MJL

Mark, I'm trying to model a cascade Pine Bonsai tree for a project I'm working on, and I remembered you masterful job you did on this landscape. When I first saw this image, my first thought was that the trees were from a photo. I'd like to learn from your modeling expertise. You have such a good eye for the graceful, natural curves of the branches. How did you handle the needles on the pine tree that's on the left side of this image?

That is so excellent!

Holmes, in section 4 of your wonderful tutorial, there is a bone that you rotate. Is this a bone that you created in the model in bones mode or is it the model bone that has been heretofor hidden?

Thank you , Nancy. Got it working. Thank you , Holmes, for that great tutorial. Is there a way to get the dialog menu to pop up? I'm not sure that it is necessary, but it would be interesting to see what it contains.

I went to the link using FF. Got the Kristin tutes. Used the password. Thank you Jason

Applause, Applause, nicely done! very Good Stuff!

I'm starting to learn the Treez plugin to make my bonsai tree for my vase. I downloaded the Treez plugin into the hxt folder in my AM folder. How do I install it into AM?

Thanks for bringing that up, Darkwing, I checked and they were ALL reversed. I flipped them, but it didn't seem to make any difference in the image. I'm such a newb!

Robcat, I'll try to find time tomorrow to play with displacement and normal maps and post the results. Here it is with the bump percentage turned on in the material. With the bump map on the design I was trying to make it look like there was a raised design that has partially rusted away. I thought there had to be a fairly high mesh to use displacement maps? The bump map percentage is pretty slight.(75%) I tried it higher but ended up going back to that percentage for the look I was after.

Ahhh, Rob, now that makes more sense to me. I'll remember that for future use. the negative number helped me a ton, after trying that, I ended up going back to what I had originaly. Darkwing, that's good advice, but I have to concentrate on one thing at a time, or I get lost or distracted. You're right about the render times this one took 45 minutes for the one frame. But I didn't mind because I was just going for the look. this is another version of the vase, I think maybe I'll play with trees and put a cascade Bonsai Pine tree in it. I do feel like I'm getting a much better handle on the Bump Map thing. Robcat's advice helped a lot. Edit: I just realized that I had the material bump percentage at 0. I'll make another posting when the render is done.

Thanks, Rob, I figured there was a way. It's just that my ignorance is sooooo vast. Your'e talking about expanding the images folder, right? Very Cool, saves me a bunch of trouble

Still studying bump maps. I put a bump map and color decal on the model and matched them up using translate and scale in the PWS (1). I repeated that with a second stamp each in another place (2) on the model changing the scale and translate adjustments in the PWS. Now I want to go back and replace the bump maps with one that has had the colors inverted. I can do that easily on the second one because the translate and scale numbers are still the same. My question is: Is there any way to get the scale and translation numbers of the first (1) decal back in the PWS? The numbers in the screenshot are from decal number two.

I can hear the quiet ripples of paddles in the water and the soft cooing of the lovebirds as they "sing love's old sweet song.

Wow! Thank you everybody! After 30 years with my future x-wife, I'm not used to this sort of positive, encouraging response to the things I do. It has been my hope that these images will impress prospective employers (read gigs) and customers (CD Sales) that visit my website. Ergo: If this website looks cool, maybe the music is good too. (You know, the ol' bait and switch ) Seriously, though, thank you , it means a lot

Here's another version trying to adapt Nancy's suggestions. I bet she could come up with something........well........... Nancyish.

Too late, they found them. It was so embarrasing. they missed the lacy ones, though.

Same issue here as you had. I'll use the model I just posted in the other thread.

Thank you, Nancy. I'll play around with your suggestions, and probably make other versions as well as this one. I'm going to need more than a few images for the website. I'll post them when I get them done. These were meant to look somewhat plant like. (albiet in a surrealistic, abstract, old hippie kind of way)

It's a good idea to submit another report (with simple case, different material) - I had already submitted a simple case with this problem using gradient material and bump decal and NO multipass. The report shows as currently assigned - so I assume that means it's being looked at...(thanks mucho, Steffan) Robert, Nancy, I'll try to do that in the next day or so. Never filed a report before. I'll have to play around with a different material. Eric, The vase is for one of the images I'm making for my website upgrade. I'll post the model in my Art Nouveau thread. Feel free to use it if you like. Thanks, Steve, it is a Darktree Simbiont material, I downloaded their free porfolio and their AM plugin some time ago. It is in their metals folder. Rustysteel. For anyone who doesn't know yet how to use them. You make a new material, right click on the attribute, select change type to Darktree/simbiont. then open up the new attribute and select load darktree to load the material.

I've gone back and finished up this image to be closer to the original vision I started with. It has been a learning experience working with materials and bumpmaps (TURN MULTIPASS ON!) I think other versions of the vase will reappear in other imagery. I like the Raku feel. EDIT: Here is the model if anyone would like to use it. Squat_Vase.mdl

Thank you Eric and Josh, The material is indeed a Simbiont so I switched off the bump enable in the material but it rendered the same, so I turned it back on and switched on multipass and that did the trick. . Glad you liked the vase, Eric, with that Rustysteel material on it, the vase has sort of a Raku look. Thanks again, guys.

I've been taking another run at bump maps. I made a bump stencil and put blur on it in Corel. I put it on as a bump map on the model and did a render lock on the model and it looked fine, but when I did a render to file it barely showed as a shadow trace on the surface. Is it because I have a material on the Vase? Why would it render one way in render lock and another in render to file?

Thank You Rob, it's easy for me to get bogged down in that manual, I should read it more.

what is a light list?

Nice work. Somebody must have given you a picture of me to use as a rotoscope.