Itoo Software Forum

Forest Pack => Forest Pro (*) => Topic started by: Chris on April 21, 2010, 08:28:18 AM

Title: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: Chris on April 21, 2010, 08:28:18 AM
Hi all,

I'm fairly new to using forest pro (which is an awesome plugin btw) and I am having a problem with the billboard trees rendering correctly.  I've looked through these forums and it seems getting the trees to work with vray is one of the most common problems but I can't find anything specifc to my problem.

I found this thread - http://www.itoosoft.com/forum/index.php?topic=192.0 which shows how the trees should look.  So I downloaded the max file, rendered it here and got the attached.  Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong, or what I can change?

I'm using Max2010 and Vray 1.50.SP3a

Thanks
Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: iToo on April 22, 2010, 04:56:39 PM
Hi,

That sample scene have the bitmap output to 5, i don't remember exactly why. Perhaps to solve some old issue in previous versions of Forest.

Set the output value to 1, and render it in Forest 3.3.

Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: Chris on April 23, 2010, 08:11:15 AM
Thanks alot, that solved the problem for that particular problem.

I Think the issue I am having in some of my other scenes is that many of the textures are very dark.  I will have to choose carefully.  Regarding tree shadows, I have played around with the settings, preventing self shadows etc however I am still having the issue seen in the attachment.  Is there any easy way to improve the look of the trees/shadows?

P.S.  Just wanted to commend Itoo on their customer support - after browsing these forums it seems that nearly every thread is answered by an admin and generally fairly quickly so I'm glad we went with this plugin.
Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: iToo on April 23, 2010, 11:35:32 AM
Quote
I have played around with the settings, preventing self shadows etc however I am still having the issue seen in the attachment.  Is there any easy way to improve the look of the trees/shadows?

What type of shadows are you using ?
If you like, upload here the scene and we'll adjust it.

Quote
P.S.  Just wanted to commend Itoo on their customer support - after browsing these forums it seems that nearly every thread is answered by an admin and generally fairly quickly so I'm glad we went with this plugin.

Thanks for trust in us. We try to give the best support to our customers, because i think that the first priority for a company always must be the customer satisfaction.

Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: Chris on April 27, 2010, 12:57:57 AM
Hello,

I have attached a max test scene that I have been using to experiment.  I am still struggling to get the trees to look nice (without shadows on each plane) so if you have time to suggest any settings I could adjust it would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: iToo on April 27, 2010, 10:39:49 AM

The parameter "Shadows->Vertical" was disabled, this was the problem.

On this sample image i just enabled it, changed geometry from "Four Planes" to "One Plane" and enabled "Camera->Trees facing Camera". This creates a more realistic result for still images:

Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: Chris on April 28, 2010, 06:19:22 AM
Thanks for the reply - It makes sense that using single planes fixes the shadows, however I was hoping to use 4 plane trees as most of my work includes animated flythroughs.  Whenever I use 4 plane trees they 'self shadow' - I thought clicking the 'prevent self shadow' box would prevent this however it doesn't.  Is there any way to get around this problem?

Using the option to keep all the trees faced towards the camera may work too, especially for distant trees, however with closer trees and overhead views this doesn't work as well.
Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: iToo on April 28, 2010, 12:06:28 PM

The "prevent self shadow" options works fine, you can verify it disabling all shadows from rendering and the result doesn't change. The problem is that the extra planes have different illumination, creating an strange effect.

Unfortunately, there is not a perfect solution to use billboards in animations or overhead views. For these type of scenes, perhaps you must change to 3D trees. With Forest you can scatter and render thousands of high-poly trees just as easily as billboards.

Title: Re: Vray+Forest Pro Problem
Post by: Chris on April 29, 2010, 03:34:56 AM
Thanks alot for your reply.  I understand the limitations of the billboard trees, but I do like the reduced render times for them over 3d trees, espectially when we're on a tight deadline  ;D