Desert

Dune · June 27, 2013, 04:29:55 AM

Procedural pyramids, very simple by using a square SSS, some patchiness and a local strata shader.

yossam · June 27, 2013, 04:54:04 AM

I like.

TheBadger · June 27, 2013, 08:59:10 AM

Looks nice Ulco.

Dune · June 28, 2013, 02:49:47 AM

2 more versions, still experimenting...

yossam · June 28, 2013, 02:55:26 AM

Looks good in the closeup.

mhaze · June 28, 2013, 04:12:19 AM

Clever use of the SSS. The camel looks lost! must be thirsty.

Andrew March · June 28, 2013, 07:06:18 AM

The last image is a little bit distracting. The camel really throws off the scale of the pyramid, the blocks on the real pyramids are massive. Some of them are over seven feet tall.

DannyG · June 28, 2013, 07:50:50 AM

Great desert tones and subtle details in this, I like it very much. Thanks for posting this Dune

Dune · June 28, 2013, 07:58:24 AM

Yes, Andrew, I noticed that too. Still wanted to post. The pyramids are 100m high, the blocks 1.5-2m high, the camel 5m high, way too big, have to check it out. Threw it in, just like that.

Hannes · June 28, 2013, 08:33:59 AM

Great image, Ulco! I agree about the scale of the camel, but you noticed it yourself.
Suggestion: assuming that this scene takes place in the Sahara the sand may look a bit too pale and grey. Maybe a little more yellow/orange colour would be nice?! Not too much. I know if you google "pyramids" there are some images with this pale colour, but since the shadows in your picture are quite long, it's probably afternoon (or morning). The googled images with the pale sand look as if they were taken at noon, where the sun is high.
Really like the pyramids!

Dune · June 29, 2013, 03:28:02 AM

Thanks, Hannes. I changed the color somewhat. There's one problem still. Can anyone tell me? And I'd like to be able to influence the widt of the strata steps, but I think that's impossible with the current strata shader, I'd need to use a fancy step function (blues).

Dune · July 01, 2013, 03:51:30 AM

Nobody sees it? Well, here's another setup for you to ponder about.

TheBadger · July 01, 2013, 05:04:18 AM

In the image "desert-2J.jpg" (3rd one up from here) I LOVE how the dirt and sand are cascading over the displacements. I like a lot of different aspects in each image, but I really like how the dirt on the shapes is working in the image I mentioned.
Is there anything unique or "fancy" about this part? Or is it pretty straight forward?

Dune · July 01, 2013, 08:37:36 AM

That is the easy part, Michael. But you may (not) have noticed the sharp corners, that's the problem nobody seems to recognize. The strata are just blended by a fractal, so what remains is the raw displaced SSS, with the sharp corners.

TheBadger · July 01, 2013, 08:45:42 AM

Hmmmm, yes. I see that clearly now. Well the sand and dirt do break that up quite a bit. For a still image Im sure it would get noticed in time. But in an animation, its likely that it would go unnoticed as long as some action was happing in the foreground. So at least its a useable way of doing things.

Im sure I get that its a problem you want to solve though. So are you saying that you don't know the solution, or that you are building up to showing one? Or there is no solution?