Well, I put it in the box above, but often even I don't bother reading that thing, LOL, so here it is: New Vue Challenge (VC005)! As suggested by Daniele, the next idea will be to create your best clouds in Vue, using, oh, I suppose, the spheres, mashed and squashed to fit the occasion. Yes. That's what it is: You must use ONLY Vue primitives and materials. Well, you can use your own textures if you like, but no imported models. So, have fun, and this will last two weeks. I suggest you begin the render right before bedtime! Enjoy, and LEARN! (so y'all can tell ME how to do it, LOL) Two weeks, now git! --Mike

Clarification needed on imported models!!! We can use our own textures as long as we put them together right? We have to use the spheres and smash them? awwwwwwww do we have too? I'm not feeling aggressive tonite!!!! Beck

You can use your own textures, yes. Buyt why wouldn't you want to use Vue's spheres? They're probably the best choice, polygon-wise, though I'm saying that without checking. But, I guess since the actual point of this is to get the most out of Vue's RENDERING, as opposed to modeling, then I guess you can use imported models, but you have to tell us if it was all Vue or if you used an import. Fair enough? :) Mike

hmmm... when you say primitives, you mean, like primative primatives? :) how about terrains? cuz then i can do puff clouds ;) i was just reading real world bryce (2), and using spheres to build up volumetric clouds is pretty standard (its even in the vue tutorials). thing is, they use like.... 25 spheres. you need lots of overlapping to get the un-sphere-like cloud shapes. can you say six overlaps and my transparency is screwt? ::sigh:: :)

The reason I ask about imports and textures is because my clouds are based on real clouds and on textures....jpegs. I don't often (in fact never have) used spheres. I use terrains or photographs. :( Beck

Hey Mike! (A.K.A. Mr. Genius Innovations) Any chance you could add dates to those Challenge notices? As in the deadline for VC005 is....?? Some of us are very calendar challenged - LOL! ;)

OK, here are the amended rules: Yes you can use a terrain. I agree that the primitives ARE in fact a little primitive, and good point Bloodsong, I guess we don't want all those transparencies going on. I'm thinking maybe we should make the next VC be a "Blue Gunk" contest. We always get it accidentally, so hey, let's see who can get the best BG intentionally. And then we'll start up a website, posting our results, and invite E-on to have a look-see. ;) Sacred, what are you talking about? You DO understand that we're trying to make physical cloud objects in Vue, and not atmospheric type thingies, right? As it tuns out, at least according to the manual, spheres are the best for this, though it sounds like Bloodsong has a different take on it. BTW, whaddya mean, Bloodsong? Varian, uhh, thanks, but again this wasn't MY idea; it was Daniele's, from a couple of threads down. But I HAVE made a few genius innovations in my Real Life, but that's boring, LOL Dates: Midnight, Wednesday, February 7-- Midnight, Wed., Feb 21, based on US dates and eastern time. I waouls say EST or EDT, but I actually never know which is which! Cheers, Mike

Mike... "You DO understand that we're trying to make physical cloud objects in Vue, and not atmospheric type thingies, right?" Yes I do realise we are making physical cloud objects......thats why I asked about jpegs and terrains.....I have been known to use images to create clouds....like fractals....or flowers etc.......they do give interesting shapes to 'clouds', so do different textures :P~

Beck, Oh, Ok, I hadn't thought about that. I really didn't make the connection but now I see what you mean. :) --Mike

Ok guys, I see I've started a little quarrel here. The thing is...at the moment I'm not able to build decent clouds, no matter what I use (textures on terrains, spheres, cylinders, skinned turkeys...):) I don't give up that easy but when you're part of such a community, the weakness of the single can be compensated by the joined efforts of the group! I hope some of us will wake up one morning with a winning cloud technique and show the rest how he did. Use whatever you think can be of use and above all have fun and learn! Peace & Love Daniele

heyas; we're not having a quarrel, we're having a discussion. :) we're discussing methods of making clouds. it'll turn out best for everybody in the end, you'll see :) mike: whadda you mean, whaddo i mean?? about what? :) the layering of the spheres? well, if you make one sphere with one of those puffy kinda cloud textures on it... you get a very round area with cloud texture in it. clouds dont hang out in round areas, usually, so you kinda stick a buncha spheres together to make a blobby shape. (kinda like metaballs, without the meta-ing.)

"whadda you mean, whaddo i mean?? about what?" How would you go about making a terrain into a cloud? I guess you would use one of the filter thingies or a function? But I would guess you would have to make two halves and assemble them together to get a roundish shape? If I were to want some clouds, the first thing I would probably automaically do would be to simply make them in Amorphium, because it seems like it might be a problem with Vue. Some people, most ntably Varian, do well with modelling in Vue, but not me--- too tedious. So then I guess the next thing I would consider would be to simply do as the manual suggests and use squashed spheres. Y'know, I just realized I don't think the manuals' tutorial worked for me. So, what's your terrain technique? C'mon now, you can tell us!

Ha ha ha! The one time I attempted to "build" clouds in Vue using primitives, I ended up removing them in a paint program afterwards, then applying Xenofex's Little Fluffy Clouds filter to do what I'd attempted to do in the first place. Hm...and Xenofex's clouds went a lot faster, too! LOL! :)

I was just playing around with this exercise, and I came up with this. It's no big deal of course, but I just thought it seemed kind of unusual since I've never gotten anything quite like this in Vue. I was following the cloud tutorial, and when I came up to the part which says to create a Noise layer, I edited the function with one of those spiral functions. I just kinda like the effect, but I'm having a hard time trying to figure how something as such might be predicted and controlled better.

Obviouisly it's not any kind of cloud I've seen on this planet. ;)

That is cool! :)

Thanks varian, I thought so too. You can see the outer edges, or rather surface of the flattened sphere. All it is is a completely blank, "no atmosphere-atmosphere", a falt sphere and a solid white with Global Trans. on 100%, Variable Trans., and then the spiral function (in the trans production) in the default position. It has a certain "cartoonish" effect, but towards the left it almost looks kind of like real mist or something, if not in shape, at least in transparency and value. That's also about the point where the object is the farthest away from the camera. But with no fog or haze set, why would distance make a difference?

heyas; i think it looks like the surface of water, rather than clouds... kinda. :) but very neat. save it! mike mike mike... i'm sure you've seen my puffcloud vue tutorial, as featured in the renderosity vue tutorial database. ;) (at least... i THINK it is still there!) basically, its a lotta stones... lower edges, if you like, trim... they look better if you squash them along one axis. then the puff cloud cloud and air mixed material. i dont put puffy bottoms on, i just let them fade out before they get there. :)

oh, and mike... of course you don't read whats in the box up there. you WROTE it, so you know what it says! lol!! :)