www.spencerdrayton.co.uk http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog Adventures in Three Dimensions Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:49:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 en First steps: 3D rich internet applications http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=67 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=67#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:38:27 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=67 First steps: 3D rich internet applications - more details soon…

]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=67 DXStudio terrain fly-through http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=63 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=63#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:33:09 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=63 DXStudio terrain fly-through - more details soon…

]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=63 Leaping salmon http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=57 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=57#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:25:12 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=57 Maya polygonal modelling: Leaping salmon - more details soon…

]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=57 Emergency escape rehearsal http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=49 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=49#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:59:35 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=49 Emergency escape rehearsal: More details soon…

]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=49 Helicopter fly-through http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=44 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=44#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:55:56 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=44 “Vega Prime: Helicopter fly-through” - more details soon…

]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=44 Assault Manoeuvre http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=40 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=40#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:50:36 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=40 Assault Manoeuvre : more details soon…

]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=40 Hello Globe ! http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=29 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=29#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:20:36 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/2008/12/03/hello-globe/
Here’s a link to my first Google Earth API hack…
]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=29 Houdini Digital Assets (HDAs) http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=28 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=28#comments Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:42:16 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/2008/10/18/operator-template-libraries/ Background

 

SideFX Houdini Master is a complete set of 3D tools in one package - modelling, animation, compositing, effects, dynamic simulation, character construction, texturing, shading and rendering. There is a free variant of Houdini available for non-commercial use, a copy of which was used to create the digital asset described in this post.

 

Overview

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OTL details

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]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=28 Terrain Displacement Plugin Version 2 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=27 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=27#comments Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:14:18 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/2008/10/18/terrain-displacement-plugin-version-2/ After using the terrain displacement plugin to create ground impact effects on the Cave Troll project, it became apparent that although in principle it was doing the job I was asking of it, there were a lots of aspects that could be improved. Perhaps the most significant was the fact that deformation was being both calculated and applied in full on a per-frame basis. This led to the displaced terrain ‘popping’ up suddenly within a single frame, rather than rising steadily over a period of time.

To combat this, I maintained the amount of displacement for each vertex in the ground plane over the duration of the entire sequence, rather than for each frame, and also the introduced three new parameters. The first parameter - expansion - controls the rate at which the displaced terrain deforms away from the impact zone. The second parameter - viscosity - controls the degree to which the displaced terrain affects the terrain immediately adjacent to it. The third parameter - erosion - controls how the displaced terrain settles following the initial deformation. The inspiration for these improvements came from Sumner, O’Brien and Hodgins and the research detailed in their excellent paper Animating Sand, Mud, and Snow.

Maya Node Diagram

Terrain Displacement Plugin Schematic

The movie clip below shows a sample of output obtained from the modified plugin. Its possible to see how the ground plane displacement now takes place gradually over a number of frames (governed by the new parameters) after the initial impact, rather than ‘instantaneously’ in single frame (PS: I make no apology for the foot model - it was done in a bit of a hurry !)


 

Thanks are due to Andy Hayes at Framestore CFC and Jon Macey at the NCCA, Bournemouth University for their one-to-one help and advice during this project, and also to Rob Bateman for the many pearls of Maya API wisdom on his truly splendid website.

Also see:Terrain Displacement Plugin
and Ground Impact Effects On “The Cave Troll”

 

]]> http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=27 Ground Impact Effects On “The Cave Troll” http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=26 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/?p=26#comments Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:50:52 +0000 spen440 http://spencerdrayton.co.uk/blog/2008/10/18/ground-impact-effects-on-the-cave-troll/

The terrain displacement plugin was used in anger for the first time on a short film entitled The Cave Troll. The piece was a collaborative effort by team of MSc/MA Computer Animation students, which involved combining live footage shot on location at Winspit Caves , on the south coast of Dorset with visual effects created in the studio.

The film tells the story of two hikers who, whilst out walking on a coastal path, happen upon a scene of carnage at the entrance to cave close to the water’s edge. One of the intrepid walkers ventures into the cave to investigate - waking and incurring the wrath of the film’s anti-hero: the Cave Troll ! The hikers run for their lives, but incensed by their transgression, the troll hurls a massive rock at their rapidly retreating forms, before bellowing a final triumphant retort.

During shot 5, the rock thrown by the Cave Troll has to cause believable impact damage on the ground it hits - that’s where the terrain displacement plugin came into action. Here’s a shot breakdown:

 

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Original live action footage (camera work by Djamalkhan Ahmedov, manic running by Joao Montenegro and Johannes Saam)

 

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Rock animation and terrain displacement effects (rock model and animation by Malcolm Childs, terrain displacement by yours truly :->)

 

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Rock animation and terrain displacement composited with live action (compositing and rendering expertly carried out by Joao Montegnegro)

 

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The finished film in its entirety (23.5 MB download)

More photos of Cave Troll principal photography day at Winspit Caves, Dorset can be found here…

 

See also: Terrain Displacement Plugin V.2>>

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