Fake stones shader request

[AP]

Just a couple which I would think could address some needed areas of realism here.

Use any noise (drop down selection) or any other shader (functions for example) as a connection input to effect the overall shape of each stone as it stands at the moment is only a voronoi cell noise I believe. One could use the current Surface shader but a direct influence for stone shape could be more effective before influencing smaller details after a primary shape.

Stone softness where as the higher the value, the more soft the sharp edges of the fractal become and the more rounded off the stone can be. Perhaps extreme settings higher then 1 can make such a rounded shape to look like a ball.

Will the displacement be fixed to avoid the bottoms of the stones not to fade out when using displacement?


I have not been to involved with the new current features as of yet but the brief test suggests some very interesting effects are possible. This desires to be explored more.

[Dune]

I can only agree with you. Though the fake stones are an extraordinary feature and if well-used may yield terrific results, there is certainly room for improvement. My main concern is the exploding stones problem, which can usually be gotten under control in more 'ordinary', but not under all circumstances, especially when using 'unusual' lines of nodes where smoothing can't be used, e.g.
I've always wondered how it really works internally anyway.

[AP]

Yes, the exploding stones can be an issue. Most of the time I can avoid it. I think I have the more missing displacement issue which shows up on random stones every now and then. Some stones are smoothed out where they should not be so some of the added displacement goes missing. I found ways to make more realistic stones using the displaceable object as there seems to be more easy control and better integration of noise displacement workflow but no way to populate the displaceable object otherwise I would be doing stones that way, at least on a local level and everything else can blend-in for farther distances. Fairly easy to fake that. I had done some tests of several stones types looking fairly realistic and come fairly close to there real shapes and details. There were examples of exported stones of mine in older threads but the polygon count and obvious clones are simply not worth it. The rock object is so-so. It is rather difficult to work with and I can never get it to work well. To be honest I do not think anyone uses that feature.

Not to give up and be disconnected over this. As mentioned already, there are tests to be done with the new additions to the Fake stone shader.   

[mhaze]

Ditto, I sometimes spend more time on fake stones than any thing else and usually with only mediocre results!

[reck]

Exploding stones have been a problem since fake stones were introduced and a fix has never been made available. I assume TG4 still has the issue?

It must be a difficult problem to resolve.

[AP]

Exploding stones have been a problem since fake stones were introduced and a fix has never been made available. I assume TG4 still has the issue?

It must be a difficult problem to resolve.

I am not certain at the moment. Going to be exploring stones soon.