UltraScenery Experiments and Experiences

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  • Norman_RNorman_R Posts: 94
    edited December 2021

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    Thanks. The fish are from Renderosity, 3D Underwater Fauna: African Cichlids. The beautiful Ocean Wonders from DAZ don't work. Unfortunately.  

    Interesting. What was the problem with Ocean Wonders? I tried them in a simple scene (UltraScattered them around) and they seemed to work OK. I think the ones you used look more correct for your scene than Ocean Wonders would, though.

    Yes the fish are good. Ocean Wonders can be used by hand, only script is not possible. I already had the same problem with mushrooms and butterflies. Then each time I had to use a different product. The problem with Ocean Wonders is probably that all fish are in one fish. The script or ultrascenery cannot do anything with that. I suspect.

    Post edited by Norman_R on
  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,039

    nonesuch00 said:

    Fishtales said:

    Wetland 4, Willows 7 and Merlin's Roundhouse.

    2021-11-16 20:32:38.742 Total Rendering Time: 14 minutes 33.73 seconds

     

    Click on image for full size.

    Nice, there are such houses at a archeological park in County Wexford. What I really want to visit are the stone houses with stone dresser drawers somewhere in the Orkneys I forget where.

    Skara Brae? There are also the Black Houses dotted around and there is the Crannog Centre on Loch Tay in Perthshire.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    Thanks. The fish are from Renderosity, 3D Underwater Fauna: African Cichlids. The beautiful Ocean Wonders from DAZ don't work. Unfortunately.  

    Interesting. What was the problem with Ocean Wonders? I tried them in a simple scene (UltraScattered them around) and they seemed to work OK. I think the ones you used look more correct for your scene than Ocean Wonders would, though.

    Yes the fish are good. Ocean Wonders can be used by hand, only script is not possible. I already had the same problem with mushrooms and butterflies. Then each time I had to use a different product. The problem with Ocean Wonders is probably that all fish are in one fish. The script or ultrascenery cannot do anything with that. I suspect.

    Which script is not working for you? I used UltraScatterPro and didn't have trouble with that script.

  • barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    Thanks. The fish are from Renderosity, 3D Underwater Fauna: African Cichlids. The beautiful Ocean Wonders from DAZ don't work. Unfortunately.  

    Interesting. What was the problem with Ocean Wonders? I tried them in a simple scene (UltraScattered them around) and they seemed to work OK. I think the ones you used look more correct for your scene than Ocean Wonders would, though.

    Yes the fish are good. Ocean Wonders can be used by hand, only script is not possible. I already had the same problem with mushrooms and butterflies. Then each time I had to use a different product. The problem with Ocean Wonders is probably that all fish are in one fish. The script or ultrascenery cannot do anything with that. I suspect.

    Which script is not working for you? I used UltraScatterPro and didn't have trouble with that script.

    An ecology script. 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    Thanks. The fish are from Renderosity, 3D Underwater Fauna: African Cichlids. The beautiful Ocean Wonders from DAZ don't work. Unfortunately.  

    Interesting. What was the problem with Ocean Wonders? I tried them in a simple scene (UltraScattered them around) and they seemed to work OK. I think the ones you used look more correct for your scene than Ocean Wonders would, though.

    Yes the fish are good. Ocean Wonders can be used by hand, only script is not possible. I already had the same problem with mushrooms and butterflies. Then each time I had to use a different product. The problem with Ocean Wonders is probably that all fish are in one fish. The script or ultrascenery cannot do anything with that. I suspect.

    Which script is not working for you? I used UltraScatterPro and didn't have trouble with that script.

    An ecology script. 

    I'm still not sure I'm understanding. Do you mean you created your own ecology (JSON file, not Daz a script) and added a fish layer, but the Ocean Wonders would not work in that?

  • barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    Thanks. The fish are from Renderosity, 3D Underwater Fauna: African Cichlids. The beautiful Ocean Wonders from DAZ don't work. Unfortunately.  

    Interesting. What was the problem with Ocean Wonders? I tried them in a simple scene (UltraScattered them around) and they seemed to work OK. I think the ones you used look more correct for your scene than Ocean Wonders would, though.

    Yes the fish are good. Ocean Wonders can be used by hand, only script is not possible. I already had the same problem with mushrooms and butterflies. Then each time I had to use a different product. The problem with Ocean Wonders is probably that all fish are in one fish. The script or ultrascenery cannot do anything with that. I suspect.

    Which script is not working for you? I used UltraScatterPro and didn't have trouble with that script.

    An ecology script. 

    I'm still not sure I'm understanding. Do you mean you created your own ecology (JSON file, not Daz a script) and added a fish layer, but the Ocean Wonders would not work in that?

    precisely 

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    Thanks. The fish are from Renderosity, 3D Underwater Fauna: African Cichlids. The beautiful Ocean Wonders from DAZ don't work. Unfortunately.  

    Interesting. What was the problem with Ocean Wonders? I tried them in a simple scene (UltraScattered them around) and they seemed to work OK. I think the ones you used look more correct for your scene than Ocean Wonders would, though.

    Yes the fish are good. Ocean Wonders can be used by hand, only script is not possible. I already had the same problem with mushrooms and butterflies. Then each time I had to use a different product. The problem with Ocean Wonders is probably that all fish are in one fish. The script or ultrascenery cannot do anything with that. I suspect.

    Which script is not working for you? I used UltraScatterPro and didn't have trouble with that script.

    An ecology script. 

    I'm still not sure I'm understanding. Do you mean you created your own ecology (JSON file, not Daz a script) and added a fish layer, but the Ocean Wonders would not work in that?

    precisely 

    Aha! Now I finally understand. I haven't tried that. I know the ecology JSON files can apply different materials to objects, but I don't know if it can apply different shapes (morphs).

  • barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    barbult said:

    Norman_R said:

    Thanks. The fish are from Renderosity, 3D Underwater Fauna: African Cichlids. The beautiful Ocean Wonders from DAZ don't work. Unfortunately.  

    Interesting. What was the problem with Ocean Wonders? I tried them in a simple scene (UltraScattered them around) and they seemed to work OK. I think the ones you used look more correct for your scene than Ocean Wonders would, though.

    Yes the fish are good. Ocean Wonders can be used by hand, only script is not possible. I already had the same problem with mushrooms and butterflies. Then each time I had to use a different product. The problem with Ocean Wonders is probably that all fish are in one fish. The script or ultrascenery cannot do anything with that. I suspect.

    Which script is not working for you? I used UltraScatterPro and didn't have trouble with that script.

    An ecology script. 

    I'm still not sure I'm understanding. Do you mean you created your own ecology (JSON file, not Daz a script) and added a fish layer, but the Ocean Wonders would not work in that?

    precisely 

    Aha! Now I finally understand. I haven't tried that. I know the ecology JSON files can apply different materials to objects, but I don't know if it can apply different shapes (morphs).

    Wonders of Nature doesn't work either. 

  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 4,979
    edited January 2022

    I came across an interesting problem with US.

    I normally pose the character at the origin, generate the US scene, then move the character to a good spot in the scene. This time, however, I did things differently. I posed the character at the origin, then generated the US scene, then moved the US main group in X and Z so the spot of interest was at the origin, then moved the character in Y to be on the ground.

    Seemed to work OK until I looked at the CPU render 4 hours in... There is a layer of grass clumps that obviously didn't move with the hillside, and wasn't visible until some way into the render..

    Looks a bit surreal, really, seeing the curve of the hill marked by grass clumps hovering in thin air. Actually took me a while to understand what I was seeing. The hillside the grass was put on by US curves over the top of the character at this point.

    Regards, 

    Richard.

    Rain 02 R03.jpg
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    Post edited by richardandtracy on
  • TugpsxTugpsx Posts: 732
    edited January 2022

    Richard, thats interesting I did one whereas i placed the character and boots on the groundplane and when rendered it produces an awesome effect.

    I will need to do a bit of postwork on the foreground rock but not bad.

    UlraSceneryTest2 (2).jpg
    1548 x 1139 - 990K
    Post edited by Tugpsx on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049

    richardandtracy said:

    I came across an interesting problem with US.

    I normally pose the character at the origin, generate the US scene, then move the character to a good spot in the scene. This time, however, I did things differently. I posed the character at the origin, then generated the US scene, then moved the US main group in X and Z so the spot of interest was at the origin, then moved the character in Y to be on the ground.

    Seemed to work OK until I looked at the CPU render 4 hours in... There is a layer of grass clumps that obviously didn't move with the hillside, and wasn't visible until some way into the render..

    Looks a bit surreal, really, seeing the curve of the hill marked by grass clumps hovering in thin air. Actually took me a while to understand what I was seeing. The hillside the grass was put on by US curves over the top of the character at this point.

    Regards, 

    Richard.

    Something went wrong there! I've never seen that happen. Are you sure you selected the UltraScene group when you changed X and Z? Can you reproduce the problem?

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049

    Tugpsx said:

    Richard, thats interesting I did one whereas i placed the character and boots on the groundplane and when rendered it produces an awesome effect.

    I will need to do a bit of postwork on the foreground rock but not bad.

    Yes, that looks very nice!

  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 4,979
    edited January 2022

    I'm pretty sure it was a glitch. But yes, I am sure I selected the entire group - I have learnt that. As for reproducing it - I haven't had time to try.

    Coming to think of it, there was one additional complication, after moving the scenery I re-generated it to get the distant forest to show as there was an abrupt thinning visible in the distance. The re-generation re-set the scenery position to zero (at least all I could see in the texmap preview), and then I had to move the entire US scenery again. I wonder if that contributed to the muddle my PC got into.

    What happened is an interesting observation, and a slight warning, not something I'm trying to object about.

    Post edited by richardandtracy on
  • TugpsxTugpsx Posts: 732

    Has anyone generated mountainous regions with US. I wonder if it can generate scenes like Valle Alpina or some other snow capped type mountains.

  • I believe howie is trying to do something just like that with UltrasceneryXT: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/523766/ultrasceneryxt-large-terrain-landscape-generator/p1

    Regards,

    Richard

  • RakudaRakuda Posts: 931

    @barbult Amazing render! Just saw this! I think it would be great to have some sort of level gravel track device to add to an otherwise somewhat rolling landscape so the terrain could have some deviation but the track would be level. 

     

    barbult said:

    [...]

    Here is a render of my curved RR Track Feature with the Parkside Freight train on the tracks:

     

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited February 2022

    Rakuda said:

    @barbult Amazing render! Just saw this! I think it would be great to have some sort of level gravel track device to add to an otherwise somewhat rolling landscape so the terrain could have some deviation but the track would be level. 

    barbult said:

    [...]

    Here is a render of my curved RR Track Feature with the Parkside Freight train on the tracks:

    @Rakuda Thanks for the comment on the render. I created an UltraScenery "Feature" for myself with the RR tracks as props, just like some of the commercially available Features have boardwalk props. By creating a Feature, I could create feature maps that alter the terrain in specific areas. So, I did just what you described; I made the track area flat with a sloped embankment (or whatever it is called) along the side. I allowed the rest of the terrain to be controled by the UltraScenery terrain definition. Here is an example of the flat tracks in a very non-flat terrain. Many of the scene elements were added later by hand placement, Alienator, UltraScatter, or HedgeMaker.

    USC Oaks UST Slope RR 2_002.jpg
    2000 x 1125 - 3M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • RakudaRakuda Posts: 931

    @barbult Top notch! Love it. Going to have to try that also. I have designed my own custom features as well for UltraScenery. It's prettty flexible this way. The scene with the pidgeon by the tracks looks very natural.

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited February 2022

    I recently had another Aha moment. I have struggled with not being able to see the UltraScenery terrain very well in my viewport. I couldn't tell where the dirt track was, etc. Filament viewport mode was helpful sometimes, but I found something even better that works for me - the camera Headlamp! This kind of thing is exactly what the camera headlamp is for, but the default camera headlamp settings didn't help me much with UltraScenery.

    To change the camera headlamp settings, select the camera in the Scene pane. Then open the Parameters pane, you will see a Headlamp section. In there you can change the settings.

    I changed the camera headlamp settings as follows:

    Headlamp Mode: Auto (Edit: I now think Auto is better than On for my use)
    Headlamp Intensity: 2.0
    Y Headlamp Offset: 1500

    To turn the headlamp off reliably, I had to set the intensity and offset back to default and change the mode to Off.

    There is something flaky about the Daz Studio Headlamp settings. Sometimes you have to toggle the mode off and on to get changes to intensity to work. Also, why doesn't just setting mode to Off turn it off reliably? I saved Property Presets to turn the headlamp on and off, so I don't have to directly fiddle with these settings in the Parameters pane.

    Oh yes, one last important thing: If your Headlamp mode in the camera settings is On, turn the Headlamp Off before rendering. In Render Settings, I always have Auto Headlamp set to Never. That way when Headlamp mode in the camera settings is Auto, I don't have to turn the Headlamp off before rendering.

    These screenshots of my DS viewport in Texture Shaded mode show the difference between the headlamp off and on with the settings above:

    Viewport Headlamp Off.jpg
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    Viewport Headlamp On.jpg
    518 x 518 - 54K
    Post edited by barbult on
  • TugpsxTugpsx Posts: 732
    edited February 2022

    Thanks Barbult for all your help. Testing a USG heightmap

    USC0.jpg
    600 x 337 - 229K
    Post edited by Tugpsx on
  • GordigGordig Posts: 9,024

    Barb, what's the difference between your headlamp examples and simply disabling preview lights?

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited February 2022

    Gordig said:

    Barb, what's the difference between your headlamp examples and simply disabling preview lights?

    @Gordig As I understand it, "Preview Lights" is a verb phrase. Do you want to preview your scene lights in the viewport - yes (Preview Lights on) or no (Preview Lights off). I don't normally use scene lights (distant light, spotlight, point light). I use environment light, Sun-Sky Only or an HDRI. Preview Lights does not affect those, as far as I can tell, because they are not scene lights. When I build an UltraScenery scene and use an HDRI or the Sun-Sky Only environment light, Ctrl-L does not change anything in the viewport at all for me. Is your experience different?

    I don't understand how Preview Lights and the Headlamp work with each other. In some combinations of settings, Ctrl-L makes a difference. In other combinations of settings, it does not.

    What does work for me is Headlamp on Auto with adjusted intensity and offset and Preview Lights On. If Headlamp is On, Ctrl-L makes no difference in the viewport. If Headlamp is Off, Ctrl-L does change the viewport making it blacker, but I don't understand what it is really doing.

    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited October 2022

    I've been playing with UltraScenery and the new decal product Ground Decal Materials. I'm very pleased with this product so far. It works great along with masks built by UltraScenery Toolbox - Volume One. The decals help blend the masked area in with the nonmasked area. I'm kind of disappointed in myself for not thinking of this technique before! I've used decals with UltraScenery to put markers on roads, why not use decals on the terrain itself? It turns out, that is a great idea.

    Here are a couple scenes I made as a test. The ecology is Grassland 02 and the tree is from UltraTrees - Realistic Tree System.

    This is a render with decals

    For comparison, this is what the first image looks like with just the masked area an no decals.

    Here is another scene with different tree, decals and lighting.

    This is a summary of the technique I used:

    1. Build an UltraScene with UltraScenery - Realistic Landscape System
    2. Create a tree with UltraTrees - Realistic Tree System
    3. Position the tree in the landscape
    4. Use UltraScenery Toolbox - Volume One to
      1. Load a round marker and center it around the tree location
      2. Use Mask builder to build the mask and launch UltraScenery
    5. In UltraScenery, rebuild the scene using the mask
    6. Use Ground Decal Materials to
      1. Load an Iray Ground Decal
      2. Scale and position it to cover the masked area under the tree.
      3. Parent the Iray Ground Decal to the UltraScene Terrain! Iray decals must be parented to the geometry that they are intended to affect. This is a critical step with decals that I forget if I haven't used them recently.
      4. Apply your selected ground material to the decal
      5. Load a second Iray Ground Decal
      6. Scale it smaller than the first and and position it under the tree
      7. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to select a different decal material
      8. In the Parameters pane, change the Decal Priority of the smaller decal to 2 to ensure that it is rendered on top of the larger one.
    7. Render your image.
    USC UltraTree Ulmus decals clouds_Default Camera.jpg
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    USC UltraTree Ulmus different decals clouds_001_Default Camera.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 3M
    USC UltraTree Ulmus NO decals clouds_Default Camera.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 3M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • goggerfett@gmail.com[email protected] Posts: 2,291
    edited March 2022

    barbult said:

    I've been playing with UltraScenery and the new decal product Ground Decal Materials. I'm very pleased with this product so far. It works great along with masks built by UltraScenery Toolbox - Volume One. The decals help blend the masked area in with the nonmasked area. I'm kind of disappointed in myself for not thinking of this technique before! I've used decals with UltraScenery to put markers on roads, why not use decals on the terrain itself? It turns out, that is a great idea.

    Here are a couple scenes I made as a test. The ecology is Grassland 02 and the tree is from UltraTrees - Realistic Tree System.

    This is a render with decals

    I REALLY like the dirt under the tree in this first image a lot! Nice work!

    Post edited by [email protected] on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited March 2022

    Thank you, Gogger! That was my first real test of the new decals, and I was really impressed by the decals and what they can add to an UltraScene. For the dirt, I used decal material GDM 15 Dirt Tracks. For the larger grass decal I used GDM 04 Grass Green.

    They even look pretty good up close.

    USC UltraTree Ulmus decals closeup.jpg
    2000 x 1500 - 3M
    Post edited by barbult on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    edited March 2022

    Here's another tip when using the ground decals. If you scale the ground decal much larger than the 500% default, use the Surfaces pane to adjust the tiling.

    • Increase Horizontal Tiles value
    • Increase Vertical Tiles value
    • Set Cutout Opacity Instance Tiling to the reciprocal of the Horizontal and Vertical Tiles value. You don't have to do math! Just type in 1/2 if your tiling was 2, or 1/3 if your tiling was 3. (You access the Cutout Opacity Instance Tiling by clicking on the little image icon in the Cutout Opacity channel and selecting Image Editor.)

    Decal Scaling.jpg
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    Post edited by barbult on
  • TugpsxTugpsx Posts: 732
    edited March 2022

    Wow! great find and awesome tutorial as usual. I originally added to my cart when it was released but the previous reviews were not favourable, so I moved it to my wishlist. 

    Now i'll have to grab the asset. They should see your work with the asset.

    Post edited by Tugpsx on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    Tugpsx said:

    Wow! great find and awesome tutorial as usual. I originally added to my cart when it was released but the previous reviews were not favourable, so I moved it to my wishlist. 

    Now i'll have to grab the asset. They should see your work with the asset.

    The referenced thread seems to be mostly questions from users who don't know what decals are or how to use them in Daz Studio. I wouldn't put much weight on that discussion. Decals are a little tricky to use, so reading or watching a tutorial is a good idea. I got good results with that set that I was very happy with. It is a good product that makes good use of features that decals support. I thought the price was very reasonable. So I give it a thumbs up.
  • MelanieLMelanieL Posts: 7,091
    edited March 2022

    That looks great, @barbult. By the way I just directed someone asking questions about how to use the Ground Decal Material product with UltraScenery to this thread.

    I didn't pick them up myself but will wishlist them now (20% discount is below my tolerance level, except for the wonderful USC-XT for which I was unwilling to wait!)

    Post edited by MelanieL on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049

    MelanieL said:

    That looks great, @barbult. By the way I just directed someone asking questions about how to use the Ground Decal Material product with UltraScenery to this thread.

    I didn't pick them up myself but will wishlist them now (20% discount is below my tolerance level, except for the wonderful USC-XT for which I was unwilling to wait!)

    I hope they find helpful inspiration!

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