Hey all,
I know most people would probably either have no use for a feature like this, or add stuff like this in using Photoshop, but I was Editing my Moon test TGD's and i wondered. Would it be possible to have a function, where it can calculate collisions?
I'm just wondering about this, as this could be really spectacular for things such as Celestial sences.
Sorry, I aint much of a long post person :/
Thanks
Zionner
by calculating collisions you mean....blasts??.....like two moving objects collide and break apart??....that would be cool but it has nothing to do with scene generation which is what TG2 is made for....no offence....
Well..It depends,
Cause in terms of what its doing no it dosent have much to do with scene generation, but in terms of what it's results are, can add soo much into Celestial scenes
Ah, *this* thread is what you meant. No, a collision simulator isn't likely to be added to TG any time soon. It *might* be possible in a plugin, but you should keep in mind that even dedicated packages that are built for this sort of thing are limited in what they can do. Simulating basic impact and reaction of rigid or soft bodies (cloth, gel, etc.) is not terribly difficult or mysterious. But once you actually try to create breaking effects it gets very hard indeed. Generally speaking you would need to have pretty complex geometry and also possibly involve a particle engine, which TG2 doesn't have. So even if the collision could be simulated, the resulting visual effect would not be terribly impressive or desirable without significant additional work. This is just not something that TG2 is designed to do.
- Oshyan
Yeah,
Would It be possible or easier, for instead of a realistic collision and impact, for say if were to collide you could make the engine randomly break the object up, Of course A particle system would still need to be implemented, but would it be any easier?
It would certainly be a bit easier if all you had to do was set a "breaking" amount or something, but making the effect look good would still be the challenge. Removing the need to make the collision realistically calculated, including breaking effects, would help but certainly wouldn't make it trivial still. And again it's more the realm of plugins than anything.
- Oshyan
Some perhaps some sort of ability to connect with outside apps like realflow or Houdini or something.
Yeah,
For the particle System though, At a best guess...what would be the best method to do that for a plug-in?
I'm asking cause im intrested in getting people together to do it now!
Or that ^^ lol
this brings along troubles of licensing and partnerships though.
Yeah, Which is why it could be easier to make a plug-in
Also, Right Now (I'm in High school doing exams) and i've taken physics.. So I could Ask around for ways to figure out Stuff like realistic collisions
well the problum is that most things today are made of polygons that are simply shells that provide a shape and are given depth though materials and stuff. With the destruction of these one would need to create new polygons and destroys others. Or one could simply deform the "shell" but that presents its own set of problems. for the record I'm a Junior so I haven't taken physics yet (I'm a sped).
Hahah,
Well to be honest..If we were wanting to get this anywhere...first we would need to find people who can Code the plug-in, Cause I can't code to save myself..
But I can do things like find out collision Equasions ect...
HA so can I:http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/elacol2.html
I have no idea what that says
Anywho yea I can't code that much either. But the idea is that we would need to figure out the simplest, most effective way to have this work.
Well, Basicly for Now..We need
Coder's
Researchers and/or people really advanced at maths/physics
Modelers
Ect
and by ect we mean an army.
I'm sure there is an open source way to get come pre-made code (like Bullet or something) I'll have a look around.
here: http://www.bulletphysics.com/Bullet/
I'll have a look Over it :P
also if anyone wants to help out, Feel Free! lol
There is already open source work out there for physics simulation. You guys don't need to reinvent the wheel. The biggest area that needs work is in visualizing the results of simulation in a realistic way and then, of course, implementing it in TG2. ;D
- Oshyan
Yeah,
uum..Oshyan..Theres one thing I dont get about doing that though, which also leads into a question...
It's basicly..how do you *think anyway* that you would model something like that, Or would you model something for it?
Or..How...? lol
I really have no idea. ;)
- Oshyan
Ok, Well (sorry if I have this wrong) But how did you do it with large Enviroments in TG2?
Because the way its randomised I dont think that you guys can Model all that ;)
Again, Sorry if I have got that wrong
I think we are just displacing a sphere...could be wrong though.
No, Because It would Break Up, And split into Particles.
Hey again ;)
I was having a think about this...and would it be possible...to instead of introducing a particle system into the plug-in...To say concentrate on the calculations for the size/shape of them. and then to get the plug in to make the particles using fake stone shader, but using very spesific details for the particles/stone...?
expand of the fake stone shader and how it plays into this.
I think this is being looked at the wrong way round. Theres plenty of particle FX programs out there that can handle all sorts of interactions. The issue is not how to get that information into Terragen but rather how to get terragens lighting information out to these programs. Since TG supports exr output this could be used as a lighting environment for your fx solution. Theres a ton of variables but I'm sure this would be the way forward. One thing we could work on within TG is some sort of much more flexible masking solution, for example it would be useful to be able to mask out a mountain ridge line so you could have smoke, explosions, waterfalls or even old faithful geyser ::) behind a foreground object/mountain range but in front of other mountain ranges. I think this may be possible with enough forward planning and judicious use of distance shaders and of course the ubiquitous use of functions.
Richard
ps these guys make cool 2.5D partical FX solutions that should not be too hard to integrate into TG.http://www.wondertouch.com/ (http://www.wondertouch.com/)
Thanks cyphyr, I'm looking over the demo now.
Also...I have been *trying* to have a look at that physics Sorce Code..But I need some help finding a working Jam Builder/Reader, If anyone can help. It would be appreciated.
Hey all Again *bit of an update*
I have been looking over the stuff cyphyr sent a link to.
I have been playing about with it, and this stuff is great! I'm sure we could use this stuff for both what I am wanting in this plug-in and more.
The only hurdle for this at the moment, is an exporter. As currently the software (from what I can see) dose not have any native exports (to 3dS + obj ect)
Also, This stuff has gave me a great idea for an animation ;)
hmm well we could wait for that SDK.
For Which program?
TG it might come eventually and we could put an exporter through there.
Right,
THat wouldnt work. As TG will not come with an importer for this engines type of files, or..importer for anything really except the LWO,OBJ and TGO readers.
The problem is that the particle engine dosent support Exports at this time