Seam Blends - Tips for Creating Them

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Danny D
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Joined: August 27th, 2019, 1:09 am
Location: SE Missouri

Seam Blends - Tips for Creating Them

Post by Danny D »

I struggled for a long time trying to understand cloning and programming textures for seam blends. It was all confusing to me. When it finally hit me, I developed a method for myself to keep things in order. It helps me to keep easy track of what I've done, and know at a glance if its correct. So I'll offer these suggestions because it may help you and save you the headaches of learning the hard way. You may or may not find it useful, but it possible it might save you a lot of time in the long run...

When you start cloning textures, try to keep this in mind. Choose to clone the same type of texture from the stock APCD textures as the type that you want to create. Example.

Choose to clone sand when creating a sand texture.
Choose to clone rough when creating a rough texture
Choose to clone blacktop when creating a blacktop texture, and so on... Doing so helps you to keep the properties of your newly created texture straight. I would avoid mixing them up, such as cloning a blacktop texture to create grass. Even though you can do that, it helps keep things less confusing when you look at it later on down the road.

MOST IMPORTANT
When you begin creating seam blends. Try to keep some order about how you program them and name them. It makes everything MUCH simpler to keep track of along the way and gives you a sense of confidence with less confusion. Here's my suggestion...

When creating seam blend PATH and MULTIPLE names, name them in the same uniform order as much as possible on your entire course. Always think from OUTSIDE to INSIDE the course.

I'll use this example. Typically on the outer perimeter of the course, you would have wooded areas. As you move from the outer edge of your plot toward the inside of your plot, or towards the fairways and greens, your textures may be laid out like this...

FROM OUTSIDE to IN - Woods-> Deep Rough-> Rough-> Fringe-> Fairway or green

If you choose to seam blend between all of those textures, name them and program them in that order. OUSIDE to INSIDE like this...

woods2deepruff -> deepruff2ruff -> ruff2fringe -> fringe2fwy
Note how the outermost textures are to the left and innermost textures are on the right in the seam blend title names for the paths and multiples.


a SB texture must be created with an alpha and 2 textures. The type of alpha used determines how the blending looks. Always program them in the same order as I suggested with the names. HOWEVER, the SB texture assignments don't run left to right like the SB titles, but rather up to down. The TOP one is considered LEFT while the BOTTOM one is considered RIGHT. So when programming one, like deepruff2rough, the deep rough texture is on top of the rough texture. So from top to bottom it would go

ALPHA
DEEP ROUGH
ROUGH

Once again, SB titles go left to right and move inward on the course.
SB texture assignments to match are stored top to bottom. (see attached pics)

Later on you will be glad you did this, because when you run into a problem or want to change something, there will be no confusion about how you had the names of textures sorted and named.

Here are some illustrations that may help...

When you CLONE a texture to create a seam blend.
Attachments
blending_1.jpg
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blending_2.jpg
blending_2.jpg (203.58 KiB) Viewed 5312 times
blending_3.jpg
blending_3.jpg (332.05 KiB) Viewed 5312 times
blending_4.jpg
blending_4.jpg (266.36 KiB) Viewed 5312 times
Completed Courses
Real Courses: The National Golf Club of Kansas City - Wakonda Club - Coeur d'Alene Resort Course
Fictitious Courses: Northern Lakes - Golfcom Tees
Southern Oaks - Hometown 9 hole real course with a fictitious back 9 added
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