How about a step-by-step tutorial?

[skiwillgee]

To any and all of the awesome artist who are featured on the home page.

It would really help this old geezer to see the step-by-step generation of one of your terrains from start to finish ready for export. Example

@ Digitalis
The Penguin scene

@ cajomi
The preset you just offered one this forum

I'm having a ball learning the GUI and the power of this generator but it would help me (and others) learning curve to see the steps in creating a complex terrain.
Tks all
Willie

[kittle]

Best thing i found so far was to pick a single terrain shape and play with hit. hit generate many many many times until you see something you like.
then check 'keep seed' and you can start playing with what the various settings do, and dont do.
I spent 3 hours last nite just playing with the sliders in the 'soft flaiuval' option. (I think thats how you spell it).

[skiwillgee]

I agree with playing with buttons... but, I would like to see the process taken in a complex project. I am finding that moving one slider or altering one value can change things a lot. Those things can be learned only by doing but how a master approaches and ends up with the finished project can only be learned from a master.

My request is a tut that takes a single scene start to finish that incorporates as much broad use of GC as possible. If the tut is asking too much then it is possibly a venue for a master at GC to develop a tutorial for sell.

Any takers???

[AndyWelder]

Though you're not addressing me directly, I'd like to answer.

My request is a tut that takes a single scene start to finish that incorporates as much broad use of GC as possible.

I'd sure like to, I played with that idea for some time but it would turn out to be nothing more then an enumaration of steps made by a drunk. Not that I'm an alcoholic or consuming large quantities of alcohol while at work :lol:
But the way I work is : taking a few steps, then go back, return on my steps, take another direction etc. There's no straight line in my approach!

[AndyWelder]

It's been a while but I didn't forget this thread ;-)
A member from another site had a hard time working with one of my filter presets called 'Volcanoes" and asked me why he didn't succeed in getting any volcanoes. To make him understand how the .GCS was functioning i told him this:
Maybe this analysis of how I created the volcanoes .gcs will help you in achieving your own volcanic terrain.

The first layer is to create a single mountain formation, that's why the use of the "Zero Edge" filter. The other filters are used to create steep mountain slopes with the right rugged appearance.
Doing so creates the right conditions for volcanoes to appear but it depends on the seed if you get a crater, most of the time the seed produces nice mountains but not a crater in sight.... You have to generate many times (with the "Keep Seed" checkbox unchecked ofcourse ;-))

The second layer is designed with two things in mind:

1. To create a nice terrain around the volcanoe because a terrain made with the "Zero Edge" filter tends to have a flat and dull terrain on the outer parts.
2. Because the first layer tends to form flat plateaus that don't belong in a volcanic terrain this flatness has to be breached. To achieve this I choose "Multiply" as Layer Method. (Try other layer methods for the second layer and you'll see that they don't have that much impact on the flat plateaus of layer 1!)

Keep this in mind and I'm sure you'll get your own nice volcanoes, maybe even nicer ones. It takes patience but it will sure pay off.

Now, this may not be a "Step-by-step" but it might help in getting an idea of how GeoControl works

[Criss]

Neat, i will have to play with that later. Thank You.

Funny, right now i am making catalogues of every terrain filter and i want to put together a list and maybie a short description of each with a image included. That way i know what to use when painting a terrain. There are way to many to memorize. So far i count 137 types of terrains and still several more to go.

[monks]

Thanks for the info :)

I agree. I think a tut involving a Project with layer methods would help people.

monks

[Criss]

Yes, i agree. GeoControl's layer methods seem very powerful but it seems to be confusing on how they exactly work or can look without good visual descriptions in order to clearly explain how many fasinating effects are possible like displacement of terrain for example which by that alone can have some very intreasting results.

[AndyWelder]

Maybe it's because I was introduced to GeoControl as alphatester where it started with a rather limited range of filters and presets but I never felt the need for "good visual descriptions in order to clearly explain how many fascinating effects are possible". I learned from working with these filters and presets what they produce. Now I know what I can expect.
On the other hand: Maybe it's because I work very intuitive (see my reply from May 25th) and therefore don't feel a need for clear descriptions..... But a description/explanation like that one on how my own presets were concucted... No problem, in most cases;)

@ Criss: "right now i am making catalogues of every terrain filter and i want to put together a list and maybie a short description of each with a image included"
Are you talking about some kind of "digital booklet' where you illustrate (with rendered images) what variations in the settings of filters produce? That would be an enormous task! But I'm sure it'll be appreciated!

Funny, you mentioned "displacement of terrain". I've been fooling around with that lately:-)
Try this:
Load one of the displacements from "Layer methods" and for the second layer select 'Straight' instead of "Terraced" noise.
Add the "Straight Hills-Experimental" filter and select the 'Diamonds' filter preset. This will produce very square terrain features instead of the round rings.
Now duplicate the second layer, select "Displace" as layer method and push 'Rebuild'....

[Criss]

I'm not sure about a digital booklet. Probably that is what i will intend to do. I want to try to relate each filter to an actual location of some kind of geologic formation although there is alot of angled strata in nature so i won't be able to cover everything. :)

Hmmm. Intresting results you have there. I got pretty good with displacement within World Machine but GeoControl uses a very different method but a fasinating one at that. This will indeed come in handy. :)

[monks]

Pretty whacky terrains Andy, the first two reminded me of Salvador Dali paintings. Looks like a lot of different effects can be produced with Geocontrol- just have to learn how :)

monks

[cajomi]

I have just installed CamStudio, to develope some tuts. Will take some time of course.

Johannes

[cajomi]

@criss
using the multiply layer method can create angled strata. Multiply does not really simply multiply, but mixes the structure of the layer to the layer below. It is not perfect angled strate, but better then nothing.
This will be possible in version 2.

Making a catalogue of the filters will be not as easy: The slider settings can give very different results and mostly the combining. Remember there are about 200 filterpresets, only one filter used, so you can imagine, how many possibilities there are in GeoControl, simply using two filters.

A would suggest to to it another way round:
Starting with typical landscapes, and showing the presets, that can produce such landscapes, may be with some sample images, showing the differences between the different filter settings.
This could be done as "open" project. So, we could make a thread called "Highlands" for example, and then every can add some presets to the theme.
Or, a thread "filter", where the other can post example of the filter, with the presets and a render.
That might be a good starting point for a challenge. Of course with a real price. As soon, as the new site is online, we want to do some contests.
This would result in some good pictures in the gallery and a growing library for filter, presets and so on.
The winner would have to offer a step by step tut, to get his 50€ price, or like it is performed at CGSociety, to do it in contests threads, where the steps are shown during the contest.

Johannes

Forgive the english grammar, I am not totally fit - will need some days

[Criss]

I am still experimenting with the blending types but now i am more curious about the multiply method for the strata. :)

So there can be many hundreds of filter possibilitys here. I over thought about this but your suggestions are reasonable. I like the open project idea alot, it certainly would allow everyone to have there own unique inputs for each filter presets as how they realate to real world geologic terrain structures.

No worries about the grammer, hope the surgery went well.