Getting Started
with WCS 6 Part 5A.
Fields & Forest
1. Open the YNP project
from the recent projects list.
2. Open the Plan Camera
in the right view.
3. Open the Database Editor, select the YNP-100m DEM and Remove
it from the project.
4. Do not remove from disk.
5. Select the remaining YNP-10m
DEMs and Enable them.
6. Save the project as YNP5.
7. With the basics of WCS operation
behind us, the remaining tutorials will take us through the project
building process. Let's all start with the same Main Camera
view. Go to the Main Camera popup menu and Edit View's Camera
to open the Camera
Editor.
8. Load Component from Disk
.
9. Load the YNP Main.cam
file.
10. Don't scale the camera's
position, we want it just where it was saved.
11. Now that we all have the
same view, go up to the menu and View > View Image
> From Disk or use the Alt+] keyboard shortcut.
12. Go to the image folder
on the
Tutorial 2 CD and open
GrowFloat.iff.
13. When WCS renders a scene,
it evaluates polygons for coverage starting with Lakes
and their associated Beaches. Beaches are built like Ecosystems,
with an Overstory Ecotype, Understory Ecotype,
and Beach Material. For those polygons not covered by
a Lake Component, the renderer sees which polygons qualify for
Ecosystem coverage. Ecosystems have an Overstory
Ecotype, Understory Ecotype, and a Ground Overlay
for the ground between. For the polygons that remain uncovered,
Ground Effect is rendered.
14. So far, we have default Ground
Effect rendering on our terrain because there are no other
ground coverage Components in the project. Go to the Land
Cover Task Mode and open the YNP Ground Editor.
15. Open the Component Gallery
and load the Western
Desert .
16. Save the project and run
a preview render.
17. Let's change the light for
a better view. Go to the lower Scene-At-A-Glance and expand the Lights category.
18. Open the YNP Sun Light Editor to the Position & Orientation
page.
19. Set Position by Time
to 2 PM.
20. If we're going to make this
look like Madison Canyon in Yellowstone, we need to change the
Western Desert ground to look more like a series of volcanic
flows. Go to the Ground
Editor Material Gradient
& Driver page. This
Ground Effect is made up of 2 Materials, Flat and Steep,
that are controlled by a Material Gradient. The left color
pin is the Flat Material and the right pin is Steep.
21. What controls the gradient?
Edit the Material Gradient Driver texture and you'll
see that a Dynamic Parameter, Slope, is the controlling
texture. The slope texture goes from an Input Low of 0° to
an Input High of 90°, which are the same numbers that show
up in the gradient in the Editor. This texture is using terrain
slope to place the Flat and Steep Materials.
22. What are the Flat
and Steep Materials? Go to the Material page, select
the Flat Material, and you'll see it has a Diffuse
Color texture. If there's a texture, it supersedes the color
well, unless the texture has transparency, it which case the
color well color will show through.
23. Open the Color Editor and change the color to yellow, which
is 255 Red and 255 Green. You can also pick a color from one
of the Swatches, or create your own and add it to the
Components\Image\Color Swatch folder.
24. Keep the color and
Disable the Diffuse Color texture.
25. Select the Steep Material.
26. Change its color to blue.
27. Disable the texture.
28. Save the project and render
a preview. Simple colors are a good way to evaluate Ground Effect
and Ecosystem coverage.
29. It looks like our Steep
Material slope needs to be decreased. Move the Diagnostic Data window into view and look at the slope
values in the hillside. It ranges from about 20° to 30°.
30. We'd like a sharper transition
between Flat and Steep Materials somewhere around
20°, so click the yellow Flat pin and change its Position
to 20%.
31. Drag the blue Steep
pin down to 30%. Flat Material will give way to Steep
Material between 20% and 30% of 90°, or between 18° and
27°.
32. Save the project and render
a preview.
33. That's the transition we're
looking for, so enable the Diffuse Color textures.
34. Run another render.
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