How do people create precise look shapes?

Started by Nala1977, May 20, 2020, 06:36:09 PM

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Nala1977

Hey guys i need some help :/

im really tryin to learn this since a while now, i've tried almost anything i can think of but always with some huge issues. 
Im trying to get some Cliff dents that end up on a shoreline, i dont know how to create this shape, and i dont like random stuff which i dont have control.
I tried in Gaea while its easy to get the shape, when i export the heightmap in Terragen, the lateral sides always get screwed up because Heightmap are limited by resolution and also they dont work well on lateral displacement.

Tried doing the same with a photosho mask, but hit the same wall about resolution and a good looking terrain.
Now i just want to make it all procedural whitin terragen but im really stuck.
Im trying to combine many simple shapes but the result is horrible. How do people actually create something like this?

im taking about the shape, not the shaders, i will bother with that later.

Just having a really rough time using simple shader which basically is too limited for me into creating custom shapes.

here is a random image of something i would like to create procedurally




Dune

It will be hard if you don't like random stuff, so a painted soft PS mask would then be best. Pull the cliff up first by this mask through a color adjust shader hardening the soft mask. Then add a compute terrain and add lateral displacements, masked by the same mask, but taken through a color adjust shader than whitens/broadens the white. That's basically it.
If random is not a problem, I'd go for a warped simple shape mask, or get postion in texture - x to scalar - smooth step, and make a continues north-south (or east-west with z to scalar) mask that way, warp it, etc.

N-drju

I really do not think that the image you have posted is made out of a "precise" shape. "Precise" understood as a single, TG-generated node that can be macromanaged down to the nines in just one effort.

By the look of it, this image has used more than one mask. The idea of working in TG is often all about combining several basic shapes, modifying them and connecting them together. Then, you receive a final effect that seems "precise" but owes it all to a dozen of items and an hour's work. There is no such thing as a "golden node" that will do this all for you. ;)

Making a mask in PS like Ulco suggests is a good solution if you look for something really, really particular. But otherwise than that, you'll see that precision is built node by node, mask by mask.
"This year - a factory of semiconductors. Next year - a factory of whole conductors!"

Nala1977

thanks everyone, especially Dune, i went and spent some times with your ideas and finally looks like something is going to work.


technically speaking, there is a huge difference between a mask in photoshop and a mask made with this method, because photoshop masks are limited by pixels, so you'd eventually hit a limit when working on lateral displacement, am i wrong?

Nala1977

need to start working more on shading and more defined shapes, thanks everyone for the help :)
appreciate it.

Dune

Perhaps, but you can make a really big mask of course.

Hannes


bobbystahr

Quote from: Hannes on May 21, 2020, 07:28:50 AMThat looks very promising already!
agree, you're headed in the right direction.
something borrowed,
something Blue.
Ring out the Old.
Bring in the New
Bobby Stahr, Paracosmologist

sboerner

Curious to see where you take this. Looks good so far.

Nala1977

im excited because there are so many possibilities, idk where i wanna go from here  8)
maybe i'll open a wip page for this project

thanks again everyone for the help

WAS

I don't know if you saw, but I also released a little project based on those cliff scenes.

https://gumroad.com/was#SEXuv

Also pretty sure I've used this very reference image and attempted something awhile back. I'll poke around.

luvsmuzik

Quote from: WAS on May 22, 2020, 04:38:46 PMI don't know if you saw, but I also released a little project based on those cliff scenes.

https://gumroad.com/was#SEXuv

Also pretty sure I've used this very reference image and attempted something awhile back. I'll poke around.
Yes I rendered this in PT Cliffside Scene, your file, cannot find it now in file sharing....1/20/19 :o

Nala1977

Quote from: WAS on May 22, 2020, 04:38:46 PMI don't know if you saw, but I also released a little project based on those cliff scenes.

https://gumroad.com/was#SEXuv

Also pretty sure I've used this very reference image and attempted something awhile back. I'll poke around.
ehh i had this downloaded in my hard drive i just didnt think about it, i have over 20gb of stuff in terragen in so short time, thats another downside of not having a centralized hub for tutorials and stuff :D

by the way im using your voronoi displacement shader and its working great, thanks for that!