Star Trek Universe Test Renders

[Odin]

Howdy,
Taranis thought I should pop over here and show you guys some test renders of a personal project Im working on called Star Trek Universe. My aim is to show sequences off all the ships named Enterprise starting from TOS to beyond the TNG. All of these shots are in the works and are to be redone, so go easy on the critiques ok :laugh: Im trying to collect as many worthy meshes I can get and have been fortunate enough to have some great artist contribute to this project. Vector, Al Rivard, Animaniac to name a few. If anyone out there has anything to contribute I would be more than happy to discuss this further. I wasnt sure how big a file I could put up here, so Im just linking it to vimeo. Lemme know if I can upload a 28 meg file in Quicktime. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.vimeo.com/2277889

[gmd3d]

Thanks for posting Odin .. awesome animation thanks for posting it ..

[gmd3d]

I highly recommend looking at this animation .. you will love it ..

Very cool animation.
How long did that take you and what software did you use?

-btw- Nice explosions.

[Odin]

Originally Posted by Fretslayer

Very cool animation.
How long did that take you and what software did you use?

-btw- Nice explosions.

Thanks mate. I cant really tell you exactly how long it took. Ive been working on it from time to time experimenting with new things etc. Since doing these I have reformulated a lot of it, so the newer stuff will be far better. I use Max Design and After Fx for compositing.

I tried using AE but it kept confusing me.

Is MAX Design part of the 3DsMax family of tools?
You wouldn't happen to have any stock footage of explosions you'd be willing to share, would ya?

I have a couple of them from Demolition Films but not nearly enough.
I've been using the one that comes in the tut section of Max for most of mine.
It works but I'm really needing something else to add some extra spice.

[Odin]

Originally Posted by Fretslayer

I tried using AE but it kept confusing me.

Is MAX Design part of the 3DsMax family of tools?
You wouldn't happen to have any stock footage of explosions you'd be willing to share, would ya?

I have a couple of them from Demolition Films but not nearly enough.
I've been using the one that comes in the tut section of Max for most of mine.
It works but I'm really needing something else to add some extra spice.

After fx is like photoshop in many ways. There are plenty of great tutorials online to help pave the way. If your serious about doing animations, then its worth the effort buddy. Google what your after. As for the explosions. Some are particles and some are stock footage. I have a vast library of them.. Artbeats etc. If your resourseful, you should be able to track some down online. The ones I have are not for give aways........sorry buddy. Oh and Max Design is basically Max . Go read about it at there web site.

[gmd3d]

Odin . do you have any links to Tutorials you can share .. I can add them into our help Zone link is below to the thread ..

http://www.3dgladiators.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=22780

[Odin]

Originally Posted by Taranis

Odin . do you have any links to Tutorials you can share .. I can add them into our help Zone link is below to the thread ..

http://www.3dgladiators.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=22780

When I get some time I will have a look at what I have and make a list. Best method I found was simply googling exactly what your after...................9 times out of 10 i found what I was after. e.g 3d studio max particle tutorial, after effects time mapping tutorial, lightwave 3d how to do shiit hot animations tutorial go for it.

[gmd3d]

thank mate ..

[Odin]

Originally Posted by Taranis

thank mate ..

welcome..................oh and whats my status on downloading buddy ? And of course, whats happening with Galactica fan film?

Thanks for the info.
I have AE sitting next to me. I might look at it again when I have some extra time.
I've been using Photoshop since PSv.5 (I currently use CS2) - AE didn't look anything like it to me.
I probably should have given it a bit more time but I'm very busy and if a tool isn't intuitive for me I chuck it to side and find one that is.

I'll have a look at some tutorials - I'm quite resourceful and not exactly new to any of this. I got my feet wet in 1985 with a C=64 and a 300baud Westridge Automodem. LOL!

What I lack in stock footage I more than make up for with my 180GB worth of meshes.

[Odin]

Ok, here's a brief taste of what I encountered along the way.

1. Lighting of course. Experimented a lot with different rigs. I use one spot, one directional and four omnis, and render with mental ray. I did come out with other more memory intensive rigs and settings , but these were done at a fairly low value. The ships material settings also are important to give the desired effect.

2. Animation. Here's where it gets tuff at times. Can be tedious at times too. Having the correct path and camera can make all the difference. I use a number of methods to achieve different looks. Cameras on paths, dummys on paths and of course ships. Use the curve editor to give desired speeds etc. Never have the camera target linked to the vehicle.................. you dont wont the ship to track in the middle of frame all the time. A fee camera with no target and keyframed is also a good way to achieve certain effects. Motion blur is a must for the final renders. Focal distance etc for Depth of field is important

3 Set up of elements. Planets, explosions, stars etc. This can be a doozy to get right. I never render more than one element at a time.
I have found a geosphere with a good super hi rez starfield to be the best method for stars. Maxs starfield is no good and a certain plugin is also dodgy when the canera pans................lots of twinkling.

Planets..................ahhhh my favourite. Experimented on these for years and Im still trying to achieve better. Good maps especially if your going in close. Small changes in your material settings can make all the difference. The lava planet I did took a lot of work. A lot was rendered in max in layers and then composited in after effects. Lighting was seperate to the ships lighting , but of course matched the direction.I often use 2 directional key lights with higher setting for diffuse and lower for specularity, plus a few omni lights for fill and highlights.....depending on the desired effect. I will often have seperate files for each element. But I suggest you build it together to start and then refine as you go. Hide elements etc.

Rendering and Compositing. This is where you can make your finished product really come to life. I render all my files out as RLA files. These can contain critical info for comping. Plus if you have a problem like shutdown or crahing, you at least have what you have rendered to that point. Each element you bring in can be adjusted to its particular need. For example if you have after effects, getting pugins can reallly help. There a lot out there available that can reallly add to your finihsed shot. Things like, edge blur for your ships, depth of field, specularity and bloom, colour grading etc.

Experiment over and over. Dont be satified with the first attempt. Re think it out, try and try again. If any of you want some help, drop us a line. You can achieve amazing things if you just keep at it

[evil_genius_180]

That's the coolest thing I've seen in a while. Do you do this stuff for a living or just as a hobby? The reason I ask is because that looks like a professional piece. Very well done.

[Odin]

Originally Posted by evil_genius_180

That's the coolest thing I've seen in a while. Do you do this stuff for a living or just as a hobby? The reason I ask is because that looks like a professional piece. Very well done.

Dude, I owe you a beer for that comment Yeah I do this for a living, although for many years I worked as a Sports Physiologist. Finally got the balls to get out of it and pursue my dream. Been doing it now for almost 10 years. I work as the head of the 3d department for a post production house in Sydney............even though I now live in Sweden. We dont do any sci fi stuff . We have found ourselves knee deep in Urban Visualisation and it's proving to be a very profitable experience. cheers buddy.

[gmd3d]

interesting set up .. I will have to play with lightwave setting see if I can do the same

[evil_genius_180]

Originally Posted by Odin

Dude, I owe you a beer for that comment Yeah I do this for a living, although for many years I worked as a Sports Physiologist. Finally got the balls to get out of it and pursue my dream. Been doing it now for almost 10 years. I work as the head of the 3d department for a post production house in Sydney............even though I now live in Sweden. We dont do any sci fi stuff . We have found ourselves knee deep in Urban Visualisation and it's proving to be a very profitable experience. cheers buddy.

I knew you had to do that for a living. That animation and those effect screamed "professional."

I love it. It even took me a while to download so I could play it (dialup) but it was well worth the wait.

[gmd3d]

Originally Posted by evil_genius_180

I knew you had to do that for a living. That animation and those effect screamed "professional."

I love it. It even took me a while to download so I could play it (dialup) but it was well worth the wait.

yes it was .. well worth the wait .. its the little touches I liked ..

that is a most awsoem animation, i can see ive a log way to go honeing my modeling skills before i get anywhere near that.

alltho the only couple of things that i felt lets it down, were

the phasers that the Enterprise fired didnt seam very realistic if u know what i mean.

and also the explosions look liked they were placed on the ship insted of the ship blowing up.

but as you said its a test and a dam good test good stuff

[wjaspers]

Very nice indeed.

Could do some more work on the explosions/debris and warp trails (btw looks like the warp trails are done with particles?) but the scenery makes up for that. Never saw such beautiful backgrounds and the camera movements that go with them.

[Raymar3d]

Very nice work, Odin.

Ken

looks great!

Amazing lookin'!!!

[Largo]

that was badass!

[jayru]

It is a stunning bit of work. very much enjoyed it... a real tribute to Trek :-)

That had to be one of the BEST 3d trek sequences by one artist I've EVER seen. The particle effects are excellent! Film Quality CGI work!

[Skelch]

Awesome bit of work there, I am 5 months late on seeing it, but must comment on it. Loved it.

[evil_genius_180]

It's never too late to comment on great art.

[Tenement]

That was terrific!

Wow...I never seem to be able to get my stuff to look that good. I especially liked that lava planet in the begining. I have been trying to achieve a similar effect, with the surface explosions, but have not been happy yet. By any chance, do you know of, or could I convince you to write maybe, a good tutorial for creating and compositing the layers to achieve that effect?
Were those explosion rings on that planet stock footage, or effects? They were really nice.