Cumulus

[ThinkPink]

Hi,

here is the first test render with the hints I've got there. http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=7029.0

Well.... the view is not very spectacular, but I think it's the first step on the right way

Render time: ~ 9h (2Core)
Quality: 0.75
1 cumulus layer with density and distance layer
Some postwork in PS (it's the result that counts   )

One thing was strange: Some parts of the Clouds are very smooth and others are very hard and grainy

[domdib]

Have you checked what the quality is in the Cumulus layer itself? For a shot that concentrates mainly on clouds, you probably need quality at least 1, and you can push it to 2.

[Henry Blewer]

I would go with 1.65 for the cloud quality. 128 on the atmosphere quality. Just to see, I'd do 2 320x240 renders with and without raytraced shadows in the clouds. It might add something to this image, but how much time do you want to use?

[ThinkPink]

hm ...
Quality of Cloud : 1
Samples of Cloud : 4060

Samples of Atmo : 64

perhaps i should go to 128 and push up the cloud quality

[domdib]

I can't quite believe that the cloud samples are 4060, as that would then make the Quality something absurdly high too. The samples shouldn't really need to go above 256, except in very unusual circumstances (very tall clouds I think).

[ThinkPink]

I'm sorry, but .....

it is 4060   see attachment

it comes automaticly to this value when I put the cloud quality to 1

[domdib]

Well, there's something mighty strange going on either in your scene, or in your installation of TG. When I just opened the default scene and added a Cumulus layer, and set Quality to 1, the Samples were set to 38. On the other hand, when I set samples to 4060, the Quality shot up to 109. Could you try doing this?

[ThinkPink]

it depends on the values for cloud density and cloud depth

the cloud depth is set to 6000m
the cloud density is 20 (!)

somewhere in a tutorial i read, that "... if you want to get big and "puffy" clouds you have to put the density to 15 or more!"

[domdib]

Ah, OK. I think a density of 20, or even 15, is incredibly high. Have you tried it at a lower value? Also, take a look at the clouds in my render here: http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=6848.msg74310#msg74310
The settings are - Depth  2000m and Density  0.025.

[ThinkPink]

i tried it with 2000m and depth 1 but the clouds became "flat" and less "structure". I didn't like them so i tried higher values ....
but your clouds look very beautiful!

Are you working with the full version? I've only the free download.

[domdib]

Yes, I have the full version, so I can render bigger. I shouldn't take much credit for the clouds, as they are a tweaked version of the Cumulus Humilis made available by NWDA (only cost a few euros, and can be used with the free version). These clouds have a more complex node network than the standard ones available with the program. Since the node network is copyrighted, I can't share a clip file (but if you did buy a copy, I could share settings).

Another thing you could try is re-seeding your clouds - go into the Density Fractal and either hit Random Seed, or simply change the number manually. I had to do that a few times before I got these ones.

[FrankB]

Hi

for the type of clouds you want here you need to have cloud layer and cloud fractal settings around the following values:

cloud layer:
- cloud density: 0.05
- cloud edge sharpness 10
- cloud depth: to your taste, but 1500 should be enough

cloud fractal:
- noise flavour: perlin billows
- roughness: not above 1.5, rather 1.2 to 1.5

That should get you started.

Then you can slide the cloud quality slider to 1. Maybe up the atmo sample to around 32 to begin with.
Leave the rest at default values.

Cheers,
Frank

[ThinkPink]

Hi Frank,

thanks for the settings. I will try them when the render which runs in the moment with other cloud settings is finished (runs since 16h).

Actually i want to build 1 big cloud but ..

Oliver

[domdib]

Have you explored the Cloud library in the File Sharing section? There are a few "Hero" clouds kicking around in there. And seriously, it's well worth shelling out a few bucks or euros or shemolians on at least the Cumulus pack from NWDA, which also includes BIG clouds.

[mr-miley]

Clouds aren't bad at all, I quite like them. The rest of the scene I really like. Not so much the individual details like the stones etc, but the colours used and the overall "feel" are fantastic and very "real".

Miles