gkoumout Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 okay so ive decided im tired of using rpcs, they slow down my render time considerably, they are difficult to shade, and they dont give me a chance to really be artistic and explore VIZ even more. so, first off, if you think i am wrong in these statements i really would be glad to hear why, maybe im doing something wrong. secondly, if i stop using rpc's, how can i effectively and efficiently create my own images to take the place of these rpc's...i am studying to be a landscape architect, so lets say i need to make trees, groundcover, shrubs etc...if you have any information whatsoever that would be awesome....i just dont want to have my work be the same as everyone elses...im sure you can all agree with that. thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahorela Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 yeah I know how you feel, check out the xfrog libraries, the onyx tree libraries and recently the evermotion guys have been making tree and plant models. My personal opinion is that the xfrog models are the best but they are pretty heavy on the polycount. just realising now that you want to create your own models.......try the xfrog software, awesome for making custom trees and plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkoumout Posted October 14, 2006 Author Share Posted October 14, 2006 great thanks mahorela...ill check out that software, so i guess your saying you also wouldnt model plantscape materials or the like in VIZ, instead youd bring in from software like the ones you mentiones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahorela Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 yeah I personally think that xfrog is easier, easier to get those variations etc that are so important when modelling organics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antisthenes Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 what applications have you sucessfully transfered Xfrog w/ textures to that are not on the list of their available plugin page if any? thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookiE Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 Crossing 2 plans with the same tree image on it will work 90% of the time for stuff thats not right in your face and even stuff thats in your face if the lighting is done right you wont realise that its not a model. But these require a projector map and i would prefer to use models if needed for close up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckytohaveher Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 SSSSSOOOOOOOO Tired... They are good for what they do, just as long as you like what they do.... Have you looked at the pricing structure? Based on the concept of being fully licensed they whole library is something like $15K. I used to have 3 Art-Render Pures, 5 RD 2000s, and an RD3000. It was hundreds of processing cores. It was like owning the USS Ronald Reagan. Massive horsepower and virtually unlimited cycles. In the Renderpipe software each RPC had to be individually ripped, processed, and sent over. It nuked the performance down to the speed of the host PC. As a result, I sold them all off. I couldn't find a better solution to RPCs. Why doesn't somebody write a plugin that creates MAX 'primatives' that can be trees or ground over? Maybe a person or two also -- really, no matter what race ethnicity or gender, do we really look that different? Imagine a $499 plugin that would do it! Keep dreaming I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkoumout Posted October 19, 2006 Author Share Posted October 19, 2006 so i was on the xfrog website and noticed they have a product thats sole purpose is to reduce faces and polygons from an object to improve rendering time etc... does this mean without the software, the render time will be the same as an RPC's time in VIZ also, im not sure i understood all of the last couple posts about bringing xfrog objects to other application. so is what youre saying that you need another piece of software to bring an xfrog tree for example into another program like VIZ sorry for the lack of understanding...just talkin to a rookie thats all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahorela Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 No you don't need another piece of software......Xfrog has some good max (or viz) plugins. Basically you can export out of Xfrog in .3ds (dwg, dxf etc etc) or you can use the plugin and import .xfrog files into max (and viz I think). Xfrog tune is indeed a polygon reduction tool but if your creating trees in Xfrog, you won't need it. You have complete control over how many polygons are in every part your tree, branch and trunk control, leaf control....everything. On their website, check out their pre made libraries (pdf documents). All of those were made in Xfrog (some very impressive stuff) and give Stewart Mcsherry an e-mail (default contact e-mail), he's a great guy and will be more than happy to answer any of your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahorela Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Also, almost all of the images that I have posted on this forum feature xfrog trees and plants. I regularly get asked about where I get them from and people often comment about how good they look (right before they bag everything else LOL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Smith Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Personally, i like select RPCs and find (select) RPCs indispensible. Why they are not all to the same level of quality I don't know. I love Onyx trees but if i need a forest of trees and dont want to spend hours rendering billions of polygons, i use RPCs. I simply disable shadows, place a Generic Oak from the (AEC Extended menu) at the center of each RPC tree, turn off the Visible to Render option (so that it casts shadows for the RPCs) and the result is very acceptable. All the trees in this animation were RPCs and they add only seconds to each frame. http://3das.com/images/gallery/movies/PizzeriaUno.mov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkoumout Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share Posted November 6, 2006 great...thanks everyone for your help!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 If you get RPC CreatorPro you can make your own RPCs out of your Xfrog/ Onyx trees. works well and saves on the poly count. Because you can use higher res images for your created RPCs they look much better up close. Although for very close trees still use geomerty. JHV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin walker Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 Xfrog tune is indeed a polygon reduction tool but if your creating trees in Xfrog, you won't need it. You have complete control over how many polygons are in every part your tree, branch and trunk control, leaf control....everything. I've also found you can exclude the x-frog models from the GI calculations....its hardly noticeable in quality , but a massive saving in rendering time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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