ajroane

I started fly fishing last fall, and it's become a bit of an obsession. I was tying some flies and I realized it wouldn't be too hard to create an Adams dry fly with GrowFX. It was just a personal diversion, so I haven't refined the modeling and materials too much, but I like how it turned out. I attached a 3ds Max 2015 version of the model with all the bitmap textures removed, just in case anyone wanted to take a look. Like I said, it was just for fun, so the model is a little bit messy. Best, Andrew Dry Fly - GrowFX_no_textures.max

All, I recently had the chance to partner with Vizpark.com to create a collection of GrowFX grass models. I didn't create the preview renderings, which look amazing, I was only responsible for creating the models and materials. Martin, the owner of Vizpark, also added 3 of his own models to the collection. The collaboration took about 12 months, working in my spare time of course. I would love to hear what you think about the models. Here's a link. Best, Andrew

Looks great! How did you integrate the closed and open buds together? The result is beautiful.

That would be great! I just sent an email to the Exlevel support address with the renderings, including a small logo. Thank you.

@austingrd: Thanks. About the effects...I only used Photoshop for post-render work, combined with Vray's Multi-matte render elements to create masks for tweaking specific materials. So really, the effects are just simple combinations of Levels, Color Balance, Hue-Saturation, Soft Light blending mode layers, and Screen blending mode layers. @ptrain03: Thank you.

Here's my latest rendering project. The small deciduous trees, sagebrush, ornamental grass, and the scattered twigs were all modeled with GrowFX. This is also my first large-scale rendering using Forest Pack Pro. Regards, Andrew

Eduard, I bought Forest Pack Pro two days ago, and the 10% off coupon code, as shown in the GrowFX download area, was not accepted in the Itoo Software checkout area. I was in a hurry, so I didn't bother with contacting them. I know it's likely not your problem, but I just wanted to mention it in case others wanted to use the coupon code. Thanks for everything, Andrew

The image has a great feel to it, nice work. -Andrew

In school I used to make trees by twisting wire together; so I thought I would try and replicate a simple wire tree for this massing study at work. Of course, the trees were made with GrowFX. It was a very quick and simple setup. I had to make the wires really thick, but I like how it turned out.

This is great! Nice work.

That looks great, thanks for the updated version! I should have been more careful in my math, I derived my angle as 360/1.61=223.60. I needed to use a more accurate number for phi. Thanks again, Andrew

So I did a quick test with my Fibonacci Spiral, and it failed. The spiral count in one direction is 8, which is good, because that is a Fibonacci number. But, in the other direction the count is 29, which is not a correct number...I'll keep testing.

All, So, I've had this 'Spiral Generator' concept stewing in the back of my head for quite a while now. I was never really happy with my previous attempt to create the shape I was looking for; I wanted something that was more closely aligned to the Fibonacci patterns seen in nature. I watched this video on Khan Academy yesterday, http://www.khanacademy.org/video/doodling-in-math--spirals--fibonacci--and-being-a-plant--1-of-3, and an idea came to me about how to create the spiral in growFX. (I'd recommend watching all three videos, they are really interesting.) The link below is a Max2010 file I created tonight, which shows my new Fibonacci Spiral setup. I thought it was fun, and I hope someone else may find a good use for it. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/56333797/Fibonacci_Spiral_Test_02.max A few notes: 1) The 'Flat Spiral' has an animated Density Parameter on the 'Radial Node' path. Move the time slider between 0 and 100 frames to see the result. 2) The main parameters which affect the spirals are: Radial Node>Path Position Affects, Radial Node>Turn Axis, and Radial Node>Density. 3) The flat spiral uses hidden geometry to control the Vertical Node height. It can be turned on in the Max Layer Manager. 4) Most of you know this...but, I'd recommend turning off the meshes for the Radial and Vertical Nodes. I left them on for clarity. Let me know what you think. Is there a better way to make these same kinds of patterns? Best, Andrew

This is cool, thanks for the update!

Jason, Thanks! Most of what you see is just displacement on top of a plane, which has a noise modifier applied. Exactly like @ptrain03 mentioned. Then, to break that up a bit further, I manually scattered some small stone proxies using the default 'Object Paint' in 3dsMax 2014. I've been asking for Forest Pack Pro for years, literally, but I'm the only rendering guy in my firm, so my requests don't carry much weight. I had to buy GrowFX with my own money, and maybe I'll get FFP for Christmas this year. -Andrew

Here's the final rendering with my agave. I also modeled the grasses, lawn, and Desert Willow tree with GrowFX. I did not create the small Palm tree, Sage Brush, and Red-Hot Poker flowers. I wish I could have re-modeled the flowers, they look really CG. Regards, Andrew

Thanks for the tip. Please post the rendered result, if you are allowed. It would be interesting to see how it turned out.

One more example.

Here's an example of of how this may be useful. I think it would be easier to model the mature flowers separate from the buds, then blend them together along the length of the stem.

Here are some simple graphics which show the idea of what I'm suggesting. Basically, I would like to be able to control the blending of multiple sub-distributors on a single distributor. Hope this helps. -Andrew

Great idea! This is picky, but 'Childs' is not a correct word, in English. I would suggest 'Align Children', or 'Align Child'. Thanks again, Eduard, for the great support and development!

(This may already be possible, please correct me if I am wrong.) To start, I think we all agree that the GrowFX Multi-Map Plug-in is awesome. Now, would it be possible (or worth it) to add that same functionality to distribute instanced meshes over a path, using a bitmap or vertex colors as the control? This could also be built into the current IG_mesh modifier. If an Affect Parameter were available to allow the Path Position on the starting path to affect individual object count rates, then the objects' placement along a path could have a controlled progression. Although I think a map-controlled option would be easier to manipulate quickly. Apologies for the massive influx of posts, just trying to get ideas out while they are fresh on my mind. Regards, Andrew

'Affect weak axis' control for direction modifiers. Would it be possible for GrowFX to do this: 1) Measure the x and y distance away from a cross-section 2) Find the direction to the shortest distance (thus determining the weak axis) 3) Weight the modifiers result to affect the weakest axis? This would be great for adding more natural deformations to long, slender geometry like leaves, blades of grass, etc. There could be lots of uses, actually. Hopefully that makes sense, I'm struggling to define my thought accurately. Thanks!

The Hard Bend modifier is great, but many times the sharp edge created by the bend looks un-natural. It would help a lot if there were some simple chamfer controls to soften the bent edge. Thanks again!

Definitely correct, I wouldn't recommend unwrapping a GrowFX model. I only did it on this one because I have a specific purpose for doing so. But it is not something I would normally consider. Some programs don't work well with overlapping UV's, (so I've heard, I haven't had that difficulty using 3dsMax and Vray) so I'm curious about whether or not others have run into a situation where they were required to unwrap a plant model in order to get correct render results? Is the problem from working between Max and Lightwave, Maya, or C4D? @3DMK - You've got me puzzled about how this could be built from scratch in GrowFX. I'm going to be experimenting... Thanks, Andrew