How to create life-like grass?

[AtlasBuildingGp]

On 10/20/2022 at 7:12 AM, DH7777 said:

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?

I found a better method for grass! 

I just copy the normal map from frosted glass and paste it into the Bump map for grass #7 and increase the texture to like 3. I also increase the scale of the image file and darken the color a bit. This looks like nice clean grass without over loading my computer. Its still not perfect because you don't get individual blades of grass but it gives the light something to bounce off. I think it does the trick 

[Renerabbitt]

25 minutes ago, AtlasBuildingGp said:

I just copy the normal map from frosted glass

You can just download my free grass texture from the free section of my site if you like. It usually looks better than the chief offerings even with modification
https://www.rabbittdesign.net/symbols

[AtlasBuildingGp]

4 hours ago, Renerabbitt said:

You can just download my free grass texture from the free section of my site if you like. It usually looks better than the chief offerings even with modification
https://www.rabbittdesign.net/symbols

Oh well Awesome!!! Thanks so much 

[scottharris]

A new Procedural Grass tool is available to create a simulated 3D grass in Chief Architect X15. Unlike the grass on the terrain permitter that is an image-based texture, the 3D grass looks much more realistic.   There are controls for density, height, width and curve ranges, color, and a mow height that will trim the grass using these parameters to achieve more natural-looking grass in your scenes. Chief Architect X15 is currently in beta.  If you would like to get a look at it now, visit this link.     

[robdyck]

23 minutes ago, scottharris said:

Chief Architect X15 is currently in beta.  If you would like to get a look at it now

That looks great Scott! I sent an email awhile back but haven't had a reply yet. Is there a time frame for when new beta participants will be added?

[DeLayDesign]

1 hour ago, robdyck said:

That looks great Scott! I sent an email awhile back but haven't had a reply yet. Is there a time frame for when new beta participants will be added?

-------------

 

Same.  Maybe they were flooded with requests.  I've since touched base to see if they still need testers.

[scottharris]

On 12/3/2022 at 6:56 AM, robdyck said:

That looks great Scott! I sent an email awhile back but haven't had a reply yet. Is there a time frame for when new beta participants will be added?

Rob, I think the next group of beta testers should be within 2 weeks.  Please be patient - we would like to get more eyes and feedback on the new features.

[robdyck]

@scottharris Thanks for the update Scott. I'm looking forward to it!

[Steve_Nyhof]

Many thanks to everyone in this thread to inspire me to step into Rendering my elevations beyond CA. Twinmotion was the key, and to answer the question of grass, yes, you can spend the time to make things even more real, but Twinmotion has a grass material with some options for roughness and striping that I think works great. Along with adding some trees to offer shade is a great look.

 

I spent a few hours watching videos, and then a view hours making up a few templates in Twinmotion. Now I can just import a 3DS format model into Twinmotion and it can be done - as shown in my example below (with no landscaping). Today I'm going to be working on some landscaping, and maybe coming up with a number of plants I like that I can save into the template and just move and copy into place.

Note that I imported my Terrain by itself as a larger grade slab into Twinmotion and painted that with the grass material (not the grass in the landscaping section). The I painted selected "random" trees to some depth so you cannot see through them, and then added specific trees to where and how I like them to look. I also set it up so that I can view the house model from the front, the left or the right and the background still works as expected. 

 

A big thanks to Renerabbitt! While I did not use his grass suggestions, I learned a great deal from his videos because they were more directed and relatable to CA. One big thing is to add to your model before export is some materials, slabs, etc that you want to paint in Twinmotion. I'm going to be working on this today for my dirt and landscaping areas. Enjoy the sun location and north (and other tools) to find the perfect look and shadows. Morning and evening shots with lighting inside the home are particularly satisficing.

One rule of thumb in a picture that just looks right, even though the sky seems to be less important than the other parts of a picture, we see more sky in our peripheral view. If you pay attention to most art of outdoors, landscapes, sunsets, etc. you will note that the horizon is at half or lower toward the bottom of the picture showing more sky.

 

[Steve_Nyhof]

If you like. I have included two File with grade and trees.

• Background1-One Story.tm has a little shorter trees so they do not over dominate the house
• Background1-Two Story.tm has a taller trees so they still show up in the background
• I am including the Grade.zip file in the new post - Unzip and put the Grade folder into the same folder as the .tm files. Make sure to keep copies of these files. Because I am in the East, I do not have southern trees.
  Example:
  > Your computer folder
  > > Grade folder (some images the .tm file will look for)
  > > Background1-One Story.tm (You can rename this to what your want)
  Example:
  > C:\Houseplans\Myhouse (folder)
  > > C:\Houseplans\Myhouse\Grade (folder)
  > > C:\Houseplans\Myhouse\Background1-One Story.tm (file)
• I have a small gray square that faces the front of the grade and a large circle where you house will land.
• Open one of the .tm files and hit Ctrl+I to import your 3DS model file - it should land right on the circle. All CA models are typically drawn in the center of the paper, and therefore the same coordinates should drop the model on the grade in the same place.
  Note that you may need to lower or raise your model to sit correctly on the grade
• The background trees can be manipulated with the Vegetation paint tool
• The foreground trees are individually placed and can be manipulated and moved

If someone gives it a try, let me know if it worked. It should give you a quick base to create fast renderings.

Here is a video that shows the steps
https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/z9UMeq8JCC21eFkarg2U

Background1-One Story.zip Background1-Two Story.zip

[Steve_Nyhof]

The Grade.zip files for the above .tm grades

 

Grade.zip

[Steve_Nyhof]

Here is a short video with Twinmotion in action...
https://myplan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/nOu1Pjk8

[Kbird1]

59 minutes ago, stevenyhof said:

If someone gives it a try, let me know if it worked

 

Haven't yet , been some time since I played with TM , but this might give me a head start if I find some time to play.

 

It is a pity Chief didn't adopt the UE5 Engine as TM looks pretty good these days.....

 

* you might want to copy these Posts to the Tips Forum , instead of leaving them buried here in a Grass thread .... hopefully others will add other Tips and Templates too then.

 

M.

[Renerabbitt]

1 hour ago, stevenyhof said:

Here is a short video with Twinmotion in action...
https://myplan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/nOu1Pjk8

You can generate your own HDR skydomes so that you dont need to change the weather to generate clouds if you want them. You can also save different tree arrangements to your library

 

[Steve_Nyhof]

8 minutes ago, Renerabbitt said:

You can generate your own HDR skydomes so that you dont need to change the weather to generate clouds if you want them. You can also save different tree arrangements to your library

 

When I tested the skydomes, my shadows and effects did not seem to apply the same. Like it was covering the dynamics set by the tools. I have only just dug into this so learning as I go along. 

I also tried to make some grouping of plants, select the group in the right column and save to library, but it only takes my last plant selected in the list. That would be a great time saver for setting up fast landscaping, although I do not plan to do much. 

Thank you once again, directly and indirectly helping me get into rendering.

Steve

[Steve_Nyhof]

50 minutes ago, Kbird1 said:

 

Haven't yet , been some time since I played with TM , but this might give me a head start if I find some time to play.

 

It is a pity Chief didn't adopt the UE5 Engine as TM looks pretty good these days.....

 

* you might want to copy these Posts to the Tips Forum , instead of leaving them buried here in a Grass thread .... hopefully others will add other Tips and Templates too then.

 

M.

Here is the link to the Tips forum

 

[Renerabbitt]

8 minutes ago, stevenyhof said:

When I tested the skydomes, my shadows and effects did not seem to apply the same. Like it was covering the dynamics set by the tools. I have only just dug into this so learning as I go along. 

This is true, as you are introducing new light sources..just like a camera you would need to play with settings to achieve your desired effect.
 

 

9 minutes ago, stevenyhof said:

I also tried to make some grouping of plants, select the group in the right column and save to library, but it only takes my last plant selected in the list. That would be a great time saver for setting up fast landscaping, although I do not plan to do much. 

You would need to put them in a container and save the container. You can also save painter groups which is what I wouldve been using to generate the tree line
 

[Steve_Nyhof]

1 minute ago, Renerabbitt said:

This is true, as you are introducing new light sources..just like a camera you would need to play with settings to achieve your desired effect.
 

 

You would need to put them in a container and save the container. You can also save painter groups which is what I wouldve been using to generate the tree line
 

Very good! I will look into that - thank you

[Kbird1]

18 minutes ago, stevenyhof said:

I will start a topic there and put the link

 

Just copy/paste the posts above to the Tips Section under 1 Heading which you can update as you learn etc.

 

* You might need to underline the part about putting the Grade folder into the same folder as the TM files, not the files in the Grade Folder as some of us didn't read that part well   

 

Downloaded the latest TM 2023.1 to have a play later, it seems your Epic TM account lets you login to SketchFab now too with your Epic Login ( got an auto email, not long a the latest TM finished downloading )

 

M.

 

Steve's Starter Kit Instructions in PDF Format......

TwinMotion Starter Kit.pdf

[VHampton]

 

 

Chief's default "Grass 7" works really well but the texture size and colors are slightly too lime green. 

 

Going a bit darker gives the best results. Same with a simple adjustment with the texture size. 

 

...and yes, TM is an extremely handy software in conjunction with Chief.

 

Render capability in Chief has come light years in recent history, and things will probably only keep getting better. ...Looking forward to X15 even more now.

 

Thank you for the preview! 

 

[Kbird1]

1 minute ago, VHampton said:

 

 

Chief's default Grass7 works really well but the texture size and colors are slightly too lime green. Going a bit darker gives the best results. Same with a simple adjustment with the texture size. 

 

...and yes, TM is an extremely handy software in conjunction with Chief.

 

Render capability in Chief has come light years in recent history, and things will probably only keep getting better. ...Looking forward to X15 even more now.

 

Thank you for the preview! 

 

This is what I do now... maybe I learnt it from you  

 

M.

[Steve_Nyhof]

See above for more context

Here is a quick run through to add your model to Twinmotion

https://my-plan.stevenyhofdesigns.com/v/z9UMeq8JCC21eFkarg2U
 

[VHampton]

Thank you Mick.  ...and this is what I meant about the default grass in Chief. It sure is green!

 

Not that there's anything wrong with vibrant green, but often times there's a client expectation for models to look as life-like as possible.

 

A worthy render invariably sells the design because they (the homeowner) can visualize themselves within the scenery. 

 

[Steve_Nyhof]

Updated - learning more... Completed in less than 15minutes in Twinmotion.
I will add that I started on this rendering adventure just over a week ago. 



Learn more over here...

[ericepv]

Here are a couple of exteriors I modeled and rendered in X14, the grass textures came from here: http://www.tonytextures.com/free-green-nature-ground-texture-photo-gallery/