Falling Sand: Texture or Particles?

Hi,

I am trying to get the effect of falling sand, from a pyramid that has just emerged from beneath the ground in the desert.

The pyramid rises wonderfully (stopping at around 10m above ground level), and all I need now is the effect of sand trickling from its sides as it rises, reducing to nothing over a few seconds after it has reached 10m above ground

I have looked at particles, but even with Glow set to off they still have a small amount of glow and really do not look much like sand (unless someone knows a trick or two), they all emanate from a point sourse, whereas I need them emanating from a long edge, and now I am thinking about an animated texture instead. Unfortunately all the sand textures I have found so far are a uniform sand texture, and I need one that starts with a lot of sand, then peters out (as a handful of sand would do if you let it trickle from your hands over a sloping glass wall, with a camera beneath looking up). I have also tried using a uniform sand texture, but with the level of transparency changing from none to full over a few seconds, but again, it just doesn't look right.

Is this an impossible dream? Or does anyone have any suggestions on how this effect could best be achieved?

TIA

Vi

I'd use a texture, and would take a uniform sand texture into Photoshop to make a ragged-edged alpha mask over it, with a gradiated transparency level.

try an animated alpha sand texture that slowly change alpha to full.

I said that too, in the other thread

/54/b1/266429/1.html

Thanks for the alpha suggestions, but in my post above I did say I have tried this, and it doesn't look right.

Vi

LMAO

People actually reading posts before commenting? Whatever next

sometimes you just have to play and play with textures to get the effect you want, to save costs of testing your textures upload them on to the Beta Grid first, they give you L$5,000 to play with for uploads.

as an educated guess i think it would take me about a week to get a texture like this looking right, and then again sometimes I can be lucky enough to get it right first time


Also you should play around with the kind of prim your applying this to, angled, curved, does one make the effect better at least. you have many variants.

I feared this would be the answer. I do have Photoshop, but I am just a novice (and not even a good novice). When I hear terms like 'ragged edge alpha mask' and 'gradiated transparency level' my eyes just glaze over, lol.

Is there any kind soul who would care to try producing such a texture for me (for a fee of course)?

If there are no other suggestions I shall move this thread to the Textures forum, and enquire there.

Thanks for the responses so far,

Vi

Also remember that you can texture particles; they don't have to be small, fuzzy dots. Perhaps you could do something with several rather large particles looking like individual cascades of sand?
-Just brainstorming here. No idea if it would work

Vi ask this question in Textures any way. Also in the texture forum there is a sticky at the top that goes into making alpha channels. And as i said in my last post, it can take a time to get things like alpha gradients right, my last gradient I did took 6 attempts to get close to the effect needed.

Did you check out the particle effects at the SLurl I posted, I could do a lot with that effect to make something like your after.

Yes Dekka, I did check it out, many thanks for the suggestion. I have produced a similar effect to that water with a volcano project I was invoved in. The animation and the flowing effect is just right. It is just getting the sand texture to animate that I am having difficulty with.

I have now posted this question in the Texture forum (I am hoping against hope that trickling sand, sandstorms, duststorms etc have been tackled before by someone)

Vi

Wouldn't you know it. I take the advice of moving this to the Texture forum, only to be told there that it is more of a Products Wanted topic or a scripting topic, than texturing.

*sigh*

Vi

Why don't you try making a texture that looks like several columns of sand falling. These would be alpha. Then make two other textures of falling sand but the columns are in different places. Then you'd take three prims and make three layers of falling sand. Slowly setting each layer to transparent, make layer 1 transparent, then layer 2, then 3, will make it look like the sand is petering out.

can be done quite nicely with particles. It's just a matter of the texture and the proper particle settings, but you can make a very convincing sand cascade with particles.

Thanks very much Talarus. How much, and where can I pick it up from?

Sounds very interesting Bree. I'll put the kettle on while you come over and show me what you mean.

or another option:
Make a gradient sand texture on a prim.. then move the prim down as the other prim moves up.

Oh, I can try to whip something up. Contact me in-world if you haven't found anything yet.