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Alphageekgirl's - modo magic website \ Archive for April 2013

MODO noobs & hobbyists

So, you're an avid part-time MODO user, but you'd still like to be able to keep up-to-date with all the neat tricks and cool ways you can optimize your MODO workflow.

Being a hobbyist sometimes it can be weeks or months before I manage to find some spare time to mess around with MODO, by which time, I've almost forgotten everything. :-/

This site is just as much for me as it is for you. It's a place where all can keep all the tips and tricks I come across, and it's fully indexed, so you should be able to find whatever you're looking for very easily :)

I'm no MODO expert - far from it, but every other month I'd like to be able to present you with a new article that'll become a new string to add to your modo bow.

If you're a longterm 3D artist or professional, then I can't guarantee there'll be much here you don't already know. You can always have a poke around though., or if you are looking for something specific, use the Search menu up the top (and the links with topics, categories and tags underneath) to find exactly what you're after. If you don't have any luck, let me know if there is anything in particular that you're looking for.

- Debi (alphageekgirl)

Recent Posts

Archive for April 2013

1
April 28, 2013 Posted by Debi in All Articles, Grass, Neat tips, Replicators, Step-by-Step

Positioning grass or fur around objects

Description

Replicators are a great feature in modo allowing us to replicate an object multiple times using a fraction of computing resources. When it comes to grass or fur you can sometimes have a problem that is referred to as interpenetration. This is when you have say grass that grows around objects like rocks or pavers. .

Alessandro Masciari has written an excellent, detailed explanation of how to overcome this problem. But in a nutshell...

Note: this method was created during the 601 era. You can see Andy Brown demonstrating this example using procedural tools (at ~18 mins) using MODO 10.1
   
Step-by-Step
    • Place the grass into a Group
    • Create a replicator using the Grass group as Prototype and the ground item as the Point Source.
    • Hide the grass from the renderer by unchecking it under the Group tab
    Group tab
    • Create an Ambient Occlusion Render Output
    • Set the Frame to be square
    • Create a map and bake to render output
    • In the Shader Tree, inside the Ground material group, create a Surface Generator
    • Load the AO image into the same material group and change its effect to "Surface Particle Density"
    SurfParticleDensity
    • Under the Replicator Properties tab, substitute "Ground" with "Surface Generator"
    ReplicatoProperties
    Source http://kroncept.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/grass-around-objects.html
    Author  Alessandro Masciari

    Related Images:

    Boomkin Ducs-Purple-Monster henning-7 Rohan-Dog-Head Tonys-Bear
    9.6/108votes
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    Tags: fur, grass, interpenetration, pavers, visibility
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    April 12, 2013 Posted by Debi in All Articles, Shader Tree, Step-by-Step, Textures

    Texture Bombing - Single Texture

    Description

    Tileable textures work for some jobs, but sometimes you need your surface to appear seamless, especially when you have expansive scenes of natural elements like grass, stone and sand. That's when texture replicators come in handy.  

    Instead of tiling an image across a plane, the texture replicators new to modo 601 allows you to place a small copy of the image at each vertex. From there you can randomly scale, rotate and blend them to make the surface appear seamless.

    Here is a simple example that will hopefully get you on the right path, however if it doesn't address all of your questions, maybe the video links below will.
    Preparation

    It's assumed that you already have your terrain or whatever mesh item you wish to apply your texture to.
    Step-by-Step

      Apply texture
      • Select your mesh, apply a material.
      • With the material selected> Add Layer > Image Map > Load Image of your grass, dirt or other preferred texture.
      Correct Gamma
      • Under > Properties > Texture Layers > Gamma, divide the gamma 1.0 by 2.2 = .4546
      Adjust Gamma
      Increase Wrap
      • Under > Properties > Texture Locator > Projection, increase both Horizontal & Vertical Wraps so that they appear tiled. Try 10 x 10 (but it really depends on the texture you are using)
      • Note: Make sure you have the Render Preview Window open, as texture replicators do not show up in the Open GL viewport.
      Texture Replicator
      • Under > Properties > Texture Locator > Texture Replicator > Particle Source, select the mesh item you wish to apply the image map to.
      • Increase the Particle Size so that each image is almost touching
      • Adjust the Falloff Bias and Gain so that the mess is totally and evenly covered.
      • Adjust the Random Size, Rotation and Random Rotation as required.
      Texture Replicator settings

    Source

    James has recorded two videos on Texture Replicators. The first shows how to make a seamless grass plane, and the second explains texture bombing where you use multiple texture images under a single material.
    Author  

    MutantPixel (James Darknell)

    Related Images:

    Mutant Pixel and Yoda @ ILM Jason Bickerstaff & James Darknell @ Pixar Rich, Mutant Pixel, Andrew Helmer @PIXAR
    9.6/105votes
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    Tags: James Darknell, Seamless Textures, Texture Bombing, texture replicator