How To Use Backgrounds In Terragen

Terragen Classic is a free stand up-lone scenery generator for non-commercial employ. Terragen creates photorealistic images upwards to 1280 pixels wide, based on your inputs for terrain, clouds, h2o and atmosphere. You can choose whether to make world bound images, or if you like, create a view from Mars. Camera angle and acme, sun bending and height, water reflectivity, atmosphere haze, forth with cloud density and color are all adjustable. Terragen Classic is a great manner to find out if you lot really like synthesizing landscapes risk-free — except for your time of grade. If yous want greater capability in prototype size, you can annals your copy of software, or opt the greater capability of Terragen 2. A huge diversity of terrain files are available online. The aim of this tutorial is to requite yous an overview of basic programme controls using a starting file gear up; this is not meant to be a comprehensive tutorial on Classic Terragen.

Stride one

First, you must take Classic Terragen installed on your calculator. Classic Terragen is available for gratuitous download. Choose either the Windows or Mac version according to your platform. A Mac version of this text is available.

Once installed, Terragen is ready to go. You tin can go build your own terrains, add your own surface textures, construct your own atmospheres, etc, and render to your hearts content. Alternatively, to shorten the learning curve, information technology is much easier to commencement with a pre-built terrain and pre-built parameter set (called a "world file").

Stride 2

There are many sources on the web for free terrain and world file downloads. A lilliputian searching will find enough downloads to keep you rendering for a long, long time. For the subject of this tutorial, we will be using a terrain made available here.

The terrain is "American Dream." Click the image to download the zip file to your estimator. You will need to unzip this terrain into its native .ter format for use within the program. Please respect the "not commercial" conditions at the top of the page and give credit to the author of the file.

Pace 3

All the parameters required to render a scene are contained in "globe files." For this particular terrain I have synthetic the following world file called "Naturescapesnew." It is available for download.

So, now nosotros have the three components necessary to brainstorm rendering: 1) Terragen program installed; 2) Terrain downloaded; three) World file downloaded.

Starting Classic Terragen

When you lot get-go the program you will be faced with the Rendering control screen and the Landscape screen every bit shown beneath.

Now permit us load upwards the world file that you downloaded before. Go to "globe file," then "open up earth."

Observe the Naturescapesnew.tgw file on your computer.

Side by side become to the Landscape screen, click on Terrain > Open and find the DTH-American Dream.ter file on your computer.

Note: The unregistered version of Terragen Classic only allows a maximum terrain filigree size of 513 X 513. We will therefore need to re-size our downloaded Terrain every bit follows:

• Go back to the Landscape screen above. Click on the "size" push in the top correct paw corner.
• A Landscape settings screen will pop upwardly. Click on the 513 grid signal button at the top of the screen.
• A "Confirm New Terrain Map" screen will popular upwardly. Click on the "Yes" button.
• A "copy and resize Terrain" dialog box pops up. Click on the "Aye" button.
• Another dialog box pops up that reads "Adjust the bespeak spacing" click on the "Aye" push button.

We're most there! To finalize the terrain sizing, click on the "OK" button at the bottom of the Landscape Settings dialog box.

Rendering

Your screen should now look similar this:

Now comes the magic. Go back to your render control screen and hit "Render Image."

Presto! Congratulations, y'all take but rendered your beginning Classic Terragen landscape.

So that's pretty elementary, but you desire to render your ain concept right?

OK, let's go to the Mural screen. Click on the epitome of the terrain. You will come across the following Landscape View/sculpt screen pop up.

Experiment a bit. Right click inside the screen to movement your camera location. Left click to obtain a new camera target. Once you've plant something yous similar, become back to the render control screen hit render preview to see your new view. You tin as well fine tune the camera settings past inputting numerical position data directly into the render control screen.

Water
Things look pretty dry and so far. Can Terragen render water? Of class! Click on the water icon to pull upward the water parameter screen. To start, put in a h2o height of 600m and hit "Update Maps."

The water elevation will now evidence upwards every bit blue on your terrain maps.

Do a quick Render Preview to see what things look like.

The h2o parameter screen likewise contains numerous setting allowing you to adjust wave backdrop, reflections, water colors and transparency, equally well as shoreline cream effects. I encourage you lot to play with each of these settings, endeavor a exam render to run across what outcome they have.

Clouds
A quick click on the cloudscape icon gets you into the deject parameter screen.

Once again, here the options are numerous – everything from cloud color to altitude to density. When adjusting parameters, don't forget to press the generate clouds button and update the view. Then practice a render preview to see the upshot. Likewise note that what shows in the cloudscape screen volition be a meridian downward shot of the deject layer. Therefore, moving your camera around will give you different cloud views from the ground. Requite information technology a try!

Atmosphere
One of the about powerful tools in the Terragen arsenal is the temper parameter set.

Atmosphere settings alter not just atmosphere colors, effects, and mood but tin too dramatically change the appearance of surface texture colors themselves.

The atmosphere set consists of three components:

1. Haze
2. Atmospheric bluish
3. Light decay

The overall effect of each of these components is described beside each item. Using the Haze settings every bit an case, increasing density increases the density of the fog. Increasing the one-half height increases the distance at which the fog begins to take result.

Once again, in this example using the original globe file, notation from the Rendering control panel that the photographic camera sits at an altitude of 969.9m, but is at 650m above the surface. So, basis level where the photographic camera sits is nearly 319.9m.

Note: If you've kept your h2o top at 600m from before, reduce information technology back to 0m again to run across the following effect.

Put in a number of nearly 160m for the haze one-half height. Practise a quick render preview. You should begin to meet some fog developing in your render. As yous increase your half height, the fog becomes more and more pronounced!

Now, if you go back to your h2o elevation screen and put back in 600m for the water elevation and exercise a return preview, you lot volition notice that the fog is gone. Why? Well, the fog is there just it is at present under h2o. You will need to become and increase the elevation of the haze one-half peak. Try 300m for the one-half height and you will come across the fog appear again.

Every bit some other example, if you've moved your camera location around from that set out in the original globe file, you lot may find that the temper doesn't render. Notation that the sky elevation is set at 2100m in the deject parameter dialog. And so, if your chosen camera elevation is above 2100m, the heaven will non render. To ready this adjust either the heaven pinnacle or the camera peak accordingly. It is important to notation the relative elevations of the terrain, the photographic camera, the water, etc. to ensure that your parameters will bear witness up properly in your final render.

The effects on both the atmospheric blue and light disuse parameters work in a similar mode to the haze. Give them each a attempt to come across the effect on the render.

Lighting Atmospheric condition
Another powerful tool is the lighting control panel within Terragen. It contains numerous options to accommodate lighting angles, position, strength, colors, appearance of the sun, groundwork low-cal and lighting effect on the atmosphere.

Left click within the sunday heading and altitude screens to change the sun'south position. Other parameter modifications are for the near function cocky explanatory. Once more i of the best ways to see for yourself is to adjust each one individually and note the effect they take on your render.

Landscape
This parameter set has been left until the concluding considering it is often causes the most confusion.

The surface map is what defines your surface textures. It defines not only the color but also the distribution.

The surface map ever starts with a base layer. A base layer exists everywhere! Subsequent layers will cover a layer that appears before it, just you control its distribution upshot on that preceding layer.

In this world file case, we take in essence, simply 5 primary layers: Surface (Base), Mount 1, Mountain 2, Mountain three, and Veg.

Y'all will note that the mountain ii, 3 and veg layers have a + sign adjacent to them…that indicates that they have kid layers. Click on the + sign to expand them further to come across their child layers. A Child layer only affects information technology Parent layer. And so, you tin can consider a layer that has child layers to be a highly refined Parent layer.

If you lot double click on the mount ane layer, you lot will bring upwardly a the surface texture parameter screen:

On the upper one-half of the screen, y'all can modify the texture color and bumpiness. Under the advanced distribution tab below, yous are able to control the verbal coverage of this layer. If you adjust the coverage slider to the correct, more of the terrain volition take on this attribute. You can also adjust the "noisiness" every bit well as altitude and slope constraints. Similar adjustments tin can be made to each surface layer. Hovering your mouse over each parameter volition bring up text assist describing control parameters.

If you wish to add, remove or reposition layers, go back to the Landscape tab and press the advisable buttons on the right hand side of the screen.

One really good way to run across what effect the layer controls have is to add a brand new layer and give it a vivid color (white or brilliant dark-green work well). Do a return preview and see where and how it shows upwardly on your terrain. And so go dorsum and make some adjustments to that brightly colored layer and take a look at the effect of your change and how it now appears on your terrain.

Basic File Functions

One time you have modified all the parameters and you institute something worthy of rendering, don't forget to salvage the world file! Also annotation that you lot can save surface files, atmosphere files and lighting files separately. That means you tin can open an existing world file then get and select another temper file that you created for another render, apply that atmosphere file to the new world file.

Summary

Although archetype Terragen is a relatively minor program, it is quite powerful and flexible in allowing you to alter terrains and scenes from the realistic to the surrealistic. The but limit is your imagination.

Do non limit yourself to one earth file gear up. Play with each of the parameters, exercise render previews to see the effect of each change and save the parameter sets that entreatment to y'all! Endeavor different terrains. In add-on to computer created fantasy terrains, with a little searching on the web you lot will also find gratis terrains of bodily earth features such as the Grand Canyon, Mountain St. Helens, etc.

Almost importantly, HAVE FUN!

Again, this tutorial was not intended to exist a comprehensive screen by screen review of controls, but an overview of basic concepts with a given world file and terrain. There are numerous detailed tutorials available on the web. One of the best places to first is the Terragen website itself for plug-ins, terrains, forum, and tutorial links.

How To Use Backgrounds In Terragen,

Source: https://www.naturescapes.net/articles/techniques/terragen-classic-basics-for-windows/

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