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No one asked me - Diomede screenshots on whatever - Warning AI Discussion OK

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  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634
    Darth Villainous said:

    It is easy to confirm TangoAlpa's point.  In order to have 16 polygons in a row, the row has to be 17 vertexes wide, just like a single square has two points in each direction.  However, if you count the number of vertexes in the row for the preset cylinder result and the preset spherical result, there are only 16, not 17.  The reason is because one of the columns has been put in an overlap of another column.  If you can find it, you can fix it manually by finding the two ends, use the BTW tool, and then translate the selection to the side.  In general, better to just use the seam/unfold method, which is why I have been putting time towards learning seams/unfold.    If you look really closely at the attached pic, I have counted the number of vertexes along the bottom of the crown island, which is 16 not 17.  If I remember correctly, there is a thread on uvmapping in which Dart had a clever way of identifying the column with the overlap - but I might be confusing it with another issue.

    Diomede,  Are you referring to this post in my Modeling Thread by Dart?

    I really must re-read your UVMapping/UnWrapping again and repeat and do until I concur it.  The other day I tried on a simple default cube, one segment per side... ending up with a row of all 6 sides at the bottom of the UV window... didn't look right so have not tried again... Yet!  I should also read the manual again.

    Your UVmaps are making me envious. blush

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,508

    It certainly does take practice. I think I'm lucky in several ways in this regard. I actually kind of enjoy it and I don't hhave to do it that often ;)

    I'm quite envious of Darth as well. He's got some amazing models he's shown us over the years. I love it! You're doing a great job of sharpening those skills yourself, wgdjohn!

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157

    Thanks for the vote of confidence, everyone.  yes

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,508

    Did you change the name of the Brash Lonergan thread? I was looking for it earlier....

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157

    No name change for the Brash and Moxie thread.  It is here.   http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/104646/my-project-brash-lonergan-adventures/p1

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited February 2017

    Yes, I think that is the thread for the uvmapping fix. 

    .

     

    wgdjohn said:
    Darth Villainous said:

    It is easy to confirm TangoAlpa's point.  In order to have 16 polygons in a row, the row has to be 17 vertexes wide, just like a single square has two points in each direction.  However, if you count the number of vertexes in the row for the preset cylinder result and the preset spherical result, there are only 16, not 17.  The reason is because one of the columns has been put in an overlap of another column.  If you can find it, you can fix it manually by finding the two ends, use the BTW tool, and then translate the selection to the side.  In general, better to just use the seam/unfold method, which is why I have been putting time towards learning seams/unfold.    If you look really closely at the attached pic, I have counted the number of vertexes along the bottom of the crown island, which is 16 not 17.  If I remember correctly, there is a thread on uvmapping in which Dart had a clever way of identifying the column with the overlap - but I might be confusing it with another issue.

    Diomede,  Are you referring to this post in my Modeling Thread by Dart?

    I really must re-read your UVMapping/UnWrapping again and repeat and do until I concur it.  The other day I tried on a simple default cube, one segment per side... ending up with a row of all 6 sides at the bottom of the UV window... didn't look right so have not tried again... Yet!  I should also read the manual again.

    Your UVmaps are making me envious. blush

     

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    ​Thought I would post my workflow for a recent terrain that I am working on.  I want a hill in the distance.  A spooky building will be on top of the hill.  The road leading to the hill will be lined by shade trees.  A bridge will span a gap between the road and the top of the hill.  The lower slopes of the hill will have some trees and scrub brush.  Here is my start. 

     

    As always, suggestions welcome.  Note - in this case, there is a free program to make roads in terrains.  Should have used that.  Find it in the free programs that make life easier thread.

     

    OK, I started with my image editor and created a rough grayscale layout of the hill and road leading to it. 

    I started a new scene in Carrara and inserted a terran.  I opened the terrain modeler, deleted the default montain, and resized its dimensions and quality settings.  I then imported the grayscale map and changed its height.

    -

    kk01 heightmap a.jpg
    513 x 513 - 40K
    kk02 insert terrain rescale import map adjust height and quality settings use 2nd set of camera controls.JPG
    1892 x 982 - 191K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    To my eye, the imported grayscale map is too rough and blocky.  Some natural erosion generally improves it.  Therefore, I added an erosion filter to the terrain.  I checked the box for rain.

    Unfortunately, the default rain erosion is too powerful for a medium size scene.  It will look like giant needles punched down on the terrain.

    No problem, I just reduce the rain filter effect to just below or above 1%. 

    kk03 rain erosian too strong.JPG
    1911 x 985 - 296K
    kk04 reduce rain to 1 percent.JPG
    1886 x 1004 - 203K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    I adjust other filters to taste.  In this case I also applied a glacier filter to make the slopes of the hill slightly steeper.

    kk06 glaciate filter.JPG
    1874 x 957 - 180K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    I then exported the resulting heightmap.  This is to be used in the image editor to create the opacity masks for the road and some replicators.

     

    The map can be opened in the image editor.  Use layers to save out the opacity maps.  here are a couple examples.

    kk08 export filtered terrain map.JPG
    1860 x 991 - 190K
    kk09 open exported terrain in image editor.JPG
    1779 x 902 - 87K
    kk11 road opacity better view.JPG
    1825 x 959 - 102K
    kk19 opacity for plants side of hill.JPG
    1701 x 962 - 101K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    Back in Carrara, here is what the terrain looks like if I use the mask for the sides of the road (not the road itself) as the texture map for the terrain.  This can be used to control a shader in a layer's list.  It can be used to control a replicator to place plants, trees, rocks, or whatever else you want along the side of the road.

    kk32 duplicate terrain apply side mask to place duplicated trees by road.JPG
    1876 x 934 - 142K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    So, for the terrain shader, I use a Complex Shader : Layer's list.

     

    The top layer applies to the whole terrain.  The second layer will appear where the opacity mask is set to white.  You can use gray to mix. 

     

    Each layer can itself be a complex shader with multichannel mixers.

    For this terrain, I made the base a mixture of Dartanbeck's badlands and grassy green shaders.

    kk22 terrain shader complex shader layer list.JPG
    1696 x 847 - 112K
    kk25 change 1st layer to multichannel mixer and mix dart badland with dart distant green.JPG
    1763 x 991 - 179K
    kk26 test rendr base shader.JPG
    1171 x 775 - 76K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    Texturing the road is as simple as creating another base layer in the layer list, constructing a shader for the road, and then applying the appropriate opacity mask.  In this screenshot, I used a tile from a predatron pack as the base to construct the road shader.

     

    kk27 2nd layer is road texture used 2 brick predatron maps with marble blender.JPG
    1551 x 754 - 120K
    kk29 test render road and road edge.JPG
    1537 x 776 - 112K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    I also created other layers for the top of the hill, the lower slopes of the hill, etc.  However, the method is the same so I won't post all of them.  But, maybe you can see subtle differences from the screenshot above?

     

    kk31 test render terrain.JPG
    1347 x 794 - 93K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    Rather than replicate the trees lining the road, I decided to duplicate and place them (I have some custom trees that I have made and saved in the past).  To do this, I duplicated the terrain.  I applied the road side opacity mask to this duplicate and raised it slightly above the original terrain.  Make sure the Assemble room is set to texture shaded.  The white of the opacity mask can be seen.  Insert the trees, duplicate, and place them along the road.  Make some alteration to prevent too much uniformity.  Delete the duplicate terrain when trees are placed.

    kk32 duplicate terrain apply side mask to place duplicated trees by road.JPG
    1876 x 934 - 142K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    I then constructed a custom moon.  It is a simple vertex disk.  I exported the uvmap and applied a picture of the moon acquired from NASA.

    kk33 moon disk and uvmap.JPG
    1768 x 976 - 198K
    kk34 add moon pic to disk shader glow.JPG
    1808 x 818 - 153K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    Rather than use the realistic sky function, I used the backdrop in the scene tab.  A simple bigradient was set to a dark blue (almost black) in the top box, both middle boxes are less dark (and equal to each other) and the bottom box is slightly less dark blue.

    kk35 bigradient in background and ambient to zero.JPG
    1709 x 897 - 153K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157

    I then turned ambient light to zero, the default distant light to 50% with a blue tinge.

    kk36 distant ligh down to 50 percent and have blue tinge.JPG
    970 x 843 - 110K
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    And here is a test render thus far.

    kk37 test render scene.jpg
    740 x 480 - 33K
    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    This is just the start.  Further steps and adjustments can be found in the current Carrara challenge - they only come out at night.

     

    See here - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2361351/#Comment_2361351

    and here - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2364586/#Comment_2364586

     

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,508

    Very nice article, Diomede!

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157

    As always, suggestions welcome.

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    Thanks, but I hope people remember to just use the free "road through a terrain app"  yes

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2336956/#Comment_2336956

     

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,508

    Gorgeous render!

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157

    Thanks - much more to do.  Will continue in the challenge thread.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    Great tutorial... and the final image is  WOW!

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,983
    edited April 2017
    wgdjohn said:

    Great tutorial... and the final image is  WOW!

     

    plus 10 :) nice work Diomede

     

    so in plural your name means : 'With Odysseus he entered Troy and stole the Palladium. After the Trojan War he founded the cities of Brindisi and Arpi in Italy.' you have been busy ;)

     

    Post edited by Headwax on
  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,157
    edited April 2017

    Thanks for the comments, Wgdjohn and Headwax.

     

    head wax said:

     

    so in plural your name means : 'With Odysseus he entered Troy and stole the Palladium. After the Trojan War he founded the cities of Brindisi and Arpi in Italy.' you have been busy ;

     

    For more on the inspiration for my forum name, Diomede/Diomedes, see the "badass of the week" blog.

    http://www.badassoftheweek.com/diomedes.html

      (warning - use of four-letter words)

    laugh

     

    Post edited by Diomede on
  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,983
    edited April 2017

    right :)

    I just thought you picked it cause I couldnt spell it :)

    Igniting enemy warriors with a searing-hot jet of flaming liquid is great, but Diomedes was more than capable of busting people apart the old-fashioned way as well.  According to Homer, this head-crushing behemoth was second only to Achilles in terms of fighting ability and blood-raging fury, a fact supported by the ridiculous body count he piles up throughout the Iliad.  In the brutal ten-year showdown, Diomedes kills a couple Princes of Troy, some Amazons, and whatever the hell else he feels is p%^&^ing  him off at the time.  The Iliad lists nearly thirty names of warriors killed by Diomedes, along with several other excerpts mentioning him "freaking the f*((** out and murdering a s(**&^%load of people with his d())(*&k", so we can assume that this guy was at least somewhat competent in the field of making people his b&*(((*@es.

     

    well, what can I say? I'm impressed.! That shouldgo well with Stezza's new blood sucker complete with anatomical parts

    Post edited by Headwax on
  • VyusurVyusur Posts: 2,235

    Diomede, very impressive work and article as well! Thank you for sharing your method of terrain creation. It's very useful for me.

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