Re: Limit Theory Fan Contest - Discussion
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:02 am
Plaster it with tailpipe stickers!
Plaster it with tailpipe stickers!
No worries I often use spheres with some kinda' cloud material to create nebulae for the background, or if I want to use an image a plane will work. That way I don't have to do any post processing at all.CSE wrote: ↑Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:14 pmSo, here is the current status with regards to lights and angle of view / focal length:
So basically I get the effect I want with the volumetric lights (glowing material is not possible, because I want to have no ambient lighting - in space without atmosphere, there is no such thing, which makes the typical very sharp shadows).
Two issues with it:
- you cannot really control the decay (or at least I did not find how) so you cannot control independently the strength of the light and the size of the halo. I would like for instance to have a much brighter engine glow, but without it to extend much further away...
- The second issue is for my "post-processing" - when I save the image with the option to have transparency (which I need to paste the ship later on a nice starry background) then the whole glow is considered fully transparent - in other words, it is not part of the picture. The picture above was saved without transparency - but how to paste it on a background?
I have found a possible workflow ( a - copy non transparent picture in B&W in a new picture (temp), b - invert temp, c - copy alpha mask from transparent picture parties using magic wand to pick each opaque zone, d - paste in temp picture and adjust at the correct pixel, repeat c/d for each opaque zone, e - copy temp picture in alpha mask of non transparent picture, f - save as png and adapt levels) but this is cumbersome, needs pixel-precise manual placement of masks and need it for every contiguous ship.
Still, thanks HS, it was a good tip!
Note: in Vue, it is possible to select light by light what other objects are impacted by it! Using this, I could avoid that the colourful halo of the blue shuttle make ugly spots on the capital ship!
For the angle of view, the deformation is now more visible, it does look more massive. As thesleeve said - to get more effect I would need to renounce having the full model in view
Well, you could try having a rear docking/launch bay? Or some kinda' shipyard or resource extraction thingy, like an asteroid cracker or something. If you have the engines at the front in a puller configuration or at the sides the world is your oyster!0111narwhalz wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:15 amMore of a general spaceship question than one relating specifically to capitals, but it's harder to answer with bigger ships.
What do you do with the stern of a spacecraft? I'm getting tired of just filling them with engines, and searching for references has proved fruitless ("spaceship stern" returns aircraft tails and spacecraft bows).
We brake for nobody!
Perhaps the whole habitat ?0111narwhalz wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 1:15 amMore of a general spaceship question than one relating specifically to capitals, but it's harder to answer with bigger ships.
What do you do with the stern of a spacecraft? I'm getting tired of just filling them with engines, and searching for references has proved fruitless ("spaceship stern" returns aircraft tails and spacecraft bows).
Well, the animation bit - it's several hours of render for one picture and my computer is again at the limit just when moving the scene around, so I guess this is a bit beyond reasonable. There are however several small ships flying around - the "forklifts" and in the last picture, some fighters. Below there is a shuttle also.HowSerendipitous wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:10 amNo worries I often use spheres with some kinda' cloud material to create nebulae for the background, or if I want to use an image a plane will work. That way I don't have to do any post processing at all.
Why not try animating it? Some kinda' flyby or something, with some other ships pottering around for scale?
Yes, it is a good question. It is also disturbing me, and I do not really understand (thesleeve - may it be linked with the geometrical distortion due to the field of view?)Cornflakes_91 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:26 amCSE, something confuses me in your latest image:
The rightmost of the three firing turrets at the front has a weird perspective
The muzzle flash suggests that the barrel is raised until about pointing at the viewer, but the trace goes way below the viewer.
What is it supposed to do?
OK, this is another story. Indeed the strength of the lasers are not all the same. The rightmost has about 15% more strength; the top pink shot also. This was per design as I liked it better. Also the spread is a bit bigger in the far left and far right shots. Call this artistic licenceCornflakes_91 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 27, 2018 4:14 pmhm... the changed one actually looks a bit wrong to me now, like the shot is firing off-bore now.
dunno, the third one's trace just seems too long for the (alleged) firing direction... maybe you got some scale variable messed up in it?
Thank you kind Sir, we do our utmost best to please!Talvieno wrote: ↑Tue Mar 27, 2018 6:07 pmCSE, that image you posted in the contest/creations thread is amazing!!!!! That is definitely my absolute favorite from you Although there were a couple others that came close, this is my new favorite. I'm particularly pleased/impressed with the lighting, and I think the perspective advice from thesleeve certainly paid off.