When diplomacy fails, it's time to pull out the guns, and I am ready for that! :laugh:

...well, no, actually I am not. I am wondering about the best way to transform a static gun into a firing gun  (and please don't say "just pull the trigger"!) :lol:

Scenario: I have a Poser character already posed, and I have imported it in Vue 6 for the final render. She is holding an automatic pistol, or submachine gun, something able to spray a lot of bullets. Which is in your opinion the best way to fire them?

1. Muzzle flash. Should I add it in postwork or would be better to go back to the production line and add it as a prop to the scene? In both cases, where can I find these effects?

2. Light from the shoots. A little point light just in front of the barrel could be ok? Which color would be better?

3. Trail of the fired bullets. Do I need to show it somehow or can I avoid it?

4. Smoke from the gun. Is it necessary? The character is aboard a very fast vehicle and so there is a lot of wind hitting the gun. Can I avoid the smoke effect? If not, how to add it?

5. Cartridge cases. I will need to add a lot of small cylinders expelled from the gun. This is not a problem because the camera is not very near to the gun so I can skip many details. Primitive cylinders will be ok. But... which side are cartridges expelled from? For my picture I would prefer a gun which can expel empty cartridges from the left. Do such a gun exist or it would be an unrealistic detail?

6. Enough questions!!! :thumbupboth:

Giorgio

Adam Thwaites has a freebie muzzle Flash and a matrix style bullet trail in his freebies

http://www.most-digital-creations.com/freestuff.htm

Since this is a prop, add to the scene not postwork, if you have P7 or 8, animate the visiblity, in P6 or earlier parent it to the gun and scale to 0.0001 (invisible to all intents and purposes) when not firing. I usually have the flash visible at 100% in 1 frame, then 50% in a 2nd frame then invisible in the next.

A tip I've found useful for positioning the muzzle flash is to reposition the origin (in parameter properties tab click display origin then the dials will be visible) so that it is at the back (muzzle end) this also helps when scaling the blast as the prop won't move away from the gun as it does with a central origin. As for smoke, if it's in a fast moving vehicle I wouldn't waste time (creating and rendering)

For lights yes a small point light parented to the barrel, solid yellow colour is what I use, remember point lights only visible in raytracing.

I guess you could have a left-handed gun, but the only ones I've seen in real life have been specialist hand-made guns. Bespoke shotguns etc. Otherwise they are mass produced to suit the majority of the population.

Enough answers?
cheers, Dave

Edit to add bullet trails are a movie invention, the only time in reality that a bullet can be seen is if it's a tracer round, otherwise not until a hole appears in yer chest

Actually I think under certain circumstances you CAN see bullet trails. The spotter in a 2 man sniper team will watch the vapor trail left by the bullet as it boils the air in its wake; thus allowing him to call out adjustments to the shooter.
Of course we're talking about high-caliber rounds traveling thousands of feet :)
The Hollywood stuff is way exaggerated, but it sure looks cool!

Here's a few quick answers, sorry for the short format.

1. depends on your postworkskills. I always add postwork.
   which leads us to...
2. a pointlight at the muzzle adds a lot to the scene. Remember to scale the intensity.
3. Will the bullet trails add to the image. Yes? Then do it post work. No? then don't bother. Depends on where you are going really.
4. Probably unecessary, but again, will it make your image pop?
5. Spent casing... again what does it add to your image. A spent casing leaves the gun at high speed, so unless you are going for a sportslike freeze action look (no motion blur) I wouldn't even bother modelling this, and just add it in post. Easier and quicker. And you want the bullets to fly out the left side,  well try to guess what my opinion on that is.

Hope this helps...

-peace

K

We did our muzzleflashes using FXHome's Muzzleplug plugin for After Effects. Very effective. We also used point lights and synched the muzzle flash to the visibility of those point lights in the scene. You can see a sample in our gallery here: http://www.posermocap.com/gallery/

My recommendation is to try to go with postwork for the muzzle flash, especially if you are looking at a still frame. You should be able to find multiple images online of muzzle flashes to use as a reference.

If you are trying to be realistic with this, then don't bother showing the bullet trails. You can also get away with not showing the spent casings ejecting because they get thrown a long ways away from the gun when the gun is fired.

Don't do the bullet trails. They can't be seen unless you're using tracers, and those don't ignite until they are quite a ways from the gun.

There are very few guns that eject out the left side and of those that do, they are switchable between right and left side, from what I can recall. Some, such as the FN P-90 eject out the bottom, and some, like the P-08 Luger eject out the top.

There really isn't an awful lot of smoke with modern firearms. I would leave it out if you want to be realistic.

Hope this helps...

Left side ejection would suit a left handed gun. As long as the ejected brass is thrown far enough it wont matter. Some pistols you get the brass in your face :(

There are props for muzzle flash and trails. Many do them in postwork. You should be able to find some brushes for both.