Hi everyone,
Just restarted working on TG2 after some month
Here's a study I did about the interaction of snow, rocks, vegetation and ice structures - consider it a sort of WIP
(http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/3682/icefinalxg0.jpg)
Regards,
Lucio
Amazing!
The ice is very convincing and makes this image special!
Excellent, looks very promising. The ice/rock part is pretty convincing.
This looks really good :). The ice/rock could still use a little work, but your vegetation placement is awesome.
I agree with O_B the plants (trees) are awsome. Where did you get them? Also what modifications did you do to get the snow to lay on the branches?
:o
I thought it was a photo.
I can't wait to see the final version ;D
I really like this. The colour balance is perfect!
Richard
Lucio! Awesome! We hardly have heard from you and then this. Excellent work! I was sure it was a photo you were saying you were using as a reference.
Thank you all! Hi calico, I've been busy for a while, and happy to be here now!
@sonhine777: The trees are all Xfrog models: Aesculum hippocastanum, Picea abies and Picea pungens. They all have snow applied as a surface layer in their internal network. It's the same shader I used for the scene and it's slope constrained, with the 'use Y for slope' option activated and set to 'Planet/Object normal'. In this mode you can place the snow only in the superior part of the branches and foliage giving a very realistic effect. You can modulate the amount changing the maximum slope value. The snow is also a little embossed to give some thickness, but with external objects you have to maintain very low displacement values or the geometry will explode.
The bended tree in the foreground required some little more work to do. I wanted to give the impression of a tree "overcarried" with snow, so I created the model in MAX modeling some "fake" snow block on it, then I've inserted it with precision in the scene using the LWO exporter, wich is EXTREMELY useful. I've never used the LWO exporter before and I discovered that it's not so tricky as it can seem (I've found somewhere over the board a very clear explanation made by Oshyan on how to use it) and it's a really powerful instrument for integrating models and geometry from 3rd party applications
The rock conglomerate and the ice blocks are all fake stones with a redirect shader, applied over a strata terrain after lots of experiments :)
I wanted to render the overall mood of an overcast day without direct illumination. I've hidden the sun with a 3d cumulus layer and overexposed the camera. I also thought about a lightdome, but I'm afraid it would require an eternity in terms of rendertime..
Scene rendered with ambient occlusion, detail 1, antialias 3, GI and GI sample quality set to 3 – approx 16 hours @ 1000x750
wonderful shaders, its very convincing.
Image of the week, most definitely.
Thanks for the comments :)
Little rework over the ice shader, increased AA (6)
Here's a new render, a clean close up. Minor color correction on Photoshop
(http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1130/icefinal2uj9.jpg)
I like this one better, don't know why but it seems to draw more attention the the ice than the other.
You're doing a great job with the ice. Do I see a lambert shader in there?
I never worked out the point of the lambert shader, I mean, lambert's a lighting system isn't it? shouldn't we have a uniform type of lighting over all objects, to improve realism?
Personally I like the first render more. Simply because it contains more elements, like trees with snow on it and a more visible atmo. Technically the second is more interesting. I really like the work on the ice on the right, very convincing. Did you indeed use a lambert shader? Or is it just clever/subtle surfacing? It really has a 'SSS'/translucency feel on it ;D
Are the "extreme" displaced features of the terrain necessary for this effect? (don't think so) Personally I like more realistic terrains. Not of great importance, I know :)
Your ice is very convincing,looks real :)
This is the problem with TG2, just when I'm starting to think that I'm making progress and learning a bit and am generally quite happy the stuff that I'm doing (though still accepting that there's a lot to learn) someone like Lucio comes along and demonstrates my inadequacy in the most cruel and heartless way!!!
On the positive side - wow, simply put, both of these renders are amongst the most stunning I've seen.
On the negative side - another blow to my own sense of accomplishment! ;D
Seriosly though, I'd like to add my own voice to the calls for guidance on how to achieve that ice appearence.
Yes, Lucio, when you have the time, please create a tutorial about your ice. It's amazing. Considering that transparency is on its way, you've just started something big.
So many kind comments, thank you!
@ Old Blaggard: You're right, I employed a lambert shader over the ice.
@ Tangled-Universe: Yes, the first image is more articulate and has many elements on it. It's the real scene. You can consider the second as a "technical" closeup :). Overdisplaced features are not necessary to get a stasfying icy appearance, I've just employed them following a personal choice.
@ Inscrutable and calico: Don't be afraid :D Me too I'm continuously learning new things from the node network. The key is to experiment again and again. I never wrote a tutorial, and just don't know if I'm able to organize it correctly. Plus, my english is also very poor.. However my ice shader has a pretty simple structure indeed; it's a default shader with colour and displacement function defined by two powerfractals, a lambert shader to set the translucency and high reflectivity values. Here's some capture from my node network
(http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/5431/snap2lj1.jpg)
Structure of the shader
(http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1530/snap3bf2.jpg)
Specular values of the default shader
(http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/1936/snap4jm1.jpg)
Overall settings of the Lambert shader
All pretty simple, as you can see. If the resulting ice gets a convincing SSS look, I think it's depending also on color choice and their balancing over the scene
In my opinion the best way to get results with the node network is approaching with a clear idea of the result you want to get. Using real photographs as references may be also very useful. Then try to think how you can get that result with the instruments you have. It's very logical and powerful. And, main requirement, a lot of patience ;D
Wow thanks, the a lot simpler then I though it would be. I'm planing around with it now.
wow, nice work. I'm playing around with the shaders, but it looks like crap :( especially my displacement, I can never get it to look like real rocks. Any other hints you'd care to share???
I made a ice planet (naturally) it looks ok but not as good as the ice in your pictures.
Here's a tgc of the ice shader
It works best with ambient occlusion, with a light grey value set on "colour over surfaces"
A screen capture of the lightning settings I used for my scene
(http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3328/snap2ga6.jpg)
Keep in mind that in my scene sun is hidden by clouds, so the camera is overexposed and the "strength on surfaces" value is pretty high
wow, thanks for the clip file, and lighting screencap, it's a huge help. So you have a sun and the enviro light, correct?
Yes, you're correct mrwho
Got a 'final' image
Variations are mainly over color balance. Increased AA (9). Here's the full-res version, about 24h to render
(http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/8550/final1bqc7.jpg)
powerful picture dude ! that's really a new kind of thing on TG2 for me ! i never saw something like this one before :)
Nice work Lucio...I like the way your ice is sorta..integrated into the hill..
Can I ask what did you link your default shader to?
Fantastic job! I love the detail of the image, and the ice looks great - I especially like the displacements to the right.
Great images Lucio. I love the snow on the trees and the ice.
The highlight detail in the second is much better. Are these straight saves or have you converted them from HDR images?
@zionner: the node network for this scene is a real mess :).. However here's a cap
(http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9013/snap1fi5.jpg)
The node named 'ghiaccioli' is a fake stones shader that represents ice. The node on the left named 'default shader' is the ice shader I've posted here. It's linked over the 'ghiaccioli' surface node passing by a redirect shader with Y axis stretched by a power fractal
@bigben: I've saved both .bmp and .exr version of my renders, but I got the final images from the .bmp format. The last image it's not downsampled and was rendered with very high antialias value. I've set it to 9 and worked good (and almost doubled rendertimes!). The scene is also splitted in two parts - I rendered the upper trees in a separate scene because I was unable to load all the .tgo models and textures due to lack of RAM. I used Photoshop to rejoin the images using alpha channel, and for some color correction and contrast enhancement
Thanks again for all the comments! Maybe I'll post some other update
Regards, Lucio
Great job on this on Lucio ;)
Don't think I will start on something like this before i have options like sss. He he.
Freaking killer work