Vue 6 Tutorial: Cloud Layer Sculpting
July 7, 2007 11:44 pm
[I've posted an updated version of this tutorial to my site as: Cloud Layer Sculpting in Vue ]
I’ve been playing with reversing the idea I used for punching holes in a spectral cloud layer in Vue 6 to create God Rays. Instead of making holes I’ve been cutting out clouds in shapes of my own design from cloud layers. Here are two ways you can do this yourself.
Method 1 for any version of Vue (requires a modelling package)
Create a mesh of a cuboid solid with the shape of the cloud you want to create in your modelling package of choice.
Open Vue and load the sample scene I’ve created. This scene saves a lot of work fiddling round with the atmosphere and cloud settings.
Import your mesh and place it so that it cuts through the cloud layer in the scene and so that the hole in the mesh will be inside the render area. You can use the Guide Cube in my scene as a guide to where to put your mesh.
In Vue Infinite and xStream select your mesh and use hide from render to conceal it. In other versions of Vue use the transparent material on the Guide Cube to hide it.
Delete the Guide Cube and the Terrain Object.
Now render the scene.
Method 2 for Vue 6 Infinite and xStream
First prepare the image you want to appear as a cloud. Produce a black and white image in the shape of the cloud and save it as a jpeg or other format that Vue can import. You may need to mirror the image so it will face in the correct direction once imported.
Open Vue and load the sample scene I’ve created. This scene saves a lot of work fiddling round with the atmosphere and cloud settings.
Now select the Terrain and open it in the terrain editor. Select the picture option and load up the picture you made. If the shape is black on a white background you’ll need to invert the terrain. Use the Clip Min setting for the terrain to remove the lower lying altitudes to leave just your shape.
Close the terrain editor and check that the Terrain object is taller than the Guide Cube. Make sure the Terrain object has the same material applied to it as the Guide Cube. This material is 100% transparent so it won’t show up in the scene. Create a Boolean difference of the Guide Cube and the terrain with the Terrain object as the second object selected for the difference so it is cut out of the Guide Cube.
Make sure the Boolean object overlaps the cloud layer and that the hole in it falls inside the camera’s view. Bake the Boolean object to Polygons.
Now render the scene.
Resources
- Example Train Cloud Scene (335KB Vue Scene)
- Base Scene for creating your own (78KB Vue Scene)
- The train image I used for the second method:
4 Responses to “Vue 6 Tutorial: Cloud Layer Sculpting”
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I really like the concept of this tutorial and have been looking for something like this for some time. Unfortunately, the files do not work with Vue Infinite 5 and I am unclear on how the mesh objects interacts with the cloud layer exactly (boolean?). Any additional details or compatible files would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for this tutorial as well as the one on the sun rays.
Sorry this will only work with Vue 6. Vue 5 doesn’t have the spectral cloud model that is uses or the ability to have cloud layers influenced by objects.
Really nice effect. It would be nice to have a step by step for us just starting out in xStream. Like the settings in the advanced editor and how to get it all lined up since it’s transparent. I got lost too fast!
I found this tutorial most helpfull, thanks a lot.
But when I tried to render high resolution images I noticed some strange "jitter" effect on the clouds. Wanted to increase accuracy but it was already at 100%.
Solution is to increase size of the object giving the form, pushing the cloud level higher and increase the softness.
Now I have to get rid off the grainy look.