In search of trees…
30 messages in this thread
I'm working on a project involving a large landscape, and am in need of some
high quality tree objects to use in LW. Anyone seen any high quality tree
objects for sale anywhere??
Also, would VistaPro offer me any advantages over the new LW as far as creating
the terrain of a golf course ??
Thanks,
Jerry
I have a few tree 'objects' (real 3d model objects, pines and oaks), but they
are quite big and render verrrrrry slow.
The best thing that I have found is to scan/freeze frame a tree of choice,
clean it up in a paint package if needed, then image map it to a plane and
position towards the camera. It is a 2d tree but a a good clean orginal scan or
freeze can provide a much better rendering then a true 3d model.
And if you are doing a golf course, you will need alot of tree objects, and the
2d route is the best in my
Robert Nees, NiteWare Prod.
Thanks, Robert. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that I may have to
abandon the idea of having 3d tree objects and go to the approach of using
images in the scene instead. There are already gonna be enough slow rendering
objects in the scene already.
Thanks,
Jerry
A local PC user who makes videos for real estate agents, makes trees this
way:
He takes a flat object and pastes a pic of a tree from branches to trunk
onto it. He makes several of these (using images with varying branches,
and then fixes them at the same position, adjusting the verticle axis a
few degrees for each one. When rendered in motion, you have branches lush
with leaves.
Although not perfect, it is a good technique.
-= Vance =- Image Master
Flying high on Black Belt Systems' Imagemaster R/t!
Thanks, Vance. Although I've found no practical way to have nice 3D tree
objects, I have been offered some interesting alternative suggestions. Thanks
to you and all who have responded on my tree problem.
Merry Christmas!
Jerry
Merry Christmas, Jerry! *B^)
-= Vance =- Image Master
Flying high on Black Belt Systems' Imagemaster R/t!
Jerry,
How about using pine trees. Just make some simple cones, and cylindrical
map some images on them double sided. Maybe use a transparency map made
from a B&W copy of an image of a tree. You can make the t-map in ADPro or
IM R/t.
Might work, but don't get too close!!! Maybe a ball on a cylinder for
other trees? Hmmm, will check this out and get back to you.
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.
Nate,
Great idea about mapping images onto cones, for pine trees! I'm gonna explore
this area first thing tomorrow.
BTW, how are you enjoying IM R/T ?? I remember Ben posting your name as the
winner of a free copy for designing one of the icons associated with the
program ?? Do you like it or AdPro better??
Jerry
Jerry,
Dunno. Never saw it. Go figure. Must've not used the stuff I worked
up.
I'll probably go with ImageFX soon, as neither of the others gets me real
excited (not in the good way anyway). Besides, I met Kermit Woodall at
WOCA-T, and he seemed like a really nice guy; introduced me to a few
people, took time to talk.
The stuff he was showing that's in the new upgrade seemed to bring it on
par with the others, some things better, but still no non-AREXX batch
conversions from what I understand. I anticipate good support, and can
take the manual into my private study area. 8{)
ASDG did score some points with me recently. Am checking into the
Toaster-Abekas Driver-Excabyte way to get to better formats, and they were
extremely helpful. Got a list of service houses that'll put it on tape.
We're talking $0.25/frame, plus media and a low hourly rate, at a Chicago
place I called. Like John Gross said, that's the best way to get to
broadcast for a guy like me. Probably less than 3 grand total, and you
get a 5-Gig per tape backup device, too.
BTW, also met Terry Smallwood of Nucleus in person; 'nother great guy.
Spent an hour or so in the booth checking out their new Pers. Editor.
Very nice unit, probably shipping nowish. Mine should be in the mail. It
even does a psuedo-A/B roll thing, freezing the last frame of the A roll
or the first of the B roll, and doing a Toaster transition between the
freeze and the rolling deck. Neat! >(Talked to him today, they are
shipping in beta)<
Will send along the Gang tape stuff as soon as I get the editor figured
out. Get any good stuff in? Thomas Wheeler just finished his latest, and
I'm sure it'd be a great addition (HINT, HINT Tom).
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.
Nate,
Are you saying that you never got the free copy of IM r/t that you won??
Let me know what you think of Image F/X…
Yeah, some good looking stuff is showing up for the AG tape.
Later,
Jerry
Whats the approx running time of the Amiga Gang tape now Jerry????
Peter,
It's a little over 40 minutes right now; still waiting for submissions from
some of the old gang submitters, plus any new ones, of course…
Jerry
Jerry,
Never saw a thing. Now I wish I'd have kept the post.
You definitely HAVE to put some of Tom Wheeler's stuff on the tape. Fill
the entire end of the thing with it. Absolutely excellent work there.
I'm rendering a walking toy soldier anim right now, and should have it to
you early next year. This one even has a story!
It'll just be that and some anims and stills that I've done of late,
mostly industrial stuff.
Later.
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.
ooooh ooooh, a Toy Soldier eh??? a takeoff on Pixar's Tintoy animation
perchance??? Doth this Soldier have a Rifle with Bayonet affixed?
Nate,
You're right: Tom Wheeler's stuff looks VERY good, especially this last tape!
Jerry
Nate,
Pardon me for jumping in, but I found it interesting that you were
considering purchasing ImageFX. Although I have always been an AdPro
user, I have never found it easy to use, and the documentation puts me to
sleep. So a few days ago I purchased ImageFX from Safe Harbor, and it
came today. Without ever opening the manual I was able to load a Kodak
Photo CD image, and do all sorts of neat things with the image. ImageFX
is far more intuitive to use than ADPro. I am especially eager to use it
in printing out some photo CD's on a Primera color printer purchased a few
months ago. Incidentally, Image FX does not come with a Photo CD loader,
but a Photo CD loader for use with Image FX is available in the Amiga RT
on Genie and it works beautifully.
I would be real interested to hear how you like the editor put out by
Nucleus. I think their SFC is great, but I really like to do A/B rolls
and was hoping that Nucleus' editing package would one day allow this. If
I had room, I'd probably do what Jerry has done and buy a PC and the
Editizer. Then again, I keep hoping that NewTek will one day introduce an
Amiga based edting system incorporating the Toaster.
Some day when I grow up 🙂 I'll hopfully do something on the Toaster that
is worthy of the Amiga Gang video, but I'm afraid my videos, while
hopfully containing some nice photography, really represent a far more
trivial use of the Toaster's capabilities that what you and Jerry are
doing.
Tom
Send in your so called TRIVIAL footage Tom, you never know, it may give
others ideas on things to do…… I'd like to see it……
Peter,
I've sent Jerry a copy of my tape. If he feels any part of it is worth
putting in the Amiga Gang video, it's fine by me. If you would like to
have a copy of the tape E-mail me your address and I'll send one out to
you. The scenery is beautiful, but it is really more of an exercise in
editing than a work of art using the Toaster. I have one copy left.
Tom
Peter,
You will love the tape! Not a logo to be found, even, (except Tom's, of
course)!
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.
Tom,
Great, I can use that info. It's on my purchase queue.
The text that came with your EXCELLENT video looked real nice. Primera?
That looks like a heck of a printer, especially with the high-quality
option. Seen the output; amazing.
I'm using our new HP Deskjet to make brochures and rate sheets as good as
any printer could give me, but I'm wondering now if the Primera would've
been a better choice. How's your cost per copy coming out?
Will tell you about the editor in a while, after beta. I asked about
getting one more wire out the back of the thing (for guess what), and
Terry just smiled and looked at his watch. Hmmm. Yup, the Editizer
sounds like my next option.
Actually, you're right about your tape. Nobody should be allowed to make
that nice of a tape at home! <G> Not trivial in any way, sir, what you
do is equally important to the endless myriad of flying logos. Definitely
a class effort, both technically and aesthetically.
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.
Would you consider perhaps uploading the ImageFX photocd loader to the
Amiga fora here? I'm sure others would appreciate it. As a cheap way of
digitizing batches of photos or slides with very high quality, photocd
should be quite a winner.
One variation I have done is to map pictures of trees onto a flat panel, then
always keep the panel at the proper angle toward the camera so the tree always
seems to be visible. Make sure the background image of the tree is
transparent… Lou
Lou,
Thanks for the suggestion. Got any good pictures of trees lying around that
would be suitable??
Thanks,
Jerry
The best thing is to take your 35mm camera out and pick the trees you want.
Then go into an image editor and erase teh unwanted backgrounds. Lou
Thanks, Lou. It never hurts to see what someone may have lying around, before
going out and photographing.
BTW, I just got the new DTVW, and it looks like it's really packed with
interesting articles this time! I was disappointed to see that none of the
images I submitted for the art pages made it in, though. They were sent about
2 months ago, and one of 'em in particular was an extremely nice image of a
building I modeled for a local business commercial that took about 30 hours of
work. What are the criteria for inclusion??
Thanks,
Jerry
Well, the only real criteria is they must be interesting, high quality,
artistic, 24/32 bit, dramatic, bizarre, photorealistic, abstract, colorful,
detailed, and thought provoking… otherwise there isn't any criteria.
Seriously though, just keep sending them in to the attention of Vinoy Laughner,
our Managing Editor. He selects the images for the most part, and now that we
are monthly we can use more images. Also, all you 3D artists out there should
keep in mind that submitting your work to DTVW's Digital Gallery gets it in the
face of people who are looking for good artists/illustrators. I know we have
commissioned several works for the magazine (and also AW) through work that has
appeared in DTVW…
Lou
Lou,
Thanks for the info. I'll resubmit the images, and put them to Vinny's
attention this time. Not having any idea whose attention to address the packet
to last time, I sent it to your attention.
If memory serves me correctly, I have one of your old demo reels here that I
watched the other day. I'd bought some 3/4SP tapes from a posting over in
BPForum, and they threw in a few used ones in the deal, one of them having one
of your demos on it…
Jerry
Lou,
Good idea, too. Does it look noticable if the trees rotate on a fly-by?
I was thinking similarly that even the same image mapped on 3 stationary
flat concentric polys at 60 degrees might look pretty good. Would render
almost as fast as the one you mention, too.
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.
On a good flyby you are moving too fast to notice the detail, usually anyway.
If it is kept to a constant angle there isn't any movement detected, just a
change in scale as you approach or move away. BTW – this is a technique I
learned from a visit to SGI. They use it in some of their REALITY ENGINE stuff
– because it takes a lot more power and time to render a 3D modelled tree then
to texture map an image…
Lou
Lou,
Gee, even they worry about speed, huh. Somehow, that's comforting!
I might send in a frame or two, myself. Anything you need with them, text
file or printed, format?
Nate, Emerald Video.
I am a Nate, ergo I Animate.