Hello Fine Folks

Well I have hit artists block and am now getting annoyed with myself :(

I cannot seem to get any textures for landscapes right, cannot get the camera right and cannot seem to create a decent Island/landscape :(

I have seen lots of great landscapes created in vue by quite a few of you (I know a lot of you use the infinate version and realised I should have probably saved the pennys and gone for that version.

can anyone suggest anything I can try?

thanks

spidergod

crank up some miles davis,sip some good scotch and surf the net(;

Go over to GeekatPlay and watch some of their tutorials.  They will fire you up with all sorts of ideas!

http://geekatplay.com/index.php

Well Peggy,that works to,but you cant really beat Miles Davis :D

maybe some Pink Floyd or Doors???

yeah pink floyd is cool

doors not too keen on.

well I have found loads of very good images, just trying to work out how to re-create them.

one of the major hurdles is the textures for the landscape, it either looks like  melted plastic, or just does not look right at all.

I'm really into Ryan Farish's music now - it's sort of a combo between jazz and electronics.  Always have it on when I'm writing. 

Start with the defaults,make sure your minitor is calibrated as idiots like me who game,produce,write and do graphics cant remember which button is for what half the time:D Vue has some really cool presets depending on which non Infinite version you have. I have no idea how anyone could not go for the Infinte myself. the xtra is what makes Vue vue IMHO.As for the plastic look,you can always play with highlights.Use texture maps with a bump and use the bump for the variable highlights if you must(; theres a wealth of knowledge to be found out there.Peggy and Paula seems to know where it all is:D Good luck with your Vueing(;

-Paul

yeah at the time could not afford infinite.

i have got the esprit version.

time to start saving the pennys

Thanks for the compliment Trepz. I agree with Peggy. Go to geekatplay and start their tutorials. I don't know how much you know, but even the beginner's tutorials are useful as refreshers. You might get ideas from them on how to work with materials. I can't remember what you can or can't do in Esprit, but I know when I used it years ago before I knew about Infinite I was satisfied. You can use lights and atmospheres to soften the textures by choosing lighting, bumps play a large part, also changing the color of the mats. I have some tutorials on my website of perpetualvisions.com for older versions of Vue, but I recommend the Geekatplay ones.

I go through periods where nothing looks good. I have been working on one picture now for days just because it looks plain stupid even though the concept in my mind isn't. Creativity can be elusive. It comes in waves. I find that learning a new trick or seeing how to do something new can stimulate me. Also, go to the forum at Geekatplay. A number of the people are sharing their wips and discussing them. Some are beginners and other sare more advanced. 

Just remember, artist block will pass and we all get it even though it is so frustrating. For me, learning more helps my block rather than seeing other art work. For each his own. Basically don't get frustrated by seeing what others have done with Infinite. Few use all the features, like few use all the features of Photoshop. I reviewed Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 for Adobe recently and was amazed at what one could do in the $99 program. The same is true of Esprit. If you want to save your money, fine, but don't hesitate to create and don't look at what others have done and stop looking at what you can do.  While materials help, its the individual who creates it. Now I'll get off my soap box. Have fun

thanks, I think having a cold does not help either :(

I think i might go back to abstacts for a while.

Feeling sick definately does not help. I think your idea of just letting it rest for a while might be a good alternative. I do that also when I am blocked ,and sure enough, when I think things won't start flowing again, they do.

I have a basic philosophy about CG,Coming from oil painting I decided the smell was the cause of headaches that still haunt me 20 years later so i went to pencil,which i truly loved until my darling father said it was a waste of time learn to build houses..which grudgingly i did.then I said screw it and went to college with a GPA of 3.6 got a degree in computer science #2 in my class. and gave it up after a year,went back to cooking:D My first true love. And through all of this i stick with CG and LEARN it as we all do....As Paula said,few use all the features, I agree 100% ,and it think that is for any program,any at all.I think if you knew how to use Vue/Photoshop/AfterFX or anything 100% (which i think is humanly impossible) life would be dull.for an artist/hobbiest anyway. "Block" is what makes us human.Life,love,madness and that sort of thing.(; Yes, i do ramble on a Monday.

-Paul

but i personally disagree with the dont get frustrated part:D Get mad get pissed off! figure out how to do it without Infinite! 

I have seen some AMAZING things done with that now essentially useless duplicate object thing back in 4P

When I saw "American Beauty", some years ago, there was one sentence and one scene that stayed with me forever and that I always think when I dont know what image I will create next. 
The sentence is "beauty is everywhere".
The scene was about a flying plastic bag and the pure, immaculate, unseen beauty of it.

So, if I dont know what to create next, I just look around me, or listen to some sentence from someone, whatever, and think "where is the unseen beauty of this?". That often triggers a chain reaction that ultimately ends in an image.

As how to technically get there, that is a matter of practice, practice, practice and more practice. Tutorials are a great shortcut to practice and geekatplay has some of the best i've seen.

Above all... It's important to Have Fun!! :-))

well folks, thanks for all the kind advice.

managed to get over the artists block last night, not with vue though but with bryce and a little help from jepe.

yeah going back to creating abstracts with bryce for a while (back in the comfort zone).

will try and get round to doing things with vue very soon.

cheers

Exactly what I do, when the block tries to take over, I start working on the abstracts. It does not take long before I am back doing Vue. I have the Esprit and although it cannot do things Inf can I can do some pretty good stuff. Will wait and get Inf 7 when it comes out.

You might try loading one of the Vue content pro terrains, and moving about until you find an angle you like. Add some water, make it dirty, and dark to hide the terrains features, you can change it later. When done with that then try all of the atmo’s until one gels with the terrain. Once that is done then make a backup and start changing things. 

Trial and error is not always the best way to compose a scene but when your mind is in rebellion it sometime sparks something that allows you to make it all work.

You just need to hang in there until the door opens. Practice makes perfect!

i have esprit, and while i drool over what those with infinite can do - i, too, gotta count those pennies until i can upgrade.  but i got esprit bundled with poser 7, otherwise - i would NEVER have bought it.  And to be honest, i think i love vue more than poser now.

as for the "block" - comfort zone is always a good place to resort to.

tutorials can work to "unblock" .... or at least teach new skills for when you ARE unblocked =D

and "masterpieces".... rarely come out right the first time... or the first 20 LOL.

something else i do to help with blocks.... read poetry =D  look up lyrics to songs.... flip through magazines....

i like yours, rutra - the unseen beauty =D

and trepz... really..... dissin' the duplicate tool? LOL.  ok, ok, so i dont use it either.  but it CAN be handy.... i suppose.

oh, and spidergod?  the block will go away....

then, watch out for artarrheah.... the opposite of the block, when you have too many ideas and vue (poser/bryce/pick your posion) can't keep up =D