Attached Link: http://www.dexfx.com/Effects.htm

Hi, all -

Just thought I'd share some work in progress and ask for critique and suggestions.

Since I was a kid I've had a fascination with flying saucers attacking (you might remember that under my old name -- AzChip -- I won one of our Carrara/RDS forum competitions with just such an image). So, lately I've decided to attack my new home town with some flying saucers.

The link will take you to a link to a clip of six shots -- still very much in progress -- using all sorts of software. The ships and some of the debris (including the hotel sign in the last shot) were built in Carrara. Other software used includes Photoshop, Particle Illusion, and AfterEffects.

The clip is about 1 and a half meg, so it might take a bit to load in....

I'm sorry to you Mac folks, but this clip is in Windows Media, and I don't think it'll play for you. If I figure out how to post a QT up, I'll let y'all know.

I'd really appreciate any constructive criticism -- what can I do to make it look better?

I'm happy to answer any questions, too.

Thanks!

• Dex

http://www.dexfx.com/Effects.htm

very interesting,this is something i always wanted to create.i li9ke this one.:)

Very sweet! I love the integration of cgi & photo images. The only thing I can suggest is to tone down on some of the fire effects. Strong daylight, especially bright days like you've chosen, will dim even fire to produce a subdued set of colors. The smoke looks great, though I'd add more of that and less flame on some of the concrete buildings. Best thing to do is look at some actual footage of burning buildings from daylight shots. If you can, contact a local news channel and see if they have any archive footage you could view. If you explain your project and direct them to the clip, I'm sure someone would be more than willing to help out (and you might even get a job offer).

Thanks for the comments. Tyger, good point. I should certainly dim down the flame, particularly in direct sunlight. I'd considered setting this bit at "magic" time -- just after sunset when the sky still has some blue and building lights are coming on -- and may still do that. It makes for much more dramatic images. Of course, then I'd have lots more interactive lighting to create (which was pretty time-consuming in that last shot down the street). But I think it would make the sequence much nicer. (Plus it would make it much easier to composite people into the foregrounds of shots -- it's lot's easier to create silhouettes than full-lit composited people.) Other comments are welcome and appreciated! - Dex

Oh! As for news channel footage, I work for a State Agency Video Production Unit and we've often tried to get access to local stations' footage; they're not very forthcoming. :o(

Attached Link: http://shopping.discovery.com/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10000&catalogId=10000&langId=-1

Not forthcoming, huh? Wow, I'm surprised. Though, maybe I shouldn't be. I wonder if they'd even let someone just look at footage in their own studio if it was for research purposes. Oh well. You could always hit "The Discovery Channel" web site and pick up their VHS title "Demolitions". It's only about $6. Hopefully the link at the top will work.

lol...the stuff they shoot is copyrighted..im sure theyll sell it to you at probably 30.00/min...but they dont give that stuff away unfortunately... try going to www.archive.org its a big database of copyright free pictures, video, etc...search through it they might have what you want...they have a library of those old educational movies from like the 50's..theyre hilarious...but at least we know now why jane is popular and susie wasnt...if only susie didnt wear those tight sweaters...lol...

Awesome stuff here! I am a Mac user and as long as you have the latest Windows Media Player installed, it works fine... Great Work. Paul

Hey, all -- First off, Paul, thanks for letting me know that Mac folks can see it! Now I don't have to worry about double-posting. (And thanks for the compliment!) The Archive is amazing; I use b-roll from the public domain material in the Perlinger Archive at work fairly often. (You know, gotta have a shot of a bunch of white guys in some board-room meeting setting in 1956, or horses in the old west, or civil war images for some project or other.) And, yeah, the mental hygeine films from the 50's and 40's are both hilarious and chilling, to think that folks here were acutally taught that stuff as the truth! The famous "Duck and Cover" movie is there. "Hey kids, what should you do if you see the flash?" "Duck and Cover!" - Dex

That poor Transamerican Pyramid....sweet stuff though, I enjoyed it, great work.

Good looking stuff dex! Could you also allow a link for downloading? I kept having a prob with the stream stopping then going, etc. I don't have that problem with files off the hard drive, but if the internet is slow... Nice work, especially with the mixing of imagry that is moving around... I take it that the shake was purly in AE? I would think that would make it MUCH easier since I don't know of any way to import a camera move into Carrara. Love to see more as you finish it.

Hi, Bluetone -- I'm not much of a web guru and have no idea if I can put something up to download. I'll do my best to figure it out. Thanks for the compliments. Yeah, the camera shake is put in in AE. I have versions sans shake, and while they look decent, there's a certain energy and documentary feel that comes with the shake. I did my best to put movement in that reacts like a camera op would react in those situations -- what do you show? the flying saucer flying away or the car that's just been crushed by the hotel sign? As a camera op in real life, I find that questions like that are going through my head all the time. (Although I've rarely had the opportunity to videotape flying saucers blowing up stuff.) I don't believe that there are camera move tracking capabilities in Carrara; you might have some luck with the other way around, though. If you have AE pro, you could always do camera moves in Carrara with a couple targets in the shot, then do a motion track in AE. But I've found for what I'm doing, it's better to have a locked off shot and superimpose the ship and other stuff, then shake it up in AE. I've reworked one shot thats posted, but haven't updated the posting. I'm working on a couple others, and starting to develop a context for them -- like a story! Imagine that! I'll let y'all know when it's up for viewing. - Dex