HOME | DD

Description
So my search for a landscape tool in my post Vue world continues, and since few of these tools will import iRay materials I will be limiting my search to background image creators only. The first up is Flowscape, which is a steal for 9 bucks on Steam right now and creates fun procedural landscapes where you can drop trees, change materials, and do all sorts of fun real-time editing. It does have a "videogamy" style look (that burned out specular glossy on the leaves), but it does a good job of making a quick and easy background.

Pros:
* Cheap
* Imports OBJ Files
* Free roam camera
* Insanely fast workflow
* Looks good for toons
* Good for storyboarding and simple backdrops
* Variety of beach, mountain, forest, tropical, desert, ocean, and snow terrain types

Cons:
* Videogame style look
* Limited palette of default assets
* Sun position and levels are not mathematic so you must guess to match angles and intensity
* Casting shadows from foreground figures needs shadow catchers (and faked gels for shadows on figures)
* Only OBJ support so material options are limited
* Same-ish look to backgrounds

On the Fence:
* UI is a bit abstract and obscure but workable
* Wish this was a pro-app with a lot more options and features, this could be the next Bryce given enough development
* Save slots instead of file-based UI
* Images store in root of game's install directory

For a toon background that is supposed to be simple, who cares, background fill and standard assets, and I will filter over it anyways, this works. If I am doing drama this works a little less for me, since the backgrounds in my series like Survivor are also the stars of the show and need to have certain looks and sweeping vistas. if anything, I found a tool that creates the backgrounds of the Reniverse's "Tooniverse" inhabitants quite nicely.

Description
So my search for a landscape tool in my post Vue world continues, and since few of these tools will import iRay materials I will be limiting my search to background image creators only. The first up is Flowscape, which is a steal for 9 bucks on Steam right now and creates fun procedural landscapes where you can drop trees, change materials, and do all sorts of fun real-time editing. It does have a "videogamy" style look (that burned out specular glossy on the leaves), but it does a good job of making a quick and easy background.

Pros:
* Cheap
* Imports OBJ Files
* Free roam camera
* Insanely fast workflow
* Looks good for toons
* Good for storyboarding and simple backdrops
* Variety of beach, mountain, forest, tropical, desert, ocean, and snow terrain types

Cons:
* Videogame style look
* Limited palette of default assets
* Sun position and levels are not mathematic so you must guess to match angles and intensity
* Casting shadows from foreground figures needs shadow catchers (and faked gels for shadows on figures)
* Only OBJ support so material options are limited
* Same-ish look to backgrounds

On the Fence:
* UI is a bit abstract and obscure but workable
* Wish this was a pro-app with a lot more options and features, this could be the next Bryce given enough development
* Save slots instead of file-based UI
* Images store in root of game's install directory

For a toon background that is supposed to be simple, who cares, background fill and standard assets, and I will filter over it anyways, this works. If I am doing drama this works a little less for me, since the backgrounds in my series like Survivor are also the stars of the show and need to have certain looks and sweeping vistas. if anything, I found a tool that creates the backgrounds of the Reniverse's "Tooniverse" inhabitants quite nicely.