RAGE skybox?
Author
The RAGE skybox is the most beautiful skybox I've ever seen. Does anyone have an idea how did they achieve it?
Author
No I mean how did they photograph & post-produce it. I can wait for a nice clear day and take series of photographs and choose one that looks nice. But in any game it'll look distorted, unproportional and no way as detailed or just beautiful as in RAGE. And no matter how hard I try I still get something rather grotesque. Or like in Quake 3. No actually like this: http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/2602/toonsky.jpg
Just look at this:
http://www.zgeek.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38569&d=1281673590
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3oLB6Otdlcs/TULp-WoK1tI/AAAAAAAAJkk/dp1HLWfXCPE/s1600/rage-game-screen-2560x1600.jpg
http://images.gamersyde.com/image_rage-16596-1716_0002.jpg
It's so detailed and fitting... and atmospheric. Now look at some other proposedly 'professional' and 'quality' skyboxes:
http://www.ascendantjustice.com/files/cocop/The%20Ark/The%20Ark%20Large/WaterfallArk-large.jpg
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/9638/kanske.png
http://www.ascendantjustice.com/files/cocop/The%20Ark/The%20Ark%20Large/IsThat-large.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o247/Buttonbasher/TheStorm.jpg
Disgusting, unfitting, unatmospheric, unprofessional, unrealistic. Doesn't come close.
Just look at this:
http://www.zgeek.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38569&d=1281673590
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3oLB6Otdlcs/TULp-WoK1tI/AAAAAAAAJkk/dp1HLWfXCPE/s1600/rage-game-screen-2560x1600.jpg
http://images.gamersyde.com/image_rage-16596-1716_0002.jpg
It's so detailed and fitting... and atmospheric. Now look at some other proposedly 'professional' and 'quality' skyboxes:
http://www.ascendantjustice.com/files/cocop/The%20Ark/The%20Ark%20Large/WaterfallArk-large.jpg
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/9638/kanske.png
http://www.ascendantjustice.com/files/cocop/The%20Ark/The%20Ark%20Large/IsThat-large.jpg
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o247/Buttonbasher/TheStorm.jpg
Disgusting, unfitting, unatmospheric, unprofessional, unrealistic. Doesn't come close.
Personally i felt like Halo 3 had some of the most beautiful skyboxes i've ever seen.
calling the skyboxes in it "Disgusting, unfitting, unatmospheric, unprofessional, unrealistic" is completely unfounded.
Anyway, to answer your question, i honestly wouldn't be able to say, there's so many different ways that they could do it, most of them however i would think would require alot of artistic talent.
Now in saying that i think your best bet if you want some nice easy skyboxes is to look into something like Terragen (http://www.planetside.co.uk/).
calling the skyboxes in it "Disgusting, unfitting, unatmospheric, unprofessional, unrealistic" is completely unfounded.
Anyway, to answer your question, i honestly wouldn't be able to say, there's so many different ways that they could do it, most of them however i would think would require alot of artistic talent.
Now in saying that i think your best bet if you want some nice easy skyboxes is to look into something like Terragen (http://www.planetside.co.uk/).
Something that doesn't require artistic talent please.
You do realize those sky rendering techniques you are praising so much still require a lot of artistic talent to pull off? Just because you've got some nice ways of using ultra-sized textures and complementing them with god rays doesn't mean your sky will look as good as theirs... or that you really know enough to start thrashing other people's methods...
Clearly you didn't even read my post [color="#1c2837"]something like Terragen can be used to easily make realistic skyboxes [color=#1C2837][size=2]http://www.planetside.co.uk/ and as far as I know requires no artistic talent...
other then that if you have no artistic talent what you'll want to look for is something that can render atmospheres/clouds etc,
[color=#1C2837][size=2]I'm not sure what capabilities the major 3D modelling/rendering applications have in this regard but you can probably look into them
- 3ds Max (http://usa.autodesk.com/3ds-max/) (not free)
- Maya (http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/) (not free)
- Blender (http://www.blender.org/) (free)
(I'm assuming all you want is information on getting a rendered atmosphere type image based on your second post)
other then that if you have no artistic talent what you'll want to look for is something that can render atmospheres/clouds etc,
[color=#1C2837][size=2]I'm not sure what capabilities the major 3D modelling/rendering applications have in this regard but you can probably look into them
- 3ds Max (http://usa.autodesk.com/3ds-max/) (not free)
- Maya (http://usa.autodesk.com/maya/) (not free)
- Blender (http://www.blender.org/) (free)
(I'm assuming all you want is information on getting a rendered atmosphere type image based on your second post)
In my opinion, there is no freaking way Rage's skybox texture was done procedurally. I'm pretty sure it was created from high-quality photographs, where the texture artist took the best parts of several photographs and educatedly edited, colorized and collaged them together into an aesthetic composition and with a structure that works for skyboxes\skydomes\skyplanes\whichever technique they used.
It's not high-quality just because of the resolution, but also because it must've been taken by a professional photographer who knew how to take dramatic shots. Notice how the sun is coming from behind the clouds, and this gives them that interesting shading. You can see this even in old games, such as in Tenchu 2's menu screen (just watch the first ten seconds, ignore the rest of the video). When I played this many years ago I was mesmerized by it.
You can find this kind of photos in stock photography websites: http://www.istockpho...atic-clouds.php
It's not high-quality just because of the resolution, but also because it must've been taken by a professional photographer who knew how to take dramatic shots. Notice how the sun is coming from behind the clouds, and this gives them that interesting shading. You can see this even in old games, such as in Tenchu 2's menu screen (just watch the first ten seconds, ignore the rest of the video). When I played this many years ago I was mesmerized by it.
You can find this kind of photos in stock photography websites: http://www.istockpho...atic-clouds.php
Something that doesn't require artistic talent please.You want to produce high-quality art-work without artistic talent? Hire someone who does have artistic talent.
No I mean how did they photograph & post-produce it. I can wait for a nice clear day and take series of photographs and choose one that looks nice. But in any game it'll look distorted, unproportional and no way as detailed or just beautiful as in RAGEThe 'professional' method probably involves:High quality camera, lenses and filters. Photograph a large chrome ball from at least 3 angles (with enough different exposures of each angle). Tonemap the exposures together into HDR. Unwrap the HDR angles into a single sphere map. Have a talented matte painter apply corrections to the result....and it's all of that effort that makes it professional looking.
The RAGE skybox is the most beautiful skybox I've ever seen. Does anyone have an idea how did they achieve it?
Take a series of photos using HDR, a good camera, and a panorama mount, after waiting a month or three for that perfect day with great clouds and lighting. Convert to a panorama. Tweak a bit more in photoshop. Employ some form of HDR/exposure simulation in your game engine. Tweak in photoshop some more. Project the panorama onto the skybox and hey presto, someone could be singing the praises of your skyboxes in the near future too.
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