Planetside Software Forums

General => Terragen Animation => Topic started by: jbest on July 27, 2010, 01:37:24 AM

Title: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on July 27, 2010, 01:37:24 AM
My brother and I decided to give it a go at the contest. The first picture is here, and I didn't want to make the other five until I got some input on it. For example, the rocks might do some work.

The whole idea is to go forward to the top of the mountain, switch to a time lapse of the sun setting, then go upwards, showing the cresent planet. To make it good will take some work, of course. Any suggestions on how to improve the picture (and idea) will be appreciated. Any ideas for add-ons in the picture will be nice too.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on July 27, 2010, 01:41:46 AM
here is the picture
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: domdib on July 27, 2010, 04:08:40 PM
I would be inclined to thin out the fake stone distribution with fractal breakup, plus perhaps a distance shader and some slope restrictions.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 01, 2010, 02:45:25 AM
do you think the rocks should be taken out all together? Maybe some texture?

i think that since an empasis is realism that maybe the planet should be out and maybe some better clouds should be in (like cumulus). Maybe some trees should be in the picture too.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: TheBlackHole on August 01, 2010, 09:35:08 PM
It doesn't have to be realistic as in, "Where on Earth is that?". It just needs to look like a photo of anywhere in the galaxy. It can be Earth. It can be Mars. It can be Pluto, Venus, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, or even Pandora. It just has to look like a real place somewhere in the universe, as my Epic Planet ( http://forums.planetside.co.uk/index.php?topic=9881.0 ) thread shows.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 01, 2010, 11:43:00 PM
well, I'm making a new render with no rocks (I thought the rocks just weren't needed). I stuck in some trees. I made two renders of each picture; one with no planet, and one with a planet. We'll see which one will be used. The idea of the animation will be the same, except that instead of looking up at the planet, I'll just show a picture from the other side of the mountain. That is, unless, someone has a better idea.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: domdib on August 02, 2010, 08:13:30 AM
I rather like the rocks in the foreground - although the terrain needs a little work just there, as it has obvious seams showing. Anyway, look forward to the next iteration.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 02, 2010, 04:37:14 PM
any idea how to make clouds move? it'll be needed
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 02, 2010, 07:25:29 PM
the first picture is with the trees, and the second is with trees and planet. Which is better?
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 02, 2010, 07:49:55 PM
here is the second frame; the first has no planet, and the second has a planet (and slightly different camera position).
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: Hannes on August 03, 2010, 02:44:37 AM
I think this is a matter of taste. I personally prefer the versions without the planet, because the landscape looks very very earthlike. But it's up to you.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: domdib on August 03, 2010, 06:36:48 AM
 I think it would be good to adjust the tree distribution. At the very least, I would restrict it by altitude, as you don't usually see trees going right up to the top of snow covered mountains.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 03, 2010, 06:16:06 PM
Quote from: domdib on August 03, 2010, 06:36:48 AM
I think it would be good to adjust the tree distribution. At the very least, I would restrict it by altitude, as you don't usually see trees going right up to the top of snow covered mountains.

that's true, but how do you make good looking trees that end at a certain place? Adjusting the "length b" for the trees made it look downright awful, and it wasn't quite easy to get it the way I wanted. Also, with no trees at the top of the mountain, the second frame with no trees looked pretty plain. Maybe different trees with more spacing, or trees going partly into the snow, but not too the top?
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: TheBlackHole on August 03, 2010, 09:31:39 PM
Use a surface layer as a distribution shader.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 04, 2010, 05:47:33 PM
hi,

i am not so sure if I want to have the trees stop at the snow. As I said before, without trees, the second frame looks quite barren and not at all interesting. I think that I'll just make less trees at the top, rather than removing them.

As for the planet, I took out the atmosphere and made the planet look like a moon. It actually looks pretty good. Also, because the planet has no atmosphere, I changed the sunset to be behind the camera so the moon with its terrain is clearly visible. The moon is also quite big in the picture. I'll post it once the picture is rendered.

Jahnu
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 05, 2010, 02:41:23 AM
Here is the first frame, with the moon.
I guess this isn't on Earth.  :)

Jahnu
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 05, 2010, 04:38:04 PM
Here's the six pictures, comments welcome.

Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 08, 2010, 03:03:25 PM
with slight sharpen:
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: Henry Blewer on August 08, 2010, 04:24:08 PM
I don't think the sharpening is necessary. It will probably not be noticeable in video.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 08, 2010, 04:50:38 PM
Quote from: njeneb on August 08, 2010, 04:24:08 PM
I don't think the sharpening is necessary. It will probably not be noticeable in video.
yeah but I thought the sharpen made the picture look a little more realistic. The pictures without sharpen look kinda dull.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: Henry Blewer on August 08, 2010, 05:21:33 PM
There are pixel shaders in the render settings. Mitchellvelli (?) might be just right.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 08, 2010, 05:50:26 PM
Quote from: njeneb on August 08, 2010, 05:21:33 PM
There are pixel shaders in the render settings. Mitchellvelli (?) might be just right.
.... I don't get it.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: Henry Blewer on August 08, 2010, 06:28:53 PM
Goto the render tab. Select a render quick or full. In the tabs here there is a tab called Extra. The pixel filters are there. Some produce very sharp images. Others soften things a lot. Most are in between.
Title: Re: Mountains, Sunset, Planet
Post by: jbest on August 10, 2010, 01:12:10 PM
Well ... I think I'm sending this. Thanks to anyone who gave ideas.