Bryce Tips and FAQ's

A few weeks ago, I posted a handfull of images I produced, primerily through Bryce (Please forgive any grotuitouse spelling mistakes, I'm Dyslexic).
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It was sojested to me by Blackhole that I should do some tutorials or FAQ type things. I then threw the string open for any questions anyone had on the subject of producing artwork in Bryce.

What follows is the readers digest of that string, grouped contextualy.

If anyone has any more questions on the subjects here in, please feel free to ask. Any Answers to questions will be edited into THIS post under the applicable heading.

------ GENERAL SCENE PRODUCTION AND PHOTOSHOP ------

1. When creating scenes, don't try to generate the entire thing in one go, It's more difficult than you'd think, plus Bryce can be quite unforgiving if you make a mistake partikulaly when using it's animation facilities.

Instead render diferent eliments individualy. This way you have more controle over the process and what's more, it'll render faster.

Make use of the 'mask render' function in the rendering menu (the little arrow pointing down next to the render buttons on the left-hand pannel). It makes creating composit images in Photoshop (or similar) alot easier. (This proccess makes hint 2 alot easier)

2. To create the illusion of depth, (see 'tanks' image) work out how far the objects are from the camera. In Photoshop, select the ferthest object (including the surounding ground area that lies along that focal plane), drop it onto a separate layer and use the 'gausian blur' filter. The degree of bluring will depend on how far away from the camera you want the object to appier against the forground.

Repeat this process for each focal plane, reducing the degree of bluring the closer you get to the central focus of the scene. This focal centre, ofcourse will have no bluring at all. (The 'tanks' image is made up of about 6 or 7 focal layers, my memory is a little fuzzy as I generated this image over two years ago now.)

Like wise use the same process for ojects that are between the camera and the focal centre (see 'fleet' image, the large vessel, off-centre-left, is the focal centre. There are rocks in the forground that blur the closser they get to the camera. This image by the way was made up of around 60 layers, each rendered individualy)

In images where there is a vissible ground level, such as in 'tanks', you'll nead to feather the gredation of bluring from one level to the next using the layer masks, as even very gradual bluring can be quite obviouse. But that might just be me 'cos I know it's there.

3. Make use of the colour tagging system (located on the contextual menu that floats next to the curently selected item. This is particulaly usful when working with very complex models such as vessels (see prity-much everything I've posted).

4. Bug Warning. When rendering, Bryce sometimes adds an 'Alpha' channel into the image file when you save it. This alway happens when saving as a pict. I'm not sure about the other formats as I don't touch them.

The result is that when you drop these images into applications that support Alpha channeling (ResEdit for one), the image appieres semi-transparent.

Delet the Alpha channel in the 'channels palet' in Photoshop and all will be well.

------ WIRE-FRAME MODELING ------

1. Don't be a purist. If you have access to other, more versitile modeling softwear, such as Infini-D (my personal choice, mainly because I don't have anything else) don't be affraid to use it. Bryce can import a number of modle formats including dxf and 3dmf files. I prefer to use 3dmf's as they appier smoother once imported.

2. Avoid where possible using boolian shapes, if you can produce the same shape in Infini-D or the like, do so. Boolians are grate, and they are very usfull, there are shapes that would be almost impossible to produce without them, but when used exstencivly, they just get confusing.

3. How do you do your modelling?
   Infini-D, mostly using the Spline editor, some fine tuning in the mesh editor. My best models are a combination of both. The other thing to do is up the mesh resolution, I do it automaticaly, so I'm not entirly sure where it is, but I think it's in the preferences menu.

If you look at ships like the ones on 'composite ship', the central frames are made up of no more than about 60 polygones. I produced these models spasificaly to look like computer game models, so I relied heavily on implied detail using the textures, it's possible to make a modle look far more detailed than it actualy is, just through clever use of textures. The way I made these mods was to produce a simple 2D spline profile view (like a cilinder, but with nobs on) in infini-d, converted that into a VERY simple mesh and then pulled the resulting points around until I had the desired effect.

4. Originaly posted by Weepul... "I told it to use low poly count, and resolution in prefs was to low. How can you control the poly count? Can you create/remove vertices? I use Infini-D 4.5, and as far as I know it's mesh editor stinks royally."

I'm affraid that I have the same complaint about Infini-D, there just isn't enough controle over the wireframes for my likeing. I personaly would have said that it's mesh editor stinks impierialy (it's kind'a like royaly, only over more continents). I'm still looking for a mesh editor that sutes my neads, but havn't found one that I can afford.

------ TEXTURE PRODUCTION ------

1. The console where-in you edit/creat textures has far too many fetures to go into, and any advice I gave generaly, wouldn't do it justice. If anyone has spassific questions about this area, don't be affraid to ask. Referencing examples from those images I have posted would be helpfull.

2. How do you make your textures?
   If you're working with organic textures, you're best off stiking with the default textures and monipulating them.

As far as more mecanical stuff goes, my prosses goes something like this...
The sort of texture I produce is normaly effected by two factors. The first is what the final image will be used for (this effects the detail level, colours, etc. of the texture) And the second is what the actual shape of the modle is its self (eg, it's pointless putting an organic texture on a blocky, squared off vessel, because it just won't look right. Some things just fit, it's kind of hard to verbalise. I think it's just an intuitive thing.)

In the case of a texture such as the ones in 'composite ship', I start by producing an outline for the more hard edged bits in Illustrator, pannels, logos, vents etc. The shapes of these elements are normaly informed or lifted from the shapes of the model.

This done, I'll import the texture into Photoshop and add graines, dirt, bullet holes, that sort of thing. A make a habit of producing square documents, all the frames that you fllow imported textures into in Bryce are always square. I don't know weather it makes any difference, but through force of habbit, it's the way I work. It also helps the textures to wrap at the edges.

That's another iportant thing, where possible, try to make a line that flowes off the edge of a texture, flow back on, on the opposit side, it makes tiling easier.

REALISOM, don't be too presiouse with your textures, make them dirty, leave in the poverbial thumb print, it gives textures an earthy quality. The people who produce the graphics for StarTrek do the same thing, through trial and error, they have found that imperfect models look more realistic than highly polished ones.

3. How do you get your textures to line up just so?
   Trial and error mainly, though the more you fiddle on one project, you lern how to do things quiker, and after a while you gain an instinktive feel for wrapping textures. Sorry I can't be more helpfull.

One thing though, If your trying to match up pict textures in bryce, try using the different wrapping methods on the component texture windows in the textures editor console (the four smaller windows down the right of the screen marked A B C & D) There in the pull down menu. Also for fine tuning, open the editor. It's the green button on the top left corner on each of the A to D windows. They give you the option of scaling, rotaiting and shifting the textures around the serface of the object.

4. How to think up 'charing' etc. I find that coming up with a 'history' for the vessel you're making can sometimes help. Think up a story for that vessel, a famouse battle it was in, why it was made, what it's been doing for the last few years, perhaps it's been sitting in a second-hand ship lot somewhere, building up greese and dirt. Once you've done that, set about telling that story through the marks the vessel beares.

Stuff like dirt, steriotypicaly, seams to buld up down stream from where hull plates join for example, and around propulation vents, anywhere where there's an emition of some discription.

Bullet wholes will veary in size and shape depending on where the impact was on the skin of the vessel. So you just nead to use your better judgement on the positioning of these. How to make them... I tend to layer up verieing colours to give a feeling of depth- it feels as though the skin of the ship has been pushed inwards and then punctured in the middle.
eg. a pail layer of brown, then then a darker layer, then another, then lastly, a sloid black hole in the middle. NB don't line them up perfectly, it'll look faulse. Set the individual layers off from one side of each other so it looks like the whole is going in at an angle.

I'm affraid you just have to use your imagination. However, don't be affraid to steel small elliments from other peoples textures, just lift ideas and applie them to yours. One of the reasons I can produce textures like these is because I watch so much Si-Fi. I've got a massive back-log of reference matierial in my head that I can draw on to generate these things (I have a photographic memory which helps). Just walk around with your minds-eye open. You don't just have to draw ideas from Si-Fi, the truly creative mind will draw insperation from any sourse, maybe a car fender, or a toaster. Just because it doesn't go into space, doesn't mean you cant use it as a starting point.

5. Getting textures to line up... Something I do, and this is asuming you know what you're doing with texture mapping, first I wrap one of my old textures (must be a texture that you still have the original file for) around the object in question and then render a flat, authographic plan/profile/front-on view (depending on where you want the texture to be centred) of the ship. Then import that image to Photoshop and place it over the original, flat texture (you may have to distort the image of the ship, but that's not important) so that the textures match up as best you can manage. What this alowes you to do is place texture elements prcisly onto the body of the object. Once you've finished, all you have to do is re-import the edited texture back into bryce and do a straight swap with the old texture that you pasted on right at the start.

I hope that one is cleare enough, it took me a few months to develop that technique, It's how I produced all the textuers you see in, for example, 'composite ship', 'bigships' and Aliens'.

------ POST-RENDERING IN PHOTOSHOP ------

1. How'd you get some of those special effects?
   The warp gate was produced by pasting one of the default textures (I think it was a cloud type, semi-transparent one) onto a cone in Bryce in such a way that the distortions got more intence, the closer you got to the pointy end. The cone was then rotated to the desired angle so that the camera was placed inside the cone, pointing into it, and then rendered by its self (the ships and the space scape were rendered separatly). Then with heavy use of the effects asigned to layers in photoshop, and layer masking if memory serves me correctly, I produced the image you see there. (just for reference both this image a the 'dogfight' image are part of on panorama that was eight feet wide. It was part of my degree presentation. It is BLŘŘDY big!)

The engin flares are just simple layer effects in Photoshop (Layer effect: Multiply, I think) and then several of the same layer staked up on each other to produce the saturated colours you see there.

"The important thing to remember is that it's not what you use, but how you use it" What I ment is that, it's not about doing everything in modelers, I know some people shun post-rendering things because they think it's a wusses way out of a problem. I know some people will use textures in Bryce and the like, just because it's a 'hay-look-what-Ican-do-with-MY-models' kind of thing. The truth is, 3D modelers are not the be-all and end-all of computer rendering. My philosofy is that if it looks good, it doesn't matter how you achiev the effect.

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PED
new media, new ideas.
"Palm Pilot, that sounds like a w@nking machine!" Brian Blessed