CgTalk:FXWars! Roller Coaster Challenge:3

#1

OK Guys, post a link to your thread with your FINAL entry.

Looking for a team?
Click >>Here<<

CgTalk:FXWars! Roller Coaster!
BY ROR

\Roller coaster\

An amusement railroad in which cars coast by gravity over a
long winding track, with steep pitches and ascents.

THE CHALLENGE:
Create a working modern Roller Coaster (made out of wood or steel) that should be gravity based. For added effect the cars coaster should have at least two vagons. The launching can be high speed or a more traditional slow speed climb.

The best animation will be selected by an open vote
for these categories:
[ul]
[li]Best Simulation[/li][li]Best Animation[/li][li]Best Trill Ride (NEW!)[/li][li]Best Design (NEW!)[/li][li]Best Overall Entry[/li]

[/ul]The winner will get bragging rights and a small banner
designed by me.

DATELINE: Monday December 6th 12:00 PM

YOU HAVE One month and two weeks to do the challenge.

CHALLENGE SPECIFIC RULES:
[ul]
[li]No Keyframes, they can only be used for the initial trigger events. But please feel free to use dynamic simulations to your hearts content. (Baked simulations are allowed).[/li][li]No work taken DIRECTLY from an exiting tutorial. You may use an existing tutorial only for reference. [/li][li]You may use a pre exiting models, and you may base your coaster on existing coasters, as long as you give credit to the creator. If you cant model, use simple shapes, since we are interested in the simulation. (But teams are encouraged, and if you are a modeller, you can make your model available). But creativity will be rewarded on the design of the coaster.[/li][li]You may provide a heavily edited animation with all the trimmings (hell add live action if you want), as long a you provide another PLAIN wireframe animation of the simulation at work. [/li][/ul]GENERAL RULES:
[ul]
[li]The animation and simulation must have been done AFTER the topic has been[/li]announced.
[li]WIP are encouraged if they are posted in ANOTHER[/li]thread. Please provide a link to them on this thread.
[li]WIP thread should be posted on the FXWARS Forum forum and should follow[/li]the following naming convention:
[color=cyan]FXWars! Roller Coaster!: MY NAME [/color]
[li]It is Recomended that Final movies should be rendered at 320 x 240 or 640 x 480 in Quicktime* format (Sorenson Compression), but other resolutions and formats are allowed. * The animation format is open for discussion.[/li][li]The animation should follow the following naming convention:[/li]MYNAME_[b]FXWARS/b.mov. And please add your name at the beginning and end of the animation, and if you can, also add a small non disruptive watermark during the animation.
[li]If for some reason, you can’t host movies, sequential images (Thumbnails size 160 x 120 ) are accepted. [/li][li]Please add a brief text description about your piece. [/li][li]The artist also has to post total length of time it took and program used. [/li][li]Collaborative pieces are accepted and encouraged, but Teams entries must have a identifying banner and a name. Shot lists should be included with the entry. [/li][li]Individuals participating in a team CAN have their own individual entries.[/li][li]The topics will be picked at random from the list on[/li]this [color=cyan]>>thread << (The author will be given credit). So
guys keep them coming. [/color]
[li]Post on this thread your link to your WIP thread and your FINAL piece.[/li][li]You can add multiple entries, as long as they have different WIP threads.[/li][li]Only participants who follow the rules and submit a final entry will be elegible for the voting process.[/li][li]Any piece caught breaking the rules will be taken[/li]off the thread.
[/ul]Reference:

http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/
http://www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/projects/frig/yepbyrji/coaster.html
http://www.vast.org/vip/book/SIMPLECO/HOME.HTM
http://www.cinternet.net/~bowersda/glossary.htm
http://www.reliance.com/news/press_releases/press_hulk_03.html

Videos

http://www.kendenton.org/COASTERS/VIDEO/index.html
http://www.coasterimage.com/rollercoastervideos.htm
http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/

Top 10 coasters
http://themeparks.about.com/cs/coasterbooks/a/bestcoasters.htm

http://www.aceonline.org/

Rollercoaster Construction

http://www.montanarusa.com/english/coaster_construction.htm

History

http://rollercoaster.thrillnetwork.net/
http://www.me.utexas.edu/~uer/roller/history.html

http://www.intel.com/education/projects/wildride/learning/rctable.htm
http://www.intel.com/education/projects/wildride/learning/rctable.htm

[color=white]-R

[/color]

#2

I am in!
This time for sure you will all see the power of HOUDINI…

#3

very very cool idea…imo

good luck all

#4

Roberto,

The deadline is incorrect. It should be Dec. 6th.

#5

Fixed!

-r

#6

I love watching roller coasters. This should be exciting. Good luck to everyone who plans on entering.

#7

“No Keyframes”

So the driving of the wagons itself need to be also done just with dynamics. No path animation?

André

#8

Sweet!

My son is all about designing roller coasters, so maybe I can recruit him to help on this one.

#9

one question, you said no keyframes, so if I am max user i should use Reactor?

This will be great

#10

YES! no keyframes at all

All dynamically simulated!
But I guess there must be some sort of forces initially to get the simulation going.

#11

This is gonna kick butt! I love coasters. I can’t wait to see all the cool entries. Good luck to everyone! :thumbsup:

#12

haha this ones going to be awsome!!

#13

What’s the obsession with not allowing keyframes for these challenges? I just don’t see the point of this stipulation. In a production situation, no supervisor is going to say “make this scene look really cool, but the director doesn’t want ANY keyframes”. The objective should be to make the shot look cool…how you get there shouldn’t matter.

#14

Any rule is open for discussion.

You make a good argument against one, and Ill consider it.

Belive it or not, the no keyframes rules is mostly to make people
get very familiar with the simulation engines (and the event tiggers)
of their apps.

-R

#15

Can you use expressions for things such as keeping the wheels on the track?

#16

I see no problem with that.
Actually it is the kind of thing I am aiming for.

-R

#17

I completely agree with the “no keys” rule. This is an FX challenge, and to make a simulated rollercoaster actually work is pretty cool. Keying it could “look” cool, but it wouldn’t be as impressive…y’know…metaphysically or somthing.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

#18

Ok, if the rule says no keyframes, i accept this.

But imagine! You´ll have to develop a COMPLETE WORKING rollercoaster! I don´t know how much time the engineers need to develop one that really works (enough velocity for the looping, then the 360° spin and again up a hill…).
Hehe, this will be a good challenge! :slight_smile:
I´ll have to check if I can join again.

André

#19

The other thing about No Keyframes is that it actually can be very beneficial in a production environment…it keeps things procedural and very flexible. And believe it or not its very common. Since shots are always changing (its so common for a director to say…hmmm…lets make that like this instead)…and if you have keyed everything that can often mean starting from scratch…but if on the other hand it was procedural/rule/event based then you can often make the change and everthing adjusts itself. Of course good keyframing on top of that can never hurt.

As to the question about what to do in Max without using keyframes there are a lot of options: Reactor, particles, or scripting…are the most obvious.

#20

Sure, rule based simulations have immense advantages. They´re very flexible and I like to use them, too.

But often the director says:“Ok, it´s physical correct but… I want more action at this point. The “reality” is too boring. Can´t you make the rollercoaster spinning two times when it is flying off the track?” Or somthing like this.
So you have to think about: Do you want a physical correct simulation or something which is just looking good (but also beliveable)? If you want both, then the trouble starts :slight_smile:

André