#Flame IPAS
21 messages in this thread
I've got a question that I'm trying to answer for a customer regarding
the flame IPAS usage. How does one use lighting to cast
flames/shadows on the wall from a flame source. Are there specific
settings in the routine or are spot projector lights recommended? Any
help would be most appreciated… too many learning curves – too
little time!
Thanks,
Dave @ NW Tech
Hi Dave,
<< shadows of flames? >>
A shadow casting light will cast shadows for AXP objects if Cast Shadows is
enabled for the AXP's Object Attributes and if the object's material is not
too transparent.
Don H. here. We're hunting for the guys at Brightstar… Placing
three (or so) weak spotlights around each "candle" (flame axp) will
give flickering grey shadows, ….but… how would you suggest
getting flickering "colorful" shadows? (pretty scary, huh)
What we've come up with so far is to add a small multi-colored flic
to each spolight, using the projector setting. The main drawback is
the tradeoff between many absolutely uniform candles vs. many little
multi- colored flics (tedious to build).
Just out trolling the pros for suggestions on this one… Does our
solution so far sound ok?
Hi Don,
<< how would you suggest getting flickering "colorful" shadows? >>
I've gotten the flicker effect by using attenuated spots, and by animating the
light intensity and color, I can get good flicker results in the area between
the hot spot and falloff.
As Jonas said, a great technique for flame illumination is colored
omni lights, attenuated heavily, and flickering randomly. Mix these
with a shadow-casting spotlight.
(Your projector idea is an excellent one, btw… I'm a huge fan of
using projector lights for almost everything, mixed in with small
amounts of bitmap. My favorite tool for this is HSC's Gradient
Designer.)
– G
> I'm a huge fan of using projector lights for almost everything,
mixed in with small amounts of >bitmap. My favorite tool for this is
HSC's Gradient Designer
Nuggets of wisdom from the master! Is this because the color
variations simulate natural lighting better? What, exactly, are you
talking about in terms of gradients? Something like shades of
yellow, or more elaborate? And when you say "small amounts" what are
you talking about? I thought you either did or didn't have a bitmap
— like being a little pregnant.
Inquring minds…
Usually (especially in indoor scenes), natural light passes through
things on the way to its final destination… curtains, trees,
venetian blinds, windows, telephone lines, etc. This gives light a
varigated and dense quality. If you want to make a scene more dense,
this is one of the tricks of the trade.
It's easy to mix in small amounts of projector bitmaps. Just
shift-copy the light with the projector on it, and turn off the
projector on the copy. Crank the light luma on the projector light
down to about 20% and keep the two lined up with each other. Now,
parent both of the lights and targets to a dummy for a convenient
handle to the "twin" light.
– G
Thanks, Gary, those are great tips.
<Projector Lights> Thanks for tips Gary. They're always appreciated.
BTW, Any more tidbits available on R5? I sure was happy when you
mentioned animated KF backgrounds as one of the top wish list items.
Being able to step through an .ani file off of the PVR would be
sooooo wonderful. I know we're in capable hands.
As you know, I'm very sensitive to wishlist items. And when I see one
crop up about a thousand times, it's like being hit over the head
with a meat tenderizer. This one has cropped up 899 times so far, so
my grey matter isn't quite oozing out of my head yet.
– G
Hey, Gary, it would be nice to be able to have animated backgrounds in
the Keyframer.
900… (and virtually tenderized)
– G
Is there a post of the most requested wishlist items available anywhere?
Nope. That would be too easy for our competition to get ahold of.
– G
Ah. Well, that makes sense. I hadn't thought of that.
PMJI,
<<wish for animated KF backgrounds>>
I don't follow, what am I missing here? As far as I know we can animate the BG
in the KF.
-Kyle
<<I don't follow, what am I missing here? As far as I know we can animate the
BG in the KF.>>
I think what they're meaning is a having the background in the KeyFramer Module
showing a animation or sequence of images so you can move objects and
characters in the foreground with respect to this background. It helps for
better alignment of computer generated objects being animated on an existing
video since you can see the video AND the objects at the same time.
Send Gary another request and see him turn into a vegetable <g>
DaviD "I don't eat something someone's been thinking with!" GouID
ahh . . Yeah, I think I wished for that once, but I called it something else.
Gary, make that 901! 99 more until the oozing begins!
thanks
-Kyle
Kyle, What I meant was I want to be able to see something like an .ani
file off of the PAR as my KF background, while I'm modeling. You know
for match motion. Sorry to confuse you.
ahh . .makes much more sense now – thanks for clearing it up. 🙂
-Kyle
Hard to believe I helped _you_! <BG>
DM