UltraScenery [Commercial]

HowieFarkes

scorpio said:

My create times have climbed again since installing and suing the new bundle, its taking between 10-30 minutes to generate the scene, it feels its taking even longer than origanally, is this to be expected?

Is it just the new ecologies that are slower? - or are the original ecologies slower again too? Which stage of the process seems to be taking longer - calculating positions or creating the instances?

Certainly some of the new "Oaks" ecologies will take longer than some of the earlier ones as the fallen leaves take quite some calculation - but 30 minutes does sound a bit long - but 10-15 minutes is in the ballpark.

alexhcowley

scorpio said:

alexhcowley said:

scorpio said:

I have 32GB and its only since the insallation of the new packs that creation times have increased, before they were between a couple of minutes to 15 at the max

 

It's not a memory issue then.  I'm going to do a few tests of my own, when I get a spare minute.

Cheers,

Alex.

Thanks, I would like to know if its just something on my end or what is to be expected for some reason.

I've just run some tests.  I loaded Mallard pond,  one of the worst memory hoggers I know of, and then deleted it.  I then generated a scene using island 3 and willow 4.  This took 8 minutes to generate.  That was saved and then deleted. Next, I generated a scene using coast 2 and oaks 9. This took 9 minutes to generate, despite the fact that it had 200401 instances in it!  Both scenes were generated using the out of the box, default parameters for UltraScenery.

All the tests were run on a 32GB, 4 ghz 4 core i7, running Windows 8, using DAZ Studio 4.11.  I don't know if any of those was a factor.  

Can anyone else cast any light on Scorpio's problem?

Cheers,

Alex.

barbult

scorpio said:

barbult said:

If you have the

scorpio said:

The last scene I just created took nearly an hour to create.

I've also noticed that if I have created a scene then create another one sometimes the first scene is deleted other times not.

 

If you have an UltraScene selected in the Scene pane when you run the script again, by design, it recreates that UltraScene starting with the settings that were used to create it, so you can tweak those settings. If the UltraScene is not selected, the script creates a new one and then you have two UltraScenes in the scene.

Ahhhh

Having two UltraScenes in one scene (accidently!) can create a lush landscape. In this image I intended to rerun the script on an existing UltraScene in an existing scene file that I reopened. I wanted to try a modified ecology I was working on. Instead I accidently created a second UltraScene with the same feature but entirely different terrain parameters. This is what I got and I loved it!

MelanieL

I've not seen any great generation time changes (I'm 32GB, 3.6 GHz 4 core i7 and Win 7 Pro on DS 4.12.0.85) - the oaks one I attach took only 9 minutes to build. I haven't tried a thick forest ecology yet, though - I hope to try later today.

Nice to see what everyone is doing with the new add-ons. Here are some quick ones I did last night.

The first is Lake 02 Ecology Oaks 04, going for a bucolic pastoral vibe.

The second is my first look at the hill fort - I tried to make it a bit more of a scene but it could (should) be much better - it was well after midnight by then when I had to stop.

@TangoAlpha - I guess your white horse is based on the Uffington one? Maybe you could add a Cerne Giant to your next set, or would the promo not be welcomed in the store?

AnEye4Art

barbult said:

scorpio said:

barbult said:

If you have the

scorpio said:

The last scene I just created took nearly an hour to create.

I've also noticed that if I have created a scene then create another one sometimes the first scene is deleted other times not.

 

If you have an UltraScene selected in the Scene pane when you run the script again, by design, it recreates that UltraScene starting with the settings that were used to create it, so you can tweak those settings. If the UltraScene is not selected, the script creates a new one and then you have two UltraScenes in the scene.

Ahhhh

Having two UltraScenes in one scene (accidently!) can create a lush landscape. In this image I intended to rerun the script on an existing UltraScene in an existing scene file that I reopened. I wanted to try a modified ecology I was working on. Instead I accidently created a second UltraScene with the same feature but entirely different terrain parameters. This is what I got and I loved it!

You are a boss at this. I have respect for you after your generous help and willingness to share your knowledge. Keep it up.

scorpio

HowieFarkes said:

scorpio said:

My create times have climbed again since installing and suing the new bundle, its taking between 10-30 minutes to generate the scene, it feels its taking even longer than origanally, is this to be expected?

Is it just the new ecologies that are slower? - or are the original ecologies slower again too? Which stage of the process seems to be taking longer - calculating positions or creating the instances?

Certainly some of the new "Oaks" ecologies will take longer than some of the earlier ones as the fallen leaves take quite some calculation - but 30 minutes does sound a bit long - but 10-15 minutes is in the ballpark.

I unistaslled the new sets redownloaded them and reinstalled them just incase.

I've done some experiments and it seems to be the new ones, especially the willow ones, the oaks seem ok - what I would expect.

Default scenery, the willow 

The willow ones seem to get stuck on the instancing.

I used the willow either 1 or 4 on the original river 2 terrain it took 26 minutes to generate.

Lake 1 Willows 1 - 20 minutes

My computer, Windows 10, 32gb ram, Ryzen 7, 1080ti.

DS - 4 .12.1.117

It does seem to have improved since reinstalling

scorpio

In comparison the older set River 2 and Harpwood 2 completed in 7 minutes.

barbult

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

alexhcowley

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

Could this be something to do with the contrast and brightness settings?  Have you tried resetting them to the defaults?

Cheers,

Alex.

scorpio

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

I just created a scene using the Dirt Track 1 and the Oaks 4 and didn't get that.

barbult

alexhcowley said:

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

Could this be something to do with the contrast and brightness settings?  Have you tried resetting them to the defaults?

Cheers,

Alex.

It does not happen with default contrast and brightness. I must have hit on a combination of terrain altitudes that have no instances generated by the feature/ecology combination. I continue to test other combinations for insight.

lilweep

snow biomes would be cool.

barbult

barbult said:

alexhcowley said:

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

Could this be something to do with the contrast and brightness settings?  Have you tried resetting them to the defaults?

Cheers,

Alex.

It does not happen with default contrast and brightness. I must have hit on a combination of terrain altitudes that have no instances generated by the feature/ecology combination. I continue to test other combinations for insight.

The bare terrain happens with the white areas with No Feature and Grassland 1. It happens if I change the max height. It happens if I use a height map with white. So it isn't feature or ecology dependent it seems. Something about white when generating a terrain is causing bare terrain for me.

mavante

barbult said:

barbult said:

alexhcowley said:

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

Could this be something to do with the contrast and brightness settings?  Have you tried resetting them to the defaults?

Cheers,

Alex.

It does not happen with default contrast and brightness. I must have hit on a combination of terrain altitudes that have no instances generated by the feature/ecology combination. I continue to test other combinations for insight.

 

The bare terrain happens with the white areas with No Feature and Grassland 1. It happens if I change the max height. It happens if I use a height map with white. So it isn't feature or ecology dependent it seems. Something about white when generating a terrain is causing bare terrain for me.

It seems to me you may have found the magic for a clearing. Drop a grass prop in there, and plunk a building on it.

barbult

mavante said:

barbult said:

barbult said:

alexhcowley said:

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

Could this be something to do with the contrast and brightness settings?  Have you tried resetting them to the defaults?

Cheers,

Alex.

It does not happen with default contrast and brightness. I must have hit on a combination of terrain altitudes that have no instances generated by the feature/ecology combination. I continue to test other combinations for insight.

 

The bare terrain happens with the white areas with No Feature and Grassland 1. It happens if I change the max height. It happens if I use a height map with white. So it isn't feature or ecology dependent it seems. Something about white when generating a terrain is causing bare terrain for me.

It seems to me you may have found the magic for a clearing. Drop a grass prop in there, and plunk a building on it.

That's an idea. Not only is it clear of vegetation, it is flat. 

Currently, it looks to me that nothing will grow on FLAT terrain. I continue to investigate... Is it just me? Can anyone else reproduce this? 

Edit: The white is flat if a "feature" doesn't modify the terrain, which most do.

mavante

barbult said:

mavante said:

barbult said:

barbult said:

alexhcowley said:

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

Could this be something to do with the contrast and brightness settings?  Have you tried resetting them to the defaults?

Cheers,

Alex.

It does not happen with default contrast and brightness. I must have hit on a combination of terrain altitudes that have no instances generated by the feature/ecology combination. I continue to test other combinations for insight.

 

The bare terrain happens with the white areas with No Feature and Grassland 1. It happens if I change the max height. It happens if I use a height map with white. So it isn't feature or ecology dependent it seems. Something about white when generating a terrain is causing bare terrain for me.

It seems to me you may have found the magic for a clearing. Drop a grass prop in there, and plunk a building on it.

That's an idea. Not only is it clear of vegetation, it is flat. 

Currently, it looks to me that nothing will grow on FLAT terrain. I continue to investigate... Is it just me? Can anyone else reproduce this? 

And if you can control it using white on a height map, it seems that you could make it any size and shape you want—even allowing to put down sidewalks and parking lots.

daveso

I just bought the new bundle as well as the 2 original ultra tree products. Not home until tomorrow so cannot try them out . How do I use the ultra trees in the ultra scenery product?

barbult

daveso said:

I just bought the new bundle as well as the 2 original ultra tree products. Not home until tomorrow so cannot try them out . How do I use the ultra trees in the ultra scenery product?

UltraTrees don't work inside UltraScenery, but you can place one manually after generating your UltraScenery. 

barbult

mavante said:

barbult said:

mavante said:

barbult said:

barbult said:

alexhcowley said:

barbult said:

I'm getting bare terrain patches with Dirt Track 1 and Oaks 4. They seem to correspond to the white areas of the terrain noise image. I have all the items checked in the build tab. The scene generated 117249 instances. Any idea why?

(These aren't rendered to completion - just enough to show the bare patches.)

Could this be something to do with the contrast and brightness settings?  Have you tried resetting them to the defaults?

Cheers,

Alex.

It does not happen with default contrast and brightness. I must have hit on a combination of terrain altitudes that have no instances generated by the feature/ecology combination. I continue to test other combinations for insight.

 

The bare terrain happens with the white areas with No Feature and Grassland 1. It happens if I change the max height. It happens if I use a height map with white. So it isn't feature or ecology dependent it seems. Something about white when generating a terrain is causing bare terrain for me.

It seems to me you may have found the magic for a clearing. Drop a grass prop in there, and plunk a building on it.

That's an idea. Not only is it clear of vegetation, it is flat. 

Currently, it looks to me that nothing will grow on FLAT terrain. I continue to investigate... Is it just me? Can anyone else reproduce this? 

And if you can control it using white on a height map, it seems that you could make it any size and shape you want—even allowing to put down sidewalks and parking lots.

White in a height map with noise contrast set to minimum (all gray noise) will give you a bare flat area.

Edit: It is only flat if a "feature" doesn't modify the terrain, which most do. I was using "No Feature" when I saw it being flat.

barbult

Here is an interesting discovery related to height maps. The way the height map is created in Photoshop  (RGB, Grayscale, Indexed Color) makes a difference in how it performs in UltraScenery. These are only rendered for a few iterations to get a feel for where the instances are placed. Grayscale and Indexed Color look about identical, but  RGB shapes the whole terrain differently and places no instances on the flat mid-gray squiggle in the middle and places a few in the black (low) area. 
For this experiment I used No Feature and Grassland 1. Noise contrast was set to the minimum. Max Height was set to 20.

RGB

Grayscale

Indexed Color

barbult

I've started a new thread over in the Art Studio forum to document some of my UltraScenery experiments, so I don't monopolize this commercial thread. I may migrate some of my posts over to that thread.

HowieFarkes

barbult said:

Here is an interesting discovery related to height maps. The way the height map is created in Photoshop  (RGB, Grayscale, Indexed Color) makes a difference in how it performs in UltraScenery. These are only rendered for a few iterations to get a feel for where the instances are placed. Grayscale and Indexed Color look about identical, but  RGB shapes the whole terrain differently and places no instances on the flat mid-gray squiggle in the middle and places a few in the black (low) area. 
For this experiment I used No Feature and Grassland 1. Noise contrast was set to the minimum. Max Height was set to 20.

Thank you for your excellent detective work as always Barb - the script seems to have a bug where completely level/flat surfaces cause an error when trying to find the height of the polygons so it just gives up and won't place an instance there. I know what I'm doing today (hint: it's fixing this). Different image formats can use different compression schemes that can introduce noise into the image - although I see you used PNG for all of them so that shouldn't be part of it - but I think the effects you are getting are all symptoms of the same bug just being expressed slightly differently due to color conversion in your image editor.

barbult

HowieFarkes said:

barbult said:

Here is an interesting discovery related to height maps. The way the height map is created in Photoshop  (RGB, Grayscale, Indexed Color) makes a difference in how it performs in UltraScenery. These are only rendered for a few iterations to get a feel for where the instances are placed. Grayscale and Indexed Color look about identical, but  RGB shapes the whole terrain differently and places no instances on the flat mid-gray squiggle in the middle and places a few in the black (low) area. 
For this experiment I used No Feature and Grassland 1. Noise contrast was set to the minimum. Max Height was set to 20.

Thank you for your excellent detective work as always Barb - the script seems to have a bug where completely level/flat surfaces cause an error when trying to find the height of the polygons so it just gives up and won't place an instance there. I know what I'm doing today (hint: it's fixing this). Different image formats can use different compression schemes that can introduce noise into the image - although I see you used PNG for all of them so that shouldn't be part of it - but I think the effects you are getting are all symptoms of the same bug just being expressed slightly differently due to color conversion in your image editor.

Excellent, I look forward to the next script update. Thank you for great customer service.

dawnblade

I jumped on the bundle, and looking forward to loads of fun with it! I tried out  Lake 1 and Oaks 9, and default settings for the rest. When you get a chance, can you also please fix the reeds growing through solid docks? Thanks! Edited to add that I don't have Octane add-on enabled.

 

Edited to add the dock on the opposite side has 3 trees and grass growing through it.

scorpio

Is anyone else getting extra long creation times when using the Willows?

Artini

I have also used Lake 1 and Oaks 9, and can confirm the issue with the dock and vegetation.

It is easy to fix, however. I have just moved a bit this dock towards the lake.

Artini

Yes, waiting for the script to finish is what we need to handle ourselves.

I usually go away from the computer and do some other things...

 

scorpio

Artini said:

Yes, waiting for the script to finish is what we need to handle ourselves.

I usually go away from the computer and do some other things...

 

So you are also finding it can take up to an hour to generate a scene using the willows?

TangoAlpha

MelanieL said:

@TangoAlpha - I guess your white horse is based on the Uffington one? Maybe you could add a Cerne Giant to your next set, or would the promo not be welcomed in the store?

Yes, it's the Uffington white horse (which is 30 minutes up the road from me). The Cerne Abbas giant would be fun, but I don't think it would get past Daz. You could always create your own mask though.... 

TangoAlpha

dawnblade said:

I jumped on the bundle, and looking forward to loads of fun with it! I tried out  Lake 1 and Oaks 9, and default settings for the rest. When you get a chance, can you also please fix the reeds growing through solid docks? Thanks!

Edited to add the dock on the opposite side has 3 trees and grass growing through it.

Noted. I'll take a look at it.