Hello!
I know it has been a while, but I'm still working on the post for the pipeline from maya to unreal via subUV. I'm going to attempt to post that before the end of March. In the meantime, here's a quick cut reel I did from some of the VFX work I did on Homefront. Homefront uses Unreal tech so this is more of what Unreal can do. I came into the project late, and had a lot to do in a very short amount of time. I used most of the texture assets they had already made for consistency and because of the time crunch. The fire really needed work so I reworked that from the ground up... which is what I'll be showing as an example of the afore mentioned pipeline.Well here it is:
Homefront FX Reel 2011 from Fred Hooper on Vimeo.
Here's the other reel I worked up for Singularity:
Fred Hooper FX Reel 2010 from Fred Hooper on Vimeo.
The contact info is wrong on the Sing reel, but the Homefront contact info is correct: fhoop@rocketmail.com
And finally a sneak peak of the fire render I'm using for the next post:
Fire render Maya fluids from Fred Hooper on Vimeo.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Book Reviews: Elemetal Magic and Maya Studio Projects: Dynamics
My friends give me grief sometimes, since its a bit last year, but I love books. I have a tendency to troll around second hand stores, just looking for a gem here and there. Strangely, there aren't a lot of books on effects animation, at least not as much as modeling or coding. I've come across a couple books that have been introduced to me by other fx artists and friends as well as doing research into making better content for games. After this I'll be posting some process posts, and a bit o troubleshooting mainly in the Unreal engine.
Book Review: Elemental Magic: The Art of Special Effects Animation by Joseph Gilland.
Elemental Magic: the Classical Art of Special Effects Animation on Amazon
Foundation book: This book is a must have for anyone wanting to do traditional or digital effects animation. The author Joseph Gilland has been working in traditional animation for years at Disney and other studios. I know. I know. This is a traditional animation book while what I do is digital. This book has a brief history of classic animated effects and the art of drawing SFX. It also breaks down the elements (chapters on liquids, Fire, smoke, explosions and magic) while keeping it easy to understand and each chapter builds on each other.
There are a couple different things I took away from this book. A lot of things that I thought I knew about elemental effects was either reinforced by this book or I was just not thinking and just plain wrong. Some of the general ideas of most elements being interrelated by force was a big one for me it made me look at what I was doing in games more carefully than what I needed. And finally the way its written is so easy to understand, there are a lot of hand drawn illustrations on what the author is describing, and it all seems to flow really well.
I'd suggest this to anyone who wants to wants to have a solid foundation of what kinds of forces drive elemental effects (and even some magical ones). Thanks to Tim Elek for showing me this book. Its been a great help making sure my effects make sense.
Book review: Maya Studio Projects: Dynamics by Todd Palmar
Maya Studio Projects Dynamics on Amazon
How To Book: After learing about fluid systems in Maya, I wanted to do more with the system that was a little more focused than what I was trying to do. Honestly I wanted to make some better fire... I didn't like the fire I was making, since it looked a little too smooth and not as crisp as I'd like, so I looked on line and found Maya Studio Projects: Dynamics on Amazon.
This breaks down all of Maya's dynamic systems starting with its particle system, then building on fluid systems into some physics. it then moved into smaller projects focusing on different dynamic systems in Maya. A basic to intermediate understanding of maya is useful for this book, since it goes straight to dynamics... which is what its for.
If you're looking to have a greater understanding of maya's dynamic systems in smaller chunks, then get this book. Its helped me get a greater understanding of maya's dynamics, and has allowed me to make some good custom, and generic content for games. This book is written to be used with Maya 2009 complete or Maya 2010.
Book Review: Elemental Magic: The Art of Special Effects Animation by Joseph Gilland.
Foundation book: This book is a must have for anyone wanting to do traditional or digital effects animation. The author Joseph Gilland has been working in traditional animation for years at Disney and other studios. I know. I know. This is a traditional animation book while what I do is digital. This book has a brief history of classic animated effects and the art of drawing SFX. It also breaks down the elements (chapters on liquids, Fire, smoke, explosions and magic) while keeping it easy to understand and each chapter builds on each other.
There are a couple different things I took away from this book. A lot of things that I thought I knew about elemental effects was either reinforced by this book or I was just not thinking and just plain wrong. Some of the general ideas of most elements being interrelated by force was a big one for me it made me look at what I was doing in games more carefully than what I needed. And finally the way its written is so easy to understand, there are a lot of hand drawn illustrations on what the author is describing, and it all seems to flow really well.
I'd suggest this to anyone who wants to wants to have a solid foundation of what kinds of forces drive elemental effects (and even some magical ones). Thanks to Tim Elek for showing me this book. Its been a great help making sure my effects make sense.
Book review: Maya Studio Projects: Dynamics by Todd Palmar
Maya Studio Projects Dynamics on Amazon
How To Book: After learing about fluid systems in Maya, I wanted to do more with the system that was a little more focused than what I was trying to do. Honestly I wanted to make some better fire... I didn't like the fire I was making, since it looked a little too smooth and not as crisp as I'd like, so I looked on line and found Maya Studio Projects: Dynamics on Amazon.
This breaks down all of Maya's dynamic systems starting with its particle system, then building on fluid systems into some physics. it then moved into smaller projects focusing on different dynamic systems in Maya. A basic to intermediate understanding of maya is useful for this book, since it goes straight to dynamics... which is what its for.
If you're looking to have a greater understanding of maya's dynamic systems in smaller chunks, then get this book. Its helped me get a greater understanding of maya's dynamics, and has allowed me to make some good custom, and generic content for games. This book is written to be used with Maya 2009 complete or Maya 2010.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Singularity Dev Diary
I meant to post this link a long time ago, but moving to a new state has put a damper on my postings.
I worked on Raven Software's Singularity doing mainly Visual FX. I was responsible for working on all of the age events, so here's a dev diary for that. Take a look see.
Raven Software Dev Diary Ageable FX
Coming up... working on a couple posts... one on books I've used for FX and another on a process starting in maya and ending in Unreal... I think I may have to break it up into multiple posts, since its pretty lenghty.
Ok until next time.
Fred
I worked on Raven Software's Singularity doing mainly Visual FX. I was responsible for working on all of the age events, so here's a dev diary for that. Take a look see.
Raven Software Dev Diary Ageable FX
Coming up... working on a couple posts... one on books I've used for FX and another on a process starting in maya and ending in Unreal... I think I may have to break it up into multiple posts, since its pretty lenghty.
Ok until next time.
Fred
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
First Post and FX Reel 2010
EDIT: My new contact information is Fhoop@rocketmail.com not the charter account. I'll be updating the reel as soon as possible.
Hello! First post on my FX blog here!
I'm going to be using this blog to look at video games, video game FX and post some critiques and how-tos and see what happens. I've seen a number of blogs cover high end specialty effects in Maya using its fluid systems, nParticles as well as Fume in Max. Video game FX have to work within a scene budget and can be a different beast, so here it is.
So why would I do this? I believe the more you work on you skills the better you get... duh right? So I thought if I put up a couple projects and tests and documented the step by steps of the process, I'd only get better and hopefully meet and help some people along the way. I'll also be looking at other games, their effects and try to figure out their tricks as well.
I'm currently working in the current version of the Unreal Engine using Cascade, Mats, Kismet, and matinee to get the job done. I do a lot of my flip book creation in Maya, and the first project I'm going to work up is a start to finish from Maya to Unreal. Its going to take some time, but it will be sweet.
I'm moving to New York in the coming weeks, so some of my posts will be a bit sporadic in the beginnnig.
In the meantime, here's my Reel for 2010. It features FX and I worked on for Raven software's Singularity. Comments and critiques are always welcome. Until next time!
Fred Hooper FX Reel 2010 from Fred Hooper on Vimeo.
Hello! First post on my FX blog here!
I'm going to be using this blog to look at video games, video game FX and post some critiques and how-tos and see what happens. I've seen a number of blogs cover high end specialty effects in Maya using its fluid systems, nParticles as well as Fume in Max. Video game FX have to work within a scene budget and can be a different beast, so here it is.
So why would I do this? I believe the more you work on you skills the better you get... duh right? So I thought if I put up a couple projects and tests and documented the step by steps of the process, I'd only get better and hopefully meet and help some people along the way. I'll also be looking at other games, their effects and try to figure out their tricks as well.
I'm currently working in the current version of the Unreal Engine using Cascade, Mats, Kismet, and matinee to get the job done. I do a lot of my flip book creation in Maya, and the first project I'm going to work up is a start to finish from Maya to Unreal. Its going to take some time, but it will be sweet.
I'm moving to New York in the coming weeks, so some of my posts will be a bit sporadic in the beginnnig.
In the meantime, here's my Reel for 2010. It features FX and I worked on for Raven software's Singularity. Comments and critiques are always welcome. Until next time!
Fred Hooper FX Reel 2010 from Fred Hooper on Vimeo.
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