Any word on when GeoControl will be made available? Or did I miss the announcement?

Here are 2 good sources for you:

Wood Workshop

Tony Lynch Desings GREAT Wood Tutorial for Photoshop

Hope you like 'em :-)

Not sure if anyone's figured this out, but I did get a reply from support at e-on with the correct solution: "- [Effects tab] Global transformation, check Rotation, then open the editor, and set a 90 rotation on the X axis." Didn't even know that was available!

Here's how I accomplished this using procedural settings. But, I'm still at a loss on how to do this using a mapped picture. I used a clip filter to tighten up the noise filter.

Here's the final result. The idea was to make a tire with rims completely from text objects (no booleans).

Hi Jim, Yes, it will map correctly on a cylinder primitive, but try using a text model of the character 'o'. That's the problem! :-)

Hi Dave, I've got the registered version of UV Mapper, and thought to do it, but am preparing a quick and dirty tire tutorial and didn't want to get to that. I've figured out a way to do it using a SINE WAVE generator, but was still interested in how this problem could be solved. It's really a simple issue, and I'm not sure I understand why Vue has made it so difficult? Other 3D programs I've used allow for multiple axis cylindrical mapping, why doesn't VUE?

Thanks David, That's almost there, but it wraps the texture onto the sides of the tire. So, it's not a true cylindrical map. I'm wondering if you know of a way to do this in the function editor? IOW, is it possible to 'flip' a texture's orientation using some sort of combination of tiles? Thanks for your helping out. best, Chipp

Yeah, but then I can't get the nice radius. Currently, I'm using the letter 'o' to create the tire. Strange, this should be simple.

Mazak, Thanks a bunch for the help. It works great :-)

Jim,

Remember, you don't have to set the sky setting to volumetric, you only need to use volumetric settings for your spotlights. That's why I changed the directional light to a spotlight.

During daytime, I don't think interior lights have much affect on the scene, that's why I try and keep the number of lights to a minimum. It would be interesting to do a dusk or sunrise scene like the PHOTOGRAPH above.

The friend I mentioned to you, his name is Syd Mead and he's quite an accomplished illustrator. His photo reference library is amazing. He keeps every picture he's ever ripped out of a magazine and files it away, and ends up using them for composition studies, lighting models and color schemes. (Google Syd Mead).

It's probably one of the best ways to learn. Find a picture and try and duplicate it.

-C

Hey Jim, here's a very small image of what I was working on. It uses a spotlight outside the building with volumetric effects for the 'sun' and another above the tree as well. You can see the AA isn't very good.

Then there's a single point light in the middle of the room just above where the light hits the ground and it's shadows are set to very soft (not ray-traced). The whole thing is done with radiosity, but no indirect skylight, so it renders faster (?)!

I've been doing some test using indoor global illumination. I'll try and post a tutorial when I'm done. Message edited on: 01/30/2006 19:51

Hi Jim, I know it wasn't intended as a gallery entry, but when trying to simulate reality, every little bit helps:-). I think it's often difficult to separate content from composition, as both are quite intertwined. A professional illustrator friend of mine pointed that out to me on occasion. I think I'm getting it this time but I'm using a much lower AA setting which reduces the quality of the image. Hopefully it'll finish. best, Chipp

Jim,

I tried a few times unsuccessfully to render your scene, but it kept hanging on the anti-alias pass. In any case, if I get it rendered I'll post it.

In the meantime, I did some judicious cropping and a simple level adjustment to one of your above images, and I think it works pretty well.

IMO, the woman standing should probably go, as she competes with the tree as the center of interest by looking out the window, and is a dead giveaway this is a computer rendering. Perhaps having her facing the tree with her back to the camera would be more appropriate. Also, an alpha plane with an outdoor scene would help outside the window as another photorealistic cue. Just my 2 cents.

Chipp

Attached Link: http://www.altuit.com/webs/altuit2/VueLab/CreatingaGradientMaterial.htm

Attached Link: http://http://www.altuit.com/webs/altuit2/VueLab/CreatingaGradientMaterial.htm

Here's a tutorial on creating Procedural Gradient Textures using a mixed technique of settings. I particularly like the ease with which the gradient texture can be rotated on any object.

Thanks to the many here and on e-on's website who have helped me better understand how to manage gradients in the filter editor.

best,
Chipp