Stargate WIP

[CaptainBarbosa]

Here's an animation test of the event horizon, too. .avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/horitestaa.avi) 1 MB DivX

[gordon-V]

hey barbarossa!
i like the chefronlock! The glow is belevible, just like in the series!

the eventhorizon anim. is good but need some tweeks in colour, depth and cpmplexity.
in my opinion there have to be more floating "bubles"! and dont forget the blue shine behind the eventhorizon!

btw i cant open the first wormholeanim!

i like it, keep it up

greez, gordon

[CaptainBarbosa]

Yeah, I'm having trouble getting rid of the plasticy look on the event horizon. I don't know why you can't open the wormhole video, it downloaded and played fine for me when I tested it.:shrug:

[gordon-V]

how do u create the eventhorizon?

i would ceate a highpoly mesh and controle the animation froma animated displacemnt or bumbmap out of aftereffects combustion etc.

in this way u have full controle about the shader of the eventhorizon and its easaly possible to let shine that blue light from behind through that mesh!

so how u create urs?



ps. can u give me some critics on my projekt, cause nobody replyed my post yet
----> robotmod (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=153&t=463952)

greez, gordon

[Dervish]

its the highlights, a fix would be to apply a nice environment into the reflections instead of the highlights, if you want to wark with highlights tough, make them sharper

[CaptainBarbosa]

Thanks Dervish, I'll try using some HDRI in Yafray so there is an environment to reflect. I'll also increase the hardness on the specularity to make it sharper. Gordon, the event horizon is a set of procedural textures displacing a very high poly circular mesh, pretty much what you said.

[CaptainBarbosa]

Here is the chevron lock with the fixed glass, just for the sake of being able to see things the "right" way. .avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/newchevronlock.avi) 140 kb DivX 6.5

I just started an overnight render on the event horizon with HDRI and sharper highlights, even the still frames already look like they have an extra layer of detail.

[CaptainBarbosa]

Here's the new event horizon. I'm not quite happy with the amount of the new effect, so I'm rendering a new animation with the same probe but with a higher exposure level. .avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/HDRIhorizon1.avi) 960 kb

[Edit] Ah, much better. I love it. .avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/HDRIhorizon3.avi) 1 Mb

[kwood]

I like how everything is comming along, I would love to see a breakdown video when you get it all together.

Are you trying to recreate the whole Stargate effect? Opening of wormhole and travel through it..

Some of the effects they do in the show for the wormhole travel you can do decently easy in most node based compositing packages. i.e Fusion, Shake, etc..

Keep up the goodness.

-Kyle

[CaptainBarbosa]

Are you trying to recreate the whole Stargate effect? Opening of wormhole and travel through it...Yep, that's the idea. Unfortunately I can't afford any expensive compositing sofware like Shake, that's one of the reasons I'm using Blender. Check out the video in my first post to see what I have of the wormhole transit sequence, though.

Here's some early tests I did for the kawoosh using Blender's fluid sim.
.avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/woosh1.avi) 1 Mb
.avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/woosh2.avi) 313 kb

Wish I could find a way to do it with particles, though. Oh well, if the people who make the series are limited to certain camera angles for the kawoosh, I guess I can be too.

[thondal]

hey! nice to see blender user here. Any further on your kawosh effect? i´m doing my first animation right now stickguy vs dragon, so i´m hoping that turns out well.

-thondal-

[kwood]

That fluid sim is looking pretty nice. You could download a trial version of after affects or something similar to do some layer based compositing. It as well has ways of doing different effects. You could take that fluid sim you have and begin manipulating the timing and blending it with the other elements you have created so far.

I can't wait to see the final comp of all of this.

-Kyle

[CaptainBarbosa]

That fluid sim is looking pretty nice. You could download a trial version of after affects or something similar to do some layer based compositing. It as well has ways of doing different effects. You could take that fluid sim you have and begin manipulating the timing and blending it with the other elements you have created so far.

I can't wait to see the final comp of all of this.

-KyleDo you think I'd be able to learn enough of after effects in a month to do what I need? Perhaps I'll put off on a time limited thing like that until I know I'm absolutely ready to composite the effect. Then I'll cram to learn the software and use it before the trial runs out.:D

[Edit] Ditto on your last comment...

[kwood]

Well if you've never done any kind of video editing or compositing it could be kind of frustrating to learn it that quickly. There are a lot of good tutorials and help docs that are on the web and with the software.

If you have done some compositing in the past its just a matter of importing clips and stringing them together. You can get far more complicated then that by pulling keys and mattes and things like that.

For some of the like light strobing effects in the warp you could take a series of lines like a grid or some sort and warp them across the screen, there are a bunch of ways to create that light streak effect that is commonly used. But if you're not to familiar with doing things like that you could do it in your 3d package and render it out as a seperate pass and then in after affects layer them together and do some simple color correction.

Those types of things you can pick up quickly with some basic tutorials. :shrug:

[CaptainBarbosa]

I guess my best bet will be to read up as much as I can before downloading the trial. Thanks for the advice!

Thondal, so far that is all I have of the kawoosh. Since those tests I've moved to a machine with a faster CPU but less RAM, so I'll have to wait to conduct some more high resolution tests. The fluid resolution of those 50 frames you saw is 250, and took overnight to calculate on a 1.8 Ghz AMD 64 with 1.5 Gb memory. My new machine is a 2.4 Ghz Pentium IV, but I only have 512 Mb of RAM at the moment.

[Dervish]

cant agree with kwood on after effects ^.^ its really pretty easy to learn and use, the only hard thing about compositing to know all the tricks about how to produce desired effects, but once ya know that its about the same thing in any compositing software. id just check some after effects forums for some tutorials, that should get ya started pretty quickly.

btw: really nice fluid simulation, didnt know blender has such a thing, its compositor cant be that bad from what i hear recently about blender, seems that package is getting somewhere ^.^

[kwood]

What Dervish said is what I was trying to get across. There are cheats and tricks to get a lot of different effects.

The software itself is pretty straight forward to use (layer based compositing anywas) but if you don't have an understanding of combining images and and why certain artifacts are happening it can be frustrating.

Although, I think there are a lot of key differences between node based compositing and layer based compositing. My experience is intermediate at best with both types but from the time I have spent doing either that's what I have thought about it.

This is all of course my opinion on the subject.

It's just more software to learn :thumbsup:

-Kyle

[CaptainBarbosa]

Duh! *Slaps self in forehead* I forgot about Blender's node based compositing. I'll probably still use After Effects if I can though, if only to gain the experience. (Me wants to work for ILM someday...)

[CaptainBarbosa]

I added a sphere blend texture to affect alpha on the event horizon. The first pic is the old one for comparison. So what do you think?

old (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/oldhorizongate.png)
new (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/ramphorizongate.png)

[kwood]

That looks much better.

How does it look during the animation?

The outside of the stargate seems to be a bit flat compared to the effect. Maybe you could work a bit on the stargates material to get a bit more of a old rock/metal kind of look. Add a bit of bump to the overall surface to give it an aged rock look, maybe?

My thoughts.

-Kyle

[CaptainBarbosa]

There is a vornoi bump, but you can't really see it in that pic. Materials are one of my weak points at the moment...

http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/bump.png

I'll fix the crack bump map eventually so they don't run over the glyphs.

As for the new event horizon, here's an animation test. The first half of the video is just like the picture I posted. In the second half I added in some glow with the video sequence editor. I really like the glow, it makes it look more like the horizon is emitting light rather than reflecting it. .avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/glow.avi) 2 Mb

[kwood]

Great video, I love stuff like that, awesome!

Are you going to build the ramp or anything like that and comp the elements together?

What else are you planning on changing with this?

-Kyle

[CaptainBarbosa]

Yeah, I plan on making the entire gate room. The next step on the gate after I finish the design on the inner ring is going to be making cut-outs for the chevrons to rest in, it's driving me crazy that they aren't there yet. After that I need to do the design on the back of the gate, then modeling of the stargate itself will be finished. I'm glad you liked the video, I may work a bit on the wormhole transit effect next. (BTW, what do you think of the current video of that?)

[kwood]

I like the current video, it very much matches what they have on the show. I am interested in seeing how they look with the opening of the wormhole and the event horizon combined.

Speaking of the show, I noticed that the stargate on the series appears to be a very marble/tile base. If you look at the intro to the 5th/6th season episodes you can see what I mean.

Yours appears to be a solid rock with a bit of bump on it.

-Kyle

[CaptainBarbosa]

It may be a while before you see the combined kawoosh and event horizon effect, as I mentioned before, I'm a bit short on RAM at the moment.:sad: On the plus side, I just got a GeForce 7300 GT today!:)

As for the gate material, do you have any specific suggestions? I'm kind of lost as to what to do at the moment to make it look better, and any tweaks would just be random tinkering. (Like I said, materials aren't my strongsuit.)

I still haven't finished the inner ring design, but I started on the chevron cut-outs anyway. Perhaps I'll post a pic later tonight, but definately by tomorrow. Thanks for all the critiques BTW, they're really helpful.:)

[CaptainBarbosa]

Heh, sorry I'm a bit later then I said. Anyway, here's the new render. link (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/chevron_cut_test.png)

I also made the glyphs just a bit thicker so they stand out more.

[kwood]

Can you render another one of those close up to one area of it?

I'll see if I can give you some info on how to make it feel more like the shows.

-Kyle

[Ashford]

Hi CaptainBarbosa,

If you're chasing an 'accurate' Stargate puddle, you can't really go much better than this similar thread here (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=87&t=139681), where Geoffrey Hancock ("Redfuzz") gives some advice on how he built it for the series.

I'm looking forward to seeing your finished product. :)

Matt

[CaptainBarbosa]

Indeed an interesting read, unforunately it doesn't help much coming from such a drastically different 3D package. I keep the highlight in the middle of the EH by rendering a front view and mapping the render onto a circlular plane in the middle of my gate.:D

kwood, will do. I beveled my glyphs a bit too, and they look tons better! I'm afraid there's too many polys on the other parts of the gate to bevel those as well, Blender just freezes.

[CaptainBarbosa]

Okay, here's a couple of close up shots.
http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/close-up_thumb.png (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/close-up.png)http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/bevel_perspective_thumb.png (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/bevel_perspective.png)

Also a few 'just because' pics with the latest EH.:D


http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/wahoo_thumb.jpg (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/wahoo.jpg)http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/wahoo2_thumb.jpg (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/wahoo2.jpg)http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/wahoo3_thumb.jpg (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/wahoo3.jpg)

[CaptainBarbosa]

I have *finally* finished filling in the inner ring detail of the gate.

front (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/ring_done1.png)
side (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/ring_done2.png)

[CaptainBarbosa]

Will update soon, I've started on the little greeble bits in the chevron cutouts.

http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/greebles_thumb.jpg (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/greebles.JPG)

[CaptainBarbosa]

I'm pretty much done with the greeble work on the front, so now I have to model the back of the gate.

http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/gateback_thumb.jpg (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/gateback.jpg)

[Edit] I took the bump texture off of the naquadah because it looked like crap. Any idea why I have these triangular artifacts on my chevrons?

http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/artifact_thumb.png (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/artifact.png)

[blastzone]

good to see the blender community still alive and kicking. i started out in blender all those years ago :p what i would say is, a common blender problem is un beveled edges. you might want to try it on some of the edges to make it feel a little more real. :) nice work though

[CaptainBarbosa]

Yeah, I have been beveling a bunch of those edges lately. No pics right now though, my computer is out of commission for a day or two while I wait to get some new RAM. (I had to send the RAM I was using back to newegg, so my Blendering machine is without memory.):sad: I've also started working on a dial sequence, I'm looking forward to rendering that.:)

[CaptainBarbosa]

It took two days to render, but I finally have a dial sequence ready for critique!:bounce: I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.:D .avi (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/dial_sequence.avi) 2 MB XVid codec.

[CaptainBarbosa]

Grr, having some troubles getting the cavity for the back right where it meets up with the chevron cutouts...

pic (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/stair3.PNG)

Just so you know I'm still working on it...;)

[CaptainBarbosa]

After some more little greeble bits on the outermost ring and an iris, modeling on the gate will be done!:bounce:

front (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/front_done.png)
back (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/back_done.png)

I know I had a big animation planned, but after I get some good materials on things I think I'm going to lay down this project for an indefinite period of time. It takes up a lot of my time, and there are lots of other things I could be learning about Blender. I'll still pick away at it over time, but it won't be a huge focus anymore, at least not for a while.

[kwood]

Glad to see you got the modeling done!

Hopefully you'll be able to post up something with final materials and an animation in the future. I know I can't wait to see it whenever you do.

-Kyle

[CaptainBarbosa]

Thanks a lot for the support!:) I think my next project is going to be the obligitory car tutorial, a Nissan 350z (http://www.3dm3.com/tutorials/maya/350z/), as I've already fulfilled my chess set and wine glass quota.:rolleyes:

[marty-bett]

hey i havent watched stargate in a while but y didnt the bottom 2 lights light up wen it was dailing?

[CaptainBarbosa]

7 chevrons are used when dialing a normal gate address. 6 points in space are needed to determine the final location of the destination (think of dots on the center of the faces of a cube. Connect the dots directly across from each other with lines and you get the location in the center of the cube.) The 7th chevron is the point-of-origin, where you start your trip from. When dialing an intergalactic address, the 8th chevron is used to add an extra distance calculation, kind of like a stellar area code. The purpose of the 9th chevron is unknown, and debated among fans.;) Most gate addresses just use 7 chevrons, though. See here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_%28device%29#Addresses).

[GUIVANT]

Always wanted to do a STARGATE Shortfilm but never found the right people to work on the gate... Thanks for posting the demo.

[CaptainBarbosa]

No problem.:) I forgot to post an AO only render without my ugly materials.:sad:

3000 x 1500 (http://uploader.polorix.net//files/19/gate_ao.jpg)

Still haven't finished up the last little bits in all this time, I've been distracted with other things.:D

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