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Great is too small a word for what was shown in that demo. Is it just me or does it feel like there is a paradigm shift here with how terrains are created --- in particular the ability to customize different areas of a terrain using fields or using particles to create different types of erosion? So much for Rock Engine from 3D Quakers. If they can now use xpScatter to populate tree instances over these terrains with as much control as Frank's past plugin surfaceSpread, then I would imagine that Insydium has officially become a contender to watch in the landscape generation market. Bravo...very well done! But, like with mesh tools, still confused if this is part of X-Particles or its own separate plugin. Given that TerraformFX has its own logo, I am inclined to think it is its own plugin. Actually, and I hate to say it, but Insydium could stand to make more money making this its own plugin than making it part of XP. TerraformFX will have a much different development path as well (tree population, dynamic trees, roads, sun, skies, etc.) while maintaining tight inter-operability with XP they way Cycles 4D does (clouds, rivers, waterfalls, etc). Dave

I had a 90s flashback to when I first bought Bryce3D. That was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I was into the game Myst and had ideas of creating my own world like that. In fact, I think one of those renders is almost complete so I'll post it here when it's done.

I'll second the vote for Photoline. It fills in the holes of Affinity Photo for me and even has a few features that are superior to Photoshop...and you can't beat the price to OWN it for life!

The important thing is that there are good alternatives to Adobe's products nowadays! 🙂

Yes, there seem to be builds / special versions for RTX capable (20XX/30XX) Nividia cards. Since I am still stuck with an older GTX1080, that version runs very slow for me as well. PhotoLine is an image editor, similar to Photoshop, that's been around since Atari ST times! Not that many people are aware it exists, because the developers don't advertise or market it actively in any way. I prefer PhotoLine over Photoshop and Affinity Photo as my main image editing hub. It is capable of some unique tricks. For example: layers can be cloned/instanced, and reused anywhere (even as masks). the layer opacity operates from -200 up to +200 ! Imagine Affinity Photo or Photoshop allowing a negative opacity - basically reversing mixing modes or doubling up on layer effects. This also works with the non-destructive adjustment layers for quite interesting possibilities. An infinite depth of adjustment layers and masks is possible. Adjustment layers can be applied to masks, which can have masks with other adjustment layers and layer instances. Each layer may have its own bit depth (1/8/16/32 bits per channel), its own colour profile, and its own resolution. All independent and non-destructive. The background layer decides the final render intent (in image mode), so even switching to a different image mode does not affect the content of layers. Switch to greyscale, switch back to 32bit colour: all layers retained their original data. adjustment layers can be applied to other adjustment layers infinite number of mask layers with sub-mask layers, etcetera. bitmap gradients for masks are non-destructive(!) all layer transformations are non-destructive, and unlike Affinity Photo and Photoshop the user may edit the pixel content at any time. full vector layer support. Pretty good vector editing tools: blending objects, warping vector objects, vector/bitmap combined fills, and so on. Also conversion of bitmap to vector. The latest beta introduces proper mesh gradients. scripting support proper "smart objects". Even the option to non-destructively assign Photoshop compatible filters to these, just like Photoshop. Also the option to link external files: update the external file, and the master file updates too. built-in non-destructive procedural patterns and noises. And unlike Affinity Photo, all done with a visual interface. File support for various file formats which are missing in Photoshop and Affinity: webp (animated as well), animated PNG (latest beta), JPG 2000/XR. Import of autocad files, and many other more obscure file formats. completely non-destructive layer-based workflow. Much more so than Affinity Photo: RAW development is non-destructive, for example, and does not require a "special" workspace. It is just part of the regular layers. HDR workflow support. LAB workflow support. EXR import. Normalizing of z-index and HDR layers. support for external applications: send your layer or file to an external app for editing, save, and PhotoLine picks up on these changes automatically. Works great with many applications. Even InkScape with SVG as an intermediate format. Send a layer to Krita, work on it, save, switch back to PhotoLine, and the layer is updated. Which allows for quick round-trip editing with most other apps. Or send layers/results to external apps for finishing and export. This last option is my favourite. It saves so much time in my workflow. The developers are incredibly responsive. Many of my suggestions and requests were implemented - often by the next beta version. Often small improvements were added within a week. I have a license of Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher. I use Publisher, but Photo and Designer have proved to be... awkward and frustrating to work with. Too many paper cuts, missing basic features, and overall stunted workflow in my opinion. I do use Affinity Photo for HDR and stacking, though. But that is it. Just too many little frustrating things that proved to be workflow stoppers for me personally. That said, PhotoLine requires manual work to change the rather inconvenient default settings. It is more of an image editor for advanced users, and tutorials are almost non-existent! Here is my setup: