CGTalk - Mustang Animation

ChrisWatkins

01-11-2003, 08:22 PM

Im looking at making a new demo reel that'll be focused around my mustang model (http://www.3dchisel.com/mustang.html)

In storyboard I have it racing across an empty Golden Gate bridge on a rainy night. A rainy, foggy night I think will give the most visually dynamic look to the piece, but it'll also be rough so Im hoping some of you can pitch in with tips. My forte is modeling so animation and effects are where I need the most help.

Effects: I've never even touched particles before and I imagine I'll need em at least for water spray off the tires and body of the car. I dont have a clue what to do here so hints and links to tutorials would be very welcome.

I've looked at some of the other cloud posts and I think I know how I'll handle some of the low cloud fog (maybe)

Falling rain... I dont have a clue where to start here.

Animation: I've got the body of the car rigged to one dummy and the four tires linked to two dummys. (though I just realized they probably each need their own too so the wheels can turn properly) Anyone think this will be the right way to go for animating the shifting of weight on the body, torque, and tire turning?

Is there a way to automate the secondary animation of the antenna as the top wiggles from the movement of the car?

How can I simulate vibration? If the car is idle it should be vibrating a little. Would a noise motion controller on the dummy be sufficient? Can this also simulate camera shake, as in say the car zooms past a street level camera, I'd want that effect. I think its called a gimble or something on real cameras.

Video post: There are a lot of lights on the bay bridge and I imagine I would want alot of the bright whites to get blurred and maybe have a subtle starburst effect. Any idea how much time in general video post adds to the overall render time? Is it relatively quick or slow?

ok thats a ton of questions. I'll be doing my own research and experimentation of course, but Im hoping to get some tips along the way. Any help is much appreciated.

Cryptkeeper

01-12-2003, 02:55 PM

omg, me with 2 posts in a day? unfanthonable :P

lets see what i can say.

1) yes learn particles, not only are they powerful, but they add so much that ins normally lacking, HOWEVER, anything you CAN do in post, do it, so you dont have to re-render. (trick i kinda use) dont have any links to tutorials, but this is how i would do spray on the car, make a rain particle system, with a) drops or b)rain"lines" texture. make a rough shape of the car (close as you can on the top areas, and make that a deflector, and turn it invisible. that should be great for the rain "hitting" it. also, for your cars tires, and the water coming off the ground, make 2 superspary particles behind the back tires and link them.

a simple tutorial I wrote: http://www.graphic-forums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4497 It's for smoke, but mabey you can modify it to your use.

2)falling rain i just said.

3) animation, maxscript my friend :D if you are not a coder, im sure you can find a script on the net for tires to rotate, animate your car, and the amount it moves forward the tires turn a number of %. same goes with turning. I remember something about a plugin that you can pretend to drive your car with a joystick, and that captures all data. (dont remember what its called/if its free)

4)use flex modifier for your atenna

5)yes use noise, but also for even a tad more realism add noise to the noise (dont have it evenly shaking I mean, sometimes it shakes, sometimes it dosent) but unless you are very close there is like a 75% chance you wont have to do it.

6)_IF_ you have access to combustion (or a video composition suite) which has 3dmax capibilities (.r??) (my brain no workie) do your glows in post. make the bulbs 100 self illuminated, white/yellowish and a unique material ID. renderthese layers: material id, depth and any extras you want. use the material id to add the glow in post, and size with z-buffer info. the reason is 1) its fast, 2) you can see it in real time (or as fast as your computer is) 3) its easier, and way cooler ;)

7) ok there is no 7, so blargh :beer:

Ok, before you complain, yes I know my english is horrible, (and even though it is the ONLY language i know) thats why i dont post often :P

also I am not half as good as some of the people here, but these are MY teqniques and not the only ones.

Cryptkeeper

01-12-2003, 07:57 PM

ok.... I just reread my post and it seems like I makes no sence. thats what a lack of sleep does.

Dont try this at home kids.

Cryptkeeper

01-15-2003, 01:26 AM

Did any of it help?

mlabrams

01-15-2003, 01:36 AM

lol it helped me and i didnt even ask the question, some good stuff there,

ChrisWatkins

01-15-2003, 01:40 AM

Im still building my bridge and not getting a ton of time to spend on it, so we'll see. I'll let ya know

So far it looks like great stuff

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