some landscapes

[Kraizhir]

I recently tried using terragen with some nice results.

 

 

it did take quite a bit of time to learn and play with the program.

 

Give me some criticism :mrgreen:

[Nadril]

Its late so I'm going to spare you a ton of details 5 am atm

 

 

 

 

 

First thing I should point out is a very basics, you shouldn't be too worried because pretty much EVERYONE messes this up their first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Mountains don't enter water at that kind of angle. The slope on the left is fine, but the one in the right is much too sharp. It just doesn't happen like that in real life.

 

 

 

 

 

- You have a very visable 'edge of the world' as I'd like to call it. You want to, at all means, keep away from doing that. Make sure that there is something, anything in the background so it doesn't look like that.

 

 

 

Its mostly just a preference thing however, and in this piece it pulls it off "ok" like. It still looks really chopped off.

 

 

 

 

 

- Textures textures textures! You need a surface map, pretty much. I know it takes learning but look up many tutorials, read the main sites deal about surface maps. It isn't a terribly complex thing to work with but can have a lot of power.

 

 

 

Download certain texture packs as well to help further the realism of a piece. Mixing in a texture of actual grass along with the various colors and bump maps you're doing will improve the quality a ton.

 

 

 

 

 

Also just (while I'm at it) a rule of thumb is:

 

 

 

+ Grass Can't grow on steep slopes. You can do this by going to the slope settings on the current surface map texture you are working on. I can't really give a specific but if the slope is bigger than say, \ <-- that than grass really can't grow on it.

 

 

 

+ Snow is usually found on the tips of mountains. This isn't needed for small hills and the like but it can add a nice bit of flavor, unless of course it is a scene in a fictional desert place.

 

 

 

+ Stratas are your friend. I can't give a great definition of it (look it up) but the pretty much are like what you'd see on a huge very steep cliff at a vertical angle. It also can really improve how rocks look.

 

 

 

+ Dirt is good to have, obviously.

 

 

 

+ I'm sure you know this, but the general rule of thumb for surface maps is:

 

 

 

Rock --> Dirt ---> Grass --> Snow

 

 

 

 

 

Which obviously means that in a surface map your tree will look like

 

 

 

+ Base (rock)

 

- Rock addition

 

+ Dirt

 

- Dirt addition

 

+ Grass

 

- Grass addition

 

- Grass addition

 

+ Snow

 

- snow addition

 

 

 

 

 

The +'s are the 'parent' layers and the '-' are the child.

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of the parent/child system pretty much think of it like this. A child can not be where a parent isn't, so it really is an extention to help further the realism of a texture. Think of it as an 'addition' to that texture only. For example, the child grass layer won't go anywhere that the main grass layer is already specified to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another tip is to download World Machine (google it). It's a terrain creation program that is far, far superior to what terragens is, and can let you get some very nice results with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally think of terragen really as an advanced photography kind of art. You create a scene first, and then you take a "photo" of that said scene. Try and keep realism in mind unless it is an alien planet, and really just work on it.

 

 

 

 

 

The atmosphere looks fine for a first, and really that comes with practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, if you're interested in what is possible with terragen, check out http://Nadril.deviantart.com

 

 

 

 

 

I know, shameless plug but it shows you what can be done with the program. When you get better as well you can use photoshop to help enhance the terragen renders more, and many talented artists have done this, for example Alyn from deviantart. His landscape pieces are brilliant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wrote a bit more than I thought I would... I hope you can use this well.

 

 

 

~Nadril

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS: to everyone else, yes I'm in a good mood so no flaming for me right now.

[Kraizhir]

i am very glad to get your feedback!

 

When just learning about landscapes, it was one of your threads from way back when about terragen. I must say your landscapes are great! About how long does your average landscape take?

[Nadril]

i am very glad to get your feedback!

 

When just learning about landscapes, it was one of your threads from way back when about terragen. I must say your landscapes are great! About how long does your average landscape take?

 

 

 

It varies a lot I would have to say. Larger wallpaper pieces will take several hours to set up a scene, perfect the surface map / atmosphere / ect. I then usually spend more time on it in photoshop to touch it up.

 

 

 

 

 

I have the full version of terragen so I usually render an image at least twice as big as what i want it to be, so I can downscale it for more quality. For example a 1600x1200 desktop wallpaper I render at 3200x2400 or larger. That usually takes many hours (5-7 probably depending on the size) so I do it overnight.