HCR MINI-Challenge #23: Ansel Adams Tribute: FAQ

#2

many of his photos have atmospheric effects, fog, clouds, misty waterfalls. i’m curious about how these are to be dealt with, i suppose clouds could be modeled but i don’t have a clue about the rest.
also his sense of lighting is amazing, is this something we should try to replicate as well in our finished piece?

also as another user is already doing the one of ansel on his car that you posted (is that shot by him?) are we allowed to do portrait photos of ansel that might be by other people.

and i’m confused about how exactly we go about doing a 3d model of a landscape based off one of his photos, i can see how to do it from the angle he shot it at, but do we have to do a full landscape 360 degrees for the 3 necessary shots. sorry about my ignorance on these matters.

#3

Yes you can, but the biggest factor in the judging of the piece has to be the modeling.

I will allow for some leeway on this one.

#4

I love Ansel Adams work, this looks like a perfect chance to use Landscape generation packages such as Vue or Terragen, is this allowed? If so I am so definitely in :slight_smile:
cyphyr

#5

I can’t answer for Roberto but I would say no. I think the whole point of this challenge was that most landscapes and environments are procedural to an extent and therefore modeling of landscapes is sort of nonexistent now. So it would be fun to do a kind of hardcore modeling that most people don’t have to do anymore. Using any of the standard generating packages seems to me to defeat the purpose of this being a modeling challenge.

#6

Quick note to that, I’m not saying that there is no art to using those packages, I just feel like for this particular challenge it doesn’t really work.

#7

Oh well, that’s a shame (if it turns out that way) I think that the procedural element would be useful but only so far, building the base mesh from specific landform date would be a good way to start (especially as most of AA’s work is US based and there is freely available digital elevation data for all the USA). Getting a rough landscape is easy, getting the detail is the harder part.
cyphyr

#8

Well, I certainly don’t mean to dissuade you from participating. It’s Roberto’s call, that was just my feeling. And still, these challenges aren’t for prizes, more for fun and experience so it’s probably still kosher to participate as long as you are up front about how you are proceeding.

#9

Here is right…

To be honest I would prefer if the modeling was done without the use of programs like vue/terragen.
If you intend to post an entry, that would be fine, but it would not be elegible for voting.

BUT…If you finish the entry I will showcase it when the voting thread comes up.

#10

What about sculpting in zbrush and maya and then adding texture and ecosystems in vue?
All the objects in the scene would be modeled by regular modeling programs.

Would this be eligable for voting?

#11

That sounds more kosher…

Go ahead.

-R

#12

what do you mean by “ecosystems”?

#13

The program VUE has ther ability to create vast realistic ecosystems (plants, trees, rocks, objects, etc.) to populate your landscape quicker and easier.

For example:
i am createing a outdoor piece so i would model all the mountains, rocks, objects, etc. in zbrush & Maya and then texture the objects in vue and then poulate the scene with the appropriate trees and plant life.

#14

Thank you.
Now i’ll get started. :thumbsup:

#15

why wouldn’t you model the trees and plants as well?

#16

BTW he is right on target

#17

for the same reason you wouldnt model hair or fur on a hero character.
my landscape will have tens of thousands of trees, plants, objects, rocks, etc.

#18

actually i have modeled hair and fur, i did a rabbit that had polygon fur that i modeled it was about 24mil polys and i pulled out clumps and positioned them by hand(tablet etc)
and i understand that you would have many of these objects, just as the pine tree i’m making has many branches and needles, i’ve modeled three sets of needles and will be placing them individually. is there a way for you to model a few types of trees and plants and then instance them, this way you have modeled everything? i’m not trying to give you a hard time, but just using the built in plants and trees of the program still seems like a cheat when you can model them.
earlier in the thread i talked about the mist that comes off of a waterfall, had i decided to do one of those pics i would have modeled the mist using spheres and zbrush’s make3d feature from canvas(something i’ve also done in the past).

#19

Simple question:

How are people managing to post images?
I have tried both jpg and png files but they won’t upload.

#20

I use photobucket, and then I just post the

{image} {/image} link.
What program are you using?

#21

Hi,
i use vue 8 xstream.
If you’ve seen the demo videos or you use/have used it, is there a drastic differance between vue 8’s “sculpt terrain” and ZBrush’s “Sculpt Brush’s”?

I use both and to me it seems that Sculpting geometry in zbrush is almost the same as sculpting terrain in vue 8.
Where would that fit in in the allowed/not allowed decision?

Thanks