Digital Animation

[Raven_Lionheart]

I thought I'd put another topic up.  This one covers, as the subject implies, digital animation.  Lots of programs allow you to take a composition and make it into an animated GIF rather than a movie.  One such program is Adobe After Effects CS4, or Jasc Animation Shop.  Let's see what you've got!

Be careful - some animated GIF files can be rather large.

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Ryan vs Brandon 2 - Test Footage - Courtesy of Ryan Wieber - Rotoscoping done by Richard Bush (me)

Approx. Load Time - 5 seconds

Spinning Saber Blade - Just Screwing Around - Completely done by Richard Bush (me)

Approx. Load Time - 1 second

[Raven_Lionheart]

And one I just finished for Cryotek.



Approximately 2 hours to complete.

[Raven_Lionheart]

I happen to love lightning.  I'm a fan of it, and every time the weather acts up, I have my eyes on the sky, watching the fireworks above.  It just amazes me, to put it simply.  So, while messing with After Effects, I was able to construct a sort of lightning arc that moves in random directions, or along a path.  The path I chose for this artwork was simply the upper half of a circle, emanating from the center.  Then, it moves along the bottom of the circle in a sort of odd-ball curved line, right back to the start, and begins anew.  Toss in a couple of lens flares, and make the lightning red, and there you go!  If only I could have put some sparks in...



I like it.  It works and does what it's supposed to do.  But I'm sort of proud of what else I was able to do.  Mind you, it's nothing but a first attempt at reflecting one object off of another, with nothing to guide except my eyes.  It's a ballistics lightsaber test, where laser bolts fly in towards the spinning blade, and are deflected at an angle.  There's also a contact flash in there too, every time the bolt hits the blade.  I thought about a lens flare coming from the blaster bolt, but that might have been too much.  Simplicity here.



I'm going to do another ballistics test shot, but it'll be with a live subject.  Probably myself.  Instead of an unguided path for the bolts, I'll overlay a template and use right angles to plan the reflection.  Then I'll remove the template and make the proper special effects.  But for that, I need a moderately decent camera.  Can anyone recommend one?

[Raven_Lionheart]

I know it's not exactly digital animation, but I've been working for two years on re-texturing a PC game called "Star Trek: Klingon Academy".  During the re-texturing process, I've been able to improve the graphics on the planets using Google Earth, and the ships using video footage from the various Star Trek movies as a guide.  In particular, I've worked on the USS Defiant and the Klingon Vor'Cha attack cruiser.  I also decided to redo the weapons fire and the tractor beam.  During a test battle, I manipulated the camera while flying the Defiant in a battle against the Vor'Cha, and tried to get a good shot of my work.



I never thought a quad-core computer with a crossfire graphics processor would bog down on a game made back in the late 90's, but I forgot about the camera manipulation.  It doesn't like to be screwed with while the re-textured ships are out playing.  So the screen capture that I have of my work is a bit blurred and a tad grainy.  I'll work on that.

--After Thought--

I realized later on, before I added the text caption, that this ALMOST duplicates a scene from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine".  During season 4's first two episodes, the Federation goes to war with the Klingon Empire, who declares war on the Cardassian Empire.  During "The Way of the Warrior, pt.2", the Defiant faces off against three Birds of Prey, and a Vor'Cha attack cruiser.  At one point, the Defiant locks a tractor beam on the Vor'Cha to deflect some of their weapons fire while transporting the crew of Dukat's ship.  I'm quite impressed.  I think I've got a knack for this stuff.  What do you all think?

[Ytts]

Cool stuff.