So... I can't get on with the terrain editor. It and I have different ideas about what looks good, and the editor usually wins. Well, then I balk and hit delete, whereupon I win (sort of) - but I'm without a terrain. So I looked at terrain generators and looked at World Generator. Well... I ... suck. LOL I can't get the darn thing to do anything much. It just shows me the same thing all the time. Might help if I knew what the hell all those things do. Uninstalled. I am really rubbish creating grayscale terrains. I'm almost tempted to reinstall Bryce just to generate the maps. (Well, somehow.) I want easy. (Now don't tell me there ain't no such thing and that I gotta put effort into it and all that lol. I have not enough hair left for that.) IS there a source for half way decent grayscale terrain maps (please don't say DEM's. All the places who seem to offer DEMS also seem to be utterly crap at letting people in to download anything. I don't seem to get the validation emails - so I can't get in. And no, I put the right email addy in lol) I really like the stuff you can do with Vue... but I absolutely loathe the terrain editor. It's.... crap. Sorry but there really is no other word for it. The delay I get in there is just nuts, the tools are WAY too... I don't know how to say it. Rubbish. I really don't know how to express what I think about them. Only maybe that they frustrate me, they are unresponsive, they are slow, unclear, barely controllable - for me. Freakish. The editor seems to work on the "Lets create a freak of nature feature" Where the HELL is SMOOTH? Why is there no tool to dampen? I mean those - to me - are basic things. If I want a smooth rolling hill at the bottom of a mountain, how in heck am I supposed to do that? I don't have a smooth tool. Nor a dampen one. I don't want to have the entire area smoothed, just a bit of it, or dampen down the spikes created by another freak of nature accident - but I can't, because I don't have a tool for it. I want to raise the side of a hill.. I sweep over it with altitude - or try to - and does it do it? No. It stutters over it and the result is a complete disaster. It has so far driven me to breaking point. By now I use a flat plane and see if I can get any kind of terrain in grayscale to import. I refuse to use the editor. Sorry but for terrain editing, I very much prefer Bryce. VERY much. Fast, efficient, plenty of options to fine tune the tools... I think my biggest gripe is that the damned thing stutters badly and the delay in seeing the result is just... unacceptable to me. I would much prefer if you "painted" on a flat plane, while seeing the results in another window. At least you can see it DID something and you have to wait for the update. Or to have the option to switch views. Well ok you do - but the delay is the same - so that's no good either. If anyone has any suggestions on how to work with this damned thing, I'd much appreciate it. Maybe it's just me, being completely stupid, but sorry... so far I think the terrain editor "feature" is utterly atrocious. Is it any better in Pro? Sorry if I'm ranting, but it is driving me nuts. Silke

Sorry Silke, but the terrain editor is one of the greatest features in Vue. Not crap at all. You can do really every thing you want in there, even create 3dimensional objects like vases, doors walls, waves, clouds or whatever. You may try and learn every feature in there. Try all the icons you see, all the effects and brush modes. Try to reset and import pictures, draw or dig. Just see a very small sample here. Copy the image (by audity) above to your HD. Open Vue , create a terrain, open the terrain editor, click RESET. Then clivk PICTURE icon and load the above image. Click OK. Now CLIP (the slider at bottom) to 0.6. Click OK and render. So, first play around and then come back, because there are so many possibilities that even a tutorial would not help.:-) Guitta

"You may try and learn every feature in there. Try all the icons you see, all the effects and brush modes. Try to reset and import pictures, draw or dig." LOL - why do you think I'm nearly bald here? I have. I have tried for a week to just get some sort of sense out of it. The thing doesn't do anything smoothely here. It stutters over terrain, it jumps... I keep ending up with spikes and bumps and lumps where I was trying to create a smooth rolling hill. Like I said, it's probably me, but it's driving me insane how slow and jumpy this thing is. I'm probably doing it all wrong... As for "Import picture" yeah well that's how I currently do it. Create terrain, reset, import picture, hit ok and get on with it. If I need to change something - I go edit the image and reimport it. That's how much I loathe making any kind of change in the editor because every time I do - I end up with a disaster. Silke

Don't give up:-). You will get it over time:-). It's quite easy.

Just out of curiosity Silke what spec is the computer your using, which version of Vue are you using and what resolution of terrain are you using? I'm just wondering if your working on a really big terrain or that your machine is struggling with the terrain editor.

If you are having 'PC groan' problems, set your terrain size back to 256x256 or smaller, so you can work on your terrain's overall shape. When you are happy hit the 2x button once or twice (to get a better resolution) and then add the grit, rocks, erosion... etc.

Adding my two cents here... I'm very partial because I love the terrain editor :)) Vue is basically aiming at natural landscaping so the terrain tools give a whole range of possibilities to mimic natural effects (grit, fluvial erosion, thermal...etc) The brush can apply these realistic effects locally... When you feel the brush 'stuttering' it is because it is programmed so it takes height differences into account and that actually HELPS modifying local details... it 'sticks' to noticeable heights preserving the relief.. I agree though that tools working like regular 2d paint programs could be a plus but Vue tools are very specific and most useful. (for my part I came bald because of Poser camera system ;)) Paul

"(for my part I came bald because of Poser camera system ;))" I hear ya, Paul! While at it, you can have the lights in there, too...give me Vue's ANYTIME!