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Comments
I think the idea of this product is much needed and awesome. But, I haven't bought it, nor do I use the original one much, because it lies somewhere halfways between what I want this product to do (and there is a lot it can do .... no gripes there) and the ease with which I am able to do so (and that's where the rub is).
Specifically, the way the product is currently configured, I don't have access to certain functions--nor can I even learn how to utilize them--without having to first read a manual and then going into photoshop to make stuff (like alpha, scatter maps or whatever). That creates a certain barrier that makes this product less than user-friendly for me.
I would like to see this product taken to the next level, where we have available to us a generous selection of pre-built-in, loadable templates of, for example, scatter maps (possibly with parameters that can be further customized through dropdown menus and/or sliders in order to create additional variations) that allow one to instantly gain access to at least basic functionality of every feature in this product. Saved files (that can be imported as .dufs, or whatever) with examples of certain advanced or new functions should also be included to learn from and/or to crib from.
In short, having to plow through a manual and to go outside of the GUI into other software, like creating something in Photoshop, should not be the starting point to learn how certain very useful features of this product work, nor how to implement them on a limited scale. That should only be required for those who need additional, different, more advanced or customized effects.
Because this level of accessibility and ease is currently missing, Ultrascatter (and USPro) may not have reached its full user-adoption potential. I would also add, given the limited extra functionality between the original Ultrascatter and USPro, I would like to have seen a discount for early adopters (of the original). If I am helping to pay for the development of a product, I shouldn't have to pay the full price for every new iteration thereof. Just some ideas to help everybody (the creator and the users) be happier =)
Thank you mcorr for your considered feedback on UltraScatter - you've given me some things to think about.
I can respond to a couple of things you've raised though. You say "If I am helping to pay for the development of a product, I shouldn't have to pay the full price for every new iteration thereof". In fact a some of the development that went into "Pro" also went into UltraScatter 1.1 as a free update that was essentially a ground up re-write. Pro ended up taking me 5 to 6 times as long to develop as the original and contains 3x as much code - and actually addresses some of your ideas about not having to load in image files for scatter patterns by including 3d noise functions (with previews in the interface) and fallof curves for a bunch of different options.
I think ultimately the scope for UltraScatter is so vast that creating pre-sets for scatters would be very difficult to pull off meaningfully. However this does not mean the idea has no merit and I have some ideas for future more targetted products to address similar problems.
UltraScatter is what it is - I initially created the script to fulfill a need that I had to scatter vegetation on terrains. It then crossed my mind to make it available as a commercial product as a secondary thought - then I had to do everything that would make it acceptable as a commercial product. Pro took everything I'd learned (and feedback received) developing UltraScatter and actually contains far more new functionality than first blush would suggest. So when you say "I would also add, given the limited extra functionality between the original Ultrascatter and USPro" then maybe it's a failure of explaining the new features because I believe Pro is very far beyond the original script in functionality.
Cheers and thank you again for your thoughts.
Martin (HowieFarkes)
Thank you too Martin for your thoughts and feedback!!
I agree that the vastness and awesomeness of what this product can potentially do makes it impossible to have presets for everything. That said, I am pleased to hear that noise filters and fall-off curves have been added: time-tested and elegant ways of solving some of the issues I mentioned. Any and all additional steps in that direction would obviously be greatly appreciated, and -- as I said -- if some targeted "get started" files are also included so that I can "look under the hood" to see how complicated things are done (without having to wrestle with a manual or a huge learning curve), so much the better. Since you mentioned that certain improvements in this direction were already implemented in 1.1, I'll take another look at it to see what I missed.
I take your point about the journey and the hardships and challenges overcome by you to give us what we have today. I'm with you and am very appreciative =) You've expanded my creative abilities. Thank you!! And if version 1.1 was a free upgrade (not an update), then my characterization of "helping to pay the full price for every iteration " (i.e. every upgrade) obviously wasn't accurate, fair nor befitting. The point I was trying to make about the "full price" thing is the well-known fact that those who buy upgrades often pay less (at least when the new upgrade is first introduced) than those buying the full product for the first time. And the reason I called "Pro" an "upgrade" is because, after reading the product description, reading the comments pages here, and making a comparision, it sounded like 80% plus of Pro's functionality was already included in what I owned (the original version) ... therefore not something revolutionary new, nor a totally different product (regarding what I can do with it, not the back-end programming that went into it). That said, I'll run that comparision again just to make sure my conclusions were correct. And if you feel the new product could be described better (or compared in more detail) to help me with that, then that would be helpful, since you know the products the best.
If after doing all of that it makes sense to me, I'll buy Pro when it's on sale. If I'm still not convinced, then I'd do what people often do in these cases: I'll sit out a round or two until the most recent version gives me the price and functionalty (and ease of functionality) ratio that I feel justifies the "upgrade" price. The thing to take notice of here is the following: if there had been a price break for those who already owned the original, I would have been willing to buy the product immediately (and would do so at every "iteration"), even at a price higher than what I might expect to get it at after it later goes on sale. That would earn the developer more money than me waiting it out on the sidelines for 1, 2 or 3 versions, which doesn't help pay for further development costs, nor the time already invested by the developer ; )
Anyway, I look forward to seeing what you are now working on. It sounds very promising. Every minute I can save between my artistic vision and the 3d manifestation thereof is a heaven sent, because time is, afterall, the most precious thing we have .... when that runs out, we are signora!
$15.98 .... on sale .... got it .... a most worthy addition to my arsenal. Thanks1
I just bought it and was up and running in a few minutes. I thought I'd need to read the manual before starting. Yet it almost all seemed self-explanatory to me. The manual did include some valuable optimization advice I didn't think of right away.
I'm just playing with it for now. I'm looking forward to applying this to a scene I need to make this week though.
I can totally see how this is a major upgrade to the 2D-ish version. And worth the $24 (with the Platinum Club discount). I must admit that I almost bought the older 2D version. I think I would have been facepalming if I had and then found out about this newer version. May I suggest you add a note to the older product about there being a newer version. And probably also add it to the "you may also be interested in" related products list if you can.
Hi HowieFarkes, I just purchased UltraScatterPro and it has been simple to get going quickly (the brief YouTube video helped) on new scenes: I am able to easily select my target for scattering the object, use Repel in Distribution->Affinity settings easily, etc. There is still a lot to play with here and though I was mostly thinking of this for landscape variations, other ideas are already becoming evident just by learning about its capabilities.
I happened to already have your Harpwood Trail product and previously wondered what the "Ultrascattered" references in its scene might mean, but after trying UltraScatter Pro it is evident that you used your own tool to arrange trees and plants in that scene (which is a great example of its potential, btw.) So, that made me wonder if I could change those existing scattered arrangements by placing more clearings in the forested areas.
By selecting one of the scattered groups in the scene - "UltraScattered Large Trees 3" - then opening UltraScatter Pro, it came up and recognized that "Large trees" was the scattered object with "Terrain 01" as the target, which seemed a good start. Then I went into the Distribution tab and selected a cylinder primitive I added as a Repel object, updated some of those numbers and clicked the "Surface Scatter" button to see the updated arrangement. The script ran VERY quickly, but I saw no changes through the Viewport pane. It turns out that the Viewport pane was completely frozen at this point, eventually requiring a shutdown and restart of DAZ Studio to get it working properly again.
Just wondering if there is something inherent in some saved scattered arrangements which might cause this kind of a symptom in UltraScatterPro, please.
Hi ooofest, Harpwood Trail was actually built with a pre-release version of UltraScatter (Harpwwod Trail predates UltraScatter as a product). I've tried to make UltraScatterPro able to read sactters from all previous versions but it is highly likely I've missed something somewhere. I'll investigate.
Just wanted to take a moment to put in my two cents. This is most definitely my favorite tool for Daz Studio. I cannot say enough about how polished and intuitive the interface is and how beautifully simple Ultrascatter Pro is to operate. Using distribution maps with slope and elevation settings lets you very quickly populate your scenes with realistic foliage.
That's a nice image.
Beautiful and the scatter is no natural. And the image tells a story. Love it.
Thanks for the kind words barbult and Spit. I really appreciate the encouragement. The ability to have so much control within Daz Studio and to be able to revise the scatter on the fly is just fantastic. I set up the scene below in 10 minutes once I loaded the terrain and grass models. The placement of the grass is determined solely by the angle I entered (0 degrees to 9 degrees) so that it only grows on relatively level surfaces.
awesome image, what grass it that and where did you get the mantis from. Rocks look good too.
Thanks Szark! ... The mantis is a rigged 3ds Max model by 3D Molier that I got for an animation project last year. It imports nicely into Daz Studio as an fbx file.
The grass and rocks from both images are from the Quixel Megascans library. That library is an awesome resource for game developers, architects and VFX artists or anybody who needs detailed 3D landscape assets.
Thank you
I don't have 3Dmax to rich for me and I have a few freebies from Megascans before they went subscription.
I hear you, man. Fortunately, my main work is 3D forensics so I'm able to charge the 3D Max and Megascans subscription to my clients. I think the current subscription for Megascans is $19/mo which is pretty reasonable given the quality of content. I'm working on a 3D comic involving a collection of people that get shrunken to insect size and I find that Daz Studio with the Megascans library gives me the level of detail that I need to sell the story. UltraScatterPro is invaluable for all sorts of uses to get organic detail without having to place objects by hand. This test render uses the Housefly by AM (DAZ) and a freebie cigarette from Turbosquid. The rocks, grass and hamburger box are all Megascan assets:
Very cool. I just got Ultra Scatter as I had to original and only used it recently and found it great so I took advantage and got Ultra in the March Madness sales.
Sorry - double post.
One last image. I'm impressed with the amount of instancing UltraScatterPro can handle. This scene has three versions of the grass model with 7,892, 8,462, and 8,523 instances for the three groups respectively:
Version 1.0.1 released (free update to all current owners)
Changes in 1.0.1
- Can now choose which units (centimeters, meters, inches, feet or yards) the script uses
- some bug fixes
Quick question: is Scatter Pro necessary to render Country Lane?
Make that 2. Is Country Lane 2 coming to Daz Studio at some point?
No, once Ultra Scatter has been used to scatter instances the rsult is a stand-alone scene.
And besides, isn't Country Lane for Carrara? UltraScatterPro is for Daz Studio.
A bunch of my sets use Ultrascatter or Ultrascatter Pro. You don't need Ultrascatter/Pro to open or render them, but if you do have it, you also have the ability to edit and change those scatters (all the scatter maps used are included with the set).
Yes, Country Lane 1 and 2 are for Carrara.
Hello,
I just bought this addon. I have 2 questions:
1. How could I save 'Presets' for future usage/re-edit the former settings?
In the case of a very complex addon like this is vital to save settings in an easy way.
2. How could I avoid using proxies? When I want like 100 billboard trees (or whatever), I don't want to have proxies at all as I want to face of them to the camera wherever the camera is and I would like to share what I made with others who do not own the plugin.
Thanks,
PS. Great work BTW so far, but I really missed these options after using many other 3d packages.
1. Simply select the scatter in the scene tab before running the script. It will open for editing.
2. Proxies are only one of four display options. You could also select bounding boxes, full mesh, or nothing. With any of the non-proxy options, no additional assets are required for someone else to open the scene.
Thanks!
"Proxies are only one of four display options. You could also select bounding boxes, full mesh, or nothing. With any of the non-proxy options, no additional assets are required for someone else to open the scene."
I think I had 2 questions in one:)
In the scene view Instead of 100 instances I have 3 files: Amything Proxy, Anything Proxes and Anything Instances.
I would like to use an option when I have 100 (100/10000, 100k) instances under the Group, not these 3 files. So all of thes instances could be told to face to the Point I selected (like to a specific camera or whatever) WITHOUT using the addon (just like it works by default in DAZ with creating instances).
Thanks
Ultrascatter creates instance groups, not individual instances.
"Ultrascatter creates instance groups, not individual instances."
That is why I wrote that would be great to have an option for that. Could it be managed somehow to achive what on the picture is?
From development side for me it seems to not to 'opt out' a step what is already in the code.
Thanks.