Pictures of Mars - An Introduction

clark · 2003-10-29 13:07:16

I really do enjoy your pictures! I've tried my hand at Byrant, and I get so-so results (still fiddiling with scenery). And lgithwave, well, I just don't understand it at all!

How do you manage to make such spectacular space ships?

dickbill · 2003-10-29 14:31:14

I really do enjoy your pictures!

I'm happy you like it. I have so much fun to render these virtual scenes.

I've tried my hand at Byrant, and I get so-so results (still fiddiling with scenery)

you mean Bryce ? not Byrant right. Well, Bryce is scenery/landscape oriented, but you can also include 3d objects and render complex scenes. Bryce has pretty easy controls, so after a couple of renders you should be able to generate good pictures. However, the Bryce "renderer engine' is not as good as Terragen. Terragen generates really photorealistic pictures, which is not the case for Bryce IMO. The problem with terragen is that the free version does not include 3d objects import. But it's always possible to generate a picture and use it for background, that's what I am doing.

How do you manage to make such spectacular space ships?

hehe, simple, I just follow the ideas on what is said on this forum for example. The laws of physic dictate more or less what such space ship should look like. But technical details can vary, for example I have included a front shield for aerobraking...I don't know if people like it.

clark · 2003-10-29 14:39:39

Byrant, of course. Apologies for my poor spelling. I made a nice sunset for my pc background, but that's about it. I have even managed to make something like a domed crater on Mars, with a green field and trees inside, but nothing as well done as your ships.

Try as I might, I just can't seem to get the shapes right, or manipulations right. Where do you get the skins for the ships?

I'll have to look into Terragen and see if i can do something more with it. Kudos to you though with Lightwave- I have yet to make anything in that.

dickbill · 2003-10-29 17:19:46

Byrant, of course. Apologies for my poor spelling. I made a nice sunset for my pc background, but that's about it. I have even managed to make something like a domed crater on Mars, with a green field and trees inside, but nothing as well done as your ships.

Bryce has a good terrain generator, you should be able to generate Mars-like landscapes pretty easily and to manipulate the objects, it just takes a little bit of practice. With time the interface becomes familiar.
For Lightwave, the skins, or maps, I make them with a 2d paint program software, like Aura or Photoshop. I also use a lot of 'procedural textures' and sometimes both, like the aerobraking shield in the space ship, it's a superimposition of a brush that I made in 2D and an hexagonal procedural pattern provided by Lightwave.

Bryce has an excellent library of preset textures by the way, you don't even need a 2d paint program to make a good texture. I bet you used the "Red desert" preset for example.

I'll have to look into Terragen and see if i can do something more with it. Kudos to you though with Lightwave- I have yet to make anything in that.

I want to encourage you because Terragen gives absolutely amazing results during rendering. Since you have Bryce, what you can do is to generate the terrain mesh in Bryce, inspire yourself with the MOLA MOC pictures, for example, then you can either export in Lightwave format (Bryce will save the mesh AND the map in LW format) or save just the mesh in .jpg format. You can then render in lightwave or better, import the mesh .jpg in Terragen, and render in Terragen, then, fantastic results can be produced.
This is the way I have rendered the terrain in my "glider over Hebes Mensa". I started from an Mars Odyssey pic of the day of Hebes Mensa and made a similar terrain in Bryce and finally rendered it in Terragen.

Tell me if you have some trouble with that.

clark · 2003-12-10 12:26:58

Dickbill, take a look:

Dandelion desert

Just playing around with Bryce still, and this is a work in progress, but I would appreciate some feedback.

I am no where near your proficiency, but I do enjoy this.

dickbill · 2003-12-11 10:46:12

Dickbill, take a look:
Dandelion desert
Just playing around with Bryce still, and this is a work in progress, but I would appreciate some feedback.
I am no where near your proficiency, but I do enjoy this.

Clark, as said wizardangel in his comment (in renderosity) there is a beginning to everything. Bryce has great capabilities, not just for landscape. Play a little bit with it and after that try to improve some particular aspect, like the sky.
I donno what's gonna be your favorite theme, but if you try to reproduce Mars-like landscapes, you gonna have to desactivate the "sky presets". They are all great but all based on terran skies.
Typically you would have to manually set up your own skies. And remember, martian skies are not necesseraly red, they vary from pink salmon (the official typical marsan sky color) to greenish or even purplelish. On the poles, I bet the sky is slighly blue, on Olympus mons caldera it might be black etc.
There are also great terrain textures like "great canyon" in Bryce, but I saw that you find them.

If you want to import Mars MOLA elevation files, you'll need to download 3DEM (free) generate a 3d file and export that file in a compatible import terrain file in Bryce. Bryce doesn't generate planet curvature (like Terragen) ?, yes it does if you follow the tutorial in renderosity. Good luck and render.

clark · 2003-12-11 11:16:09

Thanks Dickbill, encouragement is always well received =!

I think I'm going to stick with Bryce for a bit, try to learn a little bit more- then perhaps stretch my legs with some of those other progams later.

I really do enjoy your pictures, adn i am gaining even more respect for the finished pieces you have already produced. It must have taken a while to do some of them, no?

Any sites you know of that offer some basic tuturioals though? I've looked, and most of it is an odd assortment of explaining one particular task or another. The help info for the program leaves something to be desired...

Thanks again.

dickbill · 2003-12-11 12:01:11

I really do enjoy your pictures, adn i am gaining even more respect for the finished pieces you have already produced. It must have taken a while to do some of them, no?

thank you, yes it took my a while and a lot of practice to understand these 3d softwares. You might expect to understand enough of Bryce in 2/3 months for example if you practice enough. The longest is not to generate the picture but really to understand how to achieve, I would rather say to approximate, the picture that you have in your head with the tools you have.
Take the everyday MOC or THEMIS released pictures for example. The variety of surface texture and landscape on MArs is absolutely incredible, much above the imaginable. That drives me to generate Mars pictures stuff out of my head. That must be a disease.

Any sites you know of that offer some basic tuturioals though? I've looked, and most of it is an odd assortment of explaining one particular task or another. The help info for the program leaves something to be desired...

tuturials are everywhere, there is one recently posted on renderosity about how to simulate a planetary curvature in Bryce. Try also www.3dcafe.com and www.3dlinks.com.

Cubano · 2004-01-23 09:15:14

HEY Have you seen the new MARS PICKS well here is one
[http://WWW.SPACE.COM]WWW.SPACE.COM

Cubano · 2004-01-23 14:56:54

GO to space.com for picks of MARS

You might want to get their magazines subscription.

LOTS OF INFO THEIR!

GREAt TOPIC

GraemeSkinner · 2004-03-04 14:09:35

Have not played with Bryce for a while, been playing with 3DS Max lately, trying to create a realistic Rover on the landscape, have got the land not too bad, rover is average, and now I'm trying to light it.
Just because we can't go there in person yet does not mean we can't go in the mind. :up:

dickbill · 2004-08-15 22:22:54

Hi all,
My Martian Chronicles continue....check out at Renderosity :
(password and free registratio required )

http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?ga … ...New=Yes

For those interested : background made in Terragen, shuttle and wing parachute modelized in Lightwave 7.5, all rendered in LW7.5 with volumetric enable.

clark · 2004-10-13 08:11:53

Tree1.th.jpg

The link to the big picture:

http://img71.exs.cx/img71/237/Tree1.jpg … /Tree1.jpg

"Marble Tree of Silver Leaves". A monument of sorts.

clark · 2004-10-13 08:23:13

Tree2.th.jpg

This one is a little busier in the background, but there are a few additional touches to it. Any comments? I'm still learning how all of this works, so please forgive this novice!

full image:

http://img71.exs.cx/img71/941/Tree2.jpg … /Tree2.jpg

clark · 2004-10-15 09:45:20

tv2.th.jpg

What is the favorite TV program on Mars? Why, "My Favorite Martian" of course.

Link to the full picture: http://img91.exs.cx/img91/6628/tv2.jpg] … 28/tv2.jpg

Tom Kalbfus · 2006-10-08 10:21:19

One think I think would be kind of neat would be to publish a Mars Calendar, with a picture on the reverse side of each page and a Martian month below it with the corresponding Earth months and days indicated in blue. On the top dar you would name the days of the week

Sunsol Monsol Tuesol Wednesol Thursol Frisol Satursol

New Mars Forums

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#26 2003-10-29 13:07:16

Re: Pictures of Mars - An Introduction

#27 2003-10-29 14:31:14

Re: Pictures of Mars - An Introduction

#28 2003-10-29 14:39:39

Re: Pictures of Mars - An Introduction

#29 2003-10-29 17:19:46

Re: Pictures of Mars - An Introduction

#30 2003-12-10 12:26:58

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#31 2003-12-11 10:46:12

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#32 2003-12-11 11:16:09

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#33 2003-12-11 12:01:11

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#34 2004-01-23 09:15:14

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#35 2004-01-23 14:56:54

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#36 2004-03-04 14:09:35

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#37 2004-08-15 22:22:54

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#38 2004-10-13 08:11:53

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#39 2004-10-13 08:23:13

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#40 2004-10-15 09:45:20

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#41 2006-10-08 10:21:19

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