http://www.artmatica.ch/index.htmlNews(null)info@artmatica.chCopyright 2008 Artmatica2008-11-15T17:21:05+01:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:58:21 +0100info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-11-15T17:21:05+01:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/f7cee5fad965f783623bea417bd78f3c-28.php#unique-entry-id-28http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/f7cee5fad965f783623bea417bd78f3c-28.php#unique-entry-id-28
You can find all the relevant informations here

Cheers,

Dick]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-11-13T20:51:51+01:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/3cfb82fd118e2efcd97af9b1acd740a0-27.php#unique-entry-id-27http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/3cfb82fd118e2efcd97af9b1acd740a0-27.php#unique-entry-id-27
Enjoy!

-Alien/SciFi Skies gallery-]]>info@artmatica.chVoyager Know How2008-10-26T17:27:19+01:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/4196e7327b15bf0ffd31176bcf79cd67-26.php#unique-entry-id-26http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/4196e7327b15bf0ffd31176bcf79cd67-26.php#unique-entry-id-26I think I have found a way to at least fake one.
When working on the 3D Pro set for Artmatic I discovered a way to create positional light (A light source that is near the viewever as opposed to the sun).
Now I have tried to make use of it for Voyager and was surprised that it actually works!
The picture below shows a terrain which is lit by the moon (taken from the upcoming Alien/Scifi Sky collection) and there is a second light source which illuminates the hole.
I think it has great potential...
]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatic Know How2008-10-22T22:04:34+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/e8039e6d75a81ae05b21c1a2dbabdb48-25.php#unique-entry-id-25http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/e8039e6d75a81ae05b21c1a2dbabdb48-25.php#unique-entry-id-25Craters component. The more prominent craters are built from primitives. This way much more control is possible, like shaping the craters, adding rubble, the way they overlap etc.
]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-10-17T20:46:09+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/9ebf2a787e090be486170f91c24a268d-24.php#unique-entry-id-24http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/9ebf2a787e090be486170f91c24a268d-24.php#unique-entry-id-24I also knew that this would challenge me and I equally knew that this would not be easy to achieve with Artmatic.
There were earlier attempts to create stones, meteors and asteroids but they all failed. But they all were experiments I did a while ago and since my experience with Artmatic had been growing in the meantime, I was tempted to find out if I could work it out this time.
...and after days of trial and error I finally found a convincing way to do it (see below).

]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-10-06T22:40:58+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c2cf5281a2fe7e6144e1547192b3df34-23.php#unique-entry-id-23http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c2cf5281a2fe7e6144e1547192b3df34-23.php#unique-entry-id-23


Someone was asking if it was possible to have cities with rounded shapes. Well, here is one that combines squared shapes and rounded shapes.
The sky is an example from the upcoming SciFi/Alien sky collection.

Click here to download the Stargate City bundle file.
Stargate City A.vy
]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-10-04T22:04:19+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/ab6834372ff605cb704710eaa91ddd2a-22.php#unique-entry-id-22http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/ab6834372ff605cb704710eaa91ddd2a-22.php#unique-entry-id-22
]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-10-02T17:14:10+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/45158d56b9dd55f561779182bac94c4a-21.php#unique-entry-id-21http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/45158d56b9dd55f561779182bac94c4a-21.php#unique-entry-id-21Here is another QTVR movie file. For the surface I used one of Eric`s very cool city files.

The sky is a 360 environment. The technique used here makes it possible to have objects that span the entire sky. The construct in this example seamlessly surrounds the city. It`s a candidate for the Alien/SciFi sky collection...

-Surreal Construct-]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-30T15:29:53+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/cacd8447b085a9744de1f873733e53c9-20.php#unique-entry-id-20http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/cacd8447b085a9744de1f873733e53c9-20.php#unique-entry-id-20
They all share the following features:

1. 3D shading. The shading of the textures aligns with the light direction automatically.
2. Correct mapping of the craters
3. The texture can be rotated 180 degrees. (The entire moon can be rotated 360 degrees).
4. Packed into a single CT so they can easily be added to Voyager skies.
5. Variable contours added (shift of brightness, color near the edges.

Check it out!
-AM Moons slideshow-

]]>info@artmatica.chVoyager Know How2008-09-27T14:41:53+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c2ef386fdc007d06e11e19f92131234d-19.php#unique-entry-id-19http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c2ef386fdc007d06e11e19f92131234d-19.php#unique-entry-id-19

Here is another tutorial with some more on how to use the extra output option.

In the first tutorial on extra outputs we have learned how to set up Artmatic and Voyager to get the extra outputs to work.
In this tutorial we will see how we can use an AM extra output to add reflection to halfspheres.

First download the files: Extra-Output-2
If not done automatically, un-zip the downloaded folder.

Launch Artmatic, then from the downloaded folder open the AM file "Halfspheres".

On the preview you can see that this AM system generates a surface with halfspheres.


The left part of the tree is the main tree. The right part is the subtree.


As explained in the previous tutorial, only the main tree is visible on the canvas. It generates the surface and color.

The effect of the subtree is just visible in Voyager. It`s purpose here is to add reflection to the halfspheres.

We will not go into details about the maintree. For this tutorial it`s sufficient to know that it generates the RGB surface with the halfspheres.


Let`s have a closer look at the subtree. It is connected to the Global Input A4.


This input provides a constant value. When you click on one of the Global Inputs,
the Input Matrix panel opens where you will find the constant value for A4. By default it is set to 0.



The tile in the middle of the subtree uses an RGB alpha component. This component in short let`s you apply a mask.

The Global Input A4, which is set to a value of 0, is connected to Input 1. We need this value of 0 to tell Voyager that no effect should be applied.


The second input of the RGB Alpha tile is fed by an x+A component, which in turn is connected to A4. We use this component to offset the constant value provided by A4. Voyager then will apply an effect (in our case a reflection) depending on the offset value from x+A.


The 3rd input of the RGB Alpha component is fed by the tree providing the halfspheres. It`s also called the Alpha input. This input controls the areas on which the offset value from x+A is applied.



The bottom component (Ax+B) of the subtree has only one purpose. It tells Voyager that there is 1 output (if we left the RGB Alpha component at the bottom of the tree we would have 3 outputs).

Let`s make the subtree visible. Click on the Ax+B tile to select it, then press "m" to temporarily make it the master output.


On the preview you now see what`s actually output by the tree.


The black color represents the value of 0 provided by A4.
The white color represents a high value provided by the a+X component.

The reason why we have dot shaped areas with white color is because we have connected the halfsphere branch to the Alpha input of the RGB Alpha component.

Note: Make certain you get a good understanding of how alpha components work since masking is used over and over when building trees for Voyager.

Get the Ax+B tile to the right again. To perform this you click on the 2->4 Max tile to select it, then press "m". (The procedure should now be familiar. We already used it in the previous tutorial)

Now that we have discussed the details of the subtree, let`s see how it effects what you see in Voyager. No need to save the file.

Launch Voyager and open the Voyager file Extra-Outputs-2.am3d.

The preview should show a ridged surface with halfspheres.


Now, in order for the sub output(s) to actually have an influence we need to open the Preferences panel. Press apple (command)/ "," or open it via menu.
At the bottom of the panel you can see some setting options for the Extra Outputs.


Extra Output 1 is currently set to "nothing". Click on it to open the menu of options. Select "Reflection level".


Close the panel.

The halfspheres should now reflect the sky. Nice isn`t it!


Note: The current Voyager version (1.6) can only reflect the sky properly. The ability to reflect the surface will probably be added in a later version.

That`s all for now.



]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-23T17:42:36+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/e0e67e963bbf098295a0a7cdcd760cd1-18.php#unique-entry-id-18http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/e0e67e963bbf098295a0a7cdcd760cd1-18.php#unique-entry-id-18Here is a QTVR movie (Panoramic view of a picture) named Snowy Mountain. The clouds sky is a newly developed seamless 360 Environment. What`s cool about this approach is that you can not only add Voyager clouds to it, but also that this enables you to add any other elements to the sky, like planets, moons, suns, sunbeams etc.

Another interesting aspect is the RGB Surface file. The snow, instead of taken from Voyager, is provided by the AM file.
The fact that the snow is generated by the AM file rather than directy by Voyager gives you more flexibilty.

1. You can make the snow appear where you like. It does not have to be altitude/slope dependent.
2. You probably noticed that Voyager snow, when used on edgy surfaces, is not smoothening out those areas. This tends to look unnatural.
When creating the snow with AM, all you have to do is make those areas, where the is supposed to be snow, look smooth (which is quite a challenge though).

As for the RGB Surface I made use of the newly added extra output option "Normal", which adds a bump map to the rock texture. The really tricky thing was to get the snow to appear only on shallow slopes AND to have no bump map applied to it, while having the rock texture on steep slopes with bump mapping.
As those techniques/features have great potential you will probably hear and see a lot about them.

See the QTVR movie - Snowy Mountains-]]>info@artmatica.chTests2008-09-22T21:25:43+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/46e9b3e4b3df9e3531367e32f794b877-17.php#unique-entry-id-17http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/46e9b3e4b3df9e3531367e32f794b877-17.php#unique-entry-id-17
Normal-Test-D
Normal-Test-K
Normal-Test-K3
Normal-Test-K5

Download Normal Test K5 (Voyager bundle file)


Leaving a comment won`t hurt...]]>info@artmatica.chVoyager Know How2008-09-21T15:44:01+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/ee8fb06eac79dbc9f5ba9d2054428848-16.php#unique-entry-id-16http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/ee8fb06eac79dbc9f5ba9d2054428848-16.php#unique-entry-id-16Set the sun very low and increase the haze level.


:-)]]>info@artmatica.chVoyager Know How2008-09-20T20:53:10+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/2fa0718b8aed9f2a452ee4b08dfec1ca-15.php#unique-entry-id-15http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/2fa0718b8aed9f2a452ee4b08dfec1ca-15.php#unique-entry-id-15wetness, ambience, reflectivity and normal (which lets you add bumps).
Let`s see how it works.


First download the files:
AM-Extra-Output


If it`s not done automatically, un-zip.

Launch AM and open the file "AM Extra Output" from the downloaded folder.



The tree is very simple. It has just 2 tiles as separate branches. The tile you see in the left branch uses a component that creates the texture and the surface. That`s why it has 4 outputs. It`s a 2->4 Ridged Noise component.
The right branch has a 1->1 tile with a Ax+B component. It is connected to the Global Input A2, which receives altitude information from Voyager.

We can say that the left branch provides output 1 to 4, while the 2nd branch provides the 5th output (or first extra or sub output).

This output will be fed back to Voyager to control what has been described further above.

Before we switch to Voyager, let`s have a closer look at what is actually output by the right branch.
In systems with several output tiles, it`s always the left tile which provides the main outputs. The sub outputs have no influence on what you see in the preview. To make it visible we need to move it to the left.

Click on the Ax+B tile, then press "m" on the keyboard.


This will place it left and makes it the master output.



The preview should show a gradient from white to grey in the upper part of the preview, while the lower part stays black.


On the picture below you see a horizontal line. It`s placed exactly in the middle and represents Voyager`s altitude 0.


Now the gradient here is a representation of the influence that the sub output will have in Voyager. With increasing brightness the influence increases.

What the sub-output does in VY (Voyager) is determined by Voyager itself. In the Preferences menu of VY you can make the corresponding settings. We will get there in a moment.

First we have to put back the sub output tile to its proper place again, which is on the rightside of the 2->4 Ridged Noise tile. To get this done click on the 2->4 tile,


then press "m" to move the 2->4 Ridged Noise tile to the left and make it the main output again.



You dont have to save the file because we have not actually changed it.


Now launch Voyager and open the Voyager file "Extra Output.am3d". It has already been set up to use the AM file we just discussed.

The preview should look like that:


You can see the surface and color that the main branch outputs ( In our case the 2->4 Ridged Noise component) provide. The 5th output has currently no influence.

Now, in order for the sub output(s) to actually have an influence we need to open the preferences panel. Press apple (command)/ "," or open it via menu.
At the bottom of the panel you can see some setting options for the Extra Outputs.


The AM file that we are using has 1 extra output. This is interpreted by Voyager as Extra Output 1.
As you can see, the Extra Output 1 is mapped to "nothing".

When you click on "nothing", a dropdown menu appears and you can select what the extra output controls.
Select "Wetness level".



Press enter to close the preferences panel.

On the preview you should now see the effect of the extra output 1 controlling wetness.


The wetness increases with increasing altitude, exactly as predicted in AM.


That`s all for now. I hope it was fun.]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-20T15:59:08+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/aac45fea2771bd9f77a3470fc0e69cf1-14.php#unique-entry-id-14http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/aac45fea2771bd9f77a3470fc0e69cf1-14.php#unique-entry-id-14
So all the future freebies, tutorials, lessons and Preset Collections will require at least Artmatic 4.6/Voyager 1.6.

More content will be added soon... :-)]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-20T15:48:52+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/e929e03d6ecf008386f092fbf0e69280-10.php#unique-entry-id-10http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/e929e03d6ecf008386f092fbf0e69280-10.php#unique-entry-id-10Also there might be some changes to the site setup.
I forgot to say, the "News" page has been renamed into "Blog" since, in the future ,you will find more than news on this page (In fact it`s a growing number of pages). Things like new tutorials and tips will be added to the blog also.

Currently it might be a good idea to click on home first and then start from there]]>info@artmatica.chVoyager Know How2008-09-20T15:38:29+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/f8f3c18d9a95f1cffa69c28aaa39b491-9.php#unique-entry-id-9http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/f8f3c18d9a95f1cffa69c28aaa39b491-9.php#unique-entry-id-9info@artmatica.chYouTube2008-09-18T16:18:13+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c6de6f11946dd4fbc0296aabcdcdc18a-8.php#unique-entry-id-8http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c6de6f11946dd4fbc0296aabcdcdc18a-8.php#unique-entry-id-8Enjoy!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-17T18:50:04+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/60b7924afc82a3690c657d77567d911a-7.php#unique-entry-id-7http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/60b7924afc82a3690c657d77567d911a-7.php#unique-entry-id-7
The new price is USD19.90 instead of 29.90!

See the previews.

]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-17T18:47:33+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c5d3f004195ac3bf03f4823c14ef8715-6.php#unique-entry-id-6http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/c5d3f004195ac3bf03f4823c14ef8715-6.php#unique-entry-id-6Check it out! ]]>info@artmatica.chYouTube2008-09-17T12:15:16+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/733b7fa2a37794c4abde01c024a0a4b7-5.php#unique-entry-id-5http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/733b7fa2a37794c4abde01c024a0a4b7-5.php#unique-entry-id-5
You Tube says:

"All you need to do is continue uploading the highest quality video you have available. The quality of the uploaded video combined with individual viewers' bandwidth will determine if the video is displayed at "Higher Quality."

Not satisfied with that answer? Still need specific information? YouTube accepts a wide range of video file formats such as .WMV, .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG. Here are a few things that may work well for you:

MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format
MP3 audio
Video resolution: 480x360 or higher
Frame Rate: 24fps or higher"

Susan made a post with some information when using Sorensen squeeze:

deal Settings For YouTube's New High Quality Option

By JP Shook, Director of Internet Development, Digital Juice Inc.



Now that YouTube have started offering higher quality videos, the old settings for encoding your videos should be tossed out the window. This tip will walk you through the steps required to compress your video for YouTube so it will look great. First, make sure your video is exported to the highest quality possible. Next, open Squeeze and expand the MPEG-4 presets. Click the "HQ" preset and copy the preset by finding copy under the audience tab or clicking the copy icon. This will create a duplicate preset that you can title "YouTubeHQ". Set your video data rate to 4000kbps, encoding method to 2-pass VBR and resolution to 640x480 (4:3) or 640x360 (16:9). During testing I found that by increasing the data rate up to 4000kbps produced a higher end data rate with YouTube's high quality encoded version. Next, set your audio data rate to 256kbps. You can now save the preset, apply it to your video, and click "Squeeze It". Using the higher resolution and data rates will ensure that your videos look great at the current high quality options and be ready for any future increases in quality or resolution offered by YouTube.
_____


Today I experimented myself using QT Pro with the following export settings:

MP4 / h.264 / 640/480 / 4000kps (according to Susan`s post) / 24 frames / multipass-encoding

And here are 3 HQ test uploads

Jane`s reaction (HQ Test)
Cold Play (HQ Test)
3D Ornament (HQ Test)

There is still this comment link underneath to give some feedback...

]]>info@artmatica.chYouTube2008-09-16T13:11:28+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/d18bc870077ce7fa69438f60859679a0-4.php#unique-entry-id-4http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/d18bc870077ce7fa69438f60859679a0-4.php#unique-entry-id-4Most of the artifacts are gone. Text is displaying nicely and the playback is in stereo!
Some artists, as a reaction to my yesterday`s news seemed to have removed their videos from YouTube. Please upload them again in higher quality and let me know.
Also I have removed some videos that despite the higher quality weren`t displaying nicely.

You can find a lot of information on YouTube on how to obtain a high qualityYouTube video. Just do a video tutorial search.

I suggest that you revisit the video page and have a look at the increased quality.

]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-15T21:39:06+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/efed484fb4565f685f2b5b977479b92c-3.php#unique-entry-id-3http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/efed484fb4565f685f2b5b977479b92c-3.php#unique-entry-id-3YouTube movies made by various Artmatic artists.
Simply click on the name and the video should show up.
When doing the page I realised that with very few exceptions the quality of the movies is far from excellent (I am not talking of the artistic quality of course).
You have certainly heard that movies can be uploaded to YouTube in a higher quality now. So in case that you make a new upload please let me know so I can readjust the link.
The choice of the movies on the page has been rather random and I might remove some after a certain time and replace them with other movies, The purpose is to have a selection of high quality movies.
If there is a movie that you would like to have on this page please send me a message with the YouTube link. But I would appreciate if they were in high quality since this has become possible now with the new YouTube options.
I have checked the new page but there might still be some errors somewhere. If so please let me know.

Underneath of each news entry there`s a comment link. Click on it and a small window opens where you can add a comment.
I would like to invite you all to make use of it.]]>info@artmatica.chArtmatica News2008-09-14T18:18:48+02:00http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/aaadb973b4bd89ed2d0d270f1384f40b-1.php#unique-entry-id-1http://www.artmatica.ch/blog/files/aaadb973b4bd89ed2d0d270f1384f40b-1.php#unique-entry-id-1 I am happy to announce that the Artmatica website has been completely redesigned
I wanted to keep the design as simple as possible. As you will see it`s a lot easier to navigate through the pages,
For now there is no new image/movie/freebies /tips content added but this might change rapidly. (There`s a lot underway!)

I hope you will explore the newly designed pages anyway.

The mayor changes are:

1. Slick dropdown menus on most pages so you can quickly go to anywhere on the site
2. I have added this newsblog to keep you up-to-date with the latest. You can also your own comments.
3. Maintaining the site will be much easier now, which means that there will be more updates.
4. The new architecture will make it possible to embed YouTube and other external content to the site in an elegant way.
5. For the galleries I am using "shadowbox", which looks really pretty.

Cheers,

Dick


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