My first attempt at rendering glass in 3DS MAX. As well, a few different fire and smoke effects. I wanted the glass ball to ignite very slowly, but it sort of ignites fast and then the flame grows slowly. Haven't quite figured out how to get exactly what I envisioned. But other, this test was not a disappointment.
You need to watch the video fullscreen, or else YouTube makes it look squished. Apparently they don't like portrait orientated videos.
ENJOY!
Here is a much better (and slightly longer) demonstration of my attempts to learn doing fire FX in 3ds Max. This would be the first time I really animated a character-thingy, and made said character a very pretty chrome! ;D
The roboty thing does an awkward head nod thing towards the end. My intention was that he was going to SLOWLY cock his head to one side for that "intently focused" look. But I didn't allow enough space between keyframes and BLAH.
Oh well...
My first attempt at "playing with fire" in 3ds Max. Quick little blue flame FX.
Another attempt at a nuclear style blast. This time I made a little city block made of... blocks... and experimented with a little light for effect.
ENJOY!
I spent all freaking evening trying to create this effect! Four+ hours of tinkering around with every conceivable part of 3DS MAX. But, finally, long past the time I should have gone to sleep, I finally accomplished EXACTLY what I set out to do!!
I've had a lot of special FX idea that require the illusion of some kind of explosive force radiating from a single point and spreading outward in a spherical shape. Everything from nuclear explosions to perhaps a character who could, say, punch the ground and create a devastating concussive force or producing a shattering scream (eg. Banshee).
That fact that the halo of purplish energy actually spreads out a tick faster than the actual shockwave was a pleasant mistake. A miscalculation on my part that made the effect all the more realistic!
Enjoy... I will attempt to use this to a more dramatic and entertaining effect at a later time. But for now... sleep. I'm only going to get a few hours of sleep as it is before I must be up for work.
Damn work... getting in the was of my 3Ding!
Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
madhatterofoz for suggesting I use Google Video as opposed to YouTube. I think he is correct in that it plays at a slightly higher quality.
Another ragdoll physics animation. This particular sequence however, is one that I had planned since the first day I delved into the physics engine in 3DS Max (ie. yesterday). The ragdoll falls to his amusing death and you, the viewer gets to join him for the ride... until the end, that is, when you get to sit back and watch the carnage.
(FYI: This 8 seconds of animation took me well over an hour to render. Youtube makes the quality look like shit... the original is much more crisp).
ENJOY!
Man... I can't wait until I learn how to do animated blood spray FX! >:D
Cinematography is everything.
I took the same simple ragdoll physics test animation and played around with more dynamic (and interesting) camera work. Besides the cameras, the only other change to the animation was the color of the ragdoll. I made him blue to get better contrast.
These new views also help to demonstrate that the ball that launches the ragdoll is actual my first (and only) attempt at a chrome material.
The first video I set the camera on the side of the track and made it follow the ragdoll as he flung forward towards death...
The next is an attempt at having the camera follow him, from behind, for the entire animation (though, I need to work on my technique. The camera is shakey at times and may cause slight naseau)...
Wandering about YouTube, it occurs to me that it seems like its a common practice that when one is learning the reactor physics engine inside 3DS MAX, they do so by torturing poor, defenseless ragdolls. Hell... some have made the practice an art form.
Below is my attempt (also, I might add, my first true computer animation). Now, I am humbled to admit that it took me five hours to complete this. But considering this was the first time I've ever touched a physics engine (not to mention the first time doing key frame animation in 3DS) I am not too ashamed.
In fact, I am quite proud of my work...
Tonight I spend my evening avoiding the world. While I partook in such avoidance, I played around more with 3DS MAX. I managed to teach myself how to rig a character, and successful did so. I even moved onto the next step and made my first animation. But it's absolutely terrible, so I will not be sharing it.
(nothing exciting, just a guy turning his head and moving his arms all around like an idiot).
I also played around with placing lights and creating hair. The hair thingy is so freaking cool! So after spending all that time modeling Ethan's messy hair in Zbrush... I'll probably just do his hair right inside 3DS MAX.
(Note: the mesh used is not of my own creation, but a practice model that came with Zbrush.)
Despite the fact that I haven't even come close to finishing my Ethan model, I couldn't wait a moment longer, and delved into the 3D Package, 3DS Max.
After reading through a few of the tutorial files, and monkeying around with an included example character, I managed to make a funny little man dance around... horribly. At one point his leg turned in an unnatural direction and his spine rotated at least 420-degrees. AKA: Not Pixar quality.
I was rather annoyed with myself that I did not master the application in 2.5 hours. But, there is just so much to this. Trying to navigate around all the menus and keep track of all the variables turns my brain to slush.
It was a sobering splash of water, making me realize just how ambitious doing Disassemblance 3D cartoons truly is.
But, I'm not discouraged. I'm more excited and thrilled by this than any creative venture I've ever undertaken. I've always wanted to be an animator and was only existing as a comic artist due to lack of the necessary skill sets. And 3D animation appeals to me all the more... it is one of the few things that satisfies both sides of my schismed mind: the artistic side and the techinical side.