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General => Terragen Animation => Topic started by: gregsandor on June 21, 2010, 05:43:22 PM

Title: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on June 21, 2010, 05:43:22 PM
Here are a couple of quick renders of the environment I'm building.  The diner, gas station, and motel were all built around 1953.  From the look of it they must have used the same contractor or supplier:  they all have that same kind of stonework (and I've seen it on other diners and motels from that era.)  Anyway I think its kind of an all-American scene -- road culture.

They are based on this location:  http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=40.252823,-86.699425&panoid=ABkncChW1LGKVczbZEuSMA&cbp=12,38.73,,0,5.92&ll=40.252886,-86.699499&spn=0,0.006947&z=18 (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=40.252823,-86.699425&panoid=ABkncChW1LGKVczbZEuSMA&cbp=12,38.73,,0,5.92&ll=40.252886,-86.699499&spn=0,0.006947&z=18)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on June 21, 2010, 05:45:32 PM
The terrain covers a lot of ground with a long stretch of highway cutting across it, centered on the diner.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: FrankB on June 21, 2010, 05:58:13 PM
very cool, this is looking great. Very convincing already, reminds me of how roadside places look like in the US :)

Cheers,
Frank
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Henry Blewer on June 21, 2010, 07:02:25 PM
Good work. It would look more convincing with random weeds growing around the building foundations. The lighting is really well done.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: nvseal on June 21, 2010, 07:13:52 PM
Wow, fantastic work you're doing on this. I'll be keeping my eye on this one.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on June 22, 2010, 02:50:09 AM
Very refreshing to see a different type of scene attempted, and so far it's looking quite good. Looking forward to seeing this one develop. :)

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: inkydigit on June 22, 2010, 04:21:59 AM
I wanna go hitch hiking!
very good results here, did you make the models yourself?
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: domdib on June 22, 2010, 04:55:38 AM
The first shot in particular is very good.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on June 22, 2010, 07:23:07 AM
Thanks for all the nice compliments.  

The terrain base is a DEM, then for my area of interest I hand drew a detailed elevation model using an orthophoto as a guide.  There's an additional displacement map to raise the roadbed and give the pavement the required slope out from center, plus one for potholes, then a further masked layer of displacement for cracked pavement.

I modeled all the man-made objects including Shirley's Diner, the Union 76 station, the Lincoln Lodge, (how's that for a patriotic group of names?) grain elevators, roadsigns, utility poles, houses, and even a couple of house trailers in the distance.  I posted my corn model in another thread a while ago.  Most if not all of the textures I've made too.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Kadri on June 22, 2010, 08:57:10 AM

Especially the first and second image are very nice , Gregsandor !
This could be one of the winners . The judges will have tough time .
There are quite a variation now in the submissions :)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Seth on June 22, 2010, 07:11:46 PM
oh my !
very good job !
nice to see someone doing something very different as our usual production ^^
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on June 28, 2010, 09:25:28 AM
tgout01 looks like a photo, probably cause of the lighting.

the grass, roads and signs look pretty photorealistic :)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on July 29, 2010, 09:49:46 AM
More painting maps to destroy my perfectly paved road. They need more contrast to stand out better but the cracked pavement is in place. I've spent some time looking at real road work. Also the large patches and crack patching is coming along on the main roads; they are darker and have slight bump and more spec.

Now there are three types of grass, short dry stuff for edges near roads and buildings, nice mowed lawn stuff, and taller weedy stuff for ditches and field edges where the mowers don't go.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on July 30, 2010, 11:49:29 PM
That's a remarkably realistic urban environment. Especially in a landscape rendering app. ;D

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: domdib on July 31, 2010, 10:21:10 AM
The road cracking is very cool - will it show up in the actual animation though?
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Hannes on July 31, 2010, 10:31:42 AM
The first image is indeed very photorealistic! Great!!
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on July 31, 2010, 10:38:18 AM
Quote from: domdib on July 31, 2010, 10:21:10 AM
The road cracking is very cool - will it show up in the actual animation though?

It will; it is a part of the terrain and my thought is to have the camera walk or drive at about eye level, so it will be visible.  I'm going to increase the contrast of color and add some gravel and dirt too, plus some puddles here and there in the low spots so it will stand out more.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: domdib on August 02, 2010, 08:06:53 AM
Sounds very good - hope you have time to complete.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on August 13, 2010, 09:45:06 PM
Adding silt to the potholes.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: domdib on August 14, 2010, 03:47:53 AM
You do know the deadline is today, 23.59 CET??
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on August 14, 2010, 04:40:47 AM
Quote from: domdib on August 14, 2010, 03:47:53 AM
You do know the deadline is today, 23.59 CET??

I do, thanks.  I have my keyframes all ready to upload (actually had it ready for the first June deadline), so now I'm just having some fun with the scene.  
Title: Road Trip Final Storyboard
Post by: gregsandor on August 14, 2010, 12:38:30 PM
Lets go for a drive:
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: domdib on August 14, 2010, 03:34:18 PM
Congrats on a very unusual render for TG2, and good luck!
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on August 14, 2010, 04:43:01 PM
That looks incredibly good. Love the "tar seams" that are reflecting sunlight! A very nice touch.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: dandelO on August 14, 2010, 08:36:03 PM
Great, I want to see it rendered, that's a really nice job! Good luck! :)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on August 16, 2010, 03:58:21 PM
Quote from: Oshyan on July 30, 2010, 11:49:29 PM
That's a remarkably realistic urban environment. Especially in a landscape rendering app. ;D

- Oshyan

Rural environment:  Too much corn for it to be urban.  ::) ;D
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on August 17, 2010, 02:27:12 AM
Hehe, yes, rural is more accurate. ;)

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: RArcher on August 18, 2010, 11:46:36 AM
I really love what you have done here with all the elements.  I really hope that you render out and share a few scenes from this project at higher resolution so we can really see all the details that went into it.  Your whole scene makes my attempts (http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=8095.0 (http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=8095.0)) at recreating a large area seem positively crude in comparison.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on August 18, 2010, 10:03:33 PM
Here's a new render from a different vantage point.

As for your attempt Ryan, that scene of your was partly my inspiration for what I'm doing here:  years ago I did some similar to that, then I saw yours and thought mine "positively crude in comparison."  So we are leap-frogging.  I'm continuing to develop mine, lets see where yours goes too.  You have a great start there, just take each element and refine it
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on August 20, 2010, 03:20:20 AM
This continues to surprise and fascinate me. Though you didn't win 1st prize in the contest, I hope you'll still consider animating this.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on August 20, 2010, 04:12:49 AM
I've been hooking up all those electrical utilities to lights.  Here's a first test.

I am going to animate it, but I need more render power:  as it is I'm spending as much time optimizing to avoid out-of-memory crashes as I am developing.

Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on August 20, 2010, 04:24:29 AM
I'll help you render it when the time comes...

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on August 20, 2010, 04:40:00 AM
Thanks!
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: MacGyver on August 25, 2010, 03:25:41 AM
Quote from: Oshyan on August 20, 2010, 03:20:20 AM
This continues to surprise and fascinate me. Though you didn't win 1st prize in the contest, I hope you'll still consider animating this.

- Oshyan

I didn't catch who won! ??? Since I only look under the threads in this subsection of the forum, I haven't got a clue what the prizes were and who won. Anyone can help me out? :)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: domdib on August 25, 2010, 03:59:37 AM
Look here: http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=9702.msg108792#msg108792
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: MacGyver on August 25, 2010, 07:51:40 AM
Quote from: domdib on August 25, 2010, 03:59:37 AM
Look here: http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=9702.msg108792#msg108792

Thanks a lot! :D
Title: Road Trip Animation
Post by: gregsandor on February 16, 2011, 05:24:13 PM
...
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Hetzen on February 16, 2011, 07:11:31 PM
Really like this Greg. Reminds me of an old VHS tape I had a long time ago...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKrQLBpd68s
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: RArcher on February 16, 2011, 07:30:09 PM
Tremendous work Greg.  Definitely slow it down to around 1/4 speed so we can get a better look at all the amazing details you've got going on here.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on February 16, 2011, 10:23:19 PM
Very cool. Colors seem a bit light/saturated for the lighting, but the detail is great. Will we get to see it in 720P? ;D

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on February 16, 2011, 10:47:34 PM
I rendered it at 720 x 306, but youtube shrank it.  How do I get the Youtube version to keep the native resolution?
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on February 16, 2011, 11:47:07 PM
I don't know, I think Youtube only supports certain specific resolutions and downsamples (or adds black bars) to equal those resolutions. So they're the standard ones I think, just aim for those. This is what YouTube has to say on the subject, although it's not that specific: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=132460
Here is a list of resolutions supported:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Video_technology
And here is some advice for getting best results:
http://www.squidoo.com/youtuberight

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on February 16, 2011, 11:54:17 PM
Thanks, Oshyan.  I'll see if I can get the youtube version to be of higher quality. 

Meanwhile, I've uploaded to Vimeo and it looks a bit better:     http://vimeo.com/20048236
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on February 17, 2011, 02:06:40 AM
Quote from: RArcher on February 16, 2011, 07:30:09 PM
Tremendous work Greg.  Definitely slow it down to around 1/4 speed so we can get a better look at all the amazing details you've got going on here.

I checked my math and found that the camera is moving at about 136.64 m/s = 305 mph!   I modified it to run about 60 mph (the speed limit there according to the signs) and am re-rendering part of it now.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: inkydigit on February 17, 2011, 05:58:56 AM
it seemed a bit fast!
still greatt job!
look forward to the next one!
:)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: rcallicotte on February 18, 2011, 08:53:38 AM
Cool beans.  Could be slower, but it could work as an intro to something at that speed.  Cool.
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on February 18, 2011, 11:44:00 AM


I modified it so the camera moves at about 60 miles per hour instead of the 305 mph seen in the other one :)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Zairyn Arsyn on February 18, 2011, 01:13:55 PM
thanks hetzen, you got me hooked, diggin' it :)
Quote from: Hetzen on February 16, 2011, 07:11:31 PM
Really like this Greg. Reminds me of an old VHS tape I had a long time ago...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKrQLBpd68s

looks great, hes going 300 mph in a 65 mph zone, cops wont catch that one. :D
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on February 18, 2011, 09:48:44 PM
...
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Dune on February 19, 2011, 03:23:35 AM
Very cool, Greg! It's a pity you don't see much of the gas station and such. Perhaps pull in and stop somewhere? Will you be taking this further?
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: FrankB on February 20, 2011, 05:03:04 AM
I thought the same - would have been nice to see more of the surroundings and close up.
Anyway, an interesting ride :)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: gregsandor on February 20, 2011, 05:08:13 AM
Okay, here is the most recent, filling in some gaps in the frames.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU3KKev1j9o

Next I will animate some shots from other interesting spots, including the diner.  :)
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: Oshyan on February 20, 2011, 06:47:17 PM
The seams in the asphalt seem a bit too frequent, but otherwise they're a great added detail. Quite realistic overall. I'd love to see a setting sun in frame to reflect off the road. I believe you had an earlier still shot showing that and it looked great and I can see a little hint of specularity at the lower-left of the frame on the road. Can't wait to see more.

- Oshyan
Title: Re: Road Trip WIP
Post by: inkydigit on February 21, 2011, 06:24:49 AM
I echo Oshyan....looks great so far...