Hi Just me ranting a little again :-)
Now, I want to ask how valueable is this slope and elevation material to you? I haven't checked these latest materials, but I have a feeling where they might be heading. I guess it's all about measuring angles of mapping and surface normals, throwing in a bit of noise. Maybe doing altitude modulation as well, selecting between them all with three [p*a1] + [(1-p)*a2] operators (or whatever they where called) -- just to get that extra tad of realism: flat = anglestuff + noise slope = anglestuff - noise high = select between slopehigh and flathigh low = select between slopelow and flatlow And so forth..... Hmm, this noise thing looks a bit uniform you think, and try to implement my noise controller stuff to add that little extra realism or at least variation to your material. But, hmm, the lower altitudes should have a different noise controller setup. So you implement this, just for that extra tad of beauty to your scope material. And then you think; Damn, I need to redo this whole thing because I want to scope out a beach altitude/slope combination as well. This would look so nice with just a darker tone of whatever color is used for that lower altitude levels. Darker indicate "wet", nice for beaches and such. Now, I ask again: How valueable is this slope and elevation scoping material to you? - It has become too complex to edit, hard to organize efficiently. - It's far too slow to be useful because of this added complexity. - Why bother with RS3D in the first place? Export mesh/heighmap and redo in a more suitable application where the workflow might be different but for sure far quicker to obtain results without "programming" any VSL stuff. Expanding your horizon might prove useful later on anyway. + It can be used with all future landscapes where this technique is needed. + You gain proficiency and understanding of VSL, which of course is a good thing. Do you really want to use this as a material for rendering? I would hope not. What can you use it for then? First thing that comes to mind is export the scope mappings to imagefiles and import them into Photoshop for further refinement. Save as channels and maybe use within RS3D as a psd image file for scope selection -- remember using files are generally a LOT faster than using a complex material. More, memory, yes, but would probably render a LOT faster nonetheless. Nature is full of surprices, and this "hard rule material" would never be able to put grass on very slopy hills the same way nature often seems to break it's own "rules". With photoshop, you simply brush the areas as needed, no fuzz. Bottom line is this: Feel free to use as complex materials as you can create and understand, possibly even recreate, but use them to export bitmaps and to gain proficiency with VSL. Or create a variation on the material each time you need it. But try to think further when you need the scoping done, i.e. by precreating the scopemaps as bitmap texture because they would render faster. Look at other materials and think out for yourself how and why they work. Don't simply rely on other peoples materials because they do what you need them to do. Always think; "how can I improve this or reduce its complexity to suit my needs?" Get friendly especially with the dot product operator which is used to measure angles, it's one of the most frequently used operator in VSL, always in use whenever light is considered. Hope my thoughts on this issue is of benefit, as it took me a while to write :-) Regards Karl End of rant. > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Timo Mikkolainen > Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 11:09 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Where can I find a tutorial about a landscape material? > > > One more version, in this one the 'up' direction is the > mapping object's z axis. > > On 05/10/06, Timo Mikkolainen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Here's another version with curve control and noise. > > > > On 05/10/06, Timo Mikkolainen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > The attached material renders 'slope' to surface illumination. > > > > > > On 04/10/06, Jean-Sebastien Perron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Very impressive material. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sorry, but I can't understand this material, I am not a nuclear > > > > physicist. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I would like to know just how to detect the slope to create a > > > > scope material. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jean-Sebastien Perron > > > > > > > > www.neuroworld.ws > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > > > > > > > > > > > De : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] De la part de Matthias > > > > Kappenberg Envoyé : Wednesday, October 04, 2006 7:44 AM À : > > > > [email protected] Objet : Re: Where can I find a > > > > tutorial about a landscape material? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > something like this? > > > > > > > > > > > > A very simple mountain. > > > > > > > > > > > > shameless stolen some dust-material and used for snow :-) > > > > > > > > > > > > (Was Karls "dusty jar" or something like this) > > > > > > > > > > > > Rest is a simple point-translator, and some color materials. > > > > > > > > > > > > Render with reasonably quality, drag'n drop the scene cam in a > > > > viewport. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hope it's helpy, > > > > > > > > > > > > Matthias > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > > > > > > > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > > > To: [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 8:21 AM > > > > > > > > > > > > Subject: RE: Where can I find a tutorial about a landscape > > > > material? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What excactly are you looking for? Define "landscape > material". Do > > > > you want a texture that can mimic a landscape texture, or a > > > > material that can let you choose between different types of > > > > landscape texture coverage (low flat, low slopy, high > flat, high > > > > slopy etc)? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > For textures, use stock texture and repaint them to suit your > > > > needs. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > For scope selectors, import your mesh into World Builder and > > > > create scopemaps from there. I'm sure it can be done > > > > > > > > > > > > Can "easily" be done in RS3D, but not instant preview and great > > > > and quick flexibility. VSL coding needed. > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > > > > Jean-Sebastien Perron > > > > Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 3:09 PM > > > > To: [email protected] > > > > Subject: Where can I find a tutorial about a landscape > material? > > > > > > > > Where can I find a tutorial about a landscape material? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Jean-Sebastien Perron > > > > > > > > www.neuroworld.ws > This e-mail and any attachment are confidential and may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. It is solely intended for the person(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, any reading, use, disclosure, copying or distribution of all or parts of this e-mail or associated attachments is strictly prohibited. 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