How to make Calvary Hill on Bryce

Last night, after posting the "How to make a 3D snowflake on Bryce" tutorial, I had a burst of inspiration. I was too excited to wait until the next day to try it out, so I stayed up late making this:

Now I'll show you how I made it. I used the same technique described in the "How to make a 3D snowflake on Bryce" tutorial. If you haven't already, read that tutorial first, so you can understand the basics before reading this tutorial. (I won't give as many specific instructions in this tutorial; just the general steps.)

Part 1: Photoshop


Open Photoshop.

Create a new layer.

With the Paint Bucket tool, fill the background layer with black.

On the new layer, use the rectangle tool to create two white rectangles, overlapping like a cross.

Save the file as a JPEG.

Part 2: Bryce


Open Bryce. Create a symmetrical lattice.

Open the editing window.

Upload the cross picture and click "Apply".

Exit the editing window. Flatten, resize, rotate, move, etc. to get the size, proportions, and position you want.

In the Materials Library, select "Cedar wood". If you want, you can render the image and see what that looks like.

Create a new terrain, and make a flat hill. (I hope to create a tutorial sometime soon with more details on how to edit terrain in Bryce.)

If necessary, resize the hill to get the proportions you want.

Move the cross.

Duplicate the cross.

In the "Sky & Fog" menu at the top of the screen, enter the Sky Lab. Then open the Sky & Fog Library.

In the Sky & Fog Library, choose the "Golden Haze" sunrise.

A test render will show something like this:

In the Sky & Fog menu, you can adjust the position of the sun to get it right where you want it.

After adjusting the sun and moving the camera to your liking, you can then get a finished result something like this:

A final side note...


Art is something God created. It is unfortunate and sad that many kinds of art, including 3D computer art, are often used for dark, disturbing, sensual, and evil purposes. Let's remember that even 3D art can be used in a way that glorifies God, and showcases light, hope, and beauty -- in the way he sees it!