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Image courtesy of Marcin Jastrzebski
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- Sketchup
- 3DS Max
- Maya
- Cinema 4D
- Lightwave
- Rhinoceros 3D
- Solidworks
- ArchiCAD
- form•Z 7
This extension consists of two different components:
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To quickly get you started, have a look at the Grass Examples page in the Knowledgebase section where you will find different examples of grass types and their settings, and also a couple of helpful textured grass materials ready to download and apply. |
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As this primitive is made of straight segments of a cone, the number of Points per Blade define the number of straight cone segments in each blade. You may determine the number of segments you need depending on how it looks from your camera view. The more segments, the smoother the cylindrical blades will look, but you will also increase the demands of RAM usage that is needed to render your scene.
Cylinder primitive using 16 points per blade
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Several MaxwellGrass modifiers being applied on the same ground geometry (screenshot from Studio)
Two independent grass modifiers applied together to the same ground geometry (hidden here) to create a more natural look by generating a mix of two different grass species
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Specify the width (or radius, in the cylindrical grass) in millimeters of each blade at its tip.
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Angle parameters
These parameters control the vertical angle at which the blades will grow, based on the surface normal of the geometry the grass is applied to. A setting of 0 degrees means the blades will grow straight up from the surface. CHANGED IN MAXWELL 3.2
Different values for Initial Angle
Grow Towards World-Y NEW IN MAXWELL 3.2
This percentage allows you to define if the main growing direction of the blades will grow :
- Grow completely vertical towards the world-Y axis (when set to 100%) like the natural phototropism in plants, no matter the ground surface orientation
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- Grow perpendicular to the "ground" surface (when set to 0%)
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- Grow at any value in between
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The rest of the angle parameters will be applied after this main growing parameter; so the Initial Angle will mean a deviation from this main growing direction, as well as the Initial Angle Variation.
Grow Towards World-Y = 0% Grow
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Towards World-Y = 100% Grow Towards World-Y = 50%
Example of grass with setting Grow Towards World-Y = 50%. Notice how the blades of grass in the slopes lean up.
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The initial angle at which the blades will grow. It represents a deviation from the main growing direction (perpendicular to the ground surface, towards World-Y or anything in between). Default is 10 degrees. Values range from 0 to 90 degrees. CHANGED IN MAXWELL 3.2
Initial Angle Variation
Randomize the growth angle by a percentage of the initial angle variation. For example if the initial angle is set to 70 degrees and variation is 10%, the angle will be randomized between 63 and 77 degrees.
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For a tutorial on creating an angle map in Photoshop, see the Grass Tutorials page in the Tutorials section. Two Photoshop actions are also available on that page to automatically create an angle map from a black & white drawing. |
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The Cut Off feature allows you to cut the grass as if it were mowed, producing and abrupt cut.
Different values for Cut Off
Cut Off
The length of the blade (in percentage) at which the blade will be cut. The blade grows as usual until this point, after which it will be cut. A value of 100% will let the blade to grow up to its nominal length (no cut at all), while a value of 0% will cut the blade at its very birth (at zero length).
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Adjusting the grass display settings to display just 10% of the generated fibers in the viewport (screenshot from Studio)
Tutorial by MaxwellZone
This tutorial shows you how to create presets for the grass extension. These presets will show up in the 'Preset' dropdown in the Grass extension, allowing you to quickly recreate a certain look."