56 replies to this topic

[DPRoberts]

I love to generate a little interest on the boards. It really helps revive our creative minds as we sometimes get lost moving spline boxes around wondering "Why?, Becky, Why?"

I have always loved Slewin's courses. His version of Merion and AGNC drew me into CF and JNPG in general. The terrain overlay technique just has a different punch to it. The absence of tiled textures really creates a different vibe. I will argue that both the traditional CF layers method and the Terrain Overlay technique each have their place.

The CF layers is king up close and for punching a course out with Unity and CF alone. The Overlay Technique though is where you need to be for more realistic texturing. I tried to match it with CF layers by creating splines FW clean, FW dry, FW dead, Tee divots, and outlining different areas. Ultimately, I grew frustrated and started experimenting with the Overlay method.

I am providing you ideas here. I am condensing 20+ years of Photoshop knowledge into one day of tutorial creation. I know that it is too much. I am also not revealing all that I know so it'll just have to come with time. This is a start to trying something different and allowing you some freedom to be creative.

Experiment, try to be different and see what happens...

Going from here...


To here...


Enjoy!

 

Link to my Grass Detail used for Greens, Fairways and Tees - https://www.dropbox.... 1_PSD.psd?dl=0

 

Link to Slewin's post on overlay technique and his textures - http://www.perfectpa...sic +renditions

[DPRoberts]

Layers Library Basics for Terrain Overlay Technique

 

Setting up Photoshop File and Deleting Trees

 

**If you can't tolerate watching all the way through on these, one very important point is that you should start with your Photoshop file at 8192x8192. I don't address that until around 9 minute mark on the second video. 

[DPRoberts]

Adjusting the Color Scheme

 

Fairway Stripe and Course Grunge Marks

[DPRoberts]

Rough Mow Lines

 

Tee Mow Lines

[DPRoberts]

Decreasing Bunker Brightness

 

Advanced Technique - Adding dead grass with minimal effort

[DPRoberts]

Ok, all videos up for now. I'm sure there will be other stuff I can add as we go and encounter unique situations. I didn't show the bunker redraw technique. It's where I use information from an alternate satellite overlay and use in your main file. I will do that at a later date...

[Stingreye]

This is AWESOME! Thanks!

[Larrykuh]

Matt, you have out done yourself with these videos. You are the video tutorial master. Thank you so much !!!!

[DPRoberts]

Matt, you have out done yourself with these videos. You are the video tutorial master. Thank you so much !!!!

Hopefully, we see some good results get cranked out. I truly believe it is a much more efficient system.

 

Check this out...First real snowfall this year in Ohio provided insipiration. In 55 seconds of work, I covered the entire course with a blue/white cloud, masked off the tees, and used airbrush to clear the green and spatter away some snow. You can create different variations of same course. Lush, weathered, in snow etc...and spend less than 1 day doing it after main course is complete.

 

Scioto #9 - in the snow

[DPRoberts]

Harry's gonna need some warmer clothes...(please no comments on items not currently available in the Pro shop, haha)

[Stingreye]

Looks awesome!

[bortimus]

Now you’re just showing off! Hehe

Looks great Matt. Awesome work and thanks for the videos.

[Larrykuh]

Matt,

 

One New Years morning a friend showed up at my door, and the ground looked similar to your snow covered images. He wanted to play golf, so I gathered my things to head off to a local course that was open year round. Before I left the house, I made sure we had the most important club in my bag, A BROOM !!!

They didn't have the greens cleared, so we had to clear the path of the putts. We played 18 that day, and fortunately, most of the snow had melted after about 6-7 holes. Was a blast.

[M Rose]

One thing that will be nice is to control the direction of the mowlines, especially if you like 12:00-6:00 on tees, which I'm a fan of.

[NoPutt]

Thanks a heap DP, always great to learn some new tricks,

I never knew about the clone tool adjustment, that helps

me a bunch.

[Buck]

I'm not even a designer and I just find this stuff totally fascinating!

What an incredible asset (the knowledge and time) to share with the community.

So cool.  Thank you from somebody who really appreciates it, even if just from the sidelines.

[DPRoberts]

My argument is that we as designers can't complain that things will be better with PG2 when we haven't made the most of where we currently are. Let's focus on making this the best we can because there may not be another option.

Mike's bunkers from Links 2003 were eye opening to me. It's not always about the tools but the one weilding them.

I wish we could have post processing effect control and that vegetation billboards had some degree of softening (alpha blending). There is still a holy grail of an improved gruffy bunker to be had.

I also don't know that 3d grass is where it's at unless the grass can be shaded by the overlay diffuse color. If it's all strands of single color grass, you may find PG1 to have better looking courses than PG2...

PG2 would have improvement with Speed trees and lighting with an upgraded Unity. But, overall the CF result would be similar to today if we don't continually try and improve.

I'm guessing someone much more talented than I with Photoshop and artistic skills can even take the overlay even farther. (Maybe Mika? Trying to draw K11 or Dr Rob out...)

Regardless, I'm enjoying myself with the results and hoping to see guys like MRose, Highfade, Bortimus, NoPutt and all the other exceptional designers give it a try.

If not, in my ideal world, I would collaborate on Photoshop overlays and make high quality assets. I have no great interest in creating splines, tweaking LIDAR and planting trees.

A team approach to some of the more "well known" courses might be really cool.

[Buck]

@DP..

 

Great points above...

 

An important thing I'd add.

 

We may never even see PG2 released (especially for non Trackman users), so it's even more important to just enjoy where we are and make the most of what we already have to work with.  It may be all we ever get.

 

(not meaning to go down any "when is PG2" rabbit hole or complain at all - just stating an obvious point about the future or not)

[DPRoberts]

Yes, that was sort of my overall point.

I'm trying to do my part to aid the "look" of the courses being published for PG1.

Players will appreciate better looking courses. But, that too can be fleeting after adjusting to the new "norm" for what a course can/should look like in one's mind.

To me, PGLS and OGT do a great job of satisfying the multiplayer role. But, they have both improved over time following user feedback.

The only person left out and IT'S NOT GOING TO CHANGE in PG1 or PG2 is the single player looking for a career mode or new apparel or new golf balls, etc...

[M Rose]

That's a good attitude to have.... we can sit around waiting for PG2 or we can keep making what we have now better. As I've said before either here or in one of the other threads about this - I think if I don't at least give this technique a good look, then I may find myself getting passed by very quickly. But I think I need it to stay motivated because I've been worried lately that my work had begun to plateau to some degree and the only way forward was to start doing some different and more ambitious things. I know in some conversations I've had with Mike, he encouraged me and us as a collective to try and go beyond what we normally have done.

 

If this manages to catch on and become standard, then everything I've done up to this point may start to look obsolete. As it is I'm thinking I should probably re-do Pebble for next year's US Open as it already looks dated in my eyes.
 

I admit, I've also started dabbling with TGC's designer of late, just because it is completely different. I bought it the other day for half price. I've managed to put together two pretty polished looking courses in just a few days, but the lack of customization means you can only do so much with it.