OK, I’m in…
Won’t have time for scientifically accurate stuff. I’m just going to eye it, and hope I can get at least the Visual Effects award, for my comps.
Planning on just a Saturn 5 launch, maybe a re-entry, and I would really like to try and Splash down… but again, all time permitting.
Heres my matte painting for the Second shot I plan on doing. A helicopter filming of a launch. And I’m aware they wouldnt allow aircraft in the area when it launches…
This is already camera projected on a nurbs plane, so I can add some pitch or pivoting to the camera. Going to add a vertical pan and follow the rocket up.
Plate on the left is orignal. On the right, extended the sky, added a curve to the horizon (I know its a little much, but, I think it helps feel the hieght of the camera) Also painted out the Saturn 5 rocket, and the cars.
Working on the smoke sim already. Shading that is going to be a bitch! I’ve never done very volumetric smoke before.
haha thanks PixelMagic
this will be my mask, for a reflection pass on the water surfaces, should help bring this still to life…
That’s great! Dynamic helicopter shots always increase the opportunity for Visual Effects awards, right? What resolution is the matte painting? (Just out of curiosity)
tdamcbigity, 1154 tall x 1024 wide…
not nearly as close as I would like it to be, but hey, that’s what you get for downloading a picture off a website.
Ok, since I was so intimated by the other smoke sims some of you guys are doing, I thought I would get my layout, and rough animation plate done.
http://scottagecheese.com/images/fxwars/moon/layout.avi (600k)
I used a still, extended the horizon and sky in Photoshop, then camera mapped the image, so I had some room for a camera move. And made a cloud reflection pass on the water, damn compression, may not see it…
Tower, pad, and Rocket are not even textured or lit yet. And the smoke will be the last thing I do.
The shot prior to this, which I hope I have time for, will be the initial launch, and rising of the rocket, timing looks fast in this, but the shot before will show it starting to rise.
looking good! can I suggest one thing? make it a night scene, night launches are ALWAYS more dramatic and beautiful 
Also helps when it comes down to lighting. Just like 20 or so spot lights and you’re set Most of which are just for spot illumination of the launch vehicle.
Yeah Admiral, thought about it, but then I remind myself, that I’ve already come this far on this one… and A night time shot would require more difficult smoke pass, with the light illuminating the inside, also, other lights, would be cool to see a bunch of headlights in the distance from cars park on the outskirts… but anyways…
Sorry, not gonna happen, I have too much to do, can’t go back…
yea, I understand that very well - I had to rebuild my designs like 4 times until I came up with one I actually liked. And if this one is the one you think will best suit you, well then power to ya One thing to keep in mind, when the liftoff occures, the rocket is slow, but gradually gains speed, the one you’ve got now seems to have a very constant speed.
Yeah I see what you mean by the speed… I got time to change it…
so here would be my shot_003… a shot of a camera trying to track the rocket… (ONLY IN LAYOUT STAGE AT THIS POINT) just trying to get camera and timing right… NO FX yet… or even a textured and lit rocket…
I’m going for that grainy, blurred, zoomed in feel… I need to add those 2 black vertical and horizontal lines the cameras had back then.
http://scottagecheese.com/images/fxwars/moon/layout_003.avi (400k)
And once I get the composite going, I’ll scrap the “Anime” sidescroll clouds, and add patches and pockets of cloud.
The camera movements you’ve done are great. Did you do the camera’s “shake” in post?
Yeah… I’ll render everything with a static camera, and then add 2 camera shake nodes in Shake… One with a low frequency and a high amplitude, and the second, a high freq with a low amp… to help give it that hand held feel…
I like doing stuff this way, cuz i do a lot of roto in post, and it helps if stuff is static, and i can add cam movement later… saves a lot of time… for fixes…
Ok, worked on this one a little more last night, Gonna put it aside, and add all the “icing” later. Maybe spend more time on the fall off of the flame… maybe add a cloud or two in the foreground that it lit by the rocket…
I toned down the grain a bit, it felt like i was cheating, trying to distract the viewer from my mistakes… hahaha
heres the animation…
http://scottagecheese.com/images/fxwars/moon/Shot_003.avi (500k)
So this is shot_003… time to start 001…
Looking good. You gonna have any kind of space shot? HAHA…send me an angel! But no, seriously…I know of this cool aluminum shader you could use on a lot of stuff.
Hey guys,
I don’t have any screenshots to post (work is at home), but wanted to say that I am helping scott with the moon landing shots. He’s working in Maya but the moon stuff will be done in Max. Will post some stuff asap.
peace,
Angel