ecoduct

[Dune]

A very, very simple start for an ecoduct. Just trying to find a way to get these tunnels into the hill by projection of some masks. I read somewhere that a terrain can be exported as an object (which would be much easier to get nice tunnels), but I don't know (yet) if an object can be populated. So, more experimental work to.

[Dune]

Half a day further...

[Henry Blewer]

I have been able to use Surface layers on objects to define areas for populations. It can be done. Here is an old image I did earlier this year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/njeneb/4143005603/sizes/o/in/photostream/

[cyphyr]

Try using an ortho camera image projection to make your tunnels.
Richard

[Walli]

looks sweet so far!

[Dune]

Ortho? I'll try that, if I can figure out what you mean. This was done with three camera's inside the hill, pulling the tunnels inwards. I've tried to export the hill (it is an image map shader mask), but that ain't possible. I also tried exporting an ordinary terrain, got it in Lightwave, simplified a bit and exported as an object. Tried to use that to plant trees on, but you have to choose your planet, so I couldn't get the trees onto the object surface. I couldn't even get the object terrain textured properly with the TG nodes I used for the landscape. So moulding the hill+tunnels it out of the question, as it needs the heather and grasses as well as the trees to grow onto it. Simpler solution is just do this in TG2 and maybe clone away some artifacts. Or only make the tunnel entrances and put them into the TG terrain, where the tunnels are.

@Henry; which is the object you put the pops on, the barn? I don't see what you mean...

[cyphyr]

Well you don't need the tunnles to go right through the hill do you?
Using orthographic camera projection simply keeps the sides of the projection parrellel whereas using a normal camera will cause the projected image mapped displacement to either diverge or converge along its path.
You "could" use an "invisable to camera" terragen plane to populate the grasses over and an imported and modified LW mesh for the psudo terrain.
Looks an interesting project, something a little differant from your usual archeological renders.

Richard

[Dune]

No, that's right. If I do that, there are some strange artifacts appearing at the outgoing end. Terrain inside out, so to speak. Perhaps with adjacent camera's pointing either way, a through tunnel can be made, but I won't need that. Interesting to find out, though.
I never quite grabbed the meaning of orthographic, as I never needed it. Thanks for explaining, it'll be useful.
The TG plane would have to be quite exactly like the mesh, which is a bit too much work, but I have found another way. I needed concrete entrances anyway, to keep the soil from falling into the tunnels, so I modeled them, and put them into place; looks great.

[Dune]

Somehow the orthographic camera doesn't work. I got the tunnel to bulge inside out at the other end. Perhaps with another node setup it will work, but right now I only use the 3 tunnel projections as masks and the 'pulling' is separately masked by an endless white square and a redirect shader. Perhaps that's a few nodes too much, but the experiments ended up that way and it works.

I used one of the products I won (the overcast skies, available at http://www.nwdanet.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=7&Treeid=1&Itemid=1) in this 'Miserable Weather' update. Very fitting, as it's pouring out of the skies immensely in Holland. No postwork, by the way, straight out of TG2.

[inkydigit]

gloomy and dreary atmosphere, nicely done, tunnels from here look great!

[chris_x422]

Very much like the weather here in Bristol too.

Very nice feel to this, I Love the lighting you get in these conditions, softly occluded and dramatic.
One tip, watch for the strong shadows and sharp reflections, I'd be tempted to soften them off.

Chris