Carrara Monthly Challenge #30: WAR TIMES - WIP Thread

wgdjohn · January 2017

diomede said:

Hi wgdjohn. The ant's legs look very good to me. No laughing. Serious thumbs up. We are often our own worst critics when it comes to that sort of thing because we know where we struggled.

RE: the distribution maps for the replicators. Yes, you will probably want a separate map to place each army if they are streaming into your terrain from different directions. Or, you could replicate pairs of fighting ants (one red and one black) by grouping two together, then replicate the group to a single map. Or, you might want one replicator for the battling pairs and another replicator for each army streaming into the area. My WIP just above here has separate surface replicators for the cyclopstritch cavalry in the distance, the dead bodies, and the fleeing infantry.

EDIT: If your terrain is flat, you could also replicate on separate vertex grids. Place the grids where you want each grouping. Just remember to turn off visibility and shadows for the grids..

diomede, Thanks... you are right I am my worst critic... always have been. Regarding distrubution maps... that is good to know. I'll try that route first... if it isn't working for me I'll just do a vertex plane.

Another question about the distribution maps... Should they be same size of terrain or is OK to half or double the size... will it scale when applied?

Head Wax, I hope is sparkles as much time as I take getting shaders to my prefs. :)

TangoAlpha · January 2017

Distribution maps scale just fine. The limiting factor is the size of your white areas (ie don't shrink it so small they become indistinct or lose their shape). It's hard to compare sizes when a terrain might be 100 yards across and your map is 512 pixels (say), an as often as not a terrain's texture will be either procedural or a blended layers list of dfferently tiled textures compared to, say, a single 4kx4k texture map. One of the beauties of Carrara is that its shaders are just so damn versatile! In fact your distribution map can be any kind of shader combination you like so long as the results come out to pure black or white.

wgdjohn · January 2017

Thanks TA!

Diomede · January 2017

Any clarification on the time? Entries end tonight or tomorrow, as per date/day inconsistency comment above? My 2nd still needs a lot of cleaning up but has been blocked out with place holders. Wondering if I have time to make substitutions and finish.

Edit: Here, I have converted a lo res fur trapper from a previous challenge to a lo res 82nd Airborn soldier. Have the arm patch in the render.

.

bytescapes · January 2017

"But when I close my eyes to dream, I see pikes against the sky, I hear dying men and horses scream." ["Rumour & Rapture (1650)", New Model Army]

Because I've been bitten by the replicator bug and I can't leave well enough alone, I thought I'd submit one last WIP. I don't think I'll enter this -- the contest has more than enough of my entries already -- but I wanted to share because I liked the way it's progressing.

There are three surface replicators in this image; one for the plants, one for the dead men lying in the grass, and one for the circle of spearmen at the top of the hill. The grass is distributed on a terrain; the dead men are distributed on a duplicate of the same terrain, while the spearmen (pikemen) are spread over the surface of a flattened sphere. I ran into a limitation of replicators here, because I wanted the spearmen to be in a circle, back to back, with their weapons and shields facing outward (I was imagining this as an image of the last stand of Harald Godwinson's huscarles at Senlac Hill in 1066), but replicators, as far as I know, don't allow radial distribution. Either all the replicated objects face the same way, or they can be more-or-less randomly oriented. So there's something rather indisciplined about my doomed warriors, with their spears pointing every which-way. What can I say? They've had a hard day.

This is a slightly post-worked version, with the saturation and contrast tweaked a bit.

Diomede · January 2017

Great render. I love that meadow, and the lighting. Especially like the way the arrows of the dead create an atmosphere of peril. It would make a tremendous entry, but it is up to you.

PhilW · January 2017

Bytescapes - I think it looks great and should be an entry. The surface replicator is great for randomly arranged instances, but for more organised arrangements, take a look at the Replicator, which in addition to the standard grid-type default can have a number of useful patterns - I can't look right now, but perhaps the circular arrangement that you want is one of them? You can usually add some randomisation as well, so that they are not totally evenly spaced and arranged, while still preserving the general shape.

P.S. Had a chance to play - use the Disc setting, the X count is the number of objects (soldiers in your case) in a circle, Y sets the number of ranks, Z should be one in your case (unless you want piles of them one on top of another!). You can randomise the positions and the rotations as much or as little as you like - keep in mind that the rotations are all randomised one way, so you might need to compensate by rotating the original by half as much in the opposite direction. You can also move the hotpoint relative to the objects to push them out from the centre, or your inner ranks can get a bit of a squeeze! I just used cone primitives to illustrate the point.

bytescapes · January 2017

PhilW said:

Bytescapes - I think it looks great and should be an entry. The surface replicator is great for randomly arranged instances, but for more organised arrangements, take a look at the Replicator, which in addition to the standard grid-type default can have a number of useful patterns - I can't look right now, but perhaps the circular arrangement that you want is one of them? You can usually add some randomisation as well, so that they are not totally evenly spaced and arranged, while still preserving the general shape.

Thanks. If it ever finishes rendering, I may enter it after all (Pro tip: rendering a field of grass at 3200x2400, maximum quality, with sky lighting turned on, is S ... L ... O ... W ...).

I think you're right about the regular replicator being able to do what I want, but I can't check that right now because my machine is a little busy. But I'll remember to look at that in future. I know I've used basic replicators in the past, but only for objects laid out on grids (as in, for example, this image). Once I get my machine back, I'll take a look and see what else the replicator has to offer.

PhilW · January 2017

I added some stuff above - just posting as it looks like you posted while I was adding some more stuff.

Playing with the Arc settings can yield some useful formations too!

bytescapes · January 2017

PhilW said:

I added some stuff above - just posting as it looks like you posted while I was adding some more stuff.

Playing with the Arc settings can yield some useful formations too!

Neat stuff. Thank you. I can see myself putting this technique into heavy rotation in future (pun unintentional).

Stezza · January 2017

Entry: #

Title:

Artist:

Hair used how?

Other Context and Comments (including credits):

WIPs Links:

Postwork:

What is this hair used how bit in the entry thread?

Is it a left over from a previous challenge?

as I haven't used hair at all in this challenge as there is no stipulation in the rules... it may need amending.

Clarification please

bytescapes · January 2017

Stezza said:

What is this hair used how bit in the entry thread?

Is it a left over from a previous challenge?

as I haven't used hair at all in this challenge as there is no stipulation in the rules... it may need amending.

Monthly Challenge #29 required the use of Carrara's Hair system, so I think it's a safe bet that this was left over from that challenge, and transferred by mistake by copy'n'paste. I wouldn't worry about it.

Stezza · January 2017

that's what I thought as well.... but one never knows..

thanks for the reply

Stezza · January 2017

now my internet is back I have been able to go through the thread.. wow.. some awesome WiPs and imagination going on here.. love it

Headwax · January 2017

diomede, now that is reminding me of a bridge too far - the movie - nice work!

bytescapes - thst is terrific, inmho one of the best renders I have seen in a while - as far as reminding me of traditional paintings - reminsicemt of Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World.

Headwax · January 2017

here's my third one, my internet is playing up, not sure if I can upload all of my work ..,

the story so far the chooks finally get sick of farmer ned coming down and pinching their eggs(evidence in his right hand) not only is he a greedy such and such, he comes down naked and puts them off their egg laying

chooks are low poly, the ground is mine. the chooks are replicated, the grass (hard to see unless looked for) is hair

the b and w is the finished

the colour the pre-post

Mistara · January 2017

wip entry challenge 30

decided is easier to drag clothing items scene, and then conform.
dragging directly to actor seems hit or miss.

model makin a platform for a replicatant source.
added a vertex plane, deleted what i didn't want, then thicken
assign a shading domain to top surface

uhm, i conformed the clothes but didn't parent, she replicatd nekkie. trying it again.

Mistara · January 2017

the final wips

Headwax · January 2017

wow, that's great bunch of images MistyMist!!

if you get a chance can you change your entry to #12 in the entry thread ? we must have been posting at same time?

wgdjohn · January 2017

Had to take a very short break... Discovered too many modeling errors today, most fixed... also had to turn in before finishing last thing needed, I thought, to do last night, this morn. Still have at least one problem area and I can begin on shaders. I'm not hoping to get an entry in but will continue to finish it and will post what I come up with here in the WIP thread should I not have an entry.

Should have modeled something much simpler, for me, and already be in replicating it mode by now. :(

Mistara · January 2017

head wax said:

wow, that's great bunch of images MistyMist!!

if you get a chance can you change your entry to #12 in the entry thread ? we must have been posting at same time?

wuh oh WILCO

Mistara · January 2017

wgdjohn said:

Had to take a very short break... Discovered too many modeling errors today, most fixed... also had to turn in before finishing last thing needed, I thought, to do last night, this morn. Still have at least one problem area and I can begin on shaders. I'm not hoping to get an entry in but will continue to finish it and will post what I come up with here in the WIP thread should I not have an entry.

Should have modeled something much simpler, for me, and already be in replicating it mode by now. :(

is fun these challenges throw us back into the modeling room

chickenman · January 2017

head wax said:

here's my third one, my internet is playing up, not sure if I can upload all of my work ..,

the story so far the chooks finally get sick of farmer ned coming down and pinching their eggs(evidence in his right hand) not only is he a greedy such and such, he comes down naked and puts them off their egg laying

chooks are low poly, the ground is mine. the chooks are replicated, the grass (hard to see unless looked for) is hair

the b and w is the finished

the colour the pre-post

Now is that any way for a chicken to behave!

I am sure you need to have a Chickenman there to ensure things don't get out of hand.

Diomede · January 2017

I'm too far behind. I did manage to make a lo res troop carrier plane and experimented with exploding the bridge but there is just too much still to do. The bridge shaders are terrible. Haven't even started on the paratroopers and the small arms fire. I'll post progress after the challenge is completely over. Would have liked to pay tribute to those who endured so much during Market Garden.

Headwax · January 2017

Chickenman said :

is that any way for a chicken to behave!

I am sure you need to have a Chickenman there to ensure things don't get out of hand.

oh these are gangland chickens , be careful!

Headwax · January 2017

diomede said:

I'm too far behind. I did manage to make a lo res troop carrier plane and experimented with exploding the bridge but there is just too much still to do. The bridge shaders are terrible. Haven't even started on the paratroopers and the small arms fire. I'll post progress after the challenge is completely over. Would have liked to pay tribute to those who endured so much during Market Garden.

hey, it's still looking fine what you have done

wgdjohn · January 2017

By late this morning I had all shader domains set up, I thought. Unfortunately I did something wrong since none of them worked. Too late today to try again and if they work to get on to replicating. While I feel badly... at the same time I feel good that this is only the 1st, and mine,since Carrara Challenge 23: Fire and Water last February that I've missed... not too bad of a record... especially for me.

Got to get this one finished and posted in the WIP thread before the next Carrara Challenge. :)

Suggestions for next Challenge. Particle emitters and/or Trees used with Wind Force... alternative is Dynamic Hair effected by Wind Force.

Diomede · January 2017

Missing much of what I wanted to include but I posted to the entry thread. Thanks for the encouragement, Headwax. I rendered what I had out as a regular render and as an NPR render, Then I combined them in Photoshop Elements.

Headwax · January 2017

wgdjohn said:

By late this morning I had all shader domains set up, I thought. Unfortunately I did something wrong since none of them worked. Too late today to try again and if they work to get on to replicating. While I feel badly... at the same time I feel good that this is only the 1st, and mine,since Carrara Challenge 23: Fire and Water last February that I've missed... not too bad of a record...

that's a great record, dont feel badly, these things happen - its all about the process and the journey mind you, that's what important - the end product just follows

Headwax · January 2017

diomede said:

Missing much of what I wanted to include but I posted to the entry thread. Thanks for the encouragement, Headwax. I rendered what I had out as a regular render and as an NPR render, Then I combined them in Photoshop Elements.

hey great job on the post work, really effective on the soldiers and the landscape,

I once bought a ww11 low poly set from RDNA ?? , great bargain, and one thing they had in it were explosions made from a cone mesh with the nose cut off and then mapped with an explosion texture - you know fire in the bottom, partislces spraying upward - and it was easy to change the height width, transparency etc .... maybe that would work in this scene ? the texture goes in the glow channel as well of course

PS I found this havent tried it though https://www.saschawillems.de/?page_id=253

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Carrara Monthly Challenge #30: WAR TIMES - WIP Thread

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Hair used how?

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