On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:01:26 GMT, David Sander
wrote:

3D model of the tail end of the ferry rocket. In the bells of the
engines - but rendered as a separate pass - 3D particle effects,
multiple layered with some layers blurred, some sharp, some faint, some
strong; and composited for flow (this is the unburnt fuel and fine
particles preceding All Hell. Added to that, billowing objects
texturemapped and displacement mapped using a fractally based procedural
shader, with the objects also keyframed from small to large and teardrop
shaped. Added to *that* is a practical pyrotechnic shot in real time and
inverted, though the overall shot could certainly survive without this.

....Ok, that confirmed my theory. I suspected you'd merged in a real
pyro, as I've yet to see any rendering engine that could produce
billows that realistic. Some of the people I've shown it to have
always went "damn! He probably melted that model just for that one
shot. Good thing he got it right the first time out!"

....One suggestion, tho: if you haven't already done it, you need to
include a sound suppression system scene. Which will require more
billowing steam clouds out the wazoo at launch, natch. Otherwise, your
colleagues here will no doubt ding you for that ommission :-)

I use ElectricImage http://www.eitechnologygroup.com for my 3D,

....I know. Which is why I can't ever get a 3DS port of the VBE from
you, dammit :-(

If I had the budget I might have
gone the way of Ron Howard in Apollo 13 and simply used a source of
pressurized vapour like a fire extinguisher on a large model to simulate
the blast of fuel and flame, but I would also have gone over it with
other CG effects as well, as I ended up doing anyway.

....That initial burst of fuel in "Apollo 13" always did bug me,
because that was the only thing that just didn't look like it did when
I remember watching those camera shots at launch. It was
red/orange/yellow billowing almost at point of ignition, and nowhere
do I recall something that looked more like something Derek Meddings
or Colin Cantwell would have done with freon cans through hoses. For
about a millisecton I was expecting to see them cut to Launch Control
and see Steve Zodiac with puppet strings at a console :-)


OM

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