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Author Topic: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request  (Read 1682 times)

Straightface Studios

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Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« on: March 18, 2017, 02:07:57 AM »
I'm using forest pack to distribute leaves on a tree.  This works great!  ForestPack's memory usage is incredible.  It would be even greater if I could 'inception' this and use my forestpack instanced leaves relative to forest pack distributed trunks/branches.  Model one high poly clump of twigs and leaves and then instance those all over the branches.  Then instance all of those instanced trees all over the countryside.   I could pack far more detail in my models and have no need for hero branches that get close to camera.

Michal Karmazín

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2017, 12:21:19 PM »
Hi,

First let me mention, that's possible to "nest" Forest object (it's possible to pick the Forest object as a Custom Object in another Forest object).

Currently all objects which must be handled as an unique entity (as trees) have to be attached in a unique mesh (groups are supported, but for a different feature: to create clusters of objects that must be scattered together - like clumps of grass and flowers and each item is handled independently).

Anyway, described scene set-up should be possible by having copies of the Forest object (for trunks/branches & leaves) - maintaining the same General - Random Seed value. Hope that helps.

Best regadrs,

Straightface Studios

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2017, 05:39:10 PM »
Quote
(it's possible to pick the Forest object as a Custom Object in another Forest object).

I just tried this in 5.2.0 and it renders blank when I attempt to use a forest object as a custom object.  The referenced forest does render though once by itself.


Michal Karmazín

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2017, 05:58:02 PM »
Hi,

Depending on the render engine (and it's release) used, the Render Mode for nested object should be changed from Automatic to Meshes under the Display roll-out. By default, Forest does not create a mesh to render itself, but uses a custom shader that generates native instances for the render engine.

Would you mind to specify your configuration (which 3ds Max & renderer releases are you using)?

Best regards,

Straightface Studios

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2017, 07:00:40 PM »
Vray 3.4.

But if I use "Mesh" then it'll collapse all of my leaf instances and I'll be dealing with a 20 million polygon tree again which is what I'm trying to avoid.  I'm trying to instance the leaves across multiple trees since they're only 10 polygons each but 800,000 of them add up to a massive tree model. 

My goal is to use forest pack's efficient memory instancing to spread an entire forest of say oak trees with a single oak leaf + trunk and branches model.

Michal Karmazín

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2017, 03:25:16 PM »
Hi,

That's strange. Upon my quick tests with V-Ray 3.40.01 / 3.40.02 / 3.40.03, the Render Mode set to Automatic should be working. If possible, please send us your scene to check it here. Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Straightface Studios

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2017, 07:12:56 PM »
Sent a test scene.  Thanks!

iToo

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2017, 04:37:58 PM »
Hi, thanks for the scene.

Although Forest objects can be nested, instancing is applied only to the top level. Inner objects are always converted to mesh.
In this case, the inner object is huge (about 61 millions of faces) and the Display->Max.Faces limit (5 mill. faces by default) is preventing to build it.

You can raise this limit (or set it to zero to disable it), but i suggest to simplify the model a bit. Although it can be rendered, is not efficient and requires about 48 Gb. RAM plus a long processing time.

I hope that helps.
Carlos Quintero
iToo Software

Straightface Studios

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Re: Forest of Forests (Inception) Feature Request
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2017, 06:46:14 PM »
Thanks for the follow up.  Ok, so I guess I revert to my original request as a new feature to maintain instances within forests of forests. ;)