David Roberson - Previews & Experiments

So far, my favorite threads have been peoples experiment and work-in-progress threads. It seems like a good idea, to get a bit of feedback -- or help -- on filters I'm developing.

To kick things off, I have a pair of related terraforming filters. The first is really a responsive layout tool, stripped down to the basic black-and-white Ocean Mask (Terraform Plus - Hydroform). The second is the full Terraform Plus.

...guess I have to do these one at a time.


While I'm thinking about it, does anyone know of a way to save (or cut and paste, maybe) settings from one filter to another (between versions of the same filter, anyway)?

_Bench 02A Terraform Plus.ffxml

This is what the height map looks like...

Wasn't ready to quit early for the day, so I took an hour or two and updated my Technical Panels filter. Worked out a more functional height map, improved the metallic surfaces and added noise variation control in Settings.



I'm submitting the update as soon as I've gone over the presets lighting.

Well, I solve 9 out of 10 problems... then number 11 pops up, and I have to go all the way back to the beginning.

Sigh.

I appreciate the offer, but I think I've just about got it working again. I just need to recalibrate the elevation gradients. I will be posting the current version of the filter in a bit, though.

I have not given up on getting Terraform Plus to work as a complete filter, but the three major components work fine, so I can post them for a preview.

Basically, use the first part to find a good layout and render it. Then you load that first image into the second part, generate the terrain details and render. Finally, load the first and second render into the third to color the terrain and add ice caps if you like.

Here's part A:

_Bench 02 Terraform Plus [A1] - Hydroform.ffxml

And, Part C:

_Bench 02 Terraform Plus [C1] - Chromaform.ffxml

If you're new to Filter Forge, and in any doubt about using the wiki, help and forums, I can really vouch for them. I'm comfortable with self-teaching, but there is a lot of useful information out there that has saved my bacon on this project.

The solution to my problem involved some cut-and-paste, a lot of weeding, and a couple of added features in a new filter environment. So, now that I've broken down and re-incorporated the three main components, and added a couple of simple cut-outs (a fast mask and fast terrain demo mode), I've got a faster, more optimized filter!

The upd ate generates a simple mask and a fast terrain by default. The option to load pre-generated masks and terrain is there still; once you have the layout set and rendered, you can by-pass the mask generation to build your terrain. Once built and rendered, the detailed terrain can be loaded, bypassing the demo and generator and allowing the terrain coloring to be se t with immediate responsiveness (at least in my initial test).

I have to create the presets still, so it's still a little way from being submitted. I'm posting the filter (with just the default prese t) for people to test drive. If you are so inclined, you can post your favorite layout (and parameters) here, and I may add them to the presets when I submit the filter to the library (or in an update, which is probably more likely given forum use).

_Bench 01.1 Terraform Plus.ffxml

Good test render!



_Bench 01.1 Terraform Plus.ffxml

The image is a bit smaller than expected. I saved it out while in the filter editor...

...and here is the updated filter!

_Bench 01.1 Terraform Plus.ffxml

After all that work, there was still too much lag! That forced me to really look at how I was generating my terrain; there had to be a more efficient way to get the look I needed. Turns out, I'd already built a better starting point for a terrain. I just had to use the noise from the ocean mask in a different way.

So, I went back to rebuilding and testing, and found my problem spot. I was putting too much into my erosion branch. The median and refraction were choking on it. Having cleaned that up, and finished re-calibrating, I got to a much more reasonable render time.

Here's the most recent test render, and the filter is attached:



_Bench 01.4 Terraform Plus.ffxml

Here's the current layout generator, too:

_Bench 02.4 Terraform Plus - Hydroform.ffxml

Thank you! I'm almost done with the presets. There's only one change I'm contemplating before submitting it to the Library. Given a choice, I'd want this to render at 2:1 aspect ratio, so there's no stretching when you wrap it on a globe. I know there's a way to force it to conform to the Image Bounds, but I do need Seamless Tiling on as well.

My solution could be to split the square, with the diffuse map on the top half, and a normal map on the bottom. The added bonus is that you use the one image for both map slots, and adjust the tiling. I could do the same with the height map, footing it with a specular/gloss or ocean mask.

Dunno if that'll add too much overhead to the render, though.

For full detail go here...

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Indigo Ray wrote: I hope you don't mind, I tested it out with my planet render filter. The only things I tweaked were a few sliders and the color gradients

Which filter is that? I've looked at your filters and don't see it but you do have some other filters I can't wait to try for some graphics projects i have in mind.

have you posted this planet render filter yet?

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I hope you don't mind, I tested it out with my planet render filter. The only things I tweaked were a few sliders and the color gradients.

Indigo Ray, I checked your filter list to see if your planet renderer had been posted to the Library. It's been a few months, so I figured I should ask if you're still working on it. For my own part, I'm still trying to get Terraform Plus to work at a more reasonable pace. Seems like every time I think I got it optimized, it decides to break the filter file, stopping further progress and forcing me to start building again from scratch!

For the life of me, I can't figure out why a component set that works fine for a hundred times suddenly decides not to let go of a process thread, killing the filter.

Dry version:

Okay, here's the Terraform default diffuse "wet" texture:

The good news is, I haven't killed my work in progress on Terraform Plus. So, here's a recent test render:

Looking at it in higher resolution, it'll definately be a mix. The coloring method needs to be revised to make it a lot less random, but there's something to the range of colors when you can get the right mix.

...and the newer Terraform:

Terraform.ffxml