Quote:
Originally Posted by Taranis
I had to make a quick response last night as I was on my my out . now a longer one..
I was riveted to the screen seen the amount of work you went through ..
what programs did you use and the laser effects where great and the Battlestar engine effects .. how did you do them .. spill the beans mate  |
Hey there Taranis,
Titon is right that After Effects is a huge key in getting things done in this manner. Awesome compositing/animation program that can be used for so much. I used it at work constantly for commercial and promotional motion graphics as well.
To do this in a timely manner I kind of think in the style of the effects of the original series and how they were made. They made numerous model passes and then mixed and recomposited them for different shots. So for most of these I created various passes and angles (in Cinema 4d) of the ships moving by with an alpha channel (matte). This way each new pass I render adds to the library of shots. I can then take these into After Effects and composite them with other ships, backgrounds, add lasers, add explosions and any other kind of effects.
Shots would look a hell of a lot better and allow more motion if they were set up more completely and rendered out in the 3d program, but that does take a lot more time (but does give you a lot more). For this I focused more on wanting shots to help tell a story, and they did not have to reinvent the wheel... just move the story forward.
Also, in my opinion, to get it done in a decent amount of time, you can't be a perfectionist. I know that there is always something I could go back and change, add to, re-render, etc... but I have to get a shot where I'm happy with the feel of what's happening in it. There is nothing wrong with being a perfectionist, except when it stops something from ever being completed because its never quite good enough. Eventually you have to say "This is it."
Now there are certainly a hundred and ten thousand things that can be criticized in the Adama Journals project, and things that could have been better... but for what I am trying with this, well, this is it. I think it does show a fan story can be done in a short period of time. And for the next one (if/when I start it) I know the things that worked really well for me in this, and the others I want to improve. I actually do have a story in mind for another that I kinda like.
I'm really glad you are all enjoying this. I've enjoyed working on it and seeing each piece come together like a huge puzzle. As a fan of the show from the beginning, its an amazing way to still enjoy and play around a bit in the BSG universe.
