Jaime Vives Piqueres wrote:
> Awesome... :O ...it just needs an insect/amphibian/reptile on top of 
> that rock at the center. I've an unfinished/abandoned snake macro which 
> can fit very well there: it even has a basic mechanism to adapt to the 
> terrain using trace(), but the code it's also a mess...

Yeah, animal life of some kind. Something without hair, until somebody 
comes up with a quick and easy hair macro :)

Most snakes will typically slink through the grass if it's there, which 
means I would have to make the grass bend... which isn't outside of the 
realm of possibility, but it might prove very difficult :(

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Bill Pragnell wrote:
> Lovely. The old single-clump-rotated-cloned trick can work wonders. Nice
> variation in leaf size, too. Are you using any scattering effects or is it just
> a plain opaque green texture?

Just a basic green texture for now. No scattering effects, apart from 
the area_light and radiosity for the scene, and the double_illuminate I 
gave the grass.

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Bob Hughes wrote:
> Hiya Samuel.
> 
> Pleasing sight to the eyes this morning. And being morning my first 
> thought was how this looked like early morning so guess a heavy dew 
> would have put a finishing touch on the lush green grass. ;) Maybe it's 
> late afternoon... or late morning early Spring.

You're trying to make this an epic (read: long) render, aren't you? 
Might as well add photons and dispersion while I'm at it. Focal blur 
doesn't hurt... well you know the litany :)

> I have a large rock here that gets covered in grass every year, so this 
> picture looks very feasible. All it takes is for the roots take hold 
> someplace and it gets around fast. I cleared it all off a few years ago 
> and now it's a heavy mat of green during the summer.

Given up on it, have you? ;)

> Hmmmm, shouldn't be too much trouble adding roots, right?

Nope, it should be easy. Just a few more triangles...

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Paolo Gibellini wrote:
> Samuel, another amazing image!
> Now... some raindrops into the clumps...
> ;-)
> Paolo

It would look nice, but to make it look truly good would take a *lot* of 
work to get all the drops to act as if they are riding the grass hairs :/

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tom millican wrote:
> I dig it. 
> What would be inappropriate about coyote scat? Some people get very excited
> about scat on trails. Even if the animal that left it isn't in sight, it
> adds to the experience knowing that they're not that far away.

Scat is interesting stuff. You get an idea of what the animal ate. I 
once saw coyote scat with prickly pear berry seeds in it. If you don't 
already know, prickly pears are cacti, and the berries have many thorns 
on them. Prickly pears have both large and fine thorns, and the small 
ones do not come out easily. Coyotes are desperate creatures.

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Kyle wrote:
> tom millican wrote:
>>> I'm pretty happy with the way it's turning out, and hope to add
>>> something to make the scene more interesting. Coyote scat would be
>>> relevant, but I'm not sure about the appropriateness of adding that :)
>>
>> I dig it. What would be inappropriate about coyote scat? Some people 
>> get very excited
>> about scat on trails. Even if the animal that left it isn't in sight, it
>> adds to the experience knowing that they're not that far away.
>>
> 
> When I read Sam's post, I thought "coyote scat" was an algorithm that I 
> hadn't hear of yet.  Now, reading your reply, I realize what he is 
> referring to.  Duh.  :D

It could become a macro someday :)

> BTW, nice work Sam!

Thanks!

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Christian Froeschlin wrote:
> Kyle wrote:
> 
>> When I read Sam's post, I thought "coyote scat" was an algorithm that 
>> I hadn't hear of yet.
> 
> the famous coyote scattering model for media ;)

Yes, and coyotes do a good job at it, too. My brother once saw coyote 
scat on to of a large metal water tank. A tank which had only one path 
to the top: a ladder. Go figure.

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On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:24:04 -0800, stbenge wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:03:14 -0800, stbenge wrote:
>> 
>>> I run a lot of tests over here, though very few ever make it to the
>>> public. I figured this image was worth posting, even if it is
>>> unfinished.
>> 
>> It brings to mind one of the episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater that
>> I listened to earlier today - entitled "Escape!  Escape!".
>> 
>> The upshot was some escaped convicts ended up being shrunk down to ant-
>> size and placed in a terrarium.
> 
> That sounds like a fun show to listen to. Where might I find it?

I found the recordings on one of the more popular torrent sites.  The 
shows date from 1974 (it's radio drama), about 1400 of them in total over 
9 years.

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:24:04 -0800, stbenge wrote:
> 
>> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:03:14 -0800, stbenge wrote:
>>>
>>>> I run a lot of tests over here, though very few ever make it to the
>>>> public. I figured this image was worth posting, even if it is
>>>> unfinished.
>>> It brings to mind one of the episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater that
>>> I listened to earlier today - entitled "Escape!  Escape!".
>>>
>>> The upshot was some escaped convicts ended up being shrunk down to ant-
>>> size and placed in a terrarium.
>> That sounds like a fun show to listen to. Where might I find it?
> 
> I found the recordings on one of the more popular torrent sites.  The 
> shows date from 1974 (it's radio drama), about 1400 of them in total over 
> 9 years.

Darn! I was hoping CBS still had radio shows :(

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Christian Froeschlin wrote:
> Great image! Maybe still a tiny bit sterile. Possibly because
> there is only one type of plant, or because the texture on the
> individual blades is rather uniform. Maybe some blades should
> be more yellow- or brownish, or have some spots and defects.
> Especially since the climate seems a bit dry anyway ;)

Thanks!

I might be able to give each clump a different texture, and even use UV 
mapping as well. Dried-up curlies near the bottom of some clumps should 
be possible too.

> The placement trick works quite well, but some regularity
> might still be subtly perceived by dominance of some of the
> occuring angles (more parallel lines than you would normally
> expect, especially near the sides).

I'll be refining the mesh soon, so hopefully that goes away.

> Is the lighting just radiosity or did you add luminous bloom?

Yeah, I did add luminous bloom to the image. It was very washed-out 
before, and it still looks a little dim to me. I think I'll brighten the 
sun for the next render.

Sam

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