Hi all, I'm having some issues to create a large school of fish for my first underwater scene. Are there any tutorials around about getting this done with ecosystems? Already ran a search, but without success. Many thanks, Phil

Hi Phil,

i guess it is the same principle as it is for a flock of birds. Of course i never tried it with fishes (the smell, the smell...) but...

Ok, you start with a rough terrain. Give it a totally invisibvle material - that is best. If you need one, ask. I can send you one that works probably. Then add your fishes to the ecosystem that you then create on this terrain. and position the whole thing in your scene.

The good thing about that is that only the fishes are visible, the underlying terrain not. AND, the fishes will be on different levels and distances.

Best would be to use V6I - there you simply paint the fishes onto the terrain and then delete the terrain. Perfect.

One day your ship comes in - but you're at the airport.

Well, fishes start smelling when they're dead. Mine are still alive - so no smelly image at all. ;) If you could upload a material that would be great, since the one I have looks kind of strange. Just one more question... I'm going to use volumetric lights to create a most realistic result, but I'm afraid the terrain will be visible to a certain extend. Any ideas how to avoid this even without haveing V6I at hand?

Well, i would say it is worth a test. When you do a realistic underwater scene the water isn't clear normally anyway. So maybe it is not visible really. Otherwise all ican think of is the good old replication/scattering option we love so much.

And enclosed the ordered material. I hope it works.

www.wabe3d.de/exchange/nothing.mat

One day your ship comes in - but you're at the airport.

Will give it a try. :) Thanks a lot !!!