Small Sequence Packs In The Action (August 17, 2007)

ChrisReid

ChrisReid

Super Soaker Collector / Administrator
gr1mre4per has a neat little clip to show off that he constructed in Lightwave. The scene is just 18 seconds long, but the animation is smooth and the camera moves realistically in sync with the action. Appropriate music and sound effects add to the atmosphere as well. The ships were extracted models from WC3, except for the Excalibur which was modeled by Alan Hart. I would love it if people would turn stuff like this into full fledged projects. Check out the video here (1.7 megs, DivX or VLC).




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Original update published on August 17, 2007
 
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Hey, really neat!
Love the camera motion, very smooth tracking, stylish but not disorienting.
Only nitpick would be the explosions, but hey, its a test.
 
Thanks guys, didn't expect to see this on the news when I logged on this morning.

ChrisReid, thanks and your wish is my command. I've just dug out the source files for my scene and going to get modifying and updating.
 
That's really good to hear. The original clip is really well done, so we wanted to show it to others.
 
gr1mre4per, is there any chance when you compile your extended version and/or any other other sequences of possibly rendering them at a higher resolution, say 720p (1280x720)? I realise this will require much more processing power and thus significantly extend the render time, so it's perfectly understandable if this isn't viable on your current setup at the moment.

It would be cool to see a high-res video of this calibre, especially given the fast-paced action and cinematic flair you've shown briefly!

Either way, I can't wait to see what you come up with. :)
 
BrynS

Ive just read your post, and i'm happy to say i've already begun rendering in 720p! I've upgraded my PC twice since I first started this scene, so it won't take as much time now.

I've been painstakingly rebuilding thoes "2" scenes with better techniques, less cartoony colours and using a composition technique described by Kelly Myers, who has done alot of the Re-Imagined Battlestar Galactica CGI. - This tutorial also explains that galactica cgi is rendered in 720p then "sized up" to 1080p to remove the hard computer edges, so i'll give that a try when I composite the whole thing.

I suffered a bit of a setback which i've now resolved, but waisted a day of work. The laptop i'm working on while i'm away from home keeps crashing Lightwave every time I load a scene. Anyways, thats resolved and I transfer my finished scene files back to my pc at home and render it over night. So I can now rebuild the 2nd part of my first scene then begin building the rest. I just need to figure out how to make a good explosion and a WC jump point.

Off to bed now, i'll update you later this week.
 
Small Update

I've been working on Jump Point effects and have come up with a first test render, which I'm actually quite happy with. I think its turned out quite well for a first test.

I didn't want to copy the wc3/4 jump point exactly, but make it quite similar. Instead of making it grow out and then shrink back in, I though I would make it kind of explode out and then fizzle out. I intend to make the opening of the jump point a little more flashy, but I haven't added any light effects at all yet, this is just particles.

Tell me what you think.

This small scene also shows the new star field background I'll be using. Not quite so bright.

Thanks
 
Looks good, even without any light effects. Do you plan to render a similar 'bursting' of light as seen in the WC movie jump sequence (282kb / 2 seconds)?

One thing I would suggest, is to perhaps add more definition to the mass of white particles near the entry by giving it more depth via a conical swirl or something similar, as per the other attached image.

The starfield seems fine too. I personally don't mind whether you opt for a darker space background in the vein of WC3 or a brighter one as per WC4 and as your first sample used. Although it was probably due to the amount of compression in your first sample, I did find the starfield 'flicker' quite glaring -- perhaps some motion blur at times would help? Are you planning to add a large light source (e.g. sun/nearby star) and/or some distant background nebulas or other doodads?

Anyway, good luck!
 

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I did try a volumetric spotlight effect to be similar to the movie, but it didn't look right last weekend so i'll have another bash this weekend. The same effet i'm hoping will have the effect of giving the white centre a more defined edge, although i'm not too sure yet.

I havn't planned to add any extra space effects at the moment, but I am adding to the scenes all the time. A sun I did think of once, but nowhere in the scene does the camera point at the light source (at the moment). Nebulae i can look at. I'me still rebuilding what i've done, which is quite hard at the moment because something I did then keeps causing lightwave to crash now. But its mostly done now.
 
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