#40 - Animation - Animation Techniques 1

To begin learning some techniques for animating my models I have created a sky dome, which will be used in my actual animation to represent the space around the models in the animation. A huge sphere with a space texture inside will contain the whole animation. This is a very easy and very effective way to create the scenery for my entire animation, although space can be very simple and repetitive.

I didn't have any trouble creating this sky dome, as the instructions I had were simple and clear, although it is still a major component of my animation despite being made so easily. I created a sphere and enlarged it quite a lot, so you could fit about 1000 default grid spaces inside. I decided to smooth it three times, so that later I can use the UV editor to map the texture more easily. Three times wasn't too much for the system to handle. I did not delete any of the faces on the sphere because for a space environment, it needs to surround everything with no gaps. I also use the reverse tool to set all the faces inside the sphere so that the texture I added was seen from inside.

The camera will never be outside the sphere so I don't need to worry about the outer faces. I added the sphere to a layer and set it to template, so I can edit things inside it more easily. Finally, I added a space texture as the texture inside the sphere. This is not the texture I will be using in the animation, as the resolution is not high enough and it just looks rubbish, so I will find a better one before I start the actual animation.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#16 - Assignment Models - Venator Star Destroyer 1

Image
This is the first post showing my progress on the second of my three assignment models, the Venator Class Star Destroyer. I began by adding in three schematic images, one for the top view of the model, one for the side and one for the front. https://jasonmartin3d.deviantart.com/art/Venator-Star-Destroyer-Front-149783765 https://jasonmartin3d.deviantart.com/art/Venator-Star-Destroyer-Side-149783502 https://jasonmartin3d.deviantart.com/art/Venator-Star-Destroyer-Top-149783650 Once the images were aligned and scaled properly, I added in a cube, and scaled that to be the same size as each of the three images on the corresponding dimensions. I then started to shape the cube from the top view by using the multi-cut tool  to add in vertices along the longest four edges of the object where the shape of the model would alter. Once the vertices were there, I dragged them all in to match the shape of the Venator in the picture I imported. I then repeated this process for the side a
Read more

#13 - Assignment Models - Jedi Starfighter 2

Image
To make it easier to get the exact shape of the Jedi star-fighter I imported a template image showing the top angle what it should look like. https://bj-o23.deviantart.com/art/Jedi-Starfighter-template-185786070 I scaled the image to cover eight units across and then pulled the front vertex on the model forward (to the left of the screen). As for the length of the model, I had some issues getting the vertices to move without pulling the rest of the model across, and it was distorting the symmetry. I spent some time trying to move them around until they matched, but when one side was fine, pulling a vertex on the other side would set it effectively set it back to square one. I finally realised the problem was that I was not using soft selection . I enabled this, then was able to pull a vertex without it pulling the other vertices down with it. Now the shape of the model from the top view was perfect. I then used the multi-cut tool to add edges between the back of the ship and the
Read more

#62 - Animation - Lighting

Image
Once I had the movement done and I could see all for the individual frames rendered from the animation camera's panel (the one I will be rendering the final animation from), I realised that some parts of the animation were just not bright enough. The first area was the back of the Venator destroyer. You could see the glow of the engines just fine, but the actual model from the top was and underneath was almost invisible. To fix this, I added a directional light behind the Venator, pointing light directly at it, so when the animation renders you can actually see the colour of the ship now. I also added in a point light underneath the Invisible Hand where it is positioned during the Jedi Star Fighter sequence, because originally when it zoomed in on the star fighter you could barely see it. Now, with the point light, it is totally visible, as is the bottom of the Invisible Hand. Finally, I tried to make use of the bright blue sun I have in the distance by slightly changin
Read more