Hi there everybody,
I have recently started working on module 4 of the Blender 3D environments course (https://www.udemy.com/course/blender-environments), once again I am really enjoying this module.
So far I have created a new terrain object and applied the same geometry node tree from the previous module (the grass scene, see here for my render Grass animation - 3D Environments course). I have also created the path generator node tree, this allows me to draw a Bezier curve and it will create a path (see the video below).
It works using two geometry node modifiers, one for the grass generation and one for the path generation.
Hello there everybody,
I have been working on the trees that are going to go along the path.
The base of the trees are provided by the instructor, the trunks and branches are generated using Mtree (thank you to @Roberddd for providing his version of Mtree that works in Blender 4.5). The leaves are generated using a custom geometry nodes tree.
Hello again everybody,
I am continuing to work on this scene, I have finished making the trees now.
I have appended some of the trees to the scene and placed them on the path, these are displaying in there full quality in the viewport so I can place them easily. I have created a plane though that instances one of the trees onto it and displays a proxy item in the viewport to prevent Blender from slowing down. I am using vertex paint to select where I don’t want the trees to spawn on this plane
(Above the plane with the proxy trees)
I have also added a HDRI and some fog, the fog is working with a cylinder that surrounds the entire terrain with a volume scatter node.
(Above the fog shader)
Here is a render so far, the terrain in the distance will be a different colour and I still need to tweak the settings of the fog and HDRI:
Just been working on this scene a bit more @Nickk12, do you have any suggestions for the lighting on the trees. The instructors scene seems perfectly lit with the HDRI and the light. Where as some of my trees seem to look a bit dark.
No worries if you don’t have any suggestions. I have annotated an image below of the trees that look particularly dark. I know I need to tweak some of the settings with the trees at the back to make the HDRI look better.
Hello there everybody,
I have been working on this a bit more now and have configured a cobblestone texture along part of the path. I have also attempted to add a water plane, I have copied the configuration of the instructors but it doesn’t appear to be working. The render with and without the water plane look nearly identical (see below)
Hello there,
I reached out to the instructor of the course about the issue I was having with the water, the problem was that there wasn’t anything to reflect in the water. To solve this I moved one of the trees and now I am getting a nice reflection in the water.
Here is a new render, I have updated some of the lighting but I want to add some more lights to illuminate the trees better.
Hello there,
Another update for today on this project, the overall scene is coming together very well. I have just positioned some rocks into the scene. I have also extended the cobblestone path very slightly to make it line up better with the water, this is done using a vertex paint (screenshot below) it then uses a colour attribute node with a separate RGB going into a mix shader to control the path texture and the cobblestone texture.
Do you really need to render the fog itself?
I think doing it in post with depth or mist pass might work as well and it might shave off a significant amount of time (that you can spend elsewhere).
The instructor of the course I am following is doing it with the cylinder, the same way I am. He did mention we would replace it with something better in another lecture, so it will be changing.
Hello there everyone,
I have made a few more adjustments to the scene today, I have re arranged some of the rocks and edited the cobblestone path. I have also appended the flower assets provided in the course that we will be using in an upcoming lecture. I have also edited the colour of the light to make it look more realistic.
This is great! I just love how realistic that path looks, with the grass clumps around the edges. And the fog volume as well, I’ve really struggled with those!
Thank you for your kind words, the course I am following is excellent, you do have to pay for it but I would say it is worth it. You can generally get it on a discount for about £15, here is the link if you want to take a look (https://www.udemy.com/course/blender-environments).
The grass is from the previous project in the course, it is done by modelling the individual strands and then using geometry nodes to turn them into grass patches, which are then turned into the terrain. The path generation is explained in the first post in this thread so I won’t go into details again here to avoid duplicate information (Forest path scene - Blender 3D environments course). For more info on the grass you may want to look at some of my previous work in progress threads for this.
The fog is a cylinder that surrounds the terrain, it has a volume scatter node that creates the fog effect (pictured below)
Hello there everyone,
I have just been working at bit more on this scene, I have started scattering some small rocks along the path using geometry nodes and I have also placed some of the plants.
The rock scattering works using geometry nodes, with a distribute points on face and an instance on points node. I am using proxy objects for the rocks so the viewport doesn’t slow down.
