Need help recreating a difficult effect..please help

hi..i am finally making a movie with my friends after a while saving up for a xl1s camera and lighting and boom mics and the movie we are making isa terminator 2-like spoof and i really need to find out how to do the liquid effect the t-1000 does in the movie..when he can go liquid and slide around on the ground and stuff and when hes running he is running as liquid and then morphs into himself while running with the camera moving (doesnt have to have camera moving if too hard)...i cant think of how they did it..im pretty sure im gonna have to use 3dsmax for it and im pretty familiar with the program and wonder if anyone knows how to do this effect? thanks

 

Well one things for sure.
You're going to need to make a detailed mesh of your T-1000 actor

 

You're going to need to make a detailed mesh of your T-1000 actor

Definitely.

From there I would just use Master Zap's Chrome Mapping plugin and then distort the reflection in the settings dialouge box.

 

yeh i figured i would have to make a 3d version of my freind....and how would i go about make him morph into different shapes and puddles and make it actualy look like liquid?

 

What software have you got?

 

after effects 6, premiere pro, 3dsmax 5.1, lightwave, maya, (dont know lightwave and maya that good), and commotion, and combustion

 

How can you afford all those?

 

...and you paid for all these?
The manuals that came with the software when you purchased them may have some tips for you

 

got all the 3d programs free with my computer when i bought it from someone..and i bought premiere pro and after effects..and commotion and combustion are my friends software but he let me install it on my comp

 

Oh. Makes sense.

 

HELP HIM ANYWAYS, GUYS. We don't have to verify the integrity of people asking a simple (or not so simple) question.

~Neszis~

 

Perhaps you could rotomask the guy and add AE filters?

 

of course not. He had to have stolen them (just kidding, of course)

Man, how rich are you though? Seriously. I thought I was good off with Premiere, After Effects, and Mainvision. I have tried to make Blender work, but I can't seem to get it to.

how on earth did you get that much money?

 

true...im no different when it comes to software

Probably the simplest way to do the morphing would be in After Effects but may not be as effective than doing it all 3D

 

Don't forget to use that silver chrome reflecting light probe ball thing.

Chris

 

i think the only way to make it look believable would to use a 3d program and make a 3d character of my t-1000 actor and animate him walkin in the scene and morphing into different shapes..i just dont know how i would make it move in fluid motion and have him like transform into puddles and whatnot

 

I strongly recommend you take the time to learn Maya, as its fluid dynamics (well, dynamics) are what you want. The current desktop version of Maya is an exponentially more powerful software application than what ILM themselves had when T2 was made (twelve years ago). You can definitely do it all in there.

The switching from live actor to CG and back is where AE will come in, but you can do the puddles and morphing in Maya, no question about it.

M. Scott

 

thanks scott...i guess ill take some more time to learn maya more but do u know anywhere that has any good tutorials that would help me get in the right direction towards this effect?

 

I can't imagine finding a tutorial on the net for this specific effect, maybe yes, but it is always good to rather buy a book, and start from the basics.

Oh ya.

It's been a while since someone actually called Dorkman, Scott!

...

 

Well whoever you bought your computer from was an idiot. Maya costs a bundle and usually you also pay annual support, plus the license is not easily transferable. Combustion is about the same. With the price of all the software installed I could probably buy and build 2 very high end computers. Anyway had to get my 0.02 ;-).

You are talking different effects here. For doing the puddles and like there are several ways to do it. For starters, by the way, it might make a difference if you have Maya Complete or Unlimited and which version (4.5, 5?). For the transformation to puddles and the like you could either have deform your model (vertex, lattices, etc.) or turn it into a sfot body and do some deformations or simulations with it. You shoud check the documentation on Deformers and Soft Bodies Dynamics.

For something like when he is running as chrome and turns to normal, you would animate the 3D model to match the guy running and then in a compositing app do some sort of wipe between the two.

Other morphs in the ovie were actually 2D and work better in static shots or with little movement and perspective changes. Something like WinMorph or Elastic Reality could be used, though AE 6 has an new warping and deforming too. You might want to check Combustion too.

 

Well whoever you bought your computer from was an idiot.

You're assuming whoever he bought the computer from had the software legally.

 

i have maya 5 unlimited....and i really dont have that much experience with maya at all..im really good with 3dsmax and just only know the basics of maya...would it be really hard to have a 3d model of my actor actualy morph realisticly into a puddle? and morph from a puddle to full size etc

 

With soft bodies it would be more or less simple, probably just applying the floor as a collision object and then have forces and gavity applied to the soft body to push it down. With deformers and lattices you might have a bit more control but might take a bit more work (say, keyframing the lattice vertices).

For the inverse process (from puddle to model) you can do it 2 ways. You can take one of the methods above, render it, and then invert the order of the frames. Or you can do it with the lattice, keyframe the underformed model at the end of the timeline, then start with a deformed model/lattice and add a few keyframes towards and undeformed model/lattice to the end.

Probably the best way is just to practice with a cylinder or sphere to get a feel how soft bodies and deformations work to see which one you like. I remember there was a tutorial for soft bodies using a sphere (and deform it via particles) but I can't remember if it was part of Maya's documentation or books, or from something like the Maya 4.5 Saavy book.