UltraScenery [Commercial]
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Sadly accelerator does not work on all Ultrascenery items, yet.
Would be nice, if TangoAlpha could make it compatible, but I do not know, if it is possible at all.
TangoAlpha already said he is doing an update to the TAO ecologies. I'm confident that between his update and the upcoming Accelerator update, the beech tree issues will be resolved. Daz testing is probably what is holding it up now. Updates have been slow to get posted lately.
We are almost up to 100 pages! Has any other commercial thread run so long?
Sorry, my fault - I haven't got to it yet (got sidetracked by heating failures and other life stuff). On the plus side, the Beech issue will get in - there's normally a 30 day moritorium between updates. If you think there are any other issues I might not know about, now's the time to say...
In one of my rare idle moments, I had a wander back through the forum. I couldn't find any other commerical products thread that came anywhere near close.
I also worked out that there were over 300 hundred renders in the gallery that used Ultrascenery, back in the days when we had a gallery.
Cheers,
Alex.
In one of my rare idle moments, I had a wander back through the forum. I couldn't find any other commercial products thread that came anywhere near close.
I also worked out that there were over 300 hundred renders in the gallery that used Ultrascenery, back in the days when we had a gallery.
Cheers,
Alex.
Not a problem for me as long as I know it's in the works. Hopefully the distribution issue is in with that mix too.
My first go with Ultra Scenery:
Sorry, I am not that experienced with UltraScenery yet, so I do not know about more issues with it.
I think, that Barbult is the best person to ask, because she has experimented with UltraScenery a lot.
She has also helped me with understanding some magic behind UltraScenery and for example
how to use UltraScenery with the custom built height maps.
Trying something different, but first simple UltraScenery with the custom height map.
The same UltraScenery after applying MARSA Snow from https://www.daz3d.com/marsa-elements
Instant Winter
I have two questions regarding UltraScenery. Can you generate different procedural paths/trails or there is only one type for each category? Can you export the foliage outside Daz in FBX or any kind of 3d format?
Are there any height maps included with Ultrascenery as I couldn't find any in the folders, or do you need to create them yourself?
AFAIK you need to create them yourself.
I am using https://www.daz3d.com/bryce-7-pro to create custom height maps,
but you can use any software that has a possibility to create height maps.
You can also create terrain in Blender and export as a height map, I think,
or just paint them manually in any graphics program, if you have such skills.
@maskedlittlething The paths (dirt tracks) are not generated procedurally. They are controlled by mask files in Runtime\Textures\HowieFarkes\UltraScenery\Features. You can create your own with a paint program. The scenery is created with Daz Studio instances. I don't know if there are ways to export those. You can use Instances to Objects (in the Daz Store) to convert Daz Studio instances to normal geometry that can be exported, but it would be a HUGE export file.
@Kharma UltraScenery has a built in noise-based height generation capability to create a lot of variety without needing to resort to external height maps. On the UltraScenery Scene tab, you can use Max Altitude, Brightness, Contrast, Zoom, Seed, Octaves, Invert and the Scale and Position controls to generate a near infinite variety of terrain shapes. Externally created height maps are useful if you want to create a flat area in a specific place to put a building, or if you want more precise control over the shape of the land.
UltraScenery combines the built in noise-based height with any Height Map that you add. If you don't want the noise-based component, set Contrast to -100 to make it solid gray. You also need to be aware that your selected Feature on the Features tab will most likely further modify the terrain shape to gouge out the rivers and paths, etc. Select "_No Features" and reduce Contrast to -100, if you want absolute control of the final terrain shape using your loaded Height Map file.
Small island created with island 3 preset from UltraScenery.
The scene above with treatment of MARSA Snow Patchy from https://www.daz3d.com/marsa-elements
Snowy Island
Well, yes and no on the exporting. The terrain & water remain in tact but not the foliage per se. There's some real Black Magic going on with how the instancing is working in Daz & US. There is a script called Instances to Objects, but to attempt that on a typical USC scene will end up generating many, many GB's of geometry. I was successful on one of the smaller sets. My conclusion is to figure out a compositing workflow. Unfortunately, I've not gotten a 2-way means for camera exchange yet.
As I understand it, there's genearally a Primary object item which would have full geom for each thing that's instanced, but most everything else is via proxy & I've no idea how that works. The placement information is largely procedural though so no wt. maps as such are created to export. Generally you'd need those for instancing, or draw your own new ones I guess.
That's a nice before & after with the snow treatment. I might have to check into that tool.
Thank you very much, Doc Acme.
Below is another UltraScenery created from custom height map (made in Bryce 7 Pro) and Pines 4 Ecology.
Then I have applied MARSA Snow Patchy from https://www.daz3d.com/marsa-elements
@DoctorJellybean thank you, I can stop looking for them now :)
@Artini thank you for that info, I haven't had Bryce installed for a few years now, but I do have Blender, PS and PSP so I can try to make my own. Also love your snow scenes, they look fabulous!
@barbult Thank you very much for that explanation of how those different functions work in US, so far I have just randomly adjusted some of them not knowing at all what to expect for results
Real Life has been getting in the way of rendering lately, so I fired up UltraScenery as soon as I got a chance. Started as one thing, ended up as another, and then another. These images heavily reflect how I like to shoot with a DSLR, so I was pleased. UltraScenery never ceases to amaze me.
"If One Can't, Perhaps Two Can" - 3D Erik Pedersen (Real puns don't require apologies - HA HA!)
In this one, I think I was partially occluded by an instance, but it came out interesting, well, to me anayway. :)
Jungle Scene:
Thank you very much, Kharma.
If you have accelerator to UltraScenery, it is such a joy, because the scenes are created so fast.
I was side tracked by the other interesting items, that come to my 3D hobby,
that I have not spent much time with UltraScenery recently.
Now I am amazed, what can I do with my custom height maps, so will spen more time
discovering further capabilities of such amazing product, that UltraScenery is.
As someone who has dabbled in the dark arts of DSLR photography, I am very impressed. The focussing is spot on.
Cheers,
Alex.
Well I got the Australian eco bundle and well yeah can't use it, as it literally locks up my computer loading in the assets and takes a good few minutes at that.. All the other packs that I have for Ultra Scenery I seem to have no issue with them, it is just the Australian ones.. :(
I just picked that up as well and having no issue on my HP Laptop with it's whopping 8 cores & 12 Gb RAM.
Are you sure you got all the components though? That got me at first:
UltraScenery - Australia (requires Australia Botanica - Trees and Shrubs, Australia Botanica - Understorey)
Are you saying it locks up and never finishes or just that it is really slow to build? If just slow, how long does it take? Are you using the Accelerator or not?
The Australian ecologies have a lot of detail and are slower to build than other ecologies I have. I built Australian Bush 1 just now, with feature Bridge 1, Extend forest checked, and not restricted to a camera, in 2 minutes and 7.53 seconds with the Accelerator. If you enjoy UltraScenery but don't have the Accelerator yet, it is worth the investment to speed up all UltraScenery builds dramatically.
If you can't use the Australian ecologies on your computer, you can return it for a refund within 30 days of purchase.