FXWARS! Tesla - WGerick - VFXSHOT

#1

Hi there,

this month sounds like a lot of fun, so I’m in. Hopefully, I’ll finish in time.

My background story:

After Teslas death the US government took all of his documents and kept them secret. But during the end of the war, the germans intercepted a secret message and got hold of the plans for a teleportation system invented by Tesla. This system enables humans to travel instantly from one place to another by the use of two tesla coils.

The shot:

You will see a abandoned alley in a military complex with two tesla coils on each side. They will fire up and the flashes will start to shapen the outline of a person. Then the person will appear and walk out of the light and into the alley. The tesla coils will then power down.

I hope it will be sunny on the weekend, because I need a lot of light for my camera… :wink:

#2

This sounds very interesting. Easy to visualize. Good luck with the shoot.

#3

Thaks Terry!

I started modelling the tesla coils. I’m going for a second world war kinda design. Everything is supposed to look quite rotten and rusty…



Here is a first texture test:

I haven’t found the final location for shooting the background plate. This place would do, but I think, there is too much stuff lying aroud. So I’ll keep looking…

I hope you like it!

#4

Looks very nice. Keep rockin!

#5

Great idea for the tesla coil. Solid modeling and texturing so far. Good luck with the camera matching!

#6

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it!

Today the sun finally came out, so I went out to shot my bgnd-plate. Nothing too fancy so far, just a first attempt to see if the day to night conversion is working. The mattes for the sky are not animated yet. After the first cut I added a simple fade out onto the person, well me ;), to check the alignment for the transition effect. I will need to color correct the face and the hand separatly, because they are blown out. But I don’t think this will be too much of a problem, because I’ll add a lot of flashes and glow effects in that scene.

Next up is the tweaking of the night effect and tracking the beginning and end.

I would love to hear some oppinions on the night effects. I could go on forever tweaking the colors, so I could need a fresh impression… Thanks a lot!!

Before:
http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/AllShots_small_00.flv

After:
http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/AllShots_small_CC-Test_00.flv

#7

Looking pretty good so far. I think that the tonal range is about right for a day to night effect, but my eye is wanting to see a little bit of blue tint over everything. Not too much, just a hint.

In that context, I don’t think that your face or hands would really look too blown out… I think they’re just looking too yellow right now, not overbright. In fact, in most day for night effects, highlights are still pretty hot.

Best of luck,

–T

#8

Thanks for the tip, Trey. You are right, the hand and head are way too yellow. I will fix that later on. For now, I just wanted to see, if the day to night conversion is working at all. And I think, it will work out just fine.

So no reshoot for me, but rather some camera tracking. That handheld camera move required a lot of manual tweaking, but here is the first scene:

http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot1_small_MM-Test_00.flv

There is some minor sliding, but it shouldn’t be too noticably, I hope. What do you think?

#9

And the second scene:

http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot3_small_MM-Test_00.flv

#10

Tracking for the second scene is dead-on. I noticed a little jitter and slide in the first one, but I think with motion blur you’ll be fine except for when it slows down right before the end (after the shake smooths out). That slide is the only one I think you’ll see once everything’s married together.

Great camera matching on both!

–T

#11

Thx, Trey. Here is an update for the first scene:

http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot1_small_MM-Test_01.flv

I’ll stabilize the shots later on, after everything is comped in. For now, I’ll finish the day for night look.

#12

Here are the final night shots:

[click thumbs]

#13

Composites and day for night are looking fantastic now. Can’t wait to see the final piece.

–T

#14

Looking very good. Keep up the good job. Waiting for your final entry :slight_smile:

#15

Thanks guys! It’s gonna be a fun ride… :wink:

The texturing is finished. I didn’t tweak it too much, since most of it will be in the dark and only visible for a few seconds, when the flashes appear.

#16

Here is a first test of the Tesla coils in the shot. No lighting, shadows or color matching. It’s just a position and scale test.

I hope you like it!

[click thumb]

#17

Oh god. I start to picture it now. Awesome work:bowdown:

#18

Thanks a lot, Karel!

Here is a first test of the Tesla effect. Nothing tweaked yet and those shiny flying saucers are just position dummies for the tesla coil. It’s just about the level of control of the general movement within the 3D-2D environment.

#19

Hi folks,

another update! Still needs a lot of tweaking and additional elements, but I think, it's getting closer... I finally got the light streaks speed and motion the way I want.

I will add a lot more lightnings, which will start building the outline of the character. Also all the secondary lighting and the reflections needs to be done. On the machines and the environment, which will get tricky. 

[click thumb]
[[img]http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot1_small_03a_0211.jpg[/img]](http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot1_small_03a.flv)
#20

Okay the first scene is almost finished. The secondary lighting on the machine and the environment is still missing completely, and will take some time to do. I will also add some more highlights on the tesla coils. But the overall effect is finished and I’m quite satisfied.

What do you think? I could really need a fresh view on the scene… :wink:

[click picture for flv]