FranOnTheEdge opened this issue on Jan 19, 2008 · 45 posts
FranOnTheEdge posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 12:42 PM
I can get an object that is the reverse of this, i.e. dips where there should be mounds and mounds where there should be dips. But not the other way around.
Help?
I've tried creating a negative of the image, I've tried Invert in the terrain editor... maybe there's some combination of all this that works, but I'm running out of ideas.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
dvlenk6 posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 1:23 PM
If you can get the reverse of it, then make the terrain's y scale negative. That should do the trick...
Friends don't let friends use booleans.
FranOnTheEdge posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 2:54 PM
Here's an image showing the original attempt next to the one using the negative image (of the one in the top message of this thread) and using "Invert" in the terrain editor, and making the object's Y height negative in the Attributes...
Looks the same to me. (the one on the right is the negative one)
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 2:57 PM
Looks worse...
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 3:03 PM
Sigh...
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
RodsArt posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 4:42 PM
This result is due to the sharp contrast in color. It needs smoother transition in order to create rounded effect. Normal Maps can create the result you're looking for.
Here is a tutorial:
http://www.bencloward.com/tutorials_normal_maps4.shtml
and samples.......
http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=normal+bump+maps&mkt=en-us
I'm sure others will have ideas also.
___
Ockham's razor- It's that simple
pakled posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 5:40 PM
hey Fran, what if you went into Wings, cut a sphere in half, elongated it on an axis, then replicated it and sized it to get the sections right? I did a trilobite a long time ago that way. just a thought...
I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit
anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)
FranOnTheEdge posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 6:02 PM
Ah... sounds great, but is there a plug-in for PaintShopPro XI?
Or will that PhotoShop PlugIn work on PhotoShop Elements?
I also tried to get the Normal map plugin for GIMP - but every single link "page Load Error" ed on me
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 6:29 PM
Yearse... I could, but the reason I wanted to do it this way was because I wanted to do a few like this, modelling them all will just take too long. If I'd have to model them all, I'd give up this idea.
Hey pakled!!! You use Gimp don't you? Do you know where to get the normal map plug in for it?
And what forum do you go to to ask stuff about GIMP?
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
wildman2 posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 8:44 PM
"Reinstall Windows" is NOT a troubleshooting step.
danamo posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 10:03 PM
Attached Link: "Before the Fishes Ruled the Sea"
Aw yes, the trilobite! It is a challenge to model, but I like wildman's creation. i did a pic with a few of them and other creatures several years backdanamo posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 10:14 PM
Attached Link: CrazyBump
Heres an app in beta that you might fing interesting Fran. It's called CrazyBump, and it generates both normal and displacement maps, which you can use as a heightmap in the terrain/lattice editor.bobbystahr posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 11:20 PM
That links a dud Dan.. ...
Once
in a while I look around,
I see
a sound
and
try to write it down
Sometimes
they come out very soft
Tinkling light sound
The Sun comes up again
danamo posted Sat, 19 January 2008 at 11:43 PM
Attached Link: CrazyBump
Oooops! My bad. here's the corrected link. Sorry.[](http://www.crazybump.com/)
danamo posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 12:17 AM
Attached Link: "How to make normal maps from real surfaces"
Here's another cool one written by the author of CrazyBump, Ryan Clark. You can use this method to create displacement/heightmaps in your image editor from real-world objects using a camera, computer,and a light source. I'm using this method to make hyper detailed rock outcrops and overhangs using macros of petrified wood. I'll show some renders when I'm done.FranOnTheEdge posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 8:30 AM
**danamo,
**Thanks, danamo, I already downloaded that, but I was hoping to use the other method since I already know how to use PaintShop.
(Or PhotoShop - but only Elements as I no longer have access to the college PhotoShopCS) (Or Gimp as that's similar to PhotoShop - or said to be so)
Trouble is I can't locate the plug in for either PaintShop or the GIMP - I have links but they lead nowhere.
I need to use this terrain method because of the look I want to achieve.
I'll save the tut, but I can't use it for this as I don't happen to have a lot of fossils hanging about my University room.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 9:23 AM
Okay, I've got CrazyBump working - bl**dy terrifying thing installing it! I thought "there goes my PC again!" as I watched all the stuff it wanted installed, like .NET2 something or other, and DirectX, and then it says - you might need to install the latest service packs, and security updates" and gave a link - which when I went there - meant absolutely nothing to me!
So I left that page and prayed... Dunno what'll happen when I turn the PC off and then try turning it on again... sob!
In the meantime, I have created a normal from that original trilobite image..... can't seem to get it to work.
When I use it instead of the image in the terrain editor I get all the surrounding square of the terrain as well - and I can't clip that off.
I'm now trying again, with the original image first in case clipping the terrain then will help when I try using the normal afterwards...
In the meantime if wildman2 gets my email - I could see if using his model improves things at all.
Using the original image first and clipping the terrain, and then using the normal - didn't work, so I've gone all round the trilobite with the terrain brush, looking better but still not what I wanted.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
UVDan posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 11:41 AM Forum Moderator
When did Bryce start using Normal Maps???
Free men do not ask permission to bear
arms!!
danamo posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 12:04 PM
I believe there is a function for converting the normal map into a displacement map in CrazyBump.
FranOnTheEdge posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 1:11 PM
**UVDan,
**DVLenk6 sugested using one as I'm having problems carving the image I want out of a terrain with just the original image.
**danamo,
**
Okay, I'm bewildered now - do I use the normal map or the displacement version?
And what does a good displacement map look like? Cos I've got no idea what the CrazyBump settings are for displacement that would give me the best effect in Bryce's terrain editor.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
dvlenk6 posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 1:46 PM
Quote - **...**DVLenk6 sugested using one as I'm having problems carving the image I want out of a terrain with just the original image...
I did? :blink:
When did I do that?
Friends don't let friends use booleans.
UVDan posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 2:03 PM Forum Moderator
UVMP will do displacement mapping. UVMP Displacement tutorial.
Free men do not ask permission to bear
arms!!
pauljs75 posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 5:29 PM
Just one thing though... True you can use an image to make a terrain, but you forgot something.
"Any ol' image" != "heightmap"
Of course you could use it as a reference and paint a grayscale heightmap over it on another layer in your favorite 2D app.
Your friendly neighborhood Wings3D nut.
Also feel free to browse my freebies at ShareCG.
There might be something worth downloading.
FranOnTheEdge posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 5:49 PM
Quote - > Quote - **...**DVLenk6 sugested using one as I'm having problems carving the image I want out of a terrain with just the original image...
I did? :blink:
When did I do that?
Oops, sorry, it wasn't you it was ICM. Mea culpa.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 5:50 PM
Quote - UVMP will do displacement mapping. UVMP Displacement tutorial.
That's UVMapperPro - don't have it.
**pauljs75,
** " "Any ol' image" != "heightmap""
I didn't forget it - I don't know what it means.
" Of course you could use it as a reference and paint a grayscale heightmap over it on another layer in your favorite 2D app."
I don't think I'm a good enough artist to paint another trylobite.
And I'm not entirely sure how to either.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
Death_at_Midnight posted Sun, 20 January 2008 at 7:29 PM
Hrm, this looks like a good thread to bookmark....
jedswindells posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 5:32 AM
jedswindells posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 5:36 AM
jedswindells posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 5:41 AM
UVDan posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 8:59 AM Forum Moderator
What a great job!! And you got those results with the teeny, tiny gif you posted two frames above?
Free men do not ask permission to bear
arms!!
jedswindells posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 9:47 AM
Yes Dan,you can copy and paste from the terrain editor direct to Paintshop,this is the size you get.If you make any changes you can copy and paste back direct to the terrain editor.
cheers! Jed.
FranOnTheEdge posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 4:00 PM
Jed, that is excellent! It's working very well for me too, and I've tried a little smoothness, and rounded/gausian edges - looking goooood!
Now... how did you create that height map?
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 4:31 PM
I take it back, maybe there's some step I'm forgetting, - you see Bryce 6 wouldn't let me export an image out of the terrain editor - it kept crashing, so I thought try it in Bryce 5... trouble is when I create a terrain in B5.5 add the image to the diffuse, Texture Colour (1st channel in Mat lab) and the mask to the Texture Value (centre channel in Mat lab), when I come out and render, the terrain is once again dipping in the middle, instead of rising - like yours and my last attempt in B6 - I did try your height map and mask on a terrain I'd already been fiddling with in B6, so maybe there's... something I already did, that makes it work, in combination with your bits...
Or maybe it's just that B5.5 doesn't work the same way as B6 in the terrain editor. Much more likely to be me! Lol.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 5:12 PM
Tried it from a new terrain in B6 - works perfectly. I was right, there's seems to be a problem with B5.5's terrain editor...
In this respect anyway.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 5:34 PM
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
UVDan posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 7:10 PM Forum Moderator
That looks real good.
Free men do not ask permission to bear
arms!!
jedswindells posted Tue, 22 January 2008 at 7:10 PM
Nice one Fran! the terrain editor is an excellent tool but I found it very difficult to master!
And it's hard to explain how to use it for modelling.Perhaps I should do a tut or two about it?.....even better,perhaps?someone with more knowledge may do one!
Cheers Jed.!
ThunderStone posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 10:27 AM
Quote - Nice one Fran! the terrain editor is an excellent tool but I found it very difficult to master!
And it's hard to explain how to use it for modelling.Perhaps I should do a tut or two about it?.....even better,perhaps?someone with more knowledge may do one!
Cheers Jed.!
Hey Jed! Why not you??? You seems more knowledgable about it than me and you give Fran good advice and help... So why not you??!!???
:b_smile:
===========================================================
OS: Windows 11 64-bit
Poser: Poser 11.3 ...... Units: inches or meters depends on mood
Bryce: Bryce Pro 7.1.074
Image Editing: Corel Paintshop Pro
Renderer: Superfly, Firefly
9/11/2001: Never forget...
Smiles are contagious... Pass it on!
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday
FranOnTheEdge posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 10:51 AM
I've been playing with making a height map for a different trilobite, not sure if I've maybe gone a bit overboard with it though.
And I want a better soften brush in PaintShop, here's the image:
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 10:52 AM
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 10:53 AM
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
FranOnTheEdge posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 10:54 AM
I think my height map makes its back look too level instead of sloping, not sure how to compensate for that...
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
jedswindells posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 2:19 PM
FranOnTheEdge posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 7:12 PM
saving frantically
thanks a million, looks great.
Measure
your mind's height
by the shade it casts.
Robert Browning (Paracelsus)
danamo posted Wed, 23 January 2008 at 7:46 PM
Very nice work Fran! Thank you for your explanation of your work methodology Jed.
I found it to be most enlightening!