Prambanan (Wonder Graphics)

[Kyriakos]

You could get away with creating a very simple statue, even one consisting of only two basic objects (eg a cube and a cylinder) and then use a texture which would make it look like a statue in civ scale. This way even with 1000 of them you would still just have 2000 objects.

 

[Ogedei_the_Mad]

The way I made the statues for the Nalanda University and the Nguyen Citadel graphics was to simply use the terrain lattice tool - made a grayscale image with gradations in the shape of a figure and apply them tot he terrain lattice editor. It's easy, but one downside is that terrain lattices consist of thousands of polygons so render times take a bit longer. However, the Gopuram in the pic has a fairly basic shape in its main structure unlike Nalanda or Prambanan (the gopuram is in essence, a stepped-pyramid) and its intricate structures are consistently repeated at each level so if I simply make a basic component and used the terrain lattice technique, copy and paste figures with maybe three or four variations like a standing Vishnu or a dancing Shiva, it won't be that difficult (in comparison to Prambanan, of course! ).

EDIT: The tower thing's called a "gopuram." Didn't know that.

 

[Blue Monkey]

so if I simply make a basic component and used the terrain lattice technique, copy and paste figures with maybe three or four variations like a standing Vishnu or a dancing Shiva, it won't be that difficult

I think I understand that you apply a 2d image to a surface of the basic component, is that right? If I'm understanding you properly, with all the images I have either already on hand or bookmarked if you let me know the technical parameters you want (file format, dimensions in pixels, bit-depth) and how many figures, I'm sure I can find something suitable. who knows, maybe even something from Khajuraho.

 

[Ogedei_the_Mad]

Another trick is the Alpha Plane trick. What this does is applies a 2d texture to a plane, but the plane takes a shape of the object due to a transparency trick. Basically, up close, it looks like a cardboard cut-out, but at a bit of a distance and with the right camera angle, it looks like a 3d figure. The better the picture, the better the illusion.

 

[Kyriakos]

How do you do this? (alpha plane)

 

[Ogedei_the_Mad]

Have you used the "Edit 2D pictures" option in Bryce? You can make a custom texture or apply a picture onto a figure or 2d plane. That's how I get the East Asian roof tiles on my buildings. Here's how to use alpha planes:

1. Get a picture file. It can be bmp or jpg format; doesn't really matter.

2. If you want the object to take a specific shape (like a tree or humanoid, for example), then you need to create a transparency map. The figure should be completely white and the background (what should be transparent) should be all black.

3. Open up Bryce. Click on the icon of the naked guy with four arms and four legs (it should be called "Create Picture Object"). It should take you immediately to the "Edit 2d Pictures Option."

4. The interface should show three large square slots on the upper part and tiles of image slots on the bottom. Click on an empty slot in the image slots below to create a new image. The slot on the left is for the regular picture. The slot in the middle is the transparency map. Once you load up your picture in the left slot, load up the transparency map for the middle slot. Then create the image and you should have your cardboard cut-out.

You can do this for any 3d figure, but 2d planes are better to work with since the texture will simply repeat like tiles on a 3d figure.