Planetside Software Forums

General => Open Discussion => Topic started by: René on June 12, 2020, 07:01:18 AM

Title: too computer-generated?
Post by: René on June 12, 2020, 07:01:18 AM
Hmm... sometimes, while I'm experimenting, textures like this emerge. I usually reject them because they look too unlikely and too computer-generated. :P
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: N-drju on June 12, 2020, 07:31:33 AM
So many artefacts. The nature was asleep that day. :P
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Dune on June 12, 2020, 08:28:13 AM
I still think it's pretty amazing what you get out of TG, rockwise. Maybe it's the lack of small debris and too smooth lines. If you would be able to mask certain areas and add some rubble, and break smoothness by tiny warp or displacement locally, it would be perfect!
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Nala1977 on June 12, 2020, 08:48:11 AM
looking around lately on some rocks formation, these are quite nice, thats a photo, to me it doesnt look that computer generated (in terms of shapes).
That picture is really nice, must be a pain to reproduce it in Tg :)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Jo Kariboo on June 12, 2020, 01:00:48 PM
I was gonna scream genius!  ::) I didn't realize it was a picture!
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Dune on June 12, 2020, 02:13:40 PM
I was kind of fooled too, thought René had a new rock, actually. He could have, that's for sure. But it would still need some work :P
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on June 12, 2020, 02:17:42 PM
I think I started a topic about sharing images like this which we would "reseed" thinking they're wrong. This is definitely one of them.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Kadri on June 12, 2020, 03:01:40 PM
I see this in clouds lately and think i wouldn't use that at all :)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: René on June 13, 2020, 02:23:44 AM
I'm sorry, I should have mentioned it's a picture. When I did a google search I first saw the thumbnail picture and thought: hey, computer generated. It wasn't until I opened the picture that I realized it was real. I had no intention of fooling anyone.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: N-drju on June 13, 2020, 02:45:19 AM
Just look at the title bar Guys. 8)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on June 13, 2020, 03:02:18 AM
Maybe this is too philosophical now, but I have made the experience that most of the "landscapes" you can generate in the computer are reality somewhere. I have already designed the "most impossible" sceneries for my Space Art pictures and yet later I had to realize that these landscapes exist in a similar way. Maybe it is related to the fact that the algorithms that calculate these landscapes in such programs are somehow universal. A lot of things have to do with fractals and chaos theory in some way, and the results may be "random", but still have a "predictable" background. So perhaps the phrase "too computer-generated" does not even exist... Even "flying rocks" like in Avatar could exist somewhere.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: René on June 13, 2020, 05:06:04 AM
I agree. One of the most interesting books I've read on this subject is James Gleick's Chaos. Nature works with algorithms too.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Dune on June 13, 2020, 06:12:54 AM
You have a point. So everything we make is realistic, good to know ;D  (just joking)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on June 13, 2020, 11:25:24 AM
There is a very interesting theory (quantum physics, not esotericism!) that says that everything you can imagine is reality somewhere and sometime. Maybe not in our universe, but in another (parallel) universe. "There is nothing that does not exist".
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: PabloMack on June 19, 2020, 03:32:55 PM
I am just wondering what about it makes it look CG? The holes you see are common in rivers with rapids. The currents cause sand to race around and drill them out over long expanses of time.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on June 19, 2020, 03:37:38 PM
Quote from: raymoh on June 13, 2020, 11:25:24 AMThere is a very interesting theory (quantum physics, not esotericism!) that says that everything you can imagine is reality somewhere and sometime. Maybe not in our universe, but in another (parallel) universe. "There is nothing that does not exist".

Yep, quantum theories are nuts. For example, also, every thought you have is uniquely coded to you, and now exists in quantum space forever, in a finite pool of data that could theoretically be drawn from. The paper I read even went further talking about how gasses in space, could align in such a way, that for a moment, consciousness is born enough for the entity to think "what am I?". This was based in a paper about AI and Consciousness, and what defines it. It was crazy. Talking about how rocks have memory, and stuff.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Hetzen on June 19, 2020, 05:29:46 PM
Quote from: raymoh on June 13, 2020, 11:25:24 AMThere is a very interesting theory (quantum physics, not esotericism!) that says that everything you can imagine is reality somewhere and sometime. Maybe not in our universe, but in another (parallel) universe. "There is nothing that does not exist".

That's the Hugh Everett's (father of lead singer of the Eels) 'Many worlds' theory. Quantum mechanics works on probabilities, which suggests all outcomes are statistically possible, including a broken egg reconstructing itself.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on June 23, 2020, 01:38:44 AM
Here's one lol

Somewhere in Colorado.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: René on June 23, 2020, 02:30:20 AM
That's insane! I wonder what processes trigger such regular strata.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on June 23, 2020, 02:56:32 AM
Here's something different: "lookalike CGI":

https://fstoppers.com/spotlight/photographer-uses-fluid-and-sounds-create-surreal-photos-look-cgi-271840 (https://fstoppers.com/spotlight/photographer-uses-fluid-and-sounds-create-surreal-photos-look-cgi-271840)

The first one is stunning!
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on June 23, 2020, 11:38:37 AM
Quote from: raymoh on June 23, 2020, 02:56:32 AMHere's something different: "lookalike CGI":

https://fstoppers.com/spotlight/photographer-uses-fluid-and-sounds-create-surreal-photos-look-cgi-271840 (https://fstoppers.com/spotlight/photographer-uses-fluid-and-sounds-create-surreal-photos-look-cgi-271840)

The first one is stunning!

Wow those are wicked cool.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Kadri on June 30, 2020, 06:04:32 PM
You want excessive displacements like in Terragen?
https://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/vermilion_cliffs/edmaier14_l.html

I don't remember seeing those (there are more photos there. Just click) :o
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on June 30, 2020, 06:18:08 PM
Quote from: Kadri on June 30, 2020, 06:04:32 PMYou want excessive displacements like in Terragen?
https://www.americansouthwest.net/arizona/vermilion_cliffs/edmaier14_l.html

I don't remember seeing those (there are more photos there. Just click) :o


Man I actually wish I could render these sort of abstract broken disps in TG without the scanline effect, and exponential render time lol sometimes they care cool. Reminds me of C4D days.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: René on July 03, 2020, 04:54:26 AM
This is so fascinating; the reason that structures form in a certain way is something that has puzzled me for a long time. Some rock formations look like man-made objects and others look like living organisms.
There is now a new theory that explains why this resemblance exists. If you can muster it to read; here the article on this subject. https://www.quantamagazine.org/a-new-thermodynamics-theory-of-the-origin-of-life-20140122/

A few quotes.
If a new theory is correct, the same physics it identifies as responsible for the origin of living things could explain the formation of many other patterned structures in nature. Snowflakes, sand dunes and self-replicating vortices in the protoplanetary disk may all be examples of dissipation-driven adaptation.
Wilson Bentley

Scientists have already observed self-replication in nonliving systems. According to new research led by Philip Marcus of the University of California, Berkeley, and reported in Physical Review Letters in August, vortices in turbulent fluids spontaneously replicate themselves by drawing energy from shear in the surrounding fluid.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on July 04, 2020, 01:01:47 AM
Quote from: PabloMack on June 19, 2020, 03:32:55 PMI am just wondering what about it makes it look CG? The holes you see are common in rivers with rapids. The currents cause sand to race around and drill them out over long expanses of time.
This is just concretion density with normal fluvial/abrasion erosion. Different densities of the sandstone erode at different rates. Doesn't have to do with sand in rapids. This is seen in areas void of running water and simple abrasion erosion from wind.

It's not that it looks CG, it's that in TG we may often reseed due to immediate chaos.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on August 01, 2020, 12:27:40 PM
Found this: It seems to be a Terragen render, but it's a real photo!

https://www.deviantart.com/thayer2319/art/Glisten-850558162 (https://www.deviantart.com/thayer2319/art/Glisten-850558162)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Dune on August 02, 2020, 01:27:46 AM
Looks a bit like this in Pamukkale in Turkey. Nice challenges for TG!
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: René on August 02, 2020, 07:30:13 AM
I wouldn't be surprised if film directors and production designers nowadays reject landscapes because they look too computer-generated, even when they're not. ;D
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on August 02, 2020, 02:41:48 PM
Quote from: raymoh on August 01, 2020, 12:27:40 PMFound this: It seems to be a Terragen render, but it's a real photo!

https://www.deviantart.com/thayer2319/art/Glisten-850558162 (https://www.deviantart.com/thayer2319/art/Glisten-850558162)

I've been wanting to tackle something like this for a long time. Good to see it's been achievable.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on August 20, 2020, 10:12:13 AM
Distorted strata, but real:

https://www.deviantart.com/mugurelm/art/Durmitor-Montenegro-852574745 (https://www.deviantart.com/mugurelm/art/Durmitor-Montenegro-852574745)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on October 25, 2020, 11:08:46 AM
Nice real "displacements":

https://www.deviantart.com/chasphrey/art/A-Strangely-Vertical-Wisp-of-Cloud-859071873 (https://www.deviantart.com/chasphrey/art/A-Strangely-Vertical-Wisp-of-Cloud-859071873)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on February 06, 2021, 06:33:22 AM
I had to look twice: This looks like a landscape generated and composed with Terragen. In reality it is a photo of Bavarian mountains.

https://www.deviantart.com/eegarim/art/When-Heavens-Argue-854377294 (https://www.deviantart.com/eegarim/art/When-Heavens-Argue-854377294)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Dune on February 06, 2021, 07:59:56 AM
You're absolutely right. Very TG!
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on February 09, 2021, 01:47:19 PM
Quote from: raymoh on February 06, 2021, 06:33:22 AMI had to look twice: This looks like a landscape generated and composed with Terragen. In reality it is a photo of Bavarian mountains.

https://www.deviantart.com/eegarim/art/When-Heavens-Argue-854377294 (https://www.deviantart.com/eegarim/art/When-Heavens-Argue-854377294)

Wow, that's crazy. The lighting in that image is great.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: SILENCER on February 19, 2021, 02:28:12 PM
Actually, the swiss cheese kind of resembles the pock-marked Santa Monica Mountains near m
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: WAS on March 22, 2021, 02:17:41 PM
Some wind swept and water eroded stands in Nanya Taiwan
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Suwa_Foughten_Field on March 28, 2021, 08:07:20 AM
That's actually why I started using Terragen: I was looking for a tool to create realistic terrain for a game project, and then noticed that unlike other programs, I couldn't always tell what was generated in TG, and what was a real life picture...
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: raymoh on September 18, 2021, 01:51:14 AM
"Nature-generated" clouds!
https://www.deviantart.com/antoninpuleo/art/Chaos-892140852 (https://www.deviantart.com/antoninpuleo/art/Chaos-892140852)
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: René on September 20, 2021, 03:14:16 AM
That looks like a gigantic mouth. :o
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: akulenkt on October 04, 2021, 05:12:29 AM
Wow! Firstly I was too excited, that this is a picture, I could believe. So yeah, I really like the questions about mixing real reality and CG reality, when often they look the same. This blows my mind. Everything right now could be a fake, where is the truth?

I really like the studio, which works on questions of reality, here (https://iddqd-studio.com/works/dazzling) one of my favorite projects. Okay, you can guess, that is not real, but how earnestly pictures looks like?
Also you can read about real and hyperrea (https://iddqd-studio.com/knowledge/hyperreal-visualizations-are-the-new-black)l. For me, it was super useful and opening things.
Title: Re: too computer-generated?
Post by: Toggle on November 08, 2021, 11:00:34 AM
I wonder what processes trigger such regular strata. What do you think about it?