Visual Effects 2 (VEF2)
Lesson 1: Maya Fluids Fire
Allllllllll Righty Then
My Video:
My Inspiration:
Sadly I could not get my fire to move as fast as his
and still look decent as a fire. Something I'm sure
I could still work on in my own time if I ever get
curious and really want to see it done.
The main point of this was to make a fire using Fluids
this time in Maya instead of particles. It's a tricky
monster with dozens of settings to effect just
how its going to flicker and dance. But it certainly
looks much more like a real fire than the particles did,
but I understand how rendering particles is a little nicer
on your machine.
Research:
My initial idea when told we we’re
going to be doing a fire project was a torch. The idea stuck with me and I
couldn’t create another idea to get away from it. The first couple of
references I thought of we’re the movies; Indiana Jones and The Mummy. I knew
both had torches at their moments, but I had trouble finding a video reference
that had focus on the torch for more than a second or two. That’s when the idea
of Ace Ventura popped into my head. I knew the scene in the cave he had a
torch, and the torch was an important prop in this scene so it would have a
little better focus on it.
Also the scene gave me a bit of a
fun challenge. In it he whips the torch back in forth in a furious manner,
enough to make the fire make sound. So I thought it might be fun to try and
mimic this scene. Not only getting the torch to look like a real torch but to
see if the I can create a similar fast movement to make the fire react as it
did in the video.
I found the video reference I was
looking for, but seeing at the movie is a little older the quality wasn’t the
best, so I found a short video of an unmoving burning torch, so I can at least
see how the fire acts on a torch, I also understand that there are several ways
to make a torch and all of the ways would for the fire to act differently.
Considering I can’t truly tell what the one in my reference is, I’m treating
all torches the same to possibly save me some time.
I also ran across a few videos of
other people using Maya fluids to make fire, and grabbed one for a movement/
‘thickness’ comparison, to make sure that my fire really does feel like fire
and not too light or too heavy.
The biggest issue I’m afraid of
running into is not being able to make the fire look real while it moves, considering
I want it to move with speed not in a slow manner. We were shown how fluids get
choppy when they move fast, and I want to try and get past that, if it’s
possible. Also in the video reference the fire sort of fades out as it moves,
its doesn’t stay as solid when the torch moves away from it.
I also debated between using Maya
to color the fire or using the suggestion of post coloring it. I have been
shown a few tricks to make the fire a realistic color in Maya, so I may decide
to play with it for now to save me some time for this first project.
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Unmoving Burning Torch
Short 3D Fire Reference
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