I would like to try to do a very large scale earthquake that runs across a 2+ kilometers chunk of terrain and affects the structures and trees on it.
It would be nice to be able to render out something decently high-res, but my main use would be to transfer the end result back to a heightfield and use the moved/up-rooted tree and structure positions.
I have a basic setup of the heightfield converted to geo (with a low res version for iterating) plus the tree, road and structure geo. And for the sim I was thinking of something like:
Splitting the geo down a single fault line and then random fractures and constraint strengths from there.
Then constraining the other objects to all that.
Push one side of the fault into the other.
Maybe adding some random wave/jumping-like motion under it all as an extra force?
Not sure how to do that wave motion underneath or how thick (and fractured) the terrain would need to be to get some realistic movements.
No luck finding anything online about this either. Every video and tutorial is just a canned split or two of fairly close terrain.
I can't recommend Steven Knipping's tutorials enough. Don't necessarily assume that the tutorial is only good for the specific example that he's demonstrating, quite the opposite. Steven is an excellent tutor who explains the concept very thoroughly teaching the viewer how to apply those concepts into their own desired outcomes.
Judging from the description of what you're trying to do, you might need to watch several various tutorials and then combine them together to give you the intended results.
Oh for sure, Knipping is awesome! I have seen that one though, and its workflow/results are more of the specific close-up quake lessons that I mentioned. Didnt notice a whole lot that would help with a really large scale sim.
I am looking more for something that would end up with a lot of large chunks of terrain pushed up over nearby chunks, some big cracks and crevices, but more just major landscape shifting and up-ending.
Couldn't you just apply that methodology to a large scale model? I kinda get the feeling you're after something like this:
Timucin Ozger is getting ready to release this new tutorial soon:
I like Timucin's work, but I can't say he's the best tutor out there. Nonetheless he's getting better at it and his tutorials might be better suited for what you're trying to do.
