Carl's Corner :)

I think they way it did it in the Lexus add was to use the plasma ball as an emitted particle - like they show in this this video.

Beliria, I decided to install Python, and finally got it working on XP, so let me know if you decide to install it and want some tips.

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Carl wrote: Flash is a vector program

Can Flash do this kind of thing?

http://www.artbeats.com/clips/5707/8507
http://www.artbeats.com/clips/6692/10076
http://www.artbeats.com/clips/6686/10070
http://www.artbeats.com/clips/6691/10075


I this is something like what I want to do with FF - but better.

http://www.artbeats.com/collections/121

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Kraellin wrote: i wont install quicktime as long as it forces me to also install itunes

Those jerks. I bet they think they're being so smart.
I checked and I have quicktime but no itunes. Maybe I installed it then removed the itunes but I do not remember.

The are getting good money for these clips- and I can do better with ff.
They have it set up so anyone can submit footage but I ahve not looked into the details.

Aha: if you read the article here's what they say they did: (They used trapcode form, trapcode particular and trapcode soundkeys.) http://www.cgchannel.com/news/viewfea...1&pageid=1

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Can you give us a walkthrough of how such fx can be obtained in After Effects? After Effects was our primary compositing tool, we took advantage of using its 16 and 32bit working space to achieve more detail and enhance mainly light effects within the spot. Its integration with Cinema 4d and Maya was useful for importing camera information to composite 2d effects in 3d space. To created what we wanted to achieve in the spot we combined a number of effects from Maya's particle and hair simulations to particles and lines generated in After Effects using plugins such as Trapcode Particular and Trapcode Form. What was also useful in this project was Trapcode Soundkeys for creating some background elements that animate using the sound information from the car itself, this added us some nice subtle atmospheric elements to the spot. In the beginning “Ignition” sequence we generated a series of particle and fractal effects using Maya to give us our explosion, this was then composited with a live action flame and more background dust elements were added using Particular, the tricky thing with this sequence like most of the other was timing, getting the action we wanted at the specific time especially when using generated simulations.

Artbeats has several good AE tutorials.

Yeah, PI is pretty great. One of the best things is the HUGE library of free particle emitters which come out every month - or - so. I'd say it's one of my primary tools, actually. It's good for still work, too: "hey, I need some explosions and some smoke in this shot... "

The simple bounce and gravity physics are a nice touch, to. The developer (Alan Lorence IIRC) is also a good guy, and if you have problems, they're responsive and helpful. It's actually kind of fun to use, too. Sometimes when I have a bunch of people over, I just turn it on and let people play with the OpenGL preview. It's fun to just click the screen and have things explode.

My only gripes w/ PI are:
a) that it needs better support for making looping sequences (I think you should be a button which says 'make this loop') You make things loop now, but it's kind of inelegant, and doesn't work too well w/ alpha transparency.

b) multi-cell rendering: ie rendering an animation to an image sheet say 10 cells x 20 cells.

Also, if you use After Effects, Trapcode Particular is a prettty cool program, too. It's like PI, but uses the 3d camera in AE, and integrates w/ all the other AE plugins.

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CorvusCroax wrote: I'd say it's one of my primary tools

PI leaves me with a dilemma too complicated to explain - but it basically comes down to cash. For now I will keep my focus on Fusion/Maya and hope for the best.

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CorvusCroax wrote: when I have a bunch of people over, I just turn it on and let people play with the OpenGL preview

I wish I had some geeky RL friends like that.

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CorvusCroax wrote: a) that it needs better support for making looping sequences

I am only one tutorial in to Fusion and I already understand the importance of looping.

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CorvusCroax wrote: b) multi-cell rendering: ie rendering an animation to an image sheet say 10 cells x 20 cells.

This one I don't get yet, but I will pick it up soon.

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CorvusCroax wrote: if you use After Effects, Trapcode Particular is a prettty cool program, too

I have been watching the AE tutorials and it looks like something I would be comfortable with because of its similarity to PS. That said, Fusion is nodal and similar to Maya so I prefer it. I will check out Trapcode - thanks.

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Kraellin wrote: i cant seem to get it to display those quicktime movies

That's a bummer Craig, I just tried it on two of my machines and it worked fine. I do not know what it could be. Maybe you could try it in IE - or if you use IE you can try it in Firefox.

Hey Craig, I use a Firefox extension called DownloadHelper. If you use Firefox you may be able to download the videos and watch them locally.

looks cool, ron

so, on this quicktime plugin for irfanview, is it just supposed to run irfanview automatically when a quicktime movie is requested to be displayed or does it somehow run the embedded thing on that web page or what? do i have to download something or what?

Call me a little untrusting, but I have been burned in the past and I just don't need any problems.

Sorry about the bogus info - I thought I was using Irfanview.

Here is a link to get the standalond quicktime.

thanks, ron

merry christmas, bel and nice pic! you made that?

cool beans

Merry Christmas to all of you in this thread.

Still sick, but on anti-biotics. Had my appointment not been moved to an earlier date I would have been in the hospital. Doc said I would have been septic in another day or two. Oh well, getting better now.

Hope to have fun with all of you again soon.

I'll be glad when I'm back.

Someone will have to teach me FF all over again.

You know it. I have really been missing it. Hopefully once I'm well I can get the cataracts removed and play with my programs again. I want to play with my Carrara program and see what I can do with it.

and one more.

Here it is if anyone want to play with it.

Swirl a.ffxml

Down to 40 seconds. That doesn't seem that bad.

ok, we're NOT going to do another 10 pages of 'ron's balls', even if they do look good

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Kraellin wrote: we're NOT going to do another 10 pages of 'ron's balls'