Playing around with lichen on rocks. Heres what I have so far...
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A nice start. How did you do it? I'm liken your lichen (sorry, couldn't resist) :P
The lichen looks nice, although a little more bumpiness to it would add realism.
Very nice. I think the second image is better (there is a strange differently coloured patch right in the middle of the first).
Quote from: Dark Fire on March 22, 2007, 04:08:03 PM
Very nice. I think the second image is better (there is a strange differently coloured patch right in the middle of the first).
The different texture in the middle of the first image is actually not rock. Its the ground terrain, its a mix of brown and grass texture.
Quote from: calicoA nice start. How did you do it? I'm liken your lichen (sorry, couldn't resist) Tongue
I was going to title the post something like that but thought it was too cheesy lol.
I did it starting with a fake rock shader with an image shader of granite. I added a child surface layer with an image shader of lichen and a fractal breakup to give it a random distribution and appearance.
It's still not quite right but its a work in progress. I'm trying to give the lichen a little more crisp and splotchy appearance.
Depending on how close you want to get to your rocks, you may find it easier to work with just surfaces (no image maps). They'll look crisper and will light correctly if you apply displacement to them.
You might also consider some slope constraints rather than apply them to the entire rock. With the distribution across the entire rock it could be mistaken for part of the rock texture. In most situations, lichen will grow more on a specific face of a rock, reflecting both the amount of light and water that that face receives... but that's not a mask you can generate in TG (yet?)
I'd probably test the lichen on rocks without any extra texturing so you can see exactly what the lichen looks like.
PS I like the images :). The colour of the first, and the distribution of the second.