rendering software for large outputs

Today I became the proud owner of standard WM. I did the 3G thing and created output 8192x8192 with the new world default settings. Then I tried loading it into Terragen and quickly found out that it would cost me 90 dollars (I think) to register Terragen – the non registered version will only process 512x512.

I’m hoping for a discussion on tools that can process these large files. Should I bite the bullet and invest in Terragen? I am just playing around and learning WM. The documentation of WM is fantastic, as is the program. Please help me understand more about the best ways to render the outputs.

Thanks, Piet

Hi Piet,

There’s a bunch of different software packages that can use WM output (heightfields).

The big rub is that fully featured software tends to have a price tag to match it; there’s also a variety of free resources that can produce some great images, but they tend to have steeper learning curves.

For free general rendering software, you could look into Pov-ray (http://www.povray.org), which I’ve used before with some success for landscape renders.

I’m sure other members here might have some other suggestions!

Re: registering terragen, it might certainly be worth it depending on your goals. TG is probably the easiest-to-use terrain renderer that can produce excellent results.

Thanks for that fast reply. I’ll probably bite the bullet and register Terragen then. I’m just playing, and I’ve had more fun with your program than playing games. I’m thinking that part of your success with this program was your ability to focus and stay focused on just the height fields in their different flavors. You decided to make it do what you wanted it to very very well.

Regarding WM, You are an amazing fellow!! I’ve seen good programs (often), good user interface (sometimes), and good - fun to read documentation (for the first time ever). And you managed to put all three of these things together at once.

You have provided us with a God like ability to generate beautiful things much like what might be found in the real world. A long time ago I wrote a stupid little program that dropped random grey colors. Then I took random shots at random pixels and averaged them to their neighbors. And then I had random rainfall that created rivers of blue that flowed down hill. So, anyway, this is fun stuff. All the while I was wondering how to do what I believe that you have managed to make happen.

Some thoughts regarding what you’ve created…
You allow local adjustments (by filter and algorithm), but it would be neat to manually control some aspects of this process. Something that could be used to “push down” or “pull up” some specific areas to “finish” a canyon perhaps.

I’m real glad I stumbled onto your program. I might have gone for the Google sandbox thing, but 500.00 is a bit much to just have fun.

Thanks again!! Piet

For almost the same amount of money (99$) you can buy Bryce 6 from DAZ (http://daz3d.com/).

Atmospheres are not as good as Terragen ones, but you are not stuck with only terrains and water; after a while, you need trees, meshes etc. to create something more than just deserts.

I am using Bryce 5 and I am waiting for Vue 6 to make the final decision whether to stick with Bryce or not. If you are thinking “well, I will be able to upgrade to TG2…” you are in for a long, long wait…

Bye!!!

So, you consider you’re more able to plan the TG2 release date than Planetside ? :slight_smile:

I personally strongly dislike Bryce renders, except for a few pictures they mostly always really look CG. Same for Vue, even if it’s better. And being a tester of TG2, well… my choice is done :smiley:

Maybe you can take a look on the free render software Blender.

http://www.blender.org/cms/Home.2.0.html

I suggest to take a look into the art gallery.

Another thing is that the Planetside Tech Preview release might be sooner then later is that recently JavaJones was hired by Planetside to help with all of there non-coding issues so this alone will naturally speed things up and set things in more motion. Has anyone here besides the alpha testers seen the latest alpha renders?

http://www.planetside.co.uk/gallery/f/tg2

I do not know about anyone else but looking at these it would be hard to imagine Vue 6 or even Bryce 6 doing anything more realistic IMHO. Allthough i am pleased to see Vue 6 with volumetric clouds so atleast e-on is moving in the right direction but it is still not Terragen 2’s quality. Bryce 6 is such a minor update that IMHO it is of no concern, perhaps Bryce 7 might be something more to talk about in the near future.

TG 0.9.19 will (and it has no disadvantages in comparison wit .9.43 except the missing 3D Preview)

I don’t like Bryce due to it’s GUI… it just isn’t practical - like the GUI of Poser too (both created by the same guy).

Not everybody is a tester of tg2 :mrgreen:

Have you seen the screens for Terragen 2? They state on the site about getting a discount or deducting the cost of the current verson when it comes out.

Looks too sweet to pass up. And the node based interface seems similar to WM as well.

I ended up registering it based on what I’ve read. I’ve got a lot of learning to do and a lot of playing

I ended up registering it based on what I've read. I've got a lot of learning to do and a lot of playing

Thank the Gods, you’ve made the right choice. You won’t regret it I assure you. Yea! welcome to burning the midnight oil. :stuck_out_tongue: