Oh boy...another yummy thread..... Here's my contribution....**Using Terragen as a texture generator for Vue.
**
Ever since I first started with Bryce and Vue, I have used Terragen as my main texture generator for these apps. Except for a few photo driven mats, the majority of my earth mats use Terragen surfaces as their base.  There's just something about Terragen's fractal distribution of colors that really floats my boat.  I make a bunch of them in different color schemes...grays, browns, greens etc..and then use them either alone or as the base for more complex materials.

Here's how.....

Terragen:

1. No need to make a terrain, the surface will appear by default on the flat plane. Make a surface....I usually start rather dark and add several gradually lighter child layers of roughly the same hue. Or, make it freaky...up to you. Tweak your distributions to taste. Tweak your bump to taste as well.

2. Get rid of atmospheric haze and blue.

3. Take the sun up a bit more towards 12 0 clock to get rid of most of the extreme bump shadow. Or leave it ....up to you.

4. Place your camera where you want it and at what altitude you want it.

5. Now adjust the pitch to be -90 degrees...straight down.

6. Take your texture snapshot.  I use 800x800.

Post:

1. Make seamless in either Photoshop or other texture tool. 

2. Enhance to taste.

Vue:

Apply like any other image texture in Vue.

Now an added bonus:

Take your Terragen surface into PSP or Photoshop, and go Image/ Adjustments/ Threshold and turn that baby into black and white. Add gaussian blur to taste. 
Now you have a Terragen based distribution map for Vue material mixing.....

I'll post a sample or two when I get home from work.

M