ARTMATIC VOYAGER 3.0 New Features Guide

Transcription

A RT M AT I C V O YA G E R 3 . 0
!New Features Guide
!
Many thanks to Peter Miller and Dick Scherzinger (Eonite) for their invaluable feedback and
use of their images.
Copyright 2014, U&I Software LLC.
All images are the property of their creators and may not be reproduced without permission. Images by Eric Wenger unless otherwise noted.
Table of contents
Requirements and Recommendations
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System Requirements 5
Recommendations 5
What's New - Highlights
Other Changes and Improvements
New Feature Details
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Voyager Library & Browsing Buttons
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Ambient Occlusion
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CTW Shading Model (New)
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SPECULAR LIGHT
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MFD (Microfacets Distribution)
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Reflection Color and Level
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Improved Water Model
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ArtMatic Extra Outputs (Xouts)
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Terrain Shader Settings
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Shading
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Render Preferences
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Environment Settings Dialog
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Environment Settings
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Water and Sea Model Settings
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Underwater Shader (New ArtMatic Sky Mode)
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DFRM Objects
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CTW Shading Options 28
Ambient Occlusion
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Edit Object Dialog
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New DFRM Object types Odds and Ends - Other New Features
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Transparent Sky
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Edit Menu Changes 37
Preferences (updated)
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Camera Path Dialog
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Combination Mode Dialog Improvements 39
ArtMatic/ArtMatic Voyager Live Communication
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ArtMatic Xouts 39
Light Sources 40
Cast Shadows 41
Custom Artmatic Thumbnail Preview
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Option-Save To Rename Bundled Files
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A RTMATIC V OYAG E R 3 .0
New Features Guide
This guide covers features added in ArtMatic Voyager 3.0. These features are not yet covered in the main ArtMatic Voyager reference manual. The comprehensive manual will be
available soon.
Requirements and Recommendations
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS X.6 or later. The software requires an Intel processor.
R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S
For basic landscapes that don't make use of volumetric clouds or objects, a 1.8GHz dual
core or better processor should work well, but one will have to be patient with render
times. 3D rendering is by its nature processor-intensive. The faster the the computer is, the
faster the render times will be.
For creating volumetric clouds and objects, a quad core or better computer is recommended but not required. Dual-core machines can be used, but it must be understood
that some systems that make use of volumetric objects or clouds will require a considerable amount of time to render. Most of the examples in this manual were rendered on a
dual-core 2.4GHz processor.
When creating and rendering complex 3D objects (especially if they are being animated),
you may want a quad or eight-core machine to take full advantage of the features without
spending long times waiting for previews to render. These features work on dual core machines, but users must be patient. Iterated trees and plants, for example, can be quite
slow to render.
ArtMatic 5 is required for designing fully-3D objects and for editing ArtMatic elements.
ArtMatic 6 is required for hot-linking and live preview updates.
ArtMatic Voyager 3 - New Features Guide!
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What's New - Highlights
ArtMatic Voyager 3 has added a host of great new features. Here are the highlights:
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Up to 16 simultaneous tasks to take full advantage of 8 and 12 core processors.
Add option to set max processors to 6 (to leave two processors free on 8-core machines).
Main view now uses 16:9 aspect ratio.
New point light sources (besides the sun) that can be used to provide additional lighting. Especially powerful for lighting inside objects/buildings and in night scenes..
Voyager/ArtMatic hot-linking for live updating of the Voyager scene without needing to
save the ArtMatic files.
New and improved illumination and shading model (CTW) that includes object roughness and shininess.
Microfacet Distribution (MFD) settings for DFRM objects to provide
DFRM object transparency (two flavors)
Improved Camera Path dialog with larger preview and object layer view.
DFRM objects now have independent ArtMatic extra output settings.
Occlusion settings for more realistic terrains
Improved DFRM occlusion and new settings
New terrain reflections
New Environment Settings dialog with numerical control of all environment settings
New Terrain Shader Settings
New Voyager Library for quick access to library of ArtMatic elements (such as skies,
textures, custom terrains, etc.)
New Browsing buttons in user interface for quick access to relevant library elements
Allow custom thumbnails when previewing ArtMatic elements.
Ambient occlusion for objects and terrains.
Underwater shader “sky” mode for creating underwater scenes.
Several new object “types” including: fractal opaque, translucent, translucent seflilluminated, fuzzy.
Transparent sky mode.
Increase the number of DFRM object layers to 6.
New object copy/paste
Use generic color space to improve color matching between onscreen and rendered
images
Improve volumetric cloud rendering at the highest quality setting and adapt the sampling level to the rendered image size.
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Improved shadow accuracy when Cast Shadows turned on which may increase render
time in some cases
Improve frequency filtering of DFRM object textures
Water. Improve underwater color shift.
Water. Improve animation and foam model.
Water. Add new foam options.
Water. Add an option so that DFRM objects can interact with the water.
Refinement of ArtMatic Extra Output Self-Illumination
Combination Mode dialog improvements.
Edit Menu commands or pasting object sets and environment settings
Cast Shadows now provides additional lighting realism especially with transparent objects.
Added super-fine slider control when command-option dragging adjustment sliders.
Much more!
OTHER CHANGES
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IMPROVEMENTS
Improve RGBA cloud density behavior
Improve render accuracy
Improve memory management
ArtMatic Xout (Extra Output) mapping no longer done in Preferences.
Handling of some ArtMatic XOuts (Extra Outputs) altered
DFRM Ambient Level modified. It is now less influenced than before by the the environment map and will be somewhat brighter and more uniform. You may need to lower
the ambient level for objects in some scenes due to the increased brightness.
Water and cloud options moved from Preference to the Environment Settings dialog.
Note to Upgraders
Voyager 3 documents are not backwards-compatible. Make sure to make backup copies
of any old files. If you alter a document with Voyager 3, you will not be able to open the
document with an older version of ArtMatic Voyager. Be sure to make backup copies of all
your documents. It is also a good idea to keep an archived copy of your old version of
ArtMatic Voyager in case you need to open your old documents as a reference.
In some cases, an old document may render slightly different in ArtMatic Voyager 3 than it
did in an older version of the software. Updating and improving the cloud models, for instance, inherently causes some variation (usually for the better) from the landscape as it
rendered with an older version.
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New Feature Details
V O YA G E R L I B R A RY & B R O W S I N G B U T T O N S
Browse
Library
Popups
For quick access to ArtMatic elements, we have created a library architecture and convenient browsing
mechanism. There are now library browser popups for
each scene element (surface, color texture and sky)
that allows quick access to the relevant library elements.
When you choose an item from the library (a sky for instance or a combination element), ArtMatic Voyager will
change settings (such as the sky mode) to be consistent with the new element. For example, if the current
sky mode is ArtMatic 360 and you choose an element
from the Volumetric Lights category, Voyager will set
the sky mode to to ArtMatic clouds/lights with the
category set to Volumetric Light. Voyager may also
change terrain shader options as well. If you choose a color texture from the Color &
Bump category, Voyager will set ArtMatic Extra Out 1 to Bump Map as required by the
Color & Bump textures.
Library structure. The library is contained in a folder called Voyager Library. The app
requires the library to be in the same folder as the app (usually a folder called ArtMatic
Voyager). In order to find the elements that it needs, some folder names are hard-coded
and should not be changed. Don’t change or move any of the pre-established folder. You
can put files or folders into these folders to add them to the library.
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Combination. These items are available in the Combination Mode editor dialog. The
categories are: Alternate Seas, Filters, Surface details. Choosing an item from Alternate
Seas will change that layer’s mode to Alternate Sea. Choosing an item from Filters
changes the layer’s mode to Blend. Choosing an item from Surface details changes the
mode to Add.
Skies: Backdrops, Clouds, Environments 360, RGB Sky Plane, Scalar clouds, Underwater shaders, Volumetric Clouds, Volumetric Lights
Terrains: Cities, Colored Terrains, Surfaces, Underwater Terrains. Choosing an item
from Cities or Colored Terrains will set the color texture mode to Altitude default.
Textures: Color & bump, Grass & Green, MFD Textures, Multi Channel, RGB Alpha,
Rocks, Stratified.
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You may add your own folders to Terrains and Textures directly and they will show up as
categories for terrains and color textures.
Bump Channels and Textures. In the folder Textures/MFD Textures, when a system is used
whose name ends with the word Bump, the ArtMatic xout will automatically be set to
bump for the last xout in the system. By convention, library textures designed with an xout
to be used as a bump channel should place it in the last position.
Advice. Don’t put every possible file in the library or the browsing mechanism will become
slow. Put elements in the library that you think you will want to use frequently.
AMBIENT OCCLUSION
Ambient occlusion is a way to model the way that light and objects interact when nonreflective surfaces are involved and includes shadow-like shading that occurs in addition to
true shadows. It provides a kind of clarity and realism not possible without it. When rendering rough textured terrains or fractal objects, ambient occlusion is especially helpful for
bringing out the scene’s details.
ArtMatic Voyager 3 includes a much more sophisticated and controllable method of providing ambient occlusion than earlier versions of the software. Ambient Occlusion estimates the amount of non-directional ambient light that reaches various areas (as opposed
to shadows which are caused by directional light). AO is independent of the main light’s
direction. Concave or hard-to-access areas will be darkened. It can be applied to terrains
and objects independently.
Here is a scene as it would appear without ambient occlusion:
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Here is the same scene with ambient occlusion turned on for all the objects. Notice how it
improves our perception of the objects’ relative position.
Ambient Occlusion applied to a terrain (with Cast Shadows turned on). Users of past versions will notice strikingly improved realism.
AO requires a lot of computation. It is active only at good render quality and higher. It affects ambient and diffuse lighting but not specular and reflective light channels. So, very
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reflective objects don’t render very differently when AO is off. Because AO is so costly, it
makes sense to have it on only when it makes a significant difference.
AO Settings. There are several settings that influence Ambient Occlusion and a few different places where AO-related settings are found. There is a preference for the AO Radius
(see below) in the main preferences dialog, a checkbox to enable/disable terrain ambient
occlusion in the Terrain Shader Settings dialog, and amount and mode in the ArtMatic Object settings dialog. Each object in a scene can have its own settings.
AO Amount. When the AO amount is less than 100% only convex surfaces are affected.
Amounts greater than 100% tend to affect all areas but may leave convex areas intact.
AO Radius Preference. Voyager scenes can have varied needs. Preferences contains a
global control for the Ambient Occlusion Radius that allows you to adjust the AO for the
scene’s context. On a landscape dominated by large-scale features, a size of 50 meters or
so will give good results. Changing the radius will influence features of certain size or detail.
The same object can look quite different with different settings. So, it is worth some experimentation to find the setting that gives you the results you prefer. The Terrain Shader
Settings dialog also allows you to set the AO Radius value.
DFRM Object Scale and AO Radius. Ideally, AO should be scale-independent but this is
currently impractical because of the enormous impact it would have on render time. AO
Radius is influenced by a DFRM object’s scale. When an object is at 100% scale, the meter readout is precise. If the object is scaled, so is the AO radius when applied to an object. To explore the relationship between AO Radius and object scale, see the example file
AO_Objects.vy. Vary the AO Radius setting and see how the stone arch’s appearance
changes. Its AO setting has been exaggerated to show more clearly AO effect.f
CTW SHADING MODEL (NEW)
A vastly more powerful lighting/shading model, CTW, has been added to ArtMatic Voyager.
CTW (for Cook-Torrance Wenger) allows for heightened realism and expanded flexibility by
providing a wide range of material appearances. The old model (called Legacy) is still available, as well.
The new model provides textural possibilities in addition to enhanced realism. It simulates
the Fresnel response curve, geometric attenuation factors and microfacet distribution. New
parameters have been added. CTW took its inspiration from the Cook-Torrance illumination model but was significantly modified and adapted so that we refer to it as the CTW
model (Cook Torrance Wenger).
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We have provided settings that provide more control over how objects interact with the
light which, in turn, can create rich textural variations.
One of the key aspects of CTW is that it adheres to the law of conservation of energy so
that the total light energy in a scene remains constant as light angle changes being redistributed as appropriate among the different types of light: diffuse, specular, true reflections
and self-illumination.
SPECULAR LIGHT
CTW takes a number of factors into consideration to accurately compute the amount and
color of specular light reflected by an object. The new approach results in more accurate
modeling of the color shifts that occur with changes in position (lighting angle) and when
the specular and reflected colors are different.
Generally, light directly reflected by an object (tech talk: near normal incidence) is colored
by the object color. However, at grazing incidence, the reflected light will be only slightly
influenced by the object color and will mostly have the spectrum of the light color. As the
angle of the eye changes with respect to the light source and the object, the specular color
will appear to change. For example, if the light source is behind the observer, the specular
color will dominate. However, if the object is backlit, the backlight color will dominate.
You can maximize this effect in Voyager by using different specular and reflection colors.
The specular color will dominate for light rays that are reflected back perpendicularly (normal incidence) and the reflection color will dominate as the source shifts towards backlighting as shown below.
Light source behind observer
Backlit scene - dominated by light source
MFD (MICROFACETS DISTRIBUTION)
In the real world, surfaces tend not to be uniform smoothness -- even surfaces that we
think of as smooth, such as a billiard ball, are not uniformly smooth. Surfaces tend to have
tiny microfacets whose orientation and reflectivity determine the surface roughness and
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reflective properties. ArtMatic Voyager provides some control over microfacets through the
MFD (microfacets distribution) parameters in order to each different looks.There are three
parameters that you can adjust that provide a broad range of surface textures: Roughness,
Shininess, and Highlight Spread. By adjusting these three settings and the specular level,
you can achieve a great many looks.
TECH NOTE! These three parameters have been abstracted to manipulate both the Fresnel curve response and microfacet distribution. These three parameters are actually driving
the many internal parameters that these complex lighting models require. For more information about microfacets and specular light, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specular_highlight
Specular Level. The level of the CTW MFD specular light with respect to the main ambient light.
MFD Roughness. High values create rough random microfacets that transmit specular
light uniformly.
MFD Shininess. High values make the surface shiny and reduce specular reflection and
the influence of the specular color.
MFD Highlight Spread. The smoother the surface (low spread and shininess values), the
more that the specular light will be focused. Essentially, it controls the spreading of highlights on the surface. The interaction between this setting and the specular level and other
settings is complex. When Specular Level is 0, this setting has little or no effect. When
Specular Level is high, use this to accentuate specular color highlights.
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0.54;highlights 1
Purely diffuse without specular component.
Metal wide. Spec: 1; MFD Params: 0.25,1.0,0.8
Velvet/furry look. Specular level: 1. MFD params:
1, 0, 0.7. Roughness is set at the maximum. Notice
Metal narrow. MFD Params: 0,0.9,0.1 with specuthe highlights on the edges and reduced light in the
lar color set to orange. Spec: 1.
middle.
Metal tinted. MFD Params: 0,0.59,1.0 rendered in
Porcelain look. A mix of high roughness with some
Fuzzy mode. Spec: 1.
shininess and low highlight spread gives a porcelain
aspect.
Silk look. Spec: 0.78; Roughness: 0.126, Shin.
Translucent rendering. MFD params: 0,0,0.31
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REFLECTION COLOR
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LEVEL
In Voyager, reflections have two components:
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fuzzy specular reflections that result from interactions between the environment and the object specular color.
true mirror reflections filtered by the object’s reflection color.
A control is provided for each type of reflection: color and alpha level. Clicking on the color
pops up a color picker. Click and drag up/down on the alpha level color to control the
amount of reflection. When the alpha level control is black, the level is 0 and the reflections
are turned off. When the alpha level is white, the level is 1, the maximum.
True mirror reflections require many more calculations than specular reflections since mirror
reflections perfectly mirror the entire scene some of which may not be in the camera’s
view. To speed up rendering, turn off mirror reflections by setting the reflection level to 0.
In the updated shading model, the combined intensity of the specular and mirror reflections will be less than or equal to 1 (unity) for greater accuracy than before when the total
could sometimes exceed the available light.
MDF Roughness and Shininess influence mirror reflections as well as the reflection color
which are influenced by light wavelength and angle. When roughness is high, objects are
more uniformly colored. Very shiny objects reflect more light and with less colorization
when the light rays approach normal (perpendicular) incidence.
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A perfect mirror has shininess 1 and roughness 0 with the reflection color set to white. The reflection color above is set to pure green;
See the examples in the folder CTW Shading.
I M P R O V E D W AT E R M O D E L
The water model has been significantly improved. There are now several options related to
the water available in the Environment Settings dialog:
Waves: Standard, Smaller & Smoother
Foam: Never, Linked to Roughness, Always & nearshore, Always & widespread
Enable objects/Sea Interaction (checkbox). This option’s effect will be most noticeable
if the foam is set to be Always & Nearshore
Interaction On
Interaction Off
A R T M AT I C E X T R A O U T P U T S ( X O U T S )
ArtMatic Extra Mapping assignments for terrains have been moved from the Preferences
dialog to the new Terrain Shader Settings dialog accessed by the Edit menu’sTerrain
Shader Settings command (shortcut: @). DFRM Objects have their own settings. To access the extra output mapping for an object, click on the
in the object-editing dialog.
Set Shadings Option icon
Some of the old settings have new names. In some cases, the behavior is different in order
to expand the possibilities.
Wetness level / Specular color (formerly Wetness Level). This setting mimics the setting
of the user interface’s wetness slider. It influences a number of internal parameters whose
cumulative effect is to increase the amount of fuzzy, specular reflection. If you use an RGB
or RGBA value, the RGB values set the specular color (which was not the case in ArtMatic
Voyager 2 and earlier).
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Bump Map. Bump Map can now accept a 3 or 4 output component for the bump map
xout in addition to the scalar (1-out) info that was supported in ArtMatic Voyager 2.0 and
earlier. This new interpretation allows for true 3D bump mapping which allows you to impose fine textures on a terrain via 3D color textures that provide an extra output for bump
maps.
BUMP MAP XOUT
Bump Map: Off
Bump Map: On
Bump Map: On
Bump Map: On
The tree that
provides the
color texture.
The rightmost
output provides
the bump map.
Example: Bump Textures Test A. The mountain is a feature of built-in Planet A. The color texture and
bump map are provide by the ArtMatic tree shown top-right. The textural variations are the result of the
bump map Xout. The three examples with the bump map on were created changing the parameters of
the bottom component of the bump branch.
When an RGB or RGBA component used for the XOUT, the information is treated as Normal displacement information. We recommend working from the provided examples as
there are some special requirements. Examples: Bump Textures Test A.vy and Bump Textures Test B.vy.
TECH TALK: A meaningful bump map has some special requirements. It should be a
vector-fed from an ArtMatic tile that computes the normal and the scaling values
should not be too strong. Otherwise, the modified normal will point away from the real
geometry.
Light Color Filter. This was formerly called Brightness Gain and has been renamed for
clarity. Its behavior is unchanged. It filters the sun and ambient color with the output provided by ArtMatic.
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MFD Params & Specularity. The ArtMatic system can be used to control the MFD parameters.
Self-Illumination Color & Level. Renamed from Self illumination, the behavior has
changed somewhat to provide conceptual clarity. The precise behavior depends on
whether the extra output is provided by scalar (1-out), RGB (3-out) or RGB+Alpha (4-out)
tile.
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Scalar (single value) extra output. The illumination color is white and the output’s value
is multiplied by the object color (a black object will stay black). RGB extra output. The RGB color is added directly to the final color. This uses pure
additive mode. If the underlying color is black. it will get the RGB color from the ArtMatic output.
RGBA extra output. The RGB color is added directly to the final color and the Alpha
part is multiplied with the underlying color as if it is for scalar outputs . So this combines the effect of both scalar and RGB extra outputs. If you want the alpha output to
scale the amount of RGB illumination, use a 4->4 Alpha Scale and Offset tile.
Legacy note. Scenes created with ArtMatic Voyager 2.0 and earlier will render differently when they have an RGBA extra output mapped to self-illumination. Use a 4->4
Alpha Scale and Offset tile so that the alpha channel will modulate the RGB illumination.
TERRAIN SHADER SETTINGS
Shortcut: @
Edit -> Terrain Shader Settings invokes the new Terrain Shader Settings dialog which collects all of the terrain rendering and shading mode options in one place. The ArtMatic Extra
Output options have been moved here from the Preferences dialog.
The dialog allows you to choose the Legacy shading model (which was used in all past
versions) or the new CTW physical model. The available options depend on whether the
Legacy or CTW physical model have been selected.
See the examples in the folder CTW Terrain Shading.
SHADING
Shading Mode (popup): Legacy, CTW physical model. The shading model determines
the way that Voyage calculates lighting and color. The Legacy model is a simple
computationally-efficient lighting/shading model. It was used in Artmatic Voyager 2.0 and
earlier. CTW physical model is a more complex and realistic model that provides several
parameters for fine-tuning the scene’s shading. CTW stands for Cook-Torrance Wenger
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CTW Controls. These controls are only available when the CTW Shading models is being
used. See the section CTW Shading elsewhere in this manual for more information about
these parameters:
Specular Level, MFD Roughness, MFD Shininess, MFD Spread, Specular color/alpha level,
Reflection color/alpha level
RENDER PREFERENCES
Enable true reflections. When this option is on, reflective terrain areas (such as those
made reflective by ArtMatic extra outputs or CTW Shading) reflect everything including the
terrain. When this option is off, reflective areas reflect the sky and DFRM objects but not
the terrain itself. ArtMatic Voyager 2.0 behaved as if this option were off. True terrain reflections are computationally expensive. While turning this option on improves realism, it
comes at a great cost in terms of rendering speed.
TRUE REFLECTIONS ENABLED
DISABLED
Mirror Terrain.vy. When true reflections are on (left), the hill is reflected in the water created by the combination mode ArtMatic terrain but not when true reflections are off (right).
TCS+Build Mirror.vy. (Left) True reflections on. You will notice that the building windows (which are part
of the ArtMatic terrain) reflect the scene when reflections are on but not when they are off (the image at
right. However, the big mirror which is supplied by a DFRM object reflects the city regardless of the
terrain’s true refections setting.
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NOTES TRUE REFLECTIONS
Normally, terrains are not reflective but with ArtMatic you can design terrains where certain areas are highly reflective (such as regions with water or ice) by using an ArtMatic
output mapped to the reflective channel. True reflections makes it possible to design a
custom water model in AM that reflects everything. In theory, you could design lakes at
various elevations with this method so that you can have bodies of water at elevations
other than sea level.
If optimizing for speed (render time), it is recommend that you turn true reflections off
and use specular reflections as they use a precomputed environment map and can be
many times faster to computer since with true reflections light rays can go anywhere in
the world in any direction which makes it impossible to use the optimizations that make
normal ArtMatic Voyager rendering so fast. (When true reflections are on, ArtMatic Voyager needs to evaluate the intersection between every light ray and the entire planet.)
Cities made with reflective terrains can have building surfaces reflecting on each other.
ArtMatic Voyager computes only one level of refection in order to avoid an explosion of
the render time.
Example File: Mirror terrain.vy and TCS+Build Mirror.vy where the buildings are reflective and a DFRM mirror object is on the roof.
Enable terrain ambient occlusion: On/Off. See the section Ambient Occlusion for more
information about Ambient Occlusion.
Terrain Occlusion %. The ambient occlusion strength. The most realistic effect is with
values less than 100%. Use higher values for dramatic effects.
Ambient Occlusion radius. This is the same value displayed in the global preferences.
ArtMatic Extra Outputs. The mapping of ArtMatic extra outputs has been moved from
the Preferences dialog to the Terrain Shader settings. These are only available if the terrain
is an ArtMatic or Combination mode terrain. Outputs 1-4 can be mapped to: nothing, Selfillumination color & level, Wetness Level / Specular color, Ambient & Wetness, Reflection
Color & level, Bump Map, Light color filter, MFD params & specularity.
ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS DIALOG
Shortcut: &
The Environment Settings Dialog provides numerical control of the settings that are controlled by sliders in the main user interface. There are a few items that were formerly found
in the Preferences dialog. Numerical settings make it possible to make precise adjustments that may be difficult with the sliders. These settings are all described elsewhere.
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ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS
Sun direction (xyz)
Atmosphere Height
Cloud Density
Cloud Layer altitude
ArtMatic Sky Origin
W AT E R A N D S E A M O D E L S E T T I N G S
Underwater Color shift
Waves mode: Standard, Smaller & Smoother.
Foam mode: Never, Linked to Roughness, Always & Nearshore, Always & widespread.
Sea Level (meters)
Water roughness/Wind
Water transparency
Enable objects/sea interction
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U N D E R W AT E R S H A D E R ( N E W A R T M AT I C S K Y M O D E )
ArtMatic clouds/lights mode has new Underwater Shader mode for creating underwater
scenes as well as interesting volumetric light effects that are faster to compute than when
using volumetric light mode.
Underwater scene using the Underwater clouds/light mode
Underwater mode can also be used for above-water special lighting effects.
ArtMatic Voyager comes with several ArtMatic systems that implement underwater shaders that can be used by anyone regardless of their expertise.
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Creating new underwater shaders from scratch requires a fairly solid understanding of how
ArtMatic and ArtMatic Voyager work.
Other Applications
Underwater mode is not restricted to underwater effects. When the camera is above the
water level, you can create a host of interesting effects which include:
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Creating your own bodies of water with different coloring from the main ArtMatic water.
You can create great effects (or realism) by by modulating the color and waves with
depth (global input A2). The water surface of “underwater mode” water is opaque.
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Above-water atmospheric lighting effects. Underwater mode lights are faster to compute than the volumetric lights mode. So, this mode can be useful for creating interesting volumetric lights without using too much computation.
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Special volumetric effects like smoking water or sea spray/mist.
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Many cool effects that have not even occurred to us!
Haze. Underwater mode sets the haze stronger underwater and mixes the haze color with
the underwater shift color. The haze is used even in No Planet mode which allows you to
have a bottomless ocean. The higher the water level the more the haze color is shifted towards dark blue.
The current depth (cloud level minus terrain altitude) below is sent via global input A2). You
can use this feature to design a water model where the color/waves/foam change with
proximity to the shore.
Water Surface. Even though Underwater Shader mode was created for implementing
underwater scenes, it is also great for providing water surfaces seen from above the water
and reacts well to a variety of lighting conditions.
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an underwater mode sea seen from above
under different lighting conditions
the same scene viewed from underwater and a bit more offshore
Control Sliders. The cloud sliders have the following meanings in underwater mode.
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Cloud Density - controls the intensity of the volumetric light effects. When it is set to 0,
the volumetric light effects are turned off, but the water surface is still shaded.
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Water Surface Height - This controls the elevation at which the water surface appears.
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Cloud Size - This slider scales the Artmatic system just as it does in the other ArtMatic
cloud modes.
Special Effects - Underwater mode is useful for interesting above-water lightings effects.
25
Example: Underwater Effects.vy
Ex.: Underwater Experiment.vy. Camera above.
Example: Underwater Experiment.vy as seen from below the water. True reflections is turned on in the
Terrain Shader settings which allows complex reflections at the water surface due to mirroring of the
terrain.
Tech Talk
The ArtMatic system used to provide the underwater shading must be a 3D system (making use of the global X, Y and Z inputs). Elevation equals 0 represents the water surface.
Where the elevation is less than 0, ArtMatic Voyager will calculate underwater lighting effects. Where the elevation is greater than 0 Voyager renders above-surface volumetric
lights. Much looser sampling is used for calculating the lights than for the true volumetric
light mode in order to keep rendering times reasonable.
The water surface is opaque and the alpha channel defines the wave “bumps”. Extra ArtMatic outputs (which are hard-wired as noted above) can be used for special effects such
as self-illumination & wetness modulation or reflections. This optimization makes underwater mode useful for above-water lighting effects since it is faster to render than the standard volumetric light mode.
26
Extra outputs. Underwater shaders make use of extra ArtMatic outputs to control aspects of the underwater experience. The extra output mapping is hardcoded in order to
avoid conflicts with the extra output mapping done through the Terrain Shader Settings
dialog.
Output 1 (RGBA): water surface + volumetric light effects + caustics
Output 2 (scalar): reflection amount. This output is only active when Enable true reflections for terrain is turned on in the Terrain Shader Settings.
Output 3 (RGB): additional light. This effects the water surface only. A common use is to
enhance foam brightness.
Example: "Underwater Reflections C". Notice that the surface reflects the medusae.
27
DFRM OBJECTS
The ArtMatic object dialog (ArtMatic Object Position & Options) has many new options:
new object types and new parameters relating to the CTW shading model and ambient
occlusion. It also provides access to the mapping of ArtMatic extra outputs as objects now
have their own individual settings.
ArtMatic Shading Options (Extra Output Mapping). Each object now has its own
options for mapping ArtMatic extra outputs. To make assignments, click on the ArtMatic
Shading Options glyph in the object dialog.
Shadow Softness (new). Shadow softness determines the softness of the object’s shadows outlines.
Max Distance for Shadows. Max Height for Shadows has become Max Distance for
shadows. This setting is mainly used for optimization. If the object shadows are truncated,
set it to a larger value. Keep in mind that setting the value larger than necessary can add
significantly to rendering time.
CTW SHADING OPTIONS
Each object has a full-complement of MFD (microfacet distribution) shading options. See
the section CTW Shading for details about these parameters.
AMBIENT OCCLUSION
Ambient occlusion improves the definition of objects (especially fractals) and rough terrains. Each object has its own settings.
Ambient Occlusion Mode (popup). Options: None, Terrain Only, Terrain and Self, Everywhere, Everywhere + Edges Backlight. The accuracy of the occlusion is influenced by the
Quality setting in the Voyager user interface. At the lower setting, there may be artifacts. If
you see artifacts, set the Quality to a higher setting.
•
none. When none is selected, ArtMatic Voyager will still calculate some ambient occlusion with respect to other objects.
28
None
•
terrain only. Ambient occlusion is calculated where the object sits on the terrain but
not for the object’s details. If an object is on the ground, there will be some occlusion
surrounding it.
Terrain Only
•
terrain and self. Ambient occlusion is only calculated for the object itself and the terrain.
29
Terrain and Self
•
everywhere. AO is computed for every object in the scene that might affect the target
not just for the particular object.
Everywhere. Notice the occlusion that appears on the sphere in this mode that was not
visible in terrain and self mode.
•
everywhere + Low Freq AO. This mode uses an algorithm that provides very high
quality AO approximation by using shadow rays. It can add significant computation
time but provides added realism, especially for architectural objects.
30
•
everywhere + edges backlight. In this mode, the edges receive highlights rather
than being darkened. You may need to experiment with the occlusion % and the AO
radius (found in the main Preferences) to get the look you want. If the AO Radius is
large, some edges might be missed if the object has fine details.
Everywhere + edges backlight
Ambient Occlusion % (slider). Use this setting to control the strength of the Ambient Occlusion. This setting determines the strength of ambient occlusion. It affects the amount of
AO the target will create with respect to other objects (even if the mode is set to None) and
with respect to itself (for modes Terrain & Self and higher). Normally, the Occlusion %
should be less than 100%, but you can create interesting effects with values up to 400%.
Ambient Occlusion and Fractal Objects. For fractal objects, set the global Ambient
Occlusion radius to a small value in the Terrain Shader settings, and in the object settings
dialog set the Ambient Occlusion percent to a high value (usually 300-400%).
31
EDIT OBJECT DIALOG
In addition to new settings to accommodate the updated lighting and MFD texturing options, the object dialog features a representation of the object’s density field in the map
overview. The object density view is made up of two merged top-view slices. One slice is
from the camera level; the other slice is taken from a mid-level elevation.
The map view is centered on the object as opposed to the eye. In older versions, the view
was eye-centered.
NEW DFRM OBJECT
TYPES
Many examples are provided in the folder New DFRM Shaders.
FRACTAL OPAQUE
This mode is designed for fractal objects and objects with very rough surfaces as it
smooths the sub-pixel details that would otherwise make the image noisy. The global highfrequency limit (in the Preferences dialog) is used in fractal shading mode to allow control
over shading details as shown below. Use this mode for objects with very rough surfaces
and details smaller than a single pixel. Use it for objects like the MandelBulb and similar
created with 3->2 3D Fractal Sets. Certain small features may become enlarged.
32
High Frequency Limit at 70%
High Frequency Limit at 98%. There are a lot
of fine details showing up with the limit set
high. In some cases, you may want to suppress them by setting the limit lower.
TRANSPARENT (SURFACE)
Revolution Allee Vitraux -- with Cast Shadows on
The object’s surface is treated as transparent without internal volumetric light accumulation. Light color is tinted as it passes through the object much as it would be affected by
tinted glass. The windows in the example above are transparent objects. Notice how they
project their colors on the ground and walls. See the example folder DFRM Transparent &
Multi-shading.
Shadows and Transparency. Cast Shadows must be turned on in order for the light
passing through the “glass” to be projected on surfaces as seen in the example image.
33
With Cast Shadows turned on (left), light passing through transparent objects results realistic
tinted projections. At right, the same scene with Cast Shadows turned off.
TRANSLUCENT (VOLUMETRIC)
The surface is shaded with the specular color and blended with a volumetric accumulation
of the inside of the DFRM field. The opacity is controlled with the Opacity Gain slider.
TRANSLUCENT SELF-ILLUM
Like translucent mode, but the interior colors are not influenced by the sunlight.
34
FUZZY
Only the object interior is rendered without surface shading with specular shading turned
off. This shader is useful for smoke and fuzzy objects -- even plants. See the examples
with fuzzy in their name.
35
FUZZY LOOSE
This is a faster version of fuzzy mode that renders faster but less accurately than the other
fuzzy mode. Use this mode if the other fuzzy mode makes rendering and redraws too
slow. This might happen with either massive fuzzy objects or fields of fuzzy grass.
M U LT I : O PAQ U E
AND
LIGHT
This mode interprets an ArtMatic system with two sets of outputs as an opaque object (the
leftmost output set) and a volumetric light object (the second output set). The second output set must be an RGBA component. The light inside the volume is accumulated (unlike
transparent mode).
XOUT NOTE: The Light object is using the first XOut. So, if you are using additional ArtMatic Extra Outputs keep in mind that ArtMatic Extra Out 1 refers to the extra output used
by the light object.
A multi object’s ArtMatic system needs to have two sets of outputs. The
leftmost output defines the opaque object and the next set as a transparent
object. There may also be additional XOUTs.
RadarTower UFO Multi_L.vy
Examples. See the files in the folder DFRM Transparent and Multi shading
36
M U LT I : O PAQ U E
AND
TRANSPARENT
Like the other multi-mode, this mode requires an ArtMatic system that has two sets of
outputs: one for an opaque object and one for a transparent object. The second object is
interpreted as a Transparent (Surface) mode object. It surface’s are colored but light is not
accumulated volumetrically. This mode is useful for creating objects that have windows.
DF uvid Architecture->34 uvid green glass house
XOUT NOTE: The Light object is using the first XOut. So, if you are using additional ArtMatic Extra Outputs keep in mind that ArtMatic Extra Out 1 refers to the extra output used
by the light object.
ODDS
AND
E N D S - O T H E R N E W F E AT U R E S
T R A N S PA R E N T S K Y
Use this mode to render the background transparent. This is most commonly used when
you want to composite the rendered output in another app. With surface set to no planet
and the sky set to transparent, you can render objects with their mask (as the image’s alpha layer).
EDIT MENU CHANGES
COPY/PASTE/ADD OBJECT SETS
It is now possible to copy objects sets and paste them into other scenes. Edit->Copy Object Set copies all of the objects in the scene. Use Paste Object Set to replace any objects
in the current scene with the ones in the clipboard. Use Add Object to add them to the
scene without affecting objects already in the scene. Voyager tries to place the objects
with the same position to the camera as in the original scene. However, you may need to
refine the positioning as the objects might not appear in the same position as in the original
scene.
37
PASTE ENVIRONMENT
If a place has been copied (with the Copy Place command), you can paste the environment settings using the Paste Environment command. This includes sun position, fog/haze
and the other environment settings except for the sky mode or camera position.
COPY/PASTE CAMERA
Copy/paste of the camera settings.
P R E F E R E N C E S ( U P D AT E D )
Some preferences were moved and some new ones added. The Water & Cloud options
have been moved to the new Environment settings dialog.
Changes made to map co-ordinates in the Preferences dialog now update dynamically in
the main view.
Ambient Occlusion Radius setting (new). This value can also be set/changed in the
Terrain Shader Settings dialog. See the Ambient Occlusion section for more information
about the Ambient Occlusion Radius.
C A M E R A P AT H D I A L O G
The camera path dialog now has a larger popup preview and includes a top-view slice of
the current object set. The object density is rendered as a merged view of a slice from the
camera’s altitude and from a middle altitude. This scheme helps give a better sense of the
relative positioning of the camera, objects and environment in many cases than a single
slice approach would.
Previewing is optimized for up to 16 processors.
38
The camera view vector length (labeled length) is now settable in a few different ways. It is
now visible and draggable in the side-view. This allows you to better set the camera’s up/
down tilt from within the dialog. Changing the length setting field will set the value for keyframes inserted from inside the dialog. The Set Length button will apply the length to all
keyframes
C O M B I N AT I O N M O D E D I A L O G I M P R O V E M E N T S
The look and feel of the dialog was improved. The preview was removed and replaced with
live updating of the main canvas. A button was added to give access to the new Terrain
Shading Options.
A R T M AT I C / A R T M AT I C V O YA G E R L I V E C O M M U N I C AT I O N
ArtMatic and ArtMatic Voyager now feature live communication that allows you to see how
changes in your ArtMatic file will be seen in ArtMatic Voyager without needing to save the
ArtMatic file. This allows you to explore changes in the ArtMatic file without needing to
commit to those changes. See the ArtMatic documentation for details.
A R T M AT I C X O U T S
ArtMatic Xout handling has been clarified. Since Terrains and Objects can have their own
Xout settings, the Xout settings are no longer handled by Preferences. The terrain’s Xout
mapping is handled via the Terrain Shader Settings Dialog Edit->Terrain Shader Settings
39
(shortcut: @). Object Xout settings are set in the Edit Object Dialog by clicking on
Set Shading Options icon.
the
Wetness/Specular Change. When an RGBA system is used to control wetness level/
specular color, the values are set entirely by the ArtMatic system and override whatever
wetness setting is in the main user interface.
Tweaks. The math that underlies the Xout handling has changed. Some systems created
with earlier versions of the software that use Xouts may need to have their values tweaked
to achieve the same look as before.
LIGHT SOURCES
Edit->Other Light Sources... allows you to add up to 4 light sources. These are point lights
which can be visible or not. They are positioned like objects. When the light sources are
visible, they are shaded like 2D sprites. If a visible light source intersects a 3D object, the
result can be a bit strange. So, it is best to avoid intersections.
40
Halos. You can use a lighted DFRM object to create a real volumetric light halo.
CAST SHADOWS
With the advent of transparent and translucent objects, Cast Shadows influences new aspects of the scene. Transparent objects can color the light rays that pass through them.
When Cast Shadows is on, the colors will be projected realistically where the light rays fall.
Cast Shadows also improves the overall realism of many indoor scenes -- especially those
with light sources or transparent objects.
With Cast Shadows turned on (left), light passing through transparent objects results realistic
tinted projections. At right, the same scene with Cast Shadows turned off.
41
When Cast Shadows is on (left), the lighting effects are often dramatically improved in scenes
with additional lights and transparent objects. The image on the right has Cast Shadows off.
C U S T O M A R T M AT I C T H U M B N A I L P R E V I E W
When choosing ArtMatic files in Voyager’s open dialog, Voyager will display a custom
thumbnail if there is a png file with the same name as the ArtMatic file at the same level as
the ArtMatic file. This can be handy for DFRM elements for whom the default 2D preview is
not meaningful. To take advantage of this, render a small square png file from Voyager and
save it with the same name as the ArtMatic file in the folder that contains the ArtMatic file.
For example, if you have an ArtMatic file called “myArtMaticFile”, render an image called
“myArtMaticFile.png” and save it in the same folder as the ArtMatic file.
Normally, Voyager displays a 2D rendering of
ArtMatic files in the file chooser dialog.
You can supply a meaningful preview image
by saving a png file with the ArMatic file.
OPTION-SAVE TO RENAME BUNDLED FILES
Holding down the option-key when choosing File->Save will rename all the bundled files to
match the parent
42

ARTMATIC VOYAGER 3.0 New Features Guide

Transcription

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