Home made textures
Loopysue
ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
When I get a lot on my mind I work it out by messing with textures.
Here is my most recent attempt at grass, using a package that doesn't include any convenient 'grass nodes' (the basic version of Genetica). Only the pro version has those!
If you happen to have Genetica I created this by motion blurring two stone noise nodes, and combining two different directions of motion blur to give the different directions of the grass blades. Its a bit... 'flattened AstroTurf bowling green', but its a start
To use it with CC3/+ you will have to convert it to a png, which is easy enough in any picture processing piece of software. The file was too large as a png for me to be able to upload it here.
Its free to use and distribute (if you like it that much), but not for resale - a free gift to share
EDIT: new 1000 pi version
Here is my most recent attempt at grass, using a package that doesn't include any convenient 'grass nodes' (the basic version of Genetica). Only the pro version has those!
If you happen to have Genetica I created this by motion blurring two stone noise nodes, and combining two different directions of motion blur to give the different directions of the grass blades. Its a bit... 'flattened AstroTurf bowling green', but its a start
To use it with CC3/+ you will have to convert it to a png, which is easy enough in any picture processing piece of software. The file was too large as a png for me to be able to upload it here.
Its free to use and distribute (if you like it that much), but not for resale - a free gift to share
EDIT: new 1000 pi version
Comments
Do note that CC3(+) uses 1000x1000 pixels as default for it's Very High quality fills (Exceptions do exist, but that is the general "rule"). 1024 will work fine though, just thought I would mention it.
I'll stay consistent with the 1000pi rule - should replace it sometime in the next hour. My system is just a bit slow at the moment - trying to render something really huge!
I've done a better one since then, but I can't upload it at the moment...
[Image_6939]
And here is the new improved short grass.
[Image_6940]
I think I've gone as far as I can without any proper grass nodes, so next up will probably be stone... when I've made them
End result - I can use and combine the stock photographs of real grass, real clover, and real lichen with twigs to come up with this for you:
[Image_6942]
And when I get my camera working again I can make larger areas with my own photos - so you don't get such noticeable redundancy problems
I usually end up using 3-4 different textures each on a separate sheet.
Its a bit bright and extremely green, but a nice HSL sheet effect can match it with most other ground textures.
I've just remembered - I think you once told me that you don't use sheet effects! Do you want me to make a version that's more similar to the DD3 grass texture colour scheme?
EDIT: sorry Jim. Can't seem to make it match too well. Never mind eh
[Image_6951]
Unfortunately I can't share any of the trees because of an EULA or two (even though I can use them myself).
The so called long grass in this tiny map is actually ordinary DD3 grass (slightly modified by me for personal use but otherwise identical to the copy you have). I am in the process of rendering a 1000 pi swatch of the short grass texture for you to use in conjunction with it if you would like to get the same effect
EDIT: picture removed until further clarification has been received about the use of Corunucopia trees rendered in Vue Pioneer. Sorry folks!
[Image_6952]
Its not great over large areas, but I think you would only need to do large areas on a golf course! Its a city scale lawn fill really.
Just remember that before you can use it in DD3/CD3, you will need to convert it from a JPEG to a PNG file. The VH resolution PNG original is too big for me to upload here. That's why I upload them as JPEG instead.
Are you using Genetica to create them? It is probably the second best bit of software that I've bought (CC3 being the best). I've been using it to make sets of curtains for Perspectives 3. I love good software.
Yes, I only had the birthday money to invest in one piece of texture making software, and not very much at that, so I got myself the basic version of Genetica - the one without the grass nodes as it turns out! Though my birthday was back in June, I initially purchased Texture Maker, which is sadly a broken piece of software owing to the fact that its been abandoned by its creator. It works wonderfully well on trial, but if you try and buy it you get an empty zip file with a non existent registration number, and it took me nearly a month to get a response from the vendor. Even then I had to employ the might of my bank fraud investigators to get my money back to be able to buy Genetica!
So whatever you do - don't ever try to buy Texture Maker!
I think some of the DD3 textures may have been made with Genetica. I've accidentally recreated an almost identical version of the DD3 grass texture from one of the synthesis resource files that all us Genetica users share. Unfortunately its so very close to the actual DD3 texture (having been based on exactly the same library source file) for me to be able to share it with anyone - with respect to the Profantasy copyright on the DD3 texture.
While I know that strictly speaking its not a 'modification' of the DD3 texture, since I made it independently all my myself, its just a bit too close for comfort really! LOL! I'll send it to Ralf when he gets back - see if he wants to add it to the Profantasy collection so that everyone can have an alternative version to use in conjunction with the existing DD3 version - a bit of variation - two very similar grass textures to blend and get rid of the inevitable redundancy patterns that appear whenever we use just one texture fill for a large area
You are correct about PF using it for some of the DD3 textures and I think the Space/SciFi annual used it too (can't remember which annual it was). Many of the Dundjini textures are from Genetica as well. I use it when I need a specific 'look' for a texture and don't want to take the time to look through the hundreds of available textures to see if there is one that would work.
I've noticed how Genetica has a tendency to download the grass photograph every time I open the grass synthesis node to edit another patch of weeds out of it! And I have also noticed that the Genetica forum is practically abandoned. There are very few recent threads. Its awful when that happens - like a ghost town with plenty of highly detailed evidence of a former thriving community just sitting there gathering dust
I use Genetica to produce one off textures to order in much the same way. I use a lot of Bogie grass in maps like Merelan City, but there's no VH resolution in Bogie's Collection because it wasn't designed for CC3. When I created the grass texture above I was actually looking for a higher res alternative to the Bogie grass - just so that I could render the map at a larger scale without the textures going pixelated. It was a pure accident that I ended up using exactly the same synthesis source image as the DD3 texture!
I'll look into whether its possible to download the entire library and get back to you.
The trouble is that the product was never profitable. It has a limited user base since there are software packages that do more/better for the professional user and it can be cumbersome and difficult to use for hobbyist users unfamiliar with node editing software.
We can only hope that when/if he decides to abandon it entirely that he leaves a means to access the downloadable texture libraries. Of course, we could always just create the textures as pngs then use them as imports into the synthesis node.
I didn't have any problems with learning how to use it, but then, I'm very familiar with using nodes because that's how you create textures in Vue (if you get right down into the manipulating the fractals that is). I can see how the concept would be difficult for anyone who's never done it before, though.
I've discovered that I was wrong about the library pictures repeatedly downloading themselves. They only download once and get stored in a folder system on your machine.
Naturally, of course, I am currently half way down the list clicking on each in turn just to get it to download - just in case they disappear at some point in the future!
What a good job I recently doubled my broadband allowance!
You must create hi resolution pngs from them, then import them into the synthesis node. AT least this is the only way I've found of getting them onto my machine for a 'just in case' scenario.
They seem to be saving themselves on my system. How weird? Maybe I have a different version than you do?
Mine is V4 - but only the basic version
EDIT: Maybe the creator has changed the way it happens just recently - if he/she really is considering the cost of the servers?
I may need a new download version.