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.
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.
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.
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:
To explore and understand the use of dynamic fluids and particles in the creation of atmospheres, clouds and dust.
Explore how atmospheric and environmental VFX can be used to enhance the narrative in film or animation.
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.
Last semester I looked into the job of a Technical Artist, I thought it would only be fair to research into the role of a visual effects artist, particularly focusing on environments and effects similar to the ones I'm looking to create.
The career of a visual effects artist is reasonably well known as it they are often known for long working hours when it comes to meeting deadlines. There are also many smaller studios which take on freelance VFX artists and employ their own. Multiple visual effects studios might often be hired to work on the same film at one time.
There are a huge number of visual effects breakdowns, but this video containing work from Marco Lozzi was very interesting to see the wide variety of the types of shots a VFX artist might work on. I was often pleasantly surprised to see the number of real life locations that included CGI composited into the background.
A huge part of VFX particularly in environments is trying to keep the additions consistent with both lighting but also texture. With the advent of High Definition movies, there were a good few years during the early 2000s where CGI was very noticeable because it stood out from surrounding textures. A good VFX artist understands and aims to try and keep the consistency between the CGI and live action shots.
Lastly, the idea I wanted to research into was the atmospheric re-entry effects. There's a great satisfaction while playing Kerbal Space Program to de-orbit spacecraft and watch them heat up and fall apart as they enter. In reality, things work pretty much the same, anything going fast entering the Earth's atmosphere won't stand a chance without shielding.
I recently followed NASA as they launched their new Orion spacecraft into orbit to test the high speed re-entry as it entered the atmosphere. This was the first time I'd seen the re-entry process filmed from inside the spacecraft and broadcast live (minus a small blackout due to plasma). The re-entry effects are fiery but not your traditional fire, a very high intensity concentration of flames.
A big movie from 2013 was Gravity, probably the best interpretation of realistic (well as close as you can get) spaceflight. In the movie [Spoiler] astronaut Sandra Bullock finds herself in the de-orbiting Tiangong Space Station. The space station goes through several stages as it falls, first from shaking to breaking apart, air streaks and finally fully breaking apart and immense heat.
While probably not realistically accurate (although still highly accurate), cinematically it did the job as intended, creating a very dramatic finale to the movie.
I may also want to consider the break up of asteroids, there are lots of amateur footage of asteroids falling to Earth, notably a meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013.
Along the lines of asteroids and comets, we got the best views of a comet in 2014 with Rosetta's visit to 67P/Churyumov-Gerisamenko. Some of the pictures it has returned have been fascinating and as the comets gets closer to the sun we can see the gas and dust outflows become much more active. Although these are stills, it'd be interesting to explore generating these effects in Maya, emulating it realistically while also exaggerating it for artistic effect, giving the viewer a feel of what it may be like on the comet.
I've looked at planetary bodies and atmospheric effects, another idea was to go closer in and explore the creation of a ground level scene of an alien planet or hostile, out-of-the-way environment. The project would be slightly more focused on expressing how that scene feels. If you were to place yourself at the scene I'd want to create the necessary particles and atmosphere to say the following things:
How hot or cold it is - using embers or snowflakes
How thick the atmosphere is or the feeling of high air pressure - by creating fog volumes
How hostile the environment is - nature of the particles, speed of the wind, use of colour
Many sci-fi films use these visual techniques very well, some will use most or all of them and others will put them aside for more emphasis on the contents or character of the environment. As this would be a visual effects project I'd want to concern myself more with the fluids and particles side of the scene.
I re-looked at some films which build an environment scene with the elements I am researching. One example is from Prometheus. I was most impressed at the initial landing scene where the planet is introduced. The cloud levels vary all over from very high clouds to middle level storm clouds and ever looming ground fog. It sets the scene as being a very different place from earth and all the elements together do point to a different atmosphere but not so different to be deadly. I found a nice visual effects breakdown which does have more compositing elements but is useful:
One of my all time favourite movie franchises is The Chronicles of Riddick, in each movie a different planet is visited, each with its own unique feature. In The Chronicles Riddick (second movie) there is a planet which is very close to its sun which turns daytime hours into flaming no-go zone. Although a little dated there are some neat things in the scene, the way the air mirages with the heat and the steam are enough to tell us its hot. The wall of fireballs is a bit gimmicky but awesome to watch.
Interstellar is the latest big sci-fi movie so I feel obliged to give it a mention. Interstellar visits a few planets with one being an icy lifeless planet. I think its done very well, the clouds are very calm and cover the sky leaving it a white scene. There is a constant light snowfall which says it all. I was particularly interested in the way the blizzard seems to hover over the planets surface which I think is also partly a release of ice from the surface.
I'd also like to give Avatar an honourable mention, you'd think the planet of Pandora would come to mind for a project like this but it doesn't particularly cover what I am exploring. What Pandora does great is the content of the environment (the plantlife, the floating mountains, the terrain) but doesn't particularly focus on the elements I want to explore. It does do a very good job of the clouds, there are a lot of fine light mist-like clouds which really emphasise how "airy" the air was, hinting at a more fuller and dense atmosphere.
The following tutorials demonstrate some of the effects I may want to explore with for this type of scene:
