These are good for "recent" regolith of massive, well indurated sandstone, with the exceptionof the large one on the left. Sandstone rarely breaks into cylindrical forms. Freshly broken fragments are angular and tend to be wider subparallel to the bedding planes, often with relatively straight faces at angles to the bedding planes.

... These rocks need displacement map or more polygons to bent in to make it look more realistic shaping. ... The texture map that are wrapped on the rocks looks like at very low poor jpq quality image because it is showing some pinkish that came from compression method.

GWeb, ... These rocks need displacement map or more polygons to bent in to make it look more realistic shaping. ... The texture map that are wrapped on the rocks looks like at very low poor jpq quality image because it is showing some pinkish that came from compression method You said that the texture map on the rocks looks like a very low quality jpg. I used the Sandstone texture in Vue 5 and just changed the "Color" "Filter" and "Function" in the Advanced material Editor. The Default Sandstone has a bump map already, but it doesn't seem to affect the edges at all. I can't find anything about Displacement Maps in the Vue 5 manual. What do you mean by displacement maps are they the same as bump maps? Thanks

Message edited on: 03/04/2005 19:22

Colour looks good, try layering 4 or 5 thin stones/rocks to get a ripple effect(just an experiment) lookslike your close, yet R 2 cents worth

My part of the world is largely composed of sandstone. When it breaks, it doesn't break clean, but leaves a lot of small particles and "sand" everywhere. Don't know how you'd incorporate this, but it would really help the rocks / boulders look more accurate. I would also say that the colour needs to be more biased towards red / ochre.

The bump map will not affect the edges at all. Can you not increase the polygon count in C4d and roughen the edges up a bit?

"Sandstone" is one of nature's garbage cans: it can have anything in it, be almost any color that occurs in nature, and be any thing from just barely indurated to well indurated (indurated is geologist for "made rock-like"). There are more different kinds than you can shake a stick at, and even more geological names for them (subgrawacke, anyone?) Some sandstones, as LW states, are highly friable. Some (such as that found on the north shore of Lake Superior) have to be cut with an oxygen lance. These look good for a well indurated sandstone with a fine grain size.

Wow, a minerolgy expert in our midst! What a cool resource! Thanks Triarius. Next time i do some rocks, i'm going to post samples here, lol. I'd suggest: Yes, more polys for more detail and the ability to smooth (if you want to do smoother sandstone) and to have more variety in the edges. A bumb map cannot do edges, it's only an illusion that works "head on". You would need a normal or displacement map (which tells the display card how to fake more vertices). Don't think Vue supports those yet. Can you combine more than one texture? That could make them look more stratified.

Glad to help! In real ilfe, I am a geologist. In my experience, rock is even stranger than I can imagine... ;oD

Attached Link: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vue5infinite/images/CerroVerde.jpg

If i were e-on, i'd hire you as a consultant, lol.

Could i ask your opinion of this "geological illustration" made with the new Vue Pro 5 "Infinite"?
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vue5infinite/images/CerroVerde.jpg

Unfortunately, I get: Forbidden You don't have permission to access /Products/vue5infinite/images/CerroVerde.jpg on this server.

Attached Link: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Products/vue5infinite/

The image is with realistic looking rocky mountain with forest scattered on it.

I assume these are fractally generated and there are at least three terrains in the picture. Pretty good, especially for fractal terrains, which are generally unrealistic. Some things look odd, but I think they have more to do with perspective and composiion. For example, some of the vegetation on the far peak looks too large for the distance, and on the far upper right, there is what looks like an overhang (might be an overly large tree). Such deep overhangs are inconsistent with the way the rest of the rock is weathering. What is the rock type you are trying to model? Is this an actual place? Do you have a pic with the atmospheric effects removed? Properly applied atmosphere and lighting can hide a multitude of defects.

Yes, i think they are fractal. The artist is listed on that e-on page, i think. Sorry, not my scene and i don't know any details. Just wondered what a Geologist would think of a geological scene in the new version of Vue. Glad you don't have any major criticisms. Only thing that bothered me was the slope on the far right, which seems like it would be from a landslide, but the cliff above it doesn't show any history of providing that material. Thanks for taking a look :o)

If I understand which slope and cliff you mean, I see nothing wrong. The cliff above is the history of that material. These rocks are eroding fairly rapidly (in goelogic time) to produce such steep, rough cliff faces. The slope I think you are talking about looks to me like a regolith slope derived from mass-wasting of the cliff above. Because this is a tropical environment, such slopes are rapidly covered by vegetation (Hawaii has similar terrains, as does the Sawtooth Wilderness (Idaho, IRC) and many other locations. Such terrains are generally produced by rapid uplift accompanied or followed by rapid erosion, though they are also dependent on the type of rock. While pure fractal terrains are usually geologically questionable, they are a good starting point, and Vue is an excellent program, IMHO. I wish I had more time to use it!

Ah, cool. Thanks for that insight. Yep, wish i had more time for Vue also :o) Especially with this new version. Guess i'm lucky i work for myself - i can always play a bit of hooky and suffer the lower income, long as i keep my clients happy. Appreciate all your information - interesting stuff. Since the software is now good enough for realism, we all need to know as much about what "real" is as possible.