LBL Ghost Project - George Kiparissous

[icedeyes]

Hi everyone...

The learning adventure continues as we finish our third project in Lost Boys Learning... We had two weeks to finish this and i had to learn a lot and push myself to the limit to make it in time... Its the second time i am using fluids and i really love them...

I used Maya for every digital element (smoke, creature and metageometry for the scene) and After effects for compositing the whole thing...

I hope you like it,
Comments & critique more than welcome,
George

[Millionflame]

The thing that sticks out to me is the animation on the ghost. It "seems" very linear, or it just don't have enough slow-in / slow-out. I think it would be more pleasing to the eye if the motion arc wasn't so acute at the top and bottom, and little smoother.

[ejd.vfx]

I agree. Maybe as a later revision have the ghost move through the plants, so it looks like its movement causes the plants to rustle about. Good job! that looks like quite the sweet project! :)

[icedeyes]

Millionflame: Thanks for your input... When i get the time (since right now we started working on our next project) i will try and correct the animation... The only problem is that i am not an animator and do not intend to become one so what i wanted to concentrate on this scene was mostly the entrance and exit of the ghost as well as the shader... Once again, thank you for your comments...

ehd.vfx: I am glad you like it... I might do what you suggest in a later revision... Right now we are in preproduction phase for the next project but i will get on it as soon as possible... thanks for the input...

[ejd.vfx]

what's the next project, if you don't mind me asking?

[Millionflame]

Hey that's cool man, I understand what you mean about not intending to be an animator. I'm not sure how it works at your school, but do you plan on putting these assignments, or at least this one in specific, on your demo reel to get jobs?

If you do, then you might consider asking someone at the school who is an animator to tweak your curves. You don't want to put something on the reel that would bring it down, or not compare to your best work.

Interesting you say you spent some time on the shader. Did you attach the fluid shader to some geo or particles, or did you use a fluid altogether?

I just noticed something else. When the ghost hits the top arc it doesn't seem to be transparent anymore. It almost looks solid. If you look at the roof's edge, you can't see it through the ghost. It covers the roof up completely. Did you put the whole ghost on as a screen over the BG, or just play with opacity? Maybe it's just the way the light hits it at those frames.

[icedeyes]

ejd.vfx: not at all... our next project is a product shot...

Millionflame: i hope i will be able to put the stuff i am making right now in my demoreel... I will probably end up doing what you suggest for the animation...

I switch between three shaders (a ghostly one, a skin one and an x-ray one) on the ghost... When it gets to the highest point of its curve, it is completely solid since when i was testing the shader, at that point, the ghost wasn't even visible using the original shader... So i created another shader network for that part and faded between the two...

I didn't attach the fluid shader on particles or geometry... The smoke is all fluids in both the entrance and the exit of the ghost... first one is 2d container with 5 emitters while the last is a 3d container that uses the object as the emitter...

Thanks again for your input...

[ejd.vfx]

I love fluids.. :D