Objects

[Werth]

Perhaps it's far more simple than my head is making it, or perhaps the answer is right in front of me and I'm too [insert preferred adjective here] to see it. I've been playing with the objects (other than planets) and have been having little to no success at utilizing them.

I can never manage to place a disc, and in some cases I can't even seem to make it visible.
I'm trying the grass clumps with population and I've figured it out famously, though my grass tends to look... I think 'abysmal' is the word I'm looking for. >_>

My computer isn't the fastest, so I'm ok with slow render times... though when you wait for about 30+ minutes (or more if it starts from the sky) to find that your grass looks like some kind of horrible thing it's more than a little disappointing. (The fact that I'm using Vista and am prone to crashing on a regular basis is another obstacle I'm willing to ignore. )
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It's times like these I feel the most computer illiterate.

[choronr]

Please give us your main question.

[Werth]

Ah, sorry.

My main point is how to improve the look of grass. Mine always turns out ... just 'bad'. I know experimentation is key, but I just want a nudge in the general direction.
My secondary question is the placement of discs. No matter what value I enter they don't seem to move.

[choronr]

Many factors affect the look of grass; the position of your lighting (the sun); and, the diffuse color of the grass. The density of the population and your point of view is important as well. As for discs; not sure what the discs represent??

[Oshyan]

Discs and Planes start out very small - so small you wouldn't likely see them unless you were looking directly at the 0,0,0 coordinate origin. Try increasing the size to something like 1000x1000 then change the position and you should see an effect. I've just tested it and planes and discs do work, although they're very simplistic objects and not useful for much.

- Oshyan

[Kevin F]

... though when you wait for about 30+ minutes (or more if it starts from the sky) to find that your grass looks like some kind of horrible thing it's more than a little disappointing.

It's times like these I feel the most computer illiterate.

You can eliminate this by using the "crop region" facility in the render tab to test render a specific area of the scene.