Software to help design rock scapes?

Susan Edwards · Jun 19, 2021

anyone use software of any type to design your rock scape? Getting ready in a week or 2 to order my rock (as soon as I decide on tank and order it lols')

I'd like to get some idea before with shape and flow but am not good drawing or painting lol's

Timfish · Jun 19, 2021

I'm not aware of any software specificly for aquascaping. Maybe using landscaping software and using only rocks? Pesoanlly I just use the rule of thirds from photoghraphy. Keep in mind you will have coral growth which will change it over time that needs to be taken into consideration.

Susan Edwards · Jun 19, 2021

Timfish said:
I'm not aware of any software specificly for aquascaping. Maybe using landscaping software and using only rocks? Pesoanlly I just use the rule of thirds from photoghraphy. Keep in mind you will have coral growth which will change it over time that needs to be taken into consideration.

Yep. I sort of know what look I want to go with this time.

Gort · Jun 19, 2021

@Susan Edwards - I haven't seen any software, but this site / page is pretty helpful.

Reef Tank Aquascapes

WVNed · Jun 19, 2021

Play Dough?

It's soft

fishlover1478 · Jun 19, 2021

unity, blender and a ton of time. or maybe just blender I haven't used it a lot but I know it is for making 3d models.

also these could be useful;

Create 3D content with Object Capture - Discover - Apple Developer

Bring your 3D assets to life.

developer.apple.com

Creating 3D objects from photographs | Apple Developer Documentation

Construct virtual objects to use in your AR experiences.

developer.apple.com

I think everything I listed is probably too complicated for just making a aquascape.

fishlover1478 · Jun 24, 2021

oliviamas said:
I think you need custom software for this.

like I said 3d modeling software could work. blender is free and if you wanted to you could also setup something to simulate physics in unity or unreal(I only know of these btw they are game engines)

sp1187 · Jun 24, 2021

Susan Edwards said:
anyone use software of any type to design your rock scape? Getting ready in a week or 2 to order my rock (as soon as I decide on tank and order it lols')

I'd like to get some idea before with shape and flow but am not good drawing or painting lol's

before you buy the rock, take a look at my build thread.
with the stuff I used, if you can envision it, you can make it.

Susan Edwards · Jun 24, 2021

sp1187 said:
before you buy the rock, take a look at my build thread.
with the stuff I used, if you can envision it, you can make it.

Pretty cool!

Susan Edwards · Jun 27, 2021

WVNed said:
Play Dough?

It's soft

I even have play dough for the grandkids lol's.

LegendaryCG · Jul 31, 2021

I’m sure any 3D design tool could work… but that said there’s something about seeing what your rocks look like as to what your going to end up with. Yes you can absolutely smash them and glue them to some special shape but most people don’t invest that kinda time or effort.

Susan Edwards · Aug 1, 2021

LegendaryCG said:
I’m sure any 3D design tool could work… but that said there’s something about seeing what your rocks look like as to what your going to end up with. Yes you can absolutely smash them and glue them to some special shape but most people don’t invest that kinda time or effort.

I thought I was going to do that, but it felt wrong for my rock, so I just created my pieces. Happy with it

ninjamyst · Aug 1, 2021

It depends so much on the shape of the rocks after you break them apart that it's not worth the time to model it out. A lot of the creativity happens in real time.

Susan Edwards · Aug 1, 2021

ninjamyst said:
It depends so much on the shape of the rocks after you break them apart that it's not worth the time to model it out. A lot of the creativity happens in real time.

agree. I had in my mind the look I wanted but with my rock, it was not feasible. Marco yes. Not caribsea or Real Reef

terraincognita · Aug 1, 2021

I think even if there was a software, unless you had a machine that could cut the rock into exact pieces needed to build that scape, you'd have a hard time duplicating it.

I'd say just grab 5-10 pieces of paper, and start sketching.

Look at 5-10 different style of scapes, you have NSA scapes, Island Scapes, Floating scapes all kinds. And then chose some you'd like to see.

Draw up a few different ideas of each type of scape, and narrow in.

That's now I've been happiest with my scapes.

Susan Edwards · Aug 1, 2021

this is what I ultimately came up with.

terraincognita · Aug 1, 2021

Susan Edwards said:
this is what I ultimately came up with.

Looks great!

totally unique as well haven't seen a scape like that.

Susan Edwards · Aug 1, 2021

terraincognita said:
Looks great!

totally unique as well haven't seen a scape like that.

my son in law used Real Reef and the Real Reef branch and his is awesome. I got 55 lbs of the Real Reef rock and used like 1 small piece. I ended up liking the caribsea more. I hope it is enough rock for a 240g. I'll put some of my current rock in the sump and I have some corals on rocks that will go here, in place of the rocks in the back.