Hi Andy - as we work with studios to improve Flora, I expect more and more end-user functionality to become available. Our feedback for now is going to come through studios building custom vegetation tools with Flora - I think once people see shots produced with the system, they'll start to understand the approach. As for unusual types - you can see already that the system is broad enough to handle palm trees and ferns, as well as grass and bushes.
Regarding presets - we're just not hearing that as a requirement from studios we're speaking to. They already have the models (or the shot requires them to model them themselves), it's more that they want to create a forest of them, simulate them and render them. Thanks for the comments :) Paul On 30 January 2013 14:38, Andy Moorer <andymoo...@gmail.com> wrote: > I think the new model is great. You might use the Unity engine/creation > toolset as inspiration regarding business decisions, there are a lot of > parallels. > > I think the first modules are well-conceived. In regards to flora, I would > look at speedtree - if you provide a well-targeted fraction of their > capabilities at a fraction of their rather hefty price it becomes a no > brainer for game studios and feature film projects which want either cost > savings or to spend that savings on customization, I should think. > > I also like the idea of a simple workflow to bring in plants generated > elsewhere like in xfrog and adapt them to use (presumably by either reading > growth rules?) But I would consider first functionality for non-tree or > unusual plant types, and root growth. It might be worth bringing in an > artist to make a set of presets and act as a source of feedback. Think > weeping willows, Aloe, the amazing trees coating the ruins at Angkor Wat, > and a field of flowers. And look at the plant libraries at Evermotion, if > you have some images which rival those and a price point at about $1k or > less I bet the module would sell quite well. > > But that's just one guys musings. Anyway well done keep it up, Fabric is > amazing and the foundation you've built seems quite strong, I expect one > day many of us will be bragging that we saw Fabric back before there were > even 1000 employees in the company. :D > > On Jan 30, 2013, at 11:25 AM, Paul Doyle <technove...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Eugen - thanks for the feedback. At this stage we do not have plans to > provide plant libraries with Flora. It should be noted that the trees in > the demo videos were purchased from TurboSquid and then used to create the > pieces for procedural generation. As for importing - if you have purchased > an asset I assume you have the rights to use it in other applications. If > so, then as long as it's in a common format like obj then it will be fine > (that's how we got the turboquid trees in). > > The goal of the module is to make it easy to procedurally generate, > tweak/edit, simulate and render trees - the authoring of the original plant > pieces is something we leave to artists. I actually think it's non-ideal > that each system comes with it's own library - surely the ideal model is > one that will work with any asset you want to use? We literally browsed > TurboSquid, picked a few trees that were interesting, bought/downloaded > them and used them in the demos the next day. > > The other key element here is that the whole system is open - a TD can dig > into the code and adapt any part of the system to project requirements. > Over time we may see some of this customer effort merged into the main > Flora codebase. > > Thanks, > > Paul > > On 30 January 2013 06:07, Eugen Sares <softim...@keyvis.at> wrote: > >> Hi, >> Flora... *like* >> Plant generation for Softimage was always less than ideal... hopefully >> this is going to change now once and for all! >> >> Please allow me some positive critics: the plants in the demo do not look >> too convincing yet. I know it's early... >> Don't forget: any decent plant generator needs a decent plant library. >> Any plans? Even botanically "correct"? I think this is an important point. >> Might depend on your target audience... if it's the bigger studios, there >> might be more time and money to create whatever is needed, but freelancers >> (like me) mostly need something ootb quickly, and might not have time to >> start from scratch (tried...). Of course being able to create new plants, >> adapt existing ones and simulate them is also key. >> >> Did you think about an importer for, say, greenworks XFrog or Onyx Trees? >> Is this technically and legally feasible? >> This would be a real "killer" feature, since there are no decent SI >> import plugins for those confessedly old but extensive and nice libraries, >> and it might help pick up the pace quickly. >> >> There's T-Gen as well, as you know, but development stalled years ago. I >> wonder why. Maybe also because of the lack of a good library? >> >> >> Your change of business model I think makes much sense. Includes a >> broader audience of clients now, not just the coding-savvy. >> Best wishes and much success!! >> Eugen >> >> >> Am 30.01.2013 11:07, schrieb Dan Yargici: >> >> Sounds great! Seems like a way more sensible way of doing things to me! >> >> DAN >> >> >> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 4:54 AM, Leonard Koch >> <leonardkoch...@gmail.com>wrote: >> >>> That looks like a good model. >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 3:41 AM, Nick Angus <n...@altvfx.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Genius… >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto: >>>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Paul Doyle >>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, 30 January 2013 4:09 AM >>>> *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com >>>> *Subject:* Introducing Creation: Flora (and a business model shift) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Hi everyone - I'm pleased to share some news with you. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *Creation: Flora* >>>> >>>> We've been working on a new vegetation system that we think you'll like >>>> - we call it Creation: Flora. The system covers procedural generation of >>>> vegetation (trees, grass, ferns, bushes, flowers etc), editing once >>>> generated, simulation/animation, is integrated to Maya and Softimage, and >>>> is integrated with Arnold for rendering. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Demo trailer: https://vimeo.com/groups/fabric/videos/58470126 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> More information: http://fabricengine.com/creation/flora/ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> This system will be made available as a separate module, which brings >>>> me onto the second part of this - business model changes. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *Creation and Creation Modules* >>>> >>>> The short version: we're selling the core platform at $250 per seat, >>>> per year ($750 to purchase outright). We're selling modules separately for >>>> things like vegetation, crowds, hair and other 'niche' systems. >>>> >>>> Long version that explains why we're doing it: >>>> http://fabricengine.com/2013/01/creation-and-creation-modules/ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Paul >>>> >>>> CEO at Fabric Engine Inc >>>> >>> >>> >> >> >
