Thursday, September 6, 2012

Make A Virtual Panoramic Photo For A Website

When you are creating a website, you want it to be as impressive as possible. On way to do this is by using 3D software to create a virtual panoramic image you can add to the site. This can be of almost anything, from a cityscape to an alien world. Depending on your attention to detail, even a fantasy image can be made photo realistic. A good program for a project like this is Vue Infinite. This 3D landscape and scene generator has been used in several recent major motion pictures because of its ability to provide stunning virtual worlds.


Instructions


1. Sketch out your ideas for the panorama you want to create. Vue Infinite comes with a number of plants and other natural objects you can add to your scene, but you don't have to be limited to this, since you can also import 3D objects that you can download from the free areas at sites like Renderosity.com.


2. Open Vue Infinite. Click on the "Terrain" icon in the toolbar on the left. A terrain object will be added to the scene. Select "Object" and choose "Edit Object." In the dialog box that opens, click on the "Reset Terrain" button. Then use the "Raise" brush to raise the terrain in a circle around the center. Click "OK."


3. Select the "Main Camera" in the "Layers" panel on the right. Then go to the "Top" view and move the camera so that it is in the middle of the terrain.


4. Select "Object" from the menu and click "Change Object Material." In the dialog box that opens, choose the ecosystem you want to use. Ecosystems are essentially environments made up of trees, plants and other objects. Click "OK."


5. Double-click on the "Material Editor" preview in the upper right corner. Click on the "Paint" option; a new dialog box will open. From the list, chose the plants you want to add to certain areas and "paint" them on the terrain in the "Top" view. Click "OK" twice when you are done.


6. Double-click "Main Camera" in the "Layers" panel. In the dialog box that opens, turn on the "Panoramic View" option and go with the default settings. Click "OK."


7. Right-click on the "Render" icon and set the render quality to "Final." Now click "Render" and save the image as a JPEG that can be placed on your website.

Tags: dialog that, dialog that opens, that opens, Camera Layers, Camera Layers panel