Throwing fakestones is what I would sometimes like to do, because I often can´t make them do what I want.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5561/15168893186_7bb8b3750d_o_d.jpg)
I am thankful for any critic, especally constructive ones.
Tell whr to change, and if you know, tell me how!
As you may have suspected, this is supposed to be some martian-like desert. Mo actual mars-data involved at this stage.
Thanks in advance,
Jan
Looks good Jan.
Thanks Kadri!
But I insist, if any of you have any idea on how to improve the surfacing in this, tell me, be mercyless!
I believe that this is not a bad image, but I want to make it perfect!
J
Most users think that the shapes are too Terragen'ish sometimes but there are so many
different kind of stones that it doesn't bother me much.
You could change the colors in a little more small scale maybe or whatever.
Or different sand etc. But have a look at this image.
http://hiddenhistory.50webs.com/mars_twin_peaks.jpg
I wouldn't bother to make a perfect image.
I could go back and change every image in this or that way still...there is no end to that.
If you like it it is OK. But that is me.
Maybe our other friends here might be more helpful :)
Good pic...........I agree with Kadri, a little color variation wouldn't hurt. :)
You may have seen these probably.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00574/mcam/0574ML2329004000E1_DXXX.jpg
https://asunews.asu.edu/files/comanche_outcrop_pancam.jpg
You could make this kind of hero formation like in the last image too.
Satisfaction is almost never guaranteed when creating CG; then, there is the 'matter of taste' issue whether it is you or someone else. You've done a fine job with this image. As for help and suggestions, have a look at 'Seth stones and sand' somewhere in this forum. I believe it is available at NWDA. I've used it several times and find great stones variety and color.
Agree with choronr, this is well done
Thanks for all your kind comments!
It is not that I want to make the one perfect image, that one is just a test. I am trying to optimize a set of surfaces I can use as a clip for further Mars-themed pics and maybe some far day an animation. So making it as good as I can will save me lots of work later. I don´t want to carry on a fault that I didn´t see.
Colour variation is one advice I´ll take, and I´ll have a look at Seth´s setup too.
My best Regards,
Jan
The stones look a bit rectangular, so perhaps more erosion would do them good. You could use a (bit higher) displacement offset, blowing them up more, and add a small scale fractal warp to the stones.
That´s what happens, when I simply pour my surfacing over a Martian DEM:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3885/15197284952_dc4959f410_o_d.jpg)
Somehow the dunes are gone (the slope constraint seems to be off somehow, but that is another story)
Thanks to all!
I'm not sure if the NASA stuff we see is totally color accurate, but it's the best reference we have, and going by that I think your dust and rock colors are just too saturated. Desaturate a bit and I think you'll gain some realism. Color variation would also help a lot, indeed. But make it subtle! In the first image having a more neutral sun angle will also help both us in judging the look of the scene and you in adjusting it with a more clear basis to differentiate your changes and their effects. This will be especially true for subtle adjustments of color variation for example. Then when you have more achieved a look you think is working with a more "broad daylight" lighting, then you can shift the light to something dramatic like that and see if the texturing holds up and still looks realistic.
All that being said I think that first image looks very promising, especially the dunes and the sand on some of the rocks. What happens to it when you apply it to Mars terrain is not great unfortunately, but that may be looked at as a separate issue, and I would wonder what data that is that you are working with as some of it was quite lumpy. You might try basic MOLA or other lower resolution Mars data just to get some Mars-like shapes (craters, etc.), but an otherwise smooth terrain as your rocks add a lot of detail. Later on you do want to work out the integration of the highest resolution data with your procedural texturing, of course, but for now it may be causing more problems than necessary with your experiments in texturing, and it could be tackled as a separate problem later.
Overall you are definitely making progress! Keep it up, we'll have an awesome animation one day. :)
- Oshyan
Thanks Oshyan, that´s good advice onthe testing method.
Only the MOLA base won´t work here, because on the scale we are looking at MOLA wont show any detail, only about 20 pixels from one side of the view to the other.
Cheers
J
Well, the point really is to have Mars-like base terrain, even if it's a bit low resolution. So maybe there's intermediate data, maybe there's moon data at higher resolution that would be suitable, or maybe just the particular HiRISE tile you're using is bumpy/noisy?
- Oshyan
Practicing on the Moon could be worth a try.
But could you point out what bumps or noise you mean? Actually, gasa crater (the one I used again here) is the best Hiise patch I found after going through 200 of them. BigBen helped a lot with integrating it into the surrounding, but still slope restriction works differently from normal terrains. Indeed this is a problem apart from my relative inability with fakestones. Cheers,
Here is the pure HiRise-Terrain with 1 and 100 m spheres for reference. All whats bumpy or lumpy on top of that is my fault.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5574/15037280970_77d229eb21_o_d.jpg)
Thats what Mola looks like on that scale:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5552/15037181689_ba872887b6_o_d.jpg)
Cheers J
I do see the "bumpiness" or noise I am expecting to see, although in the foreground it is admittedly less noticeable. Do you have Fractal Detail enabled in your height data loader? If so, try turning it off and let's see what that looks like in the foreground. For the bumps I mean, look in the background, either at that lower line of small hills to the left of the 100m sphere, or the ridge/cliff line above, more visible on the left side. The regularity of those bumps looks to me more like data noise than actual detail, but I could be wrong.
- Oshyan
I've always found applying clips onto real world data to be very challenging. As Oshyan suggested it might be easier starting with no fractal detail, although figuring out the PFs to substitute in for the basic fractal detail is also quite challenging (for me anyway ;)).
Are you using "Smooth surface" in the compute terrain node?
I believe Fractal Detail does some unique things that are supposed to key off the base terrain shape a bit, so it may be difficult or impossible to really duplicate it with other nodes. That being said I've found its effects to be problematic when working with certain data sets, particularly noisy ones, or ones with other errors/issues; it essentially can magnify existing issues since it is trying to create "complementary" data. So in some cases it may be better to aim more for using the base data as your underlying structure, and try to replace the fine detail as much as possible with your own surfacing work.
- Oshyan
Hi,
Can any of you guys help me with importing and correctly aligning MOLA & HiRISE data into TG3?
Thanks!
If we do manage to get to mars, they had better train one of the astronauts in landscape photography. You would think they can make room in the budget for a few lessons. ;D then perhaps, we don't have to have any more questions about that bit.