|
Today we will be
learning about the wonderful world of using SasLite
to create some reasonably realistic grass. SasLite
can be used in many different applications, mostly hair and fur. However,
with a little tweaking, it can be used to create a great grass effect.
Let’s begin!
|
|
|
|
|
|
To start, create an object in
the modeler that you’d like to apply your grass surface to.
The less polygons there are, the more quickly your
grass will render. Make everything that you want to be covered by grass one
surface.
Name that surface “grass” or something else that is easily
identifiable. You may as well color it green for now. (figure 1)
|
|
figure 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
Save
your object with the “grass” surface and load it into the
layout.
Open up the properties of the object (make sure you have the correct layer,
if your object has multiple layers) and go to the Deform Tab.
Under deform, select “Add Displacement” and choose SasLite. SasLite will appear
under the deformations list, and should have a check mark next to it.
(figure 2)
If you want to do quick test renders, just uncheck the box and SasLite won’t render out.
|
|
figure 2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Double click on the SasLite deformation to open up the Sasquach
Lite options window.
The very first thing you’ll need to do is activate SasLite on the surface you need.
Check the “Apply fur only to named surface” box.
In the “Surface Name(s)” box, type “Grass” or
whatever your named surface was. NOTE surface name is case sensitive!
There is a small fractional number directly above the “Surface
Name(s)” box.
If you did everything correctly, it should show something besides 0/1. The
top number is the amount of named surfaces that SasLite
will be applied to. The bottom number is the total number of layers in your
object. My object is 1/46 showing I have 1 surface to apply SasLite on, out of 46 total layers. If the fractional
number does not automatically change after you enter the surface name, hit
OK and reopen the SasLite options window.
|
|
figure 3
|
|
|
|
|
|
For grass, I generally start by
turning off both the Clump Size and dropping the Clumping to 0%.
Clumping causes the grass fibers to come together, causing your beautiful
lawn to become patchy and dead looking.
Also, the fiber color is usually a brown color, and we need to change that
to the grass color that you’re looking for.
All the other settings are dependant on you and your object.
I like to keep the Bright & Hue Vary, Diffuse, Specular,
Glossiness, Coarseness, and Frizz at their default settings.
Fur density should be set no lower than 100% for grass; however the setting
can go up as high as 250%.
The 250% gives a much more natural render, however it also takes a lot
longer.
The length completely depends on how large your object is.
An object 1 meter in diameter is going to need much shorter grass than one
that is 10 meters in diameter.
You’ll have to play with that setting to get the proper grass length.
For the Drooping setting, I leave it on its default under normal
circumstances.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fur density setting for the image below.
|
|
Dropping fur density down to 25% reduces the number
of grass fibers causing a "sparser" look.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Settings: Density = 0%
|
|
Settings: Density = 100%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Length setting for the image to the right.
|
|
Increasing the Length setting does what you would expect
and increases the length of the grass fiber.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Feel free to play with the
settings. The settings I’ve described will give you a nice
“well taken care of lawn” look. If you want a golf green with
short prickly grass, or a prairie with long drooping grass, you’ll
obviously want to change the settings to match your needs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Finally, I like to
apply a proceedural texture to the grass surface,
especially if I’m leaving the density down around 100%.
This will create more natural looking variations in the ground your grass
is growing on, and make some patches that look a little healthier than
others, etc.
Open the surface editor, and click the T to edit the Color surface. (figure
4)
Make your layer type “Procedural” instead of the default
“Image Map” setting.
I used the FBM prodedural texture on mine, though
you can use whatever works best for you.
You may have to adjust the size of the procedural texture to fit your
object.
|
|
figure 4
|
|
|
|
|
|
Once you have SasLite and a procedural texture on your grass, it
should be looking very nice.
If something isn’t working properly, check to make sure you’re
on the correct object layer. Make sure you have the SasLite
box checked in the displacement window. Most importantly, make sure your
grass is large enough to be seen. It’s common to have a huge object
and very tiny grass fibers that you can’t make out in a small render
screen. If you are sure everything else is fine, try making your grass
length significantly longer and see if that helps. And lastly, check to
make sure the surface name in the SasLite
interface is case specific to the name of your actual surface.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
