Rock Models with Medusa Pro

hptware

This is a post that will start by admitting "this not a great scene". It is to illustrate our 3D rock creator, Medusa Pro, which can export to fbx, dae and X formats (including specific support for torque3D, Unity, and UDK), but they'll also open in Blender, Max etc.

Anyway, Medusa generates randomized rocks based on real geological rules (bedding, folds, and joints), that can then be deformed and exported with collision meshes. The rocks produced by Medusa are currently being used in developing a 3D training tool for geologists, and we've been working with a geologist to make them as realistic as possible. They can also be generated at the click of a button which is rather convenient. Anyway a couple of examples are shown below:


Our geologist team mate tells us these are fluvial hematitic conglomerates and sandstones...whatever that means.


And this is a gulley on Mars on a dusty day featuring sandstone crags and columns.

We are never that satisfied by our scenes....but it is the rocks that are important.

Anyway, we know this forum has many experienced artists, but you might find Medusa Pro useful in quickly generating a base for further development. There's also a free version of Medusa that can export an unlimited number of models randomly generated from two different rock templates.

You can find out more about Medusa, and download it from our website. The registered version is $30.
http://www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

Comments and suggestions are welcomed...especially ones that start like "it would be great if it could do..."

Makkon

These certainly, if anything, could be helpful in producing sets of base meshes, something to start with for sculpting later. Otherwise it looks like it's your textures that are the problem, not so much the mesh.

Twotents

If you are using bump maps reduce the strength or rather move over to tangent space normals. The textures look pretty noisy to me you may also want to play with your lighting a little in your scenes.

Hope this helps!

hptware

Guys, thanks for the advice. You are absolutely right after decreasing the normal map intensity and fixing issues with y-axis sense now the textures look much, much better. Here they are below (although the scene still won't win prizes...consider it an alternative to the traditional materials sphere):



Anyway, we've updated our installer with the new textures, and addressed a few comments from users in a bit of a code rewrite. It is available for download on our website.

http://www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

hptware

Actually the materials look very different in each application. In Unity normalmaps are more intense than in UDK, and torque3D is somewhere in the middle. Although in UDK the normal map intensity can be changed quite easily in the material editor. The image below shows some randomly generated models based on column and arch templates in UDK. They were created and exported within a few minutes.

hptware

We've just released version 1.01 of Medusa Pro which features a whole host of additional UV mapping options requested by users. This allows the location of seams and automatic texture generation to be optimized as well as a new uv editor for manual optimization of mapping.

An example in Torque3D of a detailed rock model that can be generated by Medusa Pro is shown below. The trees in this scene were created with our tree and plant creator Forester Pro.



If you've already installed Medusa Pro there is an updater at:

http://www.hptware.co.uk/downloads/medusa_updater101.zip

Otherwise you can find Medusa on our website at:

http://www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

silkroadgame

Nice rock model!

hptware

Volcanic Rock Pack 1 Released

We've released our first template pack for Medusa Pro, Volcanic Rock Pack 1, adding five new rock types including materials and new shapes. Volcanic Rock Pack features lavas (cooled lavas...the resulting rocks rather than the runny hot stuff). These models are ideal for volcanic islands, steaming desolate volcanic plains, or even the surface of other worlds as shown below:


Showing the crater of a basaltic shield volcano on Io, a moon of Jupiter.


Showing a glassy fresh pahoehoe flow.

Volcanic Rock Pack 1 features the following templates. Each one can produce a huge variety of models:





The Volcanic Rock Pack is $10 and together with Medusa Pro can be downloaded from our website:

www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

AlexCatMasterSupreme

Makkon wrote: »

These certainly, if anything, could be helpful in producing sets of base meshes, something to start with for sculpting later. Otherwise it looks like it's your textures that are the problem, not so much the mesh.

My thoughts.
Sounds useful for making basemeshs. I can see people using this for that specifically.

hptware

Yes, Alex...we agree. For the most part indie game developers on a budget are using Medusa Pro to generate their production models...quick and dirty, but look better than they could reasonably produce themselves. Professional artists and larger development teams are using it for a useful starting mesh, which they tweak.

hptware

Medusa Pro Version 1.02 Released

We've just released version 1.02 of Medusa Pro which has been inspired by user comments. There are lots of extra features requested by customers, such as user defined mouse sensitivity, but the big one is an extra level of randomness for models. Each Medusa Pro model is generated randomly from an underlying shape, a primitive such as a cube or sphere, or an arch, or even a user defined shape. We've now added shape noise so you can control how closely the model conforms to the over-all shape. Small values of shape noise result in distortions to the shape, large values result in interesting protrusions and some quite "wacky shapes".

To illustrate what we mean see the Alien world scene below which features some models created with various amounts of shape noise. We created all the rocks in the scene in Medusa and exported them within 5 minutes. The scene took us about 20 minutes to complete. If you've ever created rock models by hand you'll know that each one can take many hours to make, and UV texturing can be a nightmare. Medusa will let you build scenes quickly an efficiently and allows you to create completely unique models, saving you days or weeks of development.



There is a free version of Medusa that lets you create boulders and crags of one rock type. The registered version is only $30. You can download Medusa Pro from our website.

www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

If you have already installed Medusa you can update to the latest version using:

www.hptware.co.uk/downloads/medusa_updater102.zip

Please note...updates to Medusa are free and can be applied to the free version of Medusa, however, some of the features can only be exported with the registered version.

Our first DLC, Volcanic Rock Pack 1 is also available from our website. It features five new rock types for the registered version of Medusa Pro that can generate a huge range of rock models.


p.s. If you like the skybox, it was created with Space Engine.

hptware

Mountains Rock Pack 1 for Medusa Pro is Released

We've just released our second rock template pack, Mountain Rock Pack 1, which can add five new templates to Medusa Pro of rocks typical of high mountain ranges. An example is shown below:



Each template in the pack can be used to generate a huge range of models. The templates are:




Mountain Rock Pack 1 is $10 and requires the registered version of Medusa. A free version of Medusa Pro is available from our website.

http://www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

hptware

Cliff Rock Pack 1

We've just released our third DLC for Medusa Pro Cliff Rock Pack 1 with new templates that can be used to generate five new types of rock. Each template can produce an enormous range of models and can be easily customized to produce even more variety. The templates in the new pack are shown below:



A scene created with one of these templates plus plant and tree models produced by our other product Forester Pro, is shown below:



Each of our template packs are $10 and require the registered version of Medusa Pro. You can download Medusa Pro from our website. There is also a free version of Medusa that allows generation of randomized models from several templates.

www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

hptware

Beach Rock Pack 1 Released

We've just released our fourth DLC for Medusa featuring five new templates of beach rocks. Each new template can produce a wide range of models since Medusa generates randomized versions at the click of a button. Each template can also be customized using the tools available in Medusa. Included in the new pack are a range of barnacle, limpet and seaweed encrusted rocks to create beach scenes.



An example scene created with some models generated from these templates is shown below:



Template packs for Medusa Pro are $10 and need the registered version of Medusa Pro.

www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

Other Products

Forester Pro, the tree and plant creator http:\www.hptware.co.ukforester.php

Mr Normal, the normal map creator http:\www.hptware.co.ukmrnormal.php

hptware

Desert Rock Pack 1

We've just released our fifth pack of rock templates, Desert Rock Pack 1. Each template can generate a huge number of different randomized rock models. The textures included with these rock packs were collected in the Moroccan Sahara. The templates are shown below:




A scene generated using the rock pack and plants created with our other product Forester Pro, is shown below:



Template packs for Medusa Pro cost $10 and require the registered version of Medusa. Templates and Medusa Pro can be downloaded from our website. A free version of Medusa Pro is also available.

www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

hptware

Medusa Pro version 1.03 Released

We've just released version 1.03 of Medusa Pro that adds a normal editor allowing the normals on models to be tweaked to preference. There are now editors allowing customisation and editing of individual vertex positions, normals and UV coordinates. As always updates are free. This release also applies to the free version of Medusa Pro.

Medusa Pro can be downloaded from our website. A free version of Medusa Pro is available that allows exporting of a limited number of rock types. The registered version of Medusa is $30.

www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php

An updater is available if you have already installed Medusa.

Higuy

Looking better and better! I definitely agree that it could be useful for starting base meshes - I'll have to show it to my team and see what they think, but I'll definitely give it a go first!

hptware

[FONT=&quot]We've just released our sixth template pack for Medusa Pro, Ice Pack 1, featuring objects for your games such as pinnacles and cliffs consisting of ice. The pack consists of five different templates that can each generate a wide range of randomised models. A scene of an icy moon, created using models generated by the templates are shown below:




The Ice Pack 1 template requires the registered version of Medusa Pro and is $10. A free version of Medusa Pro is also available from our website.

http://www.hptware.co.uk/medusa.php
[/FONT]