UltraScenery [Commercial]

L'Adair

@AllenArt, You're welcome.

3Diva

Gogger said:

Here's the image one more step along the evolutionary chain.  No DoF, just KindredArts Fog and I think I'm closer.

Oh that's gorgeous! WOW! You nailed it!

barbult

@Divamakeup I certainly understand your frustration. Why don't you send a PM to HowieFarkes with your suggestion. He continually updates the product. If he agrees, he could add it. I'm glad you are over that hump now. You will have fun with this.

barbult

@Divamakeup don't use Iray preview with a lot of instances in your scene, either, unless you have a super powerful graphics card. I've been told Titan Rx works OK. Iray preview doesn't seem to honor the Instancing Optimization setting. You'll lock up again.

3Diva

Awesome! Thank you for the great advice/tips, barbult. 

I'm REALLY loving this product. It's insanely cool! I get fast renders with this product, even on my older rig - so that's pretty amazing. Not only does it render really fast but it also looks so real. I'm really happy with this product and I'm very much looking forward to working with it more. :)

3Diva

I made a quick render setting preset (attached if anyone else might find it helpful). :) All it does it quickly change the Instancing Optimization to Memory, nothing else. I hope I'm not stepping on your toes, Howie. I find it helpful to have a preset right there in the folder so that I don't forget (my memory is terrible lol). I wanted to share it in case anyone else finds it helpful, but if it bothers you in any way, please let me know and, if so, I'll delete it. :)

This is an incredible product! I absolutely love it! I never thought I'd see a product that could deliver this level of speed, customization, and realism to landscapes. Thank you for creating such an incredible product! 

3Diva

My new favorite thing to do is just drop random images into the height generator and see what happens. lol I'm having so much fun with this!

This one was taking a bit longer than some of my other tests, so I stopped it early at around 25 minutes in. 

It looks like there are a few trees that didn't quite get "buried" and have roots showing, I think maybe I pushed the map contrast too far or something. I'll have to do some more experimenting. :D 

I love this product! I'm glad I was finally able to pick it up and give it a spin. I think I'll be using it a lot in the future.

Artini

How did you get a water with the custom height map?

memcneil70

@Divamakeup, I am happy to see you figure out the settings, because you have such an interesting image above. Even with the tree issue, I was immediately taken to Fire Season in Santa Barbara County in 2014 before I moved to Colorado and how weird the light was when fires raged on the hills over Lompoc. 

Re: those settings, I have found with more and more products I am having to first check render settings before I do anything, that I am not in Iray preview and have memory turned on. Just automatic now.

Although I have used US a number of times, I still open the manual first, review the steps so that I have a guide to plan my attack. (Of course I am nowhere near a power user.)

Mary

memcneil70

Gogger said:

Here's the image one more step along the evolutionary chain.  No DoF, just KindredArts Fog and I think I'm closer.

@Gogger, I feel like I am looking at a still from a movie.

And you could put a moose there, or a pair of baby bears, deer, and see the stupid tourist with a camera.

Mary

daveso

Divamakeup said:

I made a quick render setting preset (attached if anyone else might find it helpful). :) All it does it quickly change the Instancing Optimization to Memory, nothing else. I hope I'm not stepping on your toes, Howie. I find it helpful to have a preset right there in the folder so that I don't forget (my memory is terrible lol). I wanted to share it in case anyone else finds it helpful, but if it bothers you in any way, please let me know and, if so, I'll delete it. :)

This is an incredible product! I absolutely love it! I never thought I'd see a product that could deliver this level of speed, customization, and realism to landscapes. Thank you for creating such an incredible product! 

thanks.. that is very cool. one of the things i see happening is that I usually create the scenery, then add lighting. A lot of the lighting I use changes the render settings. It is necessary to go back in and change that setting to memory again prior to render, I would assume. 

My DS has been locking up a lot in general. There was an update not long ago. That seems to have stopped the lockups so far. 

Artini

Never mind - I think, I figured it out.

3dOutlaw

barbult said:

I experimented with creating some cameras for the Pond feature and the River 1 feature.

• These camera presets are free for you to use and modify in Daz Studio. Please don't post them elsewhere, don't claim them as your own creation, and don't try to sell them. If everybody plays nice, I'll probably create more. 
• To install: Unzip the attached file and open the Content folder. Copy the Camera Presets folder (and everything in it) to your content library, just like any manual product install.
• This is not packaged as a "product". You will find the camera presets inside Daz Studio in Content Library under "Camera Presets/barbult/UltraScenery Cameras". There will be two files: BCam USC Pond Set and BCam USC River 1 Set. Just double click one of them to load the cameras into your scene. You may need to adjust the height of the cameras, depending on the height of your terrain. The cameras over water should not need much, if any, height adjustment. The two over land in the river set may need height adjustment and may be blocked by vegetation, depending on your chosen ecology. If a camera near the pond shore is blocked by trees on shore, just move it a little closer to the pond center.
• These were designed for two specific UltraScenery features (Pond and River 1). You can also try them with other features if you wish.
• The naming convention is
  • N = North (camera is on the north end of the terrain)
  • S = South
  • E = East
  • W = West
  • C = Center
  • CN = Center North ( Between Center and North)
  • CS = Center South
• Have fun!
• Let me know if you have problems.

Hey @barbult, thanks for these!  I took the N one, copied it, and made a set of "sky cams" and posted them at the link below.  Hope that's OK, since it was just a camera.  They should play nice with the ones you made, as I tried to make the directions the same.

Freebie USC Sky Cams

barbult

3dOutlaw said:

barbult said:

I experimented with creating some cameras for the Pond feature and the River 1 feature.

• These camera presets are free for you to use and modify in Daz Studio. Please don't post them elsewhere, don't claim them as your own creation, and don't try to sell them. If everybody plays nice, I'll probably create more. 
• To install: Unzip the attached file and open the Content folder. Copy the Camera Presets folder (and everything in it) to your content library, just like any manual product install.
• This is not packaged as a "product". You will find the camera presets inside Daz Studio in Content Library under "Camera Presets/barbult/UltraScenery Cameras". There will be two files: BCam USC Pond Set and BCam USC River 1 Set. Just double click one of them to load the cameras into your scene. You may need to adjust the height of the cameras, depending on the height of your terrain. The cameras over water should not need much, if any, height adjustment. The two over land in the river set may need height adjustment and may be blocked by vegetation, depending on your chosen ecology. If a camera near the pond shore is blocked by trees on shore, just move it a little closer to the pond center.
• These were designed for two specific UltraScenery features (Pond and River 1). You can also try them with other features if you wish.
• The naming convention is
  • N = North (camera is on the north end of the terrain)
  • S = South
  • E = East
  • W = West
  • C = Center
  • CN = Center North ( Between Center and North)
  • CS = Center South
• Have fun!
• Let me know if you have problems.

Hey @barbult, thanks for these!  I took the N one, copied it, and made a set of "sky cams" and posted them at the link below.  Hope that's OK, since it was just a camera.  They should play nice with the ones you made, as I tried to make the directions the same.

Freebie USC Sky Cams

OK with me! Thanks, they are handy. I have updated my camera set here to add a set of cameras for the River 2 feature.

 

L'Adair

I just picked up several of the RPC volumes of plants and trees from the Kendall Sears Memorial sale of AM products. I'm looking forward to seeing if I can create my own ecologies with one or more of these. I haven't downloaded them yet, so I've no idea if they will work "out-of-the-box" or not. Could be fun. Could be frustrating.

ETA: I haven't downloaded these to The Beast yet, (have too much RL stuff to do to get caught up in 3D atm,) but I installed them on this machine and loaded each of the props from the volumes I just purchased, (1, 3, 5-1, 5-2, amd 6,) and they are all simple props, without additional bones or parented bits, (leaves, for example.)

It looks to me as though these will work as is, though be aware the origin point is at the very bottom of the props. It might be necessary to "Reshape the base" for some of these as @barbult shows on the dead trees in her experiments thread here.

3dOutlaw

Gogger said:

Here's the image one more step along the evolutionary chain.  No DoF, just KindredArts Fog and I think I'm closer.

Nice!  So, is Kindred Arts Fog, similar to Atmocam2 fog, i.e. a big fog prop that you can adjust?

Also, what were your camera settings in this image?  Was wondering what folks are using for camera settings for these widescreen landscape images?

Gogger

3dOutlaw said:

Gogger said:

Here's the image one more step along the evolutionary chain.  No DoF, just KindredArts Fog and I think I'm closer.

Nice!  So, is Kindred Arts Fog, similar to Atmocam2 fog, i.e. a big fog prop that you can adjust?

Also, what were your camera settings in this image?  Was wondering what folks are using for camera settings for these widescreen landscape images?

Thanks, 3dOutlaw.  Yes, Iray Distance Fog is a large fog prop system and I have had consistently good luck with it.
Not sure if you are looking for something in particular, but I have a Dell U3415W 34" ultra wide, curved screen and its resolution is 3440x1440 so I set the stock DAZ Studio 'New Camera' for those dimensions at, I think, 65mm (I can check and edit this after I get home tonight and check for sure).  Nothing special or tricky.  There is a little bit of parallax error, most notable on the left, but I didn't feel strongly enough about it to compensate, or mask it out - pretty common with tall columnar items.  I had the initial version with DoF and loved it, but it presented some issues that I was unable to resolve to my satisfaction so went with the fog. I also have a 24" monitor (1920x1200) that I use in a portrait orientation and man, I gotta tell ya, between these two monitors UltraScenery has been just stunningly amazing to work with! The photographer and the gorilla distract from the UltraScenery splendor, but I am going to render the same scene without them as well (and in that one I probably will try to mitigate the parallax issue).

3dOutlaw

Thanks for the reply @Gogger, and thanks for the new camera's @barbult!

MelanieL

Gogger said:

Here's the image one more step along the evolutionary chain.  No DoF, just KindredArts Fog and I think I'm closer.

Wow, Gogger - I love this latest version!

Divamakeup said:

My new favorite thing to do is just drop random images into the height generator and see what happens. lol I'm having so much fun with this!

This one was taking a bit longer than some of my other tests, so I stopped it early at around 25 minutes in.

It looks like there are a few trees that didn't quite get "buried" and have roots showing, I think maybe I pushed the map contrast too far or something. I'll have to do some more experimenting. :D

I love this product! I'm glad I was finally able to pick it up and give it a spin. I think I'll be using it a lot in the future.

That's really nice, Divamakeup - despite the tree roots (which sometimes do appear out of the ground like that in RL)

Artini said:

Never mind - I think, I figured it out.

Very pretty, Artini - which boat is that?

barbult said:

3dOutlaw said:

barbult said:

I experimented with creating some cameras for the Pond feature and the River 1 feature.

• These camera presets are free for you to use and modify in Daz Studio. Please don't post them elsewhere, don't claim them as your own creation, and don't try to sell them. If everybody plays nice, I'll probably create more.
• To install: Unzip the attached file and open the Content folder. Copy the Camera Presets folder (and everything in it) to your content library, just like any manual product install.
• This is not packaged as a "product". You will find the camera presets inside Daz Studio in Content Library under "Camera Presets/barbult/UltraScenery Cameras". There will be two files: BCam USC Pond Set and BCam USC River 1 Set. Just double click one of them to load the cameras into your scene. You may need to adjust the height of the cameras, depending on the height of your terrain. The cameras over water should not need much, if any, height adjustment. The two over land in the river set may need height adjustment and may be blocked by vegetation, depending on your chosen ecology. If a camera near the pond shore is blocked by trees on shore, just move it a little closer to the pond center.
• These were designed for two specific UltraScenery features (Pond and River 1). You can also try them with other features if you wish.
• The naming convention is
  • N = North (camera is on the north end of the terrain)
  • S = South
  • E = East
  • W = West
  • C = Center
  • CN = Center North ( Between Center and North)
  • CS = Center South
• Have fun!
• Let me know if you have problems.

Hey @barbult, thanks for these!  I took the N one, copied it, and made a set of "sky cams" and posted them at the link below.  Hope that's OK, since it was just a camera.  They should play nice with the ones you made, as I tried to make the directions the same.

Freebie USC Sky Cams

OK with me! Thanks, they are handy. I have updated my camera set here to add a set of cameras for the River 2 feature.

 

Thanks for the updated cameras, barbult.

3Diva

Artini said:

Never mind - I think, I figured it out.

I'm glad you got it figured out - the scene looks good, Artini! :) It looks like a place where there might be a lot of seismic activity to jut the ground up like that. Pretty neat! :D

3Diva

memcneil70 said:

@Divamakeup, I am happy to see you figure out the settings, because you have such an interesting image above. Even with the tree issue, I was immediately taken to Fire Season in Santa Barbara County in 2014 before I moved to Colorado and how weird the light was when fires raged on the hills over Lompoc. 

Re: those settings, I have found with more and more products I am having to first check render settings before I do anything, that I am not in Iray preview and have memory turned on. Just automatic now.

Although I have used US a number of times, I still open the manual first, review the steps so that I have a guide to plan my attack. (Of course I am nowhere near a power user.)

Mary

Thank you, Mary. Yeah, I don't have many (or maybe any?) other products that utilize instances like this, so I wasn't aware of the funny "quarks" that can happen with certain render settings. Thank you for the feedback! :)

3Diva

daveso said:

Divamakeup said:

I made a quick render setting preset (attached if anyone else might find it helpful). :) All it does it quickly change the Instancing Optimization to Memory, nothing else. I hope I'm not stepping on your toes, Howie. I find it helpful to have a preset right there in the folder so that I don't forget (my memory is terrible lol). I wanted to share it in case anyone else finds it helpful, but if it bothers you in any way, please let me know and, if so, I'll delete it. :)

This is an incredible product! I absolutely love it! I never thought I'd see a product that could deliver this level of speed, customization, and realism to landscapes. Thank you for creating such an incredible product! 

thanks.. that is very cool. one of the things i see happening is that I usually create the scenery, then add lighting. A lot of the lighting I use changes the render settings. It is necessary to go back in and change that setting to memory again prior to render, I would assume. 

My DS has been locking up a lot in general. There was an update not long ago. That seems to have stopped the lockups so far. 

Yeah, I have a few products that when changing the lighting or HDRI it also changes other render settings, so you never know what things are getting messed with when trying different HDRIs or light sets (my first lighting and render set that I made also does this -ugh! I've learned a lot since then!). With this product, I also have to be careful of the Ground Position Mode too, as sometimes that gets switch from "Auto" to "Manual", in which case you get funny things happening with the HDRI poking through the environments. lol I might have to make another render setting preset that changes that Ground Position Mode to Auto and stick it in the folder too so that I don't forget. That way, right before I render, I can just click on those two presets to ensure that the Instancing Optimization is set to Memory and that the Ground Position Mode is set to Auto.

3Diva

barbult said:

3dOutlaw said:

barbult said:

I experimented with creating some cameras for the Pond feature and the River 1 feature.

• These camera presets are free for you to use and modify in Daz Studio. Please don't post them elsewhere, don't claim them as your own creation, and don't try to sell them. If everybody plays nice, I'll probably create more. 
• To install: Unzip the attached file and open the Content folder. Copy the Camera Presets folder (and everything in it) to your content library, just like any manual product install.
• This is not packaged as a "product". You will find the camera presets inside Daz Studio in Content Library under "Camera Presets/barbult/UltraScenery Cameras". There will be two files: BCam USC Pond Set and BCam USC River 1 Set. Just double click one of them to load the cameras into your scene. You may need to adjust the height of the cameras, depending on the height of your terrain. The cameras over water should not need much, if any, height adjustment. The two over land in the river set may need height adjustment and may be blocked by vegetation, depending on your chosen ecology. If a camera near the pond shore is blocked by trees on shore, just move it a little closer to the pond center.
• These were designed for two specific UltraScenery features (Pond and River 1). You can also try them with other features if you wish.
• The naming convention is
  • N = North (camera is on the north end of the terrain)
  • S = South
  • E = East
  • W = West
  • C = Center
  • CN = Center North ( Between Center and North)
  • CS = Center South
• Have fun!
• Let me know if you have problems.

Hey @barbult, thanks for these!  I took the N one, copied it, and made a set of "sky cams" and posted them at the link below.  Hope that's OK, since it was just a camera.  They should play nice with the ones you made, as I tried to make the directions the same.

Freebie USC Sky Cams

OK with me! Thanks, they are handy. I have updated my camera set here to add a set of cameras for the River 2 feature.

 

Thank you so much for the cameras! That's very cool and is hugely helpful!

3Diva

@MelanieL Thanks! Yeah, sometimes water erodes away the ground and you get roots exposed, so that's not a big deal to have some of the roots poking out, I think. :) 

barbult

Divamakeup said:

@MelanieL Thanks! Yeah, sometimes water erodes away the ground and you get roots exposed, so that's not a big deal to have some of the roots poking out, I think. :) 

Good idea. I'm going to claim that is what happened next time. 

FirstBastion

Divamakeup said:

 

I love this product! I'm glad I was finally able to pick it up and give it a spin. I think I'll be using it a lot in the future.

Great results!

Daventaki

Compiled list has been updated with latest info.  Also added the link into my signature to provide fast acess to the list.

3Diva

FirstBastion said:

Divamakeup said:

 

I love this product! I'm glad I was finally able to pick it up and give it a spin. I think I'll be using it a lot in the future.

Great results!

Thank you, @FirstBastion ! :D It's kind of addicting - experimenting with it and seeing all the different environments that can be created. I knew this was going to be a great product but didn't realize it would be this much fun experimenting with it. I really hope we get to see things like winter environments and other ecosystems. :)

3Diva

barbult said:

Divamakeup said:

@MelanieL Thanks! Yeah, sometimes water erodes away the ground and you get roots exposed, so that's not a big deal to have some of the roots poking out, I think. :) 

Good idea. I'm going to claim that is what happened next time. 

ROFL! 100% legit! :D

3Diva

Daventaki said:

Compiled list has been updated with latest info.  Also added the link into my signature to provide fast acess to the list.

This thread has a lot of great tips, but the fact that it's nearly 60 pages deep is overwhelming so your list is very much appreciated! Thank you, @Daventaki ! :)