Looking for 3d grass object

Dimus

Dimus

SOH-CM-2025
In an effort to finish my "Kopaida" grass field I flew into the field last Saturday in a SuperCub and its owner. I realized a lot of things have changed and I will need to update and enrich my custom objects. One thing that I have wanted from the start though is to add some kind of 3d grass that would cover the non-runway/taxiway parts of the field, similar to what ORBX use in their sceneries. Here are a couple of shots I took last Saturday:





ORBX do not allow their libraries to be used in other sceneries, even freeware. My attempts to create something have been futile so far. I would appreciate your suggestion on an object that would cover big areas with tall grass and also be easy on FPS, preferably using flat faces with alpha channeled textures. Full credits would of course be given to anyone who would be kind enough to share an object like that.
 
Dimus said:
In an effort to finish my "Kopaida" grass field I flew into the field last Saturday in a SuperCub and its owner. I realized a lot of things have changed and I will need to update and enrich my custom objects. One thing that I have wanted from the start though is to add some kind of 3d grass that would cover the non-runway/taxiway parts of the field, similar to what ORBX use in their sceneries. Here are a couple of shots I took last Saturday:





ORBX do not allow their libraries to be used in other sceneries, even freeware. My attempts to create something have been futile so far. I would appreciate your suggestion on an object that would cover big areas with tall grass and also be easy on FPS, preferably using flat faces with alpha channeled textures. Full credits would of course be given to anyone who would be kind enough to share an object like that.
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This appears to be one of those "Top Secret" subjects that a select few know how to do, but remain mute about "how" it's done. I've tried many times to get something that I can say definitively is exactly what I want and that I can use in all my sceneries, but all my efforts fall well short of expectations. It appears to be something that on the surface looks to be relatively simple. . .but isn't, otherwise everyone would be doing it.
 
Can't explain why I have this feeling, but somehow I get the sense you will figure this out, Dimus! Or maybe you will first, Ed! Pete
 
I think Francois "sells"3D grass and didn't rdaniell make some 3D grass with sketch-up?

Just a thought,
Huub
 
huub vink said:
I think Francois "sells"3D grass and didn't rdaniell make some 3D grass with sketch-up?
Just a thought,
Huub
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I have the grass that is on FSAddons and I use it sometimes, but it still isn't right. Yes RD did some 3D grass and it's excellent, but it's also a big hit on fps if used to an extreme as it's very detailed. So it isn't something that can be used very much in a scenery.
 
I also have Randy's grass. As Ed said, it looks great but very heavy on FPS as the grass leaves are modeled (many polygons).

McDesigns made a grass lining for me a couple of years ago that looks great on edges of taxiways and I have used in previous sceneries. I am currently using the basic textures he made for me to create something of greater coverage area. I'll see how that goes and if I can't make it work as I like, I will just not use 3d grass and be done with it.

Thank you for your input guys.
 
As we are not allowed to reuse the 3D grass from the Orbx libraries, you might want to create your own 3D model using a similar technique. The 3D object is a square (for the sides), with a "X" (diagonals)and "+" (for the remaining space) inside. All sides are covered with a transparent texture that shows some grass and flowers, transparent enough to avoid noticing the shape of the 3D object. But you can still notice that object sometimes, when the scenery loads and the object appears untextured for half a second on OrbX sceneries.
 
That's right Daube, I have seen how these objects are done. My problem is to find the right textures and to ensure good transparency as well as random angles of the squares to make it look real and not "organized". I'll keep working on it. I just hoped someone might have something ready to share.
 
A quick test:
Grass on a white background/Alpha was just a negative version reduced to grayscale. Converted to 32bit_888 and loaded into sketchup to make the 3D model (single plane with texture attached on both sides). Saved as a "collada" file, then loaded into ModelConverterX. Used the Material Editor to tweak the settings, optimized and saved the texture as a dds and exported as a scenery bgl file then placed into random positions on the ground to get an idea of placement that would look realistic. Better than anything I had thus far.
 
One more. . . .I think the possibilities are there. . .coloring might be a bit vibrant, but that can be adjusted. . .this might work. . .for me at least. Might try a few more, adding some wildflowers into the mix.
 
That's exactly the kind of thing I'm working on Ed! Excellent work! We might after all have a variety to use after a little while.

One note: I thing the rectangles should not cross each other and should be in short lengths to look more realistic.
 
Dimus said:
. . . . . . .One note: I thing the rectangles should not cross each other and should be in short lengths to look more realistic.
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Yep, you're right. I don't really care for how it looks where they intersect. I'll just keep testing and see what comes out. Good luck with yours as well!
 
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