Page 72 - 3D Artist 110 - 2017 UK

Techniques

3DS MAX, FOREST PACK PRO

Create

parametric

environments

he best systems are easy to adapt. clients can be ickle,
changes will always need to be made and deadlines are
Tnever as far away as we would like. in these situations, a
parametric system that enables you to change a single
element to update the related parts of a whole scene can save
signiicant time. in this tutorial we’ll look at a technique to
create procedural islands inspired by the scarif environments
of Rogue One. in the inished system, raising an island above
the waterline automatically creates textures, spawns
thousands of high-poly trees and bushes, and even places an
occasional thatched hut. Along the shoreline pebbles and
rocks appear, and waves ripple against the sandy beaches.
To achieve this we’ll make extensive use of Forest Pack Pro,
a procedural scattering tool for 3ds Max. The setup uses six
Forest Pack Objects: one each for the large palms, the small
palms and bushes, the rocks, the pebbles along the shoreline,
the underwater plants and inally the thatched huts. each one
uses a very similar methodology: irst scatter geometry based
on the altitude of the terrain; next, remove scattered objects
from any unwanted areas; then deine the distribution
pattern; and inally, randomise the geometry, transforms and
textures. The slight differences in each of these stages
enables the six Forest Objects to work together as a uniied
ecosystem. Let’s start by looking at how to set up the scene’s
geometry and materials.

01
Set up scene and terrain The technique for creating source Map input. Any object added to the Objects list in the
01 the land and water is very straightforward and takes VRayDistanceTex map will deform the gradient pattern on the
advantage of the procedural nature of 3ds Max’s Modiier water to follow its perimeter. For more variety, noise applied to
stack. There are two planes, one atop the other. The lower the Distance parameter will help to add more natural variation
plane is the terrain, and the upper is the ocean. All that’s to the ripples.
needed to create an island is to use 3ds Max’s Paint Deform
tools to raise the terrain up through the water layer. To apply Limit scatters by altitude All six Forest Pack
materials, the terrain has a uVW modiier applied aligned to 03 Objects are applied to the terrain, but we don’t want
the Y axis. This is used to apply a Gradient Ramp map that them to cover the entire area. Forest Pack‘s surface>Altitude
creates masks to divide the terrain into different materials Range>Top and Bottom parameters enable you to limit the
based on altitude. Thus we can automatically apply different scatter based on the terrain height. By adjusting this for each
textures to the sea bed, sand and jungle. Forest Object we can stack and overlap them so that the ocean
loor is covered in seaweed, the shoreline has pebbles, the
Create the water material A standard V-Ray beach is interrupted by rocks and the top of the islands sprout
02 material with refraction and relection is used to create bushes, trees and huts. For more advanced effects, falloff
the water material, with noise in the Bump map slot to create graphs can be used to control scale and density. in this scene
small waves. Where this material gets interesting is the ability they are used to create the banding effect visible in the pebbles.
to create ripples around the island (or any other object)
automatically using a combination of a VRayDistanceTex map Apply a Gradient Ramp map that
with a Gradient map. To do this, create a Gradient Ramp with
alternating black and white bands. change the Gradient Type creates masks to divide the terrain
mode to Mapped and add a VRayDistanceTex map to the into different materials
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