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Comments
Wow! That animation is beyond cool! Is that a metaball particle generator at work?
Yes, there are 2 generators in front of the sledge and 2 for the feets.
I'm working a little on my wip today, some souvenirs in the European tundra... :)
Sorry to "spam" the thread but when I get working I have a hard time stopping. :(
Shape lights sound like they might be the way to go. I was playing with fog to try and get the right feel and the scale of my final image so I'll try this out later today or tomorrow and see how it compares to bulbs.
I spent most of my morning modeling a low-poly townhouse. I modeled and set up the textures (just really basic procedurals since they will be far away and behind some fog), then flipped the model to get a reversed one. I copied and pasted the top floor on each version to get two three story versions. My current plans for my image are to be looking across a park, with light covered trees nearby, snow falling (particles? replicated? post-work? not sure yet) and a a row of these houses just visible in the distance.
I've got quite a few more pieces to make before I start assembling it all so the plan may change as I go.
Attached images:
Playing with my fog setup using volumetric clouds
A quick test render to see get a feel for the settings on the volumetric cloud (this is more or less the scale I'm aiming for on the final)
My basic townhouse model
A quick render on one townhouse
A bunch of townhouseamuses in a row :)
Mark
EDIT TO ADD: Interesting side note - looking at the time stamp on my previous post it looks like it took me about 2 hours to create that row of townshouses from scratch,and that's with some missteps along the way. I'm kind of impressed with myself :) I've been trying to spend a little time each day since the last challenge modeling and I think it's helping. ;)
I'm using Carrara Vista In the Clouds as a base.
Starting to work on the replicators for the trees in the scene- will be re-working the shaders as well as the displacement of the trees themselves in the replication process.
I will be re-working the terrain shaders as well as the clouds, sky and lighting.
The finished render from this first part will actually be a poster for the second part that will have props modeled and textured specifically inside of Carrara for the final piece.
Here are screenshots of one tree shader in progress and both finished as well as an example of the second replication of the tree's modifiers in the modeling room and the in progress snow shader for the blender layer over the rock texture.
Here are two test renders. Shadows, bump, fast settings for anti-aliasing, object accuracy set to .5 pixels, shadow accuracy set to 4 pixels, no GI at all.
The replicator ended up putting both tree sets almost against the terrain(s), but as you can see, they aren't ON the terrain(s).
The rendering left little pink lines here and there of non-rendering spots.
I need to re-work the snow terrain's displacement so it's not so bare on the close ups, or find another camera angle to work with that shows more of a "wintery" feel.
Still need to work the tree shaders a bit more.
Shape lights sound like they might be the way to go. I was playing with fog to try and get the right feel and the scale of my final image so I'll try this out later today or tomorrow and see how it compares to bulbs.
I spent most of my morning modeling a low-poly townhouse. I modeled and set up the textures (just really basic procedurals since they will be far away and behind some fog), then flipped the model to get a reversed one. I copied and pasted the top floor on each version to get two three story versions. My current plans for my image are to be looking across a park, with light covered trees nearby, snow falling (particles? replicated? post-work? not sure yet) and a a row of these houses just visible in the distance.
I've got quite a few more pieces to make before I start assembling it all so the plan may change as I go.
Attached images:
Playing with my fog setup using volumetric clouds
A quick test render to see get a feel for the settings on the volumetric cloud (this is more or less the scale I'm aiming for on the final)
My basic townhouse model
A quick render on one townhouse
A bunch of townhouseamuses in a row :)
Mark
EDIT TO ADD: Interesting side note - looking at the time stamp on my previous post it looks like it took me about 2 hours to create that row of townshouses from scratch,and that's with some missteps along the way. I'm kind of impressed with myself :) I've been trying to spend a little time each day since the last challenge modeling and I think it's helping. ;)
It looks to me like you're making great strides with Carrara. I am impressed with what you have done so far, and with the innovative approaches you've been experimenting with.
Nice to see another person joining the fun! :)
You can increase the slope angle to get more snow if you're using a terrain shader that is.
Not sure about the pink lines. I didn't see any. Is it possible that they were at the border of the render tiles and when the tile finished it left the line at the seam between two tiles? If so, it may be only a display issue in Carrara. Sometimes zooming in or out causes it to refresh and the lines go away. If you see them in the image you posted, is there a way to mark them if it's not a big hassle?
Edited to add that those scenes look great.
I almost forgot.
When you have a steep slope like that, it is common for the trees to appear is if they're not attached to the ground. The issue is that the hot point is what is on the surface.
To fix this problem, select the tree and go into the editor. Reduce the root flare so the bottom of the tree is not flared out. You may also wish to increase the trunk length. Exit the editor. With the tree still selected, press the Caps Lock button on your keyboard to turn it on. Now, use the manipulator on the selected tree to move the hotpoint upward on the trunk. The trees in the replicator should appear to automatically adjust so that they sink into the ground. The more you move the hotpoint upwards, the more the trees will sink into the ground.
Don't forget to press the Caps Lock button again to turn it off.
Oh, cool! Thanks for that tip, E. XD I think you were right from the first post- I didn't notice that the pink lines weren't showing up on the finished render after I posted them here. I had to go look at them again on my post just to make sure. lol
I'll try that tip on the trees, as well as the slope adjustment you've suggested and see how they work. I'm actually rendering another view atm, and will post that when it's finished before going in and seeing how that hot point tip works.
Thanks again!
Kind of a proof of concept to see if I can get a hoar frost look. I made a simple weed stalk in the spline modeler and then a simple ice crystal shape, also in the spline modeler. I created a shader for the ice that uses translucency and a slight glow.
I did try hair, but it didn't look that great.
I actually like this view better. It gives me an idea for one of the trees, once I've finalized the scene's shaders/textures and fix the replication issue that E helped me with.
That looks really cool!
Mark (MDO2010) I am beyond impressed. I am loving your experiments and your modeling is very impressive. I can't wait to see it all combined together. The elements so far look wonderful.
DarwinsMishap I love the wide shot you posted (Doc4).The trees look very natural there. I don't know what you've got in mind for the finished entry, but that white cold fog creeping into the valley and towards the trees already gives looks chilly and fits the "winter is coming" theme even as it is now! :) (I also don't see the pink lines, so that could have been just a display hiccup)
EP, I am so glad that you are working on the hoar frost!!! I have an image in mind, which might need it too, so if you don't mind, I might steal some of your ideas as starting points for my own. :)
I think you can safely make the needles wider at the bottom, but still narrow for the majority of the length - so, probably, by adding a new slice(?), because the surface of the frosted object usually has fuller coverage due to smaller crystals, which you will achieve by expanding the base and having some bases overlap each other, while still having the needles pointy and sharp and not increasing your replicator counts.
Glad to help.
BTW, this is for anybody that may not know this, but the object in the replicator can be made invisible by turning off the visibility in the object's General tab and it will still be visible in the replicator. This can come in handy if you don't want to see the original replicated object and you don't want to find something to hide it behind or under, or if you wish to keep it centered in your scene for convenient editing later on.
A lot of it has to do with the surface as well. Some materials seem to generate the ice as spiky crystals without a lot of white frost on the surface, while others are as you describe. Then, there are some that have wispy elements that almost have a hair like look. This is my ultimate goal. I think I will have to use a hybrid geometry/hair to get the look I want.
Here's a reference image. Notice the thicker stalk of the weed has the spiky crystals but the frost isn't covering the surface of the stalk as much. Then further up it changes to more like you describe and it ends with the fluffy hair/filigree look.
Bob Ross would be proud. And I mean that as a compliment!
Here a first shooting with this rende(e)r…
The terrain was converted into polygons to soften embossings with displacement map.
Only one idea to start…
Nice tips EP !
This is an excellent tip - I did not know that. No more moving my objects way off camera and then wondering where they went when I need to change them! :)
DarwinsMishap: Whoa! I am amazed - I have still not really gotten the hang of terrains; yours look amazing.
I started assembling parts of the scene to see how it looks and to start looking for a good angle. I dropped in some of the low poly cars that came with Carrara and duplicated both those and my buildings using Sparrowhawke's Instance Randomizer to get a variety of colors. Lighting right now is just two distant lights: a light purple one pointing straight down and a less intense light orange one from the left - going for a nighttime in the city feel.
The black area near the camera is going to be a waterfront jogging path connecting to another path going across the park, but right now there's nothing there.
Still to do:
Modeling: fire hydrant, street lights, park benches, trash container, jogging path/waterfront
Lighting: lights from trees and street lights
Other Stuff: falling snow, add some variety to the trees
Mark
folks are off to a fast start.
- Mark - great job. the light umbrella is a very efficient way to handle it. I was going to suggest converting the tree branches to obj then use a slope shader to control the placement of the lights. Your way is much better.
- Darwinsmishap - that terrain setting is beautiful. Fantastic atmosphere. Somehow I think the vendors would rather have you showcase their products rather than me (more on that later). :)
- Dudu - are you combining that start with an animation for the carrarator event? I've never done an animation. I will have to see if I can put something together.
- EP - Afraid I don't know anything about hoar frost or frost heaves (and I'm glad), but I might be getting a crash course very soon. I'm looking forward to one of your special uses of light.
OK, I've made some progress on the background picture. I combined the realistic sky with a cloud dome to create a storm front, and played a little more with the ground textures.
For the foreground, I inserted a vertex grid and applied the same ground texture as the background mountain. I then morphed the grid for a slightly downward slope.
The momma bear, two baby bears, and the shoe-house are from 3D Universe's fairytale collection. They are probably just placeholders. My current thinking is that I will have a bear in the foreground preparing a den under a rocky outcropping or fallen tree or something. I have modeled a dog but never a bear. We'll see if I try to create the bear and apply hair myself, or if I use one of the bears rattling around my runtime. Now that I see the 3D universe bears, I'm tempted to have some fun with fairytale content. 3D Universe makes great products.
Anyway, some WIP for your amusement.
I so did not want to do another Challenge, but Antara's Theme got my mind to churning. I spent last evening doodling on an idea, and now I seem to be well on my way to entering this darn Challenge.
Antara is now on my list of people who are evil. ;-P
I came across a picture in a book on posing for photography that got me wondering if I could do that in Carrara with replicators. This should be fun. :)
Great news! Can't wait to see what you have in mind.
Antara, I have been trying to send you a pm but the cursor is going berserk when I hit the spacebar. I'll start the index.
See that, everybody? I'm trying to ingratiate myself to the challenge host. I will stop at nothing. Bwahahahaha...
OK, I am posting the announcement in the Commons now :)
EDIT:
... and we are up and running!
To all participants and views of this thread:
if you feel like something in this WIP thread deserves to be shown to the greater audience of the general public, please post a link to it in our Commons thread here:
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/48769/#714579
Also that thread will hold a technical index of the practical and technical tips discussed here, so once the WIP thread gets harder to navigate, you can refer to the commons thread here http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/714579/ to get the list of topics covered in the WIP thread and direct links to the discussions.
Hi all,
I need some help making a decision...
Here are two renders, one with a path across the park and one without. I can't decide which way to go with this and any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Mark
Be glad. Be very glad. ;-)
BTW, as an example for those looking to add drifts of snow, look at the light interactions with the snow in the picture with the ruined smoke house.
I kind of like the path myself.
I also like the path.
Also, if you are going to have a wide flat landscape with snow, you might also look at the wind erosion filter in the terrain modeler. It creates a dune/wave - like effect that could easily be adjusted for snow drifts.
EP, I see what you mean with the frost. Great references, btw! :) I can't wait to see the replicator and hair combination for the frost. That sounds like FUN. And I also want to know how taxing it will be for the system, because it also sounds like a lot of calculations... :)
DUDU_00001 I love that reindeer render! That tree on the side is amazing. Most trees I create look procedural, even when I try to increase randomness settings. I'd love to know how you got the branches to look so natural. (You might want to smooth the snow shader of it, though, as there are some polygonal boundaries visible on the snow edges) Great snow terrain, too! Excellent posing on the reindeer, too - they look very natural.
diomede64, those clouds look gorgeous! Love the snow, but I am not sure about the color of the underlining terrain. Right now it's somewhat hard to read what it is - stone, grass, flowery grass, moss?
booksbydavid I will wear my evilness title with pride! :) I am so happy you are going to join us! Can't wait to see what your idea is :).
I like the setup sketch. I am intrigued and want to know more about your idea for the image.
About the path. I think it will entirely depend on your final composition and what you want to bring attention to.
Right now the path makes the image you already have more interesting, and it leads the eyes straight to the blue car, making the blue car the focal point of the image. If whatever you'll want the final focus to be is on the path, or at the end of that path, then that's a good way to lead the viewer's eyes there.
It also splits the image almost completely straight down the middle, which means that less attention is given to the sides, because the middle is already where attention naturally gravitates, and since there is a pattern enforcer there, it's kinda hard to shift away from it. So if you want to keep the path, I'd change the POV a little to create a less static composition and allow the viewer's eyes to travel around the image more. Unless creating a static and rigid composition is what you want to do, which I can totally see working for some ideas.
The path does make a visual statement :) So the question ends up being - is it the statement you wish to make? :)
EDIT: Forgot to add: I love the street lamp and how it lights the tree in the image with the path. It suddenly makes the whole thing pop.
Oh wow.. this is going to be fun to put together.. and a challenge...
I have already got my title for my challenge entry
Title - 'Winter Heat Is Coming'
posted it now so I don't forget it .. lol
Lot's of little niknaks need to be made for my entry and I have started with a bottle of refreshing liquid..
Took a while to get the textures made and to look half decent..
Using a lot of layers in PSE to build up the texture for the bottle and to get the liquid to look ok..
That's one item down, several more to work on... this could take a while as I do a bit in between overs while watching the cricket on telly ;-)
Still playing around with the snow drift idea and I have a few pieces of set dressing to model still. I rotated the view a little bit so the path isn't precisely splitting the image in two but the way I have things modeled is limiting my viable camera angle choices some - I could have planned that out better. This is what happens when I just start playing around and don't take some time to sketch out what I want to do on paper first.
For the falling snow I just created two planes with some white/grey noise and a natural function/spots driven alpha.
My working title at this point is "Crazy Winter Jogger is Coming." ;)
Mark
Awesome WIPs already! Very nice, everyone!