CompuServe Messages

Hey Kouros, >> I have a client who want me to crach the TV screen… this effect must l@@k real… << I've done this a variety of times and have yet to find an ideal approach. The problem is that cracks grow and if you have shards breaking out it gets even more complicated. If the screen just has to look like its cracked, thats not too bad at all. Basically that would be very similar to creating "lightning", and could be done by hand fairly quickly… over a series of frames… If the effect has to crack and reveal something in the background, the only way I've found to create it effectively is through a sequence on model morphs. I would do step one first, ie paint the cracks over time and record them and play them back to insure that it looks right… then I would go back and build several models, the first one would match the first crack of the first hand painted scene… the second would match the second… When the cracks actually reveal something in the background, I would create a boolean shape in the shape of the area that is being reveal and subtract it from the shape that is cracking… this new shape could be manipulate further to provide the second morph target to match the next series of frames… etc. FWIW I've tried creating shards and having them explode outward and while its a neat effect it not the most realistic and certainly awkward as each shape in the lofter actually has to sit on its adjacent shape so that there are no "visible" cracks at the first frame. One can build a shape export it to 3D build, and then with Display on in the shaper view that shape and create a new shape to match it up with… These are complimentary approaches and between the two you have the basic elements from which you should be able to achieve the desired result. Artistry is definitely an element, the rest is patience and skill. <g> Another approach which you may find just as viable and possibly easier it to do a 2d morph with ER or similar package. The cracks would be vector shapes that would morph into your picture element and increase or spread depending on the effect you're looking to achieve… Hope this helps… its a start anyway. <g> John