Forum: Vue

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yep - sure have... i have two images actually that shows the northern lights... one is posted here in the galleries

i havent worked on the lights in a while... i should try again =D

anyways, here's the link:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1808918&user_id=315521&np&np

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Hi
thanks for posting that link

Anyone else know of vue artists doing Aurora borealis.

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

I did one as well, but in postwork and not very good. It's in the galleries here.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1837067&user_id=222654&np&np

Steve

Thanks for the link spedler, nice work, but what I'm looking for is someone who is using Vue to generate the effect from within Vue. Not post work. Your post work is nice.

I think I can do that photoshop to, I'll have give that shot.

But I'm just trying to see how Vue it self can do. I'll bet it can render one well. I think I can figure out how to light the aurora, but making the the verticaly banded ultra fine as hair clouds in a snake like shape sound tricky.

The clouds that accept the lighting to imitate the aurora.

1: would have to be thicker at bottom than the top
2: be snake shaped
3: be made up of mostly fine vertial fine lines packed close

Making such clouds sounds tricky.

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

i started trying with clouds, but didnt have enough knowledge on how to work the clouds properly then... (still dont LOL)... then i used a stretched out sphere, but it didnt give me the wave effect i wanted, so i ended up creating narrow long planes and applying textures i created in photoshop (i had it all squished in photoshop, so when it stretched it looked better)

It wasnt the best aurora, but for the type of image i used it for, it worked.

out of curiosity, where-abouts are you, ddaydreams (no need to answer if you dont want to LOL - just curious if you get to watch the Aurora in winter)? getting Vue to (re)create the aurora has been one of those lil projects I love to tinker with now & then... one day, I know there'll be a way to make convincing aurora ... maybe it'll be you who comes up with the trick =D

~meli

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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i bet someone like art-pearl or the other cloud chap (lenticulars - sorry cant remember his name) could do this via the function editor really easily.

havnet seen either of them about for a while but maybe theyll come back soon and tell you.

Rich

http://blog.richard-potter.co.uk

Attached Link: Link is to iridescent clouds I did.

Aurora probably been done realistically in Vue . I just can't find anyone doing a convincing Aurora in it yet.

Hopefully someone will chime in.

And melikia. I'm in California, never seen one in person. But maybe someday.

I'm going to look more seriously into this. I just bought a DVD of real time Aurora footage.
that took 6 years to make. Should be a good reference. I should have that in a week or 2. Plus I'm always looking at Aurora photos.

So once this is Sufficiently Aurora stuff is sufficiently burned into my brain. I may give a go in Vue

Like I did with some iridescent clouds I saw recently that got burned in to my brain, I posted those attempts here in in this forum recently.

Those results were encouraging enough for me to possibly attempt an Aurora Borealis later.

I had hoped to ask someone who has done this for help along the way.

Thanks
Frank

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

I think I have a possible recipe. Check out the scene file here.

http://www.vimeo.com/2626515

I did an Aurora Borealis effect in this animation (jump to 48 seconds to see it) in Carrara with the fog option. I just animated the fog and lit it - I'm still learning Vue, so if you find an easy way to do it, let us know :)

E-onite - am checking the file now... and might i recomend folks changing to user settings instead of final on the render - its going faster this way for me LOL.

BEAUTIFUL from what I can see so far (its got a few more minutes i think)... how DID you get that effect????????? entirely by clouds? WOW.

TELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

begs all pretty

editted to add:

oh, and is it possible to get the streaky effect at the bottom, too?

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Well, its just a "prototype". Havent fully explored it. Maybe there are other ways to achieve a similar or better effect, but cloud layers seem to be pretty versatile.

Quote -

oh, and is it possible to get the streaky effect at the bottom, too?

Melikia, I was afraid someone would ask me that ;-)

Go to the FE, click the zBlend Metanode, set the "Lower" value to 0.

Ok... will do... unfortunately, i have two class assignments to catch up on (one is almost a week late), so can't play today... but rest assured, I will return to this... you've come the closest that I've seen to this magnificent effect.

i peeked in the FE after posting what I did... wow. looked good from what i saw (not that I understood it all - I mostly just glanced it over -, but I hopefully will later after I pick it apart LOL)

My hat, gloves, and scarf are off to you for achieving this! =D LOL.

oh, and leave it to me to ask the questions LOL.

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Thank you, Melikia!

I hope do get more time to experiment with aurora effects when the clouds product is finished, since it`s one of my favourite sky effects too.

I know, just sharing the file probably leaves many questions open. Here is just an ultra short guide:

When you look at the function tree, you see the 3 lefthand branches with the Gaussian Tooth nodes. Those are the aurora areas.

The branch with the Gradient noise (providing the streaks) feeds the zBlend Metanode. This Metanode controls the altitude where the streaks begin to appear.

The aurora lines are distorted by the "Displacement" Metanode above those four branches.
Above the "Displacement" Metanode you find the "Offset-Rotate-Scale" Metanode which is more or less self explaining.

The topmost Metanode serves to rotate the whole layer -45 degrees. This one should not be touched.

And then you have the 5th branch with the "Front" Metanode. This one sets a limit to the aurora lines (If the "Influence" parameter is set to 1)

Finally you have the "Mixer" Metanode with some basic density controls.

I hope it does not sound too complicated. Actually I am using the same Metanodes (and some more) to control the clouds.

Strangely enough - I actually followed that.

Planning on including this effect in the clouds pack?? (btw... i will be getting that pack, so let us know when & where, k!?)

Im guessing it'd be simple to add other layers of this and change coloring to suit.... ooooo, such fun to be had....

drat. i still havent gotten much done.

In Design character/paragraph/object styles hold little attraction for me right now LOL.

uggg.... goes back to work on it... can play with i get this finished... longer i take, longer it takes to get to play.....

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Hi
Hey Eonite, thanks for that file, I'll be playing with that sometime after the Aurora dvd I bought gets here. Still waiting on that.

I'm a function editor novice. I just started to learn by watching 1 out of 12 free tut FE vids from Geek at play as well as some other training stuff I had for V5I.

I ran your file in V7.4 Complete.
It seems if I click on it to open from desktop, I get an unable to read error., but if I just use Open from the Vue menu and browse and open then it's fine.
Probably just a Vista OS thing

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

ok.. totally in love with the aurora!

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Quote - Hi
Hey Eonite, thanks for that file, I'll be playing with that sometime after the Aurora dvd I bought gets here. Still waiting on that.

I'm a function editor novice. I just started to learn by watching 1 out of 12 free tut FE vids from Geek at play as well as some other training stuff I had for V5I.

I ran your file in V7.4 Complete.
It seems if I click on it to open from desktop, I get an unable to read error., but if I just use Open from the Vue menu and browse and open then it's fine.
Probably just a Vista OS thing

Your`re welcome!

The GeekatPlay tutorials are a great way of getting into the FE. They have helped me a lot.

I always load the files from the Open window, so I can`t really tell.

Quote - ok.. totally in love with the aurora!

Oh, sounds very romantic...

LOL... I'll try to attach what I achieved last night here... ignore my crappy terrain, i just had to cover up the black hole at the bottom of the images LOL.

I did the streaking at the bottom, and added in a new aurora layer, had to play with the offset/rotate/scale node ... totally lost the aurora a few times (they went heavens only knows where).... but I am EXTREMELY happy with the results once I finally rounded up my wandering pink aurora....

crossing fingers hopefully this works....

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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That aurora looks beautiful, indeed! Love the mixture of green and purple.
No wonder you fell in love with it ;-)

its so REAL looking!!!!!! Now i just gotta get my landscape to match LOL.

One thing i noticed... and it might need to be adjusted if you decide to offer this for sale...
the overall scene is very bright, like its lit by sunlight. Aurora don't tend to be seen unless its dark, and its rare to be able to see it clearly when there's a full moon. Usually you can barely see the landscape at all, it kinda has a subtle glow from the bit of light there is reflecting off of the snow, and any trees or bushes are just silhouettes.

Is there any way to adjust this easily without affecting the Aurora overmuch?

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Well, this was just an experiment to see if some aurora-like thing could be produced using a cloud layer.
Did not care about terrain lighting.
I have no intention to sell it at C3D, at least not for now.
But thanks for the hint.

As far as I remember I turned off the sun and used a directional light make the aurora visible.
You should probably uncheck the influence this light has on the terrain, and use other light sources to control the lighting of the terrain.

Ahhh, excellent... will try that =D I saw the sun was turned off, didn't think to look closer LOL.

i may add some stars in there, too... this is fun! =D

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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yep - you had edited the influence of the directional light you added to illuminate everything but the ground; i had to turn it off for the two terrains i added =D

Sweet, makes it easier =D

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1972774

bouncies bouncies

finally, a landscape worthy of the aurora!

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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So Melikia

I like the colors on the aurora at your gallery link and had hoped to try something similar.

I'm giving this Aurora a try.

I can't seem to find where to control the Aurora Color.

I tried haze color in the AE I thought that worked once, but then tried to repeat the process no luck. I also tried to change the directional light color. Messed around for an hour or 2 and got it changed once, but could not repeat the process. I also planned on saving a cloud layer to desktop each time I change colors. then importing those layers back from my desktop just before the final render, but that might get really procssor intensive. Maybe there is a better way to get multi colors.

Any advice on how to get those nice colors. Or if I IM you could I get you to email me the scene file then I could just dig in see what's different between what you did and eonites origanal file.

Thanks For any help.
Frank

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

LOL - its actually simple...

Edit-atmosphere
go to clouds
click on his aurora
here's where it gets fun - make sure when you do this, you save the original material so you can create a new cloud layer. Wait a sec, let me load vue here so i can get the order proper...

Ok, click on his aurora, and below you will see a little window with the word "scale" under it. Right click, edit material. SAVE the aurora. Close that window (i do this so you can see the original compared to your own).

Add cloud layer. I used a volumetric cloud, cus that's the kind the original aurora is. Doesn't really matter the type I believe, I used the "Basic Patterns" one. Click OK.

Right Click on your new cloud layer in the window, edit materials.

LOAD your aurora material. (i saved mine in the clouds folder so i could find it later) Once you found it, click OK. Back to the material editor window -

under Color & Density tab, over to the right side is a box called "Volumetric Color", and its an interesting shade of green/teal. THIS is where you change the Aurora Color - go with colors in the same tonal(shade?) range, as they will appear brighter when it's finished. Right-Click on the color, Edit Color and thats where you choose the shade you'd like.

To go further.... see the black ball window under "density production"? Right Click, edit function.

This is where reading what Eonite wrote earlier will help. To move the aurora, use the "offset/rotate/scale" metanode. Be careful, or the aurora will "vanish" on you and you will have to find it again LOL.

Hope this helps!
~meli

PS - I wont send the file, as I am uncomfortable sending someone else's work, unless Eonite posts its ok to do so... and I'd post it on this board so anyone can grab it and "play" =D

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Quote -

PS - I wont send the file, as I am uncomfortable sending someone else's work, unless Eonite posts its ok to do so... and I'd post it on this board so anyone can grab it and "play" =D

He posted a link to his scene file in this thread on page 1 the 9th post down on the word HERE. So I didn't think he'd mind if you post your modifications. But I understand your concern.

Thanks for hopping online so quick to help . Very nice of you. :)

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

Its a common courtesy thing with the scene file.

and no problem... i have my email open 90% of the time, so I tend to be fairly quick with responses on things - as long as I'm near the computer LOL. I'm one of those that can't sit still for very long chuckles.

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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You`re a good girl! ;-)

No problem, melikia, post if you want.

Thanks to you both.

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

LOL - thanks, Eonite =D

crosses fingers i did this right

Here ya go... the "combined" Aurora file - Eonites were touched to get the streaking at the bottom (just remembered that LOL), otherwise, they should be completely intact.

edit: ugg, ok, gotta figure this upload thing out.

ooook... now to find somewhere to store this file for attachment here LOL.

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Ok... here's the link:

www.sharecg.com/v/37990/Texture/Aurora-Test

PASSWORD for the zip is: eonite
hehehe

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Awesome! Thanks for the file.

LVS - Where Learning is Fun!
http://www.lvsonline.com/index.html

Great! I failed at this back in Vue 5 I think. Have not tried since. Thank you, both of you.

I live in Alaska and to date my attempts have been so far from looking real I sort of gave up about 3 or 4 years ago. Melikia you got it very, very close with that curtain effect. I'd thought about doing it on a curtain with transparency.

Dick, still looking forward to your clouds but mainly your documentation.

I'll try these files when I get off work in an hour or so. Thanks again both of you!

OMG, Blaineak.... where at? you're the first Vuer i've heard of up here!!!!

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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In Anchorage enjoying dodging the ditch divers on the roads today :) Nice to meet you.

I've not been looking in here in quite some time. ZBrush and others diverted my attention and now I'm at learning to merge the work from multiple software for scenes in Vue. The displacement and subsurface scattering brought me back this way. Oh, and the wonderful clouds.

I'm trying to get a grip on the Function Editor lately. Seems to be at the heart of everything.

Aurora's have been at the back of my mind for some time. You did a wonderful job and I'm just about to open the downloads to figure it out. Thanks so much to both of you.

Pleased ta meetcha! I'm outside of Fairbanks, where its snowing heavily lol. I heard you guys were having a lot of "fun" on the roads LOL.

I'm hoping to take a class in Zbrush from one of UA's extention colleges via the web sometime soon (hopefully spring)... it looks like such a useful tool, and i'm a complete moron with it (i spent my entire trial period just trying to figure out a few simple buttons)

Vue does have excellent clouds! And subsurface scattering, when applied right, is a marvelous effect... makes things soooo lifelike.

The function editor IS pretty much the heart of Vue, as it drives most everything you see, from a simple texture to the clouds.. and in this case, the clouds turned aurora. i havent figured out metanodes, or most of the nodes for that matter - i'm still a monkey handed a wrench and told to go bang on some pans. i may produce a symphony, but most times - its a bust LOL.

with that in mind... all the credit goes to eonite, really. i simply read his basic directions and ran with them! thanks for the praise, though, it IS appreciated, and I am right proud of what i was able to achieve with such a great file to start with LOL.

and to everyone who's enjoyed it so far... you're welcome =D

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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I played with the new file for much of day yesterday.

BOY! I uglyed that up bad LOL, could not make anything worth posting yet. Mostly due to my Vue rustyness. I now have Vue 8 Complete, WAY Cool!

I had fun and learned some things. The time just flew as I had the day off and messed with the Aurora stuff much of the day. Working again today, my Job not my art.

So I plan on posting in the near future once I zero in on look I want. Possibly Saturday.
But don't hold breath.

Thanks again to both for sharing the files. I can learn lots by poking around in those.

Warm Regards'
Frank

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

hehehe, i can't wait to see what you come up with, but take your time and no worries...

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Click picture to view it bigger.

Well here is my effort after playing a while with basic setting accessible though the atmosphere editor. Did not mess with FE on this one.

I did not like the Vue stars so I added my own in post work. Other than the the stars this is all Vue.

Now I would like to change the shape of the Aurora to a horseshoe rather than the long "snake in a hurry shape. I have no idea how though.

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

yeah, i was wondering about that... how to "wave" the ribbon... horseshoe it, whatever....

Excellent work!!!!!

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Stunning picture, ddaydreams!

I also like how you managed to achieve such realistic lighting.
If I didnt know it was made in Vue I would probably think its a photo.

Horseshoe shaped aurora, Hmm... Not sure if there is a way to do it. Will try to find out.

Eonite said

Quote - Stunning picture, ddaydreams!

I also like how you managed to achieve such realistic lighting.
If I didnt know it was made in Vue I would probably think its a photo.

Glad you like it. I used some of my photography knowledge to come up with this. This was the result of much aurora viewing on a high quality DVD, TITLE: (Aurora Borealis , the magnificent northern lights) I picked it up on ebay) If you want the best Aurora footage that I'm aware of I can highly recommend it. I'd rather go see it in person, But that was not an option.

Much of the footage I saw seemed to be more twilight than just plain dark. When possible I like to study a subject well before doing my take on it. I don't like to copy what I saw. I just think of what an Ideal scene might look like and then see how close I can get to what I had in mind within a reasonable time frame.

Here's a pix of my Amos settings.

Light Setting: was global ambience , all sliders centered, and apply only to sunlight selected.

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

one reason most of the footage was done around twilight is because its easier for film to pick up the effects. Also, the darker it gets, the colder it gets and cameras suffer - greatly. I know for still photography, you quickly set up your shot, dance around a few moments trying to keep warm while the thing takes the pic, then grab the camera and shove it inside your coat ASAP.

I'm hoping to get a digital SLR one day that has the feature where you can lengthen how long the aperture? the opening stays open for the image to be captured... my lil camera ain't cuttin it. I can get a full moon, but completely missed the Aurora that were dancing right beside it. - annoying LOL. It was one of those rare occasions we had Aurora vividly displayed during a full moon, and in September no less!

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Thanks, ddaydreams, for the screen and the infos.

Still trying to get a horseshoe aurora. Below is one of the attempts. Will post more when I manage to create a more convincing one.

OH OH OH OH OIHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH EYES SO BIG FACE VANISHES

YAYYYYYYYYYYY!

cant wait to see how you did this! eonite, you are very high on my Hero List!!!! =D

Rarer than a hairy egg and madder than a box of frogs....

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Cool, looks like you got the shape changed nice, well on the way to fine Auroral Horseshoeeness :)

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams

My U.S.A eBay Graphics Software Store~~ My International eBay Graphics Software Store

Hey all, im sorry to raise this threead from the dead, but considering this is the ONLY place in the internet where i could find something regarding Aurora borealis and Vue, i needed to ask.

Is there any way to animate this effect that you guys managed to do? The scene would be just that, an iceberg, and the aurora borealis moving the way it does in nature

Any and ALL suggestions are welcomed :)

Inukishi

I would help, but I don't do animation, just stills. Sorry

Hopefully someone who does animation will chime in.

Frank Hawkins/Owner/DigitalDaydreams