OK - need help here people!

[tdierikx]

I've just finished a 12 hour nightshift and decided to install Terragen and see what I could come up with - so if you think it stinks, please be honest... lol! :jawdrop:

I've posted my meagre attempt in the Beginner's gallery here - quick link to the image is... http://www.innertraveler.com/publicgallery/showphoto.php?photo=12604&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

Now - what I'd like is some very honest opinions on what I can do to improve my mastery of this fine application. I am more in tune with the abstract or bizarre, so let your imaginations run wild and give me some funky things to try, OK? :thinkey:

I'm using the non-commercial version 0.9.19 of Terragen, and am not about to purchase the commercial license at this stage of my learning - so please make sure your tips and pointers relate to the version that I'm using.

I'm off to bed now for a few hours - so fire away with yer tips and links and general comments... I'm up for it all right now! ;)

T.

[tdierikx]

Wow! Thanks for the nice comments on my Terragen image!

I'm sure that with some help from you fine folk, I might be able to come up with something better... so come on - post some tips and stuff in here for me to go try!

T.

[vos]

hey tdierikx,
I have just see your first Terragen,are you sure it is your first!!!
I go to try it,but it can take a time .Bye :beerchug:

[tdierikx]

Technically it is not my first Terragen image... I had a play with Terragen for about 1 hour about 2 years ago... if that counts... lol!

Since then, I have played around with various other graphics applications and gained a slightly better understanding of some of the terms used, and thus this image was somewhat easier to produce...

I still have no idea what I'm doing and really should be reading the manual.

This image was produced from a raw install of Terragen 0.9.19 non-commercial version - no plugins or any postwork used... I'm thinking if it can produce that sort of thing without any bells and whistles, I wonder what I can do when I do add some... errr!

Has anyone got any pointers as to what plugins, etc that I could download/install to help me get some more control over this beast of a program?

T.

[Revenant]

As I told you in the comment to your image, and absolutely agree with vos: great first (or so...) effort!

As I see there is some people in search for good sources of learning, here's a link to master Rids tutorial on surfacing!

http://terranuts.com/forums/articles.php?action=viewarticle&artid=13

I am giving this one because, while nearly everyone can get good results with water and sky on their early efforts, there is a lot to learn about surfacing (I remember my first days of eerie gray and green hills!).

[tdierikx]

Thank you Revenant!

T.

[DragonWizard]

I remember that I couldn't believe it was only your first real attempt... from a purely asthetic viewpoint, I use a light that comes in low and from the side, unless i want sillouettes... so hard because I use artmatic but have notices that some of the tricks I learned in my program will work in yours.... I agree that the actual texture mapping is a very important part to a good looking scape... i have been in hopes of figuring a way to export my Voyager Texturing which is procedural, into some other programs like Terragen or Mojo.... and Rids is a Pure genius at these...

[SanityImpaired1]

Execellent first image...
One of the things I did when learning Bryce was to take my first image and name it "imagename-00" (the original)...I made a copy "imagename-01"...in that image I went back and picked 1 element like the water...then tweaked...what happens if I add more reflection or less roughness...how does this interact with the other elements of the image...Then another copy of "imagename-00" as "imagename-02"...tweak the shadows...what happens? "imagename-03"...tweak something else...and so on. I always went back to the original so I could see what effect changing just one element had on the overall image...this really help me get a grasp on how the sky, light, shadows and reflections interact with each other.
I don't use Terragen...I did try the original version when it came out but it was full of bugs and was far too confusing to use...but after what I'm seeing in the Terragen gallery...I may have to give it another try.

[DragonWizard]

I have a copy, myself.. Would love to learn this program and see if I can find a common ground between it and Voyager, somewhere...I would have to start as a total newbie.......sheesh.. that will prove good for a laugh, I'm betting...lol....well, see ya there...and SI1, you're using the same method I use with the new Poser6, as it crashed on me a couple of times and not only did I lose the changes but the whole save file....corrupted... so I save in increments and save MANY files... it's always good to keep a new one when adding changes.. you only lose the changes... none of this has EVER happened in Artmatic Voyager as it seems to go right back to where it was and it is also stored in Recent Places in the Tool-Bar and Even then I've always saved a copy before I start my render....

Anyway if I can get it out and crank it up, I'll see what I can do.. it will definitely be my first Terragen Post....hehehe

Oh, yeah, I forgot...SI1... Your welcome to come post your landscapes information here as well, as this is the "Terrains and Landscape" Section... We have a Whole section in the Galleries also called Landscapes and I think we're going to be a major part of the site as a combined group....Maybe as big as the Poser and other figure making 3D sections here....Together we produce a Large proportion of the artwork here at I.T. , us Little old Terrain Makers are fairly prolific and seem to get a great reception in the Galleries..... :wave:

[tdierikx]

Thank you for the tips DragonWizard - I'll definitely try them out!

T.