I hope this won't cause controversy, in the sense that we'll fight. My hope is we'll focus on getting something we all long for - realism. This is a photo of a real cloud I took this last summer. If you will, let's see if we can match it. If we get close, let's admit we're close and take what we've gained collectively. But, let's keep learning until we can match it.
Of course, I'm admitting we have seen pretty cool clouds. This is to leave the notch where it needs to be - real.
Feel free to share your gains with everyone.
Heheh, for a second before reading the post I thought that those were TG and I was going to demand your settings :P. I've been fooling with Luc's file a little, as I'm sure others have been, and I think that this is a good idea.
For real clouds those look increadibly tg2ish...in a good way ;D If we can get our clouds to look like this that would be absolutly amazing!
I was about to hate you for the rest of my life....haha......where can I download luc's file??
Quote from: dhavalmistry on February 04, 2009, 03:23:38 AM
I was about to hate you for the rest of my life....haha......where can I download luc's file??
Here:
http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=5490.msg56723#msg56723 (http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=5490.msg56723#msg56723)
Good luck ;)
What I've noticed about some of the best TG2 cumulus clouds achieved so far is that they either look too "solid" and heavy - I think Luc's tend that way - or too wispy/unfocused at the surface - Frank B's tend in that direction. What the real cloud shown somehow conveys is a combination of very clear, defined surfaces and the impression of lightness. I guess that mimicing this will be a matter of careful experimentation with lighting and cloud settings. One thing's for sure, whoever achieves it will go down in the TG2 Hall of Fame!
FrankB has come up with some incredible settings that could be a treat to learn for anyone willing to purchase them and then there's Luc's file, which is a great starting point for this. I'm glad others thought of this, as well, since I was planning to suggest using Luc's file as a reference for us. I hope Luc doesn't mind our learning and building from his labor...and, of course, everyone is welcome to give this a shot, including Luc and Frank. ;D
Glad this went over well. It was a toss-up that someone might be put out with my insistence on reality. :P
Hi
That is a good idea you have to start from my file ;D
Here a short resume on different clouds version I did:
First version of my clouds setup was http://lucbianco.free.fr/jalbum/Terragen%202/2006/slides/TGD505.jpg
This file I gave you was version 2 : http://lucbianco.free.fr/jalbum/Terragen%202/2007/slides/TGD823.jpg
then I did a v.3 by mainly increasing the clouds density and play with noise : http://lucbianco.free.fr/jalbum/Terragen%202/2008/slides/TGD838.jpg
and v.4 in December I did a latest version this time by adding two different clouds and a distance shader : http://lucbianco.free.fr/jalbum/Terragen%202/2008/slides/TGD906.jpg
Maybe one day I will do a v.5 .. since I think it still could be improved but currently I am focused on some other activities far from CG.
If I come back in next weeks/months it could be rather to sell some cheap libraries packs on my website (as Franck did) or some complete scenes ..
luc
Quote from: calico on February 04, 2009, 07:49:28 AM
FrankB has come up with some incredible settings that could be a treat to learn for anyone willing to purchase them and then there's Luc's file, which is a great starting point for this. I'm glad others thought of this, as well, since I was planning to suggest using Luc's file as a reference for us. I hope Luc doesn't mind our learning and building from his labor...and, of course, everyone is welcome to give this a shot, including Luc. ;D
Glad this went over well. It was a toss-up that someone might be put out with my insistence on reality. :P
Quote from: lucbianco on February 04, 2009, 08:22:48 AM
Hi
That is a good idea you have to start from my file ;D
etc.
Thanks for giving some leads Luc.
That's positive news you're thinking about selling complete scenes or some packs and especially at cheap prices.
A general tip for everybody is to use FrankB's principle of building up and masking the main cloudstructure and use Luc's shared file for the density fractal of the clouds. Or mix them with Frank's. I had very similar results to V3/V4 of Luc's clouds quite fast. It is then especially the (toughest, in my opinion) matter of find the right densities/edge sharpness and a good covered lighting.
Martin
The biggest problem with getting those clouds calico posted is the shadow area.
I can make a cloud and make the whole thing look really good except in the shadow area's and this really ruin's it all.
There are some options that I feel are missing in the cloud shader parameters. We have "fake internal scattering", but I think there should be something more here. Something to control the shadow area's. And why is it called "fake"? Where is the "true internal scattering" option? Maybe that's the option I'm looking for :)
Maybe there is a way, but I have not figured it out and I have tried so many different things now I don't think it's possible without any new features.
I really hope there will be some more options in the cloud shader parameters. I really do.
Please add something more for us Matt :'(
- Terje
I stated looking at Luc's cloud file yesterday and this is my development with it. I have changed lighting and density fractal settings to what I believe produces a more realistic result. Where I find most clouds renders lacking in TG2 is the internal scattering of light. It's possible to replicate this effect to a certain extent, but it has limitation in the shadow areas, where it produces unnatural shapes, evident in this render as well. The shadow issue in fake internal scattering and the difficulty in controlling shapes are my main gripes with TG2 clouds.
I will render a larger version tonight and post it here tomorrow, a test to see how it holds up as a bigger size image.
Quote from: sjefen on February 04, 2009, 11:45:01 PM
The biggest problem with getting those clouds calico posted is the shadow area.
I can make a cloud and make the whole thing look really good except in the shadow area's and this really ruin's it all.
There are some options that I feel are missing in the cloud shader parameters. We have "fake internal scattering", but I think there should be something more here. Something to control the shadow area's. And why is it called "fake"? Where is the "true internal scattering" option? Maybe that's the option I'm looking for :)
Maybe there is a way, but I have not figured it out and I have tried so many different things now I don't think it's possible without any new features.
I really hope there will be some more options in the cloud shader parameters. I really do.
Please add something more for us Matt :'(
- Terje
You can fiddle and improve the shadowy areas a lot using the fake ambient color settings :)
Wow, that's an amazing result, Saurav. Could you share the clip of the modifications you made?
OB I'll post the clip file tomorrow morning (Aust) with the bigger render.
Quote from: Saurav on February 05, 2009, 03:35:09 AM
OB I'll post the clip file tomorrow morning (Aust) with the bigger render.
Exciting! Looking forward to see it :)
I agree. Saurav's lighting looks very close to the photo...very close to real lighting inside the cloud. This is a critical component and maybe we do need a different set of parameters or different levels or something in TG2 to get to this point more quickly.
[Edit - I tried using Luc's cloud file with a modified Frank's atmosphere and it looked pretty good, but I wanted to try something else by mixing more of the two together. Frank's lighting is very good and I'm trying to move the winning parts of it into Luc's use of the Density Fractal.]
Here is the larger render. 1920 x 1080.
I think it took approx 6 hours render time.
Exported as EXR and tonemapped in Photomatix.
If any one is interested the clip file is attached to this post.
Thanks! I'll have too study these. :)
Thanks a million Saurav!
Quote from: Tangled-Universe on February 05, 2009, 01:55:19 AM
Quote from: sjefen on February 04, 2009, 11:45:01 PM
The biggest problem with getting those clouds calico posted is the shadow area.
I can make a cloud and make the whole thing look really good except in the shadow area's and this really ruin's it all.
There are some options that I feel are missing in the cloud shader parameters. We have "fake internal scattering", but I think there should be something more here. Something to control the shadow area's. And why is it called "fake"? Where is the "true internal scattering" option? Maybe that's the option I'm looking for :)
Maybe there is a way, but I have not figured it out and I have tried so many different things now I don't think it's possible without any new features.
I really hope there will be some more options in the cloud shader parameters. I really do.
Please add something more for us Matt :'(
- Terje
You can fiddle and improve the shadowy areas a lot using the fake ambient color settings :)
Yes you can. But you won't get rid of those edges in the shadow area. You can see those very clearly in Saurav's image. I want to get rid of those details in the shadows almost completly like in the clouds calico posted.
It's a little hard to explain, but look in the shadow area's in the images below:
http://www.maltaweather.info/05_cunim_city.jpg (http://www.maltaweather.info/05_cunim_city.jpg)
http://www.weatherfiles.com/wp-content/thunderstorm.jpg (http://www.weatherfiles.com/wp-content/thunderstorm.jpg)
http://www.natures-desktop.com/images/wallpapers/1280x1024/clouds/clouds-cumulus-layers.jpg (http://www.natures-desktop.com/images/wallpapers/1280x1024/clouds/clouds-cumulus-layers.jpg)
- Terje
Terje is right.
Quote from: sjefen on February 05, 2009, 09:11:22 PM
Quote from: Tangled-Universe on February 05, 2009, 01:55:19 AM
Quote from: sjefen on February 04, 2009, 11:45:01 PM
The biggest problem with getting those clouds calico posted is the shadow area.
I can make a cloud and make the whole thing look really good except in the shadow area's and this really ruin's it all.
There are some options that I feel are missing in the cloud shader parameters. We have "fake internal scattering", but I think there should be something more here. Something to control the shadow area's. And why is it called "fake"? Where is the "true internal scattering" option? Maybe that's the option I'm looking for :)
Maybe there is a way, but I have not figured it out and I have tried so many different things now I don't think it's possible without any new features.
I really hope there will be some more options in the cloud shader parameters. I really do.
Please add something more for us Matt :'(
- Terje
You can fiddle and improve the shadowy areas a lot using the fake ambient color settings :)
Yes you can. But you won't get rid of those edges in the shadow area. You can see those very clearly in Saurav's image. I want to get rid of those details in the shadows almost completly like in the clouds calico posted.
It's a little hard to explain, but look in the shadow area's in the images below:
http://www.maltaweather.info/05_cunim_city.jpg (http://www.maltaweather.info/05_cunim_city.jpg)
http://www.weatherfiles.com/wp-content/thunderstorm.jpg (http://www.weatherfiles.com/wp-content/thunderstorm.jpg)
http://www.natures-desktop.com/images/wallpapers/1280x1024/clouds/clouds-cumulus-layers.jpg (http://www.natures-desktop.com/images/wallpapers/1280x1024/clouds/clouds-cumulus-layers.jpg)
- Terje
This is essentially what I was saying a few posts back. Until there is a way we can avoid those ugly shapes in the shadow areas (fake internal scattering) these types of clouds are going to be very hard to mimic in TG2. But in the meantime this shouldn't stop others trying to have a go at creating them, there might be other ways around this problem. ;D
You can get rid of those ugly detailed shadows with the fake ambient settings, I'm convinced about that.
Like everything with clouds it is a combination of factors. In this case the propagation, mix and fake internal scattering settings are also involved. With the fake ambient lighting you can "over-rule" the lighting in the detailed shadow areas.
Martin
sjefen - i know it's a shameless plug,but maybe you've missed
these http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=4863.0
J Meyer: those look nice indeed!
There's barely something I miss here but I did miss this topic.
Quote from: j meyer on February 06, 2009, 10:32:05 AM
sjefen - i know it's a shameless plug,but maybe you've missed
these http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=4863.0
Those are amazing. You obviously have what I want.
May I ask how you did it? :)
- Terje
...and how do we do that without the blue tint?
At this point in time, and in the current state of affairs... I have to say this is the most realistic cumulus cloud I've seen yet in CG! 8)
Amazing work Saurav! And many thanks for sharing the clip.
sjefen - keep fake internal scattering close to or at zero and play with
all enviro light settings.
calico - just use another color instead ;)
If there is interest i can post one of the example tgds later.
For a moment there I thought this was TG2 and was going to say awesome but the fact that I even thought it was TG2 for a second means TG2 is pretty good.
I'm as bit limited with computer power so I have never got into cumulus clouds like this. What I notice is that cumulus clouds in TG2 don't look like light is traveling through them and glowing back out. It looks more like a surface lit thing. How to improve that I don't know. Haven't experimented much with cumulus clouds but this is a perfect reference photo to compare against.
Quote from: efflux on February 06, 2009, 05:45:47 PM
For a moment there I thought this was TG2 and was going to say awesome but the fact that I even thought it was TG2 for a second means TG2 is pretty good.
I'm as bit limited with computer power so I have never got into cumulus clouds like this. What I notice is that cumulus clouds in TG2 don't look like light is traveling through them and glowing back out. It looks more like a surface lit thing. How to improve that I don't know. Haven't experimented much with cumulus clouds but this is a perfect reference photo to compare against.
I think they are true, 3d, volumetric effects, but I understand what you mean. I still think it would be good with some more options for the cloud shader to help with these things.
- Terje
Makin some progress with the shadow area's. Still far away, but just wanted to share what I have.
- Terje
much better
Yes. Interested. :o
Quote from: j meyer on February 06, 2009, 01:18:25 PM
If there is interest i can post one of the example tgds later.
Excellent. Now to get definition to the important bits.
Quote from: sjefen on February 07, 2009, 12:10:39 AM
Makin some progress with the shadow area's. Still far away, but just wanted to share what I have.
- Terje
Looks good Terje. Lighting and shapes are fine, except that I don't like the warp everything else is splendid :)
I just gave this a try.
hmmm...I think I also ran into a bug maybe. There are strange lighted square parts.
See picture below. I exaggerated the contrasts etc. in photoshop to make it better visible.
Hmm..... What is your GI settings?
- Terje
GI = 1/1
Strength in atmo is 2.
I've reworked this version completely so I'm not sure if I can reproduce this.
Ok. It just looks like a problem I had I while ago. I think I solved it with higher GI settings.
- Terje
calico - didn't get to it yet,but hopefully i'll post a file tomorrow.
As for the squares: i've noticed these many times with different settings
and did some tests to get rid of them,but,alas,with limited success.
Also i found that when you render the same pic with the same settings
again they tend to appear on different locations;did 3 or 4 renders of
the same pic with a different result for each.
OK,posted the tgd over in the original thread (pure egoism of course)
http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=4863.msg58800#msg58800
thanks for your interest.
Thanks for sharing this with us :)
I have a new version rendering right now. Should be able to post it within a few hours when I'm back from work.
In the new version I think I have the lighting sorted out pretty well and also the billowy shapes.
Only the overall look of the cloudformation itself is not really good because it is clearly constricted within the radius of the distance-shader.
Quote from: j meyer on February 09, 2009, 10:38:30 AM
OK,posted the tgd over in the original thread (pure egoism of course)
lol :)
Damn what a failure is this, look below.
I thought the distanceshaders' mask wasn't THAT obvious and also that the density of shapes would be less.
Also the lighting isn't near anything similar to the tests...
Back to the drawing board it seems :)
By the way, the approach for this technique is based on FrankB's cumulus pack.
This consists of 2 cloud layers mixed with different noise scales to avoid boring bottoms of the clouds.
Martin
Huuu
I thought it is a cauliflower ;D
Sorry Martin, I wasn't able to resist.
Pascal
I tend to consider it a compliment rather than an insult, since cauliflower looks are what we're also after besides lighting :)
looks a tad like a snowy hill...
I gave this one a quick go with some settings I had worked out on another cloud study I did a while back.
The lighting in the clouds is very good in that render. I think we are getting closer. :)
Quick suggestion - I notice the sky colour in the original cloud picture has more of a greenish blue tinge. It might be interesting to redo some of the renders here with a light yellow sun, as this tends to shift the sky colour in that direction. Then it would be easier to compare the two. Just a thought :)
I'm continuing to try things, but haven't believed what I have is worth posting yet. Should be soon enough, though.
Anyway, Frank's thread "The Big One - v#" is looking pretty sweet.
Could work for a supercell.
Quote from: Tangled-Universe on February 09, 2009, 11:59:16 AM
Damn what a failure is this, look below.
I thought the distanceshaders' mask wasn't THAT obvious and also that the density of shapes would be less.
Also the lighting isn't near anything similar to the tests...
Back to the drawing board it seems :)
By the way, the approach for this technique is based on FrankB's cumulus pack.
This consists of 2 cloud layers mixed with different noise scales to avoid boring bottoms of the clouds.
Martin
This is an extreme WIP...so don't mention anything about the terrain, cloud-positioning etc. etc.
I just post this because of the clouds :)
Quote from: Tangled-Universe on February 10, 2009, 12:16:35 PM
This is an extreme WIP...so don't mention anything about the terrain, cloud-positioning etc. etc.
I just post this because of the clouds :)
the terrain is so baaad !!! :p
lol
I don't know Martin, you failed on the terrain.... ;D
kidding aside:
You've got a good lighting going on, definitely the right direction, but the cloud shapes have issues still.
For one, it's a big triangle. Not much you can do about it other than re-seeding.
Secondly, the smaller shapes need you attention.
Keep on going :-)
Cheers,
Frank
You know I've never really thought clamp low works properly for clouds. Because it cuts it off there's no variation so it looks weird.
Updated version of the clouds I was working on before. I reduced internal scattering and upped the ambient lighting as TU suggested. Exported as an EXR file and tonemapped in PS, colour corrected in Lightroom.
4.5Hrs render time.
hmm, ... no. ;D
Saurav, the fake scattering is still too strong, plus there's that wrong looking light blueish tint on the tall ones.
And the undersides are not realistic either. You seem to be mixing two cloud layers, which have different colors.
Overall it looks to me like your're getting further away from what worked well in your previous images.
I suggest you get back to a previous version and start again from there. Looking at your last image again, the suggestion on reducing the fake scattering was a good one, but you have to reduce it much further. Now that I had that second look at the previous one, I also see this strange blue tint there.
Oh, and a last tip: the warping it too strong as well, as it disorts the little "bubbles" too much.
happy, continued rendering :-)
Cheers,
Frank
The lighting is what I've learned from Frank's file and the shape is from Luc's. The color doesn't match the original (photo at the beginning of this thread) yet. The sense of lightness as in the original photo is missing, too.
Comments and especially critiques are welcome.
Something looks realistic about this, even though it still looks like a CG cloud. Not sure if its the color, the sharpness...not sure. Nice work!
To me it seems the lack of internal light scattering. Seeing the shape along the dark side is throwing it off i think.
It's to bad we can't get along the cloud edges small-scale break-up i mean very small and fine like seeing mist close-up. I think that would help with this.
Talking of Terragens scattering in clouds my understanding of the Fake Internal Scattering is that is single scattering in the forward direction only; whereas the lighting of real clouds comes form multiple Mie Scattering in both the forward and backward directions, also there is droplet optics to consider and the scattering interactions between droplets.
The thing is; that we will only be able to get so far with TG2 as specified and equipped the way things are today a case of close, but no cigar. These things may change over time but that's for the future [maybe]. In closing I don't wish to rain one any ones parade, just stating my two cents worth, and that's that. ;D
Regards to you.
Cyber-Angel
I appreciate your comments and well wishes. I'm struggling with the belief that what CA says is true - the TG2 clouds in their present form cannot quite look like the real deal. We've seen some cool stuff and we especially know how much work has gone into creating the "perfect" clouds, so I too am not here for controversy. Just keeping it - "Real".
Now, on to my next iteration of how to get this last cloud looking more like this photo...
;D
Multiple Scattering, your right. That is what i was thinking but it's more then possible. There is software that can even do this in real time with clouds so i think it's just a matter of the developers implementing it which they will eventually. Vue 7 has indirect illumination but i am not sure if it does it like multiple scattering would.
Quote from: Saurav on February 11, 2009, 02:14:13 AM
Updated version of the clouds I was working on before. I reduced internal scattering and upped the ambient lighting as TU suggested. Exported as an EXR file and tonemapped in PS, colour corrected in Lightroom.
4.5Hrs render time.
Saurav, what about dropping GI lighting to 0.5? I did that on my image, and it made a huge difference. Its worth a shot!
Thanks for the tip moodflow. :) I'll give that a go on my next try.
I'm finding the same thing, Moodflow. The Environmental Lighting, when set low, seems to work wonders in the clouds. Not sure why, but maybe this and some multiscattering would make all the difference. But, what do I know? I'm just a TG2 twiddler. :-*
Quote from: calico on February 18, 2009, 08:41:46 AM
I'm just a TG2 twiddler. :-*
Yep, same here my friend! 8)