All these animation tests made me think about showing you guys a sneak peak

http://www.scifi3d.com/endor.wmv

Just right-click and save. It's a rough test from a year or so ago of our Endor animation. Andreas was the cheif animator. It shows you the look of our lasers since somebody was talking about that. It shows you some good, but not perfect, animation. The last few shots were not edited into the right spot or at the right speed. It's NOT complete!! So please don't critique the obvious. It's just a gift for our forum. Zorbi has since redone the planet, reworked lighting, etc. Just figured I'd show you guys some stuff since we work on all these thngs for years and years and don't share much of it outside our small group. Hopefully those guys won't be mad.

 

omg.....that was so tight.....i wanna be that good....lol

 

Wonderful. I haven't tried animating or modeling in such a long time, but I love watching these tests, even if they aren't the best quality just because of how much work goes into them and I'm still mesmorised that a computer can make something that looks so real. Anyway, like I said, wonderful work. I hope your group finishes much more over the years. I'm sure it's good practice, if anything else.

~JW

 

http://www.scifi3d.com/snowtroopers.avi

There's another one that we shared 3-4 years ago.

 

Smooth stuff right there. I see how you are zoo. That x-wing glow after getting hit was killer. Also the pilot lazer tint was a nice touch. More...More...

 

Wow! That's great ZOO!!
It's exactly the chaotic look I love about the Endor spacebattle.

This is the level I'm aiming for... will take me a while to get there.
Still, it would be nice to get some pointers in the right direction
This was done in Max?
How were those lasers done, rendered or composited?
Roughly how many layers were rendered per shot?
Lighting is 1 direct with area shadow and fill-lights, right?

If you can't say anything about it, I'll understand offcourse.
Many thanks for sharing this, I'm watching and learning!

 

Lightinig!! people never listen to me when I say good lights can make the difference.

I haven't worked on these, but I know it was done in Max and composited in Combustion. Ans I know Zorbi works a lot with layers, I think he used a lot

 

Appart from the obvious, the first one was great, but not the best I've seen (and I know it's not complete). I liked the second one better, because it looked really realalistic (appart from thise lasers on the cannon).

 

I had problems with the Internet, but I could finally download them. And....

WOOW!

That Battle of Endor will be difficult to equal...

I have to work a lot more doing my own tests...
Damn class exams... I need to find more time!

 

Very kool!!
agree with Dr Jones need a little bit more lighting
and I love the lazers...very good

but for the tie lazer sounds, it's the same all the time, maybe if you change one octave sometimes that will not be repetitive


Good job from the scifi staff

 

Woah this is awesome Zoo. I thought I was watching a clip from ROTJ!
How long have you guys been working on this film?

~Rory

 

Yea that was Andreas idea about the xwing engine hit. Came out well. We did some similar stuff on Hoth/Snowspeeder shots with sparks/fire/smoke and electrical arcs.

Lighting: I don´t remember exactly how many, but it was Max scanline render. Usually 4 to 5 spotlights one bright and 3 or 4 softer.


Lasers: All done in video post inside MAX (old school style) with one outer glow and one core.

There actually was a better edit with the Tie Pilot shot first, then flying around the back of the ISD. It was in order AND it was all sped up so it was even more exciting. But I can't find those test files. This was done... 4 years ago, maybe 5. Since then we've tried to be more "original" since stuff like this is text-book ROTJ shots. It was tough enough just trying to recreate it. There's like 10 shots or so there total.. and there was probably 10 diff. tests of each shot before I was happy. It really was a lot of work for Andreas. I pushed him to the edge of what he is capable of. Surprised he didn't quit. But I'm the kinda person.. either it's gonna be done right or not at all. No half-ass'n. Doesn't have to be perfect either. Our goal was always a minimum of at least good game cinema quality.. or better. And of course as years go by the bar is raised on everything.. games, film, tv. The idea is to leave everything the way it is too. It's a testament that documents how much things have changed. We're not gonna go back and keep redoing stuff.

It's really about just looking at the movies, any movie, and analyzing how they did it. Try to reverse engineer it. Animating is a skill all of it's own just like anything else. And some people have a knack for it. Everything was done in MAX. Zorbi reworked every shot using Combustion and broke it up into 5-10 layers. Of course this is the best way to do it but at the time nobody was really talking about layers and GI lighting much. This is NOT Zorbi's animation though. That'll come some day in the future. Zorbi actually didn't start reworking the shots till a year ago I think, maybe less. And he did that in Combustion. So over the years the tools get more powerful, cheaper, and the skills of artists increase. Makes it tougher for new people to break in. But the really good people like Zorbi and Andreas, and JAS they all excel at learning the software.

Morpher: What's the best you've seen? Best what? SW anim., Endor anim.? Everybody has diff. opinions I guess. Most think the HOTH shot is not realistic. The textures and lighting that Steve did on those give it a painterly look. I like it but it's not necessarily photo-real. Zorbi was reworking that one too with better lights and more fog.

This was not some final edit like I said. So no need to critique the sound effects. SOTS has been under production by us (2-3 entirely diff. crews over time with a few who have never left) for 5 years. It's such a huge project. Long story. We decided to release it in parts but even that may take another year or two. It's not fan film. Just an exercise in use of the models on the site. As we make trailers we release models. It's really just being made for fun so there's no production deadlines, etc. People come and go when they want or can. Hence the reason it's been going on for so long.

IF you watch ROTJ you'll see it's still infinitely many times better. Doing this really gave me a new appreciation for what those guys did. REMEMBER... they didn't have computers either. They did it all optically. They used motion-controlled cameras to shoot a layer, filmed it... shot another layer of craft, filmed it onto of the other film... another layer... starfield layer, laser layer, Endor layer, DS layer, etc. etc. You'd think after so many the film would be really blurry. Not only that but it's amazing they put it all together so nicely using this method. In a computer we can do this and edit it easily. I really just can't imagine how they did it. I'm mystified.

 

Wow, sorry if people thought that I said the lights were bad. I was meaning the opposite, that a good work on light, like here, makes things look way better. Didn't want to offence anyone, I think it looks really great.

 

Dr.Jones did quite a bit of work on SOTS too. Not to mention lots of work in general on the site. There's an unfinished Darth Maul shot he was doing. Maybe we can show that. I don't remember what else you were working on. It's been years.

 

Thanks for the info! This really helps.
There's so much more I'd like to ask but I've got enough to go on for a while again. Now to get back home and work out all the ideas popping up in my head. My time behind a computer at home is limited because of my little daughter craving my attention
So progress is probably slow but if I do get something worthwhile I'll post it.

 

OMG thats brilliant what programs do you use!?

 

Read above

 

All of this is made in Max5 I think and Max VideoPost.
And rendered in layer and added as a background for the next layer and so on.
About the sound It was something in premiere that was wrong, but as Zoo said this is not the final one.
The hardest thing is to get the cruisers and Stardestroyers to look big and move like big ships.

Andreas

 

Look it's Andreas!
Love the animation, it'll be sitting on my desktop for quite a while. Until I figured it all out offcourse... then it'll be moved to my "great examples"-folder

Thanks again

 

Wow!

 

Those were two very awesome clips. There were a couple of shots in the Endor clip (such as the one where the Corellian Corvettes are coming toward the camera)that have this look that makes them seem like shots from Return of the Jedi.

 

Right. Almost the entire thing is from ROTJ.

 

Wot can i say that hasnt already been said, its stupendous!
You guys are doing some great work there, and I'm another one who will have this on his desktop for a while to come yet

Look forward to seeing more and more and more!

Must have been some fantasticly great rendering times in that lot (in the many composit layers).

U got me downloading spaceships and stuff now (lol) in a delusory bid to create something that cool.



Wiz.

 

awsome effects man. I loved both of those clips. I wish i would of bought 3D Max or something like that. I'm just a 2d person. Haven't moved into the 3d realm. but nice work on both of those clips.

 

Hey zoo.
Havent been on these boards in a while.
The ROTJ scene looks great havent seen that one, maybe one day the entire project will get done.