Joshua Tree National Park first WIP

[gregtee]

Here's v2 of this project.  I was trying to reproduce the sand ripples for the foreground like the earlier pic I posted and somehow wound up here, which is typical Terragen for me which is I often am trying one thing and by happenstance find myself somewhere else.  In this case I'm not sure if it's an improvement or a distraction.   I like to cragginess of the foreground but it seems to get all jumbled together.  It does on the other hand make it look like a real place, but does it make it look like a good composition?  Just because something looks interesting doesn't always mean it looks good.  I feel I need to edit it a bit more. 

As I write this it's raining pitchforks here in Los Angeles.  It's actually coming down sideways. God knows we need it. 

-Greg

[Kadri]

Greg nothing much to add.You know what you do.
I think a scene that is kinda in the middle with the first and this version(a little more to the first even maybe) might be nice.

[AP]

That lighting is very believable and the cuts in the rocks are interesting as well. Overall, this is a very convincing varied landscape. I do not know what other input to add other then that.

[zaxxon]

The image is proceeding quite nicely in my estimation. The greater detail in the foreground helps set the panoramic scale to my eye. As to the 'jumbled'; that's fine, but a little more bounced light to fill the detail in the shadows might reveal some cool stuff. It's a pleasure to watch a Pro 'take' Terragen on, and I'm looking forward to the next step, thanks for sharing the WIP.

[otakar]

I like it, particularly the lighting, but at the same time the foreground is not all that interesting. There is a large area that is in the shadow and the rocky ground is, well, just not that striking. How about a nice tree that is in the sun perhaps?

That is one NP that I would definitely like to visit. Must be a cool place.

[gregtee]

Thanks for the inputs.  I agree with all the comments.  It's a lot different doing the work vrs critiquing the work; it's too easy to lose one's objectivity, especially after a lot of this was done late at night after several pourings of burbon.  (Thanks for the suggestion yossam)   

I think I'm going to try for the sand ripples again.  With regards to the shadow areas being too dark, it seems that perhaps my monitor at home is likely running a bit too bright.  I noticed here at work that what I posted seemed a little blocked up and dim as well.  Guess I'll need to recalibrate my stuff at home. 

thanks again

-greg

[TheBadger]

I often am trying one thing and by happenstance find myself somewhere else.

Yeah, me too. I think it is because Terragen is so open there is no way to know how exactly you can get from point A to point B in any given situation. It can feel like nothing is constant and there are no rules to guide us. After you spend a long time trying to make one specific thing, you easily loose sight of what you were after in the first place. This is why having  a large and well maintained collection of clip files is so important I think.

All 3D work is so repetitive that doing things twice can become a torment.

Your image is  still looking good though, man. Just have to sit there and tweak the hell out of it to get what you want.

I think there is at least one clip file around here for getting good ripples in sand, I haven't been able to find it yet though. It my be buried in a seemingly unrelated thread. I'm sure I remember that there was one shared though. Actually I was wishing that there had been one in the TG3 pack that came with the download before you brought it up. As far as I understand it they require either functions or an image map. My preference would be for procedural. But I saw an Image by Kadri that used an image map, and it looked pretty good.

If I bump into that thread I am trying to remember, Ill post the link to the ripples... If I'm even remembering right in the first place.

[gregtee]

Thanks Badger, if you find something that you think'll work feel free to shoot me a PM.  I think I'll give it another go tonight and see what I can come up with.  I don't mind using an image but I'd prefer procedural too since my end goal is to build out something that'll allow me to virtually wander around the place and and "photograph" it as would someone traveling in a real location.  I'm always amazed at all the new vistas that present themselves when I wander around a world once I've created it that weren't part of my original composition. 

[choronr]

Here you go with 'sandelO' clip file ...thanks to Martin (dandelO).

[gregtee]

Awesome!  Thank you!


-Greg

[gregtee]

I've been working with this sand shader now and it works great for flat surfaces but I can't figure out how to apply it to the foreground part of this image in the manner I've envisioned.  The idea is to basically "fill in" all the little valleys in a stepped manner;  the bottom gullies would fill to a point and then stop once they've ramped up against the wall.  The the layer above would fill, and so on until I cut the whole process off at whatever elevation I want.  It's a real brain bender for sure.  It's kinda like how snow looks on a mountain.  You only see it where it lands on the flatter parts which get filled in.  The steeper parts remain exposed. 

[TheBadger]

Yes, I had this problem many times. The only way that I was able to find in the forum is to limit the shader in a way similar to a population (as with the bounding box), and then use additional sand shaders controlled for different slopes and elevations... If I understand what you meat?

But even so, others may know a better way.

[gregtee]

I think Blue nodes, redirects, and color hsv nodes are the answer.  The problem is I don't know the question.  Your balls hurt, my brain hurts, and the bourbon isn't helping me anymore. 

   

[TheBadger]

 

[Dune]

Did you use displacement intersection for your sandy area? In that case the wavy displacements added to that 'layer' would only be in the sand.

And for ripples you need to use a get position in texture, an X or Z to scalar, a divide scalar to get the size right, a sinus and a warping setup, perhaps a transform shader to rotate the ripples, and finally a displacement method, and some patchyness by a fractal.