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Alphageekgirl's - modo magic website \ Archive for category RENDERING

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

RENDERING

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August 17, 2013 Posted by Debi in All Articles, Neat tips, Render Outputs, RENDERING, Shader Tree, Step-by-Step

Depth of Field and how to manipulate it in Photoshop

This is by far my most favorite modo tip ever, by the illustrious illustrator, Warner McGee, where he shows you no matter what Depth of Field you may have set in modo, you can always change, or fix it in post, in Photoshop. Read more
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Tags: Depth of Field, DoF, photoshop, Warner McGee
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August 9, 2013 Posted by Debi in All Articles, Cameras, Depth of Field, Render Preview, Step-by-Step, Toolpipe

Focusing your camera using Autofocus and Depth of Field

Description

If you're a photographer, when it comes to setting up your cameras for rendering in modo, you'll no doubt understand aperture sizes, what 'depth of field' is, and what F-stops are. But some of us who don't have a feel for these numbers need to eyeball things in order to get them how we want. In this Lux TV video from some time back, Brad shows how to access the advanced feature in the modo toolpipe allowing you to display extra handles to position the camera when using depth of field. He also shows how you can click on a point anywhere within a scene and have the camera focus there automatically.

Step-by-Step
    Advanced camera handles
    • In the Perspective viewport, select your camera and activate the transform tool (W)
    • Then in the Toolpipe, right-click the '=' sign in the 'V' column and select Advanced
    Activate Tool Handles
    • You'll see some extra handles appear on the camera that will allow you to drag and focus
 
    Autofocus under mouse
    • In the Render viewport, position your mouse on the spot where you want your camera to focus
    • Click Ctrl-F and the camera will fire the 'camera.autofocusUnderMouse' command
Source  You can watch a video that details the process here
Author  Brad Peebler
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Tags: autofocus, Brad Peebler, tool handles
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July 29, 2013 Posted by Debi in All Articles, Cameras, Neat tips, Render Preview

Zoom in on Render Preview without moving the camera

Here's a trick for when you need to look at your scene up-close without actually messing things up and moving your render camera

Read more
9.5/102votes
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Tags: mouse scroll wheel, zoom
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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
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March 30, 2013 Posted by Debi in All Articles, Shader Tree, Step-by-Step, Textures

Texture Bombing using multiple images

Description

Regular textures like the ones shown above are adequate for most jobs, but occasionally you may want to mix it up a bit and create something a little more unique, yet still make it look organic.

So for example, say I wanted to use the grass, rocks and sand above to create a random terrain image. Now, I could go into Photoshop and create a mashup of these three textures, but once I'm back in modo, if I had to cover an expansive area, I'd still have to contend with the tiling issue, and in the real-world, having tiled rocks and grass just doesn't cut it. That's where texture bombing comes in.

Texture bombing is a procedural technique that helps reduce regular pattern artefacts. We do this by first placing a bunch of different textures into a Group, and then using modo's Texture Replicators, a small copy of one of the Group's images is randomly placed at each vertex across the mesh. From there you can further randomly scale, rotate, and blend the textures together to make the surface appear seamless and quite natural-looking. 
Preparation It's assumed that you've already created your mesh item that you wish to apply your textures to.
Step-by-Step

    Apply texture
    • Select your mesh, apply a material.
    • With the material selected> Add Layer > Image Map > Load Image and bring in several different images. I'm using grass, rocks and sand.
    Correct Gamma
    • Selecting all the texture images at one, 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)
    Create Group of textures
    • From the Shader Tree, select all the texture map images you want to use in your 'texture bomb'
    Create Group
    • Go to the > Group tab > New Group, name your group and leave it as Standard
    Create Group
     Replace current image with the Group
    • Under > Properties > Texture Layers > Image, change it to the Group you just created
    IMage Group
    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.
    Create Group

And this is a quick and dirty random terrain texture created with the three images at the top of the page.

Create Group
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
9.7/103votes
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Tags: James Darknell, multiple textures, Texture Bombing, texture replicator
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