Particle Emitters

I've been playing around with particle emitters in the hopes that I can use them to add dynamics and visual interest to my scene. On my alien planet I'd like to have volcanic vents that rise up from the ground to give the scene some atmosphere. It would also interact with the air and forces can be applies during the activation of the storm.

In this particular instance the particles increase size over time. A 'Radius Scale' ramp is used to control this which helps to achieve the effect that the smoke is dissipating over time. This scale is also randomised to a small extent to reduce repetition.

I've also applied a "Volume Axis" field which applies turbulence to the particles as they enter the field. I'm not entirely sure what the difference between a volume axis field and an air or turbulence field is but it seems to do the job.

I will use something like this field that can be tweaked along with the storm controls.

Learning Contract - Feedback

I've received feedback for my learning contract submission.

The project aim and breakdown I want to achieve are within reason and the project seems to be relevant and complex enough to progress in. The project so far is a good start and I will definitely have a good amount of material to explore. Of course there are also a few things I missed out:
Further conceptual consideration should be addressed, for example, I will need to consider what kind of environment I want to make.
There is also an issue of my scope not being entirely defined, as in what I will be handing in at the end of the semester.

The feedback also states my project could benefit further from the "discussion between scientific data and creative license" and "whether there is a tension between realism and creativity being explored" or is it "utilising facts and data to inspire new (personal) creative approaches". I believe I have made a start in considering this, my blog posts so far definitely look into the science behind my creative approach but I would've benefited from further exploring this in my learning contract. I think I am on the right track here but can continue to look at the relationship between the realism and imagination.

From the feedback I've come up with a few points I will attempt to address:

• Scope - I'd like to aim for 2 rendered scenes. These 2 scenes will actually be from the same environment but with different weather situations.
• Video Report - My video report will include these renders as well as a walk through behind the scenes, and showing various other implementations and experimentations.
• Environment - I need to focus on what type of environment I'd like to create. In short, I'd like to create an alien planet that seems relatively calm but endures frequent dust/smog storms. I will create a blog post in the future to properly define what environment I will build.

Test Scenes

These are a couple of test scenes I've created which compiles the tests I've done on generating a volume of "atmosphere" and also the tests on creating clouds.

I created a simply terrain mesh and added a light, positioned a camera inside and it looks pretty good.

This is the same scene but at different times of day. I also tweaked the colour of the atmosphere and changed the position of clouds to make it look like time had progressed.

Generating Atmospheres

One of the things that initially drew me to this project idea was the ability to create interesting coloured atmospheres. Gradients are always fun to play with but I think its more interesting seeing these gradients in real life on both real planets and conceptual planets in movies, games and artist's impressions.

Using Maya's dynamic fluid system I created 3D fluid containers which contain a large number of particles.

There are a number of attributes available to edit. To create these gradient effects I've mainly used the Color, Incandescence and Opacity ramps under Shading settings.

There are a number of other settings that affect the nature of the particles and how they react with the environment. I may or may not mess around with these as I don't particularly need my atmosphere moving, I just need it to exist. That being said, I will probably want to edit the opacity and colour ramps at ground level to increase the air density.

Researching Atmospheres

I want to take a closer look at planetary atmospheres, how they are built up, how they appear and the possibility for exploring different ways to make them in Maya dynamics. I want to be able to have enough options to explore and to give my project enough complexity.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is currently orbiting Saturn, its been there for over a decade studying the planet and its moons. Huygens was a piggyback lander and was sent to Saturn's Moon Titan just over 10 years ago (Jan 15, 2005). It was the first lander to land on Titan and one of the best opportunities we've had and seeing what is underneath Titan's thick atmosphere.

It capture many photos which were compiled into this video which emulates the view as it approached its landing site.

The moon Titan has always been very interesting to me. It is the only moon in the Solar System with a thick atmosphere and although smaller than Earth, its atmosphere is denser and air pressure is higher.
The atmosphere is made up primarily of nitrogen but is also abundant in methane and hydrogen.

I find the following image to be quite interesting as it shows the layers of Titan's atmosphere.

The image below shows polar clouds on Titan (left) compared with polar clouds on Earth (right). I particularly liked the colours in these clouds, it looks very alien for something we see on our planet everyday.

That should hopefully be the last science-based post and I'd now like to look at how alien and hostile environments are created in movies to tell a narrative or convey the danger of the environment.

Learning Contract

As part of the coursework submissions I have built a more detailed plan for what I'd like to create this semester.

I have chosen to focus on environmental dynamic effects, in particular atmospheric effects, clouds and dust. I'll be looking into the way fluids and particles can be used to create these effects and how they can be used to inform the viewer the narrative of the environment.

Research has already been posted to this blog but I'd like to also look into films as an example. I referenced Prometheus and Riddick as examples of alien planets that have a hostile feel to them.

I've set myself the following aims:

1. To explore and understand the use of dynamic fluids and particles in the creation of atmospheres, clouds and dust.
2. Explore how atmospheric and environmental VFX can be used to enhance the narrative in film or animation.
3. Create a series of renders that reflect the research and testing.

The tasks I've set myself for the project include creating iterations of simulations with maya fluids and particles, research into VFX environments in films, and finally putting what I've learned together into a final scene or scenes.

As a lot of this is new to me I've not entirely defined the scope as to what I'll be able to cover but I will definitely have a final rendered shot as well as progress and iterations playblasts.

The full learning contract document can be viewed on Dropbox.