3D!!! Testing 1 2 3

Get your 3D glasses out this is just a quick test with a model of Aang the last Airbender running.



Just another test using particle Cubes

Car Smash

This was only supposed to be a test to learn Box Tools #2, so I was expecting it to take a few days, in the end it took a week to finish! Box Tools #2 still has a lot of bugs in it in my opinion & corrupted a few of my max files so most of the weeks was spent finding a work around. I was working between Max x32 for Box Tools #2 to work with PhysX & Max x64.

Originally I started out crushing the car & using Particle Skinner in Box #2 to collapse the mesh as the Engine falls onto it. This too a few attempts but the info on Orbaz's site is quite hidden but when found is really helpful! The idea did work but as you read on it might be better just to use an FFD box or something else.

The problems arose after cracking the ground using Rayfire & using the pieces as PhysX collision objects. This seems add something to the Max file which you can't delete. If you delete everything in the scene (except the ground pieces) & all PhysX links etc, when you open the file in Max x64 the PhysX comand prompt would emerge stating PhysX was in the scene somewhere. This on its own didn't cause problems but later on when using FumeFX. I found that FumeFX would not Sim passed frame 30 even tho the PFlow I was using to emit FumeFX Smoke from had no PhysX on it! In the end I had to re build the scene but still had problems after merging the ground peices in.

So after all the problems, I got what I could out of the experiece & this is the result. I'm not happy with it & I don't think I'll be using Box Tools #2 in rush again. Don't get me wrong the Box is a great idea but I think it still has a shed load of bugs that need to be ironed out. Keep up the good work tho Orbaz!

Just finished this.

Final

I'm Back!

Just a little something I'm working on. ;0)

New Job

As some of you may of heard I'm now working for Prime Focus London doing Fluid/Particle FX. So I won't be posting as much anymore but when I can I've got a few test I'll post up.

Stevie

Mortar Attack!!!

This one posed a problem for a while due to my collision plane being too complex but after shifting a few things around & knocking back the detail a bit I managed to get some decent render times.

FumeFX Explode Smoke Plume

I think this one came out ok it's a bit boring but when I tried to add to it like a background some Afterburn particles etc my PC just couldn't take rendering it all out so I moved on. If or when I re do this again I'll start with a background image & work with the scale of that & sort the lighting out before doing a final sim since my PC seems to be getting on a bit now!

FumeFX ManOn Fire

This one took about 37 Gb of sim data on a spare HD & that wasn't a really detailed sim!

FumeFX Flamethrower

I think this is the first time I've finally got something I feel is really decent out of FumeFX. The hype about the plugin is way too high & I think a lot of people just open it, fiddle with the settings & think thats it, but if you really think about how the fire is growing & burning you get such a much more realistic flame as you can guess I liked this one!!!! More to come.



P.S. The guy with the flamethrower is just a character I made under 5000 Polys a few year back but didn't get around to finishing. I'm hoping to do a lot more with him in the future so keep an eye out for him ;0)

FumeFX Torch

Just picked up a DVD at the beginning of the week from my buddy Alan. So this week I've been doing some of the tutorials on there. Stay tuned for more!!!

Week 08

Here's the final Vid. I'm quite happy with the end result & the nuke but I'm sure one day I'll expand on it for a close up.

Week 07 Nuke San Francisco!

This is the last 2 weeks so I really wanted to get something that looks good. On the course I didn't feel the look of the nuke was going the way I wanted so I tried a different approach which turned out ok. The pictures here are of the initial concept, the back plate & the aftermath plate which I painted for after the Nuke has gone off.

Week 06

At the end of week 6 it's been tough & I didn't really think about how built up London was before I did this so you can't see the ground explosions very well. I'm not too happy with it but it is only 2 weeks.

Week 05

Ok we've got 4 weeks left to do twice as much as the first 4 weeks!! So here's the next concept.

End Of Week 04

Ok its the end of week 04, I had a few problems here & there but I made it in the end.

I found Fusion a bit of a pain since I'm used to AfterFX but after persevering I managed to do what I wanted in the end.

I think I'll prob add some clouds maybe some birds & I really want to add something to the foreground but that'll take time so I'll leave it for now.

3rd Week

I'm in the third week of my course now & things have been hard. Mostly scale issues but I've managed to get things working how I want now.

New Course

Today I started my new course in FX. This ones working with real footage & its looking good so far !!!

<----- This is a before & after concept fingers crossed I'll get it to look just as good in 3d!

Steve

Max to Houdini

Yup thats right guys while learning Houdini I'm going to try to make it easier for you to do it too. So the plan is to do stuff in Max & try to make the same FX in Houdini then explain it in REALLY simple terms since everything I see out there feels/looks like it's written in code!

So keep checking back for updates hopefully I'll have something up soon.


Stevie

San Francisco!!!!

Ok its been a while I know but the Bug shots took up all my time & then straight after that I was offered a job in San Francisco doing Particle FX for a TV show so how could I resist!

Anyway I'm in San Francisco until the 24th Nov & in between being a tourist & working my arse off, I'll be leaning Houdini. No not the magician tricks, a 3d Program used in the UK a lot by Framestore & the Mill etc. Its a tough program to learn but work in the UK is slow for Max users & I would love to have at least one of the companies under my belt if not just for the experience of working for the Pixar's of the UK.

If you want to see our (mine & my fiancee's) travels in San Francisco check out the Blog......
http://www.offexploring.com/mandyandsteve/home

Stay tuned for the bug shots (prob after the 24th Nov).

Steve

Update

I've been a bit bogged down lately (maybe I should say Bugged down) by doing crowd simulations for a friends film called PIXEL
http://web.mac.com/trissirt/Doctor_Versluis/Pixel.html
The film required crowds of 3d bugs in certain shots so it was my job to put them there. Stay tuned for more updates & pics of the shots I may also make a video tutorial on how to create bug simulation & crowds.