Help needed with making an object transparent

[Kadri]

Not sure still but at the first look there are nonplanar polygons in the object, Anthony.

[Kadri]

Some parts that doesn't look smooth in the image below
could be made better by using a smoother objects in the polygon level i think.
I didn't play with the textures so they are not right here.

But you can overcome the problem with the polygons edges looking distinctive
if you uncheck the "GI surface details" in the "Render GI settings" that is in the "Quality" tab in the Render node.

Not sure if this is a problem only with this object or a general problem.
I remember that there was such a problem earlier too.

[bobbystahr]

To make the bow label work OK, in the sub after loading it into Terragen, find its material "label" and set its texturing to:-

Diffuse color to 1 & gdsl_bowlabels_rn_texc.bmp
Translucency to 1 & gdsl_bowlabels_rndrg_text.bmp
Luminosity to 0 & no map file
Opacity to 1 & gdsl_bowlabels_rndrg_text.bmp & do not use alpha channel & do not invert opacity image.

I am still in Renderosity.

I retired at 65 just because well, that's when it's done; and wanted to play more music then be a hall monitor for freestuff, hee hee hee.
Hope you don't mind but I made a .tif of your combined label textures that only needs loading into the diffuse and opacity channels with no other clicks or tweaks needed. I find .tif the very best most times for textures. I've attached a .rar of the file.

Bugger...worked when I previewed it and now I try a render and it blows up...try if you like but your way if a bit more cumbersome, does work

[Anthony Appleyard]

... But you can overcome the problem with the polygons edges looking distinctive
if you uncheck the "GI surface details" in the "Render GI settings" that is in the "Quality" tab in the Render node.
Not sure if this is a problem only with this object or a general problem.
I remember that there was such a problem earlier too.

Thanks. I tried switching the Render GI settings off, and the polygons do not show. There are still some polygonish edges on the edge of the sunlit area on the rounded bow front.

I suspect that the triangular effect on the front of the deck is at least partly, shadows of the fore upper hydroplane.

The horizontal mark below the bow label is the sub's port fore hydroplane, not a rendering fault :: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_plane

What are GI settings? The Wiki-type help says nothing about them.

It would help if Terragen did not take up so much time rendering background which is then hidden behind the sub.

It would be useful if Terragen could output images in .jpg mode.

[bobbystahr]

Did a little render whilst I slept and to me it renders quite well...given I'm not zooming in for a close up. .2 Detail  2 AA,  GI Detail 2, GI sample quality 2.

[j meyer]

As a general rule of thumb,if there are stepped shadows,
like on the spherical front part,then you need more polygons.
No smoothing angle will help.

[Anthony Appleyard]

Did a little render whilst I slept and to me it renders quite well...given I'm not zooming in for a close up. .2 Detail  2 AA,  GI Detail 2, GI sample quality 2.

Thanks. How did you make the sub's wake on the water?

It would be useful if Terragen had some Poser-type ability to articulate some parts, e.g. to move the hydroplanes and spin the propeller and unfold the grab-arm.

[bobbystahr]

Did a little render whilst I slept and to me it renders quite well...given I'm not zooming in for a close up. .2 Detail  2 AA,  GI Detail 2, GI sample quality 2.

Thanks. How did you make the sub's wake on the water?

It would be useful if Terragen had some Poser-type ability to articulate some parts, e.g. to move the hydroplanes and spin the propeller and unfold the grab-arm.

I used a wake object downloaded from Renderosity I believe. click thru the pages till tou come to 193-216  of 239

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/?search=spacebones&expression=artist_name

[j meyer]

Had a look at your model and here is what I noticed.
The model has some n-gons (polygon with more than 4 edges).
Terragen doesn't like n-gons and you'll have holes there.
(the guns parts have them and two parts at the door opening.
The whole geometry of that model is totally outdated and you
should really learn more about modelling.
Sorry,if that sounds harsh,but you won't have much success with
a model like that outside of Poser or similar apps.

[Anthony Appleyard]

> The model has some n-gons (polygon with more than 4 edges).
> Terragen doesn't like n-gons and you'll have holes there.
> (the guns parts have them and two parts at the door opening.

Thanks for telling me. I wrote a mesh editing program, and it can find and cure n-gons.

> The whole geometry of that model is totally outdated and you should really learn more about modelling.

Please, what in detail is wrong with it, apart from the n-gons?

> Sorry, if that sounds harsh, but you won't have much success with a model like that outside of Poser or similar apps.

Sorry. Most of my CGI work has been with Poser. I have been using Poser since Poser 3 was the latest version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poser

When I used the old Terragen around 2003, I used Terragen to make backgrounds to use in Poser scenes. Terragen back then did not use a planet but a smallish flat square area of land. For underwater scenes I set the atmosphere to a thick cyan haze and I set the Terragen water to sand-colored to represent seabed sand at the bottom of the rocks.

[bobbystahr]

  For underwater scenes I set the atmosphere to a thick cyan haze and I set the Terragen water to sand-colored to represent seabed sand at the bottom of the rocks.

y

you can do this in TG 2 3 the same way...look up my Shark Scene in the search....works very well, and better, visible light rays add to the effect which TG Classic couldn't do.


Just make your terrain sand and rocks, maybe populate some seaweed and add a cloud, left licking in the middle of your scene and copying the coords which you then paste into the coords area of the cloud and click Local. Adjust the height and thickness as well as cloud colour till you have water. easy peasy.

[Kadri]

...
It would be useful if Terragen had some Poser-type ability to articulate some parts, e.g. to move the hydroplanes and spin the propeller and unfold the grab-arm.

It wouldn't be easy but if you import such parts as separate objects you can animate them in Terragen.
But there is no grouping and parenting and such in Terragen. So you have to do it all manually.
Kind of an easier way would be an objects sequence.

[Anthony Appleyard]

  For underwater scenes I set the atmosphere to a thick cyan haze and I set the Terragen water to sand-colored to represent seabed sand at the bottom of the rocks.

you can do this in TG 2 3 the same way...look up my Shark Scene in the search....works very well, and better, visible light rays add to the effect which TG Classic couldn't do.
Just make your terrain sand and rocks, maybe populate some seaweed and add a cloud, left licking in the middle of your scene and copying the coords which you then paste into the coords area of the cloud and click Local. Adjust the height and thickness as well as cloud colour till you have water. easy peasy.

Dune made an underwater scene for me, and in it the sea surface overhead is a second planet-type water sphere with no shadowing surrounding the planet and its radius is negative so the top of the water is inside.

[j meyer]

.....

> The whole geometry of that model is totally outdated and you should really learn more about modelling.

Please, what in detail is wrong with it, apart from the n-gons?

.......

I think you'll understand that I can't go into every detail.This is not the place
for a modeling tut.And it would be quite a task to put into a few sentences
what took me years to find out.
But some hints and tips should be ok.
Avoid cube or brick like structures with only one polygon per side.
Define rims like on the propeller better.Things like that.
Model with your target software in mind.
Try to find out about the obj export of your modeler.
Does it export creased edges,for example? Not every modeler is
capable to write that into the obj file.
What kinds of parameters get over to your target application (TG)?
There are tons of tuts out there,try to catch up on box modeling
techniques.Grant Warwick has a few on general things,but you
need some experience in modeling to make good use of them.
Experiment a lot! Experience is your best asset.