The Plan behind...

Started by DocCharly65, December 24, 2014, 06:00:20 AM

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Dune

If the terrain behind is e.g. not in great detail, angles (normals) and heights may not need to be calculated. Like for veggie altitude restraints, slope colors, etc.  But you'd have to do some testing. In my mountain path I did use a compute normal and an XYZ shader, but no compute terrain. Sometimes you can even get away without any compute, just try it out. But like smoothing in a fake stone layer is then not possible, it'll smooth the whole planet. But maybe smoothing isn't necessary, etc. Experiment a little and compare render times and visual check differences with or without the compute terrain.

Kadri


The Xnview scaling looks better to me too.
Which kind of scaling does have Magix (MAGIX Video Pro?) by the way? I was nearly going to buy the last version.
I have Samplitude Pro X from Magix and it is a nice piece of software.
They should better advertise themselves.Their products aren't bad.

Oshyan

The need for Compute Terrain has nothing to do with how fast the camera is moving. It is an effect you will see whether in an animation or still image, the effect is the same. So if you remove the Compute Terrain and see the result on a static image and it looks fine, then you almost certainly do not need it for animation either (unless it somehow affects a part of the terrain not visible in your test frame, but does *not* affect the test frame view).

As for render times, yes ~1hr at 1080p or even 720p is not so bad. I just guessed from your cost estimate that the render times must be higher, but indeed I was using the newer Pixel Plow pricing.

Regarding reflective parts, hopefully you are only using raytraced reflections when *absolutely necessary* (i.e. when you really might see some *thing* reflected in the part, and not just specular/shiny). Minimizing raytraced reflections will speed them up a lot.

- Oshyan

DocCharly65

#33
Thanks for the hints, Oshyan.
The second variation of the viper in the desert is optimized with less reflective shaders and the renderjob is almost done (this time in less the half of the time).

DocCharly65

#34
another little step is done  :)

Here comes a little scene with both: the view on the viper with the sun behind and the sun in front of the camera.

Later this will get a more dramatic cut of course...
More variations will be: a fly by scene with following the viper through a fixed camera, a fly by scene with watching R2D2 while the viper is passing, a scene with following R2D2 (camerapath not developed yet).
And other vessels will pass the desert...
but for a first view - enjoy:


Dune

Super! This is going to be some great animation. By the way, I wonder if an aircraft would suffer turbulence at that height and speed, so it would bump up a little now and again? I know from Cesna and such that if you pass over a wood, you can feel it bumping up.

DocCharly65

suffer turbulence?  Not my Viper!  ...invincible unrivaled scify-stuff 8) ;D

In fact, if I'd be 25 years younger, had more time and more experience with Terragen I would try to perfect some details:
occasionally whirling dust is one of my bigger wishes... but I checked the optical effect on some videos. Not so easy!

theoretically I could use clouds and 4d-noise (my new favorite setting  ;) )

As well I should be advanced user enough to place a pilot in the viper via Wings3D... But that's all so much to do.

And I'm still learning... yesterday I wasted successless 4 hours trying to make my weekend home a little dirty... some day I will ask you for a suggestion.

Dune

#37
Dust...mmm... well if you setup a very whirly, moving cloud layer, you can mask it's visibility by a simple shape moving with the viper (into final density). Should be quite easy, theoretically.

Dirt? Suggestion day has now come: just add a semi-coverage surface shader with some dirt color(s), and mask by a PF taken through a transform shader set to world position. For color variation you can use the PF+transform as an input for the color. Or use both.

DocCharly65

Well, one of my ideas accidentally worked! I never thought, I get it to work, but... look:

Old viper:
[attach=1]
Black mirror glass order to hush up that none sit in it  8) ::)


Today I played a little bit with Wings3D:
[attach=2]
Daddy is sitting inside driving to Office with the Viper!  ;D

This smart slick pencil pusher is quite intentionally the Pilot... one day you will understand...  :o 8)



less pleasing is the fact that I start from the beginning rendering the Viper in the desert animation... (and the new model must be textured, the animation paths need to be copied... much work but I'm happy for today)



DocCharly65

Thanks  :)

For some easy work (without UV mapping  ;) ) I start to get used to Wings3D (and seldom Blender also).