Water fall......

[shutup7742]

Here is what i want to do, I want to put in a water fall not a big one just one going into a stream. Is it possible to build something like that out of shapes or something?

-Christian

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Christian,

Yes this is certainly possible. First you have the Terrain tools which will elevate the ground where you want to create the shape and the Fill tool enables you to draw any shape to represent the water and it will follow the shape of the Terrain you have created. Right click the Fill, select Curve and you can get realistic shapes rather than straight/angled edges.

Change the texture of the Fill to water, insert rocks around and in the water and plants alongside, (then you can get out your deck chair, sit down and relax and enjoy the scene!)

The image below is just a quick one to give you an idea what is possible.

Allan

[shutup7742]

yeah that looks really nice.


 Once again thank you for your help Allen.

-Christian

[shutup7742]

OK i got another question. Is it possible to make it look like the water fall is going down the face of the rock?

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Christian,

Yes this is possible too.  It can take a bit of experimenting to get the look you want but I just zoomed in on the waterfall that was at the top of the previous image and just added a few rocks and 'soil' surrounding the waterfall. You may be able to find an image that has the waterfall effect, may be with rocks in it and use that as a texture for the vertical part of the waterfall which will add to the realism. You could import some photoboards of other rocks into the water and around it some reeds etc.  It takes a bit of experimenting to get the terrain the shape you want too, but not knowing what yours is, the image is just to show a little bit of what can be done if you have the time to experiment.

Allan

[shutup7742]

Hello Allen,

I did do a little experimenting. This is what i came up with.

First i just took the sidewalk tool and made the basic shape i wanted, then i changed the thickness, i went and got a photo of water off the internet, i applied it to the center sidewalk, i did use the water fill but i changed the color of that to. i added flowers and lights and this is what i came up with so far.

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Christian,

So you are getting there!!

Now that I see what you have in mind I realise that you are talking more about an 'artificial' waterfall rather than a natural stream waterfall.  I live in a hilly rural area, with natural streams (when it rains - we have had nearly 5 months without any rain at all until a couple of days ago) and many homes have natural waterfalls etc, so I automatically had that sort of thing in mind.

If you are planning a waterfall over a 'manmade' wall then you are on the right track and there are many ways to do it. You do not need to worry about the Terrain tool if the ground is essentially flat and the waterfall 'above ground level' as in your image. 

The waterfall itself could be over a Wall (Any height and width but only parallel sides - curves possible and different textures on each surface), a piece of Floor (ANY shape and thickness is possible with curves and different textures on surfaces), Pathways (any thinkness and curves but only parallel sides like a wall, but only one texture) or simple a 'box' (rectangular only - See Useful Shapes... post http://forums.turbofloorplan.com/index.php/topic,315.0.html).

The Fill tool works differently, as it only sits on the terrain and follows it. Very useful if you are shaping the terrain itself or for water and garden beds.  It does not have any thinkness but, like a floor, it can be any shape you want, including curved edges. It cannot be elevated unless the surrounding terrain is, so if you overlap different fill areas the different textures may interact with each other.

I don't know whether those comments help at all but it looks as though you are well on the way to achieving what you want. If you need more help or suggestions just ask.

Just out of interest I did another render with different water and did Advanced render to see how it would handle the shape of the Terrain. Shows it much smoother than the first image (Basic render). By the way, if you render and use imported Photoboards of trees etc (which mine are) you must set the Water texture to Dull. By default it is set to partially shiny (or Liquid) and it causes reflections on the Photoboards.  A bug presulably. If you have imported yourown water texture it probably would have defaulted to dull anyway so shouldn't be a problem.

Will look forward to see your project develops.

Allan

[shutup7742]

yes. maybe i should have specified between natural and artificial. the first picture i posted isn't exactly done it was just a quick text. but now that you say wall it seems easier. i am assuming you mean a retaining wall. i was using the sidewalk tool. Thanks again for your help Allen.

-christian

[Allan Chesney]

Hi Christian,

Yes you could use retaining walls, foundation walls or any wall really. You can use anything for anything - all the onbjects are just lines with surfaces between them, some having slightly different characteristics for different purposes.  The sidewalk tool that you used is different to the wall in that it only has one texture on all sides - Ideal for paving but if you wanted a different texture on the top to the sides for example, you could not do it - with a wall or floor you can.  Use a Roof , Surface or Ceiling and you can slope it also, as you can with the 'box' - it can be set at any angle.  Just use whatever tool suits your purpose best - regardless of which section of the catalogue it comes from.

The floor and ceiling are probably the most useful - they have textures for top, bottom, edges and openings and can be cut and shaped endlessly.
For example, the chairs in the image below were made out of two pieces of the floor - one for the back and seat and the other for the arms. I have posted this elsewhere but it was in a very long thread (7 pages) so you may not have seen it. The second image are just random shapes created out of the floor and ceiling. It just gives an idea of what you can do with other things. I am putting together a tutorial on making things from other things so hope to post it shortly.

Allan

[Doug.S]

Another method for better realism but also bigger file and longer render times is to search www via Google or other for 3D model of a waterfall

This is an often requested 3D scene especially for products like Bryce or Vue for landscapes....so there are a few vertex models available free  (also for tablecloths hanging over a table or cloth laying on a table with rolling surface like for a jewelry display)...not many around but a few, so search a lot in free 3D model places.

Then the harder part is to find a texture map that looks like white water froth in clear water flow....or like waves crashing on a sandy beach.....but many people have been able to do it.

You can also search for a tutorial to make a scene of waterfall etc.  You may have to adapt it somewhat for TFP tho.

Of course if you have a separate 3D program (like play in the "sandbox" of SketchUp); you can create a waterfall shape and apply frothing water to it and at a distance it will look acceptable.