- iClone 4.31 3D Animation Beginner's Guide
- M.D. McCallum
- 884字
- 2021-08-27 12:20:51
Time for action - creating virtual foliage
- Click on the Set tab then select Grass.
- Double-click Grass in the Content Manager on the left and then hit the clear button on the right menu under Tool. This will clear the grass that iClone places in the center of the screen so that you can place the grass where you want it to go. After all you are the director!
- With the Grass still selected, your cursor will be a paint bucket. Set the Size to 1000 and set the Density to 59. If your computer struggles with this density, then reduce the density setting to improve performance. The following image shows an initial planting of grass with the bucket tool:
- Use the Grass paint bucket to place grass anywhere on the terrain.
- Select a flower from the left menu. This example uses Magnolia, but you can choose any Live Plant. Remember to Clear the flowers after selection and then start planting flowers around the scene with the bucket tool. Lower the density as grass is usually thicker than any other ground cover in its area and so the flower density needs to be reduced. Set the Size to 1000; lower the flower Density to 2. Set the Height and Width to 25. The following image is an example of plant density:
- Now select the Rice and set the Tool and Dimensions to Size: 114, Density: 20, Height: 90, Width: 90.
- Plant the rice along the water's edge by clicking on or near the waterline. If you make a mistake, use the Undo button or the Mower feature to remove the errant plantings. The next image is an example of planting rice along the sides of the river:
- What we need now are some trees to break up the ground and make the scene more interesting. Click on the Tree button under the Set tab and select the tree of your choice. This example uses the American Elm A and American Elm B. Scatter a few trees around until you are satisfied with the result. The default strength of 2 for the wind will provide a little sway in the breeze.
Note
Unlike the grass, the trees are not painted on the surface, but are placed one at a time like individual props. Double-click on the Tree thumbnail in the Content Manager and then select the Tree and use the manipulation tools (shown in the following image) on the top toolbar to move it to the desired location:
- Save your file and preview your work by pressing the play button.
The following image shows an example of Live Plant coverage for the main scene:
What just happened?
We used the Live Plants feature to create a nice section of scenery by placing grass, flowers, and other Live Plant assets around the scene. In the process of placing these plants, we discovered that each plant may need a different density or other adjustment to look proper. These changes are made within the modification panel of each Live Plant species.
Live Plants take very little overhead to run in the iClone engine so we can place thousands of these plants in our scene to add visual appeal.
Tip
Start good animation habits now!
Now is the time to start developing good animation and work habits. Always reset the timeline scrubber back to frame 0 when finished previewing and before you add props or characters to the scene. You will quickly find that strange things can happen when you start adding other assets to the scene without the timeline being reset to zero.
Now that you have a good start on a nice scene, it's time to see what you can do on your own. Save the project first as we will continue to build this scene together after you flex your landscaping muscles a bit.
Have a go hero - clear the meadow
Save your project then clear the grass, flowers, trees, and experiment with Live Plants. Use different settings on the Size and Density so you can understand how each works. Try out different grasses and trees.
Paint the grass on the hills and the water's edge to see what happens. If you make a mistake, use the Undo key or the Mower located on the same right side menu panel as the Planter to cut out the area you wish to change. The Mower can also be used to create roads, pathways, building sites, and just about anything that needs to be cleared of vegetation.
Tip
Add to Terrain tip
If you experience trouble placing Live Plants or they are not going in the right place then right-click on the object you are painting with Live Plants and select Add To Terrain. If the prop is not built correctly for iClone then the Live Plants will not be placed in the proper locations even when the prop is added to the terrain.
The following image shows two primitive cones. The cone on the right shows the bounding box mesh that surrounds the cone. This was used as an early collision system in iClone. Some props have a bounding box that mimics the prop where others have primitives that can cause strange things to happen when using Live Plants.
