Lava and lava fall

Hey its me again... I was wondering how i could make a lava river that flows quickly and then drops off a cliff at the end. Thanks heaps

 

Well..what do you have? Particle stuff is generally pretty difficult, so you may be best off doing it practically, but it's good to know what you know how to do already, and what you've got available.

 

I use trapcode particular

 

Miniature!

 

Actually, for an upcoming project, I'm probably going to create a lava river practically... any tips appreciated.

My plan is to get plexiglass and put the lava on that, with lights shining from below. Any ideas on what to make the lava out of would be appreciated.

 

My plan is to get plexiglass and put the lava on that, with lights shining from below.

Wow! How did you think of that! HeHe just kidding.

 

I stole it from the DVD. Durrrrrrrrrrr.... Anyways I have about $1000 to spend for this project, about 50 going to extra costumes, maybe 300 to stock footate, and probably just cause I want, 100 to trapcode for shine. Leaving 550 to make lava/miniatures.

 

This may sound stupid, but maybe use some kind of clear thick syrup and dye it with red and orange. Maybe get some black colored bits, small wood chips painted black perhaps[?] and mix it with the syrup. Turn on the underlights and let it flow!

_Max

EDIT: spelling

 

The only problem with that is it would probably look too transparent. I need something that isn't transparent, it must look like the lava is glowing, not something underneath it. Maybe mix with a milk like substance?

 

Just use that stuff they used in Episode III... i forget the name of it, but it was a food thickening agent, apparently not THAT expensive, and can be gotten at alot of places on the internet.

 

Methylcel. I've mixed garbage cans full of the stuff for various movies.

But pure methylcel is clear, it'd still need an additive to make it more translucent than transparent. Almost any cheap powdered substance would probably work - flour's the easiest, cheapest idea that comes to mind.

 

Do you know anywhere I can obtain it? I found a website selling 100 grams of Methyl Cellulose powder for $20, wondering if this is a good deal...

Sorry, I failed chemistry, so I am a noob.

 

flour's the easiest, cheapest idea that comes to mind.

Horray! You can bake it into bread with the studio lights
But seriously, I can't wait to see where this project goes

 

Very approximately, 100 grams might make 2 gallons of lava goo. Maybe more, maybe less, depending on how thick you need it to be.

So how much you'll need depends on how big your miniature is, and factor in some extra for testing and spillage. On the plus side, methylcel keeps pretty well. Once you've got it, you can re-use it for quite a while.

You could start with a small package for testing, then calculate how much you'll need and then buy in bulk.

Dow Chemical sells methylcel commercially as "Methocel", try searching for that. We used to get it in 50 lb bags, as I recall.

If you're going to work with large quantities of the stuff, then you'll also need to consider how you'll be mixing it and storing it. And moving it... your lava will need to flow into some sort of container, and then be transported back to the start position for the next take. A garbage can full of methocel is like a garbage can full of water - it's heavy!

Also think about some sort of large-scale blender, like an industrial paint stirrer or whatever - mixing in small batches is possible, but will take a looooong time.

 

Well, I have drawn up the plans (albeit very basic) for the main structure. I'm planning on using a shower door sized plexiglass for the ground, at a 10 degree slope. The plexiglass will be about 3 feet above the ground. Then I have beams extending above the whole setup where I can place chineese lanterns to get a nice, soft, scaled light. I'll probably make it to Home Depot sometime this week.

 

You might need more than just lanterns to get it to look good.

 

Well, here's where watching cheesy movies comes in handy! If any of you have ever seen Volcano with Tommy Lee Jones, they make a nice lava effect using nothing more than...oatmeal! If you are running low on funding, I'd suggest trying out a minitature oatmeal river, possibly with some food coloring and lighting, then touch up the colors and glows and whatnot on the computer.

 

they make a nice lava effect

Their lava looked freakin terrible!

 

I am working on a fanfilm that will use a chemical called Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose for our lava scenes. What we will do is build a plexi-glass platform with a half inch hole in one end and a one inch hole in the other. Then pop a bulkhead into each of these. Use the 1 inch hole to drain into a bucket and plumb a pump back up to the half inch hole this will create a continuous flow of Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose across the plate.

What we do then is attach some styrofoam building mockups to the piece of plexi-glass, these will be replaced by CG buildings later on, then drill a few more holes in the plexi. These holes can be fitted to an air pump, the air pump will allow us to create lave spurts from the flow. More lava spurts and fire will be added later on. The whole platform is lit with red lights from underneath with the Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose dyed yellow.

This creates different shades of yellow, orange, and red to simulate real lava. Lastly a black powder is sprinkled ontop of the flowing Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose to make it look like chunks of hardened lava. This can be added lightly in the bigining to really thick at the end. I'll add CG elements to this and it should make a realistic scene. Worth a shot.

The chemical is about $70-$75 500gm of powder....we should have about 2-3 gallons of lava. Plus, the Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose is reuseable.

 

Hydroxypropyl Methycellulose and Methylcel are the same thing.

 

Shadow_of_Evil: Well, considering a tiny budget and a quick effect, I think it could do the job nicely.

 

Just use cornstarch. My mom uses it to thiken gravy. Clear, transparent meat juice goes to thick opaque gravy in seconds! And unlike flour, won't turn into glue.

 

I didn't say they weren't the same.

 

man did this thread get hijacked by abdax or what?

 

huh. just noticed that myself.