RELEASED The "Scatter Tool" plugin for Poser

[Ken1171]

Here's a demonstration of the new "Allow Flipping" feature. Here I have used only a single billboard tree, and check how some are flipped horizontally, so they don't look all the same. One thing I have noticed was that the shadow side of the tree also gets flipped, but that can't be helped.

The other new feature cannot be seen in renders, because it's an automation that happens when we turn a plane into a billboard. When I load Poser's "One-sided Square" primitive, it is not configured to work as a billboard because it's end-point is pointing up. Now, the tool automatically changes the end-point to face forwards, so you don't have to do anything.

 

[Miss B]

I assume that the help file/instructions will tell us how to create a billboard, as I've never had an occasion to try.

 

[Karina]

Thank You Ken!

While I check this thread daily to see what breathtaking new uses you come up with, your last post FINALLY explained some of the problems I had in the past when using that primitive (one-sided plane).
I had some strange, inexplicable results when using it in the past, but I never actually had the idea to check it's center and end points - DOH!

As for the shadows on the wrong side:

Couldn't you just render two billboards of the same tree, one time lit from the right, the next time lit from the left, and then just scatter both versions intermittently(sp?)?

For even more variety, you could rotate the left and right versions of the prototype tree by the y-axis for more variety.
You also could use the morph brush for more variety in the trunk shapes to avoid that "Bolshoy Ballet" likeness of the trunks.

Of course that must be done when rendering images for the billboards already.

"IDIC":
Indefinite Diversity in Indefinate Combinations"
I hear you, Spock!

K

 

[Ken1171]

I assume that the help file/instructions will tell us how to create a billboard, as I've never had an occasion to try.

Not in the manual, but I could add a supplement showing how to do that. I actually wanted to make a video tutorial covering things like that.

 

[Miss B]

Ahhhh OK, I just happen to prefer written instructions to videos, which I usually have to stop and restart at various times.

 

[DanaTA]

"IDIC":
Indefinite Diversity in Indefinate Combinations"
I hear you, Spock!

K

Did you change that on purpose?

Dana

 

[Ken1171]

Of course that must be done when rendering images for the billboards already.

All good and valid suggestions. Sometimes just a slight rotation on the tree before rendering could already make a whole new version. In this case I was just making a small forest out of a single tree. Surprisingly, I don't see a repetition pattern now that I have added the flipping option, and the shadows on the wrong side don't seem too distracting.

However, those seem like distant concerns when I remember I could never have a whole forest like this in Poser before - at least not built with a button push. I remember having to wait hours to render a single tree when each leaf was textured with transparency maps. Now this whole forest is still less effort to render than a single poly tree. The Superfly render above took about 15 seconds. In Poser, that's new to me.

Ahhhh OK, I just happen to prefer written instructions to videos, which I usually have to stop and restart at various times.

When it comes to visual arts, showing is so much easier than explaining. But I understand, everybody learns in different ways. I am obviously a visual person.

 

[Karina]

Did you change that on purpose?

Dana

Oups!? No!
Maybe I made an error in the quote, but that's how I remember it ever since.
If I made an error, please let me know the correct quote.
Thank you!

K

 

[Ken1171]

The manual has been expanded (13 pages now) to include the new features and usabilities mentioned above. My focus has been to make sure the documentation is clear and helpful for new users. If you have followed this thread, you know there are many ways to use this tool, and I am sure people will eventually come up with even more I haven't thought of.

More recently I have tried running this on Poser 10, and looks like the PoserPython has differences in implementation, so it is not compatible. Something about the grouping objects is handled differently between Poser 10 and 11. Not only between Poser versions, but I have noticed Poser 11's Bullet Engine cannot "see" props that are parented to a grouping object (?!). Both the Bullet engine and Grouping objects are relatively new in Poser, so I guess SMS "forgot" to integrate them.

Once you start using this tool, you will soon realize how important Grouping objects are to keep things more manageable. A Grouping object is automatically created and maintained for you whenever you scatter something, and you will notice how clean your scene management becomes. However, Poser 11's Bullet engine cannot use anything managed by a Grouping object, and so we are forced to ungroup them. The tool automatically creates a prefix on every object it creates, and this still helps when we have to ungroup everything, but I wish we wouldn't have to. The PoserPhysics plugin doesn't require this, so I know Rendo could fix this if they wanted to. Nonetheless, physics simulations are still a small niche in the Poser community, so no biggie. Most likely, that's what SMS would had told me when I reported this anyway.

Beta-testing is still on-going, and it's taking time because they have to review the manual as well, which is packed with information. I have mentioned it has 13 pages, and I didn't use large fonts to make it that long.

 

[Ken1171]

Coming back to the physics simulation part, I have done a new experiment. With the brick wall from before, it was already falling before being hit by the ball. Here, I have used the Scatter Tool to create over 100 cubes, the blue ones - but FIRST, I have setup the first one to wait to be hit before reacting. I then used that pre-configured cube to scatter the rest, and then we got the desired results as seen below. Yay!

However, this was not possible with Poser's built-in Bullet physics engine because it doesn't seem to have this option to "wait until hit". I had to use the PoserPhysics 3rd party plugin instead, which not only supports this constraint, but also works fine with objects managed by a Grouping object.

If you know a way to make this behavior with the Bullet engine in Poser, please let me know how! I know how to set up all kinds of Bullet constraints, but I haven't found this particular one.

 

[Ken1171]

Now back to the brick wall, that idea I had about configuring the bricks to "wait until hit" was NOT a good idea. That's because whatever hits the wall will not hit ALL bricks, so only a few will react. My solution was to let the bricks settle before hitting it with the ball, and set that as the starting point. However, we can still see the wall move a bit, like the simulation forces it to settle again when it starts. Nonetheless, much better than before, when bricks were flying off the wall before being hit. ^____^

Oh yeah - used the Scattering Tool to place the 126 bricks with 1-click, and I guess that's the point here.

 

[Ken1171]

For today's update, I am experimenting with a new feature - scattering FIGURES over props. All features are supported in this mode, like variations, surface alignment, and preview styles. In this example I have scattered 40 figures over a morphed plane with all variations enabled, but with surface alignment disabled (people don't tilt over slopes). Surface alignment would be more useful when scattering over solids.

This is a new scattering mode, so it will require some changes on the interface. The way it will work is that, before you start, you have to choose if you want to scatter figures or props, so the lists will update properly. This is because Poser uses different internal operations when dealing with figures and props, so we have to pick a mode first. Once that is done, usage is identical to when dealing with props.

We can still switch modes at any time, like scatter some props, then some figures, and then some props again, all in the same session. It will keep track so the items won't overlap (placed at the same location).

Here I have used a low-poly figure (Blobman), so even 40 on a scene is Ok. However, high poly figures might choke Poser pretty quickly, so we have to use caution with the amount, depending on how much memory you have, and how powerful your video card is. If you have every tried to load multiple figures into your scenes, then you already know what I am talking about.

 

[Ken1171]

Another test to see what happens if we attach prop hair the figures. I wasn't sure what would happen, but it just works. Yay! Next test is to see what happens with conformed items.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

This is awesome. A number of Lisa's plants are figures, so it will be great to be able to scatter any of Lisa's plants over a landscape, whether they are figures or props.

 

[Ken1171]

This is awesome. A number of Lisa's plants are figures, so it will be great to be able to scatter any of Lisa's plants over a landscape, whether they are figures or props.

Good point - I haven't thought of that. I was thinking more on creating crowds. Most people may have never used the old Poser default figures, which are low poly and great for creating background crowds.

 

[Ken1171]

Now on solids with surface alignment. Everything seems to be working.

 

[Ken1171]

Ok, it works with parented props and conforming clothing as well, so looks like all bases are covered. Just need to update the interface and integrate it with the tool, and then update the documentation.

 

[Ken1171]

This is how the updated interface looks like now. The new "Scatter Mode" functionality is now part of the tool. Another change is that "Align to Surface" is now disabled by default, since it has no effect over flat surfaces like the ground plane, but still affects performance a bit. Other variation options are still enabled by default, since they affect all operation modes, and have low performance impact.

 

[Ken1171]

I have done some testing and looks like we have a new release candidate. The manual has now been expanded to cover the new features, and it's now 15 pages long. I am trying to keep it short. I have compiled a new version, and it's going to internal beta.

 

[Dream9Studios]

This is awesome. A number of Lisa's plants are figures, so it will be great to be able to scatter any of Lisa's plants over a landscape, whether they are figures or props.

As soon as I saw this thread, that's what I was thinking! I just made a scene with dozens and dozens of her flowers and I had to place them by hand. It was maddening! I have been dreaming so long of being able to place her plants and others with a tool like this!

I have done some testing and looks like we have a new release candidate. The manual has now been expanded to cover the new features, and it's now 15 pages long. I am trying to keep it short. I have compiled a new version, and it's going to internal beta.

I am so glad you are going to release this here at Hivewire. I can hardly wait to get it and start using it! Thank you so much for creating this.