Test - Procedural Vue terrain by Chromattix

Test - Procedural Vue terrain by Chromattix

After watching

's video tutorial on how to get ultra-realistic landscapes in Vue 7, I found myself experimenting after watching it until I came up with this scene

This is not so much about being the most conceptually interesting or original thing in my gallery, but moreso to demonstrate the technical sides of what I've learned from the video, so basing it off visuals alone - I think it's safe to say it's probably one of my most "realistic" landscapes which is evidence the video worked!

If you are a Vue 7 user yourself and never seem to be happy with how your Vue terrains look and yet don't want to rely soley on "presets", then forking over a bit of spare cash for the in-depth video (which goes for over an hour! so it's not some cheap, small thing

) might be a wise investment. It also has taught me certain aspects of Vue's function editor - something that I couldn't get my head around beforehand in spite of using Vue for some 2 years now...The video can be found on His Website

But if your'e not and don't have a clue what I'm talking about and just want to see more pretty pictures, then don't worry - I have now uploaded a cool sci-fi scene based on this image here [link]

Artwork remains the copyright property of my gallery. Please do not use or re-distribute my digital art

tomyi1234567890 Featured By Owner Jul 14, 2016

I found A great website if you are willing to purchase or try awesome height maps terrainessentials.businesscata…. I purchased it and so far I love the variety

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jul 14, 2016 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Hmm, I might have to look into that if I ever need a more realistic looking terrain but don't want to spend hours trying to get it right. Seems cheap enough too

Emilion-3 Featured By Owner Nov 14, 2013 Hobbyist Writer

I get a escape from these as well. I want to live in your pictures.

8legs Featured By Owner Sep 30, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

Right now my blood is boiling over what idiot politicians (Tea Party) are doing to this country--shutdown of the Government. I come your pictures and they give an escape, medicine for the soul so to say. Oceans and tropical area's have always being my escape and you must read my mind because all the ones you have done are my places to be. I just wish that I could escape into your pictures. Please keep doing what you do. You are medicine for the soul, Thank-you.

Chromattix Featured By Owner Sep 30, 2013 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Politicians all over the world are full of shit. That's one thing every nation can agree on

I'm glad you feel that way about my work. I think the need for an escape is also the reason why I create them in the first place

Eun-su Featured By Owner Sep 20, 2011 Digital Artist

I created similar scenes in Terragen, but the quality was way worse

Brilliant work

Chromattix Featured By Owner Sep 20, 2011 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Terragen was pretty good for its time. I think Vue has gone past it now though, mostly because it's way easier to understand and has more stuff (Terragen has since been upgraded too and its renders look incredible, but it's way harder to understand

) Both can be life-savers when it comes to detailed landscapes though and really fun to use for landscape nerds like me always trying to emulate what happens in nature within the program, even if it's just playing around with different light/atmosphere settings which can set off ideas for actual pieces later on

I have a couple of crappy Terragen renders from a few years ago in my scraps though

But it wasn't long before I switched to Vue.

tigaer Featured By Owner Jan 16, 2010 Professional Digital Artist

indeed great detail. i'm never happy with my terrains too... it's a curse.

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jan 16, 2010 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Thanks, I recently tried a few more experiments with procedural terrains too that were OK (didn't bother rendeirng them, might save for later

) they are hard to control especially if you have a certain composition in mind and even then you might need several terrains or a mixture (like procedural for the main landscape and standard for some key mountains etc) but they have great potential in detail, especially for terrains like deserts and mountains that you can't cover up under ecosystems

they're lighter in file zize too

CraigJohn Featured By Owner Dec 27, 2009

Very nice!

It was Quadspinner's video that also got me into the function editor for my terrains.

I find it easy to create terrains that look good with only a little fiddling but I'm still at a loss when I need to create a scene with specific elements in specific places but that's where the old Bryce workflow of multiple terrains overlapping each other to make the overall landscape.

It just seems wrong to do it that way when there's procedural options.

Ditto for using image maps to build the terrain too although I'm trying a combination of the fractals for the roughness and the image map for the altitudes which will hopefully make it crisp looking as well as having the mountains exactly where I want them.

Chromattix Featured By Owner Dec 27, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Same issue here, it took forever to get the "type" of landscape I wanted, I suppose having a procedural terrain large with lots of features gives the option of being able to travel around in it for the best vantage point like a real landscape anyway

But I also use multiple terrains, often just standard ones if I also want a specific composition of terrains and other landscape features. Still, I owe Quadspinner a lot for getting me to even touch the function editor in the first place

CraigJohn Featured By Owner Dec 27, 2009

I agree - Quadspinner does indeed rock! I'm looking forward to more tutorials from him and more images from you.

v-monlay Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2009

mountains next to the sea. a thing one does not see too often..

Chromattix Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I dunno, Hawaii is the tallest mountain in the world, and it came right out of the se

Those in the background aren't actually a sbig as you think, you can still see evidence of grass and tree's as well as a beach right along the base, I'd say it's moreso just a very large cliff

v-monlay Featured By Owner Dec 11, 2009

weell, if you say so.. anyway, I wonder if those shadows casted by terrs are not too long? it makes the whole area look barren, AND don't tell me that sun causes this - trees onshore are behind the cliff.
however, if the area is barren, plants should be really rickety ( is that the right word?) and convoluted (alright, I'm using those words for the first time so it'll be pretty understandable if no one understands it

) depending on where the wind blows most..
er, I think I'm just bragging. nice pic, and the idea of a landscape isn't bad either. those rocks really look like cold and cracked lava

Starshine9268 Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

this is absolutely amazing Matthew... i find it extrordinary how realistic it is...
i absolutely love this piece
fanatastic job
5 star production to say the very least... i don't know what i could say for the most... i'm lost for wordsq

Chromattix Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I rarely go for complete realism (which I find rather boring) So I was really testing the limits of myself (and the program) to see how good I could get it

Starshine9268 Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

well, you got it perfect if you ask me
i prefer surrealism as well
and you can't learn your limits through thinking - it takes practice

your talent is amazing
i suck at landscape art - i do mostly figure drawing

Chromattix Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

In the long run, figure drawing is more profitable than landscape art by a long shot. I'd say focus on mastering that and you can always worry about landscapes later. Usually the better you get the less scared you are to try new things anyway

Starshine9268 Featured By Owner Dec 10, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

i know that much

my mum tells me all the time

FiLiPpO92 Featured By Owner Nov 26, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

good good good!!!i like vue!!!!!!

Chromattix Featured By Owner Nov 26, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Yous hould try it if you get the chance, you could even import your cars into breathtaking natural scenery just like on the actual car commercials

FiLiPpO92 Featured By Owner Nov 27, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

There I was also thinking

mattiarib Featured By Owner Sep 15, 2009

I love Vue.....

padd12 Featured By Owner Aug 8, 2009

I really like the work you've been doing

just wondering, what sort of memory is your system
running on to do scenes like that ?
just wondering as I've been considering buying the full version, but when I've been using the free demo, it crashes if you do things to quickly and stuff

programs like zbrush work fine but somthing about this one makes it go a bit loopy... hope you can help

Chromattix Featured By Owner Aug 8, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Vue is a world creator, so it requires a world of power and memory, I used to use Vue 6 Pro Studio on my old laptop and that crashed a lot, Vue 7 Infinite wouldn't even run on it at all, but I got my new laptop at around the same time anyway and it worked

I use a Windows Vista with a Dual processor and 4GB of RAM...and even then, I still regularly get crashes

I wouldn't settle for anything less powerful than that

padd12 Featured By Owner Aug 9, 2009

oh right that explains it ha ha

I've got a dual core too but it has 2 gig of ram,
I thought that would have been enough normally ha ha
maybe I shall invest in some more memory

thanks for the advice

looking forward too seeing your new work

mafx Featured By Owner Jun 30, 2009 Digital Artist

I like the shore line in the water in the foreground of the image. Is that just part of a preset from the water editor or was that a specific material you created?

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jul 1, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I actually made that water a long time ago in Vue 6

using a video tutorial on the function editor that allowed me to distribute the water and sea-foam materials respectively to get the foamy shoreline like that

I think with Vue's new water materials introduced in Vue 7, some already do that for you

JaredTheDragon Featured By Owner Jun 29, 2009

Looks outrageous and amazing! Very detailed... Thanks for sharing!

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jun 29, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Glad you like it

Emilyahedrick Featured By Owner Jun 16, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

wow awesome

looks real

Myrretah Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2009 Professional General Artist

you know it's funny but I didn't think there were any disproportionate areas in here.... realize though that down by the shoreline here, there is this huge grass that grow and looks....a lot like that. The edge to the shore it is smaller but in some spaces it is a good 9 feet tall. then the treas are partially submerged in it's feathers. I meant to comment on this before but I honestly went and looked first to be sure what I was saying was correct. We have what you made here. the trees are stunted, twisted too, and some make big loops in their growth that you wouldn't be able to see unless you were close to them if they are leafed out. I didn't get what some of the previous commenters were saying because you captured a site I'm used to. I guess that's the very long winded way of saying good job.

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jun 8, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Yeah, if this didn't take so long to render - I would go back and change the proportions of the sandy beach and the size of the trees. Luckily this was more about showing off the details in the landscape itself rather than what's on it to demonstrate better what I had learned in the video (which was on terrain-creation

) The proper artwork I intend on making with this will be posted soon and it's way better

supersonichero Featured By Owner Jun 7, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

Ooh, I love that program. Always makes it so real-lookin!

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jun 7, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

For a second there, it almost sounded like you had it yourself

yeah, it's a bit tricky at first, but luckily has a gentle learning curve and people can start making pretty realistic stuff with it rather quickly, especially when others are willing to share their knowledge as that other guy did in his video

ElfMaster64 Featured By Owner Jun 6, 2009

DAMN! must b a fast learner...I took a 5sec look and thought it was real!!!!!

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jun 6, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Lol, It's easy to learn fast if it's on something you enjoy - and if you have a good teacher too

ElfMaster64 Featured By Owner Jun 6, 2009

(monkanly) easy to learn...lmao jk naw but really...it's not easy for me...oh boy...but nonetheless u call it easy I call it beauty!

mockmaster Featured By Owner Jun 5, 2009

already shows improvement

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jun 5, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Thankyou

AstroBoy1 Featured By Owner Jun 5, 2009

Greetings Matthew,

You have demonstrated exceptional skill in this render and have indeed captured the essence of realism without making it look "ultra realistic." I personally do not like the extreme (photo) realism some artists create. After all, a photograph leaves little room for imagination (even though esthetic photographic compositions and effects enable one to make an esthetic creation). I am not anti-photography by any means however, I do consider photography to be dramatically different than traditional visual arts. As you know, the NASA space images are interesting and scientifically useful albeit, devoid of any artistic spirit. If I wanted a photograph I would simply take one and not bother with any artistic creativity. I shall be most interested to see what metamorphosis this image takes as a space scene as well as your future expressions in this genre . . .

My best,
Michael C. Turner

Chromattix Featured By Owner Jun 5, 2009 Hobbyist Digital Artist

I fully agree with all of that. Sometimes I'll still fave a photo from someone here if the subject matter and colours appeal to me, but not very often since it's true in that photographs are too bounded by reality and can be a bit boring at times. As goes for Photo-realistic artwork - my hat goes off to anyone who can do that, but I'm not really a fan of it either

The NASA images are a good example, some do have a slight artistsic feel to them, like the abstract patterns of s cropped nebula or a zoom-in of a Desert from space etc, but yeah - they're more for getting ideas and learning the subject than actual creative inspiration

the sci-fi version of this landscape is dramatically different than this, just have to wait for the render to finish so I can postwork my magic to it