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"Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones."
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--
John Wooden
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Creating
Rainbows
Purpose: To create rainbows in Bryce images.
Programs Used: PhotoPaint 8 (you don't need an image editing program if
you download the files here), Bryce 2/3D. This tutorial was written in
reference to these programs; of course, countless other programs can be used.
Bryce 3 incorporated a new feature that allows you to put in rainbows. Just
like crescent moons, this was a great idea! However, the downfall is that while
they look great, they require precise atmospheric settings to achieve the
effect you desire. This is a problem, especially if you want to add a rainbow
as an afterthought (like I did in my Discovery
image).
Bryce Rainbow Made From a Torus |
The concept is simple - apply a 2D rainbow texture to an object in your scene.
A flattened sphere or torus generally works best - just plant it half way in
the ground and ignore the other half (that's what I did with the sample image
to the left). If you CAN'T ignore the other half (because, for example, you
want a rainbow to sprout out of a cloud) you have a few options: you could
apply the texture to a cone, you could model a simple 'arc' using a symmetrical
lattice, or you could apply a negative boolean object, such as a large box, to
the unwated parts of the rainbow. If you do the latter, don't forget to make
the rainbow 'positive' and then group the two. I haven't had too much success
in using non-primitives, such as symmetrical lattices and DXF objects; if you
decide to make a rainbow using one of these objects, be prepared for a lot of
tweaking!
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Using PhotoPaint, I created the 2D picture map used to create the rainbow.
There are a few other similar versions out there, all applying the same
concept. Feel free to modify this to apply emphasis to certain colors, or
remove them completely! Thanks to everyone who helped point me in this
direction and provide samples of their work! Namely, the KPT List and Susan
Kitchen's tutorials.
Downloads:
If your browser tries to open the file, 'RIGHT CLICK' to save the target file!
Have fun, and don't be afraid to experiment with the colors. Two quick notes:
as a 2D 'picture map' applied to an object, you can alter the frequency and
rotation and get some very interesting results! For generic rainbows, keep the
frequency at zero - the preset shader has some generic settings: zero
frequency, high diffusion and ambience, no specularity, and a slight amount of
transparency. As for object size and placement, experiment! However, because
the color portion of the picture map is small, your rainbow object will most
likely need to be a bit larger than you think...
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