Hi all,

I'm trying to create a realist ice material  for a sculpture of ice (VUE 6 )

It's just for some holiday fun, I'm not unhappy with te results, even put one up in my gallery :-) 
So i dicided to share some of the progress, just for some tips and to show off ;-)

This one is a mixed material

This one is a mixed material with SubS urface Scattering and Translucency.

This one to see what lights does with the material :

Any tips are welkom.

Anyone got a clue how to make (3D) waterdroplets on them?

My favorite is the first one. It looks great. There's some sharp lines in her chest which don't seem very natural but other than that, it looks great. I also like a lot the puddle on the ground, specially the caustics.

The second one also looks good but those hard lines where the torso meets the legs seem strange. That's typical to find (in Vue) in objects with several sub-objects where translucency was applied. I remember reading somewhere of a workaround for that but I can't remember what it was exactly. I think it was more complicated than just baking it (which would be my first idea) but then maybe not.

The 3rd one has some very interesting light effects on the base puddle but that sharp line in her chest ruins everything, IMO.

Maybe all of these images would be more interesting if the background was more richer than just black. If there was something in the background, probably the refractions and reflections would be nice.

Tnx!

The sharp lines in all pictures are from her clothing, my original was a clothed person. So i will have to make (find) a model without clothes ;-)

As for the background, the final render will have that i think. But as this started out as a material study, i did want to see the behavior of the pure material first.  ( As well as the render times with all the eyecandy on)

As you suggested, I'm trying baking now, i have zero experience with baking and i'm not from a mesh background (nurbs)  so i will have to see what if will do.Tnx!

After baking my object went from 8Mb to 81 MB !!

Seems to work better! Tnx!  First result:

PS: The ice did not meld when i baked it! :-)

Quote - "The ice did not meld when i baked it!"
LOL :-)

It looks much better now, without those hard lines. Is this the mixed material or translucency? This new material seems to be half way between those two.

Quote - Quote - "The ice did not meld when i baked it!"
LOL :-)

It looks much better now, without those hard lines. Is this the mixed material or translucency? This new material seems to be half way between those two.

ehm mixed material with translucency on both.... My material is becoming a little mess!

And for those lines.. When i tried different lighting they returned..  So i'm not there yet.

Well... The holidays ain't over yet ;-)

 I can't tell from this low res, but it doesn't look like you have any sort of cracks in the ice? I think you could get some really nice refraction.

Your ice is very beautiful! I don't know if this will help you, but perhaps you may want to experiment with some free ice materials. They may have helpful characteristics you can use. : )

In the Downloads section of Cloud Pictures, scroll down until you get to "Ice Material 2". Some Ice cubes in .obj are included, but the download also includes 11 ice materials.

There is a large preview of those ice mats here, but you have to register to see the thread.

Also, there are  26 Snow & Ice Materials at Dreams of Vue d`Esprit. (Only 6 are shown on the page). Go to Downloads, Materials,  Schnee + Eis.  : )

Hope this helps in some way!

Tnx for the tips!.

I did look at some of the examples., Doesn't beat the fun of starting from scratch yourself ;-)  (At least..  sometimes ;-)

Anyway..  Next WIP:

Merry Christmas!

The tree looks really good. The house lacks that pristine look the tree has, IMO.

Quote - The tree looks really good. The house lacks that pristine look the tree has, IMO.

I see what you mean, funny thing is, it is exactle the same material. Not scaled, nothing.  I like the idear that the material beheaves differently over a different shaped object.. 

There are so many variations of ice in nature, i think it's kind of nice that this one gives "realistic" surprises

Anyway.. not ready yet maybe it will go in that direction.. w'll  see.

Edit:

Maybe i talked to soon...   You mean a little more like this?

I think it looks better now because now the refracted colors in the house, from the sun and sky, are more vivid.

 I really like your work. The ice looks very believable. Hope this threads ends up with a product mat for download or sale ;-)

Quote -  I really like your work. The ice looks very believable. Hope this threads ends up with a product mat for download or sale ;-)

Tnx!

Well i just rumble around a little.. also lighting has a great influence on my material, but if you like it i will be happy to send it  to you. Drop me you're mail adress.

Change the .txt into .mat

 I really like the simple one:

Funny story, i spent hours making the complicated one.. endless testrendering..

Then i needed for scene testing a faster material, so i created a quick  one..  and to my surprise it worked out nice, as you experience too!

So as usual i had a lesson in humbleness "less is more" ;-)

And Chipp, i finally spent en enitere evening making all kind of old scenes and props into ice and watching the renderings.playing with light, just playing.. sometimes that is a fun way to use vue... . it was fun!

 It certainly worked for you! Nice job on the ice :-)