How to create life-like grass?

[davidstvz]

On the subject of textures, DavidJPotter clued me in to brick.com which has a nice tool for making brick walls:  https://brick.com/onlinetools 

 

It's not 100% seamless, but as long as the bricks on the left and right aren't dramatically different, it doesn't seem to matter. The mortar is seamless of course. I went into this programs data files and modified the source images for one set of bricks using bricks from another manufacturer and was able to create a brick texture that looked essentially identical to my reference photo (included below).

 

 

Back to grass... I felt the settings discovered by Westlanedesigns looked a bit too wild.  So far, my attempts to produce neatly mowed grass have not been fully satisfactory. I reduced the size of the grass plant (provided earlier in the thread) to 15x30 and change the color of the source texture a bit.  Then I applied it to the garden bed with a distance of 3.5 (instead of 6) and size range of 10 to 17% (instead of 25 to 50).  I set the sidewalks at 5" (height and thickness) and the garden beds containing the grass to only 1/8".  This produces a more clipped look but unfortunately has some repetitive spotting.

 

I was able to use a smart selection and masking minimize the artifacts in photoshop however.

 

EDIT: I added a picture with the original grass settings in the front near the street. The grass looks very wlid in general and especially around the edges which are not contained within the defined areas for the grass at all. I'm not sure what Westlanedesigns was doing to make his look a bit more contained than that (perhaps taller/thicker driveway and sidewalks).

 

 

 

[teewhite7]

On 6/18/2020 at 5:04 PM, Westlanedesigns said:

Grass Glorious Grass. This drawing is still in preliminary stages but I wanted to share. I have been searching for a way to get more realistic looking grass in CA since I first started using the product 10 years ago. I finally figured it out last night by accident. There is still some work to do to make it better, but at least it is closer to what I want grass to look like than all the other terrain images.

 

Create a garden bed where you want the grass to be, then add this "plant" to the garden bed. I have never done this before, but if you add this grass to your library, select it and then place it in the garden bed it will distribute the plant. I turned off show objects, reduced the distance, changed to alternate grid, random angle and object scaling to 25% and 50%.

 

There is still some work to do to make it look better, but I wanted to get this out there and see if anyone else has tried something like this.

 

I should add that I am still using X11.

 

Grass.calibz

 

 

What is the plant you're referring to?

I haven't been able to find anything that looks like it.

Looks really good by the way!

 

Thanks

[Westlanedesigns]

22 hours ago, teewhite7 said:

 

 

What is the plant you're referring to?

I haven't been able to find anything that looks like it.

Looks really good by the way!

 

Thanks

Here are the files I am using right now.

WLD Rock.calibz

WLD Grass.calibz

[AtlasBuildingGp]

On 6/18/2020 at 3:04 PM, Westlanedesigns said:

Grass Glorious Grass. This drawing is still in preliminary stages but I wanted to share. I have been searching for a way to get more realistic looking grass in CA since I first started using the product 10 years ago. I finally figured it out last night by accident. There is still some work to do to make it better, but at least it is closer to what I want grass to look like than all the other terrain images.

 

Create a garden bed where you want the grass to be, then add this "plant" to the garden bed. I have never done this before, but if you add this grass to your library, select it and then place it in the garden bed it will distribute the plant. I turned off show objects, reduced the distance, changed to alternate grid, random angle and object scaling to 25% and 50%.

 

There is still some work to do to make it look better, but I wanted to get this out there and see if anyone else has tried something like this.

 

I should add that I am still using X11.

 

Grass.calibz 439.77 kB · 624 downloads

WOW, this works amazing. One issue I'm experiencing. Ray Tracing this much texture seams to be murder on my computer. 

[DH7777]

On 6/18/2020 at 5:04 PM, Westlanedesigns said:

Grass Glorious Grass. This drawing is still in preliminary stages but I wanted to share. I have been searching for a way to get more realistic looking grass in CA since I first started using the product 10 years ago. I finally figured it out last night by accident. There is still some work to do to make it better, but at least it is closer to what I want grass to look like than all the other terrain images.

 

Create a garden bed where you want the grass to be, then add this "plant" to the garden bed. I have never done this before, but if you add this grass to your library, select it and then place it in the garden bed it will distribute the plant. I turned off show objects, reduced the distance, changed to alternate grid, random angle and object scaling to 25% and 50%.

 

There is still some work to do to make it look better, but I wanted to get this out there and see if anyone else has tried something like this.

 

I should add that I am still using X11.

 

Grass.calibz 439.77 kB · 646 downloads

The attached Grass.calibz link when downloaded and then uploaded into CA will not open. It says it has an invalid path when you open object. How do I get this grass into my library?

[DH7777]

On 6/27/2020 at 10:29 PM, Chiefer said:

 

Try Twinmotion2020. It's Free for non-commercial use and pay ($189 in the Philippines, less than $300 in the US). It's user-friendly than Lumion.

Hi I just came across this thread and saw you mentioned trying Twinmotion2020  So is this something that is compatible with ChiefArchitect? I need more realistic grass If I use TwinMotion are there steps to take what ever I create in this program, like converting it to a file that CA will accecpt? Thanks!

[DH7777]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:29 PM, AtlasBuildingGp said:

WOW, this works amazing. One issue I'm experiencing. Ray Tracing this much texture seams to be murder on my computer. 

Hmmm...I can't get it to work. Says invalid path when its uploaded into CA library and will not apply to my drawing. What am I doing wrong here?

[glennw]

8 hours ago, DH7777 said:

The attached Grass.calibz link when downloaded and then uploaded into CA will not open. It says it has an invalid path when you open object. How do I get this grass into my library?

Library>Import Library?

[Renerabbitt]

40 minutes ago, glennw said:

Library>Import Library?

Chief Architect x11
If his signature is correct, old version issue

[Renerabbitt]

Ive had instance grass available for chief for years, but its not worth the time investment to get a fully realized landscape playing because of the poly count and processing times. Twinmotion to the rescue

[glennw]

3 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

Chief Architect x11
If his signature is correct, old version issue

It worked for me in X11

 

[robdyck]

17 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

Ive had instance grass available for chief for years, but its not worth the time investment to get a fully realized landscape playing because of the poly count and processing times. Twinmotion to the rescue

One thing I've always wondered; we can create a rendering that includes great grass and the result is just an image so why isn't there a similar appropriate image within Chief for grass?

At any rate, the image below shows 2 different grass instances, rendered in Chief. Left of the main sidewalk is a png and right of the sidewalk is a 3d model. The png causes more slowness than the 3d model of grass on my system. I wouldn't turn these layers on until I was ready to render my final image. I'm still trying to learn TM in those rare moments of free time.

 

[Renerabbitt]

20 minutes ago, glennw said:

in

I should’ve put a question mark, I had no way of testing

[Renerabbitt]

2 minutes ago, robdyck said:

time

I often just do a foreground replacement similarly to what you described, such as this:

but my workflow in Twinmotion is so fast now

this took 2 hours from a chief house

[LeeDrafter]

On 6/18/2020 at 4:04 PM, Westlanedesigns said:

Grass Glorious Grass. This drawing is still in preliminary stages but I wanted to share. I have been searching for a way to get more realistic looking grass in CA since I first started using the product 10 years ago. I finally figured it out last night by accident. There is still some work to do to make it better, but at least it is closer to what I want grass to look like than all the other terrain images.

 

Create a garden bed where you want the grass to be, then add this "plant" to the garden bed. I have never done this before, but if you add this grass to your library, select it and then place it in the garden bed it will distribute the plant. I turned off show objects, reduced the distance, changed to alternate grid, random angle and object scaling to 25% and 50%.

 

There is still some work to do to make it look better, but I wanted to get this out there and see if anyone else has tried something like this.

 

I should add that I am still using X11.

 

Grass.calibz 439.77 kB · 660 downloads

thank you so much for sharing this method along with the grass file!! This is so helpful! I have been wanting to create the look of real grass for years, but I haven't been able to achieve the look I want even with high-res grass and bump maps. But this works! I think other people use photoshop or other software, but I don't have experience in those. thanks again. 

[ericepv]

Some nice grass here http://www.tonytextures.com/free-green-nature-ground-texture-photo-gallery/

[DH7777]

On 10/20/2022 at 5:51 PM, glennw said:

It worked for me in X11

 

Well it doesn't for me 

[DH7777]

On 10/20/2022 at 6:17 PM, Renerabbitt said:

I often just do a foreground replacement similarly to what you described, such as this:

but my workflow in Twinmotion is so fast now

this took 2 hours from a chief house

That looks awesome! Are there any tricks or things I need to make sure my CA plan needs to have done to it prior in order to import into TM so nothing disappears or changes? Also what are you saving your CA plan as so you can import to TM?

[Renerabbitt]

3 hours ago, DH7777 said:

Well it doesn't for me 

Have you tried dragging the folder into your windowed open program ?
 

 

3 hours ago, DH7777 said:

That looks awesome! Are there any tricks or things I need to make sure my CA plan needs to have done to it prior in order to import into TM so nothing disappears or changes? Also what are you saving your CA plan as so you can import to TM?

I have a tutorial series on my Youtube channel as a playlist if you wanna dive in.
I use 3ds to keep component assemblies together though it has a vertex export limit.
I use DAE for landscaping

[DH7777]

28 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

Have you tried dragging the folder into your windowed open program ?
 

 

I have a tutorial series on my Youtube channel as a playlist if you wanna dive in.
I use 3ds to keep component assemblies together though it has a vertex export limit.
I use DAE for landscaping

No I will try that

[Ange822]

On 10/20/2022 at 7:17 PM, Renerabbitt said:

I often just do a foreground replacement similarly to what you described, such as this:

but my workflow in Twinmotion is so fast now

this took 2 hours from a chief house

Do you export Chief Architect to Twin Motion? 

[CDH7777]

On 10/20/2022 at 6:17 PM, Renerabbitt said:

I often just do a foreground replacement similarly to what you described, such as this:

but my workflow in Twinmotion is so fast now

this took 2 hours from a chief house

Hi what exactly to you mean by "Foreground replacement" ?

[Michael_Gia]

11 minutes ago, Ange822 said:

Do you export Chief Architect to Twin Motion?

You should check out Rene's YouTube videos on TwinMotion.

 

Do yourself a favour and download TwinMotion, it's free.

I mean, actually free, not "internet free", really free.  

Did I mention that it's also free?

 

In Chief, from a 3D overview camera, hit file, export to .dae (collada)

 

Open TwinMotion and import model.

 

Your model will instantly look better.

It is a lot easier to create and export images, videos, walkthroughs, and online sharing with clients from TwinMotion.

 

I use Chief for everything, as in cabinets and furniture.

Then in TwinMotion, I add the grass, plants, trees and shrubs along with people and vehicles.

I have a user library for these items in TwinMotion so it's a breeze.

 

Very little tinkering with materials and lighting.

For lighting I simply add a TwinMotion "skydome", it's one click and I get the overall light that I need for a given shot.

 

No messing with lights and sunlight, although you can if you want.

Really easy and enjoyable workflow in TwinMotion once you get past the somewhat peculiar interface, from a Chief point of view.

 

If you watch Rene's videos you'll see that even updating your model from Changes in Chief is really no big deal.  At first I used to curse Chief for not having a direct link to TwinMotion, but it really isn't all that neccessary.

 

 

 

[Ange822]

15 minutes ago, Michael_Gia said:

You should check out Rene's YouTube videos on TwinMotion.

 

Do yourself a favour and download TwinMotion, it's free.

I mean, actually free, not "internet free", really free.  

Did I mention that it's also free?

 

In Chief, from a 3D overview camera, hit file, export to .dae (collada)

 

Open TwinMotion and import model.

 

Your model will instantly look better.

It is a lot easier to create and export images, videos, walkthroughs, and online sharing with clients from TwinMotion.

 

I use Chief for everything, as in cabinets and furniture.

Then in TwinMotion, I add the grass, plants, trees and shrubs along with people and vehicles.

I have a user library for these items in TwinMotion so it's a breeze.

 

Very little tinkering with materials and lighting.

For lighting I simply add a TwinMotion "skydome", it's one click and I get the overall light that I need for a given shot.

 

No messing with lights and sunlight, although you can if you want.

Really easy and enjoyable workflow in TwinMotion once you get past the somewhat peculiar interface, from a Chief point of view.

 

If you watch Rene's videos you'll see that even updating your model from Changes in Chief is really no big deal.  At first I used to curse Chief for not having a direct link to TwinMotion, but it really isn't all that neccessary.

 

 

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer and give me this information. This is very helpful. I am going to download it right now, I didn't know it was free just to try! Greatly appreciated! 

[CDH7777]

19 minutes ago, Michael_Gia said:

You should check out Rene's YouTube videos on TwinMotion.

 

Do yourself a favour and download TwinMotion, it's free.

I mean, actually free, not "internet free", really free.  

Did I mention that it's also free?

 

In Chief, from a 3D overview camera, hit file, export to .dae (collada)

 

Open TwinMotion and import model.

 

Your model will instantly look better.

It is a lot easier to create and export images, videos, walkthroughs, and online sharing with clients from TwinMotion.

 

I use Chief for everything, as in cabinets and furniture.

Then in TwinMotion, I add the grass, plants, trees and shrubs along with people and vehicles.

I have a user library for these items in TwinMotion so it's a breeze.

 

Very little tinkering with materials and lighting.

For lighting I simply add a TwinMotion "skydome", it's one click and I get the overall light that I need for a given shot.

 

No messing with lights and sunlight, although you can if you want.

Really easy and enjoyable workflow in TwinMotion once you get past the somewhat peculiar interface, from a Chief point of view.

 

If you watch Rene's videos you'll see that even updating your model from Changes in Chief is really no big deal.  At first I used to curse Chief for not having a direct link to TwinMotion, but it really isn't all that neccessary.

 

 

 

Yes I have downloaded TwinMotion. I have been in the process of learning how to take my chief plans into it. I will check out Rene's YouTube Thanks!