F-18 Aircraft Animation

[J_Bug]

Just a clip to show both rendering and animation skills.

C&C are very welcome

http://www.dtoxx.com/J_Bug/F-18sFinalTest.AVI


Thanks,
--Jon

[dusan]

Try adding something like a particle system or some noise modified cone with completly transparent but refractive material to them, coming from the afterburners.
Looks nice.

[stephan_MA]

nice lighting, nice model.

but the pilots are both dead. the acceleration is far too high..

regards
s.wolf

[Long John]

rendering and animation skills, so i guess it´s a commercial model?

animation looks nice.
but rune spans look a bit more realistic i think.

[J_Bug]

Long John:
I agree Rune Spanns F-35 is definitely TOP NOTCH A little more work and I might have something for rendering close-ups. After I get the lighting finalized I'll go back to working on the materials. Good guess I didn't make the model, it's from a proprietary library.

stephan_MA:
Your right about the acceleration That's what everyone here at work said but I thought it was a little more dramatic. Since it's that obvious I think I'll change it though Are you a pilot by chance? Do you think the first jet is too fast also?

dusan:
That's a good idea I want to add eye candy and probably will in the end but I've heard that you can't see the actual afterburner or fumes when flying in daylight but you can on the ground. I'll have to think about what level I should take it to.

Any comments on the hazy atmosphere/ passing clouds or match with the background image? I guessed that it would be pretty desaturated but my blacks on the jets might be a little too dark.

Thanks for the comments,
--Jon

[mike_kennedy]

Another suggestion about the acceleration, It is too high, but a jet also tilts a little bit when thrust is added. Watch top gun for refernce perhaps.

[pog]

Sweet Skills

I agree with dusan, the afterburners need something.

Someone suggested ruins? I like the crop fields.

Nice animation, those pilots are still breathing...

I really like your atmospheric haze. how'd ya do it?

Oh, Rune Spans! - J_Bug is compared to a great, what a compliment!

[J_Bug]

Pog: There is no comparison He also modeled his jet Crop fields would be wicked though Good idea, now to paint them in (maybe) but I think I will add the afterburner.
The Atmosphere is partially from a gradient I put three copies of the background photo into. I just slightly adjusted each output to give more atmosphere up the gradient. There's also a very subtle 3D fog as well as a cloud gizmo slowly moving past the jets. The background is from a photo that I simply scaled and animated in the material editor.

Mike: I was hoping never to watch that movie again :P Good suggestion for reference though, I hadn't thought of that movie for so long. It’s so hard to say not having flown in anything of this nature.

Thanks again to all,
--Jon

[marklazaro]

if you read the small text under rune's f-22 page its says he did the engine exhaust in post production using After Effects

just a thought . . .

J_Bug the only thing that stands out is the UFO like acceleration .. he he.. otherwise great stuff.

regards,
mark lazaro

[losbellos]

maybe if you simply follow with the camera then little later loose it,might look more better. Regarding accelaration dont know, these aircrafts has throthle power you wont believe until u see...
many of them capable to get the sky vertically right after leaving the runway. But anyway it looks cool to me.

[jujubee]

Looks great. Just one thing and perhaps I'm off about it- the overcast seems tinted a very slight blue. I think the lighting on the planes might match just a little bit more to that overcast.

[dusan]

Thats a good idea to animate one big image, turned out looking great!!

Im no expert on these matters, but i'm guessing that that exhaust cloud trail thing can only be seen from the ground because its a chemical reaction or soemthing that is happening far from the jet. You can clearly see from the ground that its getting wider and biger , further from the plane and that there is a small gap between plane and trail, so i guess that that small gap is infact a mile or so from the plane.

But i thought you could put just a small amount of refraction (completly transparent) and put it on some particle system, i would like to help more, but i saw this in a tutorial a couple of years ago, so im not sure how it could be done without some experimentig or something.

But then again this seems like so much trouble for just a small, maybe even unnoticable detail, that its hardly worth the trouble.

[J_Bug]

Thanks to all for the great input

I'm working on an update with all the time I can spare. Hopefully this weekend.

Thanks again,
--Jon

[J_Bug]

Here is a quick update on what I've had a chance to do with the textures and a little lighting tweaks.



dusan:
I see what you’re saying. Not sure what yet but I'll add some exhaust effect in the end. Thanks for the great description of technique, I'll definitely try it out.

jujubee:
True, That’s the hardest part for me Getting the black level good and the match perfect. I wish we had more control with render passes. Good point and thanks.

losbellos:
Funny, someone else here suggested the same move. Unfortunately I don't think I'd be able to with the BG as a photo I'm sliding around Maybe I'll come across some nice aerial video for the BG plate. Thanks.

marklazero:
I'm so torn between making the animation realistic or more dramatic. Thanks very much for the suggestion though.

--Jon

[jujubee]

The lighting now looks spot on. Nice work!