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.
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.
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[[img]http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot1_small_03a_0211.jpg[/img]](http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot1_small_03a.flv)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… 
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nice. the one on the rightseems still slightly bright all around (instead of just light coming from the electrical centered in the middle). good wip though, i wanna see it finished:wavey:
I really like how the lightning is shaping up in yours. It’s tuned really well! Probably the best arcs I’ve seen in the challenge so far.
I think there’s something off with the brightness though (as mentioned above)… it’s not marrying to the scene as well as it could… maybe flicker a pool of bounce light on the ground?
Keep it up!
Thanks guys!
I darkened the background and the tesla coils a little bit more, so the contrast to the lightning effects is stronger. The scene is working much better now.
As I said, the lighting from the lightnings on the machine and the environment are missing completely. Right now I’m rendering some additional lighting and shadow passes. But they won’t be finished until tomorrow. Then I will also add the light on the ground. Hopefully this will be the last thing for this scene. But I guess not!
Still a lot to do…
Here is an update for the first scene. I will call it finished for now. There are still some things, I would like to tweak, but time is running short. I will start working on the second scene now and hopefully finish everything in time.
I finally added the lighting for the environment and the machine. What do you think?
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Your work looks absolutely stunning. People like you are the ones who make me want to learn CG.
How did you make those electric bolts flying around?
Are you planning to add any sound? I just imagine the violent and loud crack sounds when these lightning streaks are colliding together 
Thanks for the replies, guys! I’m glad you like it.
All the bolts are completely done in post. There are two kinds of bolts. The ones travelling over the ground and building the outline of the person are the "ZapTo"-plugIn from sapphire. All the others are "PlasmaBolts" from the SpeedSix-PlugIns.
I basically use three kinds of system:
The bolts traveling between the tesla coils have their start and end point hooked up to the 2D-position of different 3D-locators. After tracking the shot and positining the tesla coils, I added several 3D-trackers at important points in the scene. These points are driving all the origins of the bolts.
I also added an expression to drive the brightness of the bolts between the coils. That way they will fade in and out when they switch their position.
[img]http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/Bolt_WIP_03.jpg[/img]
The bolts without endpoints are also PlasmaBolts. They are masked halfway through. Their endpoint is positioned out of screen and is not moving. That way, the endpoint will not be influenced by the shaking of the camera.
[img]http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/Bolt_WIP_02.jpg[/img]
The "ZapTo"-bolts take an image's luminance or alpha as input. The bolts are then drawn to the area of high luminance or opaque alpha.
I hope, I'm making sense... ;)Also, a small update for today. Rotoing is finished! Some small errors, but it will work, I think.
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Hi there,
long time no update, but that second scene really gave me a headache. Well, it didn't turn out the way I thought it would... ;) But there is still a third scene, that needs to be done, so I have to move on.
Here is an update. Right now, there are only lightnings in the scene, that shape the person. There will be more in the final version. It's all not yet finished, but almost. I really don't know what to think of it...
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[[img]http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot2_small_Effect-Test_14_0229.jpg[/img]](http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/shot2_small_Effect-Test_14.flv)I just spent a bit of time getting caught up on your wip. It really is shaping up to be a very interesting entry. Good luck at getting that 3rd shot finished.
Thanks Terry! I hope everything works out.
Here is a more tweaked version. I’m still not satisfied with the effect on the head. But tracking it is not an option at this point. And I doubt the result would be too good. Anyway…
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I alsmost finished the second scene. There is still one lightning going crazy, but the rest is okay. Still some minor tweaks to do…
I hope you like it.
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Thanks guys!
Here is the finished second scene. I tweaked the lightning and also added another lighting pass for the ground light. The scene is a little bit more dramatic now…
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Here is a first version of the last scene. Still a lot to tweak, especially the lighting and shadows. Also several lightnings are still missing. Right now I tried using several keyers to isolate me, which is not working too good. Maybe I will roto the person if I find the time.
What do you think? I hope the overall flow of the scenes is working...
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[[img]http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/Shot3_AssemblyTest_01_0043.jpg[/img]](http://www.derwanja.de/CG/tesla/Shot3_AssemblyTest_01.flv)