UltraScenery - new territory [Commercial]

Doc Acme

Well, harumph!  Flag on play.  When you rebuild, the terrain gets reshaped as well, which makes sense. 

Daventaki

HowieFarkes said:

Daventaki said:

Love the image Doc Acme!  Interesting that you were able to export and still be able to run US on the imported terrain, will have to make note of that.

 

I have an issue this is US Crossing 1 and Woodland 4 ecology.  I have tried everything to make the water look right.  I double checked everything to make sure I did not get something out of position.  I have changed the water color and the enviroment, even trying the Sun and Sky preset included with US, nothing works to make the water not look like it has a hard edge...

It's just showing up that the terrain has quite large polygons. You can go Edit -> Object -> Geometry -> Convert to SubD... to add extra polygons and smoothing then play with the Mesh Resolution.

Thanks HowieFarkes!  That did fix that issue!

markusmatern

barbult said:

markusmatern said:

Your train sets in US - Landscapes came out really great. After seeing them I grabbed the tracks, but have not yet rendered anything with them.

Here some more results with custom materials for the road:

See in my gallery for a list of all assets used!

Another fabulous image! I love all the detail you add to your scenes. It really brings them to life. I often get lazy and render just the UltraScene LOL. Great work on the custom road and I see you used may favorite HDRI (Sunflowers). I've yet to find another that I like better, so I use it over and over. I like the warm light and the clouds.
I can't stop looking at this - it is so inviting! I'm really looking forward to your next one. I added a couple things to my wishlist, based on you excellent use of the items here. I gave you a well deserved "like" in the gallery.

 

Thank you very much for your nice comments.

This is my newest creation. It is an environment specifically created for the Roman Folly temple. This one uses a custom version of the Country Ford ecology. See it in the gallery for all the assets!

As you may notice I also made good use of the Sunflowers HDRI from Poly Haven

markusmatern

Doc Acme said:

Well,... Armed with that info & a lot of I-really-don't-know-what-the-????-I'm-doing, I decided to try a bit of testing.  I exported the terrain (and some of the noninstanced stones came along) out as OBJ.  I did some simple massaging of a spot I'd already marked earlier to level it out some for the structure.  I had to remember to NOT just save but to Export back out as an OBJ.

Anyway, after a few surface copy & pastings, & name and parent swapping, I managed to fool USC it seems & it cheerfully reran the script & used my new terraformed geometry.

As Mr Sulu might say: "Ooooo!" Opens some new posibilties.

 

Really like the Bates house in your scernery.

Doc Acme

markusmatern said:

Doc Acme said:

Well,... Armed with that info & a lot of I-really-don't-know-what-the-????-I'm-doing, I decided to try a bit of testing.  I exported the terrain (and some of the noninstanced stones came along) out as OBJ.  I did some simple massaging of a spot I'd already marked earlier to level it out some for the structure.  I had to remember to NOT just save but to Export back out as an OBJ.

Anyway, after a few surface copy & pastings, & name and parent swapping, I managed to fool USC it seems & it cheerfully reran the script & used my new terraformed geometry.

As Mr Sulu might say: "Ooooo!" Opens some new posibilties.

 

Really like the Bates house in your scernery.

It was a very pleasant find from another thread.  Free model that frankly rivals much that's being sold. It's in a DUF format so only need to drop into your My DAZ 3D Library folder. Very nicely laid out under Props.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ao1mDuQEVoFBgqNogOE66-qCFBpAtg?e=3HDzn1

 

alexhcowley

markusmatern said:

barbult said:

markusmatern said:

Your train sets in US - Landscapes came out really great. After seeing them I grabbed the tracks, but have not yet rendered anything with them.

Here some more results with custom materials for the road:

See in my gallery for a list of all assets used!

Another fabulous image! I love all the detail you add to your scenes. It really brings them to life. I often get lazy and render just the UltraScene LOL. Great work on the custom road and I see you used may favorite HDRI (Sunflowers). I've yet to find another that I like better, so I use it over and over. I like the warm light and the clouds.
I can't stop looking at this - it is so inviting! I'm really looking forward to your next one. I added a couple things to my wishlist, based on you excellent use of the items here. I gave you a well deserved "like" in the gallery.

 

Thank you very much for your nice comments.

This is my newest creation. It is an environment specifically created for the Roman Folly temple. This one uses a custom version of the Country Ford ecology. See it in the gallery for all the assets!

As you may notice I also made good use of the Sunflowers HDRI from Poly Haven

This is very impressive indeed. I'd pay money for this environment. Is it totally custom or is there parts of one of the PA's environments in there?

Cheers,

Alex. 

sandmanmax

richardandtracy said:

sandmanmax said:

richardandtracy said:

That looks really magnificent. I do have a problem though - it involves the word 'Plug-in'. I have discovered that manual downloads are impossible on plug-ins, and with an Android tablet as my internet connection, that's all I can do. DAZ's policy of making DIM/DAZ Central the only download method puts plug-ins out of reach for me. It's a shame, as the backgrounds look as fantastic as every other US component.

Is getting a used laptop in the realm of possibility for you?  That's what I did and it's my dedicated DIM device. DIM downloads a zip file and then I can copy it on to a flash drive to transfer it to my desktop.  And the manual install process isn't complicated.

Ideally yes. In practice...I really don't need or want another computer at home. A low spec laptop would drive me up the wall. It would only be used to download plugins. A tablet, in contrast to a low spec laptop, is fast to turn on, doesn't have MS Teams (or MS anything) to foul it up, doesn't have manufacturers bloatware introducing security holes, or anything like that. Then, the Laptop being used so rarely would spend a majority of its time downloading updates, and being a low spec thing would be virtually unable to respond to a cursor move until the updates were done - and experience suggests that would be hours after starting. My kids have had updates kill the battery management on their laptops (making them only work when plugged in) and every removed update gets reinstated next time -it makes you at the mercy of poor quality MS updates. It's needless agro I don't want. All in all, a desperately unattractive alternative, or maybe an alternative of desperation. Just not for me.

LOL!  I get it.  I'm an Android tablet fan, too.  Glad Howie was able to get you a copy of the Accelerator.  It's a game-changer.  Enjoy!

barbult

The last few days I've been playing with creating a road feature so I can have cars drive through UltraScenery.

 

 

 

Daventaki

Very nice Barbult.  This is my finished render.

barbult

Daventaki said:

Very nice Barbult.  This is my finished render.

That looks great. I see the subD worked well for you on the terrain. I like the detail of the car door open. The blue car against the orange/yellow trees is a good contrast.

HeavyRay

barbult said:

The last few days I've been playing with creating a road feature so I can have cars drive through UltraScenery.

 

 

I _SO_ enjoy seeing your US renders....  They are a great inspiration for others and give a sense of what all can be done with this product and some imagination.... Thank you Barb!

barbult

HeavyRay said:

I _SO_ enjoy seeing your US renders....  They are a great inspiration for others and give a sense of what all can be done with this product and some imagination.... Thank you Barb!

You are welcome! I'm glad you are inspired. I have great fun with UltraScenery. Part of it is just seeing what I can do with it. I am more of a technician than an artist. Digging into to the details and pushing the boundaries is fun for me.

HowieFarkes

Loving all the renders!

Here's another peek at the continuing development of UltraSceneryXT. Just using a plain UltraScenery stream and grasslands ecology in the foreground.

barbult

HowieFarkes said:

Loving all the renders!

Here's another peek at the continuing development of UltraSceneryXT. Just using a plain UltraScenery stream and grasslands ecology in the foreground.

It looks very interesting. Keep posting sneak peeks!

Nath

barbult said:

HowieFarkes said:

Loving all the renders!

Here's another peek at the continuing development of UltraSceneryXT. Just using a plain UltraScenery stream and grasslands ecology in the foreground.

It looks very interesting. Keep posting sneak peeks!

Or even sneak peaks...

barbult

Nath said:

Or even sneak peaks...

Or sneak peak peeks... 

shadem980

barbult said:

The last few days I've been playing with creating a road feature so I can have cars drive through UltraScenery.

 

 

 

I would be interested in hearing more on how you did this. It looks really cool.

memcneil70

barbult said:

HeavyRay said:

I _SO_ enjoy seeing your US renders....  They are a great inspiration for others and give a sense of what all can be done with this product and some imagination.... Thank you Barb!

You are welcome! I'm glad you are inspired. I have great fun with UltraScenery. Part of it is just seeing what I can do with it. I am more of a technician than an artist. Digging into to the details and pushing the boundaries is fun for me.

I dispute that you are 'more of a technician than an artist'! You are an artist of the ilk of da Vinci and he also was a technician, in that he studied his tools, his technique and expanded the limits of what was done for artists. You are following in his steps and expanding in his steps and studying your tools and your technique and expanding all our limits for 'all' the products within D|S. An artist uses the tools they are given. You are one.

And I may not pop in everytime all these wonderful renders are posted by you and others, but be assured, there is a quiet cheering section here in Denver for all of you.

Mary

hacsart

I'd pay for an addon like that  - imagine a choice fo road types and surfaces, (even ballasted RR tracks, hint!)

Fantastic!

barbult said:

The last few days I've been playing with creating a road feature so I can have cars drive through UltraScenery.

 

 

 

hacsart

Want! - that is amazing - instant buy! (when available!)

HowieFarkes said:

Loving all the renders!

Here's another peek at the continuing development of UltraSceneryXT. Just using a plain UltraScenery stream and grasslands ecology in the foreground.

 

hacsart

have to admit, even  using just the very basic US capabilities sure is fun!

DoctorJellybean

barbult said:

The last few days I've been playing with creating a road feature so I can have cars drive through UltraScenery.

Great renders as usual!

Do you have any more Camera Presets for the newer add-ons?

barbult

shadem980 said:

barbult said:

The last few days I've been playing with creating a road feature so I can have cars drive through UltraScenery.

I would be interested in hearing more on how you did this. It looks really cool.

To create my own Feature for UltraScenery, I follow these basic steps:

1. Copy one of the original Feature folders that has similar type of feature (to create a road, copy a track feature)
2. Rename the copied folder and files within it to give it a unique name for my new Feature
3. Edit the info.json to change the old Feature name to my new Feature name (I use notepad++)
4. Study the height map and mask files used for the original Feature to understand how they work, then create my own images for my new feature
5. Update the info.json file again to reference the new images I created
6. Select texture files to use for the UltraScene Terrain shader sections and update the info.json again to use those texture files.
7. Test - modify - test - modify ...

barbult

memcneil70 said:

barbult said:

HeavyRay said:

I _SO_ enjoy seeing your US renders....  They are a great inspiration for others and give a sense of what all can be done with this product and some imagination.... Thank you Barb!

You are welcome! I'm glad you are inspired. I have great fun with UltraScenery. Part of it is just seeing what I can do with it. I am more of a technician than an artist. Digging into to the details and pushing the boundaries is fun for me.

I dispute that you are 'more of a technician than an artist'! You are an artist of the ilk of da Vinci and he also was a technician, in that he studied his tools, his technique and expanded the limits of what was done for artists. You are following in his steps and expanding in his steps and studying your tools and your technique and expanding all our limits for 'all' the products within D|S. An artist uses the tools they are given. You are one.

And I may not pop in everytime all these wonderful renders are posted by you and others, but be assured, there is a quiet cheering section here in Denver for all of you.

Mary

Thank you for your kind, encouraging message, Mary!

barbult

hacsart said:

I'd pay for an addon like that  - imagine a choice fo road types and surfaces, (even ballasted RR tracks, hint!)

Fantastic!

I'm not a PA, and don't intend to become one, so maybe you can convince Howie Farkes or Tango Alpha to create such a features pack that you can purchase. I just do this for my own fun and the challenge of seeing what I can do.

I made some RR Track Features a couple weeks ago. I posted some images, but they were in reply to another post and not expanded into the message as large images. I'll post them large here.

Last night I was playing with creating a RR crossing, where a road crosses the tracks, but I was set back a bit by the realization that I cannot have different "road" textures (the ballast) under the tracks and a paved road texture for the actual traffic road (concrete or asphalt). The UltraScene Terrain shader has only one set of road base/road surface textures. I have a couple ideas for a workaround that I'll experiment with.

The existing size of UltraScenery terrain is pretty limiting when creating railroad tracks or automotive roads, so I look forward to a possible future larger area to work in.

alexhcowley

hacsart said:

have to admit, even  using just the very basic US capabilities sure is fun!

That's one seriously evil looking creature!

Cheers,

Alex. 

barbult

DoctorJellybean said:

Great renders as usual!

Do you have any more Camera Presets for the newer add-ons?

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the latest renders!

I haven't made any new camera sets. Maybe I should. They can be very handy. I actually wasn't aware that anyone else really cared much about them or used them. Your question kind of surprised me.

Fixed location cameras are easy over a water feature, because water is always at height 0. Land height varies tremendously some times, based on the terrain settings (max altitude, noise, and height map), so the cameras could easily get buried below ground. Some Features control the ground so much (as Doc Acme discovered with some of the Stones Features), that even the land is at a constant height.

barbult

alexhcowley said:

hacsart said:

have to admit, even  using just the very basic US capabilities sure is fun!

That's one seriously evil looking creature!

Cheers,

Alex. 

Yes, I wouldn't want to run into him on a hike. Very nice render @hacsart ! Adding furry animals to UltraScenery can be difficult some times.

hacsart

Thanks all!

RGcincy

I made some roads in Ultrascenery. Images posted starting here.

I created a .duf file for one of them that you can download from this post. The image below shows this road in use (Pines 1 ecology):