My Iceland contest entry

Started by shadow92, February 02, 2015, 06:53:28 AM

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shadow92

Hi, this is my current WIP of my Icland contest entry, any C&C is welcomed.



stage 1 - defining terrain shape, based on heightfield map I paint in photoshop

Dune

Good of you to have a go, but you need to work fast, I'm afraid. There's not much I can say at this very premature state. Let's see what some extra surface/texture/displacement shaders will do to this.

shadow92

Quote from: Dune on February 02, 2015, 08:49:05 AM
Good of you to have a go, but you need to work fast, I'm afraid. There's not much I can say at this very premature state. Let's see what some extra surface/texture/displacement shaders will do to this.

Yes I realize its not the best time to start, unfortunately work didnt allow me to start earlier :D hope I will manage to finish it before, till february 14th is enough time to work on it

Oshyan

I think (nearly) 2 weeks is enough, if you can invest a good amount of time each day. :) This a decent basis, almost reminds me a bit of the basalt columns that are in some places in Iceland (didn't see any on the shore myself, but there may be some). Curious what you will do with this. Do you have specific reference images you're working off of?

- Oshyan

TheBadger

It has been eaten.

shadow92

#5
so, Ive spend now few hours refining terrain shape, but still not satisfied..



this is what it looks like, and cant get rid of the stepped look of the terrain - any idea? tryed also apply a power fractal over it with small values to create some inequality to the terrain, but its not any better..

about the inspiration, I was slightly inspired by faroe island coastline (yes I know it belongs to the denmark, but its appearnce is totally like Iceland), but Im not trying to copy it.

P.S.: using OverSmooth interpolation method..

Dune

Did you make your mask in 16-bit grey-scale? I guess not. In 8-bit, you get these steps. Why don't you use a warped simple shape as basic terrain? Such a shape isn't too hard to accomplish. I (as one of the judges) can't help with actual files, but there are sample files and threads about this to be found on this forum.

shadow92

#7
to be honest, I tryed 16bit grayscale, but realized that for some uncertain reason my Photoshop ignores 16bit mode.. I mean, I set it up to RGB 16bit (tryed also Grayscale 16bit), also I have checked "Image -> Mode -> 16bit" and still my Photoshop document acts like 8bit. I bet Im overlooking some attribute..

Meanwhile I think I found a decent solution - still using 8 bit heightmap (little bit tweaked) and applyed Heightfield Smooth Operator to it, and on top of it I placed Power Fractal v3 with some low values, to add imperfections.

This is looking much closer to the desired result, than previous versions:


Tomorrow I will see what textures and shaders will do to it, maybe I will adjust the lighting slightly, to make it a bit lighter

Kadri

#8
Quote from: shadow92 on February 03, 2015, 05:43:29 PM
to be honest, I tryed 16bit grayscale, but realized that for some uncertain reason my Photoshop ignores 16bit mode.. I mean, I set it up to RGB 16bit (tryed also Grayscale 16bit), also I have checked "Image -> Mode -> 16bit" and still my Photoshop document acts like 8bit. I bet Im overlooking some attribute..
...

Just thinking loud.I haven't tried this.
Maybe Photoshop's tools only work in 8 bit (some at least) even if you use a 16 mode.
Would be good to hear from someone who does have more knowledge about this.

You can use and play with EXR' from Terragen but can't make one usable directly from Photoshop maybe.

Anyone?

kalwalt

Quote from: shadow92 on February 03, 2015, 05:43:29 PM
to be honest, I tryed 16bit grayscale, but realized that for some uncertain reason my Photoshop ignores 16bit mode.. I mean, I set it up to RGB 16bit (tryed also Grayscale 16bit), also I have checked "Image -> Mode -> 16bit" and still my Photoshop document acts like 8bit. I bet Im overlooking some attribute..

Meanwhile I think I found a decent solution - still using 8 bit heightmap (little bit tweaked) and applyed Heightfield Smooth Operator to it, and on top of it I placed Power Fractal v3 with some low values, to add imperfections.

This is looking much closer to the desired result, than previous versions:


Tomorrow I will see what textures and shaders will do to it, maybe I will adjust the lighting slightly, to make it a bit lighter


Just one thought. I haven't Photoshop, but maybe the problem is when you are saving your file: i think not all files types support 16 bit, or could be an option when you save that you can choose which type.
Terragen 3 creative + animation license
WorldMachine
3Dcoat

shadow92

Quote
Just one thought. I haven't Photoshop, but maybe the problem is when you are saving your file: i think not all files types support 16 bit, or could be an option when you save that you can choose which type.

nope, problem isnt there - my PS document acts like 8bit already during the work. I followed simple tutorial where the guy placed levels adjustment on top of gradient to make it single-color, and then placed another levels with opposite values and it was supposed to return to the original appearance, but in my case it created stripped-gradient, like it would in 8bit document

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP_8BzyJYY4

Dune

If you have an 8-bit greyscale mask and set it to 16-bit, there won't be much difference, because the stepping remains as it was. You should work in 16-bit from the start, or after converting to 16-bit, do some blurring to make the gradients smooth.

shadow92

I think now its getting somewhere already.. used multiple camera projections for the textures


shadow92

after few days, here is an update:


decided to make completely different scene, didnt like the first one. This is a rough look, next I will add a clouds, some little pieces of ice on the lake and some other slight adjustments.

Just a few questions about the rules:
1 - is adding a lens flare in Photoshop allowed? Rules are saying "techniques that simulate typical lens effects" are permitted,and I just want to make sure lens flares are fitting to this category
2 - is creating a fake HDR effect in PS allowed? Not 100% sure I want to simulate this effect, but Im considering that option, so I just want to be sure its not considered as overly-enhancing adjustment

Oshyan

I like your new direction, good work!

Not sure about the answers to your questions, though I suspect that HDR processing would, at least, be "too much". Just my opinion though, hopefully Danny will clarify. Since there's not much time left, probably best to email him directly. Link should be on the NWDA site.

- Oshyan