UltraScenery [Commercial]
This discussion has been closed.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
224 S 200 W, Suite #250
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
A nice read for a summer's eve…
Thank you, though. I will definitely bookmark that link and delve into the manual.
Of course, for creating height maps, it is enough to know, how to create the terrains in Bryce,
and how to export them (I have already listed exporting steps in this thread).
I'll have to dust off bryce...
A fairly standard scene with a HDRI/background from Skies of Gaia 2, and a heightmap made in Vue
how does that resolution compare to the 64x64 or whatever USC is? Does it matter the size created in Bryce? Is it shrunk down to that 64x64 or what? I've not tried importing my own height map yet.
@daveso, I just tested this, and the "resolution" you set here will be the size of the image. If you look at the images in both Howie's and TA's texture folders, you'll find height maps that are 512x512. If you have a good image editor, like Photoshop or Gimp, (as examples,) you could save your created height maps at the highest resolutions, then resize them in the image editor. The larger images would be easier to add detailed changes to, prior to downsizing.
Or go ahead and save at 512 or 1024 resolutions.
I haven't seen any need to scale down heightmaps. The terrain is 64 meters by 64 meters, but the polygon (triangle) density is much greater than 64 by 64. UltraScenery hasn't balked at any high resolution heightmap I have given it.
Hi,
Here is my most recent render using UltraScenery and Mossy Hollow. I made it a fantasy render by adding Daisy 8 into the scene for some additional visual interest. You can also view the image at my gallery (It looks better full-size in my opinion).
Trish
Update!
So I followed all the advice shared by the generous experts on this thread and actually succeeded in utilising UltraScenery which is an *amazing* product! I still having failures using the River2/Woodlands feature but I will deal with that later. I am now looking forward to purchasing the other US add-ons as well as the terra-forming DO product which I just chanced upon.
Loading the minimum features (terrain only) and using the "Memory" option helped a lot and I found that the "Camera Only" option also appeared to help save a lot of system resources. With these 3 options selected, I was very easily able to pan the camera as well as add back features one at a time. In my final scene, I managed to load the terrain, trees, young trees, seedings, flowers, river grass with no significant slow down in speed and Iray preview was even possible without any problems; I even added one more giant tree from another product. I didn't test putting in all the other memory-hogging grasses as I did not need it in my scene but I might try it next.
Here is a first simple quick render using UltraScenery.
Congratulations on your success!
I hope the mods don't take down your image for nudity. I don't see any forbidden parts, but you never know...
Thank you @barbult !
Yeah,.. I combed through each regulation several times before confirming (to myself!) that I did not infringe on any of the forum guidelines on nudity!
So I have been rather confused with the numerous HowieFarks products and add-ons so I decided to take the time to understand them and then to put them all together here first of all to clarify it for myself (what is essential for my needs and what is a nice-to-have add-on) and also hoping that it might be helpful for somebody else down the road/stream depending on your favorite ecology :P Please feel free to add further clarifications/info/reviews. In bold are main products followed by their respective add-ons.
Mossy Hollow Botanica (tropical plant props + scene subset)
- Mossy Hollow Creek (+ 2 scene subsets including lush rainforest stream)
Harpwood Trail (temperate plant props + scene subset)
- Harpwood Trail Forest Drive (+ tar road through forest and some plant/flower props)
- Harpwood Trail Mallard Pond (+ pond and Summer/Autumn colors)
UltraScenery Realistic Landscape System (scene creator + some basic plant props)
- US Harpwood Trail (+ 4 ecologies to US using Harpwood plant props including Summer/Autumn) [requires: Harpwood Trail]
- US Mossy Hollow (+ 3 ecologies to US using Mossy Hollow plant props) [requires: Nature Trees Pack 4; Mossy Hollow]
- Ecologies Vol 1 (+ oak, reeds in all four seasons)
- Ecologies Vol 2 (+ 2 ecologies and willows, coconut trees)
- Landscape Features Vol 1 (+11 landscape features including small island and caldera)
- US Pines (+7 ecologies) [requires: Nature Trees Pack 4]
UltraTrees Realistic Tree System (trees creator + numerous tree props, bark and materials)
- Arboretum Vol 1 (+4 oak species)
World Gardens Japan (Japanese garden + numerous building and plant props)
I have every HowieFarkes product for Daz Studio. For those who don't, but who do have UltraScenery (like you), I would prioritize the ones that UltraScenery expansions require (if you are going to buy the corresponding UltraScenery expansion):.
Unless you have extra money to spend (they are on sale after all!), I would give lower priority to things that can now be simulated with UltraScenery:
UltraTrees makes really nice trees, but you can't make instances of them, because they use instances internally. They are nice to add a single great tree to an UltraScenery scene, like you did in your Adam and Eve image.
World Gardens Japan is a different kind of scenery with more Asian/oriental plants and even some buildings. If you are interested in that genre, it is a good buy.
I don't have the TangoAlpha expansions for UltraScenery (yet), because I was having fun making my own features and ecologies. And, a person of finite wealth has to draw the line somewhere!
You didn't mention UltraScatterPro, which is FABULOUS. It is not integrated into UltraScenery, but it ia a good product to do your own scattering of any prop you own on any surface or in any volume you choose, You can even do an ordered scatter (matrix scatter).
I figured the PAs were using the smaller images to help with the resource load. I've kept my attempts to 512 for that reason, but when I first created a height map, it was larger, though I'd have to look it up to say just how big it was; And of course, Ultrascenery handled it just fine.
@barbult those are, once again, very helpful insights... I am envious that you have the entire collection!! I will pick up a couple of them during the next 50% stacked promo, my personal challenge is to (almost) never purchase anything at less than 75% off
Oh yes... I missed out on UltraScatterPro... on a previous render (see below) I ran into s.e.r.i.o.u.s. RAM trouble coz I had manually added maybe 40-50 instances of poppies and I coldn't even pan my camera; in the end I just rendered it prior to achieving my ideal scene/lighting. I figure that USP will resolve that issue.
Sounds like you need to set the Instancing Optimization to Memory for this scene. Plus you can select all of the instances, go to the Parameters tab, select "All" and then locate the Visible in Viewport option and set that to Off. The poppies won't show up while you're moving the camera around, but will be there when you render.
Ahhh yes, these are tricks related to what I have just learned through you guys from this UltraScene thread and will so definitely come in handy!
UltraScatterPro has options for what to use as viewport proxies for your instances. You can have no proxy, the full object shape proxy, a simple bounding box proxy, or a simplified bare tree proxy. Those options make viewport navigation manageable for huge quantities of instances. Instancing Optimization set to Memory is a must. (Or, now there is an Auto option that might be OK, but I haven't learned whether to trust it yet.)
Nice image with those poppies, too.
Could be. I've done 4096 by 4096 without any issue and I have a 2 generation old 6GB Nvidia card. UltraScenery is amazingly efficient. I don't think any scene it has generated for me has ever exceeded that limit.
Congratulations @DMax on your render. I would also add, if you can't afford everything now, to wishlist the others and when the PA Sale comes around later this year, you should be able to pick them up on a nice sale.
@Stormlyght, small is nice, but you are right, large is fantastic. I loved the glow.
Someone put a link to the Tangram Heightmapper site and I downloaded some that I have used. I am attaching three, two which are almost the same, but were of the Cherry Creek area of Denver CO and the other near Golden CO at the foothills of the Rockies.
Mary
I have used height maps with resolution 1024x1024 or 2048x2048 in UltraScenery.
I have all the UltraScenery products and used DIM to install. I'm running version 1.1.0 of UltraScenery.
Any scene I try to create with Woodland 4 gives me an error reading file see log.
2020-06-22 02:06:41.765 WARNING: Script Error: Line 425
2020-06-22 02:06:41.765 WARNING: SyntaxError: Unable to parse JSON string
2020-06-22 02:06:41.765 WARNING: Stack Trace:
<anonymous>()@N:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library/environments/landscapes/ultrascenery/ultrascenecreator.dse:425
2020-06-22 02:06:41.765 Error in script execution: N:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library/environments/landscapes/ultrascenery/ultrascenecreator.dse
When UltraScenery was first released I did not get this error, I could create scenes using Woodland 4 but, now after updates and add-ons it does not work when I try to create a scene with Woodland 4. I've already tried reinstallng UltraScenery but that has not fixed this problem.
I have exactly this same problem; we are waiting for the PA to read this and come over to assist.
Tangy Apple Orchard is included in the PC+ sale today. An extra discount makes it super cheap for anybody who needs to get it for the upcoming TangoAlpha expansion pack.
I have almost a 100 items in the PC+ $1.99 sale - this is going to break me. But honestly, seeing the recent pricing even on G8 items, I am 99% certain that G9 is ready to be launched this summer perhaps as soon as June sales are over. I am just concerned that after making the $1.99 purchases, they end up on a BYOB $2.99 promo the next day...
Remember that you have 30 days to return an item. If it is cheaper within that time, ask for a refund of the difference, unless it is one of the few sales that prohibits repurchasing an item already owned for a lower price.
With all those G8 models in the $1.99, I get the same feeling you do. It will be interesting to see if it that really happens and what it offers if it does happen.
I have everything in my cart now but very hesitant to click purchase due to the way DAZ sales are being habitually run... when something is $5 today and $0.50 tomorrow. I cannot imagine writing to DAZ for a refund for 100 items if they become BYOB overnight... (I have never asked for a price change guarantee before). This is another reason why I did not purchase the UltraScenery add-ons even at 55% off because I expect them to fall to 75% sooner or later or even 88%. Feels like the DAZ stock market! Sigh.
Dup.
Something is happening, for sure: https://www.daz3d.com/michael-and-victoria-daz-orignals#
I have 28 pages on that sale for $1.99 each.
So far has purchased all HD addons for Genesis 8 Males.