SHADER setting-up trees

Discussion in 'Tracks' started by jarodyi, Nov 4, 2014.

  1. Mitja Bonca

    Mitja Bonca Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2014
    Messages:
    107
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Slovenia
    I just have another question, why trees have these visible edges on the upper side, I heard that the UV passes the lower side to the upper one.
    Anyone know how to salve this, without creating a double mirrored texture (i know that with mirroring the texture, I can get rid of this).
    I mean this:
    [​IMG]
     
  2. r@m

    r@m Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2017
    Messages:
    199
    Likes Received:
    141
    I always trim off the top of the mesh, quick connect and delete polygons, easiest way to fix it.
     
  3. Johnr777

    Johnr777 Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2017
    Messages:
    1,048
    Likes Received:
    613
    Or add a thin black strip on the bottom part of the tree’s alpha channel
     
    Mitja Bonca likes this.
  4. Mitja Bonca

    Mitja Bonca Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2014
    Messages:
    107
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Slovenia
    thx
     
  5. Mitja Bonca

    Mitja Bonca Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2014
    Messages:
    107
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Slovenia
  6. r@m

    r@m Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2017
    Messages:
    199
    Likes Received:
    141
    Select edges -> connect, slide edge until it's nearly at the top, apply, sub object poly mode, select and delete the polygons you just created.
     
    Mitja Bonca likes this.
  7. DrDoomsLab

    DrDoomsLab Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2017
    Messages:
    30
    Likes Received:
    8
    Oh right i remember someone saying something like this ages ago. Thanks for reminding me.

    How would you go about it in something like gimp? or photoshop? Just load it up and add one line of pixes by changing the size? then put a black strip in?

    Cheers,
    DrDoomsLab.
     
  8. Johnr777

    Johnr777 Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2017
    Messages:
    1,048
    Likes Received:
    613
    No, no need to mess with the image size, just use the select tool, select just a tiny bit of the bottom of the alpha channel, NOT the main image, and paint it 0,0,0 (black)

    alpha channel fix.png
     
    DrDoomsLab and luchian like this.
  9. Mitja Bonca

    Mitja Bonca Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2014
    Messages:
    107
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Slovenia
    Still issues with trees.Will try to do this.
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2017
  10. LilSKi

    LilSKi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2015
    Messages:
    370
    Likes Received:
    329
    The real fix is to never put the UV map to the top edge of the texture. Bring the top UV down some and it will fix the ghost lines.
     
    DrDoomsLab and Mitja Bonca like this.
  11. Mitja Bonca

    Mitja Bonca Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2014
    Messages:
    107
    Likes Received:
    35
    Location:
    Slovenia
    Finally got it, thx to you @LilSKi . Btw, do you know maybe, if the object is address as Object, or as some AC`s reserved words, like for example GRASS, does it influence of DIP or FPS or anything? Cause I would like to make outside world drivable, and was wondering if this is in any ways issue for some fps drop or higher cpu usage?
     
  12. LilSKi

    LilSKi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2015
    Messages:
    370
    Likes Received:
    329
    You can make the outside world physical and it shouldn't hurt performance much. It would still be best to keep all physical objects not rendered and in smaller pieces. Being they are not rendered they don't add to the DIP.

    Look at VIR for example. The whole map can be driven on and it runs fine.
     
  13. LeSunTzu

    LeSunTzu New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2017
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    6
    Hi, I have a question in relation to a project that I started: the track is surrounded by a dense forrest with steep elevation (pic here: https://crdp.ac-amiens.fr/idp/idp80/uploads/2011/09/follembraycircuit-02.jpg) and I am wondering if planting a huge number of Y trees up to and along the crests is the way to go beyond the first couple of tree rows around the track. Would a 3D mesh for tree tops (like grass) be better performance-wise?
     
  14. LilSKi

    LilSKi Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2015
    Messages:
    370
    Likes Received:
    329
    For Bridgehampton I did about a first few rows as Y trees. Then I do a tree wall type object.

    Screenshot_ks_mclaren_650_gt3_bridgehampton_26-10-117-9-51-49.jpg

    This is the tree wall setup from above.

    Screenshot_ks_mclaren_650_gt3_bridgehampton_26-10-117-9-51-57.jpg

    Then if I had small "islands" of trees I just did a bunch of Y trees instead of walls. Screenshot_ks_mclaren_650_gt3_bridgehampton_26-10-117-9-51-29.jpg
     
    luchian likes this.
  15. LeSunTzu

    LeSunTzu New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 16, 2017
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    6
    Thanks a lot for the quick reply, now I know what to do. :)
     
  16. Johnr777

    Johnr777 Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2017
    Messages:
    1,048
    Likes Received:
    613
    The way you placed the trees to cover the hills and surroundings is extremely inefficient...(N.B. actually speaking with somebody else: copied from this thread).

    I'm also new at this and just started the surrounding vegetation for my project, but I looked at LilSKi's Bridgehampton first... Its like a bible for track making, its no fluke its one of the top downloads at RD.

    Anyways, the technique to learn here, regardless of software used, is to make "treewalls" that criss-cross one another, looking from below, it will give the illusion of a dense forest... but its a very low poly system and can cover massive areas.

    shot24.jpg
    shot25.jpg
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 19, 2018
    Kibbutz likes this.
  17. mantasisg

    mantasisg Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2017
    Messages:
    193
    Likes Received:
    172
    Regarding tree walls I have a very useful simple tip. Probably it is not a new idea for most, but I often see rather different tree wall textures used than Y trees are. Sometimes it might be very useful to simply create a tree wall texture by arranging your Y trees textures. You can also have separate wall textures for large trees and bushes rather than both in same tree line texture and so on...

    Also it is good to get normals up for tree walls, like for grass. Unless there is other way with some other shader IDK, I never used ksTree shader for tree walls, I don't remember why at the moment. Edit: LilSki siad the same a year ago, so probably there are no other way.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2018
  18. mantasisg

    mantasisg Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2017
    Messages:
    193
    Likes Received:
    172
    I just wonder if both KS_TREE_GROUP_A and KS_TREE_GROUP_B are correct to use in particular situations. I suppose GR_B is good for the places where trees are on the outside, or where there are not dense, or there are too few of them. And GR_A, I suppose, should fit where trees are a bit deeper, and where they are more dense, as there naturally would be less light around them.
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2018
  19. Johnr777

    Johnr777 Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 26, 2017
    Messages:
    1,048
    Likes Received:
    613
    ksGrass is often preferred because it gives the option to use a variation texture, which reduces the repetition look.

    Yeah, you could opt for the single plane trees, but unless you are placing an insane amount of objects, no big savings in polys really
     
  20. mantasisg

    mantasisg Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2017
    Messages:
    193
    Likes Received:
    172
    Hmm, probably would work, haven't thought about that, though IDK if it is necessary for trees, they are usually rather similar in colors, grass varies a lot more. Maybe it depends.

    No I didn't meant single plane trees as a tree wall. But it could be an option in some cases when there are many sparse trees in distance, like in Magione.
     
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice