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A Darkened Moon started
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A Darkened Moon started // Work in Progress
Post by 3dpdk // Aug 20, 2006, 10:45am
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3dpdk
Total Posts: 212
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OK everyone, here's a glimpse at what I've begun. Take a look. Remember, this is a first render and timing test. All the sequences were rendered with adaptive antialiasing so the star field sparkles a bit. Level 2 will solve that. The audio is also low res so there's a bit of noise in the base range. There's more text in the "transmit" sequence but I wanted to get the timing right first.
first time I've tried this type of attachment so we'll see if it works.
http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l287/3dpdk/?action=view¤t=Title2.flv
http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l287/3dpdk/?action=view¤t=Title2.flv
This is a still from the "missing" sequence at the end, but the planet flyby is a three day render so I'll correct it later.
Comments please!:)
Paul |
Post by MadMouse // Aug 20, 2006, 11:54am
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MadMouse
Total Posts: 1069
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WOW Paul looks really great, very professional. A little slow maybe and a tad dark but very atmospheric. Reminds me of the opening sequence of 2001 a space odyssey. (Not the bit with the monkeys BTW;)) I could hear fanfare for the common man in my head. Cant wait to see more.
Steve |
Post by GraySho // Aug 20, 2006, 1:32pm
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GraySho
Total Posts: 695
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I too think it has to speed up a bit, it looks like it's stretched to get more screentime. I like the planet flyby and the moody soundtrack. The spaceship/station could use dirtmaps or something to break up the flat looking areas. I don't know if the facetted look is intended, if not you should smooth out the tank-like things of the spaceship.
I really like what you have done so far, just some bits to improve. Keep it coming ;) |
Post by 3dpdk // Aug 20, 2006, 2:25pm
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3dpdk
Total Posts: 212
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Good comments!
The darkness is something the video host has done to my upload. The copy I have on my system is a little brighter. The glow from the flashing red light can be seen from the very start in the original but seems barely perceptible in the one on the host site. Also, the part that is missing brightens up a lot because the camera has come all the way around to the sunny side of the moon.
I thought, in keeping with the theme of the story I might start in the bright light and circle around to the "darkened" side to sort of set the mood. Most of the story is about survival on that moon while it's in the shadow of the gas giant it orbits.
The speed is something I was worried about. I wrote the music before I did the animation. Clearly not the best way to do it! I could speed the music up but its timed very carefully with the echo/reverb. I can remove one note from the chord sequence and lose about 30 seconds total. I may have to do it that way.
Does the WHOLE thing seem to drag, or just a part of it?
GraySho; none of this is written in stone. The "bottles" were originally smooth and had a shiny aluminum texture. Adding the ribs was an attempt to break up all the smooth surfaces and to try to reveal the scale. Smooth bottles look a lot smaller than what this is supposed to be. I justified the ribs figuring it would be difficult to make something so huge with a smooth round surface.
Dirt maps might be a good idea! What kind of dirt would it pick up in space? Maybe a few dings here and there from stray asteroids, what do you think?
Paul |
Post by brianalldridge // Aug 20, 2006, 8:05pm
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brianalldridge
Total Posts: 397
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Reminds me of the opening sequence of 2001 a space odyssey
I would consider that an insult:p
Nice animation btw, could use to be a little faster though |
Post by GraySho // Aug 21, 2006, 4:03am
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GraySho
Total Posts: 695
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The dirt it picks up depends on the action the ship is going throug. Does it land on planets from time to time, or is it just in low/high orbit? A suggestion of dark streaks, dustpatterns or similar would look nice. Don't overdo the effect, sometimes slight irregularities on the surface look more natural. If you use a procedural cloud or marble texture with low contrast in a second layer, you won't even have to have a good uv-map. Try to google for pictures of the ISS to get ideas.
The timing...normally the score is written when the the editing and timing of the movie is more or less set in stone. I don't think it is necessary to rewrite it, but fade it out earlier when the introduction is over. Just grab a DVD of a movie you like and check out their intro's to get a sense of timing (initial credits). You have to keep the audiences' eye and mind interested if you want them to watch further ;). |
Post by Matski007 // Aug 21, 2006, 12:10pm
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Matski007
Total Posts: 539
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as long as it were brighter then i think there is enough going on to make the slow pace justifiable if you ask me, i love the atmosphere you have created with this piece and i cant wait to see it finished |
Post by splinters // Aug 21, 2006, 12:59pm
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splinters
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I would consider that an insult:p
Considering your age Brian, I will overlook that comment and presume you are so over-exposed to modern CGI that you are unable to look at the film objectively and appreciate it for the visual masterpiece it is....tut, tut. |
Post by brianalldridge // Aug 21, 2006, 8:15pm
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brianalldridge
Total Posts: 397
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Considering your age Brian, I will overlook that comment and presume you are so over-exposed to modern CGI that you are unable to look at the film objectively and appreciate it for the visual masterpiece it is....tut, tut.Considering that I get bored after watching a guy turn different colors for over 30 minutes and that there's barely a hint of a plot that you would have to be high to fully appreciate, I would say I found it rather dull, though the visual were ahead of their time and quite beatiful if that's what you meant to say, but I can't stand the absolutely slow pace it moves at. |
Post by 3dpdk // Aug 21, 2006, 11:13pm
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3dpdk
Total Posts: 212
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Please let me nip this in the bud before it get's out of hand.
Splinters; Absolutely an exceptional work of art and a forerunner of filming techniques (slit matt and traveling slit matt time lapse - responsible for the "light trip" Brian is complaining about) never before herd of at that time, something I studied intensely while in art school in the early '70s.
In 1969 and 70, 2001 ASO was THE most realistic "space" movie made up to that date. The producers were extremely careful to stay true to Arthur C. Clark's original story and to present a totally believable near future i.e. no artificial gravity, no warp drives, etc; anything that was presented if unavailable at the time was merely a matter of extending the technology that WAS current. (even the HAL - 9000) Arthur C Clark refered to himself as a futurist, not a scifi writer.
brianalldridge; I can appreciate your point of view. I look back now at the original Star Trek visuals and find myself laughing. ST at the time (1967 - 1969) WAS the best scifi on TV as far as it's visuals and story lines. Just look at Lost in Space; a contemporary to Star Trek but not nearly the sophistication in it's visuals or stories. Compared to what we've come to expect today however, even Star Trek is now laughable. ... but 3DCG was not available then.
The light trip that occupied almost the last quarter of the movie represented the part of Mr. Clark's book where Dave is drawn inside the monolith; and it's description ALSO occupied nearly one third of the book. Again, the producers wanted above all to make an accurate visual presentation of Mr. Clark's MOSTLY NARATIVE book. Personally, I don't know how they could have done it any better.
One needs to evaluate a previous movie based on the trends, attitudes, and technologies of it's time and not how it should be done today. If 2001 a Space Odyssey comes to someone's mind while viewing something I DID, it is very defiantly a compliment to me.
But don't miss-read me, Brian. I appreciate your enthusiasm for the art, and for your comments and suggestions and "fresh" point of view!;) All forms of art need to evolve and it's the younger hearts that have that control.
I DO agree that I need to shorten the credits. I'm thinking of saving most of the technical credits for the end scroll. (except trueSpace :banana: ) but I have to rewrite the music GrayShow. I wouldn't want to fade out before the bridge, it's the best (most dynamic) part of the piece :D !! I like the cloud/marble procedural idea. Something that big would be difficult to construct so consistently that there would be no differences in the metal. For close-ups I may try to include some scuff marks, dust etc., but I think I'll do it on an "as needed" bases rather than trying to do the whole model. The majority of the Ship and it's cargo bottles gets blown to smithereens shortly into the story. I quote an expert in the CG art (he knows who I'm talking about) "...no sense in modeling the whole deck if all they're going to see is the top card."
I'll make some changes and let y'all know when it's posted.
Paul |
Post by Steinie // Aug 22, 2006, 1:52am
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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2001 A Masterpiece! (one mistake in movie...ink in pen wasn't depicted correctly) Original 2001 was made for a 180 degree screen, which I saw.
3DPDK, when I watched your movie I kept thinking Kubrick, the pacing was painfully slow. If you edit what you have and cut down on some of the dead time you would have a winner. The particles coming off the moon was first class. (or was it clusters of stars?), Cool either way.
By the way I love Kubrick! |
Post by 3dpdk // Aug 22, 2006, 2:56am
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3dpdk
Total Posts: 212
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I remember the pen floating around and the "flight attendant" recovers it. I'm not sure I picked up on anything inaccurate but I know they tried to correct it in 2010.:) I saw a problem with that bit, too.
That's stars. When all this get's rendered with level 2 antialiasing the stars appear more "real", but it just takes too much time for testing purposes
Now THERE'S a movie for Brian A Clockwork Orange :D
Paul |
Post by 3dpdk // Sep 30, 2006, 11:35pm
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3dpdk
Total Posts: 212
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Hay Y'all!
My boat is on dry land for a day or so for a minor repair so I thought I'd check in and see what everyone has been doing.
I re-rendered "A Darkened Moon" title sequence. I added more light, speeded up the whole thing (but only just a tad bit; increased from 95 beats per minute to 120 bpm, to fast made the music too weird and I just can't come up with a shorter arrangement.
The file I uploaded to the video host has much more brightness than before but apparently their compression scheme has darkened it once again. I guess this is destined to be a dark film. :p
Resist the urge to close the video player when the ship and moon fade to black. The last 60 seconds has a sample of how I'm story boarding the action in the film. It's just a first test so don't get lost in the labyrinth of corridors.
This link will open a fairly large window, but the video is only 320 X 240 so grab the corner and shrink it down so it won't look so fuzzy. Wish I could find a better video host. The window that will open is a Flash player so you need to have that enabled on your system. It's supposed to imbed itself here but I don't think it can with HTML turned off.
http://www.youtube.com/v/_1W_fmVK194 (http://www.youtube.com/v/_1W_fmVK194)
Try this link to go to the video host site and my page. Another video there done entirely with the "story boarding" software. (you can hear my southern accented voice too. Oh well, I never said I was an actor!
http://youtube.com/profile?user=3DPDK (http://youtube.com/profile?user=3DPDK)
Paul |
Post by RichLevy // Oct 1, 2006, 5:02pm
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RichLevy
Total Posts: 1140
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Very nice camera work Paul, the music works with the animation and story very well too.
I also checked out the "The Movies" movie, very nice animtion, I did some searching on the web to see what the program is all about, I even took a trip to the local Best Buy to see if they had the program... if I wasn't so deep in other new programs and things I have to get done I would have bought the program and been playing around with it right now. I'll keep it on my list of programs to look into though, thanks for the headsup! :D
Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Rich |
Post by 3dpdk // Oct 2, 2006, 1:20pm
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3dpdk
Total Posts: 212
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Thanks Rich!
I just did a few last minute edits, mostly credit placement and timing, and uploaded for this month's animation gallery. It lost a lot of video quality going from several GB, 736 x 398 .avi, down to a 13.9 MB 320 X 240 .wmv. I don't know if it stands a chance but uploading for the guys at Caligari and the possibility that the rest of the word may see it keeps me on my toes; I'm my own toughest critic!
I don't know if you found The Movies software but here's a link to the Activision site:http://www.lionhead.com/themovies
It's a game, and not a bad diversion, but the "sand lot" mode is useful (with some frustrations) for story boarding. There's a community there ( a LOT of very young kids, but a few serious artists and story tellers) in Great need of modelers but the conversion from a .cob to .mdl (same format as Flight Simulator)is a little daunting.
Glen?....oh Glen? ....how did you do that?
Well now that I'm finished putting the cart before the horse, I need to start with character animation. I NEED advise!
Bare bones tS 6.6 has better abilities for character animation but it's still not perfect by it's self. I need suggestions for plug-in applications (and links if you have them) to make my characters move realistically. PLEASE!
Paul |
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