Qubicle Competition Discussion Thread. Cycle 2, Week 1 - The Underground!

This thread is for the discussion of everything related to this [urlhttp://discourse.stonehearth.net/t/qubicle-competition-model-submission-cycle-2-week-1-the-underground/2380]weeks theme and models[/url]. Be it critique, suggestions, or just general chat about your favourite.

Also feel free to post other models you were thinking of submitting or other ideas you had around this weeks theme.

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Found this when I was googling for inspiration and just had to post it. Real life voxel caves. :smiley:

enter link description here

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that is all sorts of coolā€¦ where on earth (literally) is that from?

[urlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingalā€™s_Cave]Fingalā€™s Cave [/url] - Scotland apparently!

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I know that no post processing is allowed, but is it ok to render several images and place them next to each other to make a large, high resolution image? For some reason Qubicle donā€™t want to render any higher than the screen resolution (or rather the resolution of the work area) and that gets a bit limiting when you have a small screen and want to make a tall image.

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Are we able to put up two screen shots if we need to show the roof of our underground models (as in, a side view for the roof and top down for detail) ?

I donā€™t see why not! I suppose we need to clarify the whole post processing thing.

But yes, thatā€™s fine to do that @Agon

And @chickenfried you can post as many shots as you want, you canā€™t however make say 5 different models and submit them all as then itā€™s like well, what am I actually voting for ya know?

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i would even encourage multiple screenshots, as its gives the viewer a better feel for the model/sceneā€¦ gives us a chance to see all the nitty gritty details that went into your designsā€¦ :smiley:

And this is what it actually looks like:

So I decided to take a crack at this even with my disadvantages like not being able to run Qubicle. Nevertheless I made a model entirely out of cubes in blender and have submitted that, if it breaks a rule I didnā€™t know tell me and Iā€™ll try and fix it if possible but I checked the rule thread and other than not actually using qubicle I think itā€™s alright. Itā€™s a bit dull anyway with the plain walls but nyeh, I think itā€™s alright for a first shot.

Why canā€™t you run Qubicle, did you punch your computer again?!

Well, I wasnā€™t anticipating an entry being submitted that didnā€™t use Qubicle, and didnā€™t prepare for this eventuality, weā€™ll be entering DEFCON 1 shortly, may @SteveAdamo have mercy on us all.

In all seriousness though, Iā€™m not really sure how to proceed ā€¦ we did say no post-processing effects, of which I imagine blender would fall in ā€¦ but then you constructed the image in blender ā€¦ so ā€¦ yer ā€¦

The entry is fine for now, weā€™ll have a meeting of the elder council to decide :stuck_out_tongue:

Itā€™s an issue with OpenGL caused by me missing an unknown thing that I need to make the Mac/Windows 7 hybrid work. I know itā€™s possible I just havenā€™t figured out what magic I need to do to make it work yet.

I might be able to make it so there isnā€™t any lighting or anything but Iā€™m not sure and Iā€™d have to look through the settings so Iā€™m not sure.

EDIT:
I found a bunch of relevant options and removing lighting completely isnā€™t feasible. What I can do is remove most of the lighting, transparency, reflections, and glowing at the cost of making everything fuzzy. Itā€™s basically one of these two (Theyā€™re 6 different shots of the same thing to give a better idea)

danger will Robinsonā€¦ danger!

if the scene has no lighting effects and other options that are available via the platform, (be it blender, etc.) but not qubicle, i dont really see a problem with a submissionā€¦ thoughts?

Qubicle has lighting, thatā€™s how you have voxels that appear to be different colors on two sides which is absolutely essential to being able to see. What qubicle doesnā€™t have is lighting sources which unfortunately causes horrible visual artifacts if I try.

Also hereā€™s what happens when you turn off lighting, It becomes incredibly difficult to detect boundries.


How about this? It has uniformly distributed white lights to avoid the noise while still illuminating the scene, it does leave white spots on the walls though as can be seen. It also skips the cool stuff like fire, reflective metals, and translucent crystals.

Also for anyone interested I made heavy use of the remesh modifier set to blocks, itā€™s basically a tweakable, real-time voxeliser.

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It would probably help if I was better versed in Qubicle, Iā€™ll call on my experts to weigh in with their thoughts. @voxel_pirate @TobiasSabathius @Froggy @Agon.

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my gut says this is probably OK, but i agree with @Geoffers747 in wanting some more expert opinionsā€¦ :smile:

About the lighting: I havenā€™t tried this but I guess a single sun-lamp with disabled shadows should be the closest match to Qubicleā€™s lighting. If the dark side of the models gets too dark then raise the ambient light (probably has to be done on the materials, but if youā€™re lucky the lamp or renderer has a setting).

About the rules: The rule about no post processing is there so that people who bought Qubicle shouldnā€™t get an advantage by exporting models. Since this is done entirely in Blender, which is a free program that anyone can use, I think its ok. The last version, that ā€œskips the cool stuffā€, should definitely be ok. :slight_smile:

For future submissions done in Blender we should probably set up some rules though.
Example: No perspective, no shadows, no reflections, no transparent or glowing materials, one sun-lamp (if that works), all voxels should be aligned with the x-,y-,z-axis of the scene and appear to be in the same grid.

Also, props to @Xavion for mimicking Qubicle in another program. That sort of stuff can get really painful. :thumbsup:

Edit: Really wanted to make a submission for this week but havenā€™t had the time. I have a nice image in my head. Maybe I find the time tomorrow. Otherwise it goes on my list of Qubicle-art-to-do. :smile:

Edited the submission to be that latest one I showed here as apparently thats fine.

Suns donā€™t work as an option because instead of acting like the sun does the act like the sun does to earth, what that means is that they send in light from a single direction just like the sun would to here. The problem with that is when youā€™re indoors for example and canā€™t see 50%+ of your scene because itā€™s not where the suns pointing, it also canā€™t do things like go around corners very well so Iā€™d suggest sticking to low intensity white lamps without shadows as they send light in every direction and are fairly close to qubicle as scene in my latest picture (w.gif).

come on, you still have 20 hours to submit! :smile:

yes sirā€¦ edits are allowed up to the closing bellā€¦

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