Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene - Revision history

BFlasher: BFlasher moved page Creating Your First Scene to Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene

2018-09-26T22:37:26Z

BFlasher moved page Creating Your First Scene to Tutorial 1: Creating Your First Scene

BFlasher: /* The Four Main Panes in a Terragen Layout */

2018-09-11T22:42:31Z

‎The Four Main Panes in a Terragen Layout

BFlasher: /* The Four Main Panes in a Terragen Layout */

2018-09-11T22:42:14Z

‎The Four Main Panes in a Terragen Layout

BFlasher at 19:17, 11 September 2018

2018-09-11T19:17:23Z

BFlasher at 19:01, 11 September 2018

2018-09-11T19:01:16Z

BFlasher at 18:58, 11 September 2018

2018-09-11T18:58:02Z

Matt: Added a line break before "Modifying the Terrain"

2018-09-11T07:29:15Z

Added a line break before "Modifying the Terrain"

Matt: Adjusted one line break

2018-09-11T07:21:26Z

Adjusted one line break

Matt: Added a line break

2018-09-11T07:20:36Z

Added a line break

BFlasher: /* Modifying the Terrain */

2018-09-10T23:45:41Z

‎Modifying the Terrain

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 The panes are as follows:
 * '''3D Preview Pane:''' You should already have some familiarity with this from the previous section. This is where you’ll navigate around the terrain, change your camera angle, and see a preview of what your scene will look like.
-* '''Node Network Pane:''' There isn’t much to add here to what we discussed in the “A Brief Introduction to Nodes” section. This displays a list of all the nodes that are being used to build your scene. You won’t be directly interacting with this pane in this tutorial, but it’s good to be aware that it’s there.
+* '''Node Network Pane:''' There isn’t much to add here to what we discussed in the “A Brief Introduction to Nodes” section. This displays a list of all the nodes that are being used to build your scene. You won’t be directly interacting with this pane in this tutorial, but it’s good to be aware of it.
 * '''Node List Pane:''' This shows a list of all the nodes that are grouped with the current layout. This is where you’ll be selecting which nodes to modify.
 * '''Node Properties Pane:''' This shows the properties of whichever node is currently selected in the node list. This is where you’ll be doing most of your work in this tutorial: modifying nodes to make changes to your scene.

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 The panes are as follows:
 * '''3D Preview Pane:''' You should already have some familiarity with this from the previous section. This is where you’ll navigate around the terrain, change your camera angle, and see a preview of what your scene will look like.
-* '''Node Network Pane:''' There isn’t much to add here to what we discussed in the “A Brief Introduction to Nodes” section. This displays a list of all the nodes that are being used to build your scene. You won’t be directly interacting with this pane at all in this tutorial, but it’s good to be aware that it’s there.
+* '''Node Network Pane:''' There isn’t much to add here to what we discussed in the “A Brief Introduction to Nodes” section. This displays a list of all the nodes that are being used to build your scene. You won’t be directly interacting with this pane in this tutorial, but it’s good to be aware that it’s there.
 * '''Node List Pane:''' This shows a list of all the nodes that are grouped with the current layout. This is where you’ll be selecting which nodes to modify.
 * '''Node Properties Pane:''' This shows the properties of whichever node is currently selected in the node list. This is where you’ll be doing most of your work in this tutorial: modifying nodes to make changes to your scene.

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 {|
 |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_horiz.png|border|90px|Horizontal movement controls]]
-|'''Horizontal movement (left, right, back, forward):''' Left-click and hold 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.
+|'''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.
 |-
 |[[File:FirstScene_-_Navtool_altitude.png|border|90px|Horizontal movement controls]]
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 === Modifying the Fractal Terrain 01 Node ===
-To make changes to the terrain, we’ll be modifying the "Fractal terrain 01" node. This node should be selected by default, so its properties should be displayed in the Node Properties pane. If it is not selected, click on its name in the node list.
+To make changes to the terrain, we’ll be modifying the "Fractal terrain 01" node. This node should be selected by default, so its properties should be displayed in the Node Properties pane. If it is not selected, click its name in the node list.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Fractal_terrain_01_node.jpg|border|900px|The "Fractal terrain 01" node selected]]
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 == Shaders (Texturing) ==
-Now that we’re happy with our terrain, let’s give it some more interesting color and texture. Click on the '''Shaders''' layout button to navigate to the Shaders layout.
+Now that we’re happy with our terrain, let’s give it some more interesting color and texture. Click the '''Shaders''' layout button to navigate to the Shaders layout.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Shaders_layout.jpg|900px|border|The shaders layout]]
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 We want to focus on the top section of this tab, which shows the high colour and low colour.  The terms "high colour" and "low colour" may be a bit confusing at first; these names don’t correspond to the high and low points of the terrain, but rather to the high and low parts of the internal noise function that is used to apply these colors to the terrain. In simplified terms, this noise function generates color patterns in the range between the high and low colour. Most commonly, you would choose a brighter color for the high colour, and a darker shade of a similar color for the low colour. That’s what we’re going to do now.
-We want to make our base layer look like dirt, so we’re going to choose two shades of brown. Let’s start with the high colour. Click on the '''current colour''' box on the '''"Apply high colour"''' line to open the color picker window for the high colour.
+We want to make our base layer look like dirt, so we’re going to choose two shades of brown. Let’s start with the high colour. Click the '''current colour''' box on the '''"Apply high colour"''' line to open the color picker window for the high colour.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_High_colour_colour_window.jpg|border|700px|Opening the Colours window]]
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 Pick a nice bright earth tone brown for the high colour. (If you’re looking for a good starting point, try RGB 99, 84, 47.) Click "OK" when you have a color that you’re happy with. You will see the preview update with your new color choice.
-Now click on the '''current colour''' box on the '''"Apply low colour"''' line to open the color picker window for the low colour. You want a darker shade of brown for the low colour. (Try RGB 47, 43, 32 if you’re looking for a starting point.)
+Now click the '''current colour''' box on the '''"Apply low colour"''' line to open the color picker window for the low colour. You want a darker shade of brown for the low colour. (Try RGB 47, 43, 32 if you’re looking for a starting point.)
 Note that if you just want to adjust the brightness of either color, you can use the sliders to the left of the current colour boxes, or enter a numerical value to the left of the slider.
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 <br><br>
-First off, click on the '''Name''' field and change this to something descriptive, like "Grass". This will make it easy to keep track of our layers when we add more. Next we’ll adjust the color. The color settings here work the same as they do in the "Base colours" node except that there is only one color. Click the '''current colour''' box on the '''"Apply colour"''' line to choose a new color. Pick something greenish-yellow with low-medium saturation. (RGB 102, 119, 27 is a good color to start with.)
+First off, click the '''Name''' field and change this to something descriptive, like "Grass". This will make it easy to keep track of our layers when we add more. Next we’ll adjust the color. The color settings here work the same as they do in the "Base colours" node except that there is only one color. Click the '''current colour''' box on the '''"Apply colour"''' line to choose a new color. Pick something greenish-yellow with low-medium saturation. (RGB 102, 119, 27 is a good color to start with.)
 The color is looking good, but we don’t want grass to cover the whole scene. Select the '''"Altitude constraints"''' tab.
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 The default scene has two light sources: "Enviro light" and "Sunlight 01". "Sunlight 01" is our direct light source, simulating the sun. "Enviro light" provides global illumination, simulating light which is reflected and scattered by the environment. Together, these light sources provide realistic, natural, Earth-like light, which is exactly what we want for our scene.
-Let’s adjust the sun position and angle to achieve a more dramatic effect. Click on the '''"Sunlight 01"''' light source in the upper-left pane to bring up its settings.
+Let’s adjust the sun position and angle to achieve a more dramatic effect. Click the '''"Sunlight 01"''' light source in the upper-left pane to bring up its settings.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Sunlight_01_selected.jpg|900px|border|The "Sunlight 01" light source selected]]
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 <br><br>
-In the atmosphere layout, you’ll see a single node named "Atmosphere 01".  It should be selected by default. If it isn’t, click on it to bring up its settings.
+In the atmosphere layout, you’ll see a single node named "Atmosphere 01".  It should be selected by default. If it isn’t, click it to bring up its settings.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Amosphere_01_node.jpg|border|700px|The "Atmosphere 01" node selected]]
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 === Adding Clouds ===
-The last thing we’ll add to our scene is some nice clouds to liven up that plain blue sky. Clouds are added in the atmosphere layout, which you should already be in. Click on the '''Add Cloud Layer''' button above the node list and select '''Mid-level: Altocumulus Castellanus, Large'''.
+The last thing we’ll add to our scene is some nice clouds to liven up that plain blue sky. Clouds are added in the atmosphere layout, which you should already be in. Click the '''Add Cloud Layer''' button above the node list and select '''Mid-level: Altocumulus Castellanus, Large'''.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Add_cloud_layer.jpg|border|700px|Adding a cloud layer]]
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 As previously noted, your renders up to this point have been a bit grainy and lacking in detail. That’s because the default render settings are intended to balance speed with a reasonable level of quality, rather than the optimal quality you want in a final render. In this section, we’ll take a brief look at the available detail settings to improve the look of our scene and then we’ll render a high quality final image.
-Click on the '''Renderers''' layout button to navigate to the Renderers layout.
+Click the '''Renderers''' layout button to navigate to the Renderers layout.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Renderers_layout.jpg|border|700px|The Renderers layout]]
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 |}
-Now we want to test our new quality settings, but don’t want to wait for the whole scene to render. Fortunately, Terragen includes a crop function for just this purpose. You can render just a piece of your scene to get an idea of how the render settings will look. Click on the '''Crop''' tab in the Node Properties pane.
+Now we want to test our new quality settings, but don’t want to wait for the whole scene to render. Fortunately, Terragen includes a crop function for just this purpose. You can render just a piece of your scene to get an idea of how the render settings will look. Click the '''Crop''' tab in the Node Properties pane.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Crop_tab.jpg|border|700px|The Crop tab]]
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 Check the '''"Do crop region"''' box to turn the crop function on. You should see a red box appear around the borders of your 3D preview. This red box indicates the boundaries of your crop region.
-You can adjust the crop area using the crop sliders, but it's much easier to simply drag the crop area boundaries in the 3D Preview pane. Click and drag from a corner or middle of an edge to adjust the crop outline. Click and drag the small square in the middle of the crop outline to move the whole crop outline. Move the crop outline so that it incorporates both land and sky, preferably with some clouds included.
+You can adjust the crop area using the crop sliders, but it's much easier to simply drag the crop area boundaries in the 3D Preview pane. Drag from a corner or middle of an edge to adjust the crop outline. Drag the small square in the middle of the crop outline to move the whole crop outline. Move the crop outline so that it incorporates both land and sky, preferably with some clouds included.
 [[File:FirstScene_-_Cropped_region_example.jpg|border|This is a good example of a cropped selection]]

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 <br><br>
-Hold down the Alt key (Option on a Mac), left-click, and drag upward in the 3D preview to angle the camera up a bit. Now, still holding Alt/Option, middle-click and drag down to move the camera forward. Finally, right-click and drag up to move the camera down into the terrain. You want to get closer to the ground, but make sure you are still well above it. (Note that the camera will pass freely through the terrain, so if you move it down too far, you’ll go through the ground. If this happens, you'll see a red icon appear below the compass in the 3D Preview pane.)  Fine-tune your view using these controls to find a perspective you like.
+Hold down the Alt key, left-click, and drag upward in the 3D preview to angle the camera up a bit. Now, still holding Alt, middle-click and drag down to move the camera forward. Finally, right-click and drag up to move the camera down into the terrain. You want to get closer to the ground, but make sure you are still well above it. (Note that the camera will pass freely through the terrain, so if you move it down too far, you’ll go through the ground. If this happens, you'll see a red icon appear below the compass in the 3D Preview pane.)  Fine-tune your view using these controls to find a perspective you like.
 You can also adjust the camera with the navigation control tool located in the upper-right corner of the 3D Preview pane.

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 <br><br>
-This should give you sharper mountain shapes with more dramatic ridges. You might want to do a render of the scene to check out the full effect. You can either open the render window and click '''Render''' as you did in the previous section, or press Ctrl+R/Command+R to open the render window and begin rendering immediately.
+This should give you sharper mountain shapes with more dramatic ridges. You might want to do a render of the scene to check out the full effect. You can either open the render window and click '''Render''' as you did in the previous section, or press Ctrl+R/Cmd+R to open the render window and begin rendering immediately.
 {| class="wikitable"
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 <br><br>
-Enable '''"Limit maximum slope"'''. This will limit the maximum slope angle (in degrees) that this layer will be applied to. Set the '''"Maximum slope angle"''' to about '''25''' with the '''"Max slope fuzzy zone"''' (also in degrees) at about '''10'''. You may wish to test your settings in an actual render (Ctrl+R/Command+R).
+Enable '''"Limit maximum slope"'''. This will limit the maximum slope angle (in degrees) that this layer will be applied to. Set the '''"Maximum slope angle"''' to about '''25''' with the '''"Max slope fuzzy zone"''' (also in degrees) at about '''10'''. You may wish to test your settings in an actual render (Ctrl+R/Cmd+R).
 The grass layer is starting to look more natural now, but it still looks a bit too uniform. We’ll address this in the '''Coverage/Breakup''' tab. Select this tab to view the options.

← Older revision	Revision as of 22:37, 26 September 2018
(No difference)

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 |}
-<br><br>
+<br>
 Once you have set the camera to a position you like, click the '''"Copy this view to the current render camera"''' button on the bottom-left of the 3D preview toolbar to set the camera position to this view. (If you don’t press this button, the scene will render from the original camera position.)

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 |'''Movement speed:''' Sets the speed of all the movement controls in the navigation control tool.
 |}
 Once you have set the camera to a position you like, click the '''"Copy this view to the current render camera"''' button on the bottom-left of the 3D preview toolbar to set the camera position to this view. (If you don’t press this button, the scene will render from the original camera position.)

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 {| class="wikitable"
-|'''Note:''' Save your work often! Terragen doesn't auto-save, so be sure to periodically save your progress. (Open the '''File''' menu and select either '''Save''' or '''File > Save As...''' to save the project.)
+|'''Note:''' Save your work often! Terragen doesn't auto-save, so be sure to periodically save your progress. (Open the '''File''' menu and select either '''Save''' or '''Save As...''' to save the project.)
 |}