Recently, as many of you already know, I was involved in creating a product focused on Cumulus clouds code-named, “CloudPak.” Because of some unforeseen problems, it appears that particular product won’t end up making it to market. But, a lot of work was completed and I thought I’d share some of the information I’ve learned while working on the project. So, while the CloudPeeps PDF isn’t a full blown “CloudPak” project, it can be considered a work-in-progress and hopefully will lend insight into how one might go about creating their own cloudscape atmospheres. I hope you find this useful.

http://blog.chipp.com/cloudpeep/

oh wow.... thank you soooo much!!!!!!

Thanks Chipp! Awesome info.

Ciao
TD

Very generous, Chipp, thanks a ton!

Great offer, thanks!

Thank you - look forward to learning more about clouds

 Since I keep getting emails from users being confused about the release of Chipp`s "Cloud Peep" document,  I would like to make it clear that this document is reflecting his own view about Vue clouds creation and has nothing to do with my approach on clouds or my own upcoming cloud products (except for a single cloud technique presented by me a couple of month ago on this forum)

Thanks chipp - very generous of you :)

eonite - still looking forward to seeing your products :)

Ditto with Pajama... still cant wait to get my hands on that cloud pack, eonite =D
And I am extremely thankful for the knowledge contained within this document, Chipp =D

Pajama - what a cool nickname =D

Thanks for the PDF Chipp.

Very nice, thanks! :)

Jon

Thank you for this generous work !

Thanks Chipp!

Thanks, Chipp - you've just made our Vue world a little bit brighter

Quote - Thanks, Chipp - you've just made our Vue world a little bit brighter

Nope

He made it cloudier :thumbupboth:

Thanks Chipp!

giggles - great one, Crowning =D

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs?  giggles

Spreading knowledge, particularly for free, is highly commendable Chipp, and it seems so elegantly written. I'm sure I'll learn a thing or two, thanks.
The timing seems ... well, like stealing eonite's thunder, sorry.
You say one doesnt need to know the FE to create the beautiful clouds you describe, but the single cloud that is the basis for the manipulations includes the procedure eonite thought us, with the Gaussian tooth function. Is he credited for that? I havnt read the whole thing yet.
So, thank you both for bringing the possibilities of vue clouds to a wider audience.

ArtPearl,

No stealing of eonite's thunder, nor his clouds is taking place.

I'm sorry you really think I'd release something without attempting to give credit to those who provided help.

I had already checked with Dick (eonite) before posting this document. He personally requested I not use his name in any of it, as he has a different set of findings and approach.

That said, as mentioned previously in this thread by Dick, the main FE node is one he most generously shared with Rendo folks awhile ago.

Futherrmore, as stated in the PDF, creating clouds, one at a time, in a layered process is not a good process to create an entire cloudscape. 

As you mentioned, you have not thoroughly read the document. It is titled, "Atmosphere settings for Cumulus clouds" and has nothing to do with the FE. The point of it is to describe what the various controls do to affect clouds. Using the Gaussian Tooth layer was a very good way to show the effects directly as the original node provides a smooth sphere cloud. The idea is, once you understand what the various controls do,  you can take more control existing cloud layers you use, or apply these findings to MetaClouds.

And for the record, the original CloudPak was a collaboration between both Dick (eonite) and myself. We both put in substantial time on the project. We both amassed knowledge. We both agree we have a right to publish our findings-- and I doubt it needs policing by others who know nothing of our project or our agreements.

As I've said many times, I have huge personal respect for Dick and his skills and believe his Cloud product will set new standards for the creation and rendering of clouds in Vue. I don't see CloudPeep in anyway competing with the grandeur of his product. I suspect he doesn't either.

In fact if anything, I suspect CloudPeep would add interest regarding how to perfect cloudscapes-- something Dick has been working long and hard on.

dictionary definition: "steal somebody's thunder - to do something that takes attention away from what someone else has done  "
Eonite and his clouds were in the spot-light when you and your clouds appeared.
That's the only sense of the expression I intended. It's certainly not a crime or unethical - just socially awkward.
The cloud on the cover and inside the tut stands out in its unique loneliness, and seemed very familiar to me -reminiscent  of the cloud in eonite's thread, so it gave me the initial impression that your tutorial is related to it. As I didnt see you specify this is based on the same method,  and you stated that using the FE isnt needed to generate your clouds, I thought you had another way of generating the spherical cloud. Which sparked my curiousity. It seemed to have confused at least one more person who commented and asked how one gets the initial spherecal cloud.

Maybe eonite didnt want to be an author of this document, I have no idea, that wasnt my point.
Just a matter of courtesy and information to the readers to mention that his method is embedded in the initial FE of the example used . Perhaps it's my experience in scientific publications that  got me accustomed to give credit/reference to other people's work that preceeded our own's. I guess I was wrong to expect it here too.

So if my points upset you - I'll appologize and retract them, they have no practical importance.

 Geez, ArtPearl, give it a rest. Can't someone provide a freebie to the community without you having to jump all over them?

For the record, I did contact eonite regarding this product back a few weeks ago when we decided to go separate ways.. My exact words were:

"FWIW, I will plan on tweaking and releasing the little bit I did documentation-wise (the single sphere cloudball) as a freebie by me only with some sort of explanation there would not be a CloudPak by us anytime soon.

Let me know if you have a problem with this, but, I suspect you wouldn't as you never really agreed with the technique and approach I was taking in the documentation.

Because of that, I'll be sure and position it as my thinking, unless you would allow me to give you credit for function stuff - all readily available in your Rendo tutes. I don't plan on putting anything more other than a single sphere cloud in the documentation and certainly would not include any metanodes nor descriptions or theories of your metanodes and how things work."

His response back:

"Hi Chipp,

Thats no problem for me. Treat it as your thing, dont mention me.

Best,

Dick"

Cripes, what else more do you want? 

If you feel you must attack this project, please start your own thread.

?

It makes no difference to me what you agreed with eonite -  you need his agreement to say anything that implies he and you agree or disagree on anything, but not for explaining where the initial shape comes from. I described and justified the impact/impressions it had on me personally. I dont have anything else to add.
"So if my points upset you - I'll apologize and retract them, they have no practical importance."
What else is there to say?

Thanks Chipp!  I continue to be impressed with and appreciate all you share - you've made my Vue work so much better!  Your commercial stuff rocks (esp TerraPak) and your freebies and tutorials are excellent.

(I'm also very much looking forward to purchasing anyting eonite puts out)

Off to happy downloading and cloudscaping.

 There's an interesting thread going on over at the e-on forum, and I posted more observations regarding creating your own cloudscapes. I thought I'd repost it here for anyone interested:

Quote - We're then stuck fighting that original fractal and I think that's partly why it's a pain in the neck for something that really "could" be so much simpler and straight forward.

Well, Not really. Just set the Detail slider to ZERO and you're not fighting the original fractal.

Here are a few cloud pics I just rendered...all with detail, feathers and sharpness set to ZERO. Most other settings are the basic ones found in the CloudPeeps Vue file. This first one uses only a Fast Perlin Fractal for density:

This second one uses a Simple Fractal with Perlin Noise:

You can see each of these are a bit different, but they both look very much like clouds.

So, then the question is "Why have a detail slider at all?" AFAICT, there are two good reasons.

1. Some cloudscapes aren't generated with fractals and because of this, they render MUCH faster. That said, adding fractal details helps these faster cloudscapes look more real.

2. Some cloudscapes, like the one below use a fractal (Round Samples) which create billowing clouds but with smooth unnatural edges. In this case, adding a bit of detail will help.

This next render (sorry these last few are only done in Preview mode as it was taking too long) shows a blobby cumulus type cloud, but the edges are too smooth to be real.

Now, if we add a tiny bit of Detail (4%), Feathers (4%) and Sharpness (4%) we can use the same exact fractal as before and it renders a much better cloud scene:

So, you can see why it helps to have features like Details, Feathers and Sharpness, each adding a tiny amount of randomness to cloud shapes-- which can be of great help to fine tune a cloudscape.

Lastly, I would be terribly remiss if I didn't mention one other factor in cloud rendering. Consider the last render. It uses a Simple Fractal with Round Samples. Now take a look at this render:

This uses just the Round Samples Noise (no fractal, just noise). This last image renders 5 to 10 times faster than the one with fractals. So, keep this in mind when creating your cloudscapes!

I hope some find this helpful.

Attached Link: Oliver Klimek

Regards,
Oliver

Great stuff, thanks and I'm off to download.

*Schweeeeeeet! *:)
ta, Chipp, much appreciated!

Chipp - Very kind and generous of you to share....