Creating Vegetation on a Large Scale

Shadows for 2D Trees
Creating realistic shadows for 2D trees can be quite challenging if not approached carefully. Even using a good approach can have dire consequences when specific details in implementation are not taken into consideration. There are four types of shadows that can be used in conjunction with 2D trees. Each has advantages and disadvantages and which method you use depends greatly on the same things discussed earlier, which also drive which type of vegetation you create; RAM, rendering time, scene complexity, etc. Though there is no official title to any of these shadows types, we will use the following terms to delineate the different types-

• 3D Shadows
• Opacity Mapped Shadows
• Project Light Shadows
• Image Shadows

3D Shadows
The most realistic type of shadow that can be used for a 2D tree is the shadow of a 3D tree. Unfortunately, it's also the least efficient and most time-consuming method. To implement, simply place a 3D tree at the center of a 2D tree, disable the Visible to Camera and Visible to Reflection options and disable the Cast Shadows option of the 2D tree. The images below show an example of a 2D tree using the shadow of a 3D tree. The 3D tree that was used was the Generic Oak from the 3ds Max Foliage feature. Even with the branches and trunk disabled, this particular tree can have from 5k to 8k faces, depending on which seed value you use. Although this is a relatively small number of faces for a scene of over a million faces, it would not be practical to use a large number of these trees to make 3D shadows because as few as 200 could add an additional one million faces to your scene.

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An In-depth Look at Image Sampling

Introduction
This article was written to clear up some misconceptions about the V-Ray image sampler and was a direct response to a thread posted on the Chaos Forum (click here to view thread). In this thread, several users found the explanation of the image sampler in the article Critical V-Ray Settings very helpful but were confused about why certain settings were recommended. In this article we (3DAS) wrote,

By default, the Min and Max values are 1 and 4 respectively, which provides decent quality for test purposes. However, these values will often need to be raised for production renders. Values such as 3 and 6 are typically good settings for most production purposes. Caution should be taken in using higher values than 6 because of the possibility of excessive render times. Additionally, it is a good idea not to separate the Min and Max values by more than 2 or 3. Doing so can result in a wide range in quality of detail because it leaves VRay more room to guess incorrectly.

In the Chaos thread, somone wrote-

ok after extensive testing, that qmc setting does not make sense - its faster to do min 1 max 6 and the quality does not suffer which is what the document suggests

Another wrote-

I totally agree about with that as well. I was using Min 1 max 10 with the to get my glossies nice and smooth, and to give the QMC sampler enough room to sample adaptively for good results. After reading the PDF I tried Min 4 Max 6 settings and it increased my rendertimes with no visible difference in quality

Followed by many more like-

But then I started thinking (must remember to engage brain before fiddling) and looked again - so the pshot is the guys at cgarchitect need informing they are wrong on that point! - though I guess it depends a bit on what their qmc adaptive settings were

Many good points were made in this thread but a lot of assumptions were also made. Hopefully this article will help clear up the subject of image sampling. I would argue that image sampling is the most important and least understood feature in V-Ray. If you do not conduct good image sampling, having extremely high quality settings in other areas of the program (like irradiance maps and the QMC sampler) will do you absolutely no good.

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Creating Backgrounds for 3D Scenes

Introduction
Backgrounds are a critical part of just about every type of 3D scene. Although they are a relatively simple element to add to a scene, backgrounds can just as easily be a source of frustration and problems for 3ds Max users. There are two main types of backgrounds – those created with geometry and those created by use of the Environment Map channel. Both have advantages and disadvantages over the other and both can be broken into several subcategories. The following discussion explains each of these categories and subcategories and looks at methods to implement each type of background.

Environment Channel Backgrounds
This is the simplest type of background to implement, yet often the most difficult to make look good. It is nothing more than using a color or a map in a fixed orientation. By default, 3ds Max uses a black color swatch in the Environment and Effects dialog box to provide a black background. This type of background is a poor choice regardless of the color, but black is particularly bad even for test renders because of how it can hide the boundaries of an object.

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Antialiasing and its Side Effects

Introduction
In the 3D world, render engines use a process known as SuperSampling to improve the quality of rendered output by decreasing the effect of aliasing. Aliasing is a term to describe imperfections in the rendering process caused by color changes that are too drastic, and that occur over too small an area of screen space to be adequately depicted by the pixels that define that space. In a single still image, aliasing is certainly noticeable and can reduce realism, but if the same scene is set in motion, the results can be downright distracting and can ruin what would otherwise be a great animation. Two examples of these antialiasing side effects are flickering and texture crawling. The following discussion explains this problem further and discusses a unique and effective way of reducing these unwanted effects for any animation. The results are sure to amaze.

Flickering
Flickering occurs during animations when materials, such as the grass shown below, have a speckled appearance with drastic changes in color occurring over a small number of pixels. In these cases, the computer cannot accurately determine which color to assign a given pixel, because the edge of two colors exists in the middle of a pixel. In the left image below, supersampling is disabled, and the contrast in adjacent pixels is harsher than in the right image, in which supersampling is enabled. When scenes with these textures are animated, the difference between the two can be dramatic.

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The 3D Animation Process Overview

Introduction

The intent of this article is to provide some insight to some of the major steps of a typical animation project from the first meeting with a client, through post production and delivery of the final product. Every project is unique and every firm takes its own approach to producing professional animations, but this discussion lists some of the typical problems and pitfalls that plague our work and some techniques that can improve your workflow and save you enormous time and grief. The following is a list of some of the major steps of a typical animation.

1. Market Your Services
2. Talk/Meet with Client
3. Do not disclose price
4. Determine end product
5. Learn as much about project as possible
6. Request drawings
7. Make contact with other companies
8. Receive and inspect drawings
9. Question poor designs
10. Determine what will be seen and the level of detail
11. Create production timeline
12. Write proposal / PSA
13. Receive signed contract and deposit
14. Create project folders
15. Ensure you have latest drawings
16. Break up project
17. Clean and prepare CAD linework
18. Import linework
19. Model building elements
20. Model site elements
21. Create an assembly line work flow
22. Save incrementally and save often
23. Merge background rig
24. Use material libraries
25. Merge scene elements
26. Load lighting preset
27. Create animation paths
28. Create copy of maps in project folder
29. Create test renders
30. Fix / change animation
31. Create production render
32. Post production

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Creating 3D Site Plans

Introduction

Creating a 3D site plan can seem like a daunting challenge and can easily frustrate experienced users. For many years, I have experimented with virtually every possible way to create site plans, and the chances are that if you’ve been frustrated with a particular plan of attack, I have probably experienced a similar frustration when trying the same thing. I now find myself using the same steps and tips and tricks on just about every site I work on, with minor variations in site elements specific to each piece of work. With a little practice using these routines, anyone can breeze through constructing a solid site foundation in minimal time.

In this tutorial, I wanted to demonstrate as many tips, tricks, and routines as possible, spending minimal time on repetitive steps that waste time without teaching anything new. Therefore, the site plan used in this tutorial may appear overly simplified. For example, lines that represent streets are often poorly constructed and contain countless breaks, rather than being continuous lines. Rather than giving you lines that require hours of editing and welding to fix, I have provided near perfect linework, with only a few imperfections that allow me to demonstrate problems usually commonplace to site drawings. This will allow the tutorial to progress rather quickly in comparison to real-world site planning, and therefore speed up and optimize learning considerably.

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