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Author Topic: Level of detail for terrain  (Read 6567 times)

Member1505

    Reputation: 13
Level of detail for terrain
« on: September 15, 2011, 05:58:18 pm »
September 15, 2011, 05:58:18 pm
Im sure this was discussed but i cant find it.

Just wondering if there is any way to adjust the LOD yet to keep the terrain from disappearing so quickly.

In alpine dwelling, standing on the porch and looking towards the sun, you see a perfect straight line on the horizon instead of the terrain in the distance because it is not visible.

i was experimenting with materials and lighting and was not able to render an image with the land in the distance showing up so i figured i would ask.

thanks,

bob
Robert A. Christman

Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2011, 10:52:13 am »
September 16, 2011, 10:52:13 am
Hi Bob, this is currently not possible in the Build section.

However, in Movie mode you can easily adjust the scene visibility:
Scene Effects -> Camera Clip Planes -> Far plane -> Distance in meters
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Member1505

    Reputation: 13
Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2011, 03:36:09 pm »
September 20, 2011, 03:36:09 pm
So it sounds like the only way to get a complete STILL image is to use the movie mode, adjust the far plane as described, and produce a frame as IMAGE.

I will experiment. Thanks.

bob
Robert A. Christman

Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2011, 03:49:00 pm »
September 20, 2011, 03:49:00 pm
Photo mode will "inherit" the settings/effects of whatever mode you were in before you clicked on the Photo button.

Bearing this in mind, you'll have to create the look you want in the Movie section (including effects such as the Camera Clip Planes effect above) and then go to Photo mode to render an individual still image with all the effects intact.
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Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2011, 12:38:53 am »
September 21, 2011, 12:38:53 am
I'm a little confused on this then.  My understanding is that when a Photo is rendered, the terrain is rendered at full terrain, no LOD applied.  Otherwise doing any rendering for Photo mode would be a little pointless where terrains are involved.

If you use the Alpine sample, see my pics attached, in Build Mode and Photo Mode the terrain is in LOD so distant hills looking to the sun are not seen. When that view is rendered in Photo Mode though, any of the render types at any of the Build Mode Display star settings should render fully the full terrain, so I am wondering how come this is not happening for Robert.

Although it is useful and you can do a lot more image style tweaking by using the Movie Mode settings and switching to Photo for a single image render, you can?/should be able to get the correct results for terrain by just using Photo Mode, that just uses the main Build settings for things like Fog and the Advanced Weather settings.
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Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2011, 11:00:20 am »
September 21, 2011, 11:00:20 am
When that view is rendered in Photo Mode though, any of the render types at any of the Build Mode Display star settings should render fully the full terrain, so I am wondering how come this is not happening for Robert.

Hmm, I got the impression he was asking whether it was possible to see the full terrain in Build mode. This is currently not possible.

The native Lumion terrain is 2048x2048m and the default camera clipping plane is 5000 meters away, so in Photo and Movie mode you only need to change the Camera Clip Planes effect if you are further away from the terrain or if you have imported a large terrain object. Note that the full terrain only shows up on the final renderings (still images/MP4s).
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Member1505

    Reputation: 13
Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2011, 01:31:31 pm »
September 21, 2011, 01:31:31 pm
ok, i see now. peterm is correct. i am able to render out a PHOTO still image with all of the terrain appearing. As i set it up, the terrain is still not visible. But, when it renders, the distant terrain suddenly appears as the render is being made. When the rendering process is complete, that terrain is no longer visible again in the PHOTO preview box.

Very odd. i dont think this worked for me before but i am glad it is now. Maybe its because i have previously changed the clipping plane setting or maybe because of something working differently in the new version of Lumion.

not sure, but just glad it works.

thanks,
bob
Robert A. Christman

Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2011, 02:09:44 pm »
September 21, 2011, 02:09:44 pm
What you're looking at in Build/Theatre mode and Photo/Movie previews is a real-time rendering of the terrain. The terrain is culled in the distance to reduce the impact it has on performance.

There is currently no way to make the entire terrain visible in real-time, ie in Build/Theatre mode and Photo/Movie preview modes.

However, on still images and in MP4 videos, the terrain is always fully visible.
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Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2011, 02:27:08 pm »
September 21, 2011, 02:27:08 pm
Ferry just made a quick comparison test, so you can see why we have to cull the terrain :)

Terrain culling off: 40 frames per second
Terrain culling on: 91 frames per second

(This comparison is not totally accurate since bump mapping is turned on when culling is off, but you get the general idea: Rendering the full terrain in real-time will have a negative impact on performance)
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Member1505

    Reputation: 13
Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2011, 02:52:50 pm »
September 21, 2011, 02:52:50 pm
Thanks. It's hard not to want the world when working in such a wonderful and different  3d environment... but i completely understand and certainly appreciate you taking the time to help us understand.

Do you think it may be possible to toggle these types of settings in the future? I can imagine some times where it would be acceptable to take a performance hit in order to show case some large areas in build mode without clipping.

Thanks again to you and the entire staff for a great product and awesome support.

bob

Robert A. Christman

Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2011, 03:03:20 pm »
September 21, 2011, 03:03:20 pm
I realise that it could be useful when you're doing a real-time presentation in Build/Theatre mode, combined with F9, ie rendering all trees in the scene, provided that you have a PC that can handle that level of detail.
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Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2011, 01:26:52 am »
September 22, 2011, 01:26:52 am
Yes, but not only for r-t presentation.  This is an example where the software gives the user control over things (F9 is good), the software provides the tools with options but lets the user make the decision.

So it would be suitable to have, say for Advanced Mode settings some switches (radio buttons whatever), one for trees and one for terrain culling and a few other things, and let the user determine when and if they need to display.  Non-Advanced Mode can have the settings set to some defaults.  

If they have the power in the PC then all well and good.  If they make the decision to display everything and the PC can't handle it, it's their decision.  If they then say the software is slow but the information and help has been provided about these things, then it's just the users problem, not the software.

It also means that, as an example, the user has everything turned on for one scene, but for another they have to turn off some things as it's a demanding scene, the software has performed it's role.  The options and choice is theirs to take.

(just my POV, rant and rave :) )
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Member4144

    Reputation: 0
Re: Level of detail for terrain
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2011, 06:26:47 am »
September 22, 2011, 06:26:47 am

Cool, I second that POV.........