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# Final Project!

This is it! The culmination of your procedural graphics experience this semester. For your final project, we'd like to give you the time and space to explore a topic of your choosing. You may choose any topic you please, so long as you vet the topic and scope with an instructor or TA. We've provided some suggestions below. The scope of your project should be roughly 1.5 homework assignments). To help structure your time, we're breaking down the project into 4 milestones:

## Project planning: Design Doc (due 11/9)
Before submitting your first milestone, _you must get your project idea and scope approved by Rachel, Adam or a TA._

### Design Doc
Start off by forking this repository. In your README, write a design doc to outline your project goals and implementation plan. It must include the following sections:

#### Introduction
- What motivates your project?

#### Goal
- What do you intend to achieve with this project?

#### Inspiration/reference:
- You must have some form of reference material for your final project. Your reference may be a research paper, a blog post, some artwork, a video, another class at Penn, etc.
- Include in your design doc links to and images of your reference material.

#### Specification:
- Outline the main features of your project.

#### Techniques:
- What are the main technical/algorithmic tools you’ll be using? Give an overview, citing specific papers/articles.

#### Design:
- How will your program fit together? Make a simple free-body diagram illustrating the pieces.

#### Timeline:
- Create a week-by-week set of milestones for each person in your group. Make sure you explicitly outline what each group member's duties will be.

Submit your Design doc as usual via pull request against this repository.
## Milestone 1: Implementation part 1 (due 11/16)
Begin implementing your engine! Don't worry too much about polish or parameter tuning -- this week is about getting together the bulk of your generator implemented. By the end of the week, even if your visuals are crude, the majority of your generator's functionality should be done.

Put all your code in your forked repository.

Submission: Add a new section to your README titled: Milestone #1, which should include
- written description of progress on your project goals. If you haven't hit all your goals, what's giving you trouble?
- Examples of your generators output so far
We'll check your repository for updates. No need to create a new pull request.
## Milestone 3: Implementation part 2 (due 11/28)
We're over halfway there! This week should be about fixing bugs and extending the core of your generator. Make sure by the end of this week _your generator works and is feature complete._ Any core engine features that don't make it in this week should be cut! Don't worry if you haven't managed to exactly hit your goals. We're more interested in seeing proof of your development effort than knowing your planned everything perfectly.

Put all your code in your forked repository.

Submission: Add a new section to your README titled: Milestone #3, which should include
- written description of progress on your project goals. If you haven't hit all your goals, what did you have to cut and why?
- Detailed output from your generator, images, video, etc.
We'll check your repository for updates. No need to create a new pull request.

Come to class on the due date with a WORKING COPY of your project. We'll be spending time in class critiquing and reviewing your work so far.

## Final submission (due 12/5)
Time to polish! Spen this last week of your project using your generator to produce beautiful output. Add textures, tune parameters, play with colors, play with camera animation. Take the feedback from class critques and use it to take your project to the next level.

Submission:
- Push all your code / files to your repository
- Come to class ready to present your finished project
- Update your README with two sections
- final results with images and a live demo if possible
- post mortem: how did your project go overall? Did you accomplish your goals? Did you have to pivot?

## Topic Suggestions

### Create a generator in Houdini

### A CLASSIC 4K DEMO
- In the spirit of the demo scene, create an animation that fits into a 4k executable that runs in real-time. Feel free to take inspiration from the many existing demos. Focus on efficiency and elegance in your implementation.
- Example:
- [cdak by Quite & orange](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCh3Q08HMfs&list=PLA5E2FF8E143DA58C)

### A RE-IMPLEMENTATION
- Take an academic paper or other pre-existing project and implement it, or a portion of it.
- Examples:
- [2D Wavefunction Collapse Pokémon Town](https://gurtd.github.io/566-final-project/)
- [3D Wavefunction Collapse Dungeon Generator](https://github.com/whaoran0718/3dDungeonGeneration)
- [Reaction Diffusion](https://github.com/charlesliwang/Reaction-Diffusion)
- [WebGL Erosion](https://github.com/LanLou123/Webgl-Erosion)
- [Particle Waterfall](https://github.com/chloele33/particle-waterfall)
- [Voxelized Bread](https://github.com/ChiantiYZY/566-final)

### A FORGERY
Taking inspiration from a particular natural phenomenon or distinctive set of visuals, implement a detailed, procedural recreation of that aesthetic. This includes modeling, texturing and object placement within your scene. Does not need to be real-time. Focus on detail and visual accuracy in your implementation.
- Examples:
- [The Shrines](https://github.com/byumjin/The-Shrines)
- [Watercolor Shader](https://github.com/gracelgilbert/watercolor-stylization)
- [Sunset Beach](https://github.com/HanmingZhang/homework-final)
- [Sky Whales](https://github.com/WanruZhao/CIS566FinalProject)
- [Snail](https://www.shadertoy.com/view/ld3Gz2)
- [Journey](https://www.shadertoy.com/view/ldlcRf)
- [Big Hero 6 Wormhole](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R-6AN2cWjwg/VTyIzIQSQfI/AAAAAAAABLA/GC0yzzz4wHw/s1600/big-hero-6-disneyscreencaps.com-10092.jpg)

### A GAME LEVEL
- Like generations of game makers before us, create a game which generates an navigable environment (eg. a roguelike dungeon, platforms) and some sort of goal or conflict (eg. enemy agents to avoid or items to collect). Aim to create an experience that will challenge players and vary noticeably in different playthroughs, whether that means procedural dungeon generation, careful resource management or an interesting AI model. Focus on designing a system that is capable of generating complex challenges and goals.
- Examples:
- [Rhythm-based Mario Platformer](https://github.com/sgalban/platformer-gen-2D)
- [Pokémon Ice Puzzle Generator](https://github.com/jwang5675/Ice-Puzzle-Generator)
- [Abstract Exploratory Game](https://github.com/MauKMu/procedural-final-project)
- [Tiny Wings](https://github.com/irovira/TinyWings)
- Spore
- Dwarf Fortress
- Minecraft
- Rogue

### AN ANIMATED ENVIRONMENT / MUSIC VISUALIZER
- Create an environment full of interactive procedural animation. The goal of this project is to create an environment that feels responsive and alive. Whether or not animations are musically-driven, sound should be an important component. Focus on user interactions, motion design and experimental interfaces.
- Examples:
- [The Darkside](https://github.com/morganherrmann/thedarkside)
- [Music Visualizer](https://yuruwang.github.io/MusicVisualizer/)
- [Abstract Mesh Animation](https://github.com/mgriley/cis566_finalproj)
- [Panoramical](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBTTMNFXHTk)
- [Bound](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE37l6RvF-c)

### YOUR OWN PROPOSAL
- You are of course welcome to propose your own topic . Regardless of what you choose, you and your team must research your topic and relevant techniques and come up with a detailed plan of execution. You will meet with some subset of the procedural staff before starting implementation for approval.
# Crystal Machine

# Final

![all](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204704575-9249d318-00d1-4dd9-9f2f-883576432abb.png)

I didn't have much time to spend on this milestone (mostly due to upcoming projects in other classes) so this just includes some finshing touches. The two main improvements are procedural bump mapping and coloring on the wood and post-processing on the renders to fix overexposure. Apparently there's a setting in Redshift called "Photographic Exposure" which more or less fixed all the problems with colors burning to white.

I was considering doing some kind of animation but given that each frame took anywhere from around 10 to 20 minutes to render, I decided that would take too long for the amount of time I had.

<details>
<summary>More pictures</summary>
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204704668-0d3536f1-964a-43d1-bf77-2b9d190c05ed.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204704669-5529aa9a-dd4c-4caf-9679-3b8ad11d28cc.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204704671-6580b7ba-a296-4911-b338-74b952b54dab.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204704673-2e4960c9-531f-4770-bff4-1f4e2144063a.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204704675-2b009d4f-6443-4414-be24-e5a479bec73c.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204704676-816db710-31d5-4b40-9e4c-6cfc7fbae47e.png" />
</details>

# Milestone 2

![all](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204164407-87f98304-dd95-4bee-9328-6cfa161a46f5.png)

For this milestone, I mostly focused on making a simple environment to place the crystals in. I used the actual Astro Gallery as reference for the colors and layout of the room, and I added some procedurally oriented lights at the top to give some variation to the lighting and shadows. I also cached some interesting variations of each crystal type to show the project's procedural nature.

I was originally going to add more crystal types in this section of the project but I decided against it due to time constraints. In the final milestone, I may attempt some more variations, but I'm not sure I'll have time for that given some other projects I have going on.

<details>
<summary>More pictures</summary>
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204164447-ca097c64-bc68-42b9-adc7-c4bc26d1e4a5.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204164449-d03b09f0-602b-4c72-94a3-08c41cb31cb2.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204164450-0c4f7cd3-627e-4658-917f-2acf7cde506c.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204164451-c12f424f-40d9-48f7-99fd-04d6edc845dc.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204164454-574c6689-83f8-44dc-8ad0-8bb35fa851da.png" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/204164455-69625011-c52b-421d-a9a2-2f474d3b8564.png" />
</details>

# Milestone 1

I managed to complete 3 different crsytals which I'm pretty happy with. I didn't have time to do the lighting setup, so I'll move that to milestone 2. I think I needed to scale back the project a bit overall, and I definitely will not have time to do the animation. So my end goal now is to add one or two more crystal types and create the museum environment for one or possibly multiple good static renders.

## Deep Sea Quartz

![deep sea quartz](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/200666476-0aba34d9-9276-45d1-a872-fb28e6f15834.png)

This isn't necessarily a form of quartz that exists in the real world, but I really like the depth offered by the blue/green colors.

### References

[Entagma tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq2bYZGurzc)

<details>
<summary>Pictures</summary>
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603517-bb059dec-a708-46d8-a36b-ad62bf60cc2d.jpg" width="30%" /><br>
<p>Source: Astro Gallery</p>
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/200919528-fd448747-ee94-40a3-b240-f21c2621cf8f.png" width="30%" />
<p>Source: https://kawaiikandi.com/products/clear-quartz-raw-crystal-cluster</p>
</details>

## Vanadinite Cluster

![vanadinite](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/201255107-879be63b-8cec-4406-be61-66e291d75a73.png)

### References

<details>
<summary>Pictures</summary>
<img src="https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/890997576462139412/1039982520059560006/IMG_6075.jpg" width="30%" /><br>
<p>Source: Astro Gallery</p>
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/200921338-de4df944-9663-4698-9da7-72314137c5e1.png" width="30%" /><br>
<p>Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadinite#/media/File:Mibladene_Vanadinite.jpg</p>
</details>

## Red Garnet

![red garnet](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/201504048-4e441e5a-a9db-464b-9115-88e3daf91d22.png)

### References

[Tutorial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WSUW7L5Pxo) (which I only somewhat followed)

# Design

## Introduction

Over the fall break, I visited the [Astro Gallery of Gems](https://astrogallery.com/) in New York and was inspired by their extensive collection of gems, minerals, fossils, and more. I knew right then that I wanted to make this my final project - that is, I want to recreate some of my favorite crystals and gems in Houdini. I've already done something like this once for a [daily render](https://www.instagram.com/p/CXhI0pLpYv-/), but this project would be more extensive and more based on real-world crystals.

## Goal

This project's goal is to recreate real-world crystal and rock formations in Houdini, and then to display them in a simple museum-like scene. If I have time, I also want to add a cool animation that pans slowly across a crystal before zooming into the next room with a different crystal (for example, something like [this](https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ce0ypFSpHd9/)).

## Inspiration

My main inspiration is the Astro Gallery's [website](https://astrogallery.com/) as well as some pictures I took when I visited. Some of my favorites include:

<details>
<summary>Cool pics</summary>
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603517-bb059dec-a708-46d8-a36b-ad62bf60cc2d.jpg" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603530-aec18171-aebc-4947-a31b-8ce03b402567.jpg" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603532-4c88a704-8cb0-4088-bc75-d8f0b33b0554.jpg" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603533-1f28e131-b94f-4d87-a1bb-2e34fe0492ce.jpg" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603535-1ff39c1c-d6a1-4fd9-ba4f-3358e195358d.jpg" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603537-02ff7607-79ae-41ee-a968-a8229f5229ae.jpg" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603540-1454f596-b436-4331-bf1f-472b09f13a4e.jpg" />
<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/199603542-757a40f9-88c7-4dcc-9211-94a09f1391d8.jpg" />
</details>

I haven't yet decided which ones I want to recreate. I'd like to do all of them if I have time but more realistically, I'll have to pick some favorites. I might also pick some from the gallery's website that I didn't see in person.

Additionally, the tutorial I used for the daily render is [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVZL1RrGB_A). I'll probably be using some similar techniques to what I learned there, especially the idea of using a pyro simulation to organically "grow" smaller crystals on the main structure.

## Specification

The main features of this project will include:

- A procedural generator for each type of crystal I want to create, with a global seed that can be used to quickly generate new variations
- A museum-like scene that displays hand-picked specimens from each generator
- Possibly an animation to show off all the specimens in one video

## Techniques

Given my experience with making that one daily render with the red crystals, I'm anticipating heavy usage of Houdini's scattering, noise displacement, and mesh/VDB conversion features. For the shaders, Redshift has helpful built-in features like dispersion and caustics that I will use to add realism and artistic flair to the final renders.

For more specifics, I've watched online tutorials by Entagma for previous daily renders, so I'll probably use [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq2bYZGurzc) to help with the structure of the more jagged crystals. There are plenty of other online tutorials as well, such as [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_koHS7Gcnc) and [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WSUW7L5Pxo). I will probably use a couple of these to get the basics down and then branch off on my own for some of the other crystals.

Other useful links:
- https://www.katexagoraris.com/rock-and-minerals-procedural-modeli
- https://80.lv/articles/breakdown-procedural-crystals-in-houdini

## Design

Each crystal will likely be encapsulated on its own, with its own special generation methods and materials. There may be some nodes reused, like basic stone materials and some intersection analysis ideas, but most of the crystals I want to try will be relatively different from each other.

Then, I'll likely pick some of my favorite specimens from each generator and put them into the museum boxes. The museum scene itself will be relatively simple, with a glass box on a pedestal for each specimen. The lighting will probably be the most important part.

![image](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3106877/200186345-28550aad-4532-42e3-b22f-a832fd800930.png)

## Timeline

### Milestone 1 (11/16)

At the bare minimum, I'd like to have two crystals done (mesh and shading), as well as a glass display case and a rudimentary lighting system. After thinking about it, I believe it would be better to finish one crystal before moving on to the next, rather than first finishing the meshes and then moving on to the shading. That way, I can adjust the number of crystals I plan on finishing if I find I have more or less time than I expected.

The first couple of crystals will likely be based on online tutorials, and then I'll branch out if I have more time. For the lighting, I'll probably look for pictures and/or videos of the Astro Gallery or other gemstone galleries to find what might work well for the museum.

### Milestone 2 (11/28)

After milestone 1, I'm hoping to implement more crystal generators and have some other interesting specimens to show off. I'll also update the museum scene with more detailed shading and lighting.

Other than that, I may look into more complex features like animating crystal growth. But rather than spending too much time on that, I think I would prefer to work on new types of crystals to explore more procedural generation techniques.

### Final submission (12/5)

The last week will be spent polishing the lighting and shading, mostly. If I have time, I'll also try to set up an animaton that pans over multiple rooms with different kinds of crystals.
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