Creating Realistic Worlds
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STEP 12: Moving and resizing the Rocks
The last thing we need to do to complete the modelling is to position the rocks in the correct part of the scene, and make them the correct size. To do this, we are going to change our view to top view. We did this in step 5. Click the control for the view, which is under the preview pane, then drag the mouse to the right so that the view changes twice, stopping at top view. Once there, zoom in just once so you can work more easily by pressing the plus key on the keyboard. Your view should look similar to my image. (see fig.31)
Now we want to make the rocks bigger in overall size. The quickest way to do this is to move to the edit tools at the top by clicking the 'Edit' button, then clicking the middle of the resize tool, and dragging it to the right. (See fig.32) I would make the rocks about 300% larger than they are now.
NOTE: it may seem that when you resize your rocks terrain that parts of it disappear from view. This is because the bottom half of it is being pushed below ground level. Once you finish resizing your rocks, click on the small upwards facing arrow which is under the small (M) and (E) buttons that you use to edit the textures and terrain. This arrow button will lift the rocks back up for you and put them neatly on the ground. (see fig.33)
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 fig.31 |  fig.32 | |
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 fig.33 | ||
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Now your rocks terrain should be almost a quarter the size of your island terrain, which you can see in the top left of your screen. We now need to move the rocks so that they are in the correct part of the scene. We are going to put the rocks at the top left area of the island. To do this, simply click the rocks terrain and drag it up and to the left so that is overlaps the top left portion of the island terrain. We are going to add a second and third batch of rocks to the middle right side of the island and bottom middle side. This is simply a matter of duplicating the rocks we already have by selecting the rocks, going to the Edit Menu, and selecting 'duplicate'. A copy of the rocks will be placed directly above your other rocks, so all you have to do is click and drag them into place. So move them to the middle left of the island.
PRO TIP: if you find that the top left portion of the island terrain is out off the screen, simply move the rocks as close to the top left of the island as you can, and simply zoom out once, then back in again by pressing the minus then plus keys on the keyboard. This will centre your view on the rocks again.
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 fig.34 | ||
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 fig.35 | ||
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It should look something similar to my image. (See fig 34). As soon as you are happy with the positions of your rocks, go back to your normal view by clicking and dragging to the left until you get back to the director's chair view. The controls for this are below the preview pane. Once there, we are going to go back to our preset save position. Remember we were practicing switching views by clicking on the small blue buttons at the very top left of the screen. Click the first button in the group of 7 next to the preview pane. You scene should look something similar to mine. (See fig 35)
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STEP 13: Choosing a suitable sky and atmosphere
Before we render the island scene, we should pick a more suitable sky and sun colour. This can be a really fun part in Bryce, but can also be equally frustrating, because sometimes you cannot get your sky quite right. To choose a sky, enter the sky lab by first going to the 'sky & fog' toolset at the top of the screen, then clicking the small cloud/rainbow icon. This will take you to the sky and atmosphere lab. (see fig.36)
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 fig.36 | ||
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 fig.37 | ||
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Once inside the sky lab, you will be presented with a huge array of settings, but most of them we are not going to need for this tutorial. We want to choose one of Bryce's preset sky settings, just like we chose preset textures for the terrains and rocks. To select a preset sky, click the small arrow at the top right corner of the preview pane, in the top right corner of the screen. (See fig.37).
NOTE: your screen may not look exactly the same as mine, as it may have opened up into sub & moon settings, or cloud cover settings. You can see mine is in Atmosphere settings. This does not matter, because the controls we need, sky and sun, are always available on the right half of the screen.
After you have clicked the small arrow, a materials preset dialog will appear. The sky I have chosen to use is called “standard daylight”. (See fig.38) Select this preset, then exit back to the sky lab by clicking the small tick at the bottom right of the dialog.
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 fig.38 |  fig.39 | |
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Once back into the sky lab, we are going to alter the position of the sun slightly, as the default position is a little late in the afternoon for our scene. To change the position of the sun, you can move the sphere at the bottom right of the screen, or you can input values into the two areas called “Azimuth” and “Altitude”. Simply Click on the number value, which will turn the value into editable text, and change “Azimuth” to 20.7 and change “Altitude” to 40.1. (See fig.39)
Once you have made these changes, accept your changes by clicking the small tick icon at the bottom right of the screen. This will take you back to your working layout view.
STEP 14: Rendering and Final Touches.
Now would be a perfect time to save your work! Guess what? You have finished modelling your island scene, and it is now time to enjoy the fruits of your labour. It is time to render your image. To render your scene, simply click the larger round button under the camera controls just like you did earlier to do your test renders. Your scene should look something like mine. (See fig.40)
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 fig.40 | ||
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Congratulations! You have successfully created your very own realistic island scene. You have also just covered many features of Bryce and learned a few simple editing techniques that will help make any scene you make in the future, more realistic. I exported my image to photoshop and cropped it so I ended up with a more panoramic image. But this is how it turned out. (See fig.41)
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 fig.41 | ||
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With the techniques I have just shown you, you could go ahead and create a more detailed image, or other scenery. Bryce is an excellent tool for creating realistic worlds, and you are really only limited by your imagination. I hope you have enjoyed my first of many online tutorials. My company offers digital imagery services, such as this style of artwork, plus all graphic design, corporate ID and web design services. We are almost finished building our new web site, but please, come have a look around.
Just as an example of what you can do with the scene we just created. Try duplicating your islands, and adding some trees and more rocks. Just an example. See fig.42.
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 fig.42 | ||
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If your business is seeking a new web site, corporate ID, or any graphic design work, then please, do not hesitate to contact us. Working with businesses overseas is not only possible, but actually quite efficient.
Once you request our services, we have a small chat via e-mail, then our team sets off to design you some draft designs. We e-mail them back to you. Once you choose which design you want, we go ahead and go to final artwork, or HTML if it is a web site.
If you want to see more of my 3D artwork created in Bryce then don't hesitate to check out my company web site. http://www.pendulumdigital.com If you have any further questions, please either use the contact page on my web site, or email me at: scott@pendulumdigital.com
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