Stottys
Terragen Texture Tips
ASSOCIATED
FILES: Terrain and World File in
ZIP format
This
is not intended as a tutorial, but a brief guide into how to get
started with textures..I am assuming that the intended audience
knows how to create a terrain and render an image. If you need guidance
on starting out in Terragen, try the tutorial by Carol Brooksbank
at http://caroluk2.crosswinds.net/terratut/
OK,
we all know how to create a scene in Terragen, BUT, the defaults
do not put any grass/trees/snow etc on your landscape…so how
do we do it?
Open up Terragen, but don't open any files so we start with defaults,
now generate a terrain you think looks good with some peaks and
a valley...
What is a texture?
-------------------
Textures
are built up one on top of another..starting with the floor. Obviously,
the floor must exist, so that is our base texture. We can then add
our own textures on top of this one.
PARENTS/CHILDREN????
If
you select any surface, say grass which covers 50% of the land from
10 meters to 150 meters high, the and child you add to this cannot
cover any area outside this range. if you wanted to add snow to
this scene which started at 300 metres, it cannot be a child of
a parent which only reaches 150 max.
Think
in terms of an upside down family tree..I will add some grass on
the floor of the valley and some snow on the hills
Our
Family:
GRASS
VARIATIONS SNOW VARIATIONS
|
|
GRASS (10mtrs-250m) SNOW (300+ mtrs)
|
|
--------------------
|
FLOOR(BASE
TEXTURE)
You
will see that there is nothing between 150 and 300m, our base rock
will be visable at this point in the scene.
Terragen method:
Select the Landscape dialog...in the bottom right, you should see
the "surface map" area.
In
the listbox, there should already be one texture created by default..this
is the Base Layer from which we build..Select that base Layer (It
is called "Surface Map")..and click edit...(or double
click the item)
This
will bring up a new dialog called the Surface Layer..it is this
box in which we do the interesting bits...
Select
the text at the top which says "Surface Map" and give
it a name "Base Rock"
We
will leave it as grey for now, but you can select the colour button
to change this anytime..
NOW
FOR SOME GRASS
------------------------
Go back to your landscape dialog, you should see "Base Rock"
in the list, select this and click "Add Child". A new
line should now have been added in the list called New surface.
Notice the indentation..this means it is a child of the base,
Double
click this new surface and call it "Grass"
Change the colour to green and bumpiness should be in the middle.
Select the "Advanced Distribution" tab (halfway down on
the right)
This
is where things get exiting......
I will
just explain briefly here the different settings:
Coverage
- How dense should this texture cover the land?
Fractal noise, how much smoothing to apply to the edges
Altitude - Take grass as the example:
Tick Max altitude and type 150m...and check Min Altitude - it should
equal 0 in this example.
The
sharp=>fuzzy scroller allows you to specify how preciscely it
should draw the lines on your picture...this requires the most fiddling
The
slope constraints should be fairly obvious by now, will grass grow
on steep sides? so reduce the Max slope slightly...
The
most useful thing in this dialog box is the little icon just above
the altitude settings...this is a representation of your map and
it will fill in white the texture you are dealing with.
OK..BUT..what about a shoreline????
--------------------------------------
Shorelines should be straight forward now...
remember that sand is quite smooth next to the water and a little
more bumpy aay from it..and sand does not usually stick to vertical
surfaces......
Add
a new child to the base rock and give it a max altitude+1m of your
water level and give it complete coverage. change the colour to
light brown..
I think
this is probably where you should have a look at the example I have
issued to see sand in action. I did not get it perfect myself and
there is huge scope for improvement...load up the files linked to
at the top of this guide and have a play..though don't re-submit
a picture with only minor adjustments, be creative...and please
provide a link to the resource if you use either of them.
Back
to Tutorial Page
|
