I have to admit. the City looks awesome.
shame the animations are a bit :\
I have to admit. the City looks awesome.
shame the animations are a bit :\
Originally Posted by Ð4ÑØ †
.
Vray isn't meant to render fast, I would have used mental ray, or Brazil to do that.
I thought you guys had big 'ole render farms set up and everything...
Unfortunately, that's what we need.
Personally, I am focused on the story elements. I want to create as interesting and engaging a series as possible. When we were using pure in-game machinima, I was happy, but we ran into problems concerning the animation limits and what we could do. Our next plan was to use animation when we needed it, in a way that would blend the two. When Whiplash joined up, he convinced us to switch to full animation, mostly through some nice still renders. I love the new look of the city, but I would be willing to sacrifice graphics for content. However, any nice-looking stuff we can manage is a superb plus. I have become frustrated with the way we have become mired on the "make it look perfect" sandbar. That's one of the reasons I originally started this trailer- it was my chance to see if we could pull off something fully animated. What I have found, via your comments, and also through our own discussions is this:
1.Animation looks very pretty.
2.The process we currently have set up does not work as efficiently as I would like.
3. Unless we find a new way of speeding up production, we'll never get anywhere
4.When something (i.e. the trailer) becomes so prolonged and intricate that people start to get annoyed with it, things happen and important details are dropped. These include the moving civilians and a small jerk at the end of the camera track that could have been easily removed.
The original concept even included some talking and a slightly different idea. However, we went with this to try to make it as simple and easy to make as possible.
Therefore, this is absolutely my opportunity to push the series into real production, not the semi-wandering and constant experimenting that has made up the last 8 months. If anyone has rendering suggestions, lighting tips, and other things, I would be overjoyed to submit a full list to our friend Whiplash. I want this to happen more than anyone.
As Kalub said, "Your kidding... all this time, and this is all you accomplished?"
That just about sums it all up. We have accomplished much, leaned a whole lot, but we haven't been able to use it. Something always gets in the way, usually related to our small team size. Anything too large can lead to more complications, but if we have some more people helping I think we can emerge into the light.
1) NOOO! The animation was TERRIBLE! How do you possibly gather that it was very pretty?? There was some reflection but there's absolutely NO SHADOWING on ANYTHING. It looked very flat and mediocre at best. Besides that, there were only 3 things animated. The cars, the pelicans and the camera.
2) No kidding. You're treating your small group like it's Pixar.
3) Go for in-game machinima. Your small group is incapable of full scale animation and rendering.
4) Don't announce something you're not capable of, and not near even producing. It makes it a hell of a lot harder if you attempt something your unfamiliar with.
:yawn:
.
:mentalray:
Last edited by DaneO'Roo; October 9th, 2007 at 08:51 PM.
That's a real picture, right? Not from 3DS?
Wow... It looks so real.
You get a :awesome: smiley and a +rep.
As harsh as Snaf's post may seem, it does strike close to the truth. I've been thinking for the past few hours about our options. Although at the moment we have put enough effort into preparing all our models and maps for animation that I still lean toward that path, I have a theoretical list of what we have to use:
Full Animation
Pros: Textures and lighting have the ability to look better than in-game; Movement of characters CAN look very nice if done correctly; Allows for complete customization of sets and props relatively easily; No in-game limits
Cons: Requires people who know what they are doing, and are dedicated to working to make things go fast; At the fragmented rate we're going at it will take forever.
Halo CE
Pros: High level of customization; Custom maps and camera tools readily available; Machinima community firmly in place for reference
Cons: Graphics are relatively horrible compared to animation or newer games; Not very realistic looking
H2V
Pros: Looks a lot better than CE; Allows for custom maps
Cons: Requires gold accounts for full online access for filming; Tools for weapons, vehicles, and bipeds still in development. No current fly-cam style hacks as far as I know
Halo 3
Pros: Looks very nice; Forge allows for placement of vehicles and weapons for filming needs; General epic feel about it
Cons: No custom maps- we have a city set, and we need to use it
None of these is perfect, and I would love to revert to in-game filming. However, we will be needing at least intermittent animation to accomplish things such as ship crashes, alien fleets, etc. I'm interested to see what the people here think. I am listening to everything you're saying, and doing my best to be objectively critical of my own work.
Edit: And o_o at the mental ray pics. Very impressive. I was told that mental ray would render much slower than vray. Apparently that was a mistaken idea.
Last edited by Siliconmaster; October 9th, 2007 at 09:25 PM.
The word I would have to use is "meh"
The editing was okay, the music choice was okay, the animation was okay, everything was just okay. Nothing really stood out and got me excited, it was all kind of just there. The sad thing is I can see that shot having a lot of potential, the whole thing just needs a lot more feeling put into it, it's quite bland. Keep trying.
They're both Maya and it's native renderer, Mental Ray.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks