Show Us Your Bryce Renders! Part 4

1111214161750

Comments

  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,632
    edited December 1969

    @keryna - funny video!

    @Dave - looking very good. Never mind the render time, the result was worth it.

  • JamahoneyJamahoney Posts: 1,791
    edited December 1969

    Cheers, David...must look into Grome 3.

    Like your work too, Savage - both yours and David's kinda remind me of the King Kong films - showing wonderful exotic-looking mountains as backdrops...etc. Render time worth it.

  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited April 2013

    Jamahoney said:
    Cheers, David...must look into Grome 3.

    Like your work too, Savage - both yours and David's kinda remind me of the King Kong films - showing wonderful exotic-looking mountains as backdrops...etc. Render time worth it.

    You need to be very patient to use Grome 3. I warn you now. It's a very good little program but it does things in somewhat weird ways. http://quadsoftware.com/?m=section&sec=product&subsec=editor One thing I can say is that the guys at Quadsoftware have provided top notch customer support and been able to answer difficult questions promptly.

    Oh... I made a sequel to the last tutorial,

    Bryce 20 minute project - put a photo in the sky and improve your lighting 2 - by David Brinnen

    Put_a_photo2_v2.jpg
    1511 x 850 - 658K
    Post edited by David Brinnen on
  • dwseldwsel Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    A simple design with a checkerboard cut gem.
    Modelled in Anim8or, rendered in Bryce.

    2013_05_checker_earring_render.png
    400 x 400 - 155K
  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    Jamahoney said:
    Cheers, David...must look into Grome 3.

    Like your work too, Savage - both yours and David's kinda remind me of the King Kong films - showing wonderful exotic-looking mountains as backdrops...etc. Render time worth it.

    You need to be very patient to use Grome 3. I warn you now. It's a very good little program but it does things in somewhat weird ways. http://quadsoftware.com/?m=section&sec=product&subsec=editor One thing I can say is that the guys at Quadsoftware have provided top notch customer support and been able to answer difficult questions promptly.

    Oh... I made a sequel to the last tutorial,

    Bryce 20 minute project - put a photo in the sky and improve your lighting 2 - by David Brinnen

    you pay ($600) for this ?

  • Dave SavageDave Savage Posts: 2,433
    edited December 1969

    Dave, it's nice to inspire new works, the shadows of the clouds on the terrain look great, but the render time...

    Yes it was a bit excessive... and not very convincing at the end of it.

    As a result of which, I totally reworked the sky, added the castle and improved the composition.
    This one a much bigger render and at 64 instead of 32RPP took a mere 2 hours.

    Now I'm thinking to do a third version that is portrait format that focuses entirely on the ship heading toward the harbour mouth as the light on the ship and the reflection against the new sky are looking quite good.

    StoneySeaGateALT.jpg
    1200 x 1000 - 983K
  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    Dave, it's nice to inspire new works, the shadows of the clouds on the terrain look great, but the render time...

    Yes it was a bit excessive... and not very convincing at the end of it.

    As a result of which, I totally reworked the sky, added the castle and improved the composition.
    This one a much bigger render and at 64 instead of 32RPP took a mere 2 hours.

    Now I'm thinking to do a third version that is portrait format that focuses entirely on the ship heading toward the harbour mouth as the light on the ship and the reflection against the new sky are looking quite good.

    like this one better

  • dwseldwsel Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    keryna said:
    Now a technical Question for Rashid or David or Horro - Could one get the effect of structural colour in Bryce, where the physical microstructure of an object (eg a super-fine grating) splits light and reflects only some wavelengths like the structure of some butterfly wing scales does? EG...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4I9mmd-2Rc

    I gave it a try with a serrated micro-pattern on a large "plate" but no luck. I'm assuming Bryce "light" does not have the relevant "wavelength and interference" characteristics that real light does....

    I don't know a single renderer capable of this directly (including rendering such effects as polarization), but spectral renderers may be able to render this kind of effect you've posted with the specially crafted materials/shaders. Check out for instance LuxRender's materials with 'Thin film' coating:
    - http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/LuxRender_Materials_ShinyMetal
    - http://www.luxrender.net/wiki/LuxRender_Materials_Mirror
    isn't those colours looking familiar to what's shown in the video?

    Now this effect can be partially faked inside Bryce as David Brinnen said with anisotropy or specular halo tweaks, but some effects will be only achievable by using rgb compositing (like the image in the attachment)

    specular_halo_rgb.png
    450 x 300 - 178K
  • dwseldwsel Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    @TheSavage64:
    Great sky colour gradients and interesting points of view on your renders!

  • TLBKlausTLBKlaus Posts: 70
    edited April 2013

    @Savage... those are really cool, love the atmosphere.

    Here's a new abstract, and as an informational aid I've included the
    wireframe to illustrate just how simple these setups can be. This
    was a square tube inside a cube and one light... the exterior cube was
    shadowless to let in the sky colors. As always, some contrast/saturation
    work in post.

    This had the MRD set to 18 and a FOV of 150, with the camera right
    in front of the tube. This wireframe pic is pulled back so you can see
    the whole thing.

    newab241wire.jpg
    848 x 479 - 174K
    infinities24dev.jpg
    1600 x 900 - 2M
    Post edited by TLBKlaus on
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,632
    edited December 1969

    @dwsel_ - those lapidaries are very well done!

    @Dave - the castle looks fine. I liked the dramatic sky on the first one.

    @TLBKlaus - love it. It has a something toon-like to it. Probably because of the hard colour transitions.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited April 2013

    Not so much a render, as the start of a render, and a query.

    As you can see this is a large room, so I have panned out and used a wide image to try showing as much of the room as I can without too much distortion. I may try a different camera angle.bedfore I add any more to it. THis was really jjust trying out retexturing a whole set with Bryce textures (except for the floor, which I made, and not too well I am afraid.

    However the query I have is this. The room is lit by 8 low level radial lights, one in each of the lamp shades. The light fittin is central, the room is circular, and yet I am getting no reflection from the lights directly below the light fitting, it is appearing in front of the floor centre (which is the 8 point star) so is out of the scene in this image.


    WHY?

    Aslans_court_2.jpg
    1198 x 675 - 796K
    Post edited by Chohole on
  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    Not so much a render, as the start of a render, and a query.

    As you can see this is a large room, so I have panned out and used a wide image to try showing as much of the room as I can without too much distortion. I may try a different camera angle.bedfore I add any more to it. THis was really jjust trying out retexturing a whole set with Bryce textures (except for the floor, which I made, and not too well I am afraid.

    However the query I have is this. The room is lit by 8 low level radial lights, one in each of the lamp shades. The light fittin is central, the room is circular, and yet I am getting no reflection from the lights directly below the light fitting, it is appearing in front of the floor centre (which is the 8 point star) so is out of the scene in this image.


    WHY?

    Physics and geometry. Here's how I see it. From the side, drawn very crudely in PSP8. The eye on the left is your viewpoint. The lamp is reflected in the floor, so imagine that the floor is a mirror and that you mirror your room geometry along the axis of the floor. That puts your mirror lamp image well below the level of the floor at the centre point C so where the actual image of the reflected lamp is perceived is at the point of intersection between the floor and the lines traced from your eye to the mirrored lamp in the room below. Does that make sense?

    Image1.jpg
    700 x 700 - 63K
  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Yes, it makes some sort of sense, but now I have to work out how to get round it, because if I can manage to get this scene set up all the action is going to be taking place around the centre part of the compass roce, as it has built in points (sensors, whatever) that contain the magice forces in the right place.

    I guess I do need to play with cameras some more and see if I can get a different view point on it.

  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    Dwsel set me off on a little investigation, I thought I might be able to trick TA with metalicity effect (since that shows camera bias) and TA sort of acts as a camera at the material surface. But the tests so far are inconclusive if has the same camera geometry relationship in that sense. But while testing that idea I stumbled over a nice material effect instead.

    Sometimes it's the simple things...

    Blur_spectrum1.jpg
    700 x 700 - 190K
  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    Yes, it makes some sort of sense, but now I have to work out how to get round it, because if I can manage to get this scene set up all the action is going to be taking place around the centre part of the compass roce, as it has built in points (sensors, whatever) that contain the magice forces in the right place.

    I guess I do need to play with cameras some more and see if I can get a different view point on it.

    How about a raised and angled dais in the centre of the room? It can still have the star pattern on it but can be pitched so as to reflect the lamps? Do bear in mind, from that point in space, you will be looking right up the middle of the lamps if you put a tilted mirror there.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    In the book that I am trying to do the scene from, it is a flat floor and the pattern is inlaid in the marble floor. I do want to try sticking with that.

    I always knew it would not be an easy scene to do, but I saw this model in the store, and had to buy it, especially at the price it is,

    THe magiclal effects will be almost as challenging, let alone getting all the figures into the scne without crashing bryce, although ther is a lot of geomtetry from the tower room itself that I can delte if neccesary. I did import it complete.

  • David BrinnenDavid Brinnen Posts: 3,136
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    In the book that I am trying to do the scene from, it is a flat floor and the pattern is inlaid in the marble floor. I do want to try sticking with that.

    I always knew it would not be an easy scene to do, but I saw this model in the store, and had to buy it, especially at the price it is,

    THe magiclal effects will be almost as challenging, let alone getting all the figures into the scne without crashing bryce, although ther is a lot of geomtetry from the tower room itself that I can delte if neccesary. I did import it complete.

    Can you show us the image or text you are working from? Just being nosy now? You can almost post me if there's an issue putting this on the forum.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    Difficult, as the description is sort of gleaned by reading through the book, which is the last of a series.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Storm-Breaking-Storms-Mercedes-Lackey/dp/1857982754#reader_1857982754

    The book cover artist came up with a very vague connection to the story with the book cover, so probably had similar problems trying to get closer and produce a good book cover.

    but it is described as a circular room, with other rooms opening out from it, and a compass rose type design inlaid into the floor which turned out to contain the magic guides which helped with shielding etc, For the final storm sequence they use the main directional points of the compass for the various mages to stand.

    I am getting the feeling I may be trying to do the impossible to get it all into one image.

    I read some very strange books. :coolsmirk:

  • JamahoneyJamahoney Posts: 1,791
    edited December 1969

    "I am getting no reflection from the lights directly below the light fitting"

    You could also lower the lamps down further - that would bring them more into a physical reflection setup (aka: David's physics), else, raise the camera up more so as to then allow you point it downwards a litle to catch the reflections (while not loosing too much of the ceiling etc.,). The light reflections must be there (given the columns reflections are showing up), so it's just a matter of camera position.

    Jay

  • dwseldwsel Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    @TLBKlaus:
    Thank you for sharing the scene setup. It looks simple, yet it yields very interesting reflections.

    @David Brinnen:
    If you combined it with 'displacement ice needles' it would look like a jelly-candy covered in sugar :D Yum....

  • dwseldwsel Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    More playing with angle incidence...

    There's no shader in Bryce to perform this task perfectly, but two approximations can be used to make mask out of them:
    - reflection incidence (the flaw is 'self reflection' that shouldn't be possible, but looks quite correct in the mirror, especially blurred one)
    - diffuse incidence - the point light in the location of the camera (it looks correct on the object itself but yields incorrect objects' reflections in the mirrors)
    - 2 passes of different properties (i.e. colours) blended using combination of those mentioned masks

    mix.png
    450 x 300 - 188K
    base_yellow.png
    450 x 300 - 252K
    base_blue.png
    450 x 300 - 240K
    diff_incidence.png
    450 x 300 - 49K
    refl_incidence.png
    450 x 300 - 73K
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,632
    edited December 1969

    @Pam - that's Aslan Court, isn't it? I think reflection will not work due to the angle, as David pointed out. How about using specular? You can always cover the floor with the ground plane or a round 2D face and experiment on that one, before you start fiddling with the real thing.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited April 2013

    Yes it is indeed Aslan Court, and I was really chuffed that Jack not only liked my pretty recolour in Bryce, but said I had given him an idea for a new tex set. :coolsmile:

    Been experimenting this morning with a new idea, and came up with is, which certainly accentuates the compass rose and makes it almost appear to be reflecting light from the globes above.

    BTW the centre floor is already at 100% specularity, only 23% reflection.

    Aslan_Court_new_try.jpg
    1198 x 675 - 147K
    Post edited by Chohole on
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,632
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    Yes it is indeed Aslan Court, and I was really chuffed that Jack not only liked my pretty recolour in Bryce, but said I had given him an idea for a new tex set. :coolsmile:

    Been experimenting this morning with a new idea, and came up with is, which certainly accentuates the compass rose and makes it almost appear to be reflecting light from the globes above.

    BTW the centre floor is already at 100% specularity, only 23% reflection.


    I got that one too, and a couple of others by Jack. Though I haven't had the time to bring things over to Bryce. I've installed everything and could even find it in Studio, which made me happy. I've installed a lot of suff I could never find in Studio and each time I install a purchase I wonder whether it will ever appear.
  • Dan WhitesideDan Whiteside Posts: 500
    edited December 1969

    In this post: # 361
    Jay mentions the MeshLab app which I tried out and found to be really useful for a lot of the stuff I do. Especially the mesh reduction algorithms.
    This Arbaro object was exported with way to many polys but by setting the Target faces to half of the original I got an object that actually looks better (at least to me).
    Anyway MeshLab can be a handy tool to have around as long as you don't try really huge objects like Bryce terrain exports which hangs MeshLab.
    Thanks Jay for the heads up.
    Hope y'all have a great day!

    meshlab_test.jpg
    1000 x 487 - 125K
  • HoroHoro Posts: 10,632
    edited December 1969

    @Dan - I agree about MeshLab. I used it to reduce the polies and convert the Stanford Scans that come as PLY for Bryce use. I got the tip from LordHardDriven. I never thought to use it for Arbaro, you're example show that it is worth it.

  • Rashad CarterRashad Carter Posts: 1,799
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    Not so much a render, as the start of a render, and a query.

    As you can see this is a large room, so I have panned out and used a wide image to try showing as much of the room as I can without too much distortion. I may try a different camera angle.bedfore I add any more to it. THis was really jjust trying out retexturing a whole set with Bryce textures (except for the floor, which I made, and not too well I am afraid.

    However the query I have is this. The room is lit by 8 low level radial lights, one in each of the lamp shades. The light fittin is central, the room is circular, and yet I am getting no reflection from the lights directly below the light fitting, it is appearing in front of the floor centre (which is the 8 point star) so is out of the scene in this image.


    WHY?

    I'm a little bit late for this conversation. When I look at the original I don't see all that much brightness from the lights. It might be helpful to make the radials into visible objects so you can see them physically. This might help with catching the reflections.

  • JamahoneyJamahoney Posts: 1,791
    edited December 1969

    Cheers, Dan...yeah, Meshlab is quite good (the smoothing button is quite useful too, I've found).

    The only problem I have with bringing in the fractal .objs and then using Meshlab to reduce the polys down (from, say, 12Mil to 600K) is that while it works incredibly, load and loads of the fractal detail is lost. I don't know of anyway around to preserve the original without reducing them down, as Bryce just can't handle the high polys.

    Jay

  • srieschsriesch Posts: 4,241
    edited December 1969

    @chohole, could you fake the reflection without it being obvious to the viewer that it's actually in the wrong spot for the angle? For example, actually painting the reflection onto the floor where you wanted it (elongated so it looks normal viewed at an angle), or putting another set of lights at the far end of the room hidden behind the central light fixture, but with their reflections visible on the floor at the desired spot? It might or might not work, just an idea.

This discussion has been closed.