A few people have expressed interest in a tutorial on how to create interesting procedural terrains. I am currently working on writing such a tutorial but it may be some time until it is complete to my satisfaction. In the interim i thought i would share what i have written so far, although it is a little brief. It may be a little hard to follow at this stage, i do plan on including lots of screen shots in the future. For now it is probably best to sit down with your Vue manual and a strong coffee, and try this link... http://members.optusnet.com.au/jeffdan/ProcTerTut-1.htm Also due to popular request i am creating some tutorials on materials and texturing. Again, i am still working on these but have a look at how to create a grass mat similar to the grass i use on a lot of my terrains. http://members.optusnet.com.au/jeffdan/GrassTutorial-1.htm I understand these tutorials in their unfinished state may leave some people with more questions than answers. Please feel free to send me a message with any questions you may have and i will do my best to answer them when i have time. Ultimately i plan to have some fairly comprehensive tutorials available on procedural terrains and materials creation using Vue. I will post an update when they are at a more completed stage, until then i hope this info is of some help to somebody. Thanks -jeff

thanks for sharing, looking forward to the final tuts.

thanks for sharing this tuts, they are a really good starting point for experimenting with procedurals ;)

Thank you. I know a lot of us are having problems with them:)

A freebie that one has to wait on is better than a freebie that never comes at all. We appreciate your hard work. Take your time.

thank you for hard work...it is very much appreciated :)

Thanks very much CD, printing these out now and I will have a play. Thankyou for taking the time, much appreciated.

Excellent and very informative - thank you!

Tuts are hard work, but appreciated by so many. Thank you, very much.

Just wanted to say thanks much! Only bookmarked the pages for now, looking forward to some play and learn time this weekend. Thanks again!!

Thank you thank you! Being the impatient type, I went to your link and then to Vue5 and followed your directions to get a procedural terraine started. Then I found the Proc tab and clicked it. Then on the procedural ball I right clicked. You get a whole menu of functions. I selected one at random and was startled to see vue gereate the new result right in front of as waves of the new terriane washed across the screen. Here is a screen shot of it showing settings.

Thanks CD, i learned quite a lot. Talk about Plug 'n Play! Math was never my best skill, but Vue 5i gives me the power of a math wiz - visually.

Something i noticed that will not be news to the experienced, but might save some time for the beginners: If you make changes in the Function Editor and the 3D sphere model (shown in the editor and associated with the function) turns plain black or gray, that means your changes are "out of range" or otherwise won't do what you expect. Watching that sphere saves time, as you won't have to keep going to the Terrain Editor or to render your procedural terrain to see what changed. Also, don't be afraid to dive right into the 'more advanced' Perlin and other functions (the ones labeled "..(variable)". I struggled for some time to get certain effects with the simpler Perlin noise function - only to find later that the more advanced Perlin noise functions already contained what i wanted! They are ever so cool!

Hmmmm... too late to add this to my last post, sorry.

The result:
Goal: The foundation for a "Mysterious Island" scene
Criteria:

1. Steep mountains in the middle, but not symmetrical like those "Butte" shapes that look like a round column sticking out of the ground.
2. Gentle sloping beaches to a shallow sea.
3. Rough textures in the middle, softer at the beaches.

In about 1/2 hour, i made this model (after 2-3 hours playing and learning Procedural Terrains). Note the palm tree included for scale.

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I am happy some people have been able to benefit from this tutorial. Looks like some interesting terrains being created. I should have an update on the tutorials soon, i will be sure to let everyone know when it's ready. Thanks -Jeff

Well, I'm still in the thread. Looking forward to "plain talk" info.

I'm keeping an eye on your tuts, CD. Had some fun experimenting on Saturday, thanks to you. Those nodes still have me perplexed, tho. Thanks again!

Ok i have put some screen shots in, this may make it easier to follow. Same link... http://members.optusnet.com.au/jeffdan/ProcTerTut-1.htm Next thing i want to have more detailed instructions on how to create specific styles of terrain effects. I would love to get feedback on what people want me to add or clarify and if this tutorial is easy enough to follow. Thanks -Jeff

Thanks! This is a really good explaination on the nodes. I am going to play with these tonight! Peggy

Hey, I like the screen shots you've added, Jeff. Looks like those will help a lot with the node stuff (for me, at least). Once again, I'll have to wait til the weekend to play, but looking forward to it. I'd absolutely love to see some instructions for specific styles of terrain.. especially if you include the node tricks! The first that comes to my mind is that great beach scene you posted recently... the rocky cliff on the left. I assume part of it is rotating the terrain? I'd be happy to provide feedback, sure hope others do, too. So far, I have to say your tut is easy enough to follow. Are you also looking for requests for terrain types? If so, I can set up a mini photo gallery of terrain photos I've never figured out how to do. Procedurals might be the answer. If you were so kind as to explain just one, it'd be much appreciated. I live in the SW, and have pics of some really cool terrain types. :-) Just a side comment. I don't know this place that well, but it seems like once a thread leaves the first page, it's forgotten. You might consider starting a new thread on this subject from time to time... just to keep the subject alive. Thanks much Jeff, your efforts are greatly appreciated!

Jeff, just wanted to let you know I went through your tut again, and the extra stuff helped. I'm finally over my fear of graphs and nodes and seem to be getting the hang of this stuff. Thanks again.