Having a go at rocks again (for a change). Only worked on the foreground.
I like these results. This type of rock strata has some very nice potential. Can the sharpness be reduced to a more soft edge just slightly?
Is that a power station I see? Nice foreground rocks but the stratification in the background is too much and too regular for me.
I like the foreground rocks. Curious where this leads :)
Lots of potential. As you mentioned you have worked mainly on the foreground and it is excellent. In terms of vegetation, it seems obvious that at this stage it is only a test. Is it you on one of the peaks of rock on the left? :P
No, it's not a power station, it's a building I put together for the animation contest. And I haven't worked on the total or masking out any unwanted rock strata, hence the too stratified background.
And I don't know if the strata can be softened, this is already quite complicated (though it may not seem so), and I strive for a simple, direct way to get nice strata and blocky rock. But it's a frustrating process. My trials often get more complicated after a while and then it's difficult to alter one bit.
Know the feeling - struggling with a difficult pic now!
I understand how difficult alternative approaches to rock strata can be. Another project of mine involves various approaches to rock strata using a decent amount of functions. It is still difficult to desire a certain geological feature no matter what is tried. Not to say what is being attempted here in futile, certainly any experimenting is fascinating to see progress.
Sometimes I don't actually know why I do it, it doesn't pay my bills, as I am in another kind of busines, sort of. Curiosity and training I guess. Yesterday, I thought to give up, but well....
Curiosity and training makes sense. No disagreement there. :)
Quote from: Dune on June 20, 2016, 02:07:21 AM
Sometimes I don't actually know why I do it, it doesn't pay my bills, as I am in another kind of busines, sort of. Curiosity and training I guess. Yesterday, I thought to give up, but well....
I share those feelings sometimes. I also work in a different industry, cable t.v., I encode and edit live sports shows and edit NHL hockey games from 3 plus hours to 1 hour, 1.5 hours and 2 hour version for re-air, but I have always wanted to work in 3D graphics and animation, plus I love nature, rocks, skies, clouds, sun rises, and sunsets. The challenge of trying to duplicate natures wonders in my computer thanks to this beautiful piece of software is what keeps me coming back. Maybe someday I will get good enough at it to somehow make a dime or two from it, but for now this is kind of an escape from the daily grind for me.
Nice looking rock by the way!
As Chris says: create and explore
I especially like this terrain. Your horizontal displacement of the terrain is what I was asking you about some weeks ago, when I questioned you about displacing some column objects. To me this looks similar to layers of sediment and erosion.
I live where one layer of our geo is limestone and where rivers carve through it and over years we have this effect. Your renders are outstanding.
You may not be rich in greenbacks, however, you have many gifts.
Thank you, guys.
Well, I did spend some more hours on rocks (rainy day anyway).
Nice, I'll have fun trying to work these out!
What a fantastic combination of soft and hard rock. The rock strata segments look interesting and the rock talus looks nice as well. The vegetation looks very believable in placement.
Quote from: Dune on June 21, 2016, 02:08:39 AM
Well, I did spend some more hours on rocks (rainy day anyway).
Blue Nodes are involved? brilliant stuff and inspiring/
Some blue nodes, but merely add color and such, nothing fancy.
This one took 36 min, detail 0.7 AA 7, soft shadows with reduced samples (6). Five pops.
You are having too much fun...another stellar render...thanks for sharing it.
Pretty sweet looking rocks you got there. ;)
The last one calls out for camping, rock climbing and hiking days.
Nice form experiment!
Very cool rock formation!
Thanks. Yes, this sort of country is very inviting to hike through.
Two details of (sort of) the same terrain. The main problem with lateral displacements is the overlap of geometry, which sometimes gives nasty artifacts. No collision detection, I'm afraid.
Wow! No. 2 (Square-rocks-v41_20-06-16-v1-3-34m.jpg) is my favorite.
I don't know where I already have seen such rocks... Somewhere in Jugoslavia - can't remember
Particular parts of these rocks seem reminiscent with some locations in Southwestern North America as well.
Great work.
The second one is a great example of the benefits of Gisd, if i'm not mistaken.
Absolutely.
Yes, the second one is even more natural!
Trying another setup. But there are some issues.
Completed well!!!
Update.
Quote from: Dune on June 24, 2016, 03:55:49 AM
Update.
I really gotta try one of this type of scene...always gob smacked by your amazing 'tests'
Really beautiful! I dont know how you do this but results are great, each time i use lateral displacement after a compute normal on a terrain i didnt get smooth hangovers is there a spécial trick? If it's not a secret of course ;)
Pretty bridge and church in left the picture. :P
You can change the patch size of a compute normal to get smoother basis for the lateral displacements. With a patch of 1m the displacements are very harsh and 'small', with 10 or even 50 in a larger terrain, the displacements are smoother.
Interestingly enough I have been using this method for a while now. It indeed does help to reduce a decent portion of that sharp edge effect.
The last one is fascinating. I like both the unusual rocks and the mood/lighting.
I like the cliffs in the version v42_20-06-16-v5.jpg a bit more. But I just love the sand/pebble banks in the river. And the church and the bridge are a nice idea :)
Thanks for the tip dune :)
You're welcome.
Nailed. :) Lovely dunes, Dune. 8)
Quote from: ajcgi on June 28, 2016, 05:01:45 AM
Nailed. :) Lovely dunes, Dune. 8)
agree, and glad *you* said that hee hee hee
Quote from: bobbystahr on June 28, 2016, 09:11:52 AM
Quote from: ajcgi on June 28, 2016, 05:01:45 AM
Nailed. :) Lovely dunes, Dune. 8)
agree, and glad *you* said that hee hee hee
agree too, and glad that "you" said that you were glad that "he" said that... ;D ;D ;D (the next one quoting must be a genius ;D )
Another color scheme.
Somewhere lost in the Sahara? The vegetation blending into the desert before hitting the sand dunes looks good. Overall transitions look good. The setting just feels hot. The coloring looks good as well. The only one issue, maybe not an issue is there seems to be a bit much specularity on the Palm Fronds and or reflection. The third image has some good looking oxidized rock. Overall, great setting but would not want to be there. ;)
I like this oxidized look of the rocks more than the other version. What I'm missing a bit is a little harder shadows to get a feeling of the climate in this region. What do you think Ulco?
But all in all a view as out ofd "the mummy". Great!
Well, it's all just testing rock types, so the colors and veggies are a last addition. It's not meant to be a perfect final, but an exercise. Still struggling with those rocks in newer versions. I saw that rock color in some googled desert photo's, and I liked them, the deep reds and the dark greys. Dumped the palms in the meantime, but you're right about the overkill of specularity.
What part of the rock is still having issues?
I had an issue similar using surface layers and displacements. In your reddish color do you have a FSS that is getting smashed? I wondered if there is a way to avoid this when you try compute terrain and lateral displacement?
Quote from: DocCharly65 on June 28, 2016, 11:02:00 AM
Quote from: bobbystahr on June 28, 2016, 09:11:52 AM
Quote from: ajcgi on June 28, 2016, 05:01:45 AM
Nailed. :) Lovely dunes, Dune. 8)
agree, and glad *you* said that hee hee hee
agree too, and glad that "you" said that you were glad that "he" said that... ;D ;D ;D (the next one quoting must be a genius ;D )
Well I'm thrilled that you said that you're glad he said that he was glad I said that... I think!? 8)
That really is a hot looking place. But not arid with all that greenery about.
There's no FSS involved.
I love the colors of the rocks on the right. Against this background of desert and sand, the rocks colors in my opinion should appear less sharp and more dusty.
Your rock explorations are always intriguing, almost frightening; and your techniques appear to involve some sort of voodoo, or perhaps a deal with an unsavory deity? At least let us know that no small animals have been harmed in the making of these images. And what's up with the shape of that tower (?), hmmm....
All jesting aside, wonderful imagery, great rock structures!
8)
Great! I like this. The camera angle is better to show larger splotches of color, what I mistook for FSS. Foliage is better as well. The palms didn't work for me in previous renders. The palms were okay on lower level, I just didn't care for them at closeup angle.
Thank you for all of your trials and sharing "how to do".
I like the image Ulco; strangely my mind is expecting a brighter rocky foreground-at least then it is now-.
I'm doing another one now where I reduced the saturation to max 20% and lightened the rock op by 140%, let's see what happens....
Here's another dark one. Made some simple sagebrush for this.
I like those formations.
Excellent images in this thread Ulco, masterful work
The last one is very beautifull!
Thanks. Still struggling to perfect, but it's rather complicated and hard to get right. I might have a flash of revelation one day....
Wild colour, interesting rocks. I like it!
wow - this last one is absolutely my taste :)
like from a National Geograph photo story :) Great Ulco.
Edited 9.29 am
Just saw the sheep... If it was not flickr copyright marked I would be sure it's a coop work of you and some of us with the crazyest humor ;D ;D ;D
The sheep was in response to Doug's remark ;)
Well that's a stroke of genius reducing the saturation...fyi this is the one I've saved of this series...an amazing place you've designed. I can imagine any number of fantastic stories happening here.
The fake stone shader still poses a problem, and the Spanish broom is out of place here. But it's a rock study only, after all ;)
The last two are superb!
Heh heh, caught the fake stone tube bottom right area...the rock areas are supurb tho.
Another one.
The last one is my favourite.
Dito!
This is almost indistinguishable from a photo. Great!
There a some quite interesting rock formations especially on the upper middle-left part Ulco.
Yet another setup. Still looking for the holy grail.
Quote from: Dune on July 06, 2016, 01:26:02 AM
Yet another setup. Still looking for the holy grail.
I really like this one...query...will you know it when you see it? hee hee hee
I think I will ;)
Well this one is pretty darn close!
Rock of Ages?
Better and better.
Great new version, Ulco!
Any chance for a cave in the cliffs? some kind of pirates hiding place... :)
all these rock structures are very well done and realistic!
Thanks all. Btw, trees are just 'placeholders'.
Amazing stuff, To be honest I've no idea even where to start to create such beauty in nature.
Cool image - really like the rock layers
That are impressice views! Great!
And yet another (while paying a little more attention to the lighting and clouds).
I like those rocks Ulco.
Excellent work Ulco
I was gonna say great effect with that mossy look in the triple feature, then I scroll down and see the outstanding coloring on the next one. Looks as if there could be a cave there?
Incredible renders! I am running out of adjectives.
As I've said before, supurb terrain sculpting. I make attempts but am missing some part of my brain that would take me to this level I fear...I watch this development in simple awe.
I like the folds in the rock top right hand side of the last one.
The colour in the last one is superb and I like the way the clouds obscure part of the rocks. Great lighting too!
I like a lot the impression of depth in these pictures :)
Fantastic creations, Ulco. I see more and more variations and less regularity, which brings these renders more and more towards realism. I wish this were more straightforward as I don't see many people posting similar quality works.