Intro:
What Terragen does when creating a 3-Dimensional landscape is it reads black and white data from the map it is given and translates this into highs and lows (white being high and blacks being low). The maps it reads can be generated in the program itself or created in Photoshop. This tutorial will teach you how to create a basic Terragen height map in Photoshop and then import it into Terragen for use. Many more advanced methods of brushing and blending can be used once you understand the basics of importing and exporting, and black and white data information and can be used to greatly advance your landscape creations.



Requirements:
* Adobe Photoshop 7.0 or higher and a basic knowledge of the program
* Terragen v 0.9 or higher and a basic knowledge of the program

* I am using the Mac versions of both of these programs so some commands may be slightly different.


The Tutorial:

1. Open a new Photoshop document and name it �Terragen Map�. Make sure the specifications match those seen in the image below:

Size: 513x513px, Grayscale, 8bits/channel, 72ppi




2. (optional) If you are planning on making many of these maps, click �Save Preset� before hitting �Ok� and save the preset as �Terragen Map�. This can later be opened from the dropdown menu in the �New Image� window.



3. In your new image, double click your background layer and then hit �Ok� to unlock it. Reset your colors by pressing the D key and go to:
Filter --> Render --> Clouds




4. Now, go to Image --> Image Size and (making sure �Constrain Proportions� is checked) change the size to 2000x2000px.




5. Now, in the same layer, go to Filter --> Render --> Difference Clouds



6. Now go to Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian Blur and set a radius of around 4 pixels. This will smooth out the features so Terragen won�t read the map as too jagged with many small sharp peaks.



7. Now, duplicate your background layer, set the blending mode of the duplicate to �Difference�, and then go to Edit --> Transform --> Rotate 90 Clockwise. You should now have something similar to this:




8. Now, merge your two layers (Command + E) and apply the same Gaussian blur (Command + F)


9. Again go to Image --> Image Size and change the size back to 513x513px (making sure �Constrain Proportions� is checked). Then go to Image --> Mode --> 16 Bits Per Channel. This mode gives a more detailed map for Terragen to read when it imports it.



10. Now to save your image, go to File --> Save As and in the �Format� dropdown bar, select �Photoshop Raw�



11. Now we enter the Terragen portion of the tutorial, open Terragen and open the �Landscape� dialogue. Click where it says �Size/Radius�.



12. Change the settings in the dropdown menu where it says �Resize Terrain To:� to 513x513 (this is the maximum size for the trial version of terragen, if you have the registered version and want to use one of the other sizes in the dropdown menu, follow these same directions, but make sure your Photoshop image is the same size as whatever you choose here)



13. Click Ok in the Size/Radius dialogue and you will be bombarded by questions from the program, simply click ok to each of these, as they will not have an effect on your image if you are starting anew. If you are changing the size of an old image, then read and understand each of the questions before clicking okay.


14. Now, back in the Landscape dialogue, click the little Pageturn icon on the top right of the dialogue box (this is where it is located for the Mac version, in the Windows version I am not sure, but it should not be hard to find) and select �Import�



15. In the �Import Terrain� dialogue that appears, open the �Data Format� dropdown and choose �16 Bit Raw ( Mac )� if you are using a Mac, or �16 Bit Raw ( PC )� if you are using a PC.



16. Choose your image, click �Import� and Terragen will import the Raw image you chose as a height map (with white as high and black as low) into Terragen. You will now be able to use all of Terragen�s features to edit, surface map, and create a 3-D landscape from the map you just imported.


17. On a final note, when importing, Terragen automatically flips your image vertically, so if you are moving forward into more detailed and specific maps, be sure to remember that.