Hi All,
I have been playing around with Ter2Blend and I have got it working within my enviroment. However I feel it is in need of some updates which I am looking at implementing. In order to determine what the order of the improvements will be, I thought I would ask here to see what people would like see implemented.
Overall aim, move it towards a standalone python script which can be used in any blender enironment
Specific tasks:
Ehm… what is Ter2Blend ?
Ter2Blend imports meshes from Terragen, allowing you to bring in terrain messages with a backbuf image, to combine them with other blender objects
Cheers
David
The other message I posted appears to have disappeared, but no worries. The things I was thinking of changing are related to ensuring that the python script can run in any blender environment rather than the one supplied with the script bundle. This would mean that the work environment that you have will not change
Specfic items are (in no particular order)
Convert the script so that it can load under the import menu
Get the script to create all the elements it needs in the script
Give the user the choice of which layer it will create the mesh, camera, and lights in
Increase the size of the mesh that can be loaded (Limited by memory).
Combine animation scripts into the same loader
User choice of lens
Get the script to set the textures automatically.
Does any one else have any specific requests. (I don’t know if all the options are possible within the python API, but I will give it a go)
Cheers
David
hi, this would be a welcome initiative,
so if I understand you will be doing this for terragen 0.9 series,
which is still really good.
thing I miss apart from what you’ve mentioned are the world background & enviroment & shadows (cloud mainly).
m.a.
Indeed it is for Terragen 0.9. I will have a look at the other features you have suggested
David
A quick update as I managed to get some time today. The source code in in SVN on projects.blender.org and I have started the updates on the code. I will post a new message here when I get the next version ready to go
Cheers
David
thanks again,
the ability to import
.ter (landscapes)
.srf (textures)
.atm (atmospheres)
from Terragen into Blender will be great.
Once done I’ll release a lot of files for community use.
m.a.
maybe if u could give some examples of what this script would be capable of doing with the terragen data in blender, then maybe ill understand this stuff better.
thanks
basically to import all the data from Terragen into Blender as a 3d Scene.
Mesh, Atmosphere, Textures.
m.a.
ok, id be in favor of an easy way to do this. maybe a tut when its finished would be nice.
any chance of a script like ter2blend being written for terragen 2? 
that would rock!!!
I 2nd MicWit - with Terragen 2 Technology Preview now available (for free), why would anyone be messing with .9?
Export to Terragen 2 would also be killer.
I just had a quick look at the terragen2 technology preview and I think it should be possible to write an importer/exporter (terragen2 actually exports lightwave objects for which blender has an importer).
My question would be though: what would you use it for? Terragen2 can already import .obj files which blender can export, so wouldn’t that be enough? (just asking before I decide if it’s worth diving deeper into this)
well, for Terragen 2, you are looking at a not really free program, many features are disabled, it is somewhat difficult to use as it is aimed at advanced users/artists, not entry level artists.
Also the file format is completely different, so an entirely new script would be needed, much more complex than building upon what is already nearly there.
The workflow for T2 would be to import your model from Blender, into Terragen2, or alternatively render the image/animation in Terragen2 then use your skills in Blender’s compositor. You would need to purchase Terragen2 to get any usable results.
with Terragen 0.9 series the program is completely free.
whilst it is not as good as T2 tech wise, it is still quite good & useful.
The possibility’s are, if the script can be completed properly, that Blender could have it’s very own fully functional landscape creator, with atmospheres & clouds.
The work flow could be similar to this…
Import landscape, Import texture for landscape.
Already you have a great start, good looking landscape with good looking textures.
Import water. import texture for water, good for stills, there are ways to animate the water using the displacement modifier, this would need to be written/added.
Import Atmosphere, well, a link to control the sunsky patch would go a long way towards getting this quite realistic. combined with good use of mist.
Import clouds as a sky dome or other method…getting tricky now…
but you get the point.
The idea is to fully import a full 3d environment from Terragen 0.9 directly to Blender.
how nice would that be.
m.a.
T2 is indeed not fully functional yet (it’s only a tech preview after all), but if I’m not mistaken it’s as free as the 0.9 series. You can use both for individual use for free, but for commercial work you need to buy a license.
Anyway, I had some spare half hour so I quickly tried to import from T2 to blender. So far I’ve imported the simple stuff (terrain-geometry, camera position, sun position) and by applying a decimate modifier at import it’s even workable on my slow machine.
Here are some screenies:
If there’s any interest in this, I might continue with this.
I’m interested!
Terragen 2 Technology Preview is available both as a free download and as a pre-purchase option for Terragen 2. The free version may only be used for non-commercial purposes and is limited in the following ways:
Render Size Maximum: 800x600
Render Detail Maximum: 1.0
Antialiasing Maximum: 3
Number of Rendered Populations: 3
That said, go for it.
m.a.
I tried .9 and thought it was crappy enough to go ahead and buy the full T2 w/animation. So naturally my vote is to skip the obsolete .9 and support the good version 
I’m all for an open source Terragen like program everyone can use for free, and will switch to it when it’s coded.
I haven’t yet done any tests importing/exporting from T2. How much of Blender’s data can be exported to .obj?
The biggest thing is the camera data, so if the camera value and animation can be preserved, we’re not in bad shape at all. I’m not sure about the rest of the workflow. It would be nice to get the entire scene into terragen so you can fire off a render to use as reference for lighting.
I am interested also. Especially since I found out about program called “World-Machines” http://www.world-machine.com/
Its flow chart like creation interface makes more sense to me in my way of thinking. It also will export to a terragen file. Although I think this is a file version that is compatible with Terregen 0.9. It also has some limitations in the free version that is availible for download.