clouds?

[Houkah]

it looks like the beginning of the video shows how to do it... multiple textures of clouds w/ alpha maps to get rid of any sky and just show the clouds. Then u animate those layers to give the clouds the feeling that they're moving at diff. speeds. Do u want the clouds under the peaks of the hills or above them? If they're below the peaks u might have to constrain animation to 1 direction so that the layer doesn't break through the hill mesh. Who knows maybe i'm completely wrong :p

[two.oh]

yea, see, thats a big problem, i dont want the clouds to go into the meshes, heh...

i dont get what you mean by moving them only in one direction though, wouldn't they still go into the mesh?

is it possible to do it with just a volumetric effect and still get that kind of detail like in the video?

[bugo]

for those who a have a nice PC try to get fluid effects on maya 4.5 and use the default fluid effects listed in the visor! there you can get alot of cloud types!

[altruizine]

here's a link to a how-to for volumetric clouds:

http://cade.scope.edu/courseware/notes/phenomena/

give that a shot, right now that link is not working for me, but maybe you can try it later. There are several good tutes on that page.

The rustboy method is pretty good for an approximation. It will almost certainly be FASTER than a true volume approach. If you use enough layers w/ a low enough opacity on each of the cloud textures it can look quite good actually.

I would reccomend playing around with it.

-JF

[Kabab]

Fluids !

To do this make a container the size you wants and give it a heap of resolution (tweak to get good look to performance ratio).

Select the container and add contents with a gradient then select constant density in the fluids attribute edditor under the "contents method" tab.

Set all the other attributes off such as temp etc etc but leave density as is.

Open up the texture tab in the fluids attributes and select "texture opacity" and then choose billow you can try the others but i think billow looks the best but its the slowest and now tweak

Also try playing with the ramp which controls density under the shading options, make sure this is set to density.

Make sure you have HARDWARE SHADING on in the viewport to see whats going on.

Try playing with self shadows and colours etc.

Have fun :bounce:

[two.oh]

hmmm, fluids can give me a cloud like effect? i've been trying that method and all i get are renderings of white even though ive been tweaking every option.......thats strange.

[two.oh]

they kinda look more like grains more than clouds......hmmm am i doing it wrong?

[Kabab]

Okay i mucked around with a few things but couldn't quiet get that look you where after.

However i stumbled across this preset:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/bsanayei/3d_vis/cloud_ball.jpg

Perhaps you could use a few of these to get that look the preset is called cloud puff.

I put the ball in it so you could see the opacity

[Tierackk]

Fluid effects give Incredibly realistic clouds!!!... however i seem to be having a problem with shadows.. Im doing a matte and i have a nurbs plane mimicing the mountain that i have in the pic.. I'm using the -perlin 3d clouds-preset and turn on shadows and I cant see anything(shadows).. Cast shadows is turned on...self shadows is up .. if i throw a sphere into the scene it casts a shadow.. can anyone else please let me know what im missing here... im assuming that these fluids can casts shadows, I mean considering you can turn them off in the render attribute..:D

[Kabab]

That works for me prehaps you can try playing around with the color gradient to simulate the effects of self shadowing i know most of the AW presets do this.

[two.oh]

hahahaha, damn, i havent seem to gotten that far yet, haha

[Sgt.ArchAngel]

Kabab

how you do those clouds?
im a total n00b with maya so i could use some tips on something like that

[Kabab]

Thats just a preset from AW.

Create a fluid container got to then goto its attributes.

Then hold down the preset button and pick away !

Also if you look in the visor there are lots of fluid presets.

Just study the settings in there and play around i with settings, all the presets have great documentation.

I think this is the best way to learn fluids.

I think fluids is a very very powerfull tool once you understand it.

[two.oh]

wow, that is so kick ass!!!!!!

[Nicool]

I don't remeber if the name of this plugin (and if it is a maya plugin either) but look a this wonderful particle work!

[Nicool]

.

[Kabab]

You should be able to produce identical results using maya fluids you just need some grunt for thoes calculations..

[two.oh]

okay cool, im gonna tweak those cloud effects whenever i wake up, jeez, its 6AM and i havent slept yet.

anyways, im having problems with that and fur.....

here, ive posted a picture, the fur seems to be ineffective to the clouds, anyone know whats up?

http://www.funktion-studios.com/images/shot000.jpg

[M-H]

Dear, Nicool

your work is very good
but i saw these movies on the other site


what is your real name ?

[two.oh]

does anyone know how to fix that image up top? the fog is being portrayed as a background to the grass for some reason and i dont know how to fix it....

the fog was done with fluids

[altruizine]

nicool:

Those images and movies acoompanied Jos Stam's initial presentation regarding the Stable Fluids equations he worked on at A|W research.

That's not from a plugin - however those are the SAME equations governing the current maya fluids simulations.

His work developed a method of close approximation of fluid dynamics that a) calculated quickly - much faster than Navier-Stokes and other fluid simulations and b) could calculate at any time step - many "faster" simulations will simply break down in the 30-60 calculations per second time steps and explode. The stable fluids equations are stable at any time step and are a fair approximation of fluidic movement.

Actually for some virtual wind tunnel testing, they're more accurate than Real World wind tunnels simply because of the error induced w/ placing sensors on models...

Regardless - the sim governing the images you posted is nearly the exact sim used in maya now.

Cool Stuff and the paper's a very interesting read!

-JF

[Kabab]

Doesn't maya use Navier-Stokes equations ?? i've heard that it uses it many times.

As for the accuracy of the maya fluids wind tunnels i have shown it to a couple of aero engineers at work and they all think for simpler objects it would be quiet accurate but as the complexity of the object goes up the accuracy falls off.

We have a mini wind tunnel at work i should do some comparisons :)

[M-H]

nicooooooooooooooooooooooooool


where are you ?

please update ..... :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[altruizine]

Nope, not navier-stokes.

N-S is way to slow to of any use in the entertainment industry.

Here's a link to Jos Stam's publications:

http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/people/stam/reality/Research/pub.html

Look for Stable Fluids - Siggraph 99

That's a good bit of the research that went into developing the Maya fluids engine.

as for it's accuracy using larger, more complex models - that very well may be. The fluids system is designed to be visually accurate - which means physically accurate but only to a certain point.

Either way, its an amazing tool that they've created with a great deal of potential. I personally don't have Maya Unlimited - I would really like to see more work from it.

-JF

[two.oh]

hey altruizine, are you from nyc? you wouldn't happen to be a maya teacher would ya?

[altruizine]

From NYC? Yep!

Maya Teacher? Not that I konw of... :surprised

just your average graphics lackey workin for TV.. heh.


-JF

[two.oh]

cool dude, you work for a broadcasting tv station?

[altruizine]

I work for a digital cable station...

Where in brooklyn are you from?

-JF

[two.oh]

very cool.....

williamsburg, im a student at parsons studying in animation/communication design

are you in brooklyn too?

[Nicool]

altruizine & R-H : It's not my pictures, it was some demo images I've got on the plugin site if I remember well:scream:

[wedge]

Nicool: those are not a plugin. those are from a particle test from a University computer science program. I think it was Cornell.

[Nicool]

ok;)

[altruizine]

Nicool: Didn't mean to suggest that they were yours, I was saying that they did accompany Jos Stam's Stable Fluid paper and they're not a plugin, but are the basis for maya's current fluids system.

two.oh: just moved into Park Slope a few months ago - have been in NYC for one full year in a few days. Moved here for my job. Good stuff..


-JF

[two.oh]

no kidding, cool man, we should get some beers someday, haha

[altruizine]

two.oh:

heh..Actually, since you're in NYC you should check out the Pioneer Theater tomorrow (sunday). I think that's the last day they're showing all of the Oscar Nominated shorts (both animated and Live action)

I went today - it was fantastic. (plus I had to cleanse myself after seeing The Core last night *shudder*)

here's my take...

Animated:

Mt. Head:
Great, Funny, Awesome Voice Over, Very cool animation style - just weird tho...

The Cathedral:
Crazy good visuals (grand in scope), No real substance.

Chubb Chubbs (winner):
Um, why did it win? Shallow unoriginal jokes, predictable story, visuals were good but not dramatically so... feh.

Mike's New Car:
good, but I really don't think it was oscar nomination quality... hmm.

Das Rad:
The clear winner in my book. Great visuals, awesome mix of animation styles, good story.

Live Action:

Fait D'Hiver
Ha!! Loved it. Made me laugh, morbid, but funny.

I'll Wait For the Next One:
This came to a much faster end than I expected - but not in a good way. I felt a bit let down.

Inja:
I can't say that there's anything truely wrong with this movie, but I also can't say that it was a stand out. I felt the message was very clear and well communicated.

Johnny Flynton:
Nominated, but not in this show for some reason..

This Charming Man (winner):
Deserved to win, had a great mix of elements. Humor, story, looked great. Really enjoyed this one.

So, anyway, if you're in NYC you should check it out.. Pioneer Theater on Avenue A, near Two Boots. Think the shows are at 4, 6, and 8. Theater only seats about 100... Lemme look for a link....

http://www.twoboots.com/pioneer/

make it a priority... good stuff!!

-JF

[mayic]

wanted to throw this in even though it may not suit your purpose but...
u can animate a fractal to create certain smoke and cloud like movements.
in the fractal is a box to check for "inflection",
set threshold at around .7.
set the repeat UV in the placement node to .25 and you get something resembling clouds or smoke.
use an expression to animate the offset in the placement node "=time*.02"
check the "animated" box.
keyframe the time attribute from 0 at frame 0 to something very small like .2 at frame 200 or so. Also, set the time ratio to 1.5 or so. this will make the fractal more random as it moves giving the effect of clouds or smoke billowing into and out of existence.

If you are particularly ambitious you can color remap the fractal and create explosions.

all of this comes courtesy of the textr 2 class at Gnomon. if anyone is in the la area this is one awesome place to be learning.

[two.oh]

thanks mayic...

altruizine
thanks man, supposively they're showing it till april 8th, ill check it out for sure though since its only $6.50 for me..........thanks for letting me know though

[two.oh]

http://www.funktion-studios.com/images/shot000.jpg

does anyone know how to fix this? i was using Maya Fur for the grass and Fluids for the fog/clouds, but it seems like the grass is overlaying the fog for some reason and i dont know how to fix that...

any suggestions?

[altruizine]

not having Unlimited, I don't have fur or fluids... However, my guess would be you're having some troubles w/ the render engine since fluids is rendered in and fur is placed in after the render is completely (like paint effects)...

So, maya's render engine may be having trouble w/ the alpha and depth maps.

dunno if this is common or if there is a fix.. however you should be able to render each element seperately and lay them in together in photoshop to get the correct blending..

[bugo]

well, see what I made with fluid effects and fur! :)

[two.oh]

did that take you awhile to render?

[bugo]

9 hours, 3x bigger then this one!

about the overlaying the fog or painting stuff above fur, i really dont know how to do that, coz mine is doing this error too! I cant render Fur with paint effects together one above other...

[two.oh]

yea, haha, thats what i thought.........

i cant do that, im trying to render an animation haha.......i got a question though, how do you know that that's going to be the end result? did you preview it on a smaller and smaller resolution?

i just hate rendering for hours and then realizing that the end result isnt exactly what i wanted

[bugo]

shure, i waited so much on the tests, first I rendered the image on 200x100, then i pass to render 300x150, each one took me 30 min or more!

[two.oh]

damn, i need a faster computer

[bugo]

me too
I have an athlon XP 1600+ with a GeForce 4 ti and 512 ddr, i dont know if this is quite good for maya, I love to spend my time on cloth effects, i think im going to buy an Octane, hehehehehe, lol, impossible! here in Brazil its very impossible!

[2-LE]

excuse me guys.
do any of you know where to get more presets like those clouds and sky & smoke I see in the visor?
there must be more..


regards
Bille

[bugo]

in the aliaswavefront maya´s page, if you regist there, i think there you could get some more effects like that!

[2-LE]

oki! Ill take a look.
thnx

[mtheory]

There's an easy to follow fluid cloud tutorial in the 4.5 docs

[M-H]

hi to all

nicol, sorry me i don't know
but .....

and my name is M-H

not R-H

[M-H]

ok?
nicol, i wasn't

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