Wireframe Pro
TERRAIN TOOLS
Terrain Tools
TERRAIN TOOLS
TUTORIALS GALLERY Try Terrain Tools
Based on the Anything Goos technology, Terrain Tools adds a variety of new tools for shading the intersections of water planes, terrains, and other objects.
Carrara 8.0 Win 32 Win 64 OSX UB 10.4 OSX UB 10.5+
Carrara 7.2 Win   OSX UB  
Carrara 6.2.1 Win   OSX UB  
Carrara 5.1 Win   OSX UB  
buy it: $29.95

Surf

Use the Surf shader to add froth to an ocean line, scum on a pond, or enhance the appearance of depth on your water plains. When applied to an Infinite Plane or Plane primitive, Surf traces the perimeter of any Terrains that intersect the plane.
  1. Size controls how far the line extends from an edge.
  2. Use the Invert function to switch between white lines or black lines.
  3. Use Min/Max to set alternate values instead of black and white.
  4. Falloff determines how the line fades from white to black. There are several options including custom. Click the Custom Falloff button to edit the falloff when Falloff is set on Custom.
  5. The Interact with popup controls how the list below it is handled. There are two options, All but the listed and Only the listed. When All but the listed is selected, the plane will interact with all terrains except the ones in the list. If Only the listed is selected, the plane will only interact with the terrains in the list.
  6. Enter the names of terrain objects in the Interact with list, one on each line. For most scenes you can leave the Interact with popup and list at the default settings if you want your water plane to interact with all intersecting terrains.
  7. Click the Refresh button if Surf does not automatically identify changes to the intersecting terrains.
  8. Use the Noise sub shader to add randomness to the edge falloff..

Beach

The Beach shader is nearly the opposite of the Surf shader. It traces the intersection of an Infinite Plane or Plane primitive on a terrain or other object.
  1. Size controls how far the line extends from an edge.
  2. Use the Invert function to switch between white lines or black lines.
  3. Use Min/Max to set alternate values instead of black and white.
  4. Falloff determines how the line fades from white to black. There are several options including custom. Click the Custom Falloff button to edit the falloff when Falloff is set on Custom.
  5. Enter the name of a Infinite Plane or Plane primitive in the Water Plane field. If your water plane is at z = 0 and isn't rotated, you don't need to enter a value here.
  6. Click the Refresh button if Intersect does not automatically identify changes to the intersecting objects.
  7. Use the Noise sub shader to add randomness to the edge falloff.

Intersect

Intersect shares the same UI as Surf, but does intersections between any objects that have geometry. Use Intersect to add ripples to a water plane topped with a beach ball, a wake to a boat, or heat up a rock when the hero thrusts a sword in it.
The one difference between Surf and Intersect is that Intersect defaults to Interact with only the listed so requires a little more interaction to get started.
  1. Size controls how far the line extends from an edge.
  2. Use the Invert function to switch between white lines or black lines.
  3. Use Min/Max to set alternate values instead of black and white.
  4. Falloff determines how the line fades from white to black. There are several options including custom. Click the Custom Falloff button to edit the falloff when Falloff is set on Custom.
  5. The Interact with popup controls how the list below it is handled. There are two options, All but the listed and Only the listed. When All but the listed is selected, the shaded object will interact with all objects except the ones in the list. If Only the listed is selected, the shaded object will only interact with the objects in the list.
  6. Enter the names of objects in the Interact with list, one on each line.
  7. Click the Refresh button if Intersect does not automatically identify changes to the intersecting objects.
  8. Use the Noise sub shader to add randomness to the edge falloff.

Terrain Distributions

The Terrain Distributions shader lets you use the list of distribution shaders as a normal shader. Carrara 5 lets you do this directly so this function is mostly for Carrara 4 users. There is no UI outside of sub shader where you pick the distribution shader.

Terrain Tools Normal Shader

The Terrain Tools Normal Shader is a Terrain Distribution shader. It lets you use a shader that is not normally available as Terrain Distribution in the Distribution channel. The shader has no UI outside of a sub shader to select a normal shader.

Use a custom falloff in the bump channel to make ripples.

Self calculated bumps and bump profile control

Surf, Beach, and Intersect do their own bump calculations for sharper, deeper bumps. Additionally, you can change the profile of the bump using several presets or Carrara's curve tool.
  1. The Falloff drop down contains a list of profile presets.
  2. If Falloff drop down is set on Custom, you can use the Custom Falloff tool to edit the profile.

How do I...

Install Terrain Tools?

Extract and copy the files to the extensions or plugins directory.

For Carrara 8.0

On the PC, it is the Carrara8\Extensions directory. If you installed Carrara to the default location, this is C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\Carrara8\Extensions or C:\Program Files (x86)\DAZ 3D\Carrara8\Extensions.

On the Mac, OS X.

  1. Open the Carrara 8 folder.
  2. Ctrl-click on the Carrara application and select Show Package Contents.
  3. In the newly opened Finder window, navigate to Contents\MacOS\Extensions.
  4. Extract the contents of the ZIP and copy them there.

For Carrara 7.2

On the PC, it is the Carrara 7 Pro\Extensions directory. If you installed Carrara to the default location, this is C:\Program Files\DAZ\Carrara 7 Pro\Extensions.

On the Mac, OS X.

  1. Open the Carrara 7 folder.
  2. Ctrl-click on the Carrara application and select Show Package Contents.
  3. In the newly opened Finder window, navigate to Contents\MacOS\Extensions.
  4. Extract the contents of the ZIP and copy them there.

For Carrara 6.2.1

On the PC, it is the Carrara 6 Pro\Extensions directory. If you installed Carrara to the default location, this is C:\Program Files\DAZ\Carrara 6 Pro\Extensions.

On the Mac, OS X.

  1. Open the Carrara 6 folder.
  2. Ctrl-click on the Carrara application and select Show Package Contents.
  3. In the newly opened Finder window, navigate to Contents\MacOS\Extensions.
  4. Extract the contents of the ZIP and copy them there.

For Carrara 5.1

On the PC, it is the Carrara 5 Pro\Extensions directory. If you installed Carrara to the default location, this is C:\Program Files\Eovia\Carrara 5 Pro\Extensions.

On the Mac, OS X Universal Binary.

  1. Open the Carrara 5 folder.
  2. Ctrl-click on the Carrara application and select Show Package Contents.
  3. In the newly opened Finder window, navigate to Contents\MacOS\Extensions.
  4. Extract the contents of the ZIP and copy them there.

Enter my serial number?

After purchasing Terrain Tools you will be emailed a serial number. If you open a scene with Terrain Tools or use Terrain Tools in a scene, the Enter Serial Number window will display. Enter your serial number in the field provided and click OK to continue.

Tips and Tricks

  1. For most scenes you do not need to set the Interact with popup or list for a Surf shader.
  2. If your water plane is at Z = 0 and is not rotated, you do not need to set the Water Plane property for the Beach shader.
  3. Most of the Terrain Tool effects are not visible in the Shader Preview window because there is nothing to interact with there. You will have to do a Test Render in the Preview tab to see the results of your shader.

Evaluation Mode

Terrain Tools supports an evaluation mode which allows you to try out Terrain Tools before purchasing it. When the Terrain Tools Enter Serial Number window is displayed, just click Cancel to go into evaluation mode. During evaluation mode, Terrain Tools will only work for a limited amount of time before you need to close and reopen Carrara.

Release Notes

June 08, 2010

  1. Changed where serial numbers are saved to a more modern OS friendly location. This fixes a problem with saving serial numbers on the 64-bit Windows Carrara when UAC is turned on.

Pricing

$29.95 US dollars for a single user license. The single user license includes the right to use the product with up to 5 render nodes using Carrara 5.0 Pro or better. Pricing is also available for a render node site license for use with Grid.

Ordering

Place your order online here using our secure server. Use the same link for PayPal, credit cards by fax or phone, purchase orders, and checks.

| HOME | CARRARA PLUG-INS | LIGHTWAVE PLUG-INS | GALLERY | TUTORIALS | LINKS | CONTACT |
  © 2005 Digital Carvers Guild, All Rights Reserved