Bi-Plane Crash Land FX Test

Hi Guys,

I have been away for a week but am back in action with some more RnD!

This week a Bi-Plane Crash.

This was set-up before I was away for a week and then sim'd and rendered yesterday and today, The Fume FX could be higher res defiantly but looks good enough for the test. The only bad thing is the Fume FX hides the RBD sim done with TP and DM (using Shape Collision) however you can see the RBD sim alone at the end. Please excuse the awful Hangar Models made in under 2 mins just to give scale reference.

Fume Sim Time: 1.9 Hrs

There is two explosions, the Impact explosion of the fuel and then the engine fire which sets the Debris on fire. Also another PFlow System for the smoke trails.

V-Ray render with GI, Comp in AE. As stated in the shot notes I would like to do this shot with a Live Action Plate at a higher quality. Maybe do a Red Baron style crash shot with loads more Debris and The Propeller kicking up the mud/earth on impact.

Render Time (All Passes): 5 Hrs

Shot Completion Time: 2.5 Days (est)

Final Shot:

As Always Thanks For Looking!

TUP-RnD: Helicopter Shot Down

This is my second attempt at RnD for this effect which will feature in my upcoming VFX Seqence The UFO Project (TUP).

My Method:

First I created the basic animation of the helicopter (which looks very fake I know!!) then I used Thinking Particles inside of 3DS Max to simulate the Missile hitting the Helicopter and the destruction that would occur. It took several simulation attempts to get the breaking look good.

I then used Particle Flow to set-up the Explosions one emitter for the initial  fireball and another to create the smoke trails that you see a lot in air-burst explosions. For the Trails I used Spawn as you can see below in the screen-shots. The Fume Sim took a long time to sim and render due to the size of the grid but it was worth it in the end! Also the Sparks were simulated in Pflow using a very simple set-up.

I rendered in V-Ray and Comp'd in After Effects. The Background plate is Live Action so it took some work matching the elements in correctly.

Here's a little clip showing the elements of the shot:

And

The Final Shot:

As Always, Thanks For Looking. More TUP RnD and info to come!

The UFO Project- Tank Destruction FX Test

So I wanted to do an FX test over a day to see what the UFO would look like in an FX Shot. Now I know its NOT "Super Amazing" but I am pretty proud with how it came out considering I have never really done hard surface modelling before (And I don't really want to to be honest!!).

For the shot I wanted to show the UFO's Rocket Pods that can lock on to any target and fire at them, I set up a basic animation in 3DS Max of the engines going in to Hover Mode and the Rocket Pods swinging round.

The Rockets and Explosion were created in Fume FX. The Explosion is pretty basic but the Rocket Trails were made after some experimentation in PFlow. I used Spawn and Find Target to one, spawn the trails that will only last a few frames and the Find Target is set to the tank so the particles fly towards the tank. Here is a screen shot of the simple set-up:

I used only one Grid for both the Rocket Trails and the explosion, The Burn rate was keyframed so when the rockets were in flight the burn rate was fast so there was less fire trails and more smoke however on the emission of the explosion I key-framed the burn rate down really low to 10 so the fire would linger a lot longer.


Here is the Final Shot:

So now I need to start writing my UFO Vs Military Attack Sequence! I will keep this blog up to date so keep checking back!


As Always, Thanks For Looking!

Freeway Collapse RnD and Working on Machinma Short Film

This is my latest RnD Shot based on a freeway bride collapsing. I used Thinking Particles for the Destruction Simulation which is based on a shock wave from an explosion that causes the beam to break and the freeway to then collapse.

I also made a debris system in TP which turned out rather bad as it looked very fake and crappy! So I left it out the final sim and render.

Final Shot:

In other news I have just finished working on the Destruction of an Osprey Helicopter for a Battlefield 4 Live Action Film which is going to be played on Machinima. I was working with another FX artist from California he was the lead artist responsible for the final destruction simulation which changed a bit from my version after we got client feedback. He is also going to be responsible for the Fume FX Explosion sim and the final render.

Sadly I don't have any breakdowns as they were deleted out the Dropbox Folder, however when the final films is out  I will post it up here. And I will have a credit as a VFX Artist!


Also I want to start working on a VFX seqence to show off all my skills so far instead of just doing RnD and Tests ect. I have had a few ideas but I plan to do like a UFO Military attack sequence where I will model,texture,rig the UFO craft then create all the scenes and FX and then edit it together with breakdowns to showcase my VFX Skills. When all this is decided I will start posting it all on here with daily/ weekly updates on the project so I can show how I am making the project.


As Always Thanks For Looking!

Thinking Particles Monument Destruction

A little test I ran last night with Demolition Master and Thinking Particles. Enjoy!

As Always, Thanks For Looking!