both the small shader preview to the right and the larger 3D preview (provided you have not moved the camera yet). As you can see adjusting colors is fairly easy and you can quickly create a good basis for your surface map.<br /> <br /> Color Contrast is a simple setting that controls the contrast between the two colors you have selected. Note that if one color is disabled then Color Contrast instead controls the contrast of the single color blended with black. The black default color will have the same distribution as the disabled color would have.<br /> <br /> Color Offset controls the weighting of each color in the final output of the Base Colours node. The default setting of 0 is in the middle, signifying that neither color is favored. Adjusting it to the left and into negative values will favor the Low Color, while adjusting to the right and into positive values will favor High Color. This really just controls the amount of each color relative to the other.<br /> <br /> Color Roughness simply controls the level of roughness used in the blending of the two colors. All other settings being equal a higher roughness value will create a noisier blend of both colors, with smaller and more distinct bits of each color in the final mix. Lower roughness values will tend to create smoother and more gentle blending. This is also heavily affected by Contrast and the Scale settings.<br /> <br /> The Clamp check boxes below allow you to control how Terragen handles color values that are greater than 1 or less than 0. The significance of such extreme values is covered in detail in the Advanced Techniques sections, for now just know that you can achieve certain effects using color values above outside of the normal 0-1 range. In general you will not need to use these in a basic scene, so you can leave the clamps enabled, which “clamps” the color to be within the range of 0-1.<br /> <br /> Let’s move on to the Displacement tab, where you can experiment with some of the new power of Terragen 2 for adding real dimensionality to your surfaces. Displacement is a technique that adds real 3-dimensional depth to your surfaces. It is essentially a step beyond traditional bump mapping, which similarly interprets color data input as virtual “depth” and adds shading to simulate the 3rd dimension. Displacement takes the same color data and derives real 3d values from it which it then applies to the surface in question, creating bumps, spikes, and many other details. Displacement can be used to create features both large and small and in fact it is used throughout Terragen 2 to create terrain, water and other elements as well. Refer to the Terrain and Water section for details.<br /> <br /> At the top of the Displacement tab is a simple checkbox for enabling and disabling displacement for the Base Colours node. If you are not using displacement you should just leave it disabled as it will increase render time when enabled.<br /> <br /> To the right is a drop-down menu to control how the displacement is applied to the surface. The default is “Along Normal”, which displaces the surface outward relative to the surface “normal” – a 3-dimensional vector which is perpendicular to the surface itself at that point. So essentially if you have a mountain and you apply displacement to it, the displacement will be perpendicular to the mountain surface, not perpendicular to the ground. A vertical cliff would be displaced directly outward from the cliff, parallel to the ground. The other basic option is Along Vertical – essentially perpendicular to the ground.<br /> <br /> There are 3 additional options, all of which require a “computed normal” – Vertical Only, Lateral Only, and Lateral Normalized. These specify only vertical or lateral displacement (as relative to the terrain normal), and a normalized lateral displacement respectively. The normal is provided by the “Compute Terrain” node by default, but in some cases (use of additional extreme displacements) you will want to recompute the normal, in which case you can use the Compute Normal node. More details about these nodes and their uses can be found under Advanced Techniques.<br /> <br /> The Displacement Amplitude is one of the most fundamental controls on this tab. It controls the actual level of displacement of the surface – i.e. how “tall” the features will be. The actual size of the features is controlled by the scale of the displacement function, in this case on the Scale tab of the Base Colours node. The Amplitude is measured in meters, the default Terragen 2 units. By default it will be at 1, which will barely be noticeable.<br /> <br /> Check the Apply Displacement box and try increasing Amplitude to around 100 to see the effect of displacement on your terrain. If other settings for scale have been left at the defaults, you should see a very rough surface over your flat terrain. Note that this is fully 3 dimensional – you could fly your camera down into these “bumps” if you so desired. Values will greatly depend on the scale you have defined, but in general you will not want the amplitude to be greater than the Feature Scale, and in many cases much less.<br /> <br /> The Displacement Offset controls a simple positive or negative offset from where the displacement begins. Normally the displacement will use incoming color data to determine how much the surface is displaced in a given area – black is no displacement and white is maximum displacement (the Amplitude value). A positive offset value will start all displacement from that value, rather than from the original surface. In order to get a mix of bumps and dips from your displacement (both positive and negative values), you can also use a negative Offset, which will cause the displacement to be based on a point under or inside the base surface, thus allowing dark (black) to represent “inward” and light (white) to represent “outward” displacement. Gray would essentially be neutral – no displacement.<br /> <br /> Displacement Roughness is similar to the Roughness setting in the Color tab. Quite simply it controls how rough the displacement will be. This also works in concert with the Displacement Spike Limit, which controls how “spiky” or varied and rough the displacement is. Lower values here mean less spikes and lower roughness.<br /> <br /> The rest of the Displacement tab settings you may safely ignore for now. They are described in more detail in the Node Reference.<br /> <br /> The Tweak Noise tab also holds a lot of powerful settings. Here you can directly manipulate the actual shape and character of the noise function which controls the color blending and displacement. <br /> <br /> We begin with the Noise Flavour – the actual noise type being used. The choices are:<br /> Perlin: A fairly standard Perlin-type noise function which produces familiar patterns that resemble simple cloud shapes<br /> Perlin Billows: A Perlin variation that produces more billowing shapes, similar to cumulus clouds or cauliflower<br /> Perlin Ridges – A very commonly used noise function which resembles ridges, river networks, or arcing electrity<br /> Perlin Mix 1 and 2: These are mixes of the standard Perlin and the other two Perlin variations<br /> <br /> Noise Variation controls the strength and effect of the variations in the noise function. High values produce large areas of similar variations, either high or low contrast, a fairly unusual look for a Perlin noise function. Lower values produce more standard and evenly varied noise output.<br /> <br /> The Variation Methods are simply different ways of controlling this variation. The best way to understand their effect is to experiment with them.<br /> <br /> Buoyancy From Variation essentially defines the “contrast” of areas of variation. With high Variation values negative values of Bouyancy will increasingly darken half the range of the noise output while lightening the other half. Positive values will reverse this effect, with the previously dark half now light. Medium values strike a balance. With lower values of Variation Buoyancy will simply affect contrast. <br /> <br /> The Clumping of Variation has an often subtle effect. Basically it does what it says – it controls how much the variation patches “clump” together. High values will cause even larger areas of homogenous values.<br /> <br /> Finally we have the Noise Stretch Values. These are simple numerical values relative to a baseline of 1. They are useful for changing the relationships of each dimension’s noise contribution. For example if you wanted to create long, stretched striations in your texture, you could increase the X or Z scale, thus stretching your noise function along that axis. As with all other dimensions X and Z are the terrain axis (parallel to the terrain) while Y is “up” or perpendicular to the terrain.<br /> <br /> At last we reach the Warping tab. First is the Distort Normal function, a specialized setting that implements a certain distortion effect on the noise function that is relative to the normal of the terrain it is being applied to (terrain normals are discussed earlier as well as in more depth under Advanced Techniques). This distortion affects the entire range of scales in the noise function. Note that this will have virtually no effect if your underlying terrain has no shape – i.e. a flat terrain. The basic effect is to create a simple correlation between terrain shape and texture shape, so rough terrain gets rough textures, and smoother terrain gets smooth textures. <br /> <br /> The Lead-in Warp Effect controls another warping of the noise function at the same scale as the Lead-in Scale (i.e. large scale). Currently there are only two options – 1 Octave Perlin Warp and None. 1 Octave Perlin Warp simply warps the base noise function with another single octave noise function. This will add large swirl-like patterns to your noise function. The check-box options just below control certain specifics of this warping effect. Less Warp At Feature Scale tells it to preserve more of the character of the base noise function at the Feature Scale, meaning you will get larger warping but your smaller-scale terrain features will be less affected. Allow Vertical Warp simply controls whether “vertical” warping will be performed by this warp function.<br /> <br /> We have now covered all aspects of the Base Colours shader node. Hopefully you have been experimenting along the way and will come away with a better idea of how to use some of these settings to create certain effects in your scenes. Hands-on tutorials on the practical use of many of these functions will be provided over time.<br /> <br /> ==The Surface Layer Node==<br /> <br /> In Terragen 2 the functionality of a basic Surface Layer is now separated into several major components. This is based around the Surface Layer itself, which provides color, luminosity, environment-based distribution and other basic functions, some of which can also be controlled by external shaders.<br /> <br /> Fractal Breakup is an important function not provided natively in the Surface Layer node. The Breakup Shader input is used to specify a shader for this purpose. Breakup Shaders give shape to the basic color and other functions that the Surface Layer provides by modulating the contribution of these functions to the final scene based on the patterns they generate. The default Fractal Breakup node gives realistic noise and non-uniform shape to the Surface Layer’s color distribution. You may of course plug many other different nodes into the Breakup Shader input to achieve different effects, but we’ll deal with the default configuration for now.<br /> <br /> First go to the Add Layer menu and create a new Surface Layer to experiment with. You will find your terrain suddenly turns completely white; the Surface Layer defaults to full coverage and a white color, but this is easily changed. <br /> <br /> The Surface Layer node consists of two sets of tabs, along with the standard node controls discussed above – Name and Enable, specifically. The top tab group controls the basic characters of the Surface Layer, including color, luminosity, and displacement. All 3 of these functions can be controlled using external shaders. The bottom tab group focuses on the distribution of the Surface Layer’s effect on the terrain with controls like Altitude and Slope response and Fractal Breakup.<br /> <br /> Let’s start with the top group. First we have the Colour tab, which is simple enough. We can turn the color on and off with Apply Colour. A Surface Layer does not necessarily need to contribute diffuse color information to the scene, it may instead be used only for Luminosity or Displacement for example, so it is useful to have this option. Further down we can adjust the actual color values just as we did with the Base Colours node above. The slider controls brightness of the chosen color while clicking the color swatch to the right will open a color picker for picking specific hues. Finally there is a place to specify an external Color Shader which can be used to control color output of the Surface Layer in very powerful ways. For most uses the built-in color settings should be fine however.<br /> <br /> The Luminosity tab is next. Luminosity literally makes a surface appear to give off light or be lit from within. Currently surfaces cannot truly emit light so they do not contribute to global illumination or other lighting calculations, but the actual appearance of the surface will be as if it is self-lit rather than simply lit by the available light sources. Because Luminosity is a less frequently used feature it is disabled by default. The controls here are similar to the Colour tab, except that color is called Luminosity Tint. There is also a separate slider at the top for controlling luminosity amount. While Colour only allowed specifying the color’s brightness value, with Luminosity you can specify both the Luminosity “amount” and the Luminosity Tint brightness and color. Experiment with different values here to gain a better understanding of how these controls interact.<br /> <br /> Several of the controls on the Displacement tab are similar to those found in the Base Colours node, but there are a few important differences. Most importantly, since the Surface Layer does not have its own internal noise function, it requires a Displacement Function for Displacement to have any effect. Until a valid Displacement Function is specified here the other settings will have no effect. <br /> <br /> The Displacement Direction settings are the same as those in Base Colours so we won’t review that here. Displacement Multiplier is a literal multiplier for the incoming values from the Displacement Function input and it acts similarly to Amplitude. The Displacement Function has already been mentioned; essentially you can connect any node that provides color (or the output of which can be converted automatically to color) and use that as your Displacement Function. Displacement Offset also works the same as in Base Colours.<br /> <br /> Finally there is the Smoothing tab. There are only two settings here, one to enable the Smoothing Effect and one to control its strength. The Smoothing Effect operates on color and displacement output of the Surface Layer, smoothing their resulting effect on the scene. This setting works well in conjunction with Intersect Underlying, which we’ll discuss shortly.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_4_Global_Illumination&diff=12705 2019-12-14T00:56:57Z

<p>JavaJones: /* GI in Clouds */ Adding info about cloud-ground interaction for Cloud GI Max Ray Depth</p> <hr /> <div>=== Global Illumination in Computer Graphics ===<br /> <br /> <br /> Global illumination is a general name for a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light which comes directly from a light source (direct illumination), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene, whether reflective or not (indirect illumination). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_illumination<br /> <br /> <br /> === Global Illumination in Terragen ===<br /> <br /> [[file:GI_garden_760x240.jpg]]<br /> <br /> (Scene by Ulco Glimmerveen)<br /> <br /> Direct illumination in Terragen is the lighting coming directly from the sun or other specific light sources, but ''not'' from luminous objects. Global illumination (GI) in Terragen means the lighting from everywhere else, including indirect illumination as well as illumination caused by bright, luminous objects that aren't specifically light sources. Beginning in version 4.4, there are now two methods for calculating Global Illumination, a faster but less accurate cache-based method and a more modern and accurate but more time-intensive &quot;[[Path Tracing]]&quot; mode. In a standard cache-based render the intensity of GI is controlled using a single [[Enviro Light]] node.<br /> <br /> In Terragen, GI is:<br /> <br /> * The reason shadows are not black.<br /> * Lighting from the sky.<br /> * Lighting caused by light bouncing off other objects.<br /> * Lighting caused by light emitted from glowing, luminous objects, e.g. lava, fire, bioluminescence.<br /> * &quot;Multiple scattering&quot; in clouds and atmospheres. &quot;Multiple scattering&quot; in volumes is often thought of as a separate phenomenon from global illumination, but in fact it can be treated as a form of global illumination if the scattering is rendered as a lighting effect upon the volume. In Terragen, multiple scattering in the atmosphere (and some cloud layers) is approximated using the global illumination cache. Clouds and atmospheres will illuminate themselves in a way that simulates multiple scattering. Being part of the global illumination system, GI in volumes completely integrates with GI from surfaces. Light bouncing off or emitted from surfaces will light up clouds and atmospheres, and light scattering through clouds and atmospheres will light up surfaces.<br /> <br /> In Terragen 4, the new cloud types &quot;Cloud Layer V3&quot; and &quot;Easy Cloud&quot; use a separate GI system with quality controls separate from the global illumination cache, but they visually integrate into the rest of the GI system just as well as the older cloud type &quot;Cloud Layer V2&quot;.<br /> <br /> When using the Path Tracer, the GI cache is still used, but only for lighting contributions from the atmosphere (including clouds). Please reference the [[Path Tracing]] page for more details on this method of rendering GI.<br /> <br /> == Rendering with GI ==<br /> <br /> <br /> === Rendering ''without'' saving a GI cache file ===<br /> <br /> To render an image with Global Illumination in Terragen without saving GI cache files, you need the following:<br /> <br /> # An [[Enviro Light]] in the scene, enabled, with its mode set to &quot;Global Illumination&quot;<br /> # In Render GI Settings, 'GI relative detail' set to 1 or higher.<br /> <br /> A GI cache will be dynamically generated at render time in this configuration, but that data will not be saved for potential later re-use in other renders.<br /> <br /> You can turn off global illumination by disabling the [[Enviro Light]], but Terragen might still waste time on the pre-pass. To completely turn off GI, edit the Render GI settings and set 'GI relative detail' to 0. All other GI settings can be left how they are.<br /> <br /> '''''Performance note:''''' Do not enable more than one Enviro Light in the scene unless you really need to. If you wish to brighten the effect of the Enviro Light, increase the 'strength' settings in a single Enviro Light. Multiple Enviro Lights can increase GI quality, but they are not the best way to do that and they increase render time unnecessarily. You can achieve a more efficient increase in quality by increasing 'GI sample quality' in Render GI Settings. This will give a higher quality in a shorter render time than would enabling multiple Enviro Lights. The only good use for more than one enabled Enviro Light is to have one Enviro Light in Global Illumination mode and another in Ambient Occlusion mode, if you want that effect. Of course you can have as many ''disabled'' Enviro Lights in your project as you like.<br /> <br /> Normally when you render an image with Global Illumination, Terragen renders the image in two passes. A pre-pass is rendered which calculates the Global Illumination for the image and stores it in a spatial data structure called a GI cache. When you see lots of tiny dots filling the image before the real rendering begins, you're seeing the pre-pass generating the GI cache. Once the pre-pass is done, rendering of the final pass begins. Global Illumination in the final image depends on the GI cache that was generated in the pre-pass.<br /> <br /> <br /> === Rendering ''with'' saving GI cache files ===<br /> <br /> A new feature in Terragen 2.4 (not in the Free Non-Commercial Edition) is the ability to read and write ''GI cache files''. These allow you to write the results of the pre-pass to disk or file network and to read them back in when rendering an image. Using GI caches files is a two step process. First you render a pre-pass which calculates the Global Illumination for the image (or sequence of images), and writes the resulting GI cache to your disk or network in the form of a GI cache file (or sequence of GI cache files). After you have created those GI cache files, you can render final images using the GI in the cache files instead of recalculating the GI every time you render an image.<br /> <br /> You don't need to use GI cache files to enjoy Global Illumination. However, GI caches have many uses, such as:<br /> <br /> * Eliminating GI flicker in animations. To do this, read a single cache file or interpolate between cache files in a sequence.<br /> * Matching the GI in separately rendered tiles that you want to combine into a larger image, panorama, skybox or skydome. This is achieved by reading a single cache file or blending multiple cache files rendered with different cameras.<br /> * Rendering a GI pass (indirect illumination pass), by disabling all lights and reading the GI from a GI cache file.<br /> * Rendering special effects using GI that was generated with different lighting or other changes to the scene, e.g. some objects added or removed. You could write to a GI cache file using the scene that generates the GI you want, then render your final image with that GI cache file.<br /> * In Terragen 2, more control over the level of detail in your GI pre-pass than is possible with the GI relative detail setting, which only allows whole number values (Terragen 3 does not have this limitation). When writing to the GI cache, you can choose a different image size to render or a different value for 'detail'. Normally, 'detail' affects many things in your rendered image, but if you render the GI cache separately then you can choose a different detail for your GI. Image size and (in Terragen 2) detail both have the same effect on the detail of your GI solution as 'GI relative detail' -- they are all linear multipliers -- but you can change the detail more precisely with image size or the detail slider than you can with GI relative detail. (Terragen 3 uses a setting called 'GI cache detail' which is ''not'' affected by the detail setting.)<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Generating a GI cache file sequence for animation'''<br /> <br /> # Setup the lighting how you want it, doing test renders with &quot;No GI cache file&quot; checked in Render GI Settings (this is the default).<br /> # Switch to &quot;Write to GI cache file&quot; in Render GI Settings. Specify a location and filename for your GI cache file. Include a frame formatter such as '%04d' (not including quotes) somewhere in the filename. This formatter will be replaced by the frame number, so that you can render a sequence of cache files. One file will be generated for each frame that you render.<br /> # Generate the GI cache files by rendering a sequence, just like you would render a sequence of images. Final images will not be rendered or saved while &quot;Write to GI cache file&quot; is checked. You do not have to render every frame. &quot;Time-sparse&quot; caches, where cache files are separate by more than one frame, are useful to allow the final images to gradually blend between GI solutions instead of flickering from frame to frame. You can either render the sequence on your computer using the &quot;Render Sequence&quot; button or distribute it on a render farm like you would for final images. Generating caches for an animation can be distributed across many machines because each frame generates a different GI cache file.<br /> <br /> Using the &quot;time-sparse&quot; technique is simply a matter of generating fewer files using a sequence where the frame step is greater than 1. For example, you might choose to render frames 10, 20, 30, etc. by setting the step to 10. However, if you change the step, it's especially important to be aware that any old files that exist from previous renders will be deleted only if they are overwritten by your latest render. They are not automatically deleted when you start rendering a new sequence. When reading the caches for your final image pass, Terragen simply looks at whatever files exist that match the file sequence you tell it to read.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Rendering a final animation'''<br /> <br /> # Switch to &quot;Read GI cache file(s)&quot; in Render GI Settings. Specify the filename of one of the GI cache files that you generated. Any file in the sequence will do.<br /> # Set blend mode to &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot;. In most cases this is the best mode for animations. It is designed to work with time-sparse caches and gradually blend between sets of files according to the frame number. It will also work when there is a cache file for every frame, but in that situation it is equivalent to &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; mode except that it will blend one fewer cache files due to the nature of the interpolation algorithm. The various blend modes are explained in more detail in the Render GI Settings section.<br /> # Choose the number of cache files to blend together to produce the GI solution for each frame. The higher this number, the higher the quality of the GI and the smaller the fluctuations will be while playing the sequence. If you have a GI cache file on every frame then it is even more important because it affects how much the GI flicker is reduced. However, higher numbers increase render time of the final images. If the GI cache files are quite large, especially if they were generated with a high GI sample quality setting, then this effect on render time may be significant.<br /> # If there is too much fluctuation in the GI you have three options. A) You can slow down the fluctuations by moving some of the GI files out of the folder to make the caches even more sparse. However, this uses files that are farther away in time from the current frame, and if your camera is moving too rapidly you may see areas of inadequate GI coverage or reduced quality. B) Increase the &quot;number of files to blend&quot;. Usually this will decrease fluctuations or flicker, but it may affect render times. If the camera is moving rapidly so that the extra files do not cover the region 3D space being rendered then the extra files may not even help. If all else fails you may need to re-generate GI cache files with a higher GI sample quality, but this might also increase render times for the final images.<br /> <br /> If in doubt, a good starting point is to generate GI cache files with quality settings that work for still images you're happy with, generate every 10th GI cache file and set it to blend 3, 4 or 5 files for the final sequence.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Render GI Settings ==<br /> <br /> Please note: all of these settings primarily apply to the &quot;standard&quot;, non path tracing method of handling GI. When path tracing is used, these settings only affect GI quality for the atmospheric contribution to lighting information and thus tend to have a less significant impact on resulting lighting accuracy.<br /> <br /> === Prepass ===<br /> <br /> '''GI cache detail:''' The GI cache records the lighting at many points across the image. These are the dots you see in the pre pass; each dot corresponds to one sample. Each sample stores light from many directions. GI cache detail affects the spacing of the samples in image space during the pre pass. Then, in the final pass the lighting at any part of the scene is a weighted average of nearby samples, or in other words a filtered interpolation. The lower the detail, the coarser the approximation. If the detail is too low, this usually shows itself as a blurriness or lack of clarity in the GI. Low GI cache detail can also cause some parts of the scene to be completely missed in the pre pass, and this could result in no GI (black) in those areas. This is more likely to be a problem with vegetation or objects that are small and sparse in the image. (This can happen even at high GI cache detail too, but is less likely.) GI cache detail affects the size of the GI cache in memory (and on disk if saving to a GI cache file) and it affects the amount of time taken to render the pre pass. It can also affect render time for the final pass, but much less so than &quot;GI sample quality&quot;.<br /> <br /> '''GI sample quality:''' At each sample point in the GI cache, many rays are cast outwards in a sphere to capture the lighting at that point. GI sample quality affects how many rays are cast outwards from each sample point. The actual number of rays is much greater than the setting (usually at least 6x), but in general a higher setting for GI sample quality results in more rays. If there's a lot of contrast with respect to the direction the GI is received from, higher sample quality may be needed to avoid what might be described as &quot;blotchiness&quot; or sometimes completely missing important sources of light. The default value of 2 may be enough for some landscape renders, but for high quality final renders you may wish to increase this and for architectural renders we recommend at least 6. GI sample quality also affects how much data is stored at each sample. Therefore both GI cache detail and GI sample quality affect the size of the GI in memory and the amount of time taken to render the pre pass. GI sample quality also affects render time for the final pass much more than GI cache detail does, as that primarily affects the pre pass time.<br /> <br /> '''GI blur radius:''' Each GI sample point affects a spherical region of space in the final image, and where multiple sample spheres overlap they are averaged together. The radius of these spheres depends on various things that are decided by the renderer, but you can control a minimum radius that is enforced to ensure that enough samples overlap on every part of the image. GI blur radius affects this minimum radius in image space. Although it is in image space it is ''not'' measure in pixels. It is '''relative to the spacing of the GI prepass samples''' that you see in the prepass, but not including the extra samples created by &quot;Supersample prepass&quot;. The default value is 8. Lower values may give the impression of greater detail in GI but can lead to increased blotchiness in images and flickering in animations. Increased GI blur radius can lead to smoother GI but apparent detail will likely be reduced. We believe that 8 is a good compromise for most renders.<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 3 &amp; 4'': Because the radius is relative to the spacing of the prepass samples, if you increase &quot;GI cache detail&quot; then the blur area in ''image space'' will be reduced. It works this way so that &quot;GI cache detail&quot; changes overall detail without affecting the quality of the interpolation.<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 2'': Because the radius is relative to the spacing of the prepass samples, if you increase &quot;Detail&quot; (Render settings) or &quot;GI relative detail&quot; then the blur area in ''image space'' will be reduced. It works this way so that &quot;Detail&quot; and &quot;GI relative detail&quot; change overall detail without affecting the quality of the interpolation.<br /> <br /> '''Supersample prepass:''' Supersample prepass takes more closely-packed samples in the prepass so that it is less likely to miss small or narrow objects that don't have any other objects nearby. If you can see that the prepass is missing objects and there are no other objects nearby (e.g. blades of grass in the foreground, or narrow tree trunks), you should probably enable this. Missed objects in the prepass can result in the shadows (areas where GI is important) being too dark. However, supersample prepass reduces the quality of each sample, which can reduce the overall quality of the GI, so it is turned off by default.<br /> <br /> <br /> === GI Cache File ===<br /> <br /> <br /> '''No GI cache file:''' Renders the image normally. A prepass generates the GI and an image pass renders the final image.<br /> <br /> '''Write to GI cache file:''' Renders only the prepass to generate the GI cache, then saves the GI cache to a file.<br /> <br /> '''Read GI cache file(s):''' Renders only the final image. GI is read from a previously generated GI cache file or GI cache files.<br /> <br /> '''Blend mode:''' Applies only when &quot;Read GI cache file(s)&quot; is selected. Blend mode can be set to one of the options below. &quot;One file (exact filename)&quot; reads a single cache file, but the other 3 modes work with '''sequences''' of files. If the base filename contains a number and other files in the same folder have similar names which differ only by this number, then they will be assumed to be part of the same sequence and the number will be interpreted as a frame number. The current frame number and the blend mode determine which file(s) in the sequence will be read.<br /> <br /> * One file (exact filename): Reads only one cache file, with the filename given to the right of &quot;Read GI cache file(s)&quot;. This can be an exact filename, or if the filename contains '%04d' (without quotes) then that string will be replaced by a 4 digit frame number representing the current frame. Different numbers of digits are supported by replacing the '4' with a different number. If the file is not found then the renderer will report an error; sequences are not detected in this mode.<br /> <br /> * Nearest file in sequence: Beginning with the base filename (given to the right of &quot;Read GI cache files&quot;), this mode looks for files that belong to same sequence as the base filename. The renderer will read only one cache file, choosing the file whose frame number is nearest to the current frame number. You can choose any file in the sequence for the base filename.<br /> <br /> * Equal blend within range: Beginning with the base filename (given to the right of &quot;Read GI cache files&quot;), this mode looks for files that belong to same sequence as the base filename. The renderer will try to read as many files as the &quot;Number of files to blend&quot; parameter below, choosing the files whose frame numbers are nearest to the current frame number. Where the GI solutions overlap in 3D space, the results are averaged together, and wherever there are gaps in one file's solution (e.g. outside the camera's view) the other files can fill in data. You can choose any file in the sequence for the base filename.<br /> <br /> * Interpolate (for animation): This is simillar to &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; except that the files are weighted differently depending on the current frame number, to produce steady blends during animations. This mode becomes useful if your caches are 'sparse' in time. 'Sparse caches' are sequences of GI cache files where not every frame has a cache file. For example you might have a GI cache file on frames 10, 20, 30, and so on. If you do this, and you set the blend mode to &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot;, a smooth blend will occur between the different sets of GI caches that are selected over the course of an animation. The more frames between cache files, the more gradual the blend will be. A ramp up/down weighting is applied to the first and last files that are used, giving you a linear interpolation between the results of different sets of files so that you don't see any pops between frames where the sets change. (Pops may still occur in places in 3D space where there is insufficient coverage by the cache files.) &quot;Number of files to blend&quot; should be set to 2 or more to allow the blending to work. This mode will also work when there is a cache file for every frame, but in that situation it is equivalent to &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; mode except that it will blend one fewer cache files due to the nature of the interpolation algorithm.<br /> <br /> '''Number of files to blend:''' When the blend mode is &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; or &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot;, this is the maximum number of GI cache files that will be read and blended together to render a frame. If the blend mode is &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot; then on some frames it will read one fewer files. This is because the linear interpolation sometimes causes the first or last file within range to have a weight of zero.<br /> <br /> <br /> === Advanced ===<br /> <br /> <br /> '''GI prepass padding:''' This specifes how much to enlarge the area of image calculated during the prepass, which may be useful to avoid mismatched lighting between adjacent cropped renders or pieces of a panorama when not using GI cache files (GI cache files effectively solve this problem). A value of 0 means no padding. A value of 1 adds a border to each side of the frustum which is equivalent to the width or height of the image or crop region, which makes the frustum 3 times as wide and 3 times as tall. Negative values shrink the area/frustum instead of enlarging it.<br /> <br /> <br /> === Image Pass ===<br /> <br /> <br /> '''GI surface details:''' GI surface details is designed to try to compensate for the lack of detail in the GI cache. Different versions of Terragen do this differently. It is a separate process that happens either at shading time (while the image is being rendered), or as a combination of post processes on the final image and on the buckets (tiles) during the render. You can use GI surface details either with a GI cache file or simply in a normal render where the GI cache is calculated in the pre pass.<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 3 and 4'', GI surface details enhances the detail in shadows and adds light bouncing between surfaces that are quite close in image space. It consists of two processes, but both are designed to add detail that isn't already present in the GI cache. While the image is being rendered, every time a bucket (tile) finishes rendering it applies a post-process on the sub-pixel samples to capture extremely fine details in the surface and enhance them. Then when the whole image has finished rendering it applies another post-process on the final pixels to capture more details in the surface and enhance those. It only affects indirect light (GI) and some soft reflections, depending on how the reflections were rendered. It does not affect direct lighting. ''The post-process may take a few seconds for most typical renders (e.g. up to Full HD) or a few minutes for very large images (e.g. more than 10k). During this time the user interface might not respond, but should return when the process finishes.''<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 2'', GI surface details changes how points are shaded while the image is being rendered. It adds shadow detail that isn't already present in the GI cache by tracing rays a short distance from the shading point. It only affects indirect light (GI) and some soft reflections, depending on how the reflections are rendered. It does not affect direct lighting. ''This feature can significantly increase render times in Terragen 2.''<br /> <br /> <br /> === GI in Clouds ===<br /> <br /> The following settings affect the rendering of all cloud layers that are &quot;Cloud Layer V3&quot; or &quot;Easy Cloud&quot;, which are new in Terragen 4. &quot;Cloud Layer V2&quot; nodes are not affected by these settings.<br /> <br /> '''Cloud GI quality:''' This affects the accuracy of the background/indirect lighting component of Cloud Layer V3 and Easy Cloud (but not Cloud Layer V2). The background/indirect lighting component is light received from other parts of the scene, except for direct lights such as the sun. It includes light received from things like terrain, other cloud layers, and anything else in the sky that is not part of the same cloud layer. It does ''not'' include scattering within the same cloud layer, as that is handled separately. Cloud GI is most visible in the shaded parts of a cloud. <br /> <br /> Cloud GI quality affects how accurately this light is calculated. Low quality settings tend to produce flicker in animations or sometimes blotchy looking lighting in the clouds, but render faster. Each step down in the menu represents an increase in the quality by doubling the number of light samples, but also an increase in render time.<br /> <br /> '''Cloud GI max ray depth:''' ''Terragen 4.1 and higher''. Like Cloud GI quality, this setting affects the accuracy of the background/indirect lighting component of Cloud Layer V3 and Easy Cloud (but not Cloud Layer V2). It limits the maximum ray depth at which to include light from other parts of the scene, including other cloud layers and the ground. You can think of this as the number of times light can bounce between different cloud layers or between a cloud layer and the terrain. It does ''not'' limit how many times light can scatter within a single cloud layer, as that is handled separately. It only affects bounces between layers created by different nodes in the scene. If you have many cloud layers in the scene it's especially important to keep this number low (e.g. 1 or 2) to prevent long render times due to light interactions between cloud layers. This part of the renderer may be improved in future to allow higher ray depths without excessive render times. Also note that ground interactions are typically less noticeable because the ground is usually darker than other cloud layers, so if you only have a single cloud layer in your scene, higher values for this will generally not be useful. Defaults to a value of 2.<br /> <br /> '''Voxel scattering quality:''' ''Terragen 4.1 and higher''. This affects all cloud layers of type Cloud Layer V3 and Easy Cloud, but not Cloud Layer V2. Light that is scattered many times through a cloud is calculated using a Monte Carlo technique that samples many different scatter paths through a voxel buffer. For every pixel that contains some cloud, many scatter paths may be calculated and averaged together. The render engine and shaders decide how many scatter paths are calculated at each image sample (ray from the camera), but you can increase or decrease this amount with Voxel scattering quality. This setting acts as a multiplier, so 100 will cause the renderer to calculate twice as many paths as it would at 50.<br /> <br /> In most cases we recommend that you use the default value of 100. Scenes which are quite noisy can usually be smoothed using higher anti-aliasing (which will improve the whole image, not just the cloud), and you can leave the voxel scattering quality at 100. However, it may be possible to optimise the rendering of some scenes by changing this value up or down.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=12579 2019-10-12T04:02:19Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Video Tutorials and Other Learning Resources */</p> <hr /> <div>== Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki ==<br /> <br /> This is the primary documentation repository for Planetside Software's Terragen environment modeling and rendering product. This documentation refers primarily to the latest version of Terragen (currently Terragen 4). Whenever the general term &quot;Terragen&quot; is used, it is referring to this most recent version, unless otherwise specified, e.g. &quot;Terragen Classic&quot;.<br /> <br /> 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 contact us if you'd like to contribute in the community-generated areas.<br /> <br /> If you are a licensed user of Terragen and you need direct support, you can contact us via [https://planetside.co.uk/contact-us/ our contact page].<br /> <br /> == Video Tutorials and Other Learning Resources ==<br /> <br /> While the many documentation areas below are the most comprehensive source of specific information about Terragen, many people find it easier to learn through video tutorials. You can find links to several high quality, free Terragen tutorial channels on the [https://planetside.co.uk/terragen-tutorials/ Terragen Tutorials page] of our website. We particularly recommend the [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk_FvdzzZy-i5NvYoiNlcRBW6I2DCP7E TerraTuts tutorials] for quickly learning Terragen basics.<br /> <br /> Additionally you can find some helpful techniques and in-depth discussions of specific technical issues on the [https://planetside.co.uk/category/tips-tricks/ Tips and Tricks] page. Check back regularly for new articles.<br /> <br /> == Fundamental Terragen Concepts ==<br /> <br /> Articles in this section cover concepts fundamental to understanding and using Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[What is Terragen?]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> An explanation of Terragen's design and purpose.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Conventions]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some conventions of Terragen and how it differs from other 3D graphics programs.<br /> <br /> [[Nodes]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Nodes are the fundamental building blocks of a Terragen scene. Learn more about how they work and are represented in the UI.<br /> <br /> [[Shaders]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Shaders provide color and texture for the terrain in a scene.<br /> <br /> [[Heightfield and Procedural Terrain]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Terragen allows the use of both heightfield and procedural terrain. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of each.<br /> <br /> == Getting Started ==<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic Terragen 4 scene.<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 2: Adding a Lake]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A guide to adding a lake to a Terragen scene.<br /> <br /> == User Interface ==<br /> <br /> Terragen's user interface is tailored to creating and rendering procedural landscapes and skies. This section will give you an overview of the Terragen user interface.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the top menus in Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Main Window User Interface Elements]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article provides an overview of the main elements of the Terragen UI. You may refer to the following sections for details on specific elements of the UI:<br /> <br /> * [[Top Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node List]]<br /> <br /> * [[Shader Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node Properties]]<br /> <br /> * [[The 3D Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[The Node Network]]<br /> <br /> * [[Bottom Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> [[Render Window]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the render window.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This reference describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> == Guides ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Network View Guide|Network View Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Node Network (Network View) in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[The Default Scene Explained]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> When you open Terragen the first thing you see is a &quot;default&quot; scene, with basic terrain, planet, and atmosphere. This page explains how the default scene is set up.<br /> <br /> [[Organizing Your Terragen Project]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> An introduction to Groups, Clip Files and Notes, and other tips for sharing things between projects and keeping them organized.<br /> <br /> [[Terrain and Water]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on creating and controlling terrain and water features.<br /> <br /> [[Surface Mapping and Shading]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on applying surface maps, i.e. texturing, in Terragen 4. This section is oriented toward surface maps as applied to terrain, but much of the information also applies to object texturing.<br /> <br /> [[The Library]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Library and Library window in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Objects]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to working with objects in TG4. It covers topics such as importing objects, creating objects, manipulating them in the 3D Preview and much more.<br /> <br /> [[Populator Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> [[Painted Shader Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This guide explains how to use and get the most out of the Painted Shader.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Clip Files]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This page introduces Clip files, how to create them and how to use them. Clip files let you save nodes or collections of nodes so you can use them again or send them to others.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Guide|Animation Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Animation functions in Terragen. It has information and tutorials about creating animations using TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Clouds Following Terrain Tutorial]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Get an in-depth understanding of some powerful cloud control functions in Terragen with this tutorial by Martin Huisman<br /> <br /> [[FAQs and Troubleshooting]]<br /> <br /> == References ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Node Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes all the Terragen 4 nodes.<br /> <br /> [[Glossary]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Glossary explains terms relevant to Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Input Settings Reference|Input Settings Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Lists all the input settings, such as mouse clicks and hot keys, that can be used in various views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference|Menu Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the menus in the Terragen 4 menu bar.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Function Reference|Animation Module Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Gives an overview of the Animation Module as well as a reference for animation related windows and views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Import-Export Reference|Import-Export Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> This reference describes Terragen 4's import and export capabilities.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Gathering Projects Reference|Gathering Projects Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes the project gathering process, which allows you to gather a project and related assets into a single folder.<br /> <br /> [[Rendering Methods]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Discusses the two rendering methods that Terragen uses: micropolygon rasterization and raytracing.<br /> <br /> [[Path Tracing]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Beginning with Terragen 4.3, path tracing can be used to render more realistic images.<br /> <br /> [[Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud|Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> How and when to use the rendering options &quot;Ray trace objects&quot;, &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Ray trace everything&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Global Illumination|Global Illumination]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains what Global Illumination is and how to use it in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Render Layers and Render Elements|Render Layers and Render Elements (Terragen 4 Professional)]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains the Render Layers system in Terragen 4 Professional, including Render Elements.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Preferences|Preferences]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes Terragen 4's preferences, which let you customise how the application behaves.<br /> <br /> [[Command Line Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> How to run Terragen from the command line on Windows, Mac and Linux, and descriptions of all the command line options.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Resources ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Resource List]]<br /> <br /> Find Terragen-compatible software, 3D models, content, and other resources.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Community-Generated Content ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tips and Tricks]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some quick tips and tricks for using Terragen, generated and maintained by our user community.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tutorials]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A list of tutorials, from beginning to advanced, to take you through how to do certain things with Terragen.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=12578 2019-10-12T04:01:54Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Video Tutorials and Other Learning Resources */</p> <hr /> <div>== Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki ==<br /> <br /> This is the primary documentation repository for Planetside Software's Terragen environment modeling and rendering product. This documentation refers primarily to the latest version of Terragen (currently Terragen 4). Whenever the general term &quot;Terragen&quot; is used, it is referring to this most recent version, unless otherwise specified, e.g. &quot;Terragen Classic&quot;.<br /> <br /> 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 contact us if you'd like to contribute in the community-generated areas.<br /> <br /> If you are a licensed user of Terragen and you need direct support, you can contact us via [https://planetside.co.uk/contact-us/ our contact page].<br /> <br /> == Video Tutorials and Other Learning Resources ==<br /> <br /> While the many documentation areas below are the most comprehensive source of specific information about Terragen, many people find it easier to learn through video tutorials. You can find links to several high quality, free Terragen tutorial channels on the [https://planetside.co.uk/terragen-tutorials/ Terragen Tutorials page] of our website. We particularly recommend the [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk_FvdzzZy-i5NvYoiNlcRBW6I2DCP7E TerraTuts tutorials] for quickly learning Terragen basics.<br /> <br /> Additionally you can find some helpful techniques and in-depth discussions of specific technical issues on the [https://planetside.co.uk/category/tips-tricks/ Tips and Tricks] page.<br /> <br /> == Fundamental Terragen Concepts ==<br /> <br /> Articles in this section cover concepts fundamental to understanding and using Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[What is Terragen?]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> An explanation of Terragen's design and purpose.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Conventions]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some conventions of Terragen and how it differs from other 3D graphics programs.<br /> <br /> [[Nodes]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Nodes are the fundamental building blocks of a Terragen scene. Learn more about how they work and are represented in the UI.<br /> <br /> [[Shaders]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Shaders provide color and texture for the terrain in a scene.<br /> <br /> [[Heightfield and Procedural Terrain]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Terragen allows the use of both heightfield and procedural terrain. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of each.<br /> <br /> == Getting Started ==<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic Terragen 4 scene.<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 2: Adding a Lake]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A guide to adding a lake to a Terragen scene.<br /> <br /> == User Interface ==<br /> <br /> Terragen's user interface is tailored to creating and rendering procedural landscapes and skies. This section will give you an overview of the Terragen user interface.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the top menus in Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Main Window User Interface Elements]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article provides an overview of the main elements of the Terragen UI. You may refer to the following sections for details on specific elements of the UI:<br /> <br /> * [[Top Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node List]]<br /> <br /> * [[Shader Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node Properties]]<br /> <br /> * [[The 3D Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[The Node Network]]<br /> <br /> * [[Bottom Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> [[Render Window]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the render window.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This reference describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> == Guides ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Network View Guide|Network View Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Node Network (Network View) in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[The Default Scene Explained]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> When you open Terragen the first thing you see is a &quot;default&quot; scene, with basic terrain, planet, and atmosphere. This page explains how the default scene is set up.<br /> <br /> [[Organizing Your Terragen Project]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> An introduction to Groups, Clip Files and Notes, and other tips for sharing things between projects and keeping them organized.<br /> <br /> [[Terrain and Water]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on creating and controlling terrain and water features.<br /> <br /> [[Surface Mapping and Shading]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on applying surface maps, i.e. texturing, in Terragen 4. This section is oriented toward surface maps as applied to terrain, but much of the information also applies to object texturing.<br /> <br /> [[The Library]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Library and Library window in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Objects]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to working with objects in TG4. It covers topics such as importing objects, creating objects, manipulating them in the 3D Preview and much more.<br /> <br /> [[Populator Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> [[Painted Shader Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This guide explains how to use and get the most out of the Painted Shader.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Clip Files]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This page introduces Clip files, how to create them and how to use them. Clip files let you save nodes or collections of nodes so you can use them again or send them to others.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Guide|Animation Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Animation functions in Terragen. It has information and tutorials about creating animations using TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Clouds Following Terrain Tutorial]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Get an in-depth understanding of some powerful cloud control functions in Terragen with this tutorial by Martin Huisman<br /> <br /> [[FAQs and Troubleshooting]]<br /> <br /> == References ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Node Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes all the Terragen 4 nodes.<br /> <br /> [[Glossary]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Glossary explains terms relevant to Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Input Settings Reference|Input Settings Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Lists all the input settings, such as mouse clicks and hot keys, that can be used in various views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference|Menu Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the menus in the Terragen 4 menu bar.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Function Reference|Animation Module Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Gives an overview of the Animation Module as well as a reference for animation related windows and views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Import-Export Reference|Import-Export Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> This reference describes Terragen 4's import and export capabilities.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Gathering Projects Reference|Gathering Projects Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes the project gathering process, which allows you to gather a project and related assets into a single folder.<br /> <br /> [[Rendering Methods]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Discusses the two rendering methods that Terragen uses: micropolygon rasterization and raytracing.<br /> <br /> [[Path Tracing]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Beginning with Terragen 4.3, path tracing can be used to render more realistic images.<br /> <br /> [[Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud|Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> How and when to use the rendering options &quot;Ray trace objects&quot;, &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Ray trace everything&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Global Illumination|Global Illumination]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains what Global Illumination is and how to use it in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Render Layers and Render Elements|Render Layers and Render Elements (Terragen 4 Professional)]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains the Render Layers system in Terragen 4 Professional, including Render Elements.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Preferences|Preferences]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes Terragen 4's preferences, which let you customise how the application behaves.<br /> <br /> [[Command Line Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> How to run Terragen from the command line on Windows, Mac and Linux, and descriptions of all the command line options.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Resources ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Resource List]]<br /> <br /> Find Terragen-compatible software, 3D models, content, and other resources.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Community-Generated Content ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tips and Tricks]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some quick tips and tricks for using Terragen, generated and maintained by our user community.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tutorials]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A list of tutorials, from beginning to advanced, to take you through how to do certain things with Terragen.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=12577 2019-10-12T04:01:11Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>== Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki ==<br /> <br /> This is the primary documentation repository for Planetside Software's Terragen environment modeling and rendering product. This documentation refers primarily to the latest version of Terragen (currently Terragen 4). Whenever the general term &quot;Terragen&quot; is used, it is referring to this most recent version, unless otherwise specified, e.g. &quot;Terragen Classic&quot;.<br /> <br /> 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 contact us if you'd like to contribute in the community-generated areas.<br /> <br /> If you are a licensed user of Terragen and you need direct support, you can contact us via [https://planetside.co.uk/contact-us/ our contact page].<br /> <br /> == Video Tutorials and Other Learning Resources ==<br /> <br /> While the many documentation areas below are the most comprehensive source of specific information about Terragen, many people find it easier to learn through video tutorials. You can find links to several high quality, free Terragen tutorial channels on the [https://planetside.co.uk/terragen-tutorials/ Terragen Tutorials page] of our website. We particularly recommend the [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk_FvdzzZy-i5NvYoiNlcRBW6I2DCP7E TerraTuts tutorials] for quickly learning Terragen basics.<br /> <br /> Additionally you can find some helpful techniques and in-depth discussions of specific technical issues in the [https://planetside.co.uk/category/tips-tricks/ Tips and Tricks] section of our website.<br /> <br /> == Fundamental Terragen Concepts ==<br /> <br /> Articles in this section cover concepts fundamental to understanding and using Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[What is Terragen?]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> An explanation of Terragen's design and purpose.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Conventions]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some conventions of Terragen and how it differs from other 3D graphics programs.<br /> <br /> [[Nodes]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Nodes are the fundamental building blocks of a Terragen scene. Learn more about how they work and are represented in the UI.<br /> <br /> [[Shaders]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Shaders provide color and texture for the terrain in a scene.<br /> <br /> [[Heightfield and Procedural Terrain]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Terragen allows the use of both heightfield and procedural terrain. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of each.<br /> <br /> == Getting Started ==<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic Terragen 4 scene.<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 2: Adding a Lake]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A guide to adding a lake to a Terragen scene.<br /> <br /> == User Interface ==<br /> <br /> Terragen's user interface is tailored to creating and rendering procedural landscapes and skies. This section will give you an overview of the Terragen user interface.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the top menus in Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Main Window User Interface Elements]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article provides an overview of the main elements of the Terragen UI. You may refer to the following sections for details on specific elements of the UI:<br /> <br /> * [[Top Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node List]]<br /> <br /> * [[Shader Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node Properties]]<br /> <br /> * [[The 3D Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[The Node Network]]<br /> <br /> * [[Bottom Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> [[Render Window]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the render window.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This reference describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> == Guides ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Network View Guide|Network View Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Node Network (Network View) in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[The Default Scene Explained]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> When you open Terragen the first thing you see is a &quot;default&quot; scene, with basic terrain, planet, and atmosphere. This page explains how the default scene is set up.<br /> <br /> [[Organizing Your Terragen Project]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> An introduction to Groups, Clip Files and Notes, and other tips for sharing things between projects and keeping them organized.<br /> <br /> [[Terrain and Water]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on creating and controlling terrain and water features.<br /> <br /> [[Surface Mapping and Shading]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on applying surface maps, i.e. texturing, in Terragen 4. This section is oriented toward surface maps as applied to terrain, but much of the information also applies to object texturing.<br /> <br /> [[The Library]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Library and Library window in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Objects]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to working with objects in TG4. It covers topics such as importing objects, creating objects, manipulating them in the 3D Preview and much more.<br /> <br /> [[Populator Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> [[Painted Shader Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This guide explains how to use and get the most out of the Painted Shader.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Clip Files]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This page introduces Clip files, how to create them and how to use them. Clip files let you save nodes or collections of nodes so you can use them again or send them to others.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Guide|Animation Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Animation functions in Terragen. It has information and tutorials about creating animations using TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Clouds Following Terrain Tutorial]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Get an in-depth understanding of some powerful cloud control functions in Terragen with this tutorial by Martin Huisman<br /> <br /> [[FAQs and Troubleshooting]]<br /> <br /> == References ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Node Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes all the Terragen 4 nodes.<br /> <br /> [[Glossary]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Glossary explains terms relevant to Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Input Settings Reference|Input Settings Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Lists all the input settings, such as mouse clicks and hot keys, that can be used in various views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference|Menu Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the menus in the Terragen 4 menu bar.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Function Reference|Animation Module Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Gives an overview of the Animation Module as well as a reference for animation related windows and views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Import-Export Reference|Import-Export Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> This reference describes Terragen 4's import and export capabilities.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Gathering Projects Reference|Gathering Projects Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes the project gathering process, which allows you to gather a project and related assets into a single folder.<br /> <br /> [[Rendering Methods]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Discusses the two rendering methods that Terragen uses: micropolygon rasterization and raytracing.<br /> <br /> [[Path Tracing]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Beginning with Terragen 4.3, path tracing can be used to render more realistic images.<br /> <br /> [[Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud|Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> How and when to use the rendering options &quot;Ray trace objects&quot;, &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Ray trace everything&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Global Illumination|Global Illumination]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains what Global Illumination is and how to use it in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Render Layers and Render Elements|Render Layers and Render Elements (Terragen 4 Professional)]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains the Render Layers system in Terragen 4 Professional, including Render Elements.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Preferences|Preferences]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes Terragen 4's preferences, which let you customise how the application behaves.<br /> <br /> [[Command Line Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> How to run Terragen from the command line on Windows, Mac and Linux, and descriptions of all the command line options.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Resources ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Resource List]]<br /> <br /> Find Terragen-compatible software, 3D models, content, and other resources.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Community-Generated Content ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tips and Tricks]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some quick tips and tricks for using Terragen, generated and maintained by our user community.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tutorials]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A list of tutorials, from beginning to advanced, to take you through how to do certain things with Terragen.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=12576 2019-10-12T03:55:34Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki */</p> <hr /> <div>== Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki ==<br /> <br /> This is the primary documentation repository for Planetside Software's Terragen environment modeling and rendering product. This documentation refers primarily to the latest version of Terragen (currently Terragen 4). Whenever the general term &quot;Terragen&quot; is used, it is referring to this most recent version, unless otherwise specified, e.g. &quot;Terragen Classic&quot;.<br /> <br /> 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 contact us if you'd like to contribute in the community-generated areas.<br /> <br /> If you are a licensed user of Terragen and you need direct support, you can contact us via [https://planetside.co.uk/contact-us/ our contact page].<br /> <br /> == Fundamental Terragen Concepts ==<br /> <br /> Articles in this section cover concepts fundamental to understanding and using Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[What is Terragen?]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> An explanation of Terragen's design and purpose.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Conventions]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some conventions of Terragen and how it differs from other 3D graphics programs.<br /> <br /> [[Nodes]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Nodes are the fundamental building blocks of a Terragen scene. Learn more about how they work and are represented in the UI.<br /> <br /> [[Shaders]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Shaders provide color and texture for the terrain in a scene.<br /> <br /> [[Heightfield and Procedural Terrain]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Terragen allows the use of both heightfield and procedural terrain. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of each.<br /> <br /> == Getting Started ==<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic Terragen 4 scene.<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 2: Adding a Lake]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A guide to adding a lake to a Terragen scene.<br /> <br /> == User Interface ==<br /> <br /> Terragen's user interface is tailored to creating and rendering procedural landscapes and skies. This section will give you an overview of the Terragen user interface.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the top menus in Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Main Window User Interface Elements]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article provides an overview of the main elements of the Terragen UI. You may refer to the following sections for details on specific elements of the UI:<br /> <br /> * [[Top Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node List]]<br /> <br /> * [[Shader Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[Node Properties]]<br /> <br /> * [[The 3D Preview]]<br /> <br /> * [[The Node Network]]<br /> <br /> * [[Bottom Toolbar]]<br /> <br /> [[Render Window]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> This article describes the render window.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This reference describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> == Guides ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Network View Guide|Network View Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Node Network (Network View) in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[The Default Scene Explained]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> When you open Terragen the first thing you see is a &quot;default&quot; scene, with basic terrain, planet, and atmosphere. This page explains how the default scene is set up.<br /> <br /> [[Organizing Your Terragen Project]]&lt;br/&gt;<br /> An introduction to Groups, Clip Files and Notes, and other tips for sharing things between projects and keeping them organized.<br /> <br /> [[Terrain and Water]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on creating and controlling terrain and water features.<br /> <br /> [[Surface Mapping and Shading]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on applying surface maps, i.e. texturing, in Terragen 4. This section is oriented toward surface maps as applied to terrain, but much of the information also applies to object texturing.<br /> <br /> [[The Library]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Library and Library window in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Objects]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to working with objects in TG4. It covers topics such as importing objects, creating objects, manipulating them in the 3D Preview and much more.<br /> <br /> [[Populator Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> [[Painted Shader Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This guide explains how to use and get the most out of the Painted Shader.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Clip Files]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This page introduces Clip files, how to create them and how to use them. Clip files let you save nodes or collections of nodes so you can use them again or send them to others.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Guide|Animation Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Animation functions in Terragen. It has information and tutorials about creating animations using TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Clouds Following Terrain Tutorial]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Get an in-depth understanding of some powerful cloud control functions in Terragen with this tutorial by Martin Huisman<br /> <br /> [[FAQs and Troubleshooting]]<br /> <br /> == References ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Node Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes all the Terragen 4 nodes.<br /> <br /> [[Glossary]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Glossary explains terms relevant to Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Input Settings Reference|Input Settings Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Lists all the input settings, such as mouse clicks and hot keys, that can be used in various views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference|Menu Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the menus in the Terragen 4 menu bar.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Function Reference|Animation Module Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Gives an overview of the Animation Module as well as a reference for animation related windows and views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Import-Export Reference|Import-Export Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> This reference describes Terragen 4's import and export capabilities.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Gathering Projects Reference|Gathering Projects Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes the project gathering process, which allows you to gather a project and related assets into a single folder.<br /> <br /> [[Rendering Methods]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Discusses the two rendering methods that Terragen uses: micropolygon rasterization and raytracing.<br /> <br /> [[Path Tracing]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Beginning with Terragen 4.3, path tracing can be used to render more realistic images.<br /> <br /> [[Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud|Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> How and when to use the rendering options &quot;Ray trace objects&quot;, &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Ray trace everything&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Global Illumination|Global Illumination]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains what Global Illumination is and how to use it in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Render Layers and Render Elements|Render Layers and Render Elements (Terragen 4 Professional)]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains the Render Layers system in Terragen 4 Professional, including Render Elements.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Preferences|Preferences]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes Terragen 4's preferences, which let you customise how the application behaves.<br /> <br /> [[Command Line Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> How to run Terragen from the command line on Windows, Mac and Linux, and descriptions of all the command line options.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Resources ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Resource List]]<br /> <br /> Find Terragen-compatible software, 3D models, content, and other resources.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Community-Generated Content ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tips and Tricks]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some quick tips and tricks for using Terragen, generated and maintained by our user community.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tutorials]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A list of tutorials, from beginning to advanced, to take you through how to do certain things with Terragen.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Population_Colour_Tinting_Techniques&diff=12458 2019-09-15T05:52:56Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>The Terragen Populator has a rich feature set that distributes 3D object instances in very realistic ways. But even with variation in placement, scale and rotation, each population is limited to one piece of geometry, and the textures or materials it was created with, which can result in a visible repetition that limits the realism of the end result. What you want is each object to be slightly different, and one solution is to use the populator’s colour tinting tools. <br /> <br /> Let’s explore this in an empty scene by creating a population of rocks. Click on the “Objects” button beneath the Main Menu, then click on the “Add Object” button and select “Population” from the drop down menu and finally select “Rock” from the population types list.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_Generic_AddRockPopulationCropped.png|Adding a rock population.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Two new nodes appear in the object list, the first one is the population node and the second one is the geometry node that will be instanced by the populator. <br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_Generic_RockPopulationAndObjectNodes.png|The rock population node and the 3D geometry node in the Object List.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Let’s create an evenly spaced and orderly array of rock objects in order see the tinting effects most clearly. <br /> <br /> Select the “Pop Rock 01” item from the Object List and under the Distribution tab reduce the size of the area to be populated by entering a value of “100.0” in the “Area length a” and the “Area length b” fields. Set the “Object spacing in a,b” value to “5.0” and the “Spacing variation in a,b” value to “0.0”. <br /> <br /> Under the Rotation tab set the “Maximum Y rotation” value to “0.0”. <br /> <br /> Under the Scale tab set both the “Minimum scale” value and “Maximum scale” value to “4.0”. <br /> <br /> Click the “Populate Now” button, and then pull back your camera view until you get a good view of the rocks. Click on the “RTP” button to view the scene in Ray-Traced Preview mode.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_03PopRockDistribution.png|An evenly spaced rock poplulation, 100 meters x 100 meters.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> The rock object’s Surface shader is assigned the “Default shader 01”, which gives each instance of the rock a diffuse colour value of 0.5. You can see this by selecting the “Pop Rock 01/Rock 01” item in the object list and clicking on the green “Plus” button to the right of the Surface shader field and selecting “Go to Default shader 01”. <br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_04PopRockSurfaceShader.png|The rock object's surface shader. The Diffuse colour is set to 0.5.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> To apply colour variation to the rock population, return to the Objects layout and select the “Pop Rock 01” item from the Object list. Under the Colour tab click on the green “Plus” button to the right of the “Tint diffuse colour” field and select “Create new shader”, then “Colour shader” and finally “Power fractal shader v3”.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_09ColourTabTint.png|Applying a power fractal shader to the Tint diffuse colour parameter.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Open the Power fractal shader by once again clicking on the green “Plus” sign to the right of the “Tint diffuse colour” field and selecting “Go to Power fractal shader v3 01”. Rename the Power fractal node to something descriptive like “Rock tints”. Click on the “Open shader in new preview” button to the right of the Name field to display the power fractal pattern in its own window. Under the Scale tab reduce the “Lead-in scale” value to 100, to better match the scale of the area being populated with rocks.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_10RockTintsScaleTab.png|The power fractal shader's interface and preview window. |800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> We want to increase the contrast of the fractal noise pattern. Under the Colour tab set the “Colour contrast” value to “1.0”, the “Colour offset” value to around “-0.4” and the “Colour roughness” value to “0.0”.<br /> <br /> As you can see in this rendered frame, the rocks are now shaded in a variety of gray values. Internally, Terragen multiplied the rocks diffuse color value by the value supplied by the tinting function. We’ll get into the math in a moment, but generally speaking, this has the effect of darkening each rock.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_11RockTintsColourTab.png|Adjusting the colour paramaters of the power fractal shader.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Let’s repeat this step once more but this time use colours other than black and white for the fractal noise pattern. Click on the “Apply high colour” colour swatch and choose a red colour with RGB values of “255,0,0” or linear values of “1.0,0.0,0.0”. Enable the “Apply low colour” by clicking on the checkbox and then click on its color swatch and choose a green colour with RGB values of “0,255,0” or linear values of “0.0,1.0,0.0”.<br /> <br /> Now we see that the rocks have taken on the hues of reds and greens and yellows<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_13RockTintsColourTabColours.png|Applying colour values to the power fractal shader's high and low colour parameters.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Let’s review our progress so far to understand the math that is taking place internally in Terragen.<br /> <br /> The diffuse colour value of a particular spot on an object is made up of its three colour component values; one value for each of the red, green and blue components. The rock object’s diffuse colour value is 0.5 for each of its colour components.<br /> <br /> The power fractal shader assigned to the population’s “Tint diffuse colour” generates a tint colour for each instanced object. The generated colour will be somewhere between the “Apply high colour” and “Apply low colour” values, but if either of the High and Low colours are disabled then a value of 0.0, or black, is used for that colour. Each instanced object will get a different tint colour based on the position of the instanced object in 3D space in relationship to the noise patterns of the fractal. Terragen multiplies the object’s diffuse colour RGB values by the RGB values of the generated tint colour.<br /> <br /> Using the last image as an example, the rock object’s diffuse colour red component value was 0.5 and that was multiplied by a value between the High colour red component value which is 1.0 and the Low colour red component value which is 0.0. This means that the maximum red component value would be 0.5 and there’s a good chance it would be less. This is repeated for the other color components as well to determine the final colour value.<br /> <br /> There is one other consideration in determining the final colour value and that is the “Diffuse colour multiplier” value located on the Colour tab. The value in this field is multiplied by the diffuse colour in order to provide a way to adjust the overall colour value. For example, the rock object’s diffuse colour value of 0.5 would be multiplied by the Diffuse colour multiplier, which defaults to 1.0, so there would be no change, but if the Diffuse colour multiplier value was 2.0, then the rock object’s diffuse colour value would be 1.0, which would be twice the diffuse value as before.<br /> <br /> In conclusion, the math behind the final tinting value looks something like this:<br /> Object’s diffuse colour component value * Diffuse colour multiplier * Tint diffuse colour component value = Resulting diffuse colour component value<br /> <br /> In our examples so far, the object being tinted had a single diffuse colour value to start with, but most of the time we’ll be populating objects that use texture maps which contain many diffuse colour values. We can examine this more closely by modifying the rock object’s texture.<br /> <br /> Select the “Pop Rock 01/Rock 01” item in the Object List and under the Surface Shader tab click on the green “Plus” button to the right of the Surface shader field, and select “Go to Default shader 01”. <br /> <br /> Click on the green “Plus” button to the right of the “Colour function” field and select “Create new Shader”, then “Colour Shader”, and then “Power fractal shader v3”. <br /> <br /> Click on the same green “Plus” button and this time select “Go to Power fractal shader v3”, and when the dialog pane opens, give the Power fractal shader a descriptive name like “Rock Object Colours”. Open the Power fractal shader node’s 3D preview by clicking on the “Open shader preview in new window” button and zoom in until the 3D preview scale is about 4 meters.<br /> <br /> On the Scale tab change the “Feature scale” to “0.1” and the “Lead-in scale” to “1.0” because the scale of the rock object is about 1 meter.<br /> <br /> On the Colour tab enable the “Apply low colour” checkbox and click on the “Color swatch” to the right of the parameter field. In the Colour picker pane select a colour around the linear values of “0.39,0.34,0.21”, or RGB values of “99,86,54”.<br /> <br /> Finally, adjust the “Colour offset” until there is a good contrast between the “Apply high colour” and “Apply low colour” values in the noise pattern.<br /> <br /> Select the “Pop Rock 01” node from the Object list and temporarily disable the “Tint diffuse colour” by unchecking the checkbox to the left of the field. Here is a rendered frame so we can see the new texture for the rocks.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_Wiki_TintingPopulations_wip2_v001.0004.png|Rendered image of rock population. Rock object has been surfaced with a power fractal shader. |800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Enable the “Tint diffuse colour” by checking the checkbox to the left of the field. Here is a rendered frame so we can see the new texture for the rocks and the tint applied.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_Wiki_TintingPopulations_wip2_v001.0005.png|Rendered image of the rock population with the tint applied.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_16RockPopTintColour.png|Tint settings applied to rock population. Rock has been surfaced with a power fractal shader.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Now set the “Diffuse colour multiplier” value to “2.0”. Here is a rendered frame so we can see the new texture for the rocks, twice as diffuse, with the tint applied.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_Wiki_TintingPopulations_wip2_v001.0006.png|Rendered image of rock population with the diffuse colour multiplier enaabled.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_17RockPopTintColourMultiplier.png|Tint settings and diffuse colour mulitplier enabled.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Last of all, set the “Diffuse colour multiplier” value to “0.5” and this is the rendered frame so we can see the new texture for the rocks, half as diffuse, with the tint applied.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_Wiki_TintingPopulations_wip2_v001.0007.png|Tint settings and diffuse colour multiplier applied to rock populations. Rock has been surfaced with a power fractal.|800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Any type of shader can be used as the source for tinting the population. Here is an example of using an image shader as the source for tinting the population. By setting the rock object’s diffuse value to “1.0” the instanced objects take on the colour values from the image texture map.<br /> <br /> [[File:Tutorial_TintingPopulations_25ImageMapTints.png| Using an image texture map shader the Tint diffuse colour. |800px]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Knowing how the tinting process works behind the scene gives us a lot of control for adjusting the final colors of our instances. Keep in mind that generally speaking, applying a tint colour will darken final colors of the object instances, and that by applying a value greater than 1.0 to the “Diffuse colour multiplier” can help lighten them back up.<br /> <br /> Download this project file to further explore tinting populations in Terragen. <br /> [[:Media:Tutorial_WIki_TintingPopulations.zip]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Rendering_Optimization_Guide&diff=12439 2019-08-31T21:54:59Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Typical Anti-aliasing Values */</p> <hr /> <div>= Defer All Shading =<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading is a newer rendering method which generally provides higher quality results on surface shading and in atmospheres, especially clouds. When properly optimized it can usually achieve equivalent or better quality than Standard renders in a similar amount of time, but it does require some settings adjustments from Standard renders to achieve optimal results.<br /> <br /> === Anti-aliasing Controls Shading Quality ===<br /> <br /> One of the primary things to be aware of with Defer All Shading is that the anti-aliasing settings are now the primary determinant of surface shading quality (but not geometry density or quality). As a result you will want to be mindful to balance the AA settings for the best combination of quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ==== Typical Anti-aliasing Values ====<br /> <br /> For scenes that are primarily composed just of terrain and clouds, with few or no objects, you may be able to keep AA relatively low - such as 4 or 6 - and achieve good quality. When more objects are included, especially those with fine geometry like plant populations, it is likely you will need to use higher values like 8-12. Always use the lowest value you can as this setting directly affects the number of samples that are taken for every pixel, and can have a large impact on render time. In some cases that render time may be essentially wasted if the amount of aliasing (mostly seen as unnaturally jagged or sharp edges) in a typical render is not particularly high. As always you can test on crop renders to get a good idea of the right values in a shorter time.<br /> <br /> ==== Adaptive Sampling ====<br /> <br /> Adaptive Anti-aliasing Sampling is one of the best tools available in Terragen for reducing render time while maintaining quality. Simply put, it uses evaluations of contrast and noise distribution in the image to try to focus AA samples in areas where they are needed most, while avoiding using more samples than necessary on less noisy areas. This can save a lot of render time vs. simple uniform sampling, especially when there is a big difference between how noisy or aliased some areas of the scene are (such as fine geometry in a grass object) vs other areas (such as a smooth snow shader, or a clear sky). <br /> <br /> ===== Robust Adaptive Sampler =====<br /> <br /> Beginning in Terragen 4.3 a new &quot;Robust Adaptive Sampler&quot; option became available. This was further improved in Terragen 4.4. Essentially it uses new and more intelligent ways of evaluating noise levels and distributing samples to better balance render time and image quality, and avoid certain problems of the more simplistic adaptive AA algorithms used previously. It is strongly recommended that you use the Robust Adaptive Sampler option when using Defer All Shading. You can begin with the default values, but even better results can be achieved in many cases by increasing the level of adaptivity (First Sampling Level) or adjusting the Pixel Noise Threshold.<br /> <br /> ===== First Sampling Level =====<br /> <br /> The First Sampling Level essentially controls how &quot;adaptive&quot; the anti-aliasing is, i.e. the range of possible sampling values, from the maximum number (set by the anti-aliasing value itself, e.g. 8) to the minimum number, which is some fraction of the max. The smaller fraction the minimum value is vs. the maximum, the more adaptive the AA is, and the more potential render time can be saved. However higher levels of adaptivity do have the potential to result in increased noise in some areas due to undersampling, i.e. too few samples to resolve smooth, noise-free results. Start with the default value for Robust Adaptive at 1/64 First Samples, but 1/256 is usually a good balance between quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ===== Pixel Noise Threshold =====<br /> <br /> The Pixel Noise Threshold (PNT) allows you to control at what point the adaptive sampling system will determine that a given level of identified noise is &quot;too much&quot; and will thus use more samples to reduce noise in that area. More samples = smoother results but longer render time. The higher the PNT value, the more noisy the image can be before more samples are used. In other words the adaptive sampler becomes more &quot;tolerant&quot; of noise with higher values. An important part of this to keep in mind, however, is that the adaptive sampler can only use a maximum number of samples as specified in the main anti-aliasing value, and can only reduce samples by the fraction you set in the First Sampling Level. So you can have a relatively high PNT, but still be using too many samples if your actual AA value is high (e.g. AA 12) and/or the First Sampling Level is conservative (e.g. 1/4).<br /> <br /> If noise is a problem in your image, generally speaking you will want to start by increase the main AA value if it is not already at 6 or above, before adjusting the PNT. In many cases the default PNT will work fairly well, however as the AA level rises you may want to adjust it to save render time in areas that are not very noisy. When you do adjust the PNT, do so in very small increments. Notice how the default values change with different AA values and use those relative values as a guide. One of the highest default PNT values of 0.15 at AA2 is, in absolute terms, not that different from the value at AA16 of 0.01875, both are mere fractions of &quot;1.0&quot;. Yet 0.01875 is actually a much lower value in terms of how it affects the threshold for evaluating noise in the render and it will consequently have a much higher impact on render time than a value like 0.15 or even 0.05. So change the PNT values slowly in the direction you want, higher for faster renders which allow more noise, lower for longer renders with less noise, and test along the way.<br /> <br /> Ideally what you want to do is determine the minimum AA value that will achieve the level of noise and anti-aliasing that you want on the hardest to sample areas of your scene. This can be done by using small crop renders with Max Samples enabled for First Sampling Level, and focusing on areas such as shadows or fine geometry detail that will be hardest to achieve smooth results in. Once you find a max AA value that achieves good results in these areas, you can then enable successively greater fractions of First Sampling Level and then use the Pixel Noise Threshold to adjust the balance of noise vs. render time for the rest of your image. All that being said, if you don't want to take the time or energy to test that much, the defaults are a good place to start. <br /> <br /> === Don't use high Micropoly Detail ===<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading renders in a way that ultimately produces smoother and more detailed terrain shading (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality. The default 0.5 MPD is usually sufficient when Defer All Shading is enabled. When loading older projects created prior to the introduction of Defer All Shading remember to check the MPD value as it may have been set higher to achieve high quality when this option was not yet available.<br /> <br /> === Reduce Samples for Soft Shadows ===<br /> <br /> As noted, Defer All Shading results in higher quality surface shading, and this includes Soft Shadows on the terrain as well. So you can use fewer samples for Soft Shadows while still avoiding noise. Try a value of 2 when Defer All Shading is enabled, rather than the default of 9. You can test this with a crop render using Defer All Shading vs Standard rendering to ensure it is working well.<br /> <br /> = Path Tracing =<br /> <br /> New in Terragen 4.3 is a more accurate and realistic-looking Path Tracing render method. You can find out more about it on the dedicated [[Path Tracing]] page. This can be a time-intensive rendering method and there are some specific optimizations and settings to be aware of to get the most out of your path traced renders.<br /> <br /> === Do I Need Path Tracing? ===<br /> <br /> The first thing to consider is whether your scene will actually benefit enough from path tracing to justify an increase in render time. Many scenes do, but there are enough in which the difference will be relatively small that it's worth considering and testing the impact on your actual scene before committing to a full, high resolution render. Use crop renders or lower resolution tests to evaluate the potential benefits.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing is most effective where there is a lot of geometry (e.g. imported object populations), or generally more potential for bounced light. It handles complex interactions of light bouncing better than the normal renderer. But for example in a mostly-terrain scene with a few scattered objects and a lot of direct sunlight, you're probably not going to see much benefit. If you move the sun lower in the sky to create lots of shadows, a sunset for example, then you might see more benefit. But the greatest gains will tend to be in thicker vegetation, or on more complex objects.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing also doesn't really affect the atmosphere, its main effects are on the ground, the terrain and anything sitting on it. So don't enable it if you are hoping for some improvement in the sky. It can, however, create more realistic lighting on the ground from the sky, to some degree.<br /> <br /> === Optimizing Render Time and Quality ===<br /> <br /> ==== Path Tracing Uses Defer All Shading ====<br /> <br /> Path Tracing enables &quot;Defer All Shading&quot;. Defer All Shading is a rendering method which makes much more detailed terrain (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality when Defer All Shading is used on its own, and good optimization for that rendering method will help minimize render time impact with full Path Tracing is used. Reference the Defer All Shading optimization section above for more specific setting recommendations and details.<br /> <br /> ==== Use the Robust Adaptive Sampler ====<br /> <br /> The new Robust Adaptive Sampling helps a lot to reduce render time with Path Tracing in particular, while maintaining quality. You can use a value of AA8 or AA6 with Robust Adaptive and 1/64th samples as a starting point. Increasing the amount of adaptivity, i.e. the &quot;First sampling level&quot;, will reduce render time but can add to noise. If you use AA8 you can consider 1/256, but at AA6 you might want to stick to 1/64.<br /> <br /> Then adjust the Pixel Noise Threshold *only* to get the level of noise under control. Start with the default value and go down if you want less noise, or up if noise looks fine but render time is too long. You may find you can get away with a lower Pixel Noise Threshold. Do renders in crops to reduce time needed for checking the best values, and you should include an area of shadow in your crop for most accurate results.<br /> <br /> Note that Robust Adaptive is improved in v4.4 vs. 4.3 so if possible use v4.4 or newer. For a more detailed discussion of Robust Adaptive Sampling and Pixel Noise Threshold, see above under Defer All Shading.<br /> <br /> ==== Avoid High GI Cache Values ====<br /> <br /> The GI Cache Detail and Sample Quality values do have an effect with path tracing, but they only control GI contributions from the atmosphere into the path tracer, which is used for the terrain illumination. The Path Tracer essentially replaces the cache-based GI system for rendering the terrain and objects, but not for the atmosphere. So these GI settings can generally be fairly low (e.g. 2/2 or 3/3) because the atmosphere contribution is fairly diffuse in most cases, and the terrain and object lighting will be made accurate by the path tracing itself. <br /> <br /> Put simply: you don't need high Cache Detail or Sample Quality values to get good path tracing results on your terrain.<br /> <br /> ==== Test and Crop ====<br /> <br /> Above all you will almost certainly want to run some tests before committing to a final Path Traced render, especially one at high resolution. A Path Traced render may take several hours even on high-end hardware, so it makes sense to spend some time on shorter renders of cropped areas to help ensure that when your full render finishes, the results are what you expect and are to your liking. So select one or more crop regions that include areas of shadow, dense geometry, etc., and then test variations of the above setting recommendations to find a good balance of quality and render time. Then you can commit to a full render knowing it won't take more time than necessary. And thereafter you'll be saving render time each time you render that scene and variations of it since for the most part only dramatic changes to the scene construction will affect what the optimal values are.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Node_Reference&diff=12414 2019-08-24T23:33:32Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>Welcome to the Terragen Node Reference. This document contains a complete reference for all nodes and node settings in Terragen. Please refer to the Main Documentation for information on the user interface as a whole and general usage instructions.<br /> <br /> __NOTOC__<br /> == '''Node Types''' ==<br /> == [[Atmosphere Nodes]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Atmosphere&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> == [[Function Nodes]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Function Nodes&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> == [[Heightfield Operators]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Heightfield Operators&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> == [[Lighting Nodes]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Lighting Nodes&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> == [[Object Nodes]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Object Nodes&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> == [[Other Nodes]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Other Nodes&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> == [[Population Nodes]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Population Nodes&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> == [[Shader Nodes]] ==<br /> &lt;categorytree mode=pages hideroot=on&gt;Shader Nodes&lt;/categorytree&gt;<br /> <br /> == General information ==<br /> [[Node Input Type Conversion]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This page discusses the data type conversions that happen at node connections.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Rendering_Optimization_Guide&diff=12413 2019-08-24T22:47:51Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>= Defer All Shading =<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading is a newer rendering method which generally provides higher quality results on surface shading and in atmospheres, especially clouds. When properly optimized it can usually achieve equivalent or better quality than Standard renders in a similar amount of time, but it does require some settings adjustments from Standard renders to achieve optimal results.<br /> <br /> === Anti-aliasing Controls Shading Quality ===<br /> <br /> One of the primary things to be aware of with Defer All Shading is that the anti-aliasing settings are now the primary determinant of surface shading quality (but not geometry density or quality). As a result you will want to be mindful to balance the AA settings for the best combination of quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ==== Typical Anti-aliasing Values ====<br /> <br /> For scenes that are primarily composed just of terrain and clouds, with few or no objects, you may be able to keep AA relatively low - such as 4 or 6 - and achieve good quality. When more objects are included, especially those with fine geometry like plant populations, it is likely you will need to use higher values like 8-12. Always use the lowest value you can as this setting directly affects the number of samples that are taken for every pixel, and can have a large impact on render time. In some cases that render time may be essentially wasted if the amount of aliasing in a typical render is not particularly high. As always you can test on crop renders to get a good idea of the right values in a shorter time.<br /> <br /> ==== Adaptive Sampling ====<br /> <br /> Adaptive Anti-aliasing Sampling is one of the best tools available in Terragen for reducing render time while maintaining quality. Simply put, it uses evaluations of contrast and noise distribution in the image to try to focus AA samples in areas where they are needed most, while avoiding using more samples than necessary on less noisy areas. This can save a lot of render time vs. simple uniform sampling, especially when there is a big difference between how noisy or aliased some areas of the scene are (such as fine geometry in a grass object) vs other areas (such as a smooth snow shader, or a clear sky). <br /> <br /> ===== Robust Adaptive Sampler =====<br /> <br /> Beginning in Terragen 4.3 a new &quot;Robust Adaptive Sampler&quot; option became available. This was further improved in Terragen 4.4. Essentially it uses new and more intelligent ways of evaluating noise levels and distributing samples to better balance render time and image quality, and avoid certain problems of the more simplistic adaptive AA algorithms used previously. It is strongly recommended that you use the Robust Adaptive Sampler option when using Defer All Shading. You can begin with the default values, but even better results can be achieved in many cases by increasing the level of adaptivity (First Sampling Level) or adjusting the Pixel Noise Threshold.<br /> <br /> ===== First Sampling Level =====<br /> <br /> The First Sampling Level essentially controls how &quot;adaptive&quot; the anti-aliasing is, i.e. the range of possible sampling values, from the maximum number (set by the anti-aliasing value itself, e.g. 8) to the minimum number, which is some fraction of the max. The smaller fraction the minimum value is vs. the maximum, the more adaptive the AA is, and the more potential render time can be saved. However higher levels of adaptivity do have the potential to result in increased noise in some areas due to undersampling, i.e. too few samples to resolve smooth, noise-free results. Start with the default value for Robust Adaptive at 1/64 First Samples, but 1/256 is usually a good balance between quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ===== Pixel Noise Threshold =====<br /> <br /> The Pixel Noise Threshold (PNT) allows you to control at what point the adaptive sampling system will determine that a given level of identified noise is &quot;too much&quot; and will thus use more samples to reduce noise in that area. More samples = smoother results but longer render time. The higher the PNT value, the more noisy the image can be before more samples are used. In other words the adaptive sampler becomes more &quot;tolerant&quot; of noise with higher values. An important part of this to keep in mind, however, is that the adaptive sampler can only use a maximum number of samples as specified in the main anti-aliasing value, and can only reduce samples by the fraction you set in the First Sampling Level. So you can have a relatively high PNT, but still be using too many samples if your actual AA value is high (e.g. AA 12) and/or the First Sampling Level is conservative (e.g. 1/4).<br /> <br /> If noise is a problem in your image, generally speaking you will want to start by increase the main AA value if it is not already at 6 or above, before adjusting the PNT. In many cases the default PNT will work fairly well, however as the AA level rises you may want to adjust it to save render time in areas that are not very noisy. When you do adjust the PNT, do so in very small increments. Notice how the default values change with different AA values and use those relative values as a guide. One of the highest default PNT values of 0.15 at AA2 is, in absolute terms, not that different from the value at AA16 of 0.01875, both are mere fractions of &quot;1.0&quot;. Yet 0.01875 is actually a much lower value in terms of how it affects the threshold for evaluating noise in the render and it will consequently have a much higher impact on render time than a value like 0.15 or even 0.05. So change the PNT values slowly in the direction you want, higher for faster renders which allow more noise, lower for longer renders with less noise, and test along the way.<br /> <br /> Ideally what you want to do is determine the minimum AA value that will achieve the level of noise and anti-aliasing that you want on the hardest to sample areas of your scene. This can be done by using small crop renders with Max Samples enabled for First Sampling Level, and focusing on areas such as shadows or fine geometry detail that will be hardest to achieve smooth results in. Once you find a max AA value that achieves good results in these areas, you can then enable successively greater fractions of First Sampling Level and then use the Pixel Noise Threshold to adjust the balance of noise vs. render time for the rest of your image. All that being said, if you don't want to take the time or energy to test that much, the defaults are a good place to start. <br /> <br /> === Don't use high Micropoly Detail ===<br /> <br /> Defer All Shading renders in a way that ultimately produces smoother and more detailed terrain shading (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality. The default 0.5 MPD is usually sufficient when Defer All Shading is enabled. When loading older projects created prior to the introduction of Defer All Shading remember to check the MPD value as it may have been set higher to achieve high quality when this option was not yet available.<br /> <br /> === Reduce Samples for Soft Shadows ===<br /> <br /> As noted, Defer All Shading results in higher quality surface shading, and this includes Soft Shadows on the terrain as well. So you can use fewer samples for Soft Shadows while still avoiding noise. Try a value of 2 when Defer All Shading is enabled, rather than the default of 9. You can test this with a crop render using Defer All Shading vs Standard rendering to ensure it is working well.<br /> <br /> = Path Tracing =<br /> <br /> New in Terragen 4.3 is a more accurate and realistic-looking Path Tracing render method. You can find out more about it on the dedicated [[Path Tracing]] page. This can be a time-intensive rendering method and there are some specific optimizations and settings to be aware of to get the most out of your path traced renders.<br /> <br /> === Do I Need Path Tracing? ===<br /> <br /> The first thing to consider is whether your scene will actually benefit enough from path tracing to justify an increase in render time. Many scenes do, but there are enough in which the difference will be relatively small that it's worth considering and testing the impact on your actual scene before committing to a full, high resolution render. Use crop renders or lower resolution tests to evaluate the potential benefits.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing is most effective where there is a lot of geometry (e.g. imported object populations), or generally more potential for bounced light. It handles complex interactions of light bouncing better than the normal renderer. But for example in a mostly-terrain scene with a few scattered objects and a lot of direct sunlight, you're probably not going to see much benefit. If you move the sun lower in the sky to create lots of shadows, a sunset for example, then you might see more benefit. But the greatest gains will tend to be in thicker vegetation, or on more complex objects.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing also doesn't really affect the atmosphere, its main effects are on the ground, the terrain and anything sitting on it. So don't enable it if you are hoping for some improvement in the sky. It can, however, create more realistic lighting on the ground from the sky, to some degree.<br /> <br /> === Optimizing Render Time and Quality ===<br /> <br /> ==== Path Tracing Uses Defer All Shading ====<br /> <br /> Path Tracing enables &quot;Defer All Shading&quot;. Defer All Shading is a rendering method which makes much more detailed terrain (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality when Defer All Shading is used on its own, and good optimization for that rendering method will help minimize render time impact with full Path Tracing is used. Reference the Defer All Shading optimization section above for more specific setting recommendations and details.<br /> <br /> ==== Use the Robust Adaptive Sampler ====<br /> <br /> The new Robust Adaptive Sampling helps a lot to reduce render time with Path Tracing in particular, while maintaining quality. You can use a value of AA8 or AA6 with Robust Adaptive and 1/64th samples as a starting point. Increasing the amount of adaptivity, i.e. the &quot;First sampling level&quot;, will reduce render time but can add to noise. If you use AA8 you can consider 1/256, but at AA6 you might want to stick to 1/64.<br /> <br /> Then adjust the Pixel Noise Threshold *only* to get the level of noise under control. Start with the default value and go down if you want less noise, or up if noise looks fine but render time is too long. You may find you can get away with a lower Pixel Noise Threshold. Do renders in crops to reduce time needed for checking the best values, and you should include an area of shadow in your crop for most accurate results.<br /> <br /> Note that Robust Adaptive is improved in v4.4 vs. 4.3 so if possible use v4.4 or newer. For a more detailed discussion of Robust Adaptive Sampling and Pixel Noise Threshold, see above under Defer All Shading.<br /> <br /> ==== Avoid High GI Cache Values ====<br /> <br /> The GI Cache Detail and Sample Quality values do have an effect with path tracing, but they only control GI contributions from the atmosphere into the path tracer, which is used for the terrain illumination. The Path Tracer essentially replaces the cache-based GI system for rendering the terrain and objects, but not for the atmosphere. So these GI settings can generally be fairly low (e.g. 2/2 or 3/3) because the atmosphere contribution is fairly diffuse in most cases, and the terrain and object lighting will be made accurate by the path tracing itself. <br /> <br /> Put simply: you don't need high Cache Detail or Sample Quality values to get good path tracing results on your terrain.<br /> <br /> ==== Test and Crop ====<br /> <br /> Above all you will almost certainly want to run some tests before committing to a final Path Traced render, especially one at high resolution. A Path Traced render may take several hours even on high-end hardware, so it makes sense to spend some time on shorter renders of cropped areas to help ensure that when your full render finishes, the results are what you expect and are to your liking. So select one or more crop regions that include areas of shadow, dense geometry, etc., and then test variations of the above setting recommendations to find a good balance of quality and render time. Then you can commit to a full render knowing it won't take more time than necessary. And thereafter you'll be saving render time each time you render that scene and variations of it since for the most part only dramatic changes to the scene construction will affect what the optimal values are.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Rendering_Optimization_Guide&diff=12412 2019-08-24T22:42:34Z

<p>JavaJones: Created page with &quot;= Defer All = Defer All is a newer rendering method which generally provides higher quality results on surface shading and in atmospheres, especially clouds. When properly op...&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>= Defer All =<br /> <br /> Defer All is a newer rendering method which generally provides higher quality results on surface shading and in atmospheres, especially clouds. When properly optimized it can usually achieve equivalent or better quality than Standard renders in a similar amount of time, but it does require some settings adjustments from Standard renders to achieve optimal results.<br /> <br /> === Anti-aliasing Controls Shading Quality ===<br /> <br /> One of the primary things to be aware of with Defer All is that the anti-aliasing settings are now the primary determinant of surface shading quality (but not geometry density or quality). As a result you will want to be mindful to balance the AA settings for the best combination of quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ==== Typical Anti-aliasing Values ====<br /> <br /> For scenes that are primarily composed just of terrain and clouds, with few or no objects, you may be able to keep AA relatively low - such as 4 or 6 - and achieve good quality. When more objects are included, especially those with fine geometry like plant populations, it is likely you will need to use higher values like 8-12. Always use the lowest value you can as this setting directly affects the number of samples that are taken for every pixel, and can have a large impact on render time. In some cases that render time may be essentially wasted if the amount of aliasing in a typical render is not particularly high. As always you can test on crop renders to get a good idea of the right values in a shorter time.<br /> <br /> ==== Adaptive Sampling ====<br /> <br /> Adaptive Anti-aliasing Sampling is one of the best tools available in Terragen for reducing render time while maintaining quality. Simply put, it uses evaluations of contrast and noise distribution in the image to try to focus AA samples in areas where they are needed most, while avoiding using more samples than necessary on less noisy areas. This can save a lot of render time vs. simple uniform sampling, especially when there is a big difference between how noisy or aliased some areas of the scene are (such as fine geometry in a grass object) vs other areas (such as a smooth snow shader, or a clear sky). <br /> <br /> ===== Robust Adaptive Sampler =====<br /> <br /> Beginning in Terragen 4.3 a new &quot;Robust Adaptive Sampler&quot; option became available. This was further improved in Terragen 4.4. Essentially it uses new and more intelligent ways of evaluating noise levels and distributing samples to better balance render time and image quality, and avoid certain problems of the more simplistic adaptive AA algorithms used previously. It is strongly recommended that you use the Robust Adaptive Sampler option when using Defer All. You can begin with the default values, but even better results can be achieved in many cases by increasing the level of adaptivity (First Sampling Level) or adjusting the Pixel Noise Threshold.<br /> <br /> ===== First Sampling Level =====<br /> <br /> The First Sampling Level essentially controls how &quot;adaptive&quot; the anti-aliasing is, i.e. the range of possible sampling values, from the maximum number (set by the anti-aliasing value itself, e.g. 8) to the minimum number, which is some fraction of the max. The smaller fraction the minimum value is vs. the maximum, the more adaptive the AA is, and the more potential render time can be saved. However higher levels of adaptivity do have the potential to result in increased noise in some areas due to undersampling, i.e. too few samples to resolve smooth, noise-free results. Start with the default value for Robust Adaptive at 1/64 First Samples, but 1/256 is usually a good balance between quality and render time. <br /> <br /> ===== Pixel Noise Threshold =====<br /> <br /> The Pixel Noise Threshold (PNT) allows you to control at what point the adaptive sampling system will determine that a given level of identified noise is &quot;too much&quot; and will thus use more samples to reduce noise in that area. More samples = smoother results but longer render time. The higher the PNT value, the more noisy the image can be before more samples are used. In other words the adaptive sampler becomes more &quot;tolerant&quot; of noise with higher values. An important part of this to keep in mind, however, is that the adaptive sampler can only use a maximum number of samples as specified in the main anti-aliasing value, and can only reduce samples by the fraction you set in the First Sampling Level. So you can have a relatively high PNT, but still be using too many samples if your actual AA value is high (e.g. AA 12) and/or the First Sampling Level is conservative (e.g. 1/4).<br /> <br /> If noise is a problem in your image, generally speaking you will want to start by increase the main AA value if it is not already at 6 or above, before adjusting the PNT. In many cases the default PNT will work fairly well, however as the AA level rises you may want to adjust it to save render time in areas that are not very noisy. When you do adjust the PNT, do so in very small increments. Notice how the default values change with different AA values and use those relative values as a guide. One of the highest default PNT values of 0.15 at AA2 is, in absolute terms, not that different from the value at AA16 of 0.01875, both are mere fractions of &quot;1.0&quot;. Yet 0.01875 is actually a much lower value in terms of how it affects the threshold for evaluating noise in the render and it will consequently have a much higher impact on render time than a value like 0.15 or even 0.05. So change the PNT values slowly in the direction you want, higher for faster renders which allow more noise, lower for longer renders with less noise, and test along the way.<br /> <br /> Ideally what you want to do is determine the minimum AA value that will achieve the level of noise and anti-aliasing that you want on the hardest to sample areas of your scene. This can be done by using small crop renders with Max Samples enabled for First Sampling Level, and focusing on areas such as shadows or fine geometry detail that will be hardest to achieve smooth results in. Once you find a max AA value that achieves good results in these areas, you can then enable successively greater fractions of First Sampling Level and then use the Pixel Noise Threshold to adjust the balance of noise vs. render time for the rest of your image. All that being said, if you don't want to take the time or energy to test that much, the defaults are a good place to start. <br /> <br /> === Don't use high Micropoly Detail ===<br /> <br /> Defer All renders in a way that ultimately produces smoother and more detailed terrain shading (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality. The default 0.5 MPD is usually sufficient when Defer All is enabled. When loading older projects created prior to the introduction of Defer All remember to check the MPD value as it may have been set higher to achieve high quality when this option was not yet available.<br /> <br /> === Reduce Samples for Soft Shadows ===<br /> <br /> As noted, Defer All results in higher quality surface shading, and this includes Soft Shadows on the terrain as well. So you can use fewer samples for Soft Shadows while still avoiding noise. Try a value of 2 when Defer All is enabled, rather than the default of 9. You can test this with a crop render using Defer All vs Standard rendering to ensure it is working well.<br /> <br /> = Path Tracing =<br /> <br /> New in Terragen 4.3 is a more accurate and realistic-looking Path Tracing render method. You can find out more about it on the dedicated [[Path Tracing]] page. This can be a time-intensive rendering method and there are some specific optimizations and settings to be aware of to get the most out of your path traced renders.<br /> <br /> === Do I Need Path Tracing? ===<br /> <br /> The first thing to consider is whether your scene will actually benefit enough from path tracing to justify an increase in render time. Many scenes do, but there are enough in which the difference will be relatively small that it's worth considering and testing the impact on your actual scene before committing to a full, high resolution render. Use crop renders or lower resolution tests to evaluate the potential benefits.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing is most effective where there is a lot of geometry (e.g. imported object populations), or generally more potential for bounced light. It handles complex interactions of light bouncing better than the normal renderer. But for example in a mostly-terrain scene with a few scattered objects and a lot of direct sunlight, you're probably not going to see much benefit. If you move the sun lower in the sky to create lots of shadows, a sunset for example, then you might see more benefit. But the greatest gains will tend to be in thicker vegetation, or on more complex objects.<br /> <br /> Path Tracing also doesn't really affect the atmosphere, its main effects are on the ground, the terrain and anything sitting on it. So don't enable it if you are hoping for some improvement in the sky. It can, however, create more realistic lighting on the ground from the sky, to some degree.<br /> <br /> === Optimizing Render Time and Quality ===<br /> <br /> ==== Path Tracing Uses Defer All ====<br /> <br /> Path Tracing enables &quot;Defer All&quot; shading. Defer All is a rendering method which makes much more detailed terrain (similar to &quot;Defer Atmo&quot; which makes smoother clouds). This means Micropoly Detail (MPD), Soft Shadows, and other settings can be set to lower values while still maintaining quality. This can often actually result in lower render times for equivalent quality when Defer All is used on its own, and good optimization for that rendering method will help minimize render time impact with full Path Tracing is used. Reference the Defer All optimization section above for more specific setting recommendations and details.<br /> <br /> ==== Use the Robust Adaptive Sampler ====<br /> <br /> The new Robust Adaptive Sampling helps a lot to reduce render time with Path Tracing in particular, while maintaining quality. You can use a value of AA8 or AA6 with Robust Adaptive and 1/64th samples as a starting point. Increasing the amount of adaptivity, i.e. the &quot;First sampling level&quot;, will reduce render time but can add to noise. If you use AA8 you can consider 1/256, but at AA6 you might want to stick to 1/64.<br /> <br /> Then adjust the Pixel Noise Threshold *only* to get the level of noise under control. Start with the default value and go down if you want less noise, or up if noise looks fine but render time is too long. You may find you can get away with a lower Pixel Noise Threshold. Do renders in crops to reduce time needed for checking the best values, and you should include an area of shadow in your crop for most accurate results.<br /> <br /> Note that Robust Adaptive is improved in v4.4 vs. 4.3 so if possible use v4.4 or newer. For a more detailed discussion of Robust Adaptive Sampling and Pixel Noise Threshold, see above under Defer All.<br /> <br /> ==== Avoid High GI Cache Values ====<br /> <br /> The GI Cache Detail and Sample Quality values do have an effect with path tracing, but they only control GI contributions from the atmosphere into the path tracer, which is used for the terrain illumination. The Path Tracer essentially replaces the cache-based GI system for rendering the terrain and objects, but not for the atmosphere. So these GI settings can generally be fairly low (e.g. 2/2 or 3/3) because the atmosphere contribution is fairly diffuse in most cases, and the terrain and object lighting will be made accurate by the path tracing itself. <br /> <br /> Put simply: you don't need high Cache Detail or Sample Quality values to get good path tracing results on your terrain.<br /> <br /> ==== Test and Crop ====<br /> <br /> Above all you will almost certainly want to run some tests before committing to a final Path Traced render, especially one at high resolution. A Path Traced render may take several hours even on high-end hardware, so it makes sense to spend some time on shorter renders of cropped areas to help ensure that when your full render finishes, the results are what you expect and are to your liking. So select one or more crop regions that include areas of shadow, dense geometry, etc., and then test variations of the above setting recommendations to find a good balance of quality and render time. Then you can commit to a full render knowing it won't take more time than necessary. And thereafter you'll be saving render time each time you render that scene and variations of it since for the most part only dramatic changes to the scene construction will affect what the optimal values are.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Path_Tracing&diff=12411 2019-08-24T21:31:03Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>Beginning with Terragen 4.3, &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; is an option you can enable on the Advanced tab of the render node. Radio buttons are provided on the Advanced tab to switch between &quot;Standard renderer&quot; and &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot;.<br /> <br /> ''Please note that path tracing is still in development, and we don't recommend using this in production yet. Future builds may radically change the appearance of materials, sampling quality and so on. Subsurface effects in Water Shader and Glass Shader are not working yet. There may be other rendering features which don't work correctly when path tracing is enabled. You may find corner cases where the renderer becomes extremely slow - if you do, please send us TGDs so that we can optimise for these cases.''<br /> <br /> The joys of enabling &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; include:<br /> <br /> * Brute force GI. The GI cache is not used for surfaces (but is still used for atmosphere). Instead, GI is sampled at every pixel (every subpixel, in fact), to give you crisper contact shadows, more detailed calculation of light scattering through trees, and so on. At low AA it will be noisy. But the noise is controlled by increasing the Anti-aliasing.<br /> <br /> * Blurred/glossy reflections. Any reflective shader, water shader or default shader that has reflectivity turned up will benefit from brute-force ray-traced blurred reflections. The blurriness depends on the &quot;specular roughness&quot; which is controllable in all of those shaders. The &quot;ray trace reflections&quot; parameter is ignored, and reflections are always ray traced. As mentioned above, it will be noisy at low AA, but noise will decrease as you increase Anti-aliasing.<br /> <br /> * Better anti-aliasing of reflections in displaced surfaces such as water.<br /> <br /> ==== Things to be Aware Of ====<br /> <br /> Path Tracing On Surfaces automatically uses &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Defer all shading&quot; regardless of those checkbox settings, and the UI doesn't let you change those options when path tracing is enabled.<br /> <br /> When &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; is enabled, the normal GISD is not performed by the renderer. In GI Settings there is a new set of GISD options called &quot;Exaggerate surface details&quot; which applies to path traced renders only, and this is turned OFF by default. Use of this setting biases the result in a way that is likely to be unrealistic but may be aesthetically pleasing in some situations.<br /> <br /> Image quality is controlled using the overall anti-aliasing settings of the renderer. We recommend using the new &quot;Robust adaptive sampling&quot; mode whenever you render with path tracing. This can be found in the Pixel Sampler settings (&quot;Edit Sampling...&quot; on the renderer's Quality tab). The old adaptive sampler has trouble dealing with some of the Monte Carlo noise created by the path tracer, especially on darker surfaces. The new robust adaptive sampler was designed to work well with the path tracer (although it is useful in other cases too).<br /> <br /> When &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; is enabled, the Enviro Light &quot;Strength on surfaces&quot; and &quot;Colour on surfaces&quot; settings have no effect. Bounced and occluded light is fully handled in a realistic, energy-conserving manner by the path tracer and can't currently be biased in this way. However the respective atmosphere settings are still taken into account since atmospheric lighting continues to be cache-based even when using path tracing.<br /> <br /> === Render Time Impact and Optimization ===<br /> <br /> Although Path Tracing is much more accurate and in many cases more realistic-looking, it can also be a very demanding rendering method due to directly calculating all the actual light interactions in the scene, without approximations like the GI cache. As a result render times can often be much longer than with a standard render. Fortunately there are some important settings and optimizations you can use to reduce path tracing render times to a minimum while maintaining quality. Please reference the [[Rendering Optimization Guide]] for details.<br /> <br /> Ultimately you will need to determine for yourself whether the benefits of path tracing are right for your particular scene, hardware, and goals. But it's a valuable new tool to have available, even as it may not be the ideal choice for every situation.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Path_Tracing&diff=12410 2019-08-24T03:07:01Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>Beginning with Terragen 4.3, &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; is an option you can enable on the Advanced tab of the render node. Radio buttons are provided on the Advanced tab to switch between &quot;Standard renderer&quot; and &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot;.<br /> <br /> ''Please note that path tracing is still in development, and we don't recommend using this in production yet. Future builds may radically change the appearance of materials, sampling quality and so on. Subsurface effects in Water Shader and Glass Shader are not working yet. There may be other rendering features which don't work correctly when path tracing is enabled. You may find corner cases where the renderer becomes extremely slow - if you do, please send us TGDs so that we can optimise for these cases.''<br /> <br /> The joys of enabling &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; include:<br /> <br /> * Brute force GI. The GI cache is not used for surfaces (but is still used for atmosphere). Instead, GI is sampled at every pixel (every subpixel, in fact), to give you crisper contact shadows, more detailed calculation of light scattering through trees, and so on. At low AA it will be noisy. But the noise is controlled by increasing the Anti-aliasing.<br /> <br /> * Blurred/glossy reflections. Any reflective shader, water shader or default shader that has reflectivity turned up will benefit from brute-force ray-traced blurred reflections. The blurriness depends on the &quot;specular roughness&quot; which is controllable in all of those shaders. The &quot;ray trace reflections&quot; parameter is ignored, and reflections are always ray traced. As mentioned above, it will be noisy at low AA, but noise will decrease as you increase Anti-aliasing.<br /> <br /> * Better anti-aliasing of reflections in displaced surfaces such as water.<br /> <br /> ==== Things to be Aware Of ====<br /> <br /> Path Tracing On Surfaces automatically uses &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Defer all shading&quot; regardless of those checkbox settings, and the UI doesn't let you change those options when path tracing is enabled.<br /> <br /> When &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; is enabled, the normal GISD is not performed by the renderer. In GI Settings there is a new set of GISD options called &quot;Exaggerate surface details&quot; which applies to path traced renders only, and this is turned OFF by default. Use of this setting biases the result in a way that is likely to be unrealistic but may be aesthetically pleasing in some situations.<br /> <br /> Image quality is controlled using the overall anti-aliasing settings of the renderer. We recommend using the new &quot;Robust adaptive sampling&quot; mode whenever you render with path tracing. This can be found in the Pixel Sampler settings (&quot;Edit Sampling...&quot; on the renderer's Quality tab). The old adaptive sampler has trouble dealing with some of the Monte Carlo noise created by the path tracer, especially on darker surfaces. The new robust adaptive sampler was designed to work well with the path tracer (although it is useful in other cases too).<br /> <br /> When &quot;Path tracing on surfaces&quot; is enabled, the Enviro Light &quot;Strength on surfaces&quot; and &quot;Colour on surfaces&quot; settings have no effect. Bounced and occluded light is fully handled in a realistic, energy-conserving manner by the path tracer and can't currently be biased in this way. However the respective atmosphere settings are still taken into account since atmospheric lighting continues to be cache-based even when using path tracing.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_4_Global_Illumination&diff=12409 2019-08-24T02:55:18Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>=== Global Illumination in Computer Graphics ===<br /> <br /> <br /> Global illumination is a general name for a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes. Such algorithms take into account not only the light which comes directly from a light source (direct illumination), but also subsequent cases in which light rays from the same source are reflected by other surfaces in the scene, whether reflective or not (indirect illumination). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_illumination<br /> <br /> <br /> === Global Illumination in Terragen ===<br /> <br /> [[file:GI_garden_760x240.jpg]]<br /> <br /> (Scene by Ulco Glimmerveen)<br /> <br /> Direct illumination in Terragen is the lighting coming directly from the sun or other specific light sources, but ''not'' from luminous objects. Global illumination (GI) in Terragen means the lighting from everywhere else, including indirect illumination as well as illumination caused by bright, luminous objects that aren't specifically light sources. Beginning in version 4.4, there are now two methods for calculating Global Illumination, a faster but less accurate cache-based method and a more modern and accurate but more time-intensive &quot;[[Path Tracing]]&quot; mode. In a standard cache-based render the intensity of GI is controlled using a single [[Enviro Light]] node.<br /> <br /> In Terragen, GI is:<br /> <br /> * The reason shadows are not black.<br /> * Lighting from the sky.<br /> * Lighting caused by light bouncing off other objects.<br /> * Lighting caused by light emitted from glowing, luminous objects, e.g. lava, fire, bioluminescence.<br /> * &quot;Multiple scattering&quot; in clouds and atmospheres. &quot;Multiple scattering&quot; in volumes is often thought of as a separate phenomenon from global illumination, but in fact it can be treated as a form of global illumination if the scattering is rendered as a lighting effect upon the volume. In Terragen, multiple scattering in the atmosphere (and some cloud layers) is approximated using the global illumination cache. Clouds and atmospheres will illuminate themselves in a way that simulates multiple scattering. Being part of the global illumination system, GI in volumes completely integrates with GI from surfaces. Light bouncing off or emitted from surfaces will light up clouds and atmospheres, and light scattering through clouds and atmospheres will light up surfaces.<br /> <br /> In Terragen 4, the new cloud types &quot;Cloud Layer V3&quot; and &quot;Easy Cloud&quot; use a separate GI system with quality controls separate from the global illumination cache, but they visually integrate into the rest of the GI system just as well as the older cloud type &quot;Cloud Layer V2&quot;.<br /> <br /> When using the Path Tracer, the GI cache is still used, but only for lighting contributions from the atmosphere (including clouds). Please reference the [[Path Tracing]] page for more details on this method of rendering GI.<br /> <br /> == Rendering with GI ==<br /> <br /> <br /> === Rendering ''without'' saving a GI cache file ===<br /> <br /> To render an image with Global Illumination in Terragen without saving GI cache files, you need the following:<br /> <br /> # An [[Enviro Light]] in the scene, enabled, with its mode set to &quot;Global Illumination&quot;<br /> # In Render GI Settings, 'GI relative detail' set to 1 or higher.<br /> <br /> A GI cache will be dynamically generated at render time in this configuration, but that data will not be saved for potential later re-use in other renders.<br /> <br /> You can turn off global illumination by disabling the [[Enviro Light]], but Terragen might still waste time on the pre-pass. To completely turn off GI, edit the Render GI settings and set 'GI relative detail' to 0. All other GI settings can be left how they are.<br /> <br /> '''''Performance note:''''' Do not enable more than one Enviro Light in the scene unless you really need to. If you wish to brighten the effect of the Enviro Light, increase the 'strength' settings in a single Enviro Light. Multiple Enviro Lights can increase GI quality, but they are not the best way to do that and they increase render time unnecessarily. You can achieve a more efficient increase in quality by increasing 'GI sample quality' in Render GI Settings. This will give a higher quality in a shorter render time than would enabling multiple Enviro Lights. The only good use for more than one enabled Enviro Light is to have one Enviro Light in Global Illumination mode and another in Ambient Occlusion mode, if you want that effect. Of course you can have as many ''disabled'' Enviro Lights in your project as you like.<br /> <br /> Normally when you render an image with Global Illumination, Terragen renders the image in two passes. A pre-pass is rendered which calculates the Global Illumination for the image and stores it in a spatial data structure called a GI cache. When you see lots of tiny dots filling the image before the real rendering begins, you're seeing the pre-pass generating the GI cache. Once the pre-pass is done, rendering of the final pass begins. Global Illumination in the final image depends on the GI cache that was generated in the pre-pass.<br /> <br /> <br /> === Rendering ''with'' saving GI cache files ===<br /> <br /> A new feature in Terragen 2.4 (not in the Free Non-Commercial Edition) is the ability to read and write ''GI cache files''. These allow you to write the results of the pre-pass to disk or file network and to read them back in when rendering an image. Using GI caches files is a two step process. First you render a pre-pass which calculates the Global Illumination for the image (or sequence of images), and writes the resulting GI cache to your disk or network in the form of a GI cache file (or sequence of GI cache files). After you have created those GI cache files, you can render final images using the GI in the cache files instead of recalculating the GI every time you render an image.<br /> <br /> You don't need to use GI cache files to enjoy Global Illumination. However, GI caches have many uses, such as:<br /> <br /> * Eliminating GI flicker in animations. To do this, read a single cache file or interpolate between cache files in a sequence.<br /> * Matching the GI in separately rendered tiles that you want to combine into a larger image, panorama, skybox or skydome. This is achieved by reading a single cache file or blending multiple cache files rendered with different cameras.<br /> * Rendering a GI pass (indirect illumination pass), by disabling all lights and reading the GI from a GI cache file.<br /> * Rendering special effects using GI that was generated with different lighting or other changes to the scene, e.g. some objects added or removed. You could write to a GI cache file using the scene that generates the GI you want, then render your final image with that GI cache file.<br /> * In Terragen 2, more control over the level of detail in your GI pre-pass than is possible with the GI relative detail setting, which only allows whole number values (Terragen 3 does not have this limitation). When writing to the GI cache, you can choose a different image size to render or a different value for 'detail'. Normally, 'detail' affects many things in your rendered image, but if you render the GI cache separately then you can choose a different detail for your GI. Image size and (in Terragen 2) detail both have the same effect on the detail of your GI solution as 'GI relative detail' -- they are all linear multipliers -- but you can change the detail more precisely with image size or the detail slider than you can with GI relative detail. (Terragen 3 uses a setting called 'GI cache detail' which is ''not'' affected by the detail setting.)<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Generating a GI cache file sequence for animation'''<br /> <br /> # Setup the lighting how you want it, doing test renders with &quot;No GI cache file&quot; checked in Render GI Settings (this is the default).<br /> # Switch to &quot;Write to GI cache file&quot; in Render GI Settings. Specify a location and filename for your GI cache file. Include a frame formatter such as '%04d' (not including quotes) somewhere in the filename. This formatter will be replaced by the frame number, so that you can render a sequence of cache files. One file will be generated for each frame that you render.<br /> # Generate the GI cache files by rendering a sequence, just like you would render a sequence of images. Final images will not be rendered or saved while &quot;Write to GI cache file&quot; is checked. You do not have to render every frame. &quot;Time-sparse&quot; caches, where cache files are separate by more than one frame, are useful to allow the final images to gradually blend between GI solutions instead of flickering from frame to frame. You can either render the sequence on your computer using the &quot;Render Sequence&quot; button or distribute it on a render farm like you would for final images. Generating caches for an animation can be distributed across many machines because each frame generates a different GI cache file.<br /> <br /> Using the &quot;time-sparse&quot; technique is simply a matter of generating fewer files using a sequence where the frame step is greater than 1. For example, you might choose to render frames 10, 20, 30, etc. by setting the step to 10. However, if you change the step, it's especially important to be aware that any old files that exist from previous renders will be deleted only if they are overwritten by your latest render. They are not automatically deleted when you start rendering a new sequence. When reading the caches for your final image pass, Terragen simply looks at whatever files exist that match the file sequence you tell it to read.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Rendering a final animation'''<br /> <br /> # Switch to &quot;Read GI cache file(s)&quot; in Render GI Settings. Specify the filename of one of the GI cache files that you generated. Any file in the sequence will do.<br /> # Set blend mode to &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot;. In most cases this is the best mode for animations. It is designed to work with time-sparse caches and gradually blend between sets of files according to the frame number. It will also work when there is a cache file for every frame, but in that situation it is equivalent to &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; mode except that it will blend one fewer cache files due to the nature of the interpolation algorithm. The various blend modes are explained in more detail in the Render GI Settings section.<br /> # Choose the number of cache files to blend together to produce the GI solution for each frame. The higher this number, the higher the quality of the GI and the smaller the fluctuations will be while playing the sequence. If you have a GI cache file on every frame then it is even more important because it affects how much the GI flicker is reduced. However, higher numbers increase render time of the final images. If the GI cache files are quite large, especially if they were generated with a high GI sample quality setting, then this effect on render time may be significant.<br /> # If there is too much fluctuation in the GI you have three options. A) You can slow down the fluctuations by moving some of the GI files out of the folder to make the caches even more sparse. However, this uses files that are farther away in time from the current frame, and if your camera is moving too rapidly you may see areas of inadequate GI coverage or reduced quality. B) Increase the &quot;number of files to blend&quot;. Usually this will decrease fluctuations or flicker, but it may affect render times. If the camera is moving rapidly so that the extra files do not cover the region 3D space being rendered then the extra files may not even help. If all else fails you may need to re-generate GI cache files with a higher GI sample quality, but this might also increase render times for the final images.<br /> <br /> If in doubt, a good starting point is to generate GI cache files with quality settings that work for still images you're happy with, generate every 10th GI cache file and set it to blend 3, 4 or 5 files for the final sequence.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Render GI Settings ==<br /> <br /> Please note: all of these settings primarily apply to the &quot;standard&quot;, non path tracing method of handling GI. When path tracing is used, these settings only affect GI quality for the atmospheric contribution to lighting information and thus tend to have a less significant impact on resulting lighting accuracy.<br /> <br /> === Prepass ===<br /> <br /> '''GI cache detail:''' The GI cache records the lighting at many points across the image. These are the dots you see in the pre pass; each dot corresponds to one sample. Each sample stores light from many directions. GI cache detail affects the spacing of the samples in image space during the pre pass. Then, in the final pass the lighting at any part of the scene is a weighted average of nearby samples, or in other words a filtered interpolation. The lower the detail, the coarser the approximation. If the detail is too low, this usually shows itself as a blurriness or lack of clarity in the GI. Low GI cache detail can also cause some parts of the scene to be completely missed in the pre pass, and this could result in no GI (black) in those areas. This is more likely to be a problem with vegetation or objects that are small and sparse in the image. (This can happen even at high GI cache detail too, but is less likely.) GI cache detail affects the size of the GI cache in memory (and on disk if saving to a GI cache file) and it affects the amount of time taken to render the pre pass. It can also affect render time for the final pass, but much less so than &quot;GI sample quality&quot;.<br /> <br /> '''GI sample quality:''' At each sample point in the GI cache, many rays are cast outwards in a sphere to capture the lighting at that point. GI sample quality affects how many rays are cast outwards from each sample point. The actual number of rays is much greater than the setting (usually at least 6x), but in general a higher setting for GI sample quality results in more rays. If there's a lot of contrast with respect to the direction the GI is received from, higher sample quality may be needed to avoid what might be described as &quot;blotchiness&quot; or sometimes completely missing important sources of light. The default value of 2 may be enough for some landscape renders, but for high quality final renders you may wish to increase this and for architectural renders we recommend at least 6. GI sample quality also affects how much data is stored at each sample. Therefore both GI cache detail and GI sample quality affect the size of the GI in memory and the amount of time taken to render the pre pass. GI sample quality also affects render time for the final pass much more than GI cache detail does, as that primarily affects the pre pass time.<br /> <br /> '''GI blur radius:''' Each GI sample point affects a spherical region of space in the final image, and where multiple sample spheres overlap they are averaged together. The radius of these spheres depends on various things that are decided by the renderer, but you can control a minimum radius that is enforced to ensure that enough samples overlap on every part of the image. GI blur radius affects this minimum radius in image space. Although it is in image space it is ''not'' measure in pixels. It is '''relative to the spacing of the GI prepass samples''' that you see in the prepass, but not including the extra samples created by &quot;Supersample prepass&quot;. The default value is 8. Lower values may give the impression of greater detail in GI but can lead to increased blotchiness in images and flickering in animations. Increased GI blur radius can lead to smoother GI but apparent detail will likely be reduced. We believe that 8 is a good compromise for most renders.<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 3 &amp; 4'': Because the radius is relative to the spacing of the prepass samples, if you increase &quot;GI cache detail&quot; then the blur area in ''image space'' will be reduced. It works this way so that &quot;GI cache detail&quot; changes overall detail without affecting the quality of the interpolation.<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 2'': Because the radius is relative to the spacing of the prepass samples, if you increase &quot;Detail&quot; (Render settings) or &quot;GI relative detail&quot; then the blur area in ''image space'' will be reduced. It works this way so that &quot;Detail&quot; and &quot;GI relative detail&quot; change overall detail without affecting the quality of the interpolation.<br /> <br /> '''Supersample prepass:''' Supersample prepass takes more closely-packed samples in the prepass so that it is less likely to miss small or narrow objects that don't have any other objects nearby. If you can see that the prepass is missing objects and there are no other objects nearby (e.g. blades of grass in the foreground, or narrow tree trunks), you should probably enable this. Missed objects in the prepass can result in the shadows (areas where GI is important) being too dark. However, supersample prepass reduces the quality of each sample, which can reduce the overall quality of the GI, so it is turned off by default.<br /> <br /> <br /> === GI Cache File ===<br /> <br /> <br /> '''No GI cache file:''' Renders the image normally. A prepass generates the GI and an image pass renders the final image.<br /> <br /> '''Write to GI cache file:''' Renders only the prepass to generate the GI cache, then saves the GI cache to a file.<br /> <br /> '''Read GI cache file(s):''' Renders only the final image. GI is read from a previously generated GI cache file or GI cache files.<br /> <br /> '''Blend mode:''' Applies only when &quot;Read GI cache file(s)&quot; is selected. Blend mode can be set to one of the options below. &quot;One file (exact filename)&quot; reads a single cache file, but the other 3 modes work with '''sequences''' of files. If the base filename contains a number and other files in the same folder have similar names which differ only by this number, then they will be assumed to be part of the same sequence and the number will be interpreted as a frame number. The current frame number and the blend mode determine which file(s) in the sequence will be read.<br /> <br /> * One file (exact filename): Reads only one cache file, with the filename given to the right of &quot;Read GI cache file(s)&quot;. This can be an exact filename, or if the filename contains '%04d' (without quotes) then that string will be replaced by a 4 digit frame number representing the current frame. Different numbers of digits are supported by replacing the '4' with a different number. If the file is not found then the renderer will report an error; sequences are not detected in this mode.<br /> <br /> * Nearest file in sequence: Beginning with the base filename (given to the right of &quot;Read GI cache files&quot;), this mode looks for files that belong to same sequence as the base filename. The renderer will read only one cache file, choosing the file whose frame number is nearest to the current frame number. You can choose any file in the sequence for the base filename.<br /> <br /> * Equal blend within range: Beginning with the base filename (given to the right of &quot;Read GI cache files&quot;), this mode looks for files that belong to same sequence as the base filename. The renderer will try to read as many files as the &quot;Number of files to blend&quot; parameter below, choosing the files whose frame numbers are nearest to the current frame number. Where the GI solutions overlap in 3D space, the results are averaged together, and wherever there are gaps in one file's solution (e.g. outside the camera's view) the other files can fill in data. You can choose any file in the sequence for the base filename.<br /> <br /> * Interpolate (for animation): This is simillar to &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; except that the files are weighted differently depending on the current frame number, to produce steady blends during animations. This mode becomes useful if your caches are 'sparse' in time. 'Sparse caches' are sequences of GI cache files where not every frame has a cache file. For example you might have a GI cache file on frames 10, 20, 30, and so on. If you do this, and you set the blend mode to &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot;, a smooth blend will occur between the different sets of GI caches that are selected over the course of an animation. The more frames between cache files, the more gradual the blend will be. A ramp up/down weighting is applied to the first and last files that are used, giving you a linear interpolation between the results of different sets of files so that you don't see any pops between frames where the sets change. (Pops may still occur in places in 3D space where there is insufficient coverage by the cache files.) &quot;Number of files to blend&quot; should be set to 2 or more to allow the blending to work. This mode will also work when there is a cache file for every frame, but in that situation it is equivalent to &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; mode except that it will blend one fewer cache files due to the nature of the interpolation algorithm.<br /> <br /> '''Number of files to blend:''' When the blend mode is &quot;Equal blend within range&quot; or &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot;, this is the maximum number of GI cache files that will be read and blended together to render a frame. If the blend mode is &quot;Interpolate (for animation)&quot; then on some frames it will read one fewer files. This is because the linear interpolation sometimes causes the first or last file within range to have a weight of zero.<br /> <br /> <br /> === Advanced ===<br /> <br /> <br /> '''GI prepass padding:''' This specifes how much to enlarge the area of image calculated during the prepass, which may be useful to avoid mismatched lighting between adjacent cropped renders or pieces of a panorama when not using GI cache files (GI cache files effectively solve this problem). A value of 0 means no padding. A value of 1 adds a border to each side of the frustum which is equivalent to the width or height of the image or crop region, which makes the frustum 3 times as wide and 3 times as tall. Negative values shrink the area/frustum instead of enlarging it.<br /> <br /> <br /> === Image Pass ===<br /> <br /> <br /> '''GI surface details:''' GI surface details is designed to try to compensate for the lack of detail in the GI cache. Different versions of Terragen do this differently. It is a separate process that happens either at shading time (while the image is being rendered), or as a combination of post processes on the final image and on the buckets (tiles) during the render. You can use GI surface details either with a GI cache file or simply in a normal render where the GI cache is calculated in the pre pass.<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 3 and 4'', GI surface details enhances the detail in shadows and adds light bouncing between surfaces that are quite close in image space. It consists of two processes, but both are designed to add detail that isn't already present in the GI cache. While the image is being rendered, every time a bucket (tile) finishes rendering it applies a post-process on the sub-pixel samples to capture extremely fine details in the surface and enhance them. Then when the whole image has finished rendering it applies another post-process on the final pixels to capture more details in the surface and enhance those. It only affects indirect light (GI) and some soft reflections, depending on how the reflections were rendered. It does not affect direct lighting. ''The post-process may take a few seconds for most typical renders (e.g. up to Full HD) or a few minutes for very large images (e.g. more than 10k). During this time the user interface might not respond, but should return when the process finishes.''<br /> <br /> ''In Terragen 2'', GI surface details changes how points are shaded while the image is being rendered. It adds shadow detail that isn't already present in the GI cache by tracing rays a short distance from the shading point. It only affects indirect light (GI) and some soft reflections, depending on how the reflections are rendered. It does not affect direct lighting. ''This feature can significantly increase render times in Terragen 2.''<br /> <br /> <br /> === GI in Clouds ===<br /> <br /> The following settings affect the rendering of all cloud layers that are &quot;Cloud Layer V3&quot; or &quot;Easy Cloud&quot;, which are new in Terragen 4. &quot;Cloud Layer V2&quot; nodes are not affected by these settings.<br /> <br /> '''Cloud GI quality:''' This affects the accuracy of the background/indirect lighting component of Cloud Layer V3 and Easy Cloud (but not Cloud Layer V2). The background/indirect lighting component is light received from other parts of the scene, except for direct lights such as the sun. It includes light received from things like terrain, other cloud layers, and anything else in the sky that is not part of the same cloud layer. It does ''not'' include scattering within the same cloud layer, as that is handled separately. Cloud GI is most visible in the shaded parts of a cloud. <br /> <br /> Cloud GI quality affects how accurately this light is calculated. Low quality settings tend to produce flicker in animations or sometimes blotchy looking lighting in the clouds, but render faster. Each step down in the menu represents an increase in the quality by doubling the number of light samples, but also an increase in render time.<br /> <br /> '''Cloud GI max ray depth:''' ''Terragen 4.1 and higher''. Like Cloud GI quality, this setting affects the accuracy of the background/indirect lighting component of Cloud Layer V3 and Easy Cloud (but not Cloud Layer V2). It limits the maximum ray depth at which to include light from other parts of the scene. You can think of this as the number of times light can bounce between different cloud layers. It does ''not'' limit how many times light can scatter within a single cloud layer, as that is handled separately. It only affects bounces between layers created by different nodes in the scene. If you have many cloud layers in the scene it's especially important to keep this number low (e.g. 1 or 2) to prevent long render times due to light interactions between cloud layers. This part of the renderer may be improved in future to allow higher ray depths without excessive render times.<br /> <br /> '''Voxel scattering quality:''' ''Terragen 4.1 and higher''. This affects all cloud layers of type Cloud Layer V3 and Easy Cloud, but not Cloud Layer V2. Light that is scattered many times through a cloud is calculated using a Monte Carlo technique that samples many different scatter paths through a voxel buffer. For every pixel that contains some cloud, many scatter paths may be calculated and averaged together. The render engine and shaders decide how many scatter paths are calculated at each image sample (ray from the camera), but you can increase or decrease this amount with Voxel scattering quality. This setting acts as a multiplier, so 100 will cause the renderer to calculate twice as many paths as it would at 50.<br /> <br /> In most cases we recommend that you use the default value of 50. Scenes which are quite noisy can usually be smoothed using higher anti-aliasing (which will improve the whole image, not just the cloud), and you can leave the voxel scattering quality at 50. However, it may be possible to optimise the rendering of some scenes by changing this value up or down.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terrain_and_Water&diff=12362 2019-07-28T19:14:10Z

<p>JavaJones: Changing TG2 to Terragen, removing WIP for now</p> <hr /> <div>==Introduction==<br /> <br /> The terrain is one of the most fundamental building blocks of any scene. Terragen 2 has several flexible systems for creating the terrains that you will base your scenes on and it is important to understand how each one works so that you will know which is most appropriate for a given need.<br /> <br /> In Terragen 2 you work with two related but notably differing terrain types – heightfields and procedurals. In general you can think of heightfields as finite in area and limited in the detail they can present, but capable of presenting very specific terrain shapes (such as real-world elevation data) and being easily edited and widely compatible with other programs. Procedurals on the other hand are generally capable of covering unlimited area with unique detail and can depict a very large range of scale at high detail, but they are more difficult to make intuitive, specific changes upon and they are less compatible with other applications.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Welcome to the World of Procedurals==<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 operates in a fundamentally different way from previous versions. Although previous versions of Terragen did use procedurals for some functions, and Terragen 2 still has robust heightfield support, it is now much more focused around the use of procedurals to create everything from the clouds in the sky to the shape of the terrain itself. The creation of the terrain through procedurals is particularly significant since it allows for terrains that are truly unlimited in size and detail, unlike the finite resolution raster heightfields you may be used to dealing with in Terragen or other landscape applications.<br /> <br /> Procedurals are simply mathematical functions that can create visual output, which can then be used in many practical computing applications. Fractals are a type of procedural which you may already be familiar with. The mathematical basis of procedural functions allows them to portray very large ranges of scale. Simply changing the input values of a function can allow it to depict anything from mountains to pebbles and everything in-between. This also allows for nearly infinite detail to be portrayed in a scene based on procedurals.<br /> <br /> Common “heightfields” or “heightmaps” are a form of “raster” data, meaning they are defined as an array of pixels or samples of finite dimensions. So most heightfields, such as Terragen .ter files or DEM’s, have a finite detail level defined by the resolution of the heightfield in pixels. Procedurals do not have this kind of limitation since they can be generated and sampled at virtually any scale as needed. Technically speaking Terragen uses procedurals as heightfields by sampling the procedural at regular intervals to derive height values, however for the sake of clarity we will simply refer to them as procedurals and to so-called “raster heightfields” as simply heightfields.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==What’s In The Details?==<br /> <br /> In “Your First Scene” we looked at some of the immediate benefits of procedurals in portraying large scales. We saw that whole planets could be created very easily by a single procedural function. If you haven’t reviewed that section yet, please read through it before moving on. So now let’s look at the other end of the Procedural spectrum – micro-scale.<br /> <br /> Replace the heightfield in the default scene with a procedural, as described in Your First Scene. Name the new node “Mountains”; it will form the basis of our terrain in this exercise. Adjust your camera as needed so that it is looking at the nearby ground and then move down as close to your terrain as you can without going under it. Remember to use the Vheight display to check your height above the terrain; 2-3 meters is probably a good height. When you have gotten as close as you reasonably can, press the Set Camera button, open the Render View (F3 or the R on the toolbar), and render your scene. You will see a reasonable amount of detail already, but it is overly smooth; it could be much more detailed and three-dimensional.<br /> <br /> [[File:surface_detail_start.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;More detail is needed to achieve realism&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> To add some detail we will create another procedural terrain layer, but this time we’ll make the scale much smaller. This will allow us to maintain our overall large-scale terrain shapes while adding detail at smaller scales. First create another Power Fractal terrain layer from the Terrain layout by going to the node list and using the Add Terrain button. You will see your terrain change quite drastically, but don’t worry we’re going to tone it down a lot.<br /> <br /> Click on the new Power Fractal to bring up its settings for editing and give it a name like “Detail Layer”. Remembering that most units in Terragen are specified in meters, let’s turn the Feature Scale down to about 0.1. This means our average feature size is now going to be 1/10th of a meter -, 10 centimetres - or about 4 inches. We will want to adjust the Lead-in scale and Smallest scale to give us some good range on either side of that as well. Set Lead-in scale to around 2 and Smallest scale to around 0.02. Our smallest features will be around 1/50th of a meter and the largest around 2 meters.<br /> <br /> Your scene still probably looks a lot different than before but there is one last setting we need to adjust to set things right. Go to the Displacement tab of the Power Fractal and look at the Displacement amplitude. This setting controls the actual height of the displacement applied to the terrain by this node and at the default of 1000 meters you can understand why it is making your terrain look so much different. Set it to 1 and you should see your scene return to something more normal, but now with a noticeable increase in smaller-scale detail. Start a test render to see the result of your changes. <br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:surface_detail_mid.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;We now have a lot more detail, but it is a little over done&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> When the render finishes you may notice that, although there is additional detail, it is somewhat harsh and unnatural looking. Let’s tweak our settings a bit to get a more varied and realistic look. Go back to the Power Fractal’s settings and take a look in the Displacement tab again. Our current amplitude is 1 meter, but with a Feature scale of 1/10th of a meter it makes sense to reduce this to about the same. Let’s set it to 0.1 to match our Feature scale. The look of the fractal shapes also wasn’t exactly as we may want so let’s change the Noise “flavour”. Go to the Tweak Noise tab and at the top click the drop-down box for Noise flavour to see the available options. Currently it is set to Perlin mix 1, a mix of standard Perlin and Perlin billows noise types. Let’s see if Perlin mix 2 gives us a nicer look. <br /> <br /> While we’re in the Tweak Noise tab we want to try to give our small features a bit more variety. Noise variation is already at 2, a medium setting, but let’s increase that to 3 for a bit more variety. It might be nice if our small features also formed small clusters, like natural wind-born deposits, so let’s increase Clumping of variation to 0.5. Now that we have tweaked the settings a bit more to try to achieve a more natural look, let’s do another render and see how we did.<br /> <br /> As it renders you will see that now, even at this small distance from the terrain, there is still a tremendous amount of detail. This clearly illustrates the tremendous power of procedurals in depicting things both large and small, with the simple combination of these two Procedural terrain node creating an entire planet of terrain from mountains down to tiny rock-like formations. You can also use even more layers of procedurals to vary the detail across the terrain or create realistic large and small scale features, allowing fully realistic virtual planets to be created, with detail from continent level down to the sand on a beach.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:surface_detail_end.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> <br /> Terragen 2 makes use of this tremendous flexibility and scalability not only to create highly detailed, infinitely varied global landscapes, but also to add detail to your imported, generated, and edited heightfields, allowing you to have the best of both worlds. Learn more about how to accomplish this in the Heightfields section below.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Bigger Is Better: Large Scale Terrain Features Using Procedurals==<br /> <br /> The other part of the recipe for fully realistic planets is large-scale features. We have seen how Terragen 2’s procedurals can create realistic detail on the scale of mountains across an entire planet and how the same fractal detail can be used to increase detail even down to very small scales. Now we’ll find out how to create larger features like continents and mountain ranges. Creating large scale detail to cover an entire planet is challenging, but with some patience and practice you can create entire planets with realistic terrain features and virtually infinite variety. <br /> <br /> In general it’s as simple as you might think it is – increase the Feature scale to suitably large levels and blend with your other terrain shapes. Depending on what you want to achieve that may be all you need to know. But we’ll also look at some slightly more advanced methods of achieving terrain shape variations across larger scales, rather than simply adding large displacement over the whole planet.<br /> <br /> Let’s start with the simple method, based on the scene we created in the previous section. If you haven’t yet reviewed that section, simply create a Power fractal node in a new scene and leave the settings at the defaults. Name the new node “Mountains” – we’ll be creating several more terrain nodes later and it will help to keep track of it more easily.<br /> <br /> Before we begin adding larger features you will want to move your camera to a fairly high altitude to avoid your view being stuck inside the terrain; 1-2km of altitude should suffice. You should do a test render from the new camera perspective so that you have a reference point.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:large_detail_scene_1.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;A view from 2 kilometers&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Now create a new Power fractal node (the 3rd one if you are adding on to the previous scene, or the 2nd one created if you are starting from scratch). Name this one “Large Features”. The most important thing we’ll be doing is changing the Feature scale and Lead-in scale. This will give us the larger shapes we’re looking for. Let’s try initial values of 50,000 for Feature scale and 250,000 for Lead-in scale – 10 times the defaults. With an average feature size of 50km, this should help us easily depict features on the scale of mountain ranges and coastlines. Do another test render to see what the immediate difference is.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:large_detail_scene_2.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;The foreground has been raised considerably&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> The differences in your scene will probably vary a great deal from the provided example, but hopefully you do see a change since adding the new Power fractal and tweaking the settings. If not, try moving your camera to a new location. You can disable the new node temporarily to see a before and after view – simply uncheck the Enabled checkbox in the upper-left of the node’s settings. If you can’t find a view that shows much difference don’t worry, we’re going to take off into orbit in a moment where we’re sure to see some big changes.<br /> <br /> Before we do that let’s talk about the changes illustrated in the example scene. Although the feature scale is very large, you will notice that the change in height of the affected features was comparatively small – it was certainly not 50km high! This is because the Displacement amplitude controls the actual displacement “strength” separately. Let’s go to the Displacement tab of our large-scale Power fractal node and increase the effect a bit. The default Displacement amplitude is 1000 meters, a good setting for average mountains. Although large-scale features aren’t always particularly tall, we’re going to increase this to about 1500 for effect. Another test render is probably in order.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:large_detail_scene_3.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;A larger displacement amplitude increases our terrain height further&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> The effect is a bit more dramatic now, and hopefully visible from orbit. Let’s take a look. Using the camera controls described previously, point your camera down at the planet and use the Zoom function to rapidly gain some distance from your planet. When you’ve reached a suitable height adjust your view so that you see a good portion of the planet, including the edge. You should be close enough so that the planet could fill your field of view. Make sure you set the camera view and then do another test render.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:large_detail_scene_4_2.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;3 layers of procedurals from orbit&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> For comparison let’s turn off our “Large Features” node and see what things look like from this vantage point. Use the Enable checkbox to turn off the node and do another render.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:large_detail_scene_4_2_off.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;2 layers of procedurals&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Although the differences are a bit subtle, they are noticeable even from this high altitude, which means that they must be quite large. We have a good start on the mountain range and continent-scale features we are looking for. You will notice however that the majority of the world is covered in our mountain shapes and it looks much too evenly distributed. The next step is to try to limit their coverage in a more realistic way to achieve unique features like mountain ranges, canyons and open plains.<br /> <br /> For the next step we will need to work directly in the node network. We’ll be creating a procedural function to define the area where our mountains will be distributed and connecting it to the Blend shader input of our “Mountains” node to limit its coverage. You can remain in the Terrain layout and simply use the smaller network view on the lower-right, or you can switch to the larger Node Network layout. In either case we will want to start by zooming in the Terrain group.<br /> <br /> Now right-click an empty area inside the group and choose Create Shader, then Surface Shader, and finally Power fractal shader v3. Name this new device “Mountain Distribution” then left-click on the output at the bottom of the device and drag a connection to the Blending shader input on the right of your “Mountains” Power fractal node.<br /> <br /> Blending shader inputs are present on most shader nodes. The effect of this input, when enabled, is similar to a “mask” in other applications. Using a typical masking interpretation of the input this function lets you use greyscale imagery and procedural outputs to control distribution of a node. As is typical in other applications white is “full coverage” and black is “no coverage”, with grey values in-between representing varying levels of coverage. <br /> <br /> Before we can see the effect of our new blend shader we need to enable blending in our “Mountains” node. At the bottom of the node’s setting window you will see the Blending input controls. You should see the name of your blending shader next to the “Blend by shader” check box. Click the box to enable “Blend by shader” and the blending function will be activated. You should see an immediate change in the preview window, although it may be subtle. Try a test render to see what result the default settings produce.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[File:large_detail_scene_5.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;The blended effect is visible but subtle&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> You should see some difference but it may not be immediately clear what has been changed. Essentially you are masking your mountain shapes at a default Feature scale of 5000 meters with another node at a similar scale. This produces a fairly random-looking general reduction in mountain distribution and a decreased height overall. In order to get a better distribution we’ll need to adjust scale.<br /> <br /> Unlike the node list when you are in the node network you need to double-click a device to bring up its settings. The settings window will actually come up as a floating window which may be moved around freely, closed like a normal window, or keep open permanently with the “Stay Open” button. Refer to the Node Network section above for more detail.<br /> Once you have the settings window open adjust the Feature scale and Lead-in scale to something suitably large, similar to our “Large Features” layer created previously. Let’s try 65,000 for Feature scale and 325,000 for Lead-in scale. This gives us average features 65km in size, which is a bit small for normal mountain ranges, however because our Lead-in scale is quite a bit larger we should get a nice variety of larger features as well.<br /> <br /> We’ll also want to increase the Smallest scale since we really don’t need this node to operate at such a wide range. Keep in mind that the more octaves of noise generated, the longer the shader will take to calculate. Set the Smallest scale to about 50 meters – this will reduce calculation time while still providing enough small-scale detail to be realistic. If Smallest scale, Lead-in scale and Feature scale are too similar you will have very few octaves of noise which gives the output a very artificial look.<br /> <br /> Let’s do another test render so we can determine what to adjust next.<br /> <br /> [[File:large_detail_scene_6.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> &lt;center&gt;Large-scale blend shader effect&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> The mountains are now less random-looking, but also much less prominent in general. We will want to increase the differentiation between areas with and without mountains by adjusting the contrast of the blend shader node. This should give us both higher mountain peaks and smoother plains.<br /> <br /> Begin by going to the Color tab of the “Mountain Distribution” node. You will see the default Color contrast is only 0.5 so let’s increase that to 1.0. The Color roughness is also rather high by default, which will tend to result in undefined edges on our mountain chains. Reduce the roughness to about 2.0 for a more defined and less random look.<br /> <br /> You may have also noticed that the default Perlin noise function doesn’t really create shapes that are appropriate for mountain ranges. Let’s see if we can find a suitable alternative. Go to the Tweak Noise tab and take a look at the options in the “Noise flavour” drop-down. Perlin ridges seems to provide a better base structure so we’ll select that for now. To finish up in this tab let’s<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Heightfields==<br /> <br /> With Terragen focusing so heavily on procedurals and their obvious advantages, the uses and advantages of heightfields can easily be overlooked. But heightfields are still very useful in a procedural world and the best scenes will often come from effective combinations of both types of terrains. Procedurals are great for creating lots of random detail over a large range of scale, from very large to very small. Heightfields on the other hand are good at presenting very specific shapes and generally portray a smaller range of scale more effectively. So for example if you wanted an entire planet of terrain a procedural function would really be the only practical approach, but if you want to have a realistically eroded and shaped terrain with specific features, a heightfield is your best bet.<br /> <br /> Fortunately with Terragen 2 you don’t have to choose. Not only can Terragen mix procedurals and heightfields quite easily in a single scene, it can also very effectively use a heightfield as a basis to form a realistic underlying terrain shape and build on it with procedurals to create very high detail, realistic scenes. You can easily import a DEM of a real place to establish a highly realistic basic terrain shape then add fine procedural details to create a realistic foreground. Or use a heightfield for your local area of terrain and use procedurals to fill in the background and avoid the “end of the world” or “flat planet” syndrome. You can also use multiple heightfields, even at different resolutions, to define different areas and scales of your terrain. The possibilities are virtually limitless!<br /> <br /> By default any heightfield loaded into Terragen 2 will have some amount of “fractal detail” applied to it. This provides unobtrusive additional detail below the scale of the smallest features in your base heightfield, adding realism and avoiding sharp polygon edges without compromising the shape of your terrain. You can control how the fractal detail is applied to your heightfield in the Fractal Detail tab of the Heightfield Shader.<br /> <br /> This randomized, small scale fractal detail is great for making your heightfields more realistic and fitting them more easily into a procedural landscape but the controls are minimal and the detail added is not particularly interesting or significant. Fortunately you can use Terragen 2's powerful range of procedural shaders to affect the output of your heightfield and create more specific and interesting effects, including overhangs. Let’s see how we can use procedurals to create realistic overhanging cliffs using a canyon DEM as a base.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> You can also use more than one heightfield or increase the size of your heightfields, but we will explore those options later.<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Water==<br /> <br /> Currently there are two ways to create water: you can use the built-in Lake object, which creates a flat circular disc of water at an adjustable size, or you can apply a Water Shader to to your terrain and use a blend shader or other form of masking to control its placement. With the Lake object, you have the ability to create multiple unique water elements at different heights and with different color and wave characteristics. You can even mask the water shape for fine control over its distribution, allowing the creation of rivers, intricate lake shapes, and other important elements. Let's take a look at how to actually use the Lake object in more detail.<br /> <br /> First go to the Water layout so we can place the Lake object. It's the only option currently available on the Add Water Object menu and you will immediately see your 3D preview window covered with water when you add it. After you have done so, click on it in the node list to bring up its settings.<br /> <br /> Most of the controls here are fairly self-explanatory. At the top the normal naming and enable/disable control. Handle In Preview determines whether the lake object itself will be shown in the viewport. Cast Shadows will be seldom used for now but its effect is fairly obvious - it makes the water disc cast shadows onto the terrain.<br /> <br /> Moving on let's look at the settings on tne Transform tab. the Water Level is literally just the height of the object above the base planet surface (this will be important when transparency is introduced in later versions). The Centre settings control the X, Y, Z placement of the object and can be used when precise placement of your water is needed, but it's generally easier just to drag it around in the viewport. And finally Max Radius allows you to control the size of the lake object, measured in meters as usual.<br /> <br /> The Planet and Surface Shader tabs are extremely simple. Planet allows you to specify the planet this water object is associated with. Because it's a flat disc it needs to be adjusted to fit the curvature of the planet, especially at large radius values, so it's necessary to connect it to a Planet to accomplish these changes. The Surface Shaders tab simply defines the shader for the lake object; naturally it defaults to a Water Shader. <br /> <br /> Now that we've looked over the basic settings let's do a quick render to see how the water looks. Keep in mind that the default camera perspective is 1 kilometer above the terrain, so let's move down a bit to see the water better. Take the camera down until it seems fairly close to the water- about 200 meters - and do a render from this new camera position. At this height you should be able to see the wave structure as well as the wave variation which helps to increase realism. You'll no doubt find that water takes a bit longer to render than most other scene elements. Reflections are always quite demanding to render and Terragen 2 is no exception, but this aspect will be getting a lot of optimization in the future to improve things as much as possible.<br /> <br /> You can control all aspects of the water surface itself in the Water Shader settings. Let's take a look there now and see what kind of things can be done with the current functionality. From the Surface Shaders tab click the box to the right of the Surface Shader name (Water shader 01) and select Go to [shader name] and the water shader settings window will then be opened. Aside from the standard node controls there are only two tabs here that allow you to control all aspects of your water. In the future additional functions such as transparency and shore surf/foam will probably have their own tabs here. For now the Wave tab is visible and contains some of the most important controls to adjust the look of our water.<br /> <br /> By now you should be familiar with naming conventions of Terragen 2 so hopefully most of these will be self-explanatory. The Roughness setting controls the general roughness of the water surface and in combination with the Wave Scale and Smallest scale it determines the majority of the water shape. Wave Scale is the average wave size and Smallest Scale determines the size of the smallest details - increase this if the water shape looks too simplistic, but reduce it if you're only viewing the water from a distance as the smaller it is the more octaves in the Water Shader noise function and the longer render times will be.<br /> <br /> The next set of controls should be familiar to users of Terragen 0.9 - the Wind Patch settings. In nature there are variations in wave structure and overall water smoothness across large bodies of water which is due to several factors including wind. These settings allow you to simulate those effects and bring an extra level of realism and needed variety and interest to large water elements. The defaults give a subtle variation to the water surface, modulating the roughness across the surface with a large-scale noise function. The Wind Patch Effect setting controls the strength of this effect - the actual amount of variation there will be between different areas. Wind Patch Size controls the average scale of the areas of variation. And finally Wind Patch Sharpness sets how sharp the line between areas of variation will be, or to put it another way it controls how smooth the transition between areas of different roughness is.<br /> <br /> Now on to the Reflections tab. Master Reflectivity is fairly self-explanatory - it controls the overall level of reflectivity for the water. Index of Refraction is a technical term that refers to the amount of light refraction caused by a given material. This is implemented as the standard Index of Refraction where water is 1.33. The higher this is the more diffuse your reflections will be. Horizon Shift is a special function used to simulate the &quot;shift&quot; in reflection due to the aggregate effect of greater or lesser surface roughness on distant reflective surfaces. It will essentially shift the angle of distant reflection toward or away from the horizon. The easiest way to understand this is just to play with the slider and watch the effect on the preview. Highlight Intensity controls the strength of specular highlights from light sources and Min[imum] Highlight Spread allows you to control how much &quot;spread&quot; the reflections have - in other words how diffuse the specular highlights are.<br /> <br /> Note that you can plug a shader into the Input of the Water Shader to override or contribute to many of these built-in settings. For example you can get more control over wave shape by plugging a Power Fractal into it and using the Displacement controls. A Heightfield Shader or Image Map can be used in the same way and can be particularly useful for explicitly controlling water shape. Another important capability enabled by the Water Shader Input is controlling the color of the water. Try plugging a Default Shader into the input and adjusting color - you now have the ability to specify any color you want for the water. This also gives us a springboard to our next experiment: masking the water to control its distribution.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Light_Source&diff=12308 2019-07-14T23:10:23Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:drex_module_14_image_0.png|485pxpx|Light Source]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:''' The Light Source node provides an omnidirectional source of light in a Terragen scene. <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Lighting<br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''<br /> <br /> * '''Source centre:''' The position of the centre of the light source. Coordinates are X, Y, Z, measured in meters.<br /> * '''Source radius:''' The radius of the light source, measured in meters. Source radius only has an effect on the amount of illumination very close to the light source. It prevents the intensity from getting any brighter within the radius specified, and it also affects intensity at some small distance outside the radius.<br /> * '''Colour:''' The colour of the light source. The slider sets the Brightness, with a normal range between 0-1. The square colour swatch to the right opens a full colour picker.<br /> * '''Strength:''' This controls the strength, i.e. brightness, of the light source. The value represents how much illumination power there is at distance of 1 metre. This intensity drops off according to the inverse square law, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law Inverse Square Law at Wikipedia] The units are defined with respect to the pixel intensity in the final image, as they are in Terragen's [[Sunlight]] node. The difference between Sunlight and Light Source is that in Light Source these values only apply at a distance of 1 metre, so much larger values are needed to illuminate well at larger distances.<br /> * '''Max distance:''' The maximum distance at which the light source's effect on the scene will be calculated. You can use this to clip the lighting contribution of a light source to a specific distance. Measured in meters. TBC<br /> * '''Cast shadows:''' Control whether shadows are cast by objects interacting with this light source. If Cast shadows is disabled, the additional check boxes and controls for shadows below have no effect. TBC<br /> ** '''Shadows of surfaces:''' Control whether shadows are cast by surfaces interacting with this light source. Surfaces include terrain and objects. TBC<br /> ** '''Shadows of atmosphere:''' Control whether shadows are cast atmospheric elements interacting with this light source. This includes clouds.<br /> ** '''Soft shadows:''' Control whether Soft Shadows are calculated. Soft shadows are a more realistic representation of real-world shadows from most sources of illumination (anything that is not a point source), but they take additional time to calculate and can add noise to the scene when an insufficient number of samples are used.<br /> ** '''Soft shadow samples:''' Set the number of samples used for Soft Shadow calculations. 9 is the default, higher values should be used to decrease noise in shadow areas, but will also increase render time. Higher values for radius require higher soft shadow values to eliminate noise. Values above 20 are generally not recommended.<br /> * '''Glow in atmosphere:''' Control whether a glow effect is calculated in the atmosphere for this light source. Glow is a localized increase in visible illumination around a light source such as the sun. TBC<br /> * '''Specular highlights:''' Control whether reflective surfaces will calculate specular highlights from this light source.<br /> * '''Visible object:''' Control whether the light source renders as a visible object in the scene. When enabled, the light source radius and level of illumination remain the same, but the light source itself is also rendered as a sphere in the scene.<br /> <br /> [[Category: Lighting Nodes]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Sunlight&diff=12307 2019-07-14T23:03:06Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:drex_module_13_image_0.png|center|Sunlight]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:''' &lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Sunlight node is the main way of lighting your scene. It basically puts a sun in the sky. You can create as many suns as you like.<br /> <br /> If you use the 2D Heading style compass in the 3D Preview all of the Sunlight nodes in the scene are shown as yellow dots around the outside of the compass. The position of the dot shows the '''Heading''' of the Sunlight node.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Lighting&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> * '''Heading:''' This sets the direction of the sun, in degrees. 0 is North, 90 is East.<br /> * '''Elevation:''' This sets the height of the sun in the sky, in degrees. 90 is directly overhead, 0 is the horizon.<br /> * '''Colour:''' This is the colour of the sunlight.<br /> ** The default color is slightly blue but, due to the realistic attenuation effect of atmosphere simulated in Terragen, it will still turn out slightly yellow once it reaches the planet surface. Terragen does not have a &quot;white balance&quot; control for the camera, so the default color is set this way to achieve the correct real-world look as a baseline.<br /> * '''Strength:''' This controls how powerful or bright the sunlight is. Larger numbers mean stronger sunlight.<br /> * '''Cast shadows:''' When enabled, shadows will be cast by this light source. Shadows are enabled by default and it is not recommended to disable them as they greatly increase realism. Shadow casting can be controlled separately for Surfaces and Atmosphere using the check boxes below. You can control the shadow casting of specific elements of the scene like a particular cloud layer using settings in the [[Cloud Layer v2]] node itself.<br /> * '''Shadows of surfaces:''' When enabled, shadows will be cast by surfaces in the scene that are affected by this Sunlight node. Mountains will cast shadows onto nearby terrain, for example. TBC<br /> * '''Shadows of atmosphere:''' When enabled, shadows will be cast from the atmosphere elements onto each other and the terrain. This affects cloud shadow casting in particular. So for example, clouds will cast shadows both onto the terrain, as well as onto other cloud elements. This is particularly important for cloud and overall sky realism, so it is it not normally recommended to disable it. TBC<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Soft Shadows&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Do soft shadows:''' If this is checked the shadows cast by the sun will be soft rather than hard. Soft shadows tend to be more realistic, but take longer to render. This is disabled by default. The Soft Shadow effect is controlled by the diameter and number of samples parameters below. The Diameter controls the softness or &quot;spread&quot; of the effect, while the Samples controls the quality.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Soft shadow diameter:''' This controls the softness of the shadows, measured in degrees of diameter. Larger numbers mean softer shadows. The diameter will normally correspond with the Angular Diameter of the Visible Disc below as in the real world this would be the reason for soft shadows due to angular dispersion. Note that higher Soft Shadow Diameters will probably require higher Soft Shadow Sample values to maintain quality. You can of course set them to different values to achieve different effects. TBC<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Soft shadow samples:''' This controls the number of samples used to render the soft shadow effect. The higher the number of samples, the higher the quality of the soft shadows, but render time will also increase with higher sample numbers. Lower sample values will tend to create noisier and less precise soft shadows. The default of 9 creates a good balance between quality and render time at the default Soft Shadow Diameter of 0.5. Values above 20 are generally not recommended.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Sample jitter:''' This controls the randomness of soft shadow sample positions. Lower values will result in less noise, but can create banding and less realistic-looking soft shadows. However, lower values will also result in less noise, so in some cases (animation, for example) the trade-off can be worthwhile, especially where the camera is in motion and the negative effects may not be noticeable. With a jitter value of 0, soft shadow samples can be as low as 4 with the default 0.5 Soft Shadow Diameter, and still be relatively noise-free. The default value is 1 and it's generally recommended to leave it there for most scenes; values above 1 are not supported. TBC<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Glow in atmosphere:''' When enabled, this light source will create a glow effect in the atmosphere. The glow effect simulates the lighting of particulates in the atmosphere and in normal scenes will enhance realism. This setting is enabled by default. TBC<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Specular highlights:''' When enabled, specular highlights will be rendered on shiny surfaces for this light source. Specular highlights are the bright reflections of a light source on a reflective object and are an important part of the realistic appearance of shiny surfaces. This setting is enabled by default. Note that this controls specular highlights for this light source only. TBC<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Sun disc&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Visible disc:''' If this is checked the sun will be rendered as a visible disc or circle in the sky. This setting roughly simulates the visual effect of the sun in the real world, which appears as a &quot;disc&quot; in the sky when obscured by clouds for example. When disabled this light source will only be visible by the light it casts into the scene and will not be visible itself.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Angular diameter:''' This sets the size of the visible disc in the sky. The angular diameter describes how much of the sky the sun disc covers. The measurement is in degrees.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category: Lighting Nodes]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12306 2019-06-22T19:02:51Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] ==<br /> by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12305 2019-06-22T19:02:26Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos) */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] ==<br /> by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12304 2019-06-22T19:02:14Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] ==<br /> by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12303 2019-06-22T19:01:51Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] ==<br /> by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12302 2019-06-22T19:00:26Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Intermediate Tutorials */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] ==<br /> by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == '''[[Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart]]''' ==<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12301 2019-06-22T18:59:40Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Layman's Tutorial */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] == by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == '''[[Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart]]''' ==<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12300 2019-06-22T18:59:05Z

<p>JavaJones: /* 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] == by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == '''[[Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart]]''' ==<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12299 2019-06-22T18:58:36Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Making of &quot;On the Road&quot; */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes] ==<br /> By Floating.Point<br /> <br /> This will guide you through my process for creating perfect 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes.<br /> [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip Download Files]<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] == by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == '''[[Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart]]''' ==<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12298 2019-06-22T18:57:59Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Distance Shader Magic - An Introduction */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.terragen.org/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item258 Making of &quot;On the Road&quot;] ==<br /> by old_blaggard<br /> <br /> This is a tutorial that describes the entire process in creating my &quot;On the Road&quot; image. It includes a PDF tutorial and the file for the scene. It is an excellent beginner resource for those who want to follow the logic of an entire scene being constructed.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes] ==<br /> By Floating.Point<br /> <br /> This will guide you through my process for creating perfect 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes.<br /> [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip Download Files]<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] == by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == '''[[Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart]]''' ==<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12297 2019-06-22T18:57:08Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Intermediate Tutorials */</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.terragen.org/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item258 Making of &quot;On the Road&quot;] ==<br /> by old_blaggard<br /> <br /> This is a tutorial that describes the entire process in creating my &quot;On the Road&quot; image. It includes a PDF tutorial and the file for the scene. It is an excellent beginner resource for those who want to follow the logic of an entire scene being constructed.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes] ==<br /> By Floating.Point<br /> <br /> This will guide you through my process for creating perfect 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes.<br /> [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip Download Files]<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> == [http://dotsandlines.steveboerner.com/2016/07/08/terragen-tutorial-rendering-a-realistic-planet-earth/ Creating a Realistic Earth Render from Public Data] == by Steve Boerner<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/8-distance-shader-magic.html Distance Shader Magic - An Introduction] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> This tutorial explains how to make use of the Distance Shader in various situations.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/8-distance-shader-magic.html Distance Shader Magic]<br /> <br /> The above URL is dead - I found an archived copy at [https://web.archive.org/web/20100128092749/http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/8-distance-shader-magic.html Distance Shader Magic ] should this replace the above or is there a better link?<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == '''[[Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart]]''' ==<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tips_and_Tricks&diff=12296 2019-06-22T18:55:40Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Global Illumination Examples page */</p> <hr /> <div>__TOC__<br /> === [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6442.0 Render settings recommendations]===<br /> Some tips on how to optimize your render times and quality thanks to Oshyan.<br /> <br /> === Waterfalls ===<br /> [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=9961.msg103924#msg103924 From water] - A method of creating a waterfall effect via displacement shaders, with a shared demonstration .tgd, located on the Planetside forums.<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6454.msg68227#msg68227 From clouds] - a method of creating waterfalls from cloud objects with a painted shader.<br /> <br /> === Redirect and Warp Shaders ===<br /> Details about how they work with displacement. http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7035.0<br /> <br /> ===Converting xFrog Trees and Plants in TG2 to TGO===<br /> When the xFrog plant or tree is not in the TG2 native format of TGO, then this will help you transform that object for use in Terragen 2.<br /> <br /> <br /> 1. Take the LWO xFrog tree and all associated files into PoseRay. &lt;br/&gt;<br /> 2. The branches are all adjusted by setting the UV for each to Cylindrical and x=0, y=0, z=1. Weld UV Coordinates is checked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 3. Hit update under UV for each branch changed in #2.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 4. Go to each Material in Basic Texture Properties and make sure that the TIF files are used as the Bump Maps for all.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 5. Go to each leaf Material in Basic Texture Properties and make sure that the TIF files are used Transparency Maps; invert mapping is unchecked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 6. Make sure under Material / Finish that the Metallic check-box is unchecked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 7. Hit update under Basic Texture Properties for all changes in #4, #5 and #6.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 8. Export object as an object file.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 9. Bring into TG2 and adjust any changes that didn't go through, like displacement maps or Alpha maps.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 10. Under the Opacity tab, make sure that for each texture associated with that leaf, that it has its Opacity set for 1, that it has the appropriate TIF file and that it has Use Alpha Channel checked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 11. Once everything is completed in TG2 for the object, save this new object as a TGO.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> <br /> === Power Fractal Lessons ===<br /> Power fractal shader lesson by Volker Harun of PS forums. http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=2287.msg22357#msg22357<br /> <br /> === Loading Trees from Bryce ===<br /> Files exported from Bryce in obj format can be read into TG2 with the following file modifications:&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 1. OBJ files&lt;br/&gt;<br /> - the mtllib line at the top of the file will have the filename surrounded by quotation marks. These marks must be removed.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 2. MTL files&lt;br/&gt;<br /> - any map field (such as map_Ka) will have quotes around the filename. These quotes must be removed.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> If you do this then the mtl file wil be recognised and loaded - creating a suitable shader. Many aspects of the mtl file will not be loaded but the essential map_Ka will be imported.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> - e.g. specular maps, ambient maps, reflection maps are not imported.&lt;br/&gt;</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tips_and_Tricks&diff=12292 2019-06-22T18:55:11Z

<p>JavaJones: JavaJones moved page Terragen 2/3 Tips and Tricks to Terragen Tips and Tricks</p> <hr /> <div>__TOC__<br /> === [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6442.0 Render settings recommendations]===<br /> Some tips on how to optimize your render times and quality thanks to Oshyan.<br /> <br /> === Waterfalls ===<br /> [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=9961.msg103924#msg103924 From water] - A method of creating a waterfall effect via displacement shaders, with a shared demonstration .tgd, located on the Planetside forums.<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6454.msg68227#msg68227 From clouds] - a method of creating waterfalls from cloud objects with a painted shader.<br /> <br /> === Redirect and Warp Shaders ===<br /> Details about how they work with displacement. http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7035.0<br /> <br /> ===Converting xFrog Trees and Plants in TG2 to TGO===<br /> When the xFrog plant or tree is not in the TG2 native format of TGO, then this will help you transform that object for use in Terragen 2.<br /> <br /> <br /> 1. Take the LWO xFrog tree and all associated files into PoseRay. &lt;br/&gt;<br /> 2. The branches are all adjusted by setting the UV for each to Cylindrical and x=0, y=0, z=1. Weld UV Coordinates is checked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 3. Hit update under UV for each branch changed in #2.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 4. Go to each Material in Basic Texture Properties and make sure that the TIF files are used as the Bump Maps for all.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 5. Go to each leaf Material in Basic Texture Properties and make sure that the TIF files are used Transparency Maps; invert mapping is unchecked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 6. Make sure under Material / Finish that the Metallic check-box is unchecked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 7. Hit update under Basic Texture Properties for all changes in #4, #5 and #6.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 8. Export object as an object file.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 9. Bring into TG2 and adjust any changes that didn't go through, like displacement maps or Alpha maps.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 10. Under the Opacity tab, make sure that for each texture associated with that leaf, that it has its Opacity set for 1, that it has the appropriate TIF file and that it has Use Alpha Channel checked.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 11. Once everything is completed in TG2 for the object, save this new object as a TGO.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> <br /> === Power Fractal Lessons ===<br /> Power fractal shader lesson by Volker Harun of PS forums. http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=2287.msg22357#msg22357<br /> <br /> === Global Illumination Examples page ===<br /> http://sites.google.com/site/d4nd310/tg2gi<br /> <br /> === Loading Trees from Bryce ===<br /> Files exported from Bryce in obj format can be read into TG2 with the following file modifications:&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 1. OBJ files&lt;br/&gt;<br /> - the mtllib line at the top of the file will have the filename surrounded by quotation marks. These marks must be removed.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> 2. MTL files&lt;br/&gt;<br /> - any map field (such as map_Ka) will have quotes around the filename. These quotes must be removed.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> If you do this then the mtl file wil be recognised and loaded - creating a suitable shader. Many aspects of the mtl file will not be loaded but the essential map_Ka will be imported.&lt;br/&gt;<br /> - e.g. specular maps, ambient maps, reflection maps are not imported.&lt;br/&gt;</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:Terragen_Tips_and_Tricks&diff=12294 2019-06-22T18:55:11Z

<p>JavaJones: JavaJones moved page Talk:Terragen 2/3 Tips and Tricks to Talk:Terragen Tips and Tricks</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;a href=http://cameracomparsions.xyz&gt;http://cameracomparsions.xyz&lt;/a&gt; <br /> What may be the fastest way to commute to work every day in a metropolitan environment? The rest by automobile? Taxi? Train? Bus? Most people in the North american never think of commuting by bicycle. However, it is truly the fastest method of getting to school or work. It is also least expensive and the most environmentally friendly means of transportation open to most urban commuters.|Anyone who is really into motorbikes may possibly like learn how develop a cycle. With all of the environmental issues have got facing today, it is an ideal time to learn to create a motorbike.|Most because they came from take a Cambodia vacation will visit Ankor Historical Park. Ankor Wat and the surrounding temples are best visited at sunrise and within the breakfast and late in a single day towards sun. There are two reasons for this, the lighting creates a completely different atmosphere, and it's not so boiling. Break up your day and avoid the heat of the sun. Your pass will be valid as many visits as need to have make - so get up early, and figure out the sites of Ankor before it gets to hot. Then, mid to late morning, come to your hotel in Siem Riep and relax inside heat of the day. Later on, once the weather cools down, revisit the temples for nightfall.|That's right guaranteed fat death. Fat loss is the answer not weight loss. Fat could mean muscle and you need to lose fat and keep muscle tissue. Fat is lumpy and not very attractive. Muscle is lean and attractive.|As I lay in the sack last night I became aware of something moving across the ceiling. This spider (only mid-sized, so please don't freak out at the idea!) was following a line along the outer fringe of the ceiling and then came to rest for several moments directly above my head. I watched as they (or she) paused and then scurried off across the ceiling. I found myself becoming fascinated by where he was going (ok, In fact I didn't want him to lose his grip and fall on me in the evening!) and I also wondered what thoughts were running through his mind.|I was about to suggest we take a break (and gently hint that it would be good form to buy another drink to profit the place keep solar lights on), but Lenore put her hand up to stop me.|Although the digital camera for, according to shutter hardly need cost, but the best or improve their photography level, won't be done in possible first shooting successful, by no means repeated press shutter expect &quot;bump&quot; a good movie. Here intend to provide introduce some of the typical mistakes, and how to avoid them.|If you have had a slice in your round of golf it can really get you in trouble. The goal another excellent way to to get rid of the slice. When you do may enjoy your game much considerably more.|There are a lot of areas within our lives where we understand that we could &quot;trim the fat&quot;, because the comes to the spending conduct. Our budget for gasoline 1 of area. However, we stay in a society where have got dependent upon our vehicles and therefore gas. As soon as the rates for gas soar, we are rendered dependent.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:Terragen_2/3_Tips_and_Tricks&diff=12295 2019-06-22T18:55:11Z

<p>JavaJones: JavaJones moved page Talk:Terragen 2/3 Tips and Tricks to Talk:Terragen Tips and Tricks</p> <hr /> <div>#REDIRECT [[Talk:Terragen Tips and Tricks]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Tutorials&diff=12290 2019-06-22T18:54:41Z

<p>JavaJones: JavaJones moved page Terragen 2/3 Tutorials to Terragen Tutorials</p> <hr /> <div>= Beginner Tutorials =<br /> These tutorials will generally consist of the very basic knowledge to get started making simple scenes or cover very basic topics.<br /> <br /> == [http://www.cgscenery.com/basic/ Terragen 2/3 User Interface Overview] ==<br /> A comprehensive User Interface introduction in a 3 part video series, created by Martin Huisman.<br /> <br /> == [[Beginner Video Tutorials by Neuspadrin]] ==<br /> Some beginner video tutorials hosted on youtube, along with some helpful files, links, and tips.<br /> <br /> Learn how to create nice looking 3D cumulus clouds in just 3 simple steps. <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/28-cumulustutorial.html Cumulus Clouds Tutorial In 3 Simple Steps].<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a step by step tutorial of how the image &quot;Golden Forest&quot; was created from original concept through to postwork added. It shows how easy it can be to create powerful and dramatic scenes with a particular focus on lighting, fog and vegetation.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/38-making-of-golden-forest.html Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;] alternate link [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/making-of-golden-forest/ Making of &quot;Golden Forest&quot;]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.terragen.org/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item258 Making of &quot;On the Road&quot;] ==<br /> by old_blaggard<br /> <br /> This is a tutorial that describes the entire process in creating my &quot;On the Road&quot; image. It includes a PDF tutorial and the file for the scene. It is an excellent beginner resource for those who want to follow the logic of an entire scene being constructed.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Layman's Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Kaltook<br /> <br /> Confused? Never played with a terrain rendering program before? Might want to start here<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[Introduction to Animation in Terragen]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A quick start guide to animation of how to animate the camera and objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [[The Node Network and Clip Files]] ==<br /> By neuspadrin<br /> <br /> Goes over some of the basics of how to use the Node Network view, and how to use Terragen clip files (tgc).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7733.0 Get Started With Terragen 2] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This is a step-by-step introductory tutorial to give the beginner a hands-on exercise by creating a mountain scene, &quot;Ben McDuff&quot;.<br /> Its aim is to build the user's confidence as he/she progresses through the exercise. It is intended to provide the user with an easy ride over the program's perceived steep learning curve.<br /> It is in pdf format for easy access.<br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=12630.new Creating a Tower from a Crater Shader] ==<br /> By schmeerlap<br /> <br /> This tutorial shows you how to create a tower from a Crater shader, how to apply displacement to it, and how to confine the displacement to the tower. It also includes instruction on how to insert a clip file into your scene. The tgd of the scene is included for reference.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes] ==<br /> By Floating.Point<br /> <br /> This will guide you through my process for creating perfect 360º Panoramas / SkyBoxes.<br /> [http://dl.dropbox.com/u/792881/Planetside%20Forum/SkyBoxFiles.zip Download Files]<br /> <br /> <br /> = Intermediate Tutorials =<br /> Cover slightly more advanced topics, but still skirt around more advanced things such as lots of node network view usage and much math, etc. Made to be understood by those with a firm knowledge of the basics.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/8-distance-shader-magic.html Distance Shader Magic - An Introduction] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> This tutorial explains how to make use of the Distance Shader in various situations.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/8-distance-shader-magic.html Distance Shader Magic]<br /> <br /> The above URL is dead - I found an archived copy at [https://web.archive.org/web/20100128092749/http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/8-distance-shader-magic.html Distance Shader Magic ] should this replace the above or is there a better link?<br /> <br /> == [http://www.mrlamppost.com/tg2/guides/paintsky.htm Using the Painted Shader to “Paint” clouds into the sky] ==<br /> by Mr_Lamppost<br /> <br /> An easy to follow step be step tutorial showing how the Painted Shader can be used to control the positioning of clouds in a scene; effectively allowing clouds to be “Painted” onto the sky.<br /> <br /> Please note the the Mr_Lamppost pages are very much under construction so many of the links to other pages are not working yet. Everything needed fror this tutorial works fine though.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay] ==<br /> How to Split Objects into Multiple parts by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> This is a partially obsolete tutorial on how to split Object files into multiple pieces using PoseRay. Still of use for removing any elements of an object you do not need to see or waste resources rendering.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/splitting-objects-with-poseray/ Splitting Objects with PoseRay]<br /> <br /> == [[Parting Sea Tutorial]] ==<br /> By Mohawk20<br /> <br /> This is an unfinished, quick and dirty tutorial to create your very own Parted Sea in just a few minutes (and then wait a long time while it renders).<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6511.0 Wet Shores Tutorial] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A very nice and simple explanation on how to get shores to look wet in a scene.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.mediafire.com/?mqnttk0tn2z Intro to the Fake Stones Shader] ==<br /> By Neuspadrin<br /> <br /> A intro into how to use the fake stone shader with other shaders to make boulders. You can also download my [http://www.mediafire.com/?1mmmjg54mzn final tgd file]<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6587.0 Eroded Fakestones] ==<br /> By Kevnar<br /> <br /> A quick tutorial on how to get stones to look eroded.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> == '''[[Links to 20 or so Terragen2 tutorials hosted on deviantart]]''' ==<br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> <br /> = Advanced Tutorials = <br /> These are the high end tutorials to cover advanced topics and might involve math, crazy node networks, or about some of the advanced nodes.<br /> <br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating And Applying A Depth Of Field Mask] ==<br /> by Martin<br /> <br /> Ever wanted to give convincing depth of field to your Terragen-renders?<br /> Tired of laborous manually masking of fore- or background elements for depth of field?<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 offers accurate rendering of Depth Of Field masks.<br /> An extensive tutorial + example-scene + video can be found in the TG2-articles section here:<br /> <br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/9-dof-effect.html Creating and Applying A Depth Of Field Mask]<br /> <br /> Enjoy!<br /> Martin<br /> <br /> == [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)] ==<br /> by FrankB<br /> <br /> Through two animations / videos, this tutorial explains and visualizes how intersection shift and intersection zone works in the &quot;intersect underlying&quot; feature of the surface layer. The tutorial focuses on the &quot;displacement intersection&quot; algorithm. This is particularly useful e.g. in creating convincing snow, that should cover up smaller terrain features.<br /> [http://www.nwdanet.com/terragen-tutorials/7-intersect-underlying-explained.html Intersect Underlying Explained (with videos)]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data] ==<br /> GIS Data primer by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> One of the greatest benefits of Terragen 2 is that you can quickly and easily import and use real world data and information in any of your renders. There is a great deal of data available for free download on the internet, but it can be fairly confusing to both find what you need and then figure out what it is you have. I will try and make sense of a few basic ideas and you can take it from there. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/blending-terragen-2-with-gis-data/ Blending Terragen 2 with GIS Data]<br /> <br /> == [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2] ==<br /> by Ryan Archer<br /> <br /> Terragen 2 allows the import of georeferenced DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data in the GeoTiff format. This allows anyone to quickly and easily load real world locations to be rendered in Terragen 2. A major difficulty to this process is both finding and figuring out exactly what to do with the data that you download. This tutorial will provide an overview of how to use the USGS Seamless Data Viewer to obtain DEM, Satellite and Raster Map information as well as how to load this data into Terragen 2 as easily as possible. Some knowledge about geographic information systems would be of benefit, but should not be totally necessary.<br /> [http://www.archer-designs.com/tutorials/usgs-elevaton-data-with-terragen-2/ USGS Elevation Data with Terragen 2]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_2/3_Tutorials&diff=12291 2019-06-22T18:54:41Z

<p>JavaJones: JavaJones moved page Terragen 2/3 Tutorials to Terragen Tutorials</p> <hr /> <div>#REDIRECT [[Terragen Tutorials]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=12289 2019-06-22T18:53:58Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Terragen Community-Generated Content */</p> <hr /> <div>== Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki ==<br /> <br /> '''This is the primary source of documentation on Planetside Software's Terragen environment modeling and rendering products, including [[Terragen 4]] and [[Terragen Classic]] (deprecated).'''<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Please note: this documentation refers primarily to the latest version of Terragen (currently Terragen 4). Whenever the general term &quot;Terragen&quot; is used, it is referring to this most recent version, unless otherwise specified, e.g. &quot;Terragen Classic&quot;.&lt;/u&gt;<br /> <br /> 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:Contents|Help]] section.<br /> <br /> If you are a licensed user of Terragen and you need direct support, you can contact us via [https://planetside.co.uk/contact-us/ our contact page].<br /> <br /> == Terragen 4 Official Documentation ==<br /> <br /> ===Guides===<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic Terragen 4 scene.<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 2: Adding a Lake]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A guide to adding a lake to a Terragen scene.<br /> <br /> [[The Default Scene Explained]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> When you open Terragen the first thing you see is a &quot;default&quot; scene, with basic terrain, planet, and atmosphere. This page explains how the default scene is set up.<br /> <br /> [http://planetside.co.uk/docs/tg2/tg2-guide-part1.pdf User Guide Part 1: Fundamental Concepts and User Interface Overview] &lt;br /&gt;<br /> The User Guide is a series of documents that give an overview of all the major work areas of Terragen 4 and how to construct a basic scene. It is designed to be read through completely over time. '''Please note: this document is currently being updated for the latest version of Terragen. We apologize for the inconvenience.'''<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 User Guide Part 2: Fundamental Rendering and Shader Concepts|User Guide Part 2: Fundamental Rendering and Shader Concepts]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This part of the User Guide explains some of the fundamental concepts used for rendering and shaders. <br /> <br /> [[Terrain and Water]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on creating and controlling terrain and water features.<br /> <br /> [[Surface Mapping and Shading]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on applying surface maps, i.e. texturing, in Terragen 4. This section is oriented toward surface maps as applied to terrain, but much of the information also applies to object texturing.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Guide|Animation Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Animation functions in Terragen. It has information and tutorials about creating animations using TG4.<br /> <br /> [[The Library]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Library and Library window in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Network View Guide|Network View Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Network View in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Painted Shader Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This guide explains how to use and get the most out of the Painted Shader.<br /> <br /> [[Populator Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Clip Files]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This page introduces Clip files, how to create them and how to use them. Clip files let you save nodes or collections of nodes so you can use them again or send them to others.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Objects]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to working with objects in TG4. It covers topics such as importing objects, creating objects, manipulating them in the 3D Preview and much more.<br /> <br /> [[Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud|A Guide to Rendering with Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmo/Cloud]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> How and when to use the rendering options &quot;Ray trace objects&quot;, &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Ray trace everything&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[FAQs and Troubleshooting]]<br /> <br /> [[Clouds Following Terrain Tutorial]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Get an in-depth understanding of the new cloud control functions in Terragen with this tutorial by Martin Huisman<br /> <br /> ===Reference===<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Node Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes all the Terragen 4 nodes.<br /> <br /> [[Glossary]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Glossary explains terms relevant to Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Input Settings Reference|Input Settings Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Lists all the input settings, such as mouse clicks and hot keys, that can be used in various views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference|Menu Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the menus in the Terragen 4 menu bar.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Function Reference|Animation Module Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Gives an overview of the Animation Module as well as a reference for animation related windows and views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Import-Export Reference|Import-Export Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> This reference describes Terragen 4's import and export capabilities.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Gathering Projects Reference|Gathering Projects Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes the project gathering process, which allows you to gather a project and related assets into a single folder.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 2 Global Illumination|Global Illumination]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains what Global Illumination is and how to use it in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Render Layers and Render Elements|Render Layers and Render Elements (Terragen 4 Professional)]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains the Render Layers system in Terragen 4 Professional, including Render Elements.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Preferences|Preferences]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes Terragen 4's preferences, which let you customise how the application behaves.<br /> <br /> [[Command Line Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> How to run Terragen from the command line on Windows, Mac and Linux, and descriptions of all the command line options.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Resources ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Resource List]]<br /> <br /> Find Terragen-compatible software, 3D models, content, and other resources.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Community-Generated Content ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tips and Tricks]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some quick tips and tricks for using Terragen, generated and maintained by our user community.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Tutorials]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A list of tutorials, from beginning to advanced, to take you through how to do certain things with Terragen.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=The_3D_Preview&diff=12288 2019-03-25T22:40:36Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Select different cameras or viewpoints */</p> <hr /> <div>== About the 3D Preview == <br /> <br /> The 3D preview shows a preview of your current scene. It provides a simplified yet accurate view that renders quickly. The preview will update with every change you make to the settings of your scene, including any node settings. <br /> <br /> [[File:FirstScene_-_3D_preview_pane.png|border|900px|The 3D preview]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> == Navigating in the 3D Preview ==<br /> <br /> The 3D preview defaults to the perspective of the current render camera. You can freely change the camera perspective using either mouse and keyboard commands or the navigation tool.<br /> <br /> === Navigating with Mouse and Keyboard Commands ===<br /> <br /> The controls for navigating with the mouse and keyboard are as follows:<br /> <br /> * '''Alt+Left Click:''' Hold down these buttons and drag the mouse to rotate the camera. <br /> <br /> * '''Alt+Middle Mouse Button:''' Hold down these buttons and drag the mouse to move the camera forward and back. <br /> <br /> * '''Alt+Rick Click:''' Hold down these buttons and drag the mouse to move the camera left, right, up, or down.<br /> <br /> === Navigating with the Navigation Control Tool ===<br /> <br /> You can also adjust the camera with the navigation control tool located in the upper-right corner of the 3D Preview pane.<br /> <br /> [[File:FirstScene_-_Nav_control_button.png|border|900px|The navigation control button]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When you click this icon, the tool will expand to show a variety of control options.<br /> <br /> [[File:FirstScene_-_Nav_control_tool_expanded.png|border|600px|The expanded navigation control tool(upper right)]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Some of these controls may be familiar to you if you have experience with other 3D applications. The controls are as follows:<br /> <br /> {|<br /> |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_horiz.png|border|90px|Horizontal movement controls]]<br /> |'''Horizontal movement (left, right, back, forward):''' Drag inside the circle to move in a given direction. Click at the top of the circle to move forward, click on the left side to move left, etc. The closer to the center of the circle your cursor is when you click, the slower and more precise your movement will be. Once you’ve clicked within the circle, you can drag the cursor around to adjust the movement speed or direction.<br /> |-<br /> |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_altitude.png|border|90px|Horizontal movement controls]]<br /> |'''Altitude:''' Move the camera up or down.<br /> |-<br /> |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_tilt.png|border|90px|Tilt controls]]<br /> |'''Tilt:''' Angle the camera up or down.<br /> |-<br /> |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_bank.png|border|90px|Bank controls]]<br /> |'''Bank:''' Bank the the camera right or left.<br /> |-<br /> |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_rotate.png|border|90px|Rotation controls]]<br /> |'''Rotate:''' Rotate the camera right or left.<br /> |-<br /> |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_zoom.png|border|90px|Zoom controls]]<br /> |'''Zoom:''' Zoom in or out.<br /> |-<br /> |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_speed.png|border|90px|Movement speed controls]]<br /> |'''Movement speed:''' Sets the speed of all the movement controls in the navigation control tool.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Note that changing your view in the 3D preview window won't automatically update the current render camera. To update the current render camera to your current view, you must click the '''Copy this view to the current render camera''' button, which will be discussed in the '''3D Preview Bottom Toolbar''' section.<br /> <br /> == The 3D Preview Top Toolbar ==<br /> <br /> [[File:UI-PreviewPane-toolbar.jpg|border|The 3D preview top toolbar]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The 3D preview top toolbar has a number of controls that allow you to change what you see in the 3D preview, as well as tools for interacting with your scene.<br /> <br /> === Turning Shaders, Atmosphere, and Lighting On and Off ===<br /> <br /> The elements displayed in the 3D preview depend on the layout you're in. For example, in the Terrain layout, shaders, atmosphere, and lighting are disabled. This speeds up the preview and gives you a clear view of your landscape. You can control which elements are shown at any time with the 3 middle buttons on the top toolbar signified by a green sphere, a cloud shape, and a sun icon. These enable and disable Shaders, Atmosphere, and Lighting respectively. When enabled, these buttons will appear depressed and shaded.<br /> <br /> [[File:UI-PreviewPane-Elements.jpg|border|The 3D preview element controls]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> === Pause and Reset ===<br /> <br /> To the left on the preview pane toolbar are the Pause and Reset buttons. Since the 3D preview is constantly updating to show you the results of every change, it is always taking CPU resources. If you have a lot of changes in mind and want to wait until you are finished with them, you may wish to pause the preview rendering until you are finished. Pause can also be useful when using the Painted shader and painting in the preview window. The Reset button simply resets the preview and begins rendering from scratch, which can be useful if you want to immediately trigger a refresh of the preview for any reason.<br /> <br /> [[File:UI-PreviewPane-PauseReset.jpg|border|The Pause and Reset buttons]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> === The Painted Shader and Measurement Tool ===<br /> <br /> On the far right of the 3D preview top toolbar are the Painted Shader and Measurement Tool buttons. These are signified by a paintbrush and ruler, respectively. <br /> <br /> [[File:UI-PreviewPane-RulerAndPaintedShader.jpg|border|The Painted Shader and Measurement Tool buttons]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== The Measurement Tool ====<br /> <br /> We'll cover the Measurement Tool first, because it is simpler. The Measurement Tool enables measurement mode, which allows you to measure the distance between two points in the 3D preview by clicking on them. In measurement mode, a measurement window will pop up with a display of the distance between the currently selected points, as well as some additional controls. Click in the 3D preview to define the first point of your measurement, then move to your destination point and click again. You will see a yellow line extend between the two points, and the distance will be displayed in the Measure window. The Measure window also allows you to restrict the measurement axis to x, y, or z, and clear the current measurement points (note that you may need to reset the preview window to remove the display of the current measurement). You can use the normal camera navigation controls in measurement mode, so if you wish to measure something outside of the current view, you can move the camera to accommodate that. To exit measurement mode, either close the pop-up Measure window, or click the Measurement Tool button again.<br /> <br /> [[File:UI-PreviewPane-MeasureToolInUse.jpg|border|800px|The Measurement Tool in use]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==== The Painted Shader Tool ====<br /> <br /> The Painted Shader tool and the associated &quot;Painted shader&quot; node are among the most powerful systems in Terragen. The Painted shader allows you to control virtually any aspect of your scene by painting in the preview window. You can create terrain shapes, control texture distribution, and even create customized cloud shapes. The painting system relies on two elements: the paint strokes created with Painted Shader tool, and the &quot;Painted shader&quot; node.<br /> <br /> Clicking the '''Painted Shader''' button brings up a menu of options. In its non-active state, the only option is '''Start painting shader''', which has a sub-menu allowing you to either select an existing Painted shader to paint into, or create a new one and begin painting. Your existing Painted shaders will be listed at the top of this menu, above the &quot;Create and paint new shader&quot; option. To begin a painting session, select either an existing Painted shader, or create a new one with the menu option.<br /> <br /> Once in a painting session, the Painted Shader button displays different options. You can switch between &quot;Paint mode&quot; and &quot;Erase mode&quot;. Paint mode applies the current brush settings (specified in the Painted shader itself), and Erase mode uses the same brush settings, but applies an inverse effect to your paint strokes, removing existing painted areas. You can also use the &quot;Stop painting shader&quot; button to stop your painting session.<br /> <br /> After paint mode is enabled, the settings window for the selected Painted shader will be opened, allowing you to adjust settings like &quot;Brush size&quot;, &quot;Brush falloff&quot;, &quot;Flow&quot;, and &quot;Colour&quot;. Please refer to the Node Reference for complete information on all Painted shader settings. In the 3D preview, a yellow dashed circle is displayed ,denoting the maximum area of your paint brush. The actual size of the painted stroke will be affected by the Falloff setting in the Painted shader. As you move the cursor around the preview window, you will also see terrain polygons highlighting under the cursor position. This denotes the rough center of the painted shader, and thus the center of the area at which the stroke would begin. To start painting, click the left mouse button and drag. You can make as many strokes as you want. Note, however, that &quot;Undo&quot; does not undo specific strokes. Rather, it Undo reverts the scene to a state prior to beginning your Painted Shader session. You can use the Eraser mode to remove strokes created in error. More on the use of the Painted shader is covered in the Node Reference and Shaders In-depth sections.<br /> <br /> A helpful technique when using the Painted Shader tool is to allow the preview to fully compute to maximum detail, then press the Pause button and begin painting. This allows for maximum detail in viewing your painted strokes, and also prevents the preview from updating while you're painting which can make painting consistent strokes more difficult.<br /> <br /> == Rendering Status ==<br /> <br /> The rightmost item on the 3D preview top toolbar is a display of the current status of the 3D preview rendering. <br /> <br /> [[File:UI-PreviewPane-RenderStatus.jpg|border|The rendering status]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Since the preview is rendered progressively, it is helpful to know what detail level the preview is currently displaying. The detail level will be displayed numerically, beginning with &quot;Rendering... detail 5&quot;, then doubling to 10, 20, 40, and finally 80. To save time and CPU resources, the preview has a set limit on the maximum detail, so once 80 is completed it will stop updating until another change is made. When rendering has completed, the update status will show &quot;Finished rendering&quot;.<br /> <br /> == Mini Compass == <br /> <br /> In the upper-left corner of the 3D preview pane is a mini compass. <br /> <br /> [[File:UI-MiniCompass.jpg|border|The mini compass]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The top of the compass will always show the orientation of your current view; the compass will rotate as you move the camera. <br /> <br /> Any lights in the scene are represented on the compass by small yellow circles.<br /> <br /> == Exposure Slider == <br /> <br /> In the lower left of the 3D preview pane is the exposure slider. <br /> <br /> [[File:UI-ExposureSlider.jpg|border|The exposure slider button]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When you press this button, it will open the exposure slider tool. This tool allows you to adjust the exposure value of the current camera, making it brighter or darker.<br /> <br /> == The 3D Preview Bottom Toolbar ==<br /> <br /> The toolbar on the bottom of the 3D preview pane includes of a number of camera controls. It also displays the xyz coordinates of the mouse pointer if the mouse pointer is in the 3D preview pane.<br /> <br /> [[File:UI-BottomToolbar.jpg|border|The 3D preview bottom toolbar]]<br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> === About the Coordinate Display ===<br /> <br /> At the bottom of the preview window is a set of 4 numbers labeled “x,” “y,” “z,” and “slope.” These will only appear when your mouse is positioned over the preview window. The x, y, and z figures indicate the current position of the scene element (usually the terrain) under the mouse cursor in the preview. Coordinates are measured in metric units, usually meters (&quot;m&quot;) or kilometres (&quot;km&quot;) and are relative to the coordinate origin. Slope indicates the slope of the terrain in that area and it is measured in degrees. <br /> <br /> Move the mouse around in the 3D preview and you will see the values update. These numbers can be extremely helpful in placing objects or fine-tuning surface mapping. The slope readout can be particularly useful in determining surface placement and distribution. In addition, you can copy these values, which is useful for certain node settings. Right-click in the preview and select Copy Altitude, Copy Coordinates, or Copy Slope Angle depending on what information you need. Then use the paste button to paste the date into an appropriate node field. You can open this coordinate display in a separate floating window by selecting View &gt; 3D Preview Location.<br /> <br /> === Camera Control Buttons ===<br /> <br /> From left to right, the camera control buttons on this toolbar are:<br /> * Copy this view to the current render camera<br /> * Select different cameras or viewpoints<br /> * Reset view camera position<br /> * Set the camera's &quot;look at&quot; point<br /> * Set the camera's &quot;orbit&quot; point<br /> * Enable or disable &quot;Free Orbit Mode&quot; when orbiting<br /> <br /> ==== Copy this view to the current render camera ====<br /> <br /> The render camera doesn't automatically update when you're navigating in the 3D preview. This allows you to move about freely and survey the scene without worrying about changing your render camera. When you want to update the render camera to what you see in the 3D preview (the &quot;Perspective view&quot; camera), click this button. This will sync the render camera and perspective view camera to the same view. <br /> <br /> ==== Select different cameras or viewpoints ====<br /> <br /> The 3D preview provides access to a standard set of cameras which are not linked to any camera node. Click this button to open a list of these views. The views are &quot;Perspective view&quot;, &quot;Top view&quot;, &quot;Bottom view&quot;, &quot;Front view&quot;, &quot;Back view&quot;, &quot;Left view&quot; and &quot;Right view&quot;. You can access each of these views by clicking the 'Select Camera' button second from the left on the toolbar at the bottom of the '3D Preview'.<br /> <br /> ==== Reset view camera position ====<br /> <br /> This button provides several options for resetting the view shown in the 3D preview. You can &quot;Reset to current render camera&quot;, &quot;Centre on focus point&quot; (the focus point is set with the next button on the toolbar), &quot;Centre on object or shader&quot;, or &quot;Centre on origin&quot; (the coordinate origin: 0,0). Remember that, like any change in the view shown in the preview window, you must click &quot;Copy to current render camera&quot; if you wish to use this view when you render.<br /> <br /> ==== Set the camera's &quot;look at point&quot; ====<br /> <br /> This button specifies the preview's “look at point”. This is a point in the scene toward which the camera will be oriented. Click the button then point and click on any part of the scene. You will see the polygon under your cursor highlight in yellow to indicate which polygon will be selected as the “look at&quot; point. When you click, your camera will re-orient toward the selected point. This point is maintained throughout a session and you can use the command on the &quot;Reset view camera position&quot; button menu to recall your view to this point at any time.<br /> <br /> ==== Set the camera's &quot;orbit&quot; point ====<br /> <br /> The orbit point defines the point which the camera will reference when orbiting. This button allows you to set the orbit point in much the same way that you would set the camera's &quot;look at&quot; point. Click the button then point and click on any part of the scene. You will see the polygon under your cursor highlight in yellow to indicate which polygon will be selected as the orbit point. Click to set the point.<br /> <br /> ==== Enable or disable &quot;Free Orbit Mode&quot; when orbiting ====<br /> <br /> This button activates &quot;Free Orbit Mode&quot;. This mode allows the camera to roll freely during orbit movements, rather than being fixed to the original roll orientation. This is particularly useful when navigating with the camera at points far from the coordinate origin, for example on the other side of a planet, where the original roll value will not be parallel to the planet's surface.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Geog_Heightfield_Load&diff=12239 2019-03-13T02:40:24Z

<p>JavaJones: Added screenshot</p> <hr /> <div>[[File:geog-heightfield-load.png|400px|center]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Geog heightfield load node can load and georeference digital elevation map (DEM) files. It supports many formats and projections. Geog heightfield load nodes can be created using the &quot;Heightfield (load DEM)&quot; item in the Add Terrain button menu at the top of the Terrain node list.<br /> <br /> You can see a list of the supported DEM formats supported by the node [http://www.gdal.org/formats_list.html here]. Terragen supports all of the formats which have &quot;Yes&quot; in the &quot;Compiled by default&quot; column of the table on that page. Most commonly used DEM formats are supported. Please note that not all of the supported formats have been tested, there are a lot of them and some are quite obscure.<br /> <br /> You may notice that Terragen's TER terrain file format (.ter) is listed in the supported formats. However we recommend that you use a [[Heightfield Load]] node to load Terragen terrains, because that uses Terragen's native file loading.<br /> <br /> DEMs often come as a collection of files. If you're not familiar with the DEM format you may need to experiment to see which file to open. A reasonable guess often seems to be to choose the largest file.<br /> <br /> Georeferencing settings are only available in the Professional edition. However the correct size for the DEM will still be calculated based on georeferencing if needed. Without the georeferencing settings the position of the DEM will be controlled by the [[Heightfield Shader]] the Geog heightfield load node is attached to.<br /> <br /> When you use a georeferenced DEM and the '''Georeference''' parameter is checked it will be placed at the correct position on the planet. However accuracy falls away as you move away from the origin of the planet, which corresponds to 0&amp;deg; latitude, 0&amp;deg; longitude or the Prime Meridian at the Equator. To ensure the best accuracy it's suggested that you move the planet origin to the area you're interested in. It's easy to do this. Let's say you've loaded a DEM and it's georeferenced. We'll move the planet origin so that it's at the southwest corner of the DEM. Follow these steps:<br /> <br /> &lt;ol&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> Click the copy/paste button (clipboard icon) at right of the '''SW corner lat long''' parameter.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Choose &quot;Copy coordinates&quot; from the menu which pops up. This will copy the lat/long values from both text fields at the same time.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Open the parameter view for the Planet 01 node (the default planet object). You can find this in the Objects node list or double click on the node in the network view.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Paste the values into the planet's '''Lat long at apex''' parameter. You should use the copy/paste button for this again. Click the button and choose &quot;Paste coordinates&quot;.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ol&gt;<br /> <br /> Those steps move the planet origin to the area you're interested and should ensure the best results.<br /> <br /> The node allows you to replace NODATA values with a different value. NODATA values indicate areas in the DEM without valid data, which can often give the appearance of holes and similar in the terrain. [[The Library|Library]] previews for DEMs show NODATA areas drawn in red.<br /> <br /> The node uses [http://www.gdal.org GDAL] and [https://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4] to load and georeference DEM files.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Heightfield Operator&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> * '''Filename:''' This parameter lets you specify the DEM file to be loaded. Click the File button on the right to open a file chooser dialog.<br /> * '''Replace NODATA values:''' If this is checked any NODATA values in the DEM will be replaced with the value specified in the replacement value field to the right.<br /> * '''Set to Min Height:''' Pressing this button well set the NODATA numeric entry field to a value equal to the lowest height found in the imported DEM file. <br /> * '''Update button:''' If you change the NODATA replacement value in the field to the left you will need to click this button to update the DEM with the new replacement values. The button is only available if '''Replace NODATA values''' is checked.<br /> <br /> <br /> The following georeferencing settings are only available in the Professional edition:<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Georeference:''' If this is checked the heightfield will be georeferenced according to the settings in the fields below. If you uncheck this the position of the DEM will be controlled by the [[Heightfield Shader]] this node is attached to. The DEM will still be the correct size (according to values derived from the file).<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Auto georeference from file:''' If this is checked the node tries to load georeferencing information for the DEM. This is on by default so when you a create a new node and choose a file the georeferencing information will be loaded automatically. If the node finds georeferencing information when it loads the file it also turns on the '''Georeference''' parameter. Please note that this also means that the georeferencing information will be read when the node loads as part of a project being opened. If you turn off the '''Georeference''' parameter you should also turn off '''Auto georeference from file''' or '''Georeference''' will be turned back on again when the project loads.<br /> <br /> If you make changes to the georeferencing values this parameter is turned off.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; <br /> '''NW corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the northwest corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''NE corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the northeast corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''SE corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the southeast corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''SW corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the southwest corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Statistics&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''XY Size (metres):''' This param displays the size of the DEM in metres, as loaded from the file. If the size can't be derived from the DEM data directly it will be calculated based on georeferencing information.<br /> <br /> This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''XY Size (points):''' This the number of points in each direction of the DEM. This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Height Range:''' This field displays height information about the heightfield. It shows the minimum height, maximum height and the height range. The height range is the minimum height subtracted from the maximum height.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''DEM information field:''' This text field displays the following information about the DEM:&lt;br&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;Raster band units:&lt;/u&gt; This is the units used (metres, feet etc.) for the dimensions of the first raster band in the DEM.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;NODATA value:&lt;/u&gt; This shows the value which is used for NODATA values in the DEM.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;Coordinate system:&lt;/u&gt; This shows the coordinate system which is being used to georeference the DEM. The coordinate system is displayed using the OpenGIS Well Known Text format.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> &lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category: Heightfield Operators]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=File:Geog-heightfield-load.png&diff=12238 2019-03-13T02:39:57Z

<p>JavaJones: File uploaded with MsUpload</p> <hr /> <div>File uploaded with MsUpload</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Geog_Heightfield_Load&diff=12237 2019-03-13T02:04:05Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:work_in_progress.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Geog heightfield load node can load and georeference digital elevation map (DEM) files. It supports many formats and projections. Geog heightfield load nodes can be created using the &quot;Heightfield (load DEM)&quot; item in the Add Terrain button menu at the top of the Terrain node list.<br /> <br /> You can see a list of the supported DEM formats supported by the node [http://www.gdal.org/formats_list.html here]. Terragen supports all of the formats which have &quot;Yes&quot; in the &quot;Compiled by default&quot; column of the table on that page. Most commonly used DEM formats are supported. Please note that not all of the supported formats have been tested, there are a lot of them and some are quite obscure.<br /> <br /> You may notice that Terragen's TER terrain file format (.ter) is listed in the supported formats. However we recommend that you use a [[Heightfield Load]] node to load Terragen terrains, because that uses Terragen's native file loading.<br /> <br /> DEMs often come as a collection of files. If you're not familiar with the DEM format you may need to experiment to see which file to open. A reasonable guess often seems to be to choose the largest file.<br /> <br /> Georeferencing settings are only available in the Professional edition. However the correct size for the DEM will still be calculated based on georeferencing if needed. Without the georeferencing settings the position of the DEM will be controlled by the [[Heightfield Shader]] the Geog heightfield load node is attached to.<br /> <br /> When you use a georeferenced DEM and the '''Georeference''' parameter is checked it will be placed at the correct position on the planet. However accuracy falls away as you move away from the origin of the planet, which corresponds to 0&amp;deg; latitude, 0&amp;deg; longitude or the Prime Meridian at the Equator. To ensure the best accuracy it's suggested that you move the planet origin to the area you're interested in. It's easy to do this. Let's say you've loaded a DEM and it's georeferenced. We'll move the planet origin so that it's at the southwest corner of the DEM. Follow these steps:<br /> <br /> &lt;ol&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> Click the copy/paste button (clipboard icon) at right of the '''SW corner lat long''' parameter.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Choose &quot;Copy coordinates&quot; from the menu which pops up. This will copy the lat/long values from both text fields at the same time.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Open the parameter view for the Planet 01 node (the default planet object). You can find this in the Objects node list or double click on the node in the network view.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Paste the values into the planet's '''Lat long at apex''' parameter. You should use the copy/paste button for this again. Click the button and choose &quot;Paste coordinates&quot;.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ol&gt;<br /> <br /> Those steps move the planet origin to the area you're interested and should ensure the best results.<br /> <br /> The node allows you to replace NODATA values with a different value. NODATA values indicate areas in the DEM without valid data, which can often give the appearance of holes and similar in the terrain. [[The Library|Library]] previews for DEMs show NODATA areas drawn in red.<br /> <br /> The node uses [http://www.gdal.org GDAL] and [https://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4] to load and georeference DEM files.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Heightfield Operator&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> * '''Filename:''' This parameter lets you specify the DEM file to be loaded. Click the File button on the right to open a file chooser dialog.<br /> * '''Replace NODATA values:''' If this is checked any NODATA values in the DEM will be replaced with the value specified in the replacement value field to the right.<br /> * '''Set to Min Height:''' Pressing this button well set the NODATA numeric entry field to a value equal to the lowest height found in the imported DEM file. <br /> * '''Update button:''' If you change the NODATA replacement value in the field to the left you will need to click this button to update the DEM with the new replacement values. The button is only available if '''Replace NODATA values''' is checked.<br /> <br /> <br /> The following georeferencing settings are only available in the Professional edition:<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Georeference:''' If this is checked the heightfield will be georeferenced according to the settings in the fields below. If you uncheck this the position of the DEM will be controlled by the [[Heightfield Shader]] this node is attached to. The DEM will still be the correct size (according to values derived from the file).<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Auto georeference from file:''' If this is checked the node tries to load georeferencing information for the DEM. This is on by default so when you a create a new node and choose a file the georeferencing information will be loaded automatically. If the node finds georeferencing information when it loads the file it also turns on the '''Georeference''' parameter. Please note that this also means that the georeferencing information will be read when the node loads as part of a project being opened. If you turn off the '''Georeference''' parameter you should also turn off '''Auto georeference from file''' or '''Georeference''' will be turned back on again when the project loads.<br /> <br /> If you make changes to the georeferencing values this parameter is turned off.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; <br /> '''NW corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the northwest corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''NE corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the northeast corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''SE corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the southeast corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''SW corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the southwest corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Statistics&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''XY Size (metres):''' This param displays the size of the DEM in metres, as loaded from the file. If the size can't be derived from the DEM data directly it will be calculated based on georeferencing information.<br /> <br /> This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''XY Size (points):''' This the number of points in each direction of the DEM. This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Height Range:''' This field displays height information about the heightfield. It shows the minimum height, maximum height and the height range. The height range is the minimum height subtracted from the maximum height.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''DEM information field:''' This text field displays the following information about the DEM:&lt;br&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;Raster band units:&lt;/u&gt; This is the units used (metres, feet etc.) for the dimensions of the first raster band in the DEM.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;NODATA value:&lt;/u&gt; This shows the value which is used for NODATA values in the DEM.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;Coordinate system:&lt;/u&gt; This shows the coordinate system which is being used to georeference the DEM. The coordinate system is displayed using the OpenGIS Well Known Text format.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> &lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category: Heightfield Operators]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Geog_Heightfield_Load&diff=12236 2019-03-13T01:55:24Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:work_in_progress.jpg|center]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Geog heightfield load node can load and georeference digital elevation map (DEM) files. It supports many formats and projections. Geog heightfield load nodes can be created using the &quot;Heightfield (load DEM)&quot; item in the Add Terrain button menu at the top of the Terrain node list.<br /> <br /> You can see a list of the supported DEM formats supported by the node [http://www.gdal.org/formats_list.html here]. Terragen supports all of the formats which have &quot;Yes&quot; in the &quot;Compiled by default&quot; column of the table on that page. Most commonly used DEM formats are supported. Please note that not all of the supported formats have been tested, there are a lot of them and some are quite obscure.<br /> <br /> You may notice that Terragen's TER terrain file format (.ter) is listed in the supported formats. However we recommend that you use a [[Heightfield Load]] node to load Terragen terrains, because that uses Terragen's native file loading.<br /> <br /> DEMs often come as a collection of files. If you're not familiar with the DEM format you may need to experiment to see which file to open. A reasonable guess often seems to be to choose the largest file.<br /> <br /> Georeferencing settings are only available in the Professional edition. However the correct size for the DEM will still be calculated based on georeferencing if needed. Without the georeferencing settings the position of the DEM will be controlled by the [[Heightfield Shader]] the Geog heightfield load node is attached to.<br /> <br /> When you use a georeferenced DEM and the '''Georeference''' parameter is checked it will be placed at the correct position on the planet. However accuracy falls away as you move away from the origin of the planet, which corresponds to 0&amp;deg; latitude, 0&amp;deg; longitude or the Prime Meridian at the Equator. To ensure the best accuracy it's suggested that you move the planet origin to the area you're interested in. It's easy to do this. Let's say you've loaded a DEM and it's georeferenced. We'll move the planet origin so that it's at the southwest corner of the DEM. Follow these steps:<br /> <br /> &lt;ol&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> Click the copy/paste button (clipboard icon) at right of the '''SW corner lat long''' parameter.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Choose &quot;Copy coordinates&quot; from the menu which pops up. This will copy the lat/long values from both text fields at the same time.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Open the parameter view for the Planet 01 node (the default planet object). You can find this in the Objects node list or double click on the node in the network view.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> Paste the values into the planet's '''Lat long at apex''' parameter. You should use the copy/paste button for this again. Click the button and choose &quot;Paste coordinates&quot;.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ol&gt;<br /> <br /> Those steps move the planet origin to the area you're interested and should ensure the best results.<br /> <br /> The node allows you to replace NODATA values with a different value. NODATA values indicate areas in the DEM without valid data, which can often give the appearance of holes and similar in the terrain. [[The Library|Library]] previews for DEMs show NODATA areas drawn in red.<br /> <br /> The node uses [http://www.gdal.org GDAL] and [https://trac.osgeo.org/proj/ PROJ.4] to load and georeference DEM files.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Heightfield Operator&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> * '''Filename:''' This parameter lets you specify the DEM file to be loaded. Click the File button on the right to open a file chooser dialog.<br /> * '''Replace NODATA values:''' If this is checked any NODATA values in the DEM will be replaced with the value specified in the replacement value field to the right.<br /> * '''Update button:''' If you change the NODATA replacement value in the field to the left you will need to click this button to update the DEM with the new replacement values. The button is only available if '''Replace NODATA values''' is checked.<br /> <br /> <br /> The following georeferencing settings are only available in the Professional edition:<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Georeference:''' If this is checked the heightfield will be georeferenced according to the settings in the fields below. If you uncheck this the position of the DEM will be controlled by the [[Heightfield Shader]] this node is attached to. The DEM will still be the correct size (according to values derived from the file).<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Auto georeference from file:''' If this is checked the node tries to load georeferencing information for the DEM. This is on by default so when you a create a new node and choose a file the georeferencing information will be loaded automatically. If the node finds georeferencing information when it loads the file it also turns on the '''Georeference''' parameter. Please note that this also means that the georeferencing information will be read when the node loads as part of a project being opened. If you turn off the '''Georeference''' parameter you should also turn off '''Auto georeference from file''' or '''Georeference''' will be turned back on again when the project loads.<br /> <br /> If you make changes to the georeferencing values this parameter is turned off.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; <br /> '''NW corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the northwest corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''NE corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the northeast corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''SE corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the southeast corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''SW corner lat long:''' This sets the latitude and longitude of the southwest corner of the heightfield.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Statistics&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''XY Size (metres):''' This param displays the size of the DEM in metres, as loaded from the file. If the size can't be derived from the DEM data directly it will be calculated based on georeferencing information.<br /> <br /> This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''XY Size (points):''' This the number of points in each direction of the DEM. This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Height Range:''' This field displays height information about the heightfield. It shows the minimum height, maximum height and the height range. The height range is the minimum height subtracted from the maximum height.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''DEM information field:''' This text field displays the following information about the DEM:&lt;br&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;Raster band units:&lt;/u&gt; This is the units used (metres, feet etc.) for the dimensions of the first raster band in the DEM.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;NODATA value:&lt;/u&gt; This shows the value which is used for NODATA values in the DEM.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> &lt;u&gt;Coordinate system:&lt;/u&gt; This shows the coordinate system which is being used to georeference the DEM. The coordinate system is displayed using the OpenGIS Well Known Text format.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> This parameter is read only, however you can select and copy values from it.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> &lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category: Heightfield Operators]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=12208 2019-02-11T03:17:25Z

<p>JavaJones: /* Terragen Community-Generated Content */</p> <hr /> <div>== Welcome to the Planetside Software Wiki ==<br /> <br /> '''This is the primary source of documentation on Planetside Software's Terragen environment modeling and rendering products, including [[Terragen 4]] and [[Terragen Classic]] (deprecated).'''<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Please note: this documentation refers primarily to the latest version of Terragen (currently Terragen 4). Whenever the general term &quot;Terragen&quot; is used, it is referring to this most recent version, unless otherwise specified, e.g. &quot;Terragen Classic&quot;.&lt;/u&gt;<br /> <br /> 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:Contents|Help]] section.<br /> <br /> If you are a licensed user of Terragen and you need direct support, you can contact us via [http://planetside.co.uk/contact-us/ our contact page].<br /> <br /> == Terragen 4 Official Documentation ==<br /> <br /> ===Guides===<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic Terragen 4 scene.<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial 2: Adding a Lake]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A guide to adding a lake to a Terragen scene.<br /> <br /> [[The Default Scene Explained]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> When you open Terragen the first thing you see is a &quot;default&quot; scene, with basic terrain, planet, and atmosphere. This page explains how the default scene is set up.<br /> <br /> [http://planetside.co.uk/docs/tg2/tg2-guide-part1.pdf User Guide Part 1: Fundamental Concepts and User Interface Overview] &lt;br /&gt;<br /> The User Guide is a series of documents that give an overview of all the major work areas of Terragen 4 and how to construct a basic scene. It is designed to be read through completely over time. '''Please note: this document is currently being updated for the latest version of Terragen. We apologize for the inconvenience.'''<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 User Guide Part 2: Fundamental Rendering and Shader Concepts|User Guide Part 2: Fundamental Rendering and Shader Concepts]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This part of the User Guide explains some of the fundamental concepts used for rendering and shaders. <br /> <br /> [[Terrain and Water]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on creating and controlling terrain and water features.<br /> <br /> [[Surface Mapping and Shading]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Detailed information on applying surface maps, i.e. texturing, in Terragen 4. This section is oriented toward surface maps as applied to terrain, but much of the information also applies to object texturing.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Guide|Animation Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Animation functions in Terragen. It has information and tutorials about creating animations using TG4.<br /> <br /> [[The Library]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Library and Library window in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Network View Guide|Network View Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to using the Network View in TG4.<br /> <br /> [[Painted Shader Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This guide explains how to use and get the most out of the Painted Shader.<br /> <br /> [[Populator Guide]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> 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.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Clip Files]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This page introduces Clip files, how to create them and how to use them. Clip files let you save nodes or collections of nodes so you can use them again or send them to others.<br /> <br /> [[Working with Objects]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This is a guide to working with objects in TG4. It covers topics such as importing objects, creating objects, manipulating them in the 3D Preview and much more.<br /> <br /> [[Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmosphere/Cloud|A Guide to Rendering with Ray Trace Objects and Defer Atmo/Cloud]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> How and when to use the rendering options &quot;Ray trace objects&quot;, &quot;Defer atmo/cloud&quot; and &quot;Ray trace everything&quot;.<br /> <br /> [[FAQs and Troubleshooting]]<br /> <br /> [[Clouds Following Terrain Tutorial]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Get an in-depth understanding of the new cloud control functions in Terragen with this tutorial by Martin Huisman<br /> <br /> ===Reference===<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Node Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes all the Terragen 4 nodes.<br /> <br /> [[Glossary]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Glossary explains terms relevant to Terragen.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Input Settings Reference|Input Settings Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Lists all the input settings, such as mouse clicks and hot keys, that can be used in various views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Menu Reference|Menu Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the menus in the Terragen 4 menu bar.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Window Reference|Window Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Describes the different windows used in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 4 Animation Function Reference|Animation Module Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Gives an overview of the Animation Module as well as a reference for animation related windows and views.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Import-Export Reference|Import-Export Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> This reference describes Terragen 4's import and export capabilities.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Gathering Projects Reference|Gathering Projects Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes the project gathering process, which allows you to gather a project and related assets into a single folder.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 2 Global Illumination|Global Illumination]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains what Global Illumination is and how to use it in Terragen 4.<br /> <br /> [[Render Layers and Render Elements|Render Layers and Render Elements (Terragen 4 Professional)]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Explains the Render Layers system in Terragen 4 Professional, including Render Elements.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Preferences|Preferences]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Describes Terragen 4's preferences, which let you customise how the application behaves. You can find out about Terragen 4's preferences [[Terragen 42 Preferences|here]].<br /> <br /> [[Command Line Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> How to run Terragen 4 from the command line on Windows, Mac and Linux, and descriptions of all the command line options.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Resources ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen Resource List]]<br /> <br /> Find Terragen-compatible software, 3D models, content, and other resources.<br /> <br /> == Terragen Community-Generated Content ==<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 2/3 Tips and Tricks]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Some quick tips and tricks for using TG2.<br /> <br /> [[Terragen 2/3 Tutorials]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A list of tutorials, from beginning to advanced, to take you through how to do certain things with TG2.<br /> <br /> [[Tutorial planning Area]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A list of planned or desired tutorials<br /> <br /> [https://planetside.co.uk/free-downloads/ Free Plant Models]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> A link to some free plant model downloads on the Planetside Software website.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Resource_List&diff=12204 2019-01-13T21:12:55Z

<p>JavaJones: Replaced content with &quot;Please reference the new Terragen Resource List page on our main website: https://planetside.co.uk/terragen-resources/&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>Please reference the new Terragen Resource List page on our main website:<br /> https://planetside.co.uk/terragen-resources/</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Terragen_Import-Export_Reference&diff=12201 2018-11-13T03:49:39Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>=== Introduction ===<br /> <br /> This reference describes Terragen's import and export capabilities. This introduction gives a quick overview of what can be imported and exported from Terragen. For more information please refer to the '''Import''' and '''Export''' sections below.<br /> <br /> Terragen can import and export FBX files. Currently Terragen can import and export cameras, lights and markers, including animation. It can also export terrain geometry via the [[Micro Exporter]]. Please see the [[FBX Reference]] for more information about FBX import/export.<br /> <br /> Terragen can import and export several object formats. It can import and export Wavefront OBJ and Lightwave LWO2 formats. You can also export objects to the native TGO object format, as well as open them of course.<br /> <br /> You can export terrain geometry using a [[Micro Exporter]] node. A Micro exporter can be connected to a [[Render]] node and it then exports all rendered terrain geometry. You can export terrain geometry to FBX, OBJ, LWO2 and TGO formats.<br /> <br /> Clouds can be [[VDB_Export|exported to OpenVDB files]].<br /> <br /> Animation data can be imported from .chan/.mov and FBX files. You can also export camera data to .chan and FBX formats.<br /> <br /> Terragen supports importing and exporting heightfields in a number of heightfield/DEM formats, including many image formats. It can load georeferencing data from GeoTIFFs.<br /> <br /> Terragen can read and write many image formats at various bit depths.<br /> <br /> You can't export an entire Terragen scene and have it open intact in another application. For example it would not be possible to export Terragen shaders etc. and have them work in other applications. Generally speaking the idea is that you can export enough from Terragen that you can set up scenes and animation in another application and then import relevant parts, such as camera motion, back into Terragen. You can then use Terragen to render the landscape/environment, for example, and composite elements rendered in other applications with output from Terragen. Terragen has already been used in this fashion in a number of complex and high profile projects and integrated into studio pipelines.<br /> <br /> === Import ===<br /> <br /> [[FBX Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This describes Terragen's import/export capabilities for FBX files.<br /> <br /> [[Importing Animation Data from .chan/.mov Files]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This describes how Terragen can import animation data from .chan and .mov files. <br /> <br /> ==== Image Files ====<br /> This [[Supported Image Formats|page]] lists the image formats Terragen can open.<br /> <br /> ==== Object Files ====<br /> <br /> '''[[Wavefront OBJ Import]]'''<br /> <br /> '''[[Terragen TGO Format]]'''<br /> <br /> ==== Terrain Formats ====<br /> <br /> '''[[Terragen .TER Format]]'''<br /> <br /> === Export ===<br /> <br /> [[FBX Reference]]&lt;br /&gt;<br /> This describes Terragen's import/export capabilities for FBX files.<br /> <br /> '''Terrain Geometry'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> See the [[Micro Exporter]] node page for information on using the Micro exporter node to export terrain geometry. The Micro exporter is able to export geometry for procedural terrains including displacement and overhangs, which is not possible when exporting terrain as a heightfield.<br /> <br /> '''Cloud Volume Data'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> Beginning with Terragen 4.3, cloud layers can be exported to OpenVDB files using the Linux render node. See the [[VDB Export]] page for details.<br /> <br /> ==== Object Files ====<br /> <br /> '''[[Terragen TGO Format]]'''<br /> <br /> ==== Terrain Formats ====<br /> <br /> '''[[Terragen .TER Format]]'''</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Distribution_Shader_v4&diff=12165 2018-11-11T21:21:14Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:drex_module_137_image_0.png|center|Distribution Shader v4]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Distribution shader is a very useful shader. You could use it to apply colour to something while controlling where that colour appears. You can also use it to generate a mask that can be used to blend other shaders or do things like control where populations appear. It shares many of the same concepts as the [[Surface Layer]] when it comes to controlling where something appears based on altitude or slope, as well as having similar coverage and breakup settings. In many ways it's a basic version of a Surface Layer without things like displacement and luminosity.<br /> <br /> Let's say you have a grass population. You don't want it to appear on slopes steeper than 45&amp;deg;. You can do this using a Distribution shader as the input to the population's density shader. In the Distribution shader go to the '''Slope constraints''' tab, check the '''Limit maximum slope''' checkbox and enter 45 in the '''Maximum slope angle''' field. Repopulate the grass and you'll see that it's only appearing on parts of the terrain where the slope is 45&amp;deg; or less.<br /> <br /> The output of the shader will be referred to as a &quot;mask&quot; in the following documentation as this is the most common way of using the shader.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Colour Shader&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> * '''Colour:''' This sets the colour used to generate the mask. The mask will blend from this colour to black. Typically you would use white to generate a mask.<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Coverage, Breakup tab&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Coverage:''' This setting controls the coverage of the mask generated by the shader. It's a little like changing the transparency of the overall mask.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Fractal breakup:''' If this is checked the mask is broken up using the fractal assigned in the field to the right. This introduces more of a sense of randomness and texture to the maks. The amount of fractal breakup is specified in the controls immediately below. Larger numbers mean greater breakup. See [[Fractal Breakup Explained]] for details.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Invert breakup:''' If this is checked the fractal breakup pattern is inverted, i.e. light parts become dark and vice versa.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Blend by shader:''' You can check this and specify a shader using the field to the left to have even greater control over where the mask appears. By default the mask will cover the whole planet. However you could, for example, use an [[Image Map Shader]] to control where the mask appears using an image. You could use a [[Painted Shader]] to paint where you want the mask to appear. You could use a [[Simple Shape Shader]] to limit the mask to a hexagonal area. There are lots of different things you can do.<br /> <br /> Whiter parts of the shader show where the mask is more opaque. Shades of grey control the opacity or coverage of the layer. You can also control the RGB channels individually.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Invert breakup:''' If this is checked the blending shader is inverted, i.e. light parts become dark and vice versa.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Blend as coverage:''' If this is checked the blending shader is used to modify coverage rather than blending the mask as a whole. Blending as coverage allows for more sophisticated interaction with aspects of the shader such as fractal breakup. This can be a subtle effect though and is an advanced feature you would not typically need to use.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> ==Additional tabs for Distribution Shader v4.01==<br /> <br /> * [[Distribution Shader v4 - Altitude Constraints Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Distribution Shader v4 - Slope Constraints Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Distribution Shader v4 - Tweaks Tab]]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Colour Shader]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Surface_Layer&diff=12164 2018-11-11T21:20:39Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:drex_module_135_image_0.png|center|Surface Layer]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Surface Layer is a very important node. It's the node you would most often use to create surface textures for the terrain. It's one of the more complex nodes in Terragen 2 and has a lot of settings. However these settings are grouped together for the particular aspect of the surface they affect and are quite straightforward.<br /> <br /> If you used Terragen Classic you should find that many parts of the Surface Layer node are quite similar to Surface Layers, particularly the items in the Coverage and Breakup tab and the Altitude and Slope Constraints tabs. The other settings basically extend what the TG Classic Surface Layer could do.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Surface Shader&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Colour tab&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Apply colour:''' Check this checkbox to apply a basic surface colour to the whole surface layer. You can change the colour with the settings to the right or by using a colour function (see below).<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Colour function:''' This setting lets you assign a function or shader to control the colour of the surface.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Enable test colour:''' If you check this checkbox the specified colour will be applied to the surface. The test colour lets you specify a particular colour to help show where a surface layer is being applied without having to change the basic colour. By default the test colour is magenta.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Coverage and breakup tab&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Coverage:''' This setting controls the coverage of the surface layer. It's a little like changing the transparency of the overall surface layer. A smaller value means the layer shows up less and the underlying surface layers show through more.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Fractal breakup:''' If this is checked the surface layer is broken up using the fractal assigned in the field to the right. This introduces more of a sense of randomness and texture to the surface. The amount of fractal breakup is specified in the controls immediately below. Larger numbers mean greater breakup. See [[Fractal Breakup Explained]] for details.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Invert breakup:''' If this is checked the fractal breakup pattern is inverted, i.e. light parts become dark and vice versa.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Only breakup colour:''' If this is checked the fractal breakup only effects the colour of the surface layer and not the other characteristics of the surface layer.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Blend by shader:''' You can check this and specify a shader using the field to the left to have even greater control over where the surface shader appears. By default the surface layer will cover the whole planet. However you could, for example, use an [[Image Map Shader]] to control where the surface layer appears using an image. You could use a [[Painted Shader]] to paint where you want the surface layer to appear. You could use a [[Simple Shape Shader]] to limit the surface layer to a hexagonal area. There are lots of different things you can do.<br /> <br /> Whiter parts of the shader show more of the surface layer. Shades of grey control the opacity or coverage of the layer.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Invert breakup:''' If this is checked the blending shader is inverted, i.e. light parts become dark and vice versa.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Blend as coverage:''' If this is checked the blending shader is used to modify coverage rather than blending the surface shader as a whole. Blending as coverage allows for more sophisticated interaction with aspects of the shader such as fractal breakup.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Additional tabs for Surface Layer==<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Luminosity Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Displacement Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Smoothing Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Altitude Constraints Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Slope Constraints Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Effects Tab]]<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- imported from file: module_135.html--&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Surface Shader]]</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Fractal_Breakup_Explained&diff=12163 2018-11-11T21:20:07Z

<p>JavaJones: JavaJones moved page Fractal Breakup and Fuzzy Zone Explained to Fractal Breakup Explained without leaving a redirect</p> <hr /> <div>In the [[Surface Layer]] and [[Distribution Shader v4]], altitude constraints and slope constraints create fuzzy zones where coverage is neither 0 nor 1 but rather somewhere in between. Fractal breakup is designed to make the fuzzy zone look more interesting by adding randomness. It borrows the idea from Terragen Classic. In Terragen Classic it would not have been possible to make interesting surface maps without this feature. The Surface Layer shader in TGD is descended from the Surface Layer in Terragen Classic which had Coverage, Altitude and Slope Constraints, and a Fractal Breakup Amount.<br /> <br /> One way this is useful is to create natural looking snow lines, grass lines etc. Without the breakup, surfaces constraints cause a perfectly smooth fade which isn't natural for snow lines and grass lines. The breakup can give the impression that the slope and altitude values are offset by the value of the breakup shader (although the math is a bit different), and you can think of the breakup shader as a generator of randomness for this purpose. The larger the breakup amount (or the contrast in the breakup shader itself), the less it looks like a simple blend between the two surfaces.<br /> <br /> It also affects surfaces without altitude or slope constraints if you reduce the Coverage below 1. The Coverage parameter is designed to be an indicator of the probability of the surface being there, and the breakup affects the actual value at each point. Coverage &lt; 1 is a way to create a fuzzy zone without using altitude or slope constraints. If you set coverage to 1, you want the surface to appear everywhere (except where altitude/slope constraints apply). If you set it to 0.5 you are saying that there is reduced coverage, but the fractal breakup affects the appearance.<br /> <br /> Fractal breakup is not a mask. It is an offset of coverage, designed to randomise the distribution of surfaces wherever the coverage is less than 1. It just so happens that if the coverage is 0.5 then fractal breakup behaves like a simple mask, but it's designed to be more useful than that. When Coverage is 1 (and there are no other constraints) you are telling the shader that the surface should appear everywhere, regardless of what the fractal breakup is doing. Fractal breakup is only supposed to randomise the opacity if coverage is less than 1 (either by the Coverage slider being less than 1 or because of altitude/slope constraints).<br /> <br /> The breakup shader is expected to generate values between 0 and 1. The Surface Layer interprets a value of 0.5 to mean &quot;no offset&quot;, so opacity is simply the same as Coverage. When the breakup shader is less than 0.5 the opacity is reduced, and where it is greater than 0.5 the opacity is increased. With a fractal which randomly generates values both less than and greater than 0.5 in different places, the result is a randomisation of the opacity. When the fractal breakup has very high contrast the result is that Coverage affects how much of the surface is fully opaque as opposed to fully transparent, so Coverage modifies the probability of a particular point being opaque. When the fractal breakup has low contrast it simply offsets the opacity by a small amount, so Coverage behaves more like opacity.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Fractal_Breakup_Explained&diff=12162 2018-11-11T21:18:50Z

<p>JavaJones: Created page with &quot;In the Surface Layer and Distribution Shader v4, altitude constraints and slope constraints create fuzzy zones where coverage is neither 0 nor 1 but rather somewhere i...&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>In the [[Surface Layer]] and [[Distribution Shader v4]], altitude constraints and slope constraints create fuzzy zones where coverage is neither 0 nor 1 but rather somewhere in between. Fractal breakup is designed to make the fuzzy zone look more interesting by adding randomness. It borrows the idea from Terragen Classic. In Terragen Classic it would not have been possible to make interesting surface maps without this feature. The Surface Layer shader in TGD is descended from the Surface Layer in Terragen Classic which had Coverage, Altitude and Slope Constraints, and a Fractal Breakup Amount.<br /> <br /> One way this is useful is to create natural looking snow lines, grass lines etc. Without the breakup, surfaces constraints cause a perfectly smooth fade which isn't natural for snow lines and grass lines. The breakup can give the impression that the slope and altitude values are offset by the value of the breakup shader (although the math is a bit different), and you can think of the breakup shader as a generator of randomness for this purpose. The larger the breakup amount (or the contrast in the breakup shader itself), the less it looks like a simple blend between the two surfaces.<br /> <br /> It also affects surfaces without altitude or slope constraints if you reduce the Coverage below 1. The Coverage parameter is designed to be an indicator of the probability of the surface being there, and the breakup affects the actual value at each point. Coverage &lt; 1 is a way to create a fuzzy zone without using altitude or slope constraints. If you set coverage to 1, you want the surface to appear everywhere (except where altitude/slope constraints apply). If you set it to 0.5 you are saying that there is reduced coverage, but the fractal breakup affects the appearance.<br /> <br /> Fractal breakup is not a mask. It is an offset of coverage, designed to randomise the distribution of surfaces wherever the coverage is less than 1. It just so happens that if the coverage is 0.5 then fractal breakup behaves like a simple mask, but it's designed to be more useful than that. When Coverage is 1 (and there are no other constraints) you are telling the shader that the surface should appear everywhere, regardless of what the fractal breakup is doing. Fractal breakup is only supposed to randomise the opacity if coverage is less than 1 (either by the Coverage slider being less than 1 or because of altitude/slope constraints).<br /> <br /> The breakup shader is expected to generate values between 0 and 1. The Surface Layer interprets a value of 0.5 to mean &quot;no offset&quot;, so opacity is simply the same as Coverage. When the breakup shader is less than 0.5 the opacity is reduced, and where it is greater than 0.5 the opacity is increased. With a fractal which randomly generates values both less than and greater than 0.5 in different places, the result is a randomisation of the opacity. When the fractal breakup has very high contrast the result is that Coverage affects how much of the surface is fully opaque as opposed to fully transparent, so Coverage modifies the probability of a particular point being opaque. When the fractal breakup has low contrast it simply offsets the opacity by a small amount, so Coverage behaves more like opacity.</div>

JavaJones https://www.planetside.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Surface_Layer&diff=12161 2018-11-11T21:15:23Z

<p>JavaJones: </p> <hr /> <div>[[Image:drex_module_135_image_0.png|center|Surface Layer]]<br /> <br /> '''Node Description and Purpose:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> The Surface Layer is a very important node. It's the node you would most often use to create surface textures for the terrain. It's one of the more complex nodes in Terragen 2 and has a lot of settings. However these settings are grouped together for the particular aspect of the surface they affect and are quite straightforward.<br /> <br /> If you used Terragen Classic you should find that many parts of the Surface Layer node are quite similar to Surface Layers, particularly the items in the Coverage and Breakup tab and the Altitude and Slope Constraints tabs. The other settings basically extend what the TG Classic Surface Layer could do.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Node Type:''' Surface Shader&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Settings:'''&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Colour tab&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Apply colour:''' Check this checkbox to apply a basic surface colour to the whole surface layer. You can change the colour with the settings to the right or by using a colour function (see below).<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Colour function:''' This setting lets you assign a function or shader to control the colour of the surface.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Enable test colour:''' If you check this checkbox the specified colour will be applied to the surface. The test colour lets you specify a particular colour to help show where a surface layer is being applied without having to change the basic colour. By default the test colour is magenta.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;<br /> &lt;/ul&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Coverage and breakup tab&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;ul&gt;<br /> &lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Coverage:''' This setting controls the coverage of the surface layer. It's a little like changing the transparency of the overall surface layer. A smaller value means the layer shows up less and the underlying surface layers show through more.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Fractal breakup:''' If this is checked the surface layer is broken up using the fractal assigned in the field to the right. This introduces more of a sense of randomness and texture to the surface. The amount of fractal breakup is specified in the controls immediately below. Larger numbers mean greater breakup. See [[Fractal Breakup and Fuzzy Zone Explained]]<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Invert breakup:''' If this is checked the fractal breakup pattern is inverted, i.e. light parts become dark and vice versa.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Only breakup colour:''' If this is checked the fractal breakup only effects the colour of the surface layer and not the other characteristics of the surface layer.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Blend by shader:''' You can check this and specify a shader using the field to the left to have even greater control over where the surface shader appears. By default the surface layer will cover the whole planet. However you could, for example, use an [[Image Map Shader]] to control where the surface layer appears using an image. You could use a [[Painted Shader]] to paint where you want the surface layer to appear. You could use a [[Simple Shape Shader]] to limit the surface layer to a hexagonal area. There are lots of different things you can do.<br /> <br /> Whiter parts of the shader show more of the surface layer. Shades of grey control the opacity or coverage of the layer.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Invert breakup:''' If this is checked the blending shader is inverted, i.e. light parts become dark and vice versa.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> '''Blend as coverage:''' If this is checked the blending shader is used to modify coverage rather than blending the surface shader as a whole. Blending as coverage allows for more sophisticated interaction with aspects of the shader such as fractal breakup.<br /> &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Additional tabs for Surface Layer==<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Luminosity Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Displacement Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Smoothing Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Altitude Constraints Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Slope Constraints Tab]]<br /> <br /> * [[Surface Layer - Effects Tab]]<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- imported from file: module_135.html--&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Surface Shader]]</div>

JavaJones