this is a question for RageCgi :) about heat distortion - Page 2

# 16 28-02-2003 , 08:36 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003

Posts: 161

Why are you folks doing this in 3D? Noise with a 2D warp will be just as effective and not require expensive time and effort in Maya...

-- Mark

Mark R. Wilkins
author of MEL Scripting for Maya Animators
www.melscripting.com

Quote

# 17 19-03-2003 , 05:34 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

That's a GREAT point as well! Thanks Mark user added image

Sometimes, I go overboard trying to do things in 3d when I have faster and sometimes more controllable 2d animation tools right in front of me user added image

Open your mind all, and like Mark is saying, use ALL of your tools to your advantage.

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

Quote

# 18 19-03-2003 , 05:44 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2002

Location: St. louis Mo

Posts: 1,580

How do you use noise with a 2d warp? Just wondering,
Thanks!
Brian

As of right now I have gotten it to work with hardware render instead of software, because with harware render, you can use a geometry block, so that the distortion goes on the correct side of the harrier.

Please check
My (old) website!

Quote

# 19 24-03-2003 , 11:25 PM

Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Plantation, Florida

Posts: 1,568

RAGE: How do you adjust position of the displacment in After Effects? I need to get it to fly past the camera, but when I move the "particles" layer the displacement remains in the center of the window.

Dave Baer
Professor of Digital Arts
Digital Media Arts College
Boca Raton, Florida
dbaer@dmac.edu

Last edited by dave_baer; 25-03-2003 at 12:26 AM.

Quote

# 20 26-03-2003 , 03:30 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

Possible answers...

First, for your After Effects issue, directly from the AE 5.5 docs, (mildly edited), here is why it remains centered, and does NOT work with animated layers, but DOES work with frame sequences:

First tho, for best results, I personally use the Compound blur effect in combination with displacement user added image

Anyhoo... from the docs...
"COMPOUND BLUR & DISPLACEMENT EFFECTS
These effects blur or displace pixels in the selected layer based on the luminance values of another layer (sequence), also known as a blur or displacement map.
The blur/displacement layer, which can be any layer that contains pixels of different luminance values, is essentially overlaid on top of the selected layer and the pixels of both layers are matched, one to one. Where the blur/displacement layer is black, no blurring/displacement occurs in the same location in the selected layer. The blur/displacement layer is used only as a map; it is not visible in the composition.

The blur/displacement layer sequence specifies the layer in the composition to use as the blurring/displacement map.
Bright values in the blur/displacement layer correspond to more blurring/displacement of the affected layer, while dark values correspond to less blurring/displacement.
Maximum blur/displacement specifies the maximum amount, in pixels, that any part of the affected layer can be blurred.

The Stretch Map to Fit option stretches the blur/displacement layer to the dimensions of the layer to which it is applied; otherwise, IT IS CENTERED user added image

Invert Blur inverts the values, so areas that were previously more blurred will be less blurred, and vice versa.

This effect is useful for simulating smudges and fingerprints, or changes in visibility due to atmospheric conditions such as smoke or HEAT, especially with animated blur/displacement layer sequences.
Compound Blur is especially effective in combination with other effects, such as Displacement Map. (Production Bundle only)."

And here is a correction to my mistake (thanks for noticing Dave!) in my past post regarding ONE heat haze technique in Maya:

I just tried it, and you're right, do NOT try to re-connect a lambert to a particle SW cloud because when you create one, it already comes connected to the default CLOUD shading group.

I've included a Maya 4.5 .mb scene file for you to see what I did to get it working.
Check out every possible thing, so as to give you some ideas to better create your own effect user added image

Basically, I did the following:

1. Create a basic OMNI emitter.
This creates a particle emitter and a particle object already connected to the default CLOUD shading group.

2. I tweaked the emitter to get it to "act" more like exhaust.
(a little bit)

3. I created a radiusPP attribute for the particle object, then right-clicked on the arrayMapper to create the default RAMP.
Then I edited the ramp and reversed the black and white colors so the particles would start out small, and end up big.
This step is optional, as the look is ultimately up to the artist.

4. Then, in the hypershade, I edited the particle CLOUD shading group a bit by turning the noise off, and cranking the transparency back down so that it would NOT be transparent. Again, this is optional, but my idea is that they will simply render out as simple opaque "disk"-shaped particles so you have more control over them in your compositing app.

That's pretty much it besides placing the emitter in the same place as your separate exhaust smoke emitter.

Just remember to render the smoke, and these "disks/clouds" out separately user added image

Good luck all!

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

Quote

# 21 26-03-2003 , 02:08 PM

Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Plantation, Florida

Posts: 1,568

Well, actually, I achieved a good effect with the default particles shader. However, the problem still exists in getting the layer to move in After Effects. Although the text book explanation is very detailed, it still doesn't say how to get it to move. Basically, what it says is, either it is centered or you can stretch it to fit the entire frame. BLAH! I need the darn thing to move with my object.

user added image

Dave Baer
Professor of Digital Arts
Digital Media Arts College
Boca Raton, Florida
dbaer@dmac.edu

Quote

# 22 26-03-2003 , 03:04 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

That's what I was saying.
You cannot currently move/animate the physical layer.

You must use an image sequence.

So, in Maya, you would:

1. Place your "displacement" emitter in the same location as your exahust emitter.
2. Group, and/or parent it to the exahust emitter.
3. Render the image sequences out separately.

Then, they will match up in post.

Once I get off vacation, I'll ask kevin if this can be my next video/html tutorial, so that way I can better explain what I mean with this technique user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

Quote

# 23 27-03-2003 , 12:25 AM

Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Plantation, Florida

Posts: 1,568

oooooOOOOoooohhhh... user added image

Dave Baer
Professor of Digital Arts
Digital Media Arts College
Boca Raton, Florida
dbaer@dmac.edu

Quote

# 24 13-04-2003 , 01:29 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

hehe...

That one got past me as well user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

Quote

# 25 18-01-2005 , 08:44 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Mar 2003

Location: UK- Wirral - near Liverpool

Posts: 209

??????

You guys lost me with the last 2 replys ?

Quote

# 26 19-01-2005 , 06:05 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

Oh, I was just saying that before AE 6.5, you could not move a displacement layer, and have it match-up without making a track-matte.

Now you can user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

Quote

Possible answers...

Posting Rules Forum Rules

Similar Threads

Topics

Free Courses

Full Courses

VFX News