Link to Final Video

Below is a Link to my Youtube Channel, where I will be posting the final finished article very soon.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/sjfbwhu

Conclusion

 In conclusion I have really enjoyed the module and recreating a Star Wars scene. I am happy overall with the final outcome and am sure that I tried my best, however time was against me as I believe I could have made it better over time. It was not without it’s problem though, The Space Slug in particular set me back as I had to redo the model several times. In the end though it has worked and now I can sit back and enjoy the animation I have created.

 

I hope you do too!

Creating The Movie

Premier Pro

Now to the editing of the animation. I’m using Premiere Pro for this part.

First of all, I import all of the scenes I have shot and rendered in 3Ds Max.

 

For the first scene I want to make the Falcon stationary for a few moments. I have done this by cutting the first frame from Scene 1, before editing the Speed/Duration. As this is one frame I have had to put it down to as little as 0.01%. This makes it last at least a few seconds which I needed.

 

 

 

For the Space slug scene and Mouth scenes in particular, I used more than one camera angle to shoot the scene. I have then cut these and taken only the parts I wanted, using the cut tool. Afterwards I edited these together to merge into one. I feel this adds more interest to the overall production.

 

For this final scene I have decided to use the same shot of the Space Slug coming out to then go back in! I shot the scene again in 3Ds Max without the Millennium Falcon this time, so it just showed the Slug coming out.

 

I then import this to Premiere Pro and edit the speed of this scene to make it go backwards so the slug crawls back into its hole. I simply clicked reverse Speed on the Speed/Duration option.

 

I render it out and the film is almost complete.

 

 

Next I find sounds to put into my animation. I downloaded these from free sounds websites such as Freesound.com.

 

I add this to the audio timeline and my animation is complete.

 

Shooting the Space Slug Scene

 

I have imported this new space slug into my Asteroid scene, before fitting it into the asteroid.

 

Next I set up the camera to shoot the exact spot I want it to

 

 

I next import the Millennium Falcon before scaling it down so it is small enough to fly out of the Slugs mouth.

 

A nice shot of how I want it to look. I did find a problem with this new space slug, as I found that the material went all over the teeth as well as the body. There was nothing I could find to change this, and with time running out I decided to stick with it and not include close ups

 

Back to the scene, I move the two objects along the timeline using key frames.

 

I also use a line tool for the Millennium Falcon to follow. And rotate it as it makes its way along the line.

 

Once the Space slug reaches a certain point in the timeline I begin to make the bones do some work! It starts to bend its head to try to catch the ship flying out of its mouth.

 

Once I have finished the movement I start to render it out.

 

To finish off the scene I move the camera to a different part of the asteroid, then make the Millennium Flacon follow a new path, that goes past the camera line of sight and off into the distance. It has made it’s escape!

Problems with the Space Slug

Encountering a Problem - Redoing the Space Slug

 

So I have used the bones technique shown in the tutorial and added it to my space slug. To make it move as one, I have had to merge together all the shapes that have made my slug, including the sphere head, tube body and pyramid teeth. I have done this by selecting them all, then clicking on Merge at the top of the page. Next I added the bones and made the slug body a skin to attach it to them.

 

There is a massive problem. Unfortunately due to me creating the space slug body using a tube shape, it cannot connect to the bones. This means only the head is actually moving as shown.

 

 

I tried to counter this by adding in a cylinder shape inside the tube, before grouping them up again.

 

 

 

But this also did not work. I had to remake the body of my model, much to my annoyance. This left me with just the head.

 

 

I once again created the body of my model, but this time using a cylinder.

 

 

 

Before editing it and making it a similar size the previous body and the head I still had.

 

Once I was happy with it, I added the material to it again, grouped the lot together and added the bones for the third time.

 

Another technique to using bones is to make them a stand out so it is easier to edit them. I did this by giving them a different colour, so they stood out amongst the rest of the model. I gave them a dark red colour, so now I can easily pick it out and move it when it comes to editing.

 

Mouth Scene

To create the scene when the Millennium Falcon escapes through the mouth of the Space Slug I have decided to use background images on Planes, as I feel using the actual Space Slug Model will be too complicated. I need it to look like this image.

 

 

    To begin with I have gone on the internet and found an image of a starry sky. I will need this image later on as well. Like in the image above you can see the stars behind the closing teeth. Next I have opened up Photoshop and drawn in a mouth and gums, making a pinkish sort of colour and using highlights and low lights to add realism to this.

 

 

Next step was making the teeth. I felt seeing as this Slug does not visit the dentist often, then the teeth should be all various sizes and rotting, like in the image above. It’s true that these will not necessarily match the teeth on my model Space slug (where I used Pyramid shapes) but I have followed the style of giving them various shapes. I then split these in half and saved each half of the image as a different bitmap.

 

 

Now onto 3Ds Max. I have drawn two Planes on the scene and had them facing vertically as they will close down as the Falcon approaches.

 

   Rendering it out this is how it looks.

 

 

I then add another Plane behind them and add the same starry background. 

 

 

Next I imported the Millennium Falcon and reduced the size. I placed the camera as well

 

 

I have now drawn a line for the Millennium Falcon to follow, rotating as it avoids the teeth. I have also drawn lines for the two parts of the mouth to move up and down as well.

 

 

Render it out and it looks like this.

 

 

I will also to the same scene but from the other side. I have gone back into Photoshop and drawn the mouth from the outside.  I have also replaced the starry background with a brownish colour to represent the inside of the mouth.

 

  I then move the camera to the other side of the mouth and shoot the same scene, this time with the Millennium Falcon facing us. I then render out and that is another scene complete.

Shooting Scene 2

In this scene I have placed the Millennium Falcon and camera right next to each other. This scene will show the on board view of the ship. I have placed in into the 2^nd cave scene.

 

Using Key frames I have placed the ship and camera to move along without using the line tool. This can be done by selecting the objects, selecting key frame, then move the timeline to a different frame. After that move the objects to where you want them to go, select key frame again and the object should move with the timeline.

I also have rotated the ship between key frames so the ship actually looks like it’s moving.

Render and the scene is finished

Shooting Scenes

Scene 1

 

First of all, I have opened up the Cave Scene 1 and imported the Millennium Falcon into the scene. In this I simply want the Falcon to rise, then move forward as it begins its escape. I draw a line symboling the path I wish it to follow.

 

Next I move the line around to follow the exact path I want. I then assign the Ship to the line as a path constraint.  I then add the camera.

 

I move the timeline down the bottom along, giving me a preview of how it looks. I added in more frames to allow the ship to move slower along the line, not making it too quick.

I then render it out to complete my first scene.

Creating Scenes

Cave Scene – (This is no Cave)

 

 

This is a very simple way of creating scenes. First of all I found a rocky surface image on the internet to use as a material.

 

Like what happened to my asteroid model, I felt the rocky image was not dark enough, considering this was meant to look like a cave! I used the same technique as I did for the asteroid by opening the image in Photoshop and adding a black box over the top of it, before making this box see through to make a dark rocky colour.

 

Next in 3Ds Max I have creating the scene by adding two big Plane shapes to the setting. All the action from this scene will take place in these Planes.

 

 

Finally I add the rocky material image to the Planes, and my scene is complete and ready to shoot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating The Asteroid Scene

 

 

 

 

To create this scene where the space slug pops out of the asteroid, I have firstly found my background (again from the internet) of a starry space setting.

 

 

I have then created two big Planes again before adding the Star material to these. I have also imported the Asteroid model into this scene.

 

After I imported the asteroid into the scene I then imported the Space Slug as well. As the Slug actually lives inside the Asteroid I have made the slug a lot smaller to fit inside it.

 

This is a very basic look of how the animation will be, with the space slug coming out of the asteroid. Obviously the Asteroid will be a lot bigger then it comes to shooting the scene.

 

 

 

Creating The 2nd Cave Scene

 

 

This scene will be a lot longer and more complicated than the previous scene. For this I’m going to follow the Millennium Falcon through the cave. This means I have to create two planes again.

 

And make them a lot bigger.

 



 I next add the same material and the second scene is complete.