Good procedural bumps for water texture....

[mcvltd]

I'll take a look at the global scale parameter and see what happens. One thing I did notice - I've been using mm as my units in max - dreamscape didn't seem to like it - changed back to metres and dreamscape seemed happy again. So scale could be the issue.

[mcvltd]

Just to confirm - setting the units to mm in max really screws things up! Metres all the way from now-on.

Still haven't managed to master the dreamscape sea material/sub surface but have found another way which gives good/fast results :

Use dreamscape for the sky backdrop. Set the ground colour as the 'subsurface' colour. Illuminate the sky using a dreamscape light but make sure this doesn't illuminate the scene - parent it to a direct light with vray shadows.

Use the dreamscape sea surface for the water geometry (this takes care of the large undulations). Add a vray matl to it - black diffuse colour, near white for reflections (use 'fresnel' reflections), a bit of refraction and add a mix of procedurals for the smaller surface bump - (waves-noise-turb.noise-smoke).

It seems to render faster and be more predictable than the dreamscape sea matl.

Here's a render using those settings-

[sv]

that looks great.

[Da_elf]

wow indeed

[mcvltd]

Thanks guys!

[instinct]

nice job there very nice indeed.

Considering speed, yes it does render faster this way..DS´s Subsurface does a very good job tho...i really like it, also cause it is perfectly matched to the sky, so it also works timelapsed without keyframing.

Thorsten

[mcvltd]

Thanks Thorsten,

Yep, this is just a temporary solution untill I get the hang of subsurface. Needed to squeeze out a couple of renders this weekend so had to use something that I could get looking good in a short space of time. I think the dreamscape 'sea bump' is better than I can get with standard max procedurals but the vray fresnel reflections seem to be far better than the dreamscape reflecs. I may play with mixing the two matls at a later date. will keep you posted.

How's chaossquid coming along?

Rob.

[instinct]

chaossquid is actually pretty ready for launch...there will be quite some changes along the way, but we got an initial feature-freeze (So it's Chaossquid 1.5 RC basically :P ). Felix is currently away, but we will most likely go live when he returns or shortly after (should be during the next days)

Thorsten

[mcvltd]

Cool, can't wait!

[Da_elf]

try a vray blend material with a vray material for reflection and a DS for sub surface

[mcvltd]

Da_elf, sounds like a good plan..... except..... I haven't installed 1.5 yet I'm mid-way through a couple of projects so will wait till they're finished before playing with 1.5

Is the vray blend matl better to use than the max composite matl?

[instinct]

The VrayBlend mtl is quite a bit faster then the max implementation (as it calculates lighting one time for the whole mat, while the max one does it seperatly for each mat if i understood that right)

Thorsten

[flavrsaver]

mcvltd-

I'm currently working on a similar solution and have yet to achieve good results like you have. I'm trying to get the hang of the DS sea surface and so far it's been frustrating. Care to share any of your settings for the sea surface material?

I'm also using a VRay sun and sky setup and that's been a little tricky as well. You mentioned using a direct light with VRay shadows. Any reason for going that route instead?

[flavrsaver]

I'm thinking that I might go back to playing around with the seamaterial in DS instead of applying a VRay texture. I like the new foam options.

I'd still be interesting in what settings you've using for the sea surface. The biggest challenge I've found is creating a realistic result when having to show a sea from a distance. I tend to lose a lot of detail the further back I go from the sea surface.

[mcvltd]

flavrsaver - I haven't managed to get DS subsurface working yet either. It seems to behave itself when you create a fresh scene and have no geometry other than the sea surface. Then, when I add in my yacht it all goes bad.... strange. Have spent many hours getting no-where.

So that's where the vray material comes in. I use the DS sea surface for my basic water surface (for the large undulating waves) and then apply a vray material with several bump textures in the bump slot.

Unfortunately the sea surface wont render without a DS sun. So, add in a DS sun but make sure that 'illuminate scene' is unchecked. This will allow you to light your scene normally with the usual light types while having the DS sky for a background.

I find this method renders a lot quicker and the results are far more predictable and acceptable.