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[ENSONIQ5]

Hi all.  I thought I would post a link to an exercise I have been working on recently, here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eCHCXFYiKJs .  Although it was rigged and rendered in Carrara, the modelling is mostly Anim8or.  Basically it is an exercise in particle generation, trying to get to grips with the many, many settings and variables.  The sound track was constructed from 16 separate audio tracks in Krystal (it's a free download) and needs a bit of adjusting to better demonstrate the approaching/receding effect (ie gets louder and softer, maybe with a bit of Doppler shift).  A final render is planned with full motion-blurring and tweaks to the particle generators to make the streams 'softer' and more realistic-looking, though this is expected to take quite a few days with 3 processors on the job!

[floyd86]

Looks good ensoniq! The particle emitting looks pretty realistic as it would happen in real life.
Only the motor (?) which breaks of and is spinning around looks a bit weird. It should fly to all directions and now it's spinning in place.
Also the camera movement is a bit weird: The first part of the clip the camera movement is really stable like it's shot from a tripod and the second part (at the zoom at 0:10) it more looks like a handheld-camera, with the shakes and zooms. Try making it one of both: stable tripod cam or handheld.

[RudySchneider]

floyd86 ---
I don't completely agree with your assessment.  For one, since the thrust-to-weight ratio of the engine is quite high, its natural tendency is to spin wildly once detached from the body.  This is particularly true if its center of gravity is not in the center of the broken off mass.

And as far as camera movement, the impression I got was that the crash came as a major surprise, so the cameraman had to actually yank the camera off  its tripod mount in order to locate and film the parachute(s) of the ejected pilot(s).

Excellent work, ENSONIQ5!

[ENSONIQ5]

Thanks guys.  The motion was defined by the physics engine, including the engine spin which was more or less a 'happy' accident.  The engine actually strikes the terminal building in such a way as to start it spinning, but once the particle emitter was added the effect did look to me a bit like an out-of-control engine, as RudySchneider suggests, so I figured it could stay that way.  The camera is actually always shaking, it's just more obvious when 'zoomed in'.  The 'shake' system actually moves the whole camera in random directions, which is not really what I wanted.  A more accurate system would be to apply a shake modifier to the camera angles, with the position remaining more or less stable, but so far I haven't had much luck with this (I might have to script something).  If I can get it sorted out the plan is to make it appear the cameraman is almost hit by the debris, and has to duck out of the way, possibly with a "What the f(bleep)..." voice track overlaid, kinda like something you might see on YouTube.  Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

[headwax]

Ensoniq, wow that was just wonderful
Delightful in fact. The spinning engine was the deal maker for me.
You certainly are a master in the art of animation, editing and making movies.
Be good to see you do it full time.

cheers form the dry part of Oz !

[ENSONIQ5]

Thanks Headwax.  Kinda dry down here, raining pretty much constantly but nothing like up north.  Sorry... the topic!  I'd love to do this for a living, so few opportunities though.  I'm working towards a mini-movie, running time something like 15 or 20 minutes, but it is pretty complex and will make use of concepts and tools I am not terribly familiar with, hence 'experiments' like this one.  I now have a better understanding of particles and motion blurring, which was the point of this animation, and with the camera shake and motion update (and possibly green-screening, animated textures and a few other things) there is still much more it can teach me.

[headwax]

Hey, well with your skills, brains and determination  it's definietly do-able.
Have you seen this one man show - ?

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=143650&sid=4129c2ec9cd48db453d0e0410bad04a1

The big advantage yourself and people who have learnt on anim8or that if you need a mesh, then you can conjour one  up or ,morph a pre-made.
Most people use pre made content and haven't had the chance that we had I think.

It's a big plus with computers being so good now too. I' can now render mistakes 10 times quicker than I used to.
Ther's also the chick called Faba/ Eva Vomhoff who has done some great stuff in Carrara - she did the latest image for the loading screen.
If you'd like the link let me know.
She was featured in one or two of those mags I was in

There is a link here - she is interviewed htis month ofr her latest animation  http://www.carrara3dexpo.com/
It's relevant for us cause I think she makes all her own meshes.



cheers for now

looking forward to the next installment on this!

[Indian8or]

Definitely getting there Ensonique.  My only doubt is the movement/spinning of the engine.  After hitting the ground, getting seperated from the wings and fuel supply, can the engine have so much residual fuel left to spin that way?  In my opinion, it will be one big blaze.

Looking forward to the final render.

[lynn22]

That's some dynamic show you've put on !

Green screen / Chroma Key

You will love green-screening, it's easy and greatly reduces render times.
Two of the programs I use (both free) are :

CineGobs Keyer which lets you keep your object's shadow

and Wax

[ENSONIQ5]

Headwax: Thanks for the links, certainly some nice work in there.  Agreed re the mesh thing, I had no idea for ages that pre-made meshes were available... in fact it still feels kinda wrong somehow.  I suppose in the mainstream 3D animation industry the modelling, rigging and keyframing are all done by separate teams, so I guess there is nothing wrong with the e-doll concept, so long as credit is given where due.  Like you I am kinda proud to have come to this hobby via Anim8or, where pretty much everything is 'do it yourself'.  In fact, I don't even use modelling scripts!

Indian8or: Cheers mate.  Funnily enough, the engine's motion (along with almost everything else) was defined by Carrara's physics engine, so in some respects the spinning is actually correct!  In reality it is caused by an oblique collision with the terminal building in the background, it just appears to be caused by the jetting exhaust gas.  If this was to be a 'finished' project I would probably have rehashed the motion for the engine, since it is at least questionable and detracts from the overall effect a bit, but I liked the way the spray came off it and since this was a particle generator test I left it in, more for giggles than any other reason.  I suppose it could be argued that the engines might be slush-hydrogen powered scramjets, and there would be sufficient rapidly-vaporising hydrogen in the pipes or flow regulators or whatever to ignite and blast out the back for a while, particularly if the feed pipe was bent or blocked in the crash and through the engine was the only way for the gas to escape.  I dunno, whatever!

Lynn22:  Thanks for the encouragement and links, I have made a note of them.  I generally use Magix Movie Edit Pro for compositing, which apparently has chroma-key functionality, I just need to figure out how it works.  If it is weak or difficult or just plain dumb I will certainly explore Wax and CineGobs Keyer, both of which look excellent.