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FM Night Builder [Commercial]

FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
edited May 2014 in The Commons

Edit 05/01
Released :) FM Night Builder

Hiya!

Time to post some images for my next release. =)

To have it out of the way, this is not an Easy Environment set, it`s quite a different thing.

The set includes 10 night sky presets, but it`s highly customizeable.
You can combine the horizon you like, with the clouds you like, with the stars you like.
You can place the moon or a planet whereever you want it, and add effects like lightning.
You can color some stars blue, others red, and have dark, bright or green clouds.
Erm, cut short, you can do a lot if you want to, or just use the presets.

The rock & tree prop is included as well.

All the in-depth info can be found here:
Link: FM Night Builder Infopage

I recommend to click the images to watch them full size, the stars may get a bit lost on the reduced preview size.

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Post edited by Flipmode on
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Comments

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,949
    edited December 1969

    That promises to be very useful - I'm all agog.

  • Kismet2012Kismet2012 Posts: 4,252
    edited December 1969

    *sits in corner counting coins...rummages through couch cushions looking for more*

    Very impressive.

  • XenomorphineXenomorphine Posts: 2,421
    edited December 1969

    Flipmode said:
    Hiya!
    You can combine the horizon you like, with the clouds you like, with the stars you like.
    You can place the moon or a planet whereever you want it, and add effects like lightning.
    You can color some stars blue, others red, and have dark, bright or green clouds.

    Oh, my... One of those things I hadn't known I've been in need of for quite a while. Do these cloud options allow for chaotic storms and can they be recoloured for alien or magical skies? Does the moon have settings (half-moon, crescent, full-moon, etcetera)?

    Can the lightning forks be recoloured and/or resized/reshaped with morphing, also? Possibly given a slight glow? Could think of lots of uses for a decent glowing lightning/electricity prop.

    Regardless, this shall have considerable use in many of my projects. :)

  • TotteTotte Posts: 14,841
    edited December 1969

    Looks like something very useful, as always when it comes from FM!

  • CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,441
    edited December 1969

    Cool! Blondie999's SkySystem is still one of my go-tos for quick sky creation and this looks like it's going to be a very nice nighttime compliment to it.

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the nice comments guys. :)

    @ Cybersox13
    Tbh. I didn`t know Blondie`s set, but after looking it up, yes...the basic idea is similar. The Night Builder works with spheres though, covering the whole scene.

    @ Xenomorphine
    I hope the linked info page on the OP can give an good idea about the options you have with the set.
    To go through the questions ...

    >Do these cloud options allow for chaotic storms and can they be recoloured for alien or magical skies?<<br /> There are three cloud "layers", I`d say at least one of them looks stormy. You can use them seperately or together.
    Almost anything on the set can be recolored (best use ambient color, but diffuse works just as fine) including the clouds.
    I think all three cloud layers with various dark grey colors should make for a nice storm.
    Alien or magical skies are very possible, actually one of the presets has green, toxic skies.

    >Does the moon have settings (half-moon, crescent, full-moon, etcetera)?<<br /> Not settings as such, but I included full, half and quater moon. The shadowed parts are not transparent (would be wrong with stars) but darkened, so one needs to be a bit careful with keeping it smooth with the background color.

    >Can the lightning forks be recoloured and/or resized/reshaped with morphing, also? Possibly given a slight glow?<<br /> Recolored yes, although I used a diffuse texture there with a blue tint.
    Reshapeing is limited, it`s a sphere like the other layers. If you scale along Y-axis you can get the starting-points lower.
    However, there are several lightning strikes going down all around, so rotating the sphere will move a different strike into frame..

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    Couldn`t resist to give red lightning a quick try. That`s the lightning preset with ambient color changed to red tones on the lightning, one cloud layer, and a bit on the environment.

    RedLightning.jpg
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  • SpottedKittySpottedKitty Posts: 7,232
    edited December 1969

    Looking good — definitely making its way into my cart when it comes out.

  • Kevin SandersonKevin Sanderson Posts: 1,643
    edited December 1969

    It's a must buy for me!

  • ShaneWSmithShaneWSmith Posts: 636
    edited December 1969

    Woah. I'm absolutely getting this when it's released. Looks much better than the night skydomes I've been using so far.

  • JoeQuickJoeQuick Posts: 1,729
    edited December 1969

    Does it have any "light pollution" night sky options? Most of the sky packages I've seen include these beautiful crisp night skies... that are totally inappropriate to urban settings.

  • scorpioscorpio Posts: 8,533
    edited December 1969

    Will you be able to hide the mountains, I wasn't completely sure from reading the info page, thanks.

  • BeeMKayBeeMKay Posts: 7,019
    edited December 1969

    Yes, different landscapes would be a plus. Or is this the skydome with FX only?

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    "layers" - does that mean 23 transparency layers?

    Apart from that - it looks wonderful!

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    Joequick said:
    Does it have any "light pollution" night sky options?
    Tbh. I am not 100% sure what you mean by that, but I think it is what I named "haze" on the set.
    Like...light crawling into the sky at the horizon?
    If you take a look at the render with the big red moon you would see it there.
    The set has two layers for that, haze_small and haze_big, which can be recolored.

    scorpio64dragon said:
    Will you be able to hide the mountains, I wasn’t completely sure from reading the info page, thanks.
    Yes, different landscapes would be a plus. Or is this the skydome with FX only?

    Yes. The set has 4 environment layers (sea, hills, desert, mountains ...all of them rather dark) which you can hide.
    The stars cover the full scene top to bottom (it`s spheres, not a dome), so hiding the environments reveals the stars "behind" them.

    “layers” - does that mean 23 transparency layers?
    Yes, kinda. It means 23 spheres of increasing size, with transparency maps.
    For example a sphere with clouds, but the non-clouded parts are transparent, the spheres behind it (stars, background) shine through.
    In case you are worried about render times...don`t worry. Nothing casts shadows, the ambience setup pretty much takes them out of the lighting process, and usually you`d only have a few of the layers active.


  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    I was wondering about ambient occlusion ... what kind of surface shader are you using (Daz Default or UberSurface)?
    I know I can change it and I know I can flag things in Advanced ... Lights (the lights I like best) - but flagging and setting 23 layers ... uhm.
    I am lazy ... ;-)

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    It`s Daz Default, but I don`t think you`d have to worry about ambient occlusion due to the layers being full-ambient.
    But it`s a good question. I am running out of time right now, but I`ll test it with AoA`s advanced lights later today and let you know how it worked out.

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    edited December 1969

    Oh - don't worry, when in doubt I can ctrl-click to select more than one surface to change settings in the surface tab ...

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    Hehe, the blessing of multi-selecting. ;)

    Turns out I had more time than I thought, so test results for rendering the night (without the rock&tree; prop) in Daz Studio, 720p:

    - No lights: 15sec
    - DS default light setup (3x directional, 1x Spot w Shadows): 15sec
    - AoA`s Advanced Ambient Light w Occlusion, no flags: 25sec

    As expected, visually it makes no difference since the Night itself isn`t really affected by any lighting.

  • JoeQuickJoeQuick Posts: 1,729
    edited December 1969

    http://stellarium.org/img/screenshots/0.10-bortle.jpg

    That explains light pollution.

  • SassyWenchSassyWench Posts: 602
    edited December 1969

    Ah FM, you did it again! This will be mine LOL

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    Glad to hear SassyWench ;)

    Joequick > Ok, that`s pretty much what you can control with the "haze" layers, through color and opacity.
    I`ll attach 3 quick test images to show what it does (no haze, haze, haze & no stars / clouds off on all three).
    This could be tweaked deeper, e.g. hiding stars with clouds, or rescaling a haze layer to be in front of the star layer.

    HazeOnNoStars.jpg
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    HazeOn.jpg
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    HazeOff.jpg
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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Looks at wallet after the MM sale, looks at Flipmode, looks at wallet again, looks back at Flipmode. Why?
    Wonders off to hunt change in cushions before another un-named one finds it all....

  • XenomorphineXenomorphine Posts: 2,421
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the additional information! As it happens, red lightning was exactly something I wanted to try to make happen!

  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,368
    edited December 1969

    I am trying for the last few nights to build a fantasy night scene and this would look like it would be very helpful for it. Do you have any ideas when this will be released?

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    Jade, can you see me waving at you? Keep looking this way. ;)

    Kulay Wolf, sorry, I don`t have a date yet. As a guess, within the next two weeks should work, hopefully sooner.

    08FMN_Promo07.jpg
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  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited April 2014

    Flipmode said:
    Jade, can you see me waving at you? Keep looking this way. ;)

    Kulay Wolf, sorry, I don`t have a date yet. As a guess, within the next two weeks should work, hopefully sooner.

    I sort of Really hate you just about right now... stop poking me and finish the set.. wonder if my roomy has much change laying around?
    Post edited by Jaderail on
  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited December 1969

    Hehe, it is finished ... I am kinda on vacation watching Daz getting it ready ;)

  • FlipmodeFlipmode Posts: 938
    edited April 2014

    Hiya!

    Just a quick update ... it took a bit longer than expected, but to my best knowledge the set should release tomorrow, MAY 1rst.

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    Post edited by Flipmode on
  • TSasha SmithTSasha Smith Posts: 27,368
    edited December 1969

    I thought tomorrow is May 1rst?

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