Real

rcallicotte · February 05, 2009, 07:33:09 AM

I agree. Saurav's lighting looks very close to the photo...very close to real lighting inside the cloud. This is a critical component and maybe we do need a different set of parameters or different levels or something in TG2 to get to this point more quickly.

[Edit - I tried using Luc's cloud file with a modified Frank's atmosphere and it looked pretty good, but I wanted to try something else by mixing more of the two together. Frank's lighting is very good and I'm trying to move the winning parts of it into Luc's use of the Density Fractal.]

Saurav · February 05, 2009, 06:22:35 PM

Here is the larger render. 1920 x 1080.

I think it took approx 6 hours render time.

Exported as EXR and tonemapped in Photomatix.

If any one is interested the clip file is attached to this post.

buzzzzz1 · February 05, 2009, 08:26:50 PM

Thanks! I'll have too study these.

darthvader · February 05, 2009, 08:35:02 PM

Thanks a million Saurav!

sjefen · February 05, 2009, 09:11:22 PM

Quote from: Tangled-Universe on February 05, 2009, 01:55:19 AM
Quote from: sjefen on February 04, 2009, 11:45:01 PM
The biggest problem with getting those clouds calico posted is the shadow area.

I can make a cloud and make the whole thing look really good except in the shadow area's and this really ruin's it all.
There are some options that I feel are missing in the cloud shader parameters. We have "fake internal scattering", but I think there should be something more here. Something to control the shadow area's. And why is it called "fake"? Where is the "true internal scattering" option? Maybe that's the option I'm looking for

Maybe there is a way, but I have not figured it out and I have tried so many different things now I don't think it's possible without any new features.
I really hope there will be some more options in the cloud shader parameters. I really do.
Please add something more for us Matt

- Terje

You can fiddle and improve the shadowy areas a lot using the fake ambient color settings

Yes you can. But you won't get rid of those edges in the shadow area. You can see those very clearly in Saurav's image. I want to get rid of those details in the shadows almost completly like in the clouds calico posted.

It's a little hard to explain, but look in the shadow area's in the images below:

http://www.maltaweather.info/05_cunim_city.jpg
http://www.weatherfiles.com/wp-content/thunderstorm.jpg
http://www.natures-desktop.com/images/wallpapers/1280x1024/clouds/clouds-cumulus-layers.jpg

- Terje

rcallicotte · February 05, 2009, 09:51:37 PM

Terje is right.

Saurav · February 05, 2009, 10:56:00 PM

Quote from: sjefen on February 05, 2009, 09:11:22 PM
Quote from: Tangled-Universe on February 05, 2009, 01:55:19 AM
Quote from: sjefen on February 04, 2009, 11:45:01 PM
The biggest problem with getting those clouds calico posted is the shadow area.

I can make a cloud and make the whole thing look really good except in the shadow area's and this really ruin's it all.
There are some options that I feel are missing in the cloud shader parameters. We have "fake internal scattering", but I think there should be something more here. Something to control the shadow area's. And why is it called "fake"? Where is the "true internal scattering" option? Maybe that's the option I'm looking for

Maybe there is a way, but I have not figured it out and I have tried so many different things now I don't think it's possible without any new features.
I really hope there will be some more options in the cloud shader parameters. I really do.
Please add something more for us Matt

- Terje

You can fiddle and improve the shadowy areas a lot using the fake ambient color settings

Yes you can. But you won't get rid of those edges in the shadow area. You can see those very clearly in Saurav's image. I want to get rid of those details in the shadows almost completly like in the clouds calico posted.

It's a little hard to explain, but look in the shadow area's in the images below:

http://www.maltaweather.info/05_cunim_city.jpg
http://www.weatherfiles.com/wp-content/thunderstorm.jpg
http://www.natures-desktop.com/images/wallpapers/1280x1024/clouds/clouds-cumulus-layers.jpg

- Terje

This is essentially what I was saying a few posts back. Until there is a way we can avoid those ugly shapes in the shadow areas (fake internal scattering) these types of clouds are going to be very hard to mimic in TG2. But in the meantime this shouldn't stop others trying to have a go at creating them, there might be other ways around this problem.

Tangled-Universe · February 06, 2009, 02:27:37 AM

You can get rid of those ugly detailed shadows with the fake ambient settings, I'm convinced about that.
Like everything with clouds it is a combination of factors. In this case the propagation, mix and fake internal scattering settings are also involved. With the fake ambient lighting you can "over-rule" the lighting in the detailed shadow areas.

Martin

j meyer · February 06, 2009, 10:32:05 AM

sjefen - i know it's a shameless plug,but maybe you've missed
these http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=4863.0

Tangled-Universe · February 06, 2009, 10:49:48 AM

J Meyer: those look nice indeed!
There's barely something I miss here but I did miss this topic.

sjefen · February 06, 2009, 11:51:17 AM

Quote from: j meyer on February 06, 2009, 10:32:05 AM
sjefen - i know it's a shameless plug,but maybe you've missed
these http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=4863.0

Those are amazing. You obviously have what I want.
May I ask how you did it?

- Terje

rcallicotte · February 06, 2009, 11:52:30 AM

...and how do we do that without the blue tint?

moodflow · February 06, 2009, 12:38:50 PM

At this point in time, and in the current state of affairs... I have to say this is the most realistic cumulus cloud I've seen yet in CG!

Amazing work Saurav! And many thanks for sharing the clip.

j meyer · February 06, 2009, 01:18:25 PM

sjefen - keep fake internal scattering close to or at zero and play with
all enviro light settings.

calico - just use another color instead

If there is interest i can post one of the example tgds later.

efflux · February 06, 2009, 05:45:47 PM

For a moment there I thought this was TG2 and was going to say awesome but the fact that I even thought it was TG2 for a second means TG2 is pretty good.

I'm as bit limited with computer power so I have never got into cumulus clouds like this. What I notice is that cumulus clouds in TG2 don't look like light is traveling through them and glowing back out. It looks more like a surface lit thing. How to improve that I don't know. Haven't experimented much with cumulus clouds but this is a perfect reference photo to compare against.