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Author Topic: Forest 4.01 Questions  (Read 4539 times)

ML2660

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Forest 4.01 Questions
« on: February 18, 2013, 10:20:10 PM »
Hi there,

I just installed the latest version of FP.
Very happy with the presets for grass  and other improvments!

Now the big question: how to create the presets myself?
When i import thru the library (create item->import objects) all the elements of the chosen max scene are imported seperately.

Almost the same question:

In the release notes it states:Added support for models organized in separate meshes or groups. Forest attachs all elements in a single mesh when importing.

I have tried this, but i'm getting seperate objects again.

What's the correct workflow to create presets and attached libraries?

Thanks and very good work with the new version!

yuv

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2013, 09:03:45 AM »
The presets are created exactly in the same way as 3D objects, see the procedure here:

http://www.itoosoft.com/forestpack/reference/library_editor.php#addObject

The difference is to select a Forest Pack object saved in the .max file instead a geometry. The plugin will recognize the object type and will import all properties, including depending objects automatically.

The support for groups is for selecting them as custom objects in the plugin, the object importer don't supports them directly yet. However is much usefull use a full preset, where the forest will keep all settings and properties.

In the next days we will update the documentation adding more information about new presets and library changes.

Daniel Quintero
Itoo Software
www.itoosoft.com
daniel@itoosoft.com

ML2660

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2013, 09:52:58 AM »
Thanks for the answer,about importing presets.Should have thought of it myself.........
Really nice feature!

The only problem I have is when I import a FO from one of itoo's tutorial scenes, max crashes.
I found out that your scenes are in cm system units and my system units are in mm.
When I open and rescale the itoo scenes,import in the library, everything works fine.
Is this normal behavior?

About importing automatically attached objects into the library, that would really be a nice feature for evermotion libraries and cars for example.
To first open and attach all the hundreds of trees and then create a forest object as a preset would be very time consuming.
Did i read the release notes are wrong then? Is this a feature that will be implemented in the future?

Thanks and best regards.

iToo

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2013, 11:36:11 AM »

Quote
The only problem I have is when I import a FO from one of itoo's tutorial scenes, max crashes.
I found out that your scenes are in cm system units and my system units are in mm.

No, the units mismatch should not be a problem, because units are converted automatically. I just tested it using the standard presets and work fine. What tutorial scene are you using for your tests ?

However, we have found certain restrictions while creating our presets: for example, it is not possible to use nested Forest objects (as grass using clumps created with Forest), in fact the clumps of our large presets are converted to meshes.

Unfortunately, most of crashes we have seen are produced inside of the Max XRef system (we use it to merge the presets in the scene). So, when possible, keep the external preset objects as simple as possible. That should mimimize the risk of crashes.

Quote
About importing automatically attached objects into the library, that would really be a nice feature for evermotion libraries and cars for example.
To first open and attach all the hundreds of trees and then create a forest object as a preset would be very time consuming.
Did i read the release notes are wrong then? Is this a feature that will be implemented in the future?

Currently that works for groups: if the object defined in the library is a group, Forest attachs all elements when importing. For example, XFrog libraries and HD Trees 3 are stored in this way. But for now, it does not work for separate objects (as Evermotion)... basically because it is necessary to define some root object in the library item. For sure, we will add this feature for next updates, but we must think how to do it.

Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

ML2660

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2013, 02:41:00 PM »
Hi Carlos,

Thx again, group import works fine! Big advantage to leave the original file structure untouched if you only can group the geometry.

I tried to import the autumn park forest objects.
But I did this on my laptop, maybe this machine wasn't powerful enough to convert the units and import. Will try it on my workstation later..........

SI1726

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2013, 08:01:15 PM »
Hi, any chance to see Forest Pack with corona render?  :)

iToo

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2013, 08:37:27 PM »
Hi, any chance to see Forest Pack with corona render?  :)

No, sorry. We have not plans to support more render engines by now.
Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

ML2660

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2013, 10:27:42 PM »
Hi Carlos,

Some questions and feature requests again.

1.

When i add some custom objects to a FO, there is a multi/sub material created.
The custom object has a material assigned that is reflected in the mso material, but also an additional mat id slot is created.
For 2 materials 2 id slots are created for 3 materials 3 extra id's etc.
Why? This is very confusing when using many materials.

2.

Is it possible to reflect/ add as prefix/ the name of the object created in the geometry list in the mso material list, instead of the material name only?
Now there's a lot of grass 1 or leave 1 materials when using a complex FO.
Would be easier to edit materials/colours/tints  if the naming would be Highgrass_blade1 or Pine_leave_1.
Hope you know what i mean....

3.

a toolbar icon/menu/quad menu for forest creation.

4.

Really Important for me:

An option to copy an imported libary object (when i choose to) to the actual user library folder location.
I have model collections on multiple harddrives and can't have them connected on every computer. Sometimes drive names also change on different computers.
When the model is copied, the whole libary is portable and easy updatable.

5.

When i choose override distribution map for the selected area, i can choose my own map from the material library.
It would be nice to choose from the default forest maps or my own maps. Now i have to browse to the itoo folder.
Of course i could save the maps separately in a material library, but i would be more convenient to also have the default list to choose from.

I think thats it for now  :)

Thanks and bye

iToo

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2013, 04:50:53 PM »
Hi Carlos,

Some questions and feature requests again.
Hi, thanks for your suggestions.

Quote
1. When i add some custom objects to a FO, there is a multi/sub material created.
The custom object has a material assigned that is reflected in the mso material, but also an additional mat id slot is created.
These materials ID are needed for several viewport operations. Anyway, we suggest not modify the automaterial directly. That would create unexpected results in Forest and, as a you pointed out, it is very confuse to handle them.

Instead, modify the materials assigned in Geometry List->Material. They are organized by object, and it is safe to modify them. Also, in Forest 4 you can clear all of them, in this case Forest will use directly the material assigned to the Custom Object.

Quote
2. Is it possible to reflect/ add as prefix/ the name of the object created in the geometry list in the mso material list, instead of the material name only?
No, it is not possible because all materials of the multi-sub are instances of the original materials (defined in the Geometry List or asigned to the Custom Object). They share the same name and properties.

Quote
3. a toolbar icon/menu/quad menu for forest creation.
Ok. This suggestion is already in our to-do list, (unfortunately we could not add it to Forest 4).

Quote
4. An option to copy an imported libary object (when i choose to) to the actual user library folder location.
I have model collections on multiple harddrives and can't have them connected on every computer. Sometimes drive names also change on different computers.
Why don't add a new location path to the library, so all computers could share the catalogs ? You can UNC paths if the drive names are a problem.
The procedure is described here: http://www.itoosoft.com/forestpack/reference/library_editor.php#modlib

Altenatively, it is possible to copy libraries or folders, just dragging them in the left panel of the Library Browser, from one branch to other.

Quote
5. When i choose override distribution map for the selected area, i can choose my own map from the material library.
It would be nice to choose from the default forest maps or my own maps. Now i have to browse to the itoo folder.
This option was not included in order to simplify the Areas behaviour (which is pretty complex already). Anyway, most of times should not be necessary to change the default map, since the most used (Sparse, Dense, Very Dense, Full), are basically the same but using different densities... which may be adjusted easily using the "Threshold" parameter.

Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

ML2660

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Re: Forest 4.01 Questions
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2013, 08:53:58 AM »
Thanks for the, once again, excellent support!
Learned some more handy tricks again......