Quote - and that's how it works with 3 heightfiled terrains, using the node 3 times,
just changed the the x and y values for each -  (0,0,0), (0,-40,0), (-25,-25,0).

This is exactly how I would connect them. Three heightfield, OMG :-)

What a lot of food for thought, I shall go through it all a  bit later.

Just wanted to mention an improvement to the node that occurred to me- publish the height field itself, so that a user doesnt have to edit the node itself. It does have a 'publish' button so it should work, but I havnt tried it yet

So I've added the map itself to the published parameters of the node. Now I can replace the map without editing the node. And this is how my 3 added terrains look like (I've changed Eonite's great terrain with a very simple terrain so that the saved node is smaller in size). It is possible to change the orientation of the HF map by increments of 90 degree when loading the map, but not in any other amount. Not sure if it's possible to rotate the procedural terrain instead...

(eonite - can you check your renderosity mail please)

 Yeah, that`s good Artpearl. A simple and efficient solution.

IMO its important that we do not have to deal too much with technical stuff when creating pictures. (When getting too much into technical details/problems I am rarely able to get something done which is artistically appealing. First have to switch to "artist mode", in which case Im not interested in technical stuff.)

Thats why its important that as artists we have solutions at hand which are easy and not confusing. The complexity of the function editor is not something that everyone is willing to deal with.

But with efficient and easy to use MetaNodes I`m convinced that, once artists realise that a well designed Metanode will provide a powerful editor, they will access the function editor with joy and edit things in no time.

However I would also like to add that those who rely on others to provide solutions and tools should be aware that it takes a considerable amount of time to develop such stuff and should not feel offended when some of it will not be available for free. 

Ok, and now I`m pleased to present a new version of the hybrid terrain. Discussing the function
with Artpearl has been enlightening and has brought easier ways to handle a procedural terrain which integrates a heightfield map.

You can download another scene filehere. The terrain in this example is basically the same as in the first example but contains an easy to use Metanode which allows to add a heighfield to a procedural terrain.

Below is a brief explanation of  the function and the "Heighfield Integrator" Metanode.

Have fun!

 Here is the new function that you see when you open the terrain`s function editor.

The procural altitude function is connected to the "Heighfield Integrator" MetaNode.

 

When you click the  "Heighfield Integrator" MetaNode you can access the parameters seen on the picture.

 

These are:

 

Scale scales the heightfield/area

Position Offset X offsets the X position of the heightfield/area

Position Offset X offsets the X position of the heightfield/area

Altitude Offset           offsets the altitude of the heightfield

Altitude Scale scales the altitude of the heightfield

Heighfield Map Load any heightfield you want 

(16bit 4096/4096 pxls recommended)

Area Size Sets the size of the blending area

Area Influence blending amount ( 1 is full blend)

Add Noise Adds noise (from the procedural function) 

to the heightfield

If anything is unclear, just ask.

Looks so tidy and easy to use! I like the fact that you put the input node 'position' into the meta-node - so much better, why didnt I think of it:) I see you got rid of  the brightness/contrast node - what was your reason for it? (adding the noise from the proc. terrain is a nice idea)

However... although it works nicely for the initial example, there are still some problems. See for example the attached image - all I changed was to add an offset  of 50 in x and I got a hole :(
Another failed experiment- setting 'altitude scale'=5 makes the feature mountain bigger, but chops off the top of the mountain.
I encountered similar problems last night with my version of the node, which led me to the conclusion that some fundamental aspects of this still elude me. I would have to investigate each element slowly  - I suspect the smooth map node isnt used right, but I have no specific evidence of that. (I understand the info you gave earlier this thread about this node, but something is still odd)

Hmm.. very intriguing, but I run out of time, I already allocated to it more time than I meant to because it was so much fun...
Oh, thanks for explaining how to use the function node preview, that will come in very handy.  My question was about much simpler aspect - if a node has a constant as an input which is calculated earlier in the tree, is there a way to examine the value in the node? for example - the value of the origin in the projected texture map?

 

Thanks, ArtPearl for letting me know.
Did not test the position offsets of the Metanode. Have found a flaw in the function. Corrected it and now it should work properly.
You can download the corrected version here.

As for the flat mountain top: Within the function editor it seems there is a limit to scaling. Scaling, like setting the value to 2 or so is no problem but setting it to 5 is definitely too much. If really you need to have a mountain that is VERY high, like twice the height of Mount Everest, you can still scale the whole terrain as an object.

Quote -  I see you got rid of  the brightness/contrast node - what was your reason for it?

Because I used a Combiner in Add mode to add the procedural noise to the heightfield map. A Combiner has Amplitude and Offset which is equal to Brightness&Contrast.

Quote -  Oh, thanks for explaining how to use the function node preview, that will come in very handy.  My question was about much simpler aspect - if a node has a constant as an input which is calculated earlier in the tree, is there a way to examine the value in the node? for example - the value of the origin in the projected texture map?

The only way to check is examining by using the Function Node Preview. Btw. when you examine the Texture Map node with the Function Node Preview you can clearly see that there is a bug in this Node. The map keeps repeating in the positive Y-direction even though Tiling Mode is set to none...

Anyway, I don`t want to steal anymore of your time :-) Was great fun!