This is a very useful method about removing the edges of the clip.
If the material we’re using has edges like this, we can clean them up by using the “merge alpha” method.
We can still modify the background, for example, if the background of the clip is white, add constant. if the background of the clip is black (transparent) add luminance to improve the alpha.
I try to take screens inside the houdini and it works for me. Because I can visualise the model collapsing before I render it. And I finally solved those problems I mentioned last week by re-tracking the camera and resetting the parameter smoke.
This allows for a more realistic reproduction of the smoke (debrissource)
Final collapse test results
gonzalo set us up with a shot dealing with London destroying the city of London, firstly I needed to download some footage of explosions and smoke to create the feeling of destroying the city.
I tried to match the explosion to the window and make some black burnt marks. But not knowing how to delay the appearance of black when the flame explodes, gonzalo taught me to use the node “erode fast” which can turn the material into pixelation to add blur and change the colour.
The basic logic is: first create a noise and add a roto, then merge it with “erode fast”, and finally add a “copy” and an “idistort” to create a distortion effect.
On top of that, I need to create the ambient light around the explosion. Initially I used “curvetool” to do this, but the effect was very small and fake looking, so I also asked gonzalo and he taught me to use cornerpin instead, which was a very useful solution!
First, use Blur and Multiple and Cornerpin to create the light and shadow of the flame on the ground and the light and shadow on the glass.
Second, we need to make the background deformation when the flame writhes.
This step is to use roto to separate the parts that need to be twisted
curvetool： This node helps us make the flame flicker throughout the scene
Click on CurveTool, copy its data, create a Grade, and paste it onto it.
It must be remembered that if you want to modify the brightness, you need to go to edit expression to a certain number.
Firstly, I need to do camera tracking inside nuke so that I can determine the location of the building as well as go to the scene to match it. A big thank you to minhan for using mocha to make a “character roto” which helps with the masks used for tracking.
I imported into houdini by exporting the nuke camera, and these locators below are the axes that used to be in nuke, which makes it tremendously easier for me to locate them.
Firstly, I need to group the models I downloaded online so that I can subsequently paste the materials. And then crumble it.
I ran into a huge problem when dealing with crushing, which took me a week to fix. Many models downloaded from the internet have no thickness but only flakes, however houdini crushes the flakes inside, initially I tried converting to vdb mode but it takes a lot of time and tends to crash if you use this mode, and in the end it doesn’t even render. After going through a lot of tutorials on the internet, I decided that it would be better to process the faces in maya and give them thickness, which is a very tedious step, so if you have the chance it would be better to model it yourself.
I managed to break the staircase in its entirety, next I needed to create the smoke produced during the staircase breaking process.
I used the node “debrissource”, which helps me to identify the particles in the middle of the breakup, through which the smoke is generated.
Still running simulations, I’ve tested at least 4 versions
After importing into nuke, I checked and found a few frames that were missing and had extreme problems with the camera tracking, I needed to fix them.
1.Modify scatter
2.Adjust the camera tracking
3.Redo the smoke spread
4.Re-render
Firstly, we discussed a number of versions of the story, for example identifying the theme as a lonely boy, but due to the difficulty of creating vfx for the story scenes and the lack of logic. So after a lot of discussion we decided to go for “The choice of the plastic bag” and create a vfx for the last part of the video.
So, after the theme was chosen, we explored the plot: the next step was to find a coffee shop where we could film and draw the subplot. The following subplot was drawn by Minhan Lv.
On Wednesday of this week we gathered together in a restaurant near King’s Cross railway station for a three-hour shoot. As I had injured my shoulder, I had to play the role of director to help them out, sakshi did the filming and minhan and mahadev did the roles.
Our plan was to create special effects in this environment, such as a city that starts out as a ruined and destroyed city, and gradually turns into an environmentally friendly green city.
Very enjoyable shoot, first experience of the rigours of shooting. You need to shoot a shot many times to get the effect you want.
Here’s some of our dialogue
Minghan :Hi bro how are you doing
Mahadev: Good ,Good
Is it a plastic bag?Minghan :yeahh (Pause)
You know these plastic bags are just so convenient. Who cares about reusable ones?Mahadev :
I doUsing reusable bags is so important for the environment.
Its about making small changes for a better futureMinghan
Oh come on. Whats the harm in using platic once in a whileMahadev : Imagine a world where everyone thought that way. Our cities would turn into chaotic messes, covered in plastic waste. Pollution would choke our air, and wildlife would suffer immensely.
Minghan : Thats so true, What have we done?
Mahadev: Small choices can make a big difference. Choosing reusable over plastic isn’t just about convenience; it’s about preserving the beauty of our planet for generations to come.
Mighan : You’re right. I never looked at it that way. Maybe it’s time for a change.
A few weeks ago, I have finished the flower bloom animation effect, now I need to synthesise the environment in which the flower grows, as I didn’t shoot this shot on location but found an image to use as a background so I need to change the environment of it, I chose to use ps to help me do this.
The ground in this scene was too smooth and didn’t look like a soil environment for flowers to grow in, so I added brown soil with stones to this image
When I finished the background for the first shot, I had a discussion with manos. One of the ideas he offered me was to add an additional top-to-bottom shot in front of my shot, which would better illustrate the story.
So I’m still using ps and have filled this image so as to give the camera plenty of room to move!
In order to make the plants grow more realistically into the real environment, I will use the roto tool in nuke to add shadows to the soil and ground.
Additional Narrative Footage
I’ve been thinking about how to represent the fact that the world has been invaded by zombies, and in addition to a lot of ruins, I think I need to add some dated blood and handprints or patterns or something. Therefore, I downloaded the material from the internet for learning and imported it into nuke for compositing, and added the element of grass, which also symbolises the blossoming of life in no man’s land.