Feature request(s) for Populations

[Mohawk20]

I was wondering if it would be possible (one day) to implement the following features:
Have a setting for the population bounding box edge to be like a gradient, automatically thinning out the edge of a population. I know we can do that with a painted shader, but that is not very convenient when doing animations...

Have a setting to choose how the gradient affects the thinning. The default is covering, so less trees, but another for size, so the trees become smaller at the edge, and perhaps a setting for both.

I guess the last request would be implemented sooner, because we already have the painted shader gradient edge.


Any comment on this Mat or Jo?

[cyphyr]

Both of these can be easily done with image maps (or the painter shader but I think image maps would give greater control). Having a population scale towards its edges really needs to be done via several populations so that lower scale populations cover a slightly greater area.

Eventually I'd like to be able to use greyscale/gradient controllers on all animatable parameters.

richard

[Tangled-Universe]

In almost all cases for gradients I use a distanceshader. For controlling density this is very suitable. Logically for size isn't possible yet.

I also requested a "master node" for populations some time ago. This node will control the translate and scale options for all the populations connected to it.
Very useful when you have multiple populations with the same translation and when you suddenly decide to choose another POV and thus have to move them all.

Hopefully both these features will be implemented some day.

Martin

[Mohawk20]

The reason why I ask for these features is because I still haven't found a satisfying way to animate a rapidly expanding forest, with trees growing at the edges in like four or five frames for 0 to 1 size. With requested features, it would just be a case of increasing the size of the populations bounding box...

[cyphyr]

If you need it to expand that quickly (4 or 5 frames is about a fifth or sixth of a second ~ real snappy!) then I'd just do it by hand, after all its only 4 or 5 images.
If you decided on a slower expansion there are still some morphing packages that will create the in between images.
richard

[Mohawk20]

Well, I meant 4 or 5 frames per tree, but a pretty long animation as you have to see the tree line come toward you like a tsunami. So by hand would be a lot of work...

But I guess I'll have to do it with 5 or 6 different sized populations per tree species for now.

[cyphyr]

Can you see the far side of the tree population? Cos if you cant why not simply move the population towards the camera. Individual trees will stay put but the forest will move "like a tsunami"!
richard

[Tangled-Universe]

The reason why I ask for these features is because I still haven't found a satisfying way to animate a rapidly expanding forest, with trees growing at the edges in like four or five frames for 0 to 1 size. With requested features, it would just be a case of increasing the size of the populations bounding box...

You can do this with a distance shader. Just set a high distance as starting value and then decrease it and the covered area will expand. Quite easy.

[Oshyan]

Your suggestion itself is probably not the best way to approach your underlying problem. Challenges like you present ought to be solvable in the future when more control is provided, for example a way to directly affect tree size via a mask. You could then animate the mask, which could be done as a "growth" outward by varying the Gamma for example of an imported image, or through function nodes, or other methods. Just some ideas. The bottom line is that additional control should be added in the future.

- Oshyan