[Just Released] Epic Environments - Floating Sky Island
PA_ThePhilosopher
Posts: 1,039
Hi all,
So this island is finally finished and ready to go through QA. Hope you all enjoy it. I know it looks big, but its my lightest enviroment yet (on resources), at only 65,000 actual polygons in each scene file. As always, let me know if you have any questions or suggestions (note, it also features another upcoming project I am working on, animated clouds---still a WIP though!)
P.S. As an aside, if anyone knows how to embed Vimeo vidoes in these forums, please let me know!
-P
DEMONSTRATION VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/331054084/091f5f3e9a
Welcome to the first installment of the Epic Environment series. Floating Sky Island is more than just an environment. It is a fully featured package, including lighting, cameras, haze, clouds, 16k skydome, even birds! Basically everything you see in the promos is what you get!
But don’t let looks deceive you. Although this set is massive (at 308 acres of usable land to set your story to), it is super-light on resources. At only 65,000 actual polygons, this environment is the fastest yet by The Philosopher.
Promo Reel:
Link: https://vimeo.com/331054084/091f5f3e9a*Recommended GPU: GTX 650 or greater
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Comments
Absolutely amazing work! The video really shows it's magesty. This is very nicely done PA_ThePhilosopher. I'm still chugging away with an Nvidia 610. But this would be well worth killing it with, ...well, sorta :) Very nice work. Me want!
James Cameron for those of us on a more modest budget. I am most impressed.
Cheers,
Alex.
Thanks guys. @Td3d I would imagine it should be ok even on a Nvidia 610. 65k polygons is about the same as a genesis figure, to give a sense of how low of resources this environment is.
-P
Looks very cool. But why have the grass and trees to be angle-dependent? Couldn't you use 3d props and scatter them?
Proapably you'll not change that ;) But maybe you could add at least for the grass a scatter map, so that we can do this by ourself? :D
Well that's even better news. Thank s for that info. Awesome!
Looks spectacular. Can't wait for it to be in the store!
Awesome stuff Philosopher, love the video and the epic music that goes along with it, I'm impressed how you managed such a massive scene to be only 65,000 polys, good luck on your sales!
When I was first designing this product, I started with 3D grass and tree objects. However, I ran into significant slow-downs and bottlenecks scattering that may polygons into a landscape this big (even on my dual 1080 Ti rig). I could have stuck with it, but wanted this product to be more accesssible to the average user, not just those with $4k multi-GPU workstations. Secondly, the main aspect of this product is not the landscape; it is the floating island. Pressumably, therefore, most shots will be distant shots of the island, not closeup shots of the grass. While the landscape can be used for closeups, it is not the focus of this product.
What is nice about the alpha cards---which I discovered as I was designing this---is they have a wide angle of view. You don't have to be exactly 90 degree perpendicular to them. As you can see in the video, you can pan the camera from one end to the other and it still look realistic.
All things considered, it was a trade-off I was willing to make. The speed improvement was so staggering, from "slow-sludge" of 3D objects to "like-having-nothing-in-your-scene-at-all"----it was worth it to me.
My next project, however, will be an environment which does utlitze 3D objects for the foliage. :)
-P
Thanks for the explanation, but the landscape is the draw for me, and from other meadow sets using billboards/alpha planes, I know that the illusion---not real 3D---is the only thing that matters.
I think there's room and purpose for a lot of different approaches; if you have ultrascatter and plants (of many many many MANY possible types, from modern ecosystems to ancient to alien...) you can certainly apply whatever you want to such a landscape.
A lot of billboard solutions are HUGELY effective in keeping render speeds reasonable while looking quite decent.
Eager to buy. ;)
Will,
I agree. I've rendered forest environments where the foreground is 3D geometry and the background is a 2D billboard. Stonemason has been using this technique very effectively for many years (see The Enchanted Forest). Properly used, the results can be quite spectacular.
Cheers,
Alex.
That's the technique I use too, like this one:
Can't wait for this!
Good heavens, your environmental products are stunning.
If you ever do a deep sea abyss with optional oceanic mountains, I think you'll have covered almost all the bases!
Working on that already!
(I have a large library of unfinished projects that I go back to every now and then when I get the inspiration...habit of a procrastinator).
Here are a few reference images I am using (see below)...still looking for more though... If you have any reference images, send them my way. :)
-P
Dreams do come true!
I've been wanting something like this for a while, going to be an instant buy.
I've always loved the concept of floating islands. While I rarely buy anything anymore this will be a must have.
Absolutely stunning! You've done it again. I use your BOSS lighting and animated ocean again and again.
Do you have any of my now-crowd billboard products? In theory, my Now-Crowd Orient Billboard script should work with your foliage billboards if the primary axis is the z axis (instead of using presets). I was wondering if it does. If not, I would be happy to tweak it and you could include it if you haven't already submitted to Daz.
@RiverSoftArt Thank you for the generous offer. When I was designing the foliage, I was thinking of orienting them toward a main camera. However, since these are instances, I don't think that can be done for each inidividual instance. I know how to do it with objects, but not instances. I am not familiar with the Now-Crowd Orient Billboard script. I just tried doing a search in the store but couldn't find it. Do you have a link where I can read more about it? It sounds very useful.
Thanks again my friend,
-P
One example of the clever RiverSoftArt billboards: https://www.daz3d.com/now-crowd-billboards--court-life
I just tried the script with Now-Crowd instances and it seems to work. The Orient Billboard script comes with any Now-Crowd Billboard product, such as https://www.daz3d.com/now-crowd-billboards--disaster If you PM me your email, I can send you the script (and supporting files) and you can see if it works for you.
Oooo, very interesting. PM sent!
-P
And the sky island is up: https://www.daz3d.com/epic-environments--floating-sky-island
(Thanks for the extra loyalty discount, too
)
Another browser-scorchingly fast entry into the shopping basket. It's a bank holiday weekend over here in the United Kingdom so I will have plenty of time to play with it over the next few days.
My thanks, as well, for the loyalty discount.
Cheers,
Alex.
Yep just released today, thanks guys for all your support.
-P
A real quick render to help me get a feel for this.
@dragonfly_2004 Nice! Looking good!
Looking forward to playing with this one, its really beautiful! Hoping to have a bit of time today. And I also appreciate the discount as well!
You know I promised myself I wasn't going to spend any more at DAZ until June. So much for that resolution