Here is a foliage study. Using multiple models and colors, I set the foliage in a "bubble" configuration, to where there are smaller and more instances on the edges, and larger and less instances in the middle (based over 3 different size ranges, each with its own 2:1 size range). This is all mapped with a power fractal and with slope constraints. I think it looks pretty realistic.
The trees were all made with Dryad. Honestly, I am starting to really like that application!
Render time was horrendous! It took nearly 80 hours @ 800x600, quality 0.8, AA 10. This was over 4 cores, so a single core would have taken nearly 300 hours! This is much too long and I can't wait for the next TG2 updates.
Part of this killer render time has to do with the surface effects on the leaves (which includes reflectivity/specularity, translucency, and even a hint of luminosity). Additionally, I used an earlier version of the new fractal stack surface (the one to RULE them all). I want to post a test render of this surface...its amazing, but HUGE and actually takes a while to render by itself!
This is really fantastic. The colour shades and varieties is just incredible.
oh this is very nice....it does look realistic....
I love the variation...
great pops and very realistic colours !
The whole thing looks like a beautiful Ansel Adams photograph in color.
Are you sure you aren't using photos? :-\
woowww :o amazing man! Really like the way the vegetation worked out. Fantastic!
Rendertime is ridiculous :( My first thought was: I want to see it at least twice the size ;D
Rendering dryad trees is slower than x-frog for example, isn't it?
I'm also wondering if you really would need to have reflectivity on the leaves. Think the specularity trick will do fine enough.
Martin
p.s. I'd like to see that stacked surface you've mentioned :)
Wow...really...wow.
80 hours? Damn, I'd never have the patience for that..! But I guess the quality of the result pays off, or what? ;) Great job.
Quote from: calico on January 24, 2008, 12:51:24 PM
The whole thing looks like a beautiful Ansel Adams photograph in color.
Are you sure you aren't using photos? :-\
Thanks Calico. Honestly, no image maps. That new fractal stack works wonders, but you'll laugh at the size of it.
Quote from: Tangled-Universe on January 24, 2008, 01:09:05 PM
woowww :o amazing man! Really like the way the vegetation worked out. Fantastic!
Rendertime is ridiculous :( My first thought was: I want to see it at least twice the size ;D
Rendering dryad trees is slower than x-frog for example, isn't it?
I'm also wondering if you really would need to have reflectivity on the leaves. Think the specularity trick will do fine enough.
Martin
p.s. I'd like to see that stacked surface you've mentioned :)
Hi Martin,
I would think the Xfrog trees would render at the same rate since TG2 treats the 3D objects the same. As for reflectivity on the trees, its very subtle, but adds that extra "pop" needed to keep the trees looking realistic. Too bad on the render times though. However, I'd rather a properly done image or no image at all.
Anyway, many thanks for the compliments. 8)
@overlord: Thanks for the compliments.
@zonic: Luckily I have 2 dual core PCs sitting off to the side, ready for my next render. Once multicore is supported, they are sold and I am getting a quad core PC, for rendering only, and as cheaply as possible of course. Just like my 2 dual cores, they will just have Windows XP, TG2, and a few GB of RAM. Barebones.
Quote from: moodflow on January 24, 2008, 03:24:21 PM
@zonic: Luckily I have 2 dual core PCs sitting off to the side, ready for my next render. Once multicore is supported, they are sold and I am getting a quad core PC, for rendering only, and as cheaply as possible of course. Just like my 2 dual cores, they will just have Windows XP, TG2, and a few GB of RAM. Barebones.
Um...while you're at it...could you get me one too. Please. For a poor college student. :'(
Well...if you put it that way. ;D
Beautiful work! The colors are completely believable and fantastic! I'm going to have to take a good long look at Dryad now, as well as experimenting with reflections and luminosity on the leaves.
yea dryad all the way...once I figure out how to texture those things...
Quote from: old_blaggard on January 24, 2008, 04:48:10 PM
Beautiful work! The colors are completely believable and fantastic! I'm going to have to take a good long look at Dryad now, as well as experimenting with reflections and luminosity on the leaves.
Thanks Old Blaggard. Its definitely worth tweaking the reflectivity, translucency, and even luminosity on the surfaces, else they get that characterstic flat rendered look (hard to explain).
@Dhaval: keep in mind, I do all the texturing in TG2. I do nothing in Dryad (or the other 3d apps I use).
Really fantastic results, especially for procedural texturing. In fact I think this is one of the most "natural" looking vegetation renders I've seen with TG2. Procedural texturing of course allows for that all-important variation that I think helps a lot in this image.
As far as reflection goes, are you using *actual* reflection (as in a reflectivity shader, Raytraced Reflections option)? If so I would strongly recommend experimenting with using *only* specular. Even at very close range most plant leaves aren't going to be so reflective as to visibly contribute to the scene, but *specular* will make a tremendous difference. It also happens to render much faster (although still a hit on render time). You may be able to save a lot of time by going specular-only.
- Oshyan
Quote from: Oshyan on January 24, 2008, 05:44:58 PM
Really fantastic results, especially for procedural texturing. In fact I think this is one of the most "natural" looking vegetation renders I've seen with TG2. Procedural texturing of course allows for that all-important variation that I think helps a lot in this image.
As far as reflection goes, are you using *actual* reflection (as in a reflectivity shader, Raytraced Reflections option)? If so I would strongly recommend experimenting with using *only* specular. Even at very close range most plant leaves aren't going to be so reflective as to visibly contribute to the scene, but *specular* will make a tremendous difference. It also happens to render much faster (although still a hit on render time). You may be able to save a lot of time by going specular-only.
- Oshyan
Thanks for the compliments.
Yes, I did not use the dedicated reflectivity shader, as I knew this would be a killer on rendertimes. I used "reflectivity" under the specular tab in the default shader. I know this isn't as accurate as the true reflectivity shader, but it works well enough for surfaces who just need a subtle hint of reflection.
Bravo !
Everything is placed just so!
Great rock, surface... -sky.
Great work. Your population is one of the best I've seen by far. Too bad it took so long though, hopefully we'll get to see it bigger in after the final release.
Quote from: NWsenior07 on January 24, 2008, 11:03:08 PM
Great work. Your population is one of the best I've seen by far. Too bad it took so long though, hopefully we'll get to see it bigger in after the final release.
Thanks.
I think its a matter of both dialing in better (faster) techniques, and improvements in the renderer which are in the works.
moodflow, how easy / hard was it to make these trees? Do you have a TGO or is this something that's worth the effort to do on my own?
Quote from: calico on January 25, 2008, 02:30:30 PM
moodflow, how easy / hard was it to make these trees? Do you have a TGO or is this something that's worth the effort to do on my own?
Hi Calico, I have a few TGO files I could post, but they are around 60MB in size (so too large for here).
But they are made easily enough in Dryad. The overall process is quite easy too and will work with .obj models from any app.
After you create a tree or plant to your liking, export it (which may take a few minutes), then hit the "dice" to randomize the parameters, and create another tree with similar features, but different model. I created 3 separate models for the foliage displayed in the foliage test image.
Once they were opened and saved again via Poseray (which is all that is required of Poseray), I took them into TG2 and dialed in the leaf textures via a power fractal plugged into the default shader that was already present. There are high and low colors in the power fractal, which can add variation. However, the fractal scale needs to be small enough to see on the tree leaves (usually around 0.1 or 1.0), else the colors are going to look uniform. Pick a good green color, or snag the RGB values from a real picture of a tree if you need. For the image above, I picked the colors by hand off the pallette. I then created a group, and saved it as a clip to import into the next models to save on time. Then I changed the high and low colors slightly and randomized the fractal for variation. This worked quite well.
Down the road, I'd like to get 2 sets of leaf colors in the model. With this, the leaves on the outside and top would be more colorful and larger, and the leaves on the inside and bottom would have less color and smaller to simulate dead leaves. This may require combining tree models. I've already done one test, and more to go.
You can zip, rar, or 7z (best compression for models) them and put 'em up on http://www.ashundar.com/ Free hosting for files up to 100MB each. :)
- Oshyan
I am blown away by that variation. Great work and the erosion of the hill looks nice to. I wonder if there is a way you could possibly add variants of small boulders and smaller stones embedded in these hills and perhaps some sediment patches. All it's only missing is stones and tiny pebbles.
Quote from: Sethren on January 25, 2008, 05:44:04 PM
I am blown away by that variation. Great work and the erosion of the hill looks nice to. I wonder if there is a way you could possibly add variants of small boulders and smaller stones embedded in these hills and perhaps some sediment patches. All it's only missing is stones and tiny pebbles.
Adding variation would not be a problem. In this particular image, the detail on the surface was from an older version of the fractal stack group featured in this post: http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=3256.0 The colors can be easily changed in the power fractals, or even with the color adjust shader (which would mainly effect saturation and contrast).
This was just a test and I added that surface to break up the boring default gray surface, but additional clip files of rock formations, etc could be added for even more realistic results.
That last result from the other forum is nifty. :D Good details there.