-
New one to update the gallery....
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5526633217_2befebd383.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/5526633217/)
8-)
-
appart from the smelly damps of the previous posts... :?
here are some more vertices to enjoy.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5671134442_80b3c6bce1_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/5671134442/)
8)
... added some light, forgot to turn it on... ::)
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5024/5672026174_0c0a9068ed_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/5672026174/)
8-)
-
This is the place where you are supposed to do your first grinds.
-
I am going to split this from the main topic and put it in here, since it is not part of the first bombing mission.
-
Very nice progress Spoox.
-
I laughed when I saw your avatar on the punching bag Spoox. These shots look great. Nice work :)
-
beautiful work SpooX
-
Any chance to see the original scene for comparison? :D
-
Any chance to see the original scene for comparison? :D
Yup fire up your game and look at it, or use palmer.
-
I laughed when I saw your avatar on the punching bag Spoox. These shots look great. Nice work :)
I think it's the other way around, I took my avatar off the punching bag (as can be found in the original thread where this came from).
Yup fire up your game and look at it, or use palmer.
I use 7Mimic for that, but only if you have the psx version.
8)
-
Yup fire up your game and look at it, or use palmer.
Mean! :(
Don't have FF7 on my laptop atm and cds are at home 8)
-
I am not part of Team Avalanche but maybe you like this for viewing purposes.
Its the elevator from the Shinra Building.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/8/heute3.png/
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Looks very good! Keep on!
-
I suppose not many poeple are reading this board, but hereby I want to join to join Team Avalache.
-
You can of course, and if you have good work to provide, everyone will be more than happy to recruit one more member.
-
And plaese bear in mind this was far from finished :)
All of was done in Blender 2.56.
However I dont really know how Spoox or others line their renders up that closely the the original background images.
All I did was eyebaling it but this surely not what Spoox is doing judging by the alignment of his pictues.
So, Spoox please respond to this thread as I believe I can contritube to this awesome project.
And as an offnote please turn the sample rate on your renders cause that makes them look very smokey :)
-
And no I´m not illterate I´m just drunk right now ;)
-
Very impressive stuff, anaho!
Spoox, being the crazy genius that he is, managed to reverse engineer the field files, and load walkmesh and camera data into 3DSMax via Maxscript. This basically means he can get 100% accurate camera angles right from the get-go. If I recall correctly, he can get a script for any field, but you'd have to get Max to use it, unless of course he or somebody else can convert it to python or similar so that it can be used in blender.
-
Very impressive stuff, anaho!
Spoox, being the crazy genius that he is, managed to reverse engineer the field files, and load walkmesh and camera data into 3DSMax via Maxscript. This basically means he can get 100% accurate camera angles right from the get-go. If I recall correctly, he can get a script for any field, but you'd have to get Max to use it, unless of course he or somebody else can convert it to python or similar so that it can be used in blender.
So now I'm a crazy genius.....[evil laugh]Mowhaha![/evil laugh] :evil:
Well yes, I've been able to export the psx dat-files into maxscript walkmesh with camera (not quite 100% accurate, but position and direction is, the camera matrix is quite complex, so I haven't been able to pin down the POV of the camera)
Why?
I've been looking in some older object files which have been exported sometime, but they were faulty (multiple verts, overlapping faces) so I started to make a new object exporter. While doing that, I came to the conclusion that a camera can not be stored in obj files.....
...and since I'm using Max...maxscript was the next best alternative, and i must say that it works. .....[evil laugh]Mowhaha![/evil laugh] :evil:
Blender....hmmmm lets have a look....python...how does that work.....
---=Several minutes pass during this line of text=--
My first python scrible...
try this for the walkmesh:
#----------------------------------------------------------
# BLINELE.py
#----------------------------------------------------------
import bpy
def createMesh(name, verts, edges, faces):
# Create mesh and object
me = bpy.data.meshes.new(name+'Mesh')
ob = bpy.data.objects.new(name, me)
ob.show_name = True
# Link object to scene
bpy.context.scene.objects.link(ob)
# Create mesh from given verts, edges, faces. Either edges or
# faces should be [], or you ask for problems
me.from_pydata(verts, edges, faces)
# Update mesh with new data
me.update(calc_edges=True)
return ob
def run():
# Verts
verts1 = (
(-128.0,1.0,0.0),
(-128.0,99.0,0.0),
(-84.0,97.0,0.0),
(2.0,28.0,0.0),
(-33.0,108.0,0.0),
(-128.0,120.0,0.0),
(-127.0,137.0,0.0),
(-95.0,138.0,0.0),
(51.0,107.0,0.0),
(140.0,18.0,0.0),
(140.0,108.0,0.0),
(0.0,-142.0,0.0),
(-128.0,-142.0,0.0),
(142.0,-140.0,0.0),
(50.0,182.0,0.0),
(-33.0,181.0,0.0),
(-31.0,310.0,0.0),
(-193.0,313.0,0.0),
(-193.0,181.0,0.0),
(105.0,313.0,0.0),
(235.0,182.0,0.0),
(235.0,312.0,0.0))
faces1 = (
(0,1,2),
(2,3,0),
(4,3,2),
(5,6,7),
(4,8,3),
(8,9,3),
(10,9,8),
(11,0,3),
(11,12,0),
(9,11,3),
(9,13,11),
(4,14,8),
(15,14,4),
(15,16,14),
(17,16,15),
(18,17,15),
(19,14,16),
(19,20,14),
(21,20,19))
ob1 = createMesh('WalkMesh', verts1, [], faces1)
return
if __name__ == "__main__":
run()
so far this should be the walkmesh in blender (mind you, this is still a template, not yet an exporter)
Now I'll have to find out how a camera works within blender....
Oh, anaho, regarding the sample rate....I'll save that for the final renders ::)
8)
-
Hi Spoox, thanx for looking for a solution. You indeed seem mad talented :)
Unfortunately I know nothing about coding or python so I really cant be any help here.
For now here is a very early Condor Cave WIP.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/857/condorwip.png/
If someone tests this ingame and gives me feedback I would be very glad.
It probably won´t be spot on but for now this a probably quite a good accuracy with an exporter.
:mrgreen: ANAHO :mrgreen:
-
GOOD! AMAZING! Seriously, keep the good work.
-
I figured out the placement of the camera in blender, still looking into the orientation, as blender does not have a look-at functionality, but apparently has to be done through a null object...I must say Blender is very different than what I'm used to.... :roll:
Now this is what I prefer to do....
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3439/5792583045_52b89e65ae_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/5792583045/)
note that the advertisements on the board are not all complete yet.
If someone likes to have a go in making the signs of midgar......
8-)
-
Hi Spoox, thanx for looking for a solution. You indeed seem mad talented :)
Unfortunately I know nothing about coding or python so I really cant be any help here.
For now here is a very early Condor Cave WIP.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/857/condorwip.png/
If someone tests this ingame and gives me feedback I would be very glad.
It probably won´t be spot on but for now this a probably quite a good accuracy with an exporter.
:mrgreen: ANAHO :mrgreen:
Looks good.. but something is missing. Feels weird :-P
-
Hi Spoox, thanx for looking for a solution. You indeed seem mad talented :)
Unfortunately I know nothing about coding or python so I really cant be any help here.
For now here is a very early Condor Cave WIP.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/857/condorwip.png/
If someone tests this ingame and gives me feedback I would be very glad.
It probably won´t be spot on but for now this a probably quite a good accuracy with an exporter.
:mrgreen: ANAHO :mrgreen:
Impressive work! I will look into getting it into the game this weekend. The clipping masks will be off but it will still be a good indicator of how it looks.
-
No need, I'll try doing it right now. Gotta figure out what field file it is though
-
Looks good.. but something is missing. Feels weird :-P
What are missing are:
- Slight blue highlight on the rocks where it connects to the sky (sky reflection)
- Shadows between the road and the rocks
- The inside part of the cave (yeah, I'm obvious:P )
- IMO the sky needs to be rotated 75 degree clockwise
Else the scene is a great work=)
-
The scene works perfectly (http://content.screencast.com/users/NeoCS/folders/Jing/media/a9f7ee0c-4abc-4a57-85cc-ab7cf2b04baa/Condor.png) =D
EDIT: I've decided, I much prefer the game when the aspect ratio is kept. (http://content.screencast.com/users/NeoCS/folders/Jing/media/7ac219c5-04c2-4655-9b03-8a1d49dd62a5/condor1.png)
-
The scene works perfectly (http://content.screencast.com/users/NeoCS/folders/Jing/media/a9f7ee0c-4abc-4a57-85cc-ab7cf2b04baa/Condor.png) =D
Hmm, there is no balance between the shadows (and a bit of vibrance) of the scene and the cloud model=(
-
1.) Seeing this makes me very proud ;)
2.) Does this totally work or look weird in some places? A video would be nice. Would look at this myself but I dont have the game ;)
3.) My reference from the psx was 320x240 so 1280x960 should be in scale automatically.
4.) What is the max screen res for aalis driver anyway?
-
This what you meant Felix? I saw it and though it looked a little shadowless and threw this together.
(http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3205/condor1.th.gif) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/560/condor1.gif/)
I ran it through an AO generator and layered that in photoshop with some contrast tweaks and whatnot.
It should have been a animated to compare but imageshack removed the 2nd frame.
-
You still got your original modification, not in GIF format? Something without GIF's massive quality loss would be a better indicator of color and the likes.
-
(http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/7579/condor2.th.png) (http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/7579/condor2.png)
Didn't do anything with colours, just took AO generated from that .png and layered and messed with contrast to add some shadows.
http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/6052/condor1ao.png (http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/6052/condor1ao.png)
There's the AO I generated, obvious a properly generated AO from the actual 3D scene would give a much better result.
I know it's still far from finished, just wanted to offer some criticism and a quick paint-over style example.
-
I am genuinely shocked at how little was lost when you saved as GIF; it seems as though almost all the missing detail was in Cloud (as well as a tiny bit in the clouds).
I have never seen GIF come so close to the original quality of an image, and I'd assumed that its 256 color limit would have meant far more color/detail loss than there was.
-
Lets see more color in there! more vibrancy! Come on, this isn't Advent Children.
-
Hmm, there is no balance between the shadows (and a bit of vibrance) of the scene and the cloud model=(
Indeed. Comparing to that scene Cloud looks to vibrant. I thought he was emo :P
And btw, isn't it possible to close Clouds arms a bit? He looks so stiff.
-
isn't it possible to close Clouds arms a bit? He looks so stiff.
I believe we could do that, its just a 1 frame animation afaik (the standing pose that is), and kimera should be able to change that... unless it fails at saving animations, I have yet to play with it all that much.
-
This what you meant Felix? I saw it and though it looked a little shadowless and threw this together.
(http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/3205/condor1.th.gif) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/560/condor1.gif/)
I ran it through an AO generator and layered that in photoshop with some contrast tweaks and whatnot.
It should have been a animated to compare but imageshack removed the 2nd frame.
Looks quite nice!
Btw, imageshack kinda sucks now as they only allow registered (paying) members to upload animated gifs. I've found http://imgur.com/ is a good replacement.
-
I believe we could do that, its just a 1 frame animation afaik (the standing pose that is), and kimera should be able to change that... unless it fails at saving animations, I have yet to play with it all that much.
As long as you use .93 you should be fine.
-
Started redoing BLINELE (Shinra elevator) from scratch.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/641/nunja.png/
Good thing is that now at least my scale is spot on and I will follow the reference more closely now.
The bad thing is that this entails modelling the scene twice and I currently have little time.
On top of that the camera alignment for the final render issue is still unsolved for my part.
Maybe it would just be better to export the whole construction as an 3ds file and let someone of the community run the camera maxscript? I think apart from lighting everything should import properly from Blender.
Well, not much to show apart from that but please let me know about the idea of uploading the .blend/.3ds or whatever file directly.
-
Nice Job Anaho ! It must take hours to do something like that :-o
Imagined when it will be textured :lol: :lol: :lol:
-
Well I think this took about an hour but is obviously just the beginning.
For me lighting and texturing and material setup take way longer than the modeling but both scenes I did had very easy objects in it.
-
Update on the elevator (Map name BLINELE).
Nearly all modeling is done, the render matches the original like 95% or so and I´m just texturing it.
I will give the textures a bit more of a variety I guess but overall I think this is looking very FF7-esque.
If anyone wants to test it, please let me know how it works.
As always feedback is appreciated.
If all goes well this should be completed before next weekend.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/809/blinelenew.png/
ANAHO
-
very nice
-
BLIN_ELE more or less finished :P :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/717/ff7ele4.png/
Might do the reactor elevator next ;)
Has Spoox already done it?
:mrgreen: ANAHO :mrgreen:
-
Wow.. That looks like it was ripped right out of the game, You are good my friend :P
-
Nice job. As far as i know the reactor elevator has not been touched.
edit: anaho, on a side note do you have access to the repo? if not PM me with your google account and i will add you.
-
That elevator looks really good.
-
I was playing a little with indirect lighting today mainly to prepare for the other elevator scene.
I came up with this:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/modernexample.png/
My brother liked it immediately but I still want to preserve the game´s original look as much as possible.
Has there ever been a consensus on whether the recreations should look like the original or "modern" ?
I will upload both anyway but just to keep things looking coherently it would be quite godd to know.
:mrgreen: ANAHO :mrgreen:
-
For TA we want to stick to the original look - the indirect lighting looks rather noisy imo.
-
Final render BLINELE (Corrected some objects to be more on spot, fixed the lighting glitch)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/blinele.png/
!!! If downloaded before EDIT please redownload!!!
-
Are you planning on rendering out all the different floor numbers? Because they will need to be done to be put in game.
-
Should be no problem.
The problem is that i only have this background (with 17) but not the others.
I no longer have the game on a psx disc nor a CD-ROM drive.
Apart from that i dont have the game for PC :P
Given the small size of the maps maybe someone can send me the "animation set" via PN or Email?
Apart from that are there some reference photos from the original drawings ? I recall seeing something like that.
It would come in nicely for the Mako reactor elevator because its really hard to see what is an object and a reflction in that scene.
-
Final render BLINELE (Corrected some objects to be more on spot, fixed the lighting glitch)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/blinele.png/
!!! If downloaded before EDIT please redownload!!!
That looks like it was ripped right from the game, great job!
-
Thanks for the kind words from everbody!
I feel really motivated! :-D
-
Wow.
However as for scenes, this is a single field file where the number is just generated isn't it ? There's not something like 60 "elevator" field file if I recall ...
-
The number is painted into the scene, on different layers.
-
:o That looks simply amazing, anaho! Almost as if FFVII was made today, yet in the fashion it was in '97.
-
On that numbers thing: I actually thought it was just 1-19 but seeing a vid on youtube revealed that its upto 59!
So I really dont how to do it because i dont know how the game works. If its just an overlay I would still need to rerender without the 17 digit. But then why was it there in the first place? I did another render with the cautions sign not flashing.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/204/blinele1.png/
Are the numbers really that important anyway? I mean the whole scene is scripted so all you do is wait and you cant get out to the wrong floor. I would be very glad to see this ingame preferably a small vid. An article on how the game handles bg animations would be useful as well ( do they keep a whole image for every animation or just lay over stuff?).
-
Later on today I will get you the files for the elevator, it will show you how you need to make the numbers.
-
Amazing stuff Anaho :-o
For the numbers of floor, I found a little video for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGMz-4DW-BI
Watch from 9:07, I think it could help you ;)
-
Amazing work anaho! My only critique is the lighting. Yours seems to have the light coming from the back. Logically the light should be coming from the ceiling. I looked at the original and it seems its coming from the ceiling towards the front of the elevator. I compared the shadows on the wall and put them next to each other to illustrate my meaning a little further. Though I had to lol when I actually put your render next to the original :)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/269/shadowse.png/ (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/269/shadowse.png/)
-
That youtube video is what made me wonder if my claims where correct ;)
On that lighting issue: I am aware of this. Actually there are two lights one on the top and from the front to get the shadow from that door that fades into the black background. I dont know what renderer Square used and I doubt if it would still work on W7 but the lighting is hard to reproduce exactely in Blender- at least for me. Unfortunately Cycles doesnt equal the Blender Render but is more like Lux and that looks cool but just not like the game (see modern version).
Example: Compare that funky red spot lights.
Makes me wonder if mosts lights are just "gimmicks" or added seperately. Maybe....
-
I like how this project isn't going for a complete Advent Children look, yet neither is it sticking too close to the original. It's nicely balanced. I was raised on the PSX version and I don't like the PC version at all... but what you guys are doing guarantees that I will be playing it as soon as you're finished. Nice work, everyone working should be proud of what they're doing here. This goes to everyone in Team Avalanche.
-
All Team Avalanche creations are faithful to the original FF7.
Basically if the game was made today with the exact same gameplay but improved graphics.. Thats what TA is aiming for.
-
Another WIP Elevator: JUNELE1
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/kiolmm.png/
-
Since you like elevators you should look at elevtr1, which is part of the bombing mission.
-
I will ;)
I just felt that more practice at image matching would be necesserary and now I am pretty happy with the results.
-
Update:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/200/previewnq.png/
Will be finished this week.
-
Update:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/200/previewnq.png/
Will be finished this week.
I'm really liking this, great attention to detail and very accurate lightning. Good work anaho.
-
Oh my, another awesome work.
Hope someone is tracking this stuff, would hate to see these guys get inactive and we lose all this masterpieces.
-
just to show I'm still alive...
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6182/6023025993_24b36a4ba5_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/6023025993/)
take a guess...
8-)
-
Sister Ray (Makou Canon)? Or that thing where you escape from when the pillar collapses.
-
Sister Ray (Makou Canon)? Or that thing where you escape from when the pillar collapses.
you think way too big...think smaller although it is being used for an escape sequence several times...
8-)
-
Clearly the motorcylce, I see a frame, exhaust, and a tire...
-
Clearly the motorcylce, I see a frame, exhaust, and a tire...
My thoughts exactly, it looks very motorcycle-y.
-
XD it's the truck!
-
Okay another update but a rather unfortunate one.....
The Junon elevator will not be finished in time. Reason for this is that the current nVidia 4xx/5xx cards seem to have some hardware limitations or issues that seriously affect sculpting performance in Blender ( that is used for creating dents and creases in metal parts). TBH the last upload was pretty complete apart from some areas and I just wanted to sculpt in more details.
As I am unwilling to change videocards with the new cards probably being less than 6 months away, I will call it finished for now but resume work on it as soon as I get more than 0.2 FPS :(
This does not mean that I am inactive but just restricts me to scenes that: 1) Only have one camera angle 2) Dont connect to FMV and now 3) where I can satisfactory results with normal maps
Expect to see more indoor scenes like this: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/indoorwippng.png/
:mrgreen:AnAHO :mrgreen:
-
I can't remember if that blue truck, from the Shinra escape scene had one wheel in the back, but it looks more truck shaped to me.
*edit*
I didn't see the next page of replies. LOL.
-
Found some time yesterday:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/199/previewde.png/
-
XD it's the truck!
The SA-37 to be precise... ::)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6071/6077242570_20383e5e31_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/6077242570/)
...part of sector 8...
8-)
-
Use these tyres to save time:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YWIHXWR0
-
Use these tyres to save time:
Thanx, I'll Look into it...
...for the time being, some background.... Sector 8, Cafe Les Marroniers added.
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6079/6077702617_8632f5b61e_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/6077702617/)
View from the fountain
8-)
-
i smell some opening fmv. crank out that truck and sector 8 so i can start animating with location n stuff
-
i would guess it's the crane from the first time they escaped from Midgar. When you live for the first time.
-
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6184/6124950580_f56e135b4b_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/6124950580/)
Come have a drink (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/6124950580/)
... opening hours after sunset...
8)
-
Nice job SpooX... as always! ;)
-
(http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/830/5min12a3.png)
(http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/6973/5min12a3.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/830/5min12a3.png/)
-
Still not finished but okay:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/830/5min12a3.png/
1.) Whats the max resolution an image background can have ingame?
2.) Could someone please post a video of this room. Would like to see.
-
I think the plan for the backgrounds might have been up to 4 times the original resolution, not sure, Spoox or sl1982 would be able to give a more exact answer.
-
You guys have some serious talent.
-
I think for 1900x1200 (or 1600x1200 if you keep 4:3) 5x was ideal.
-
We have been working with 4x the original resolution. It works well at 1920x1080. I am afraid that anything higher then that would just cause too much slowdown for no real benefit.
-
SL has spoken. Let mine comment be forgotten.
-
Hmm now lets look at this for a minute. I may be mistaken.
320x240 x 4 = 1280x960
320x240 x 5 = 1600x1200
So 5x would be better for 1080p, 4x better for 720p. So I would say make them 5x larger, the game can always scale it down.
-
This does actually not make things clearer ;)
First of all not all original backgrounds are 320x240 in size. For example my latest one was originally 352x384. Only upping the res by 3x3 makes my render 1056x1152 for this scene. 1152 is however already more the maximum of 1280x960 that can be set in Aalis Driver. So I wonder if the resolution set in Aalis driver does limit the overall image size to 1280x960. If this is the case and cant be worked around there is no way you could just rerender all backgrounds in 4x4 fashion. Maybe they would still be displayed but capped at an upper limit of 1280x960. With backgrounds like JAIL2a already being 512x640 this would leave very little room for resolution improvements. I do not see there being a speed limit but just a possible engine limitation. I hope this makes my question a little clearer and is one of the reasons I would like to know how the game handles my last render.
-
But in most cases you only see a part of the backgrounds on screen. So no matter what size the image is, they were built in mind of it being viewed in a screen resolution of 320*240.
-
So taking the original size by 4x4 will work?
I´m upping the res then.
-
4 times the original background size should be sufficient, any larger is a waist of resources.
most of the backgrounds have room for movement, only some of them are the actual screen size.
8-)
-
Lol! My bad....I somehow had those Resident Evil style backgrounds in mind, which are similar but dont scroll....
I really forgot that FF7 can scroll.....
-
Could someone please post a video of this room. Would like to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYuwFf6iAsE
Check in a few minutes when it's done processing, uploaded in HD etc etc :P
Also, awesome stuff =D
-
Thanks for the effort! So far the boundaries seem to work correctly, dont they?
Here is a higher res render I just did:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/714/gaggel1.png/
I will have to take a look at that lpg program myself finally, its kind of ironic that I have never walked in these fields I created...
Well till the next update ;)
And judging by the video at least 4x4 increase seems like good idea as the background still seems a bit more pixalted than the chars if my eyes dont play me a prank.
-
It's looking great.
Can't wait for more updates :mrgreen:
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http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/846/5min12ahd.png/
-
I've got a boner.
-
http://img847.imageshack.us/content_round.php?page=done&l=img847/3449/preview12.png
-
Great job anaho.
Hey, since you're taking your chances in small rooms, you could try to model the elevator from the bombing mission. That way we would be one step closer to see Bombing Mission pack released :P
(http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4743/elevtr1.png)
-
I will do it if someone aligns this image in sketchup for me.
I have attempted it several times but me being a sketchup noob and this image being so dark has always resulted in bad alignment.
-
given you only really see the characters in profile, it doesnt much matter how aligned it is. make sure the doorway and the button are in the right spot. thats all.
-
I will only do it with good alignment because I would not be satisfied otherwise.
As all the other bombing mission renders are already occupied, there is not much left to do for me.
-
You are more then welcome to continue nmkin_1 (The first scene in the reactor). My modelling is horrible and I do not have the skill to texture.
-
I appreciate that.
What software did you use to create it?
Would you mind sending me the files via email or PM?
Edit: I dont know why you downplay your modelling skills.
The render looks very fine its just not finished.
-
I used maya. If you have a google account PM me with your info and i will give you access to the repo, which contains much of the bombing mission stuff.
-
Unfortunately it is not going to work.
-
Bummer. Well feel free to remake the whole scene if you wish. If not maybe someone will tackle texturing the one I did.
-
Ain't there supposed to draws on the box cause don't you search the draws for gil or something? But It looks great though. Good job keep it up.
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http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/helisample.png/
Dont know when this will be finished. Its not perfect as of now but maybe it could be used for some custom Team Avalanche logo when done.
Been trying to get a grasp of 3DSMAX in the meantime but to no real avail. Nearly everything in this program is so cluttered that it wants to be make to scream.
Maybe it will get better with more experience. Gotta love the modelling tools and smoothing groups though.
@Spoox: Do you want to release the Maxscript you created? Would come in handy for sure.
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Nice model!
As for a logo we already have one. Look at my avatar.
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I cannot believe my eyes. This is absolutely jaw dropping. Forget square and a remake, you guys are amazing. I really hope this is done for the entire game.
-
Update from my side.
I "lost" two scenes in the progress: One is the Junon pub, the other is Tifas Bar.
Tifas Bar is intact to the point where I last posted it but the Junon Bar is totally screwed.
I decided to try some Alpha builds of Blender with advanced modelling tools (BMESH to be exact) so that I may be able to reuse some objects as game assets.
Turned out that this was not a good idea since this version does crash when I texture stuff and importing back to a stable version messes up geometry.
Will redo NMKIN1a however.
-
Backups my friend, Backups :D
-
Its not that they are gone but in a format that will corrupt itself when exported to another program, which is necessary if you want to do texturing.
-
Oh, thats not good, Well damn. Anyway of backporting it?
-
Looking at the original made me wonder if there is that precise need of texturing at all. Might finish this in a day or so.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/832/prevgp.png/
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Very nice looking, if a bit clean.
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@ SL
Yes it is not finished. Apart from that it is always hard to match that good lighting coupled with that "sweet" low resolution.
Personally, I would have been a strong proponent of adding in some details just because the higher resolution demands so.
Anyway, I dont know if it is possible but could you export your scene (Makou reactor) to .fbx format?
Things might work that way. And tbh I find that scene very well modelled.Would be a waste of time to recreate it, and probably look the same after all...
I find myself starting too much stuff recently and I am not sure if I will ever finish it.
BTW isnt Millenia a really good texturing artist? I have seen some posts of him in the web, that suggest that he is pretty much of a pro in texturing at least ( probably modelling as well)
I am not sure if it is the same person but if so should definitely ask him prior to me.
-
Have not seen millenia around for a year or so now. I will take a look and see if i can change to fbx for my scene.
-
field scene hd too hot yeah:D
-
images tell more then a thousand words....
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7013/6761834167_77a9087f3e.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/6761834167/)
sorry my lens was a bit hazy...but I like it anyway
and after cleaning of the lens...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6761833875_5f97c13a3f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/6761833875/)
enjoy 8-)
-
Still alive...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7215/7339330274_c9df6d05e7_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7339330274/)
enjoy.
8-)
PS, does anybody has a notion how and where the train gets out of the pillar?
-
midgar's train system just doesnt make a whole lot of sense, especially given how midgars scale in ff7 suggests it only houses a few thousand people... making me wonder why they need such an elaborate train system....
I figure there are a number of 'off-ramps' for the train, that go to the different slums on the bottom, and to diff sectors on top, popping out to follow a more or less straight track such as the one that the camera cranes into during the opening fmv
-
I would think there is a central station of some sort inside the main pillar. If you watch vincents fight with rosso the crimson in DoC after you beat her she cuts the platform and falls just about the part where the pillar sticks out near the top, that might have been part of the station?
-
I tend to not take compilation titles into consideration, they tend to tack shit on when it suits them. It would make sense for trains to have a central bay in the main pillar though... so MORE OFF RAMPS!
-
Yeah, scaling throughout Midgar is a nightmare did you ever notice the square and theatre disappearing in the intro movie...
I was just wondering how the train would get through the vertical pillars when it reaches the ground...
8-)
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Yeah, scaling throughout Midgar is a nightmare did you ever notice the square and theatre disappearing in the intro movie...
I was just wondering how the train would get through the vertical pillars when it reaches the ground...
8-)
There was a lot of 'artistic' license in FF7, I was thinking 'gee what would have happen if they had' ...
It wouldn't the FF7 we got use to then I suspect.
I always thought the toy soldier thing that one found in Junion was interesting. Obviously they had something more in mind that the one object out in the middle of no where. They also did several things with Cloud in Junion, (remember the drill thing). It's interesting in retrospect but obviously went no where with it. Same thing with the wutai flyers (which they completed I believe). I digress ...
Erstwhile it appears you are alive! (It's not amazing but it's good to know.)
To the subject, so you are making the backgrounds correct (to scale) now? I always thought the train stuff etc. was kind of strange how it was laid out. All the trains were in only in Midgard. However some of the other things that happened conflicted with that (the part with Arith and the trains coming in). The world was horribly unpopulated it looked to me. I'm not sure but Midgard seemed also horribly small compared to how much of the map it ate up.
As you said the scale was rather strange.
Cyb
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Probably would make even more sense if you consider the possibility of special tracks mean for running directly into the mako reactors for purposes such as express transporting special personnel into classified areas, maintenance of the reactors or material/materia transport[this particular one can be supported by the fact that the reactor near correl has a train track leading in/out of the reactor and you ride on them during the huge materia quest.....
-
Sector 8 Building....
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/7370135124_1fe08b8985_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7370135124/)
Midgar Square Eight (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7370135124/)
enjoy...
8-)
*edit
Some more details around Square Eight
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/7374168206_09f9c5d28d_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7374168206/)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7075/7188934709_f3923bfbf1_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7188934709/)
8-)
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How much I like your artistic style, SpooX...
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Sector 8 Building....
enjoy...
8-)
*edit
Some more details around Square Eight
8-)
One thing is you have the 'mode' lighting they choose for FF7. They choose the spectra emitted by a low temperature tungsten lamp (warm light). 2400k to 2700k so that it gives a yellowish 'old feel' too it. I believe the idea was to give an old industrial feel to the lighting.
Cyb
-
Spoox, are any of those models 100% finished (with or without texture)?
-
One thing is you have the 'mode' lighting they choose for FF7. They choose the spectra emitted by a low temperature tungsten lamp (warm light). 2400k to 2700k so that it gives a yellowish 'old feel' too it. I believe the idea was to give an old industrial feel to the lighting.
Cyb
Well, I'll have to check the settings in my lights to be sure about the temp, but I can tell you if you should ever tend to use the lamps I've created, a lot of fuses will blow.... :roll:
Spoox, are any of those models 100% finished (with or without texture)?
are they ever...?
Take the Sector 8 building with the fountain for instance, lately I've been redoing some of the model, due to the fact that there was just a tiny crack in the corner, the walls didn't line up completely, at the same time I had to do some moving around and adjusting several verts in order to line it all up. Also I optimized a lot at the same time. But....
The door opening in the stairs...still have to figure out something with that, as it's shown in the movie just as a black door.....
So depending on the details of the references... some are finished, and some are not, but they can always be improved.
But still my main focus is the whole bombing mission, starting at pressing 'new game' :-)
But just as KillerX has pointed out, he takes long breaks because it gets boring now and then.
With regards to what's finished, and what's not I have to take a look around my project files, as some of them haven't been touched in quite some time.
Lately I've acquired some now detailed references, giving a new burst in (re)doing things.
Also I've been looking into some other technology to make life better, If you take the intro animation for instance, having it rendered out at 30 minutes per frame, will take a long time....
Apart from that there is always, of course, RL...
But we'll just keep on going...
8)
-
Knowing that you can come back to a project is better than burning out and dropping the project all together.
Out of curiousity, what modelling program do you use as I am sure you could find some an OS add-on for some of the open render farms. There are some good free ones out there that you can use, just give back some gpu/cpu time when your not using your pc. That or when you need to take a break, hit render and when you come back in 2 months it will be done :-P
-
Spoox, tell me more of these references you've found....
-
so i had quick go a redoing one of the field scene.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7407229366/in/photostream
still need sort out the camera and lighting abit more.
-
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8008/7410502614_3406d4876a_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7410502614/)
Some small updates on the tower.
8)
Spoox, tell me more of these references you've found....
Sorry Tim, I can't right now (NDA).
-
Scary stuff!
Tollen, Great to have you aboard, keep it up, yer work looks great!
-
Thanks timu, quick update most of the modeling is done just need to uv and texture.
has anyone started doing Wallmarket yet if not ill start that up as my next one.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7413180384_b1b319c698.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7413180384/)
ZZ2_1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7413180384/) by Tollen86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/80793948@N02/), on Flickr
chest and vault doors open.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/7413183436_1beb495402.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7413183436/)
zz2_2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7413183436/) by Tollen86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/80793948@N02/), on Flickr
-
Looks awesome.
Only the texture missing at this point?
-
Looking good Tollen, can't wait to see it textured :-)
you're using Blender I think?
8-)
-
Silly thoughts does anyone remember if certain objects repeat in the game scenery?
I can't remember the following
'chairs'
'clutter'
indoor fixtures
etc.
I noticed areas have certain "stylized" looks (like the city of the ancients), as well as Cloud's home town and Midgar.
Anyhow what I am getting at is these objects are "common" it might be helpful for making sets to create a common resource of objects that can be reused.
I remember Valkyrie profile 2 used this, oblivion and skyrim fallout 3 fallout NV, anyhow this can save a bit of extra work of reinventing objects. I believe some spots for example have bread materia weapons etc. chairs pipes etc.
Just a thought on how to reduce some of the 'fiddly' parts of your settings. This also would reduce texture work. For things such as cars etc. the only place with those appeared to be Midgar and a few scenes (Zack and Cloud on the back of a truck). Trains on the other hand are a bit more abundant in midgar (more so that cars at least).
Now what would be a cool place to do is Cid's town.
Cyb
-
In a lot of cases each field scene is unique because the scene was going to be rendered out, they didn't need to worry about reusable assets or modular design. The main reason that games want to try and reuse as many assets as possible is to reduce the memory footprint, both long term and while the game is running, less stuff that can break and less people you have to pay.
You would probably spend more time figuring out what assets can be reused, than you would gain in time. I don't know what the situation is with resource sharing among artists is but I am sure that there might be some cross over and reuse of assets, reactor sections. When working on some of the Shinra tower stuff we had a common wall which was used for both scaling and also as a base starting poing for any custom stuff. The internal stub sections were also reused where possible, but the majority of the stuff I suspect will probably have to be custom.
-
SpooX> im using 3dsmax 2011 i cant stand using blender.
quick up date for you i havnt had much time this weekend to do anythink but i started on uvmapping and textures, should have sometime later when iv finished work.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8027/7442213326_92a930aa01.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7442213326/)
zz2_render_03 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7442213326/) by Tollen86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/80793948@N02/), on Flickr
anyone know what size camera lens they used with the background.
-
Ah Max....
Try this for a sec in maxscript:
-- Max script file generated by SpooX
vertArray = #(
[-13.0000,18.0000,36.0000],
[-13.0000,94.0000,36.0000],
[92.0000,94.0000,36.0000],
[-15.0000,-51.0000,36.0000],
[-38.0000,24.0000,0.0000],
[92.0000,18.0000,36.0000],
[200.0000,94.0000,36.0000],
[200.0000,18.0000,36.0000],
[92.0000,-38.0000,36.0000],
[200.0000,-38.0000,36.0000],
[-369.0000,10.0000,39.0000],
[-368.0000,55.0000,39.0000],
[-326.0000,10.0000,39.0000],
[289.0000,168.0000,69.0000],
[253.0000,168.0000,69.0000],
[289.0000,204.0000,69.0000],
[177.0000,216.0000,75.0000],
[108.0000,115.0000,75.0000],
[108.0000,216.0000,75.0000],
[-328.0000,286.0000,0.0000],
[-328.0000,184.0000,0.0000],
[-386.0000,184.0000,0.0000],
[-9.0000,-363.0000,0.0000],
[-126.0000,-249.0000,0.0000],
[-9.0000,-249.0000,0.0000],
[25.0000,114.0000,75.0000],
[25.0000,216.0000,75.0000],
[-400.0000,286.0000,0.0000],
[314.0000,165.0000,36.0000],
[200.0000,165.0000,36.0000],
[-38.0000,-51.0000,0.0000],
[-99.0000,24.0000,0.0000],
[-9.0000,-143.0000,0.0000],
[177.0000,116.0000,75.0000],
[-126.0000,-363.0000,0.0000],
[-422.0000,-56.0000,240.0000],
[-491.0000,-127.0000,240.0000],
[-491.0000,-56.0000,240.0000],
[-122.0000,-53.0000,0.0000],
[-149.0000,17.0000,0.0000],
[-326.0000,55.0000,39.0000],
[-126.0000,-143.0000,0.0000],
[-279.0000,-30.0000,0.0000],
[-286.0000,-143.0000,0.0000],
[-198.0000,64.0000,0.0000],
[-139.0000,159.0000,0.0000],
[-73.0000,233.0000,0.0000],
[-139.0000,286.0000,0.0000],
[-41.0000,159.0000,0.0000],
[-41.0000,233.0000,0.0000],
[-237.0000,165.0000,0.0000],
[-237.0000,286.0000,0.0000],
[314.0000,94.0000,36.0000],
[314.0000,18.0000,36.0000],
[314.0000,-38.0000,36.0000],
[-326.0000,85.0000,0.0000],
[-386.0000,85.0000,0.0000],
[-313.0000,27.0000,0.0000],
[253.0000,204.0000,69.0000],
[-328.0000,-20.0000,0.0000],
[-99.0000,151.0000,240.0000],
[-38.0000,151.0000,240.0000],
[-99.0000,210.0000,240.0000],
[-38.0000,288.0000,240.0000],
[-197.0000,290.0000,240.0000],
[-233.0000,184.0000,240.0000],
[-328.0000,290.0000,240.0000],
[-422.0000,184.0000,240.0000],
[-417.0000,290.0000,240.0000],
[-491.0000,229.0000,240.0000],
[-491.0000,116.0000,240.0000],
[-422.0000,60.0000,240.0000],
[-491.0000,0.0000,240.0000],
[-422.0000,-127.0000,240.0000]);
faceArray=#(
[1,2,3],
[1,4,5],
[6,4,1],
[3,6,1],
[6,3,7],
[8,6,7],
[4,6,9],
[9,6,8],
[10,9,8],
[11,12,13],
[14,15,16],
[17,18,19],
[20,21,22],
[23,24,25],
[19,26,27],
[28,20,22],
[26,19,18],
[29,7,30],
[5,31,32],
[4,31,5],
[33,31,4],
[18,17,34],
[35,24,23],
[36,37,38],
[32,39,40],
[39,32,31],
[13,12,41],
[33,39,31],
[39,33,42],
[43,42,44],
[42,43,39],
[40,43,45],
[39,43,40],
[46,40,45],
[47,46,48],
[49,47,50],
[46,47,49],
[48,51,52],
[46,51,48],
[20,51,21],
[20,52,51],
[7,29,53],
[8,7,53],
[8,53,54],
[10,8,54],
[55,10,54],
[56,22,21],
[57,22,56],
[51,56,21],
[56,45,58],
[51,45,56],
[45,51,46],
[43,58,45],
[16,15,59],
[58,43,60],
[25,42,33],
[24,42,25],
[5,32,61],
[62,5,61],
[63,62,61],
[62,63,64],
[64,63,65],
[66,65,63],
[65,66,67],
[68,67,66],
[67,68,69],
[70,69,68],
[71,70,68],
[72,71,68],
[73,71,72],
[36,73,72],
[36,38,73],
[37,36,74]);
mm = mesh numverts:74 numfaces:73
for i=1 to 74 do
meshop.setvert mm i vertArray[i]
for i=1 to 73 do
meshop.createPolygon mm #(faceArray[i].x,faceArray[i].y,faceArray[i].z)
update mm
Targetcamera fov:20.42 nearclip:1 farclip:1000 nearrange:0 farrange:1000 mpassEnabled:off \
mpassRenderPerPass:off fStop:5.6 shutterSpeed:750 filmISO:100 useRotaryShutter:off \
rotaryShutter:180 diaphragmType:1 diaphragmAngle:0 diaphragmBlades:6 \
sl_xoffset:0 sl_yoffset:0 expValue:14 \
pos:[1478.427,-1195.642,1567.556] \
isSelected:on target:(Targetobject transform:(matrix3 [1,0,0] [0,1,0] [0,0,1] [1477.788,-1195.123,1566.988]))
-- Camera Upvector as spline
ss = SplineShape pos:[1478.427,-1195.642,1567.556]
addNewSpline ss
addKnot ss 1 #corner #line [1478.427,-1195.642,1567.556]
addKnot ss 1 #corner #line [1522.421,-1231.457,1485.183]
updateShape ss
ss
renderWidth = 368
renderheight= 368
after you've run the script follow the following steps:
- select the object, modify poly (shortcut press '4')
all faces are selected, press flip.
press '4' again to go into object mode.
- press 'c', to set the viewport to the camera.
press 'alt-b' (set viewport background)
select zz2 image (I extract them from the psx with 7mimic, and convert them to png with paint)
set aspect ratio to match rendering output, and check 'Lock Zoom/Pan'
press ok.
- You could also set the walkmesh to transparent, by selecting the object and press 'Alt-x'
Presto.
you should end up with something like this:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8007/7442547192_e013d9213e_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7442547192/)
another tip:
Move everything you see here in a separate layer.
Scaling and Camera are set to the psx camera :-) spot on with this method.
Hope this helps.
Oh and for your question....
SpooX> im using 3dsmax 2011 i cant stand using blender.
anyone know what size camera lens they used with the background.
99,94 mm (that should probably have been 100mm)
8)
-
Noob here, do all backgrounds use a focal length of 99.94mm? Or is it just this one? I've been trying to figure it out for the elevator area.
-
thanks SpooX that help me out a lot m8, you left out the part about turning on Show Safe Frames i was looking at my screen for about 5 mins thinking ok what the did i do wrong lol, i had do a bit of rework on my models but it came out ok also redone the lighting.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8020/7446040880_b4c82ccf23.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7446040880/)
-
update from me
i tried to obtain the hq fmv dvd, but someone else got it....
i have not been able to use my left hand for about 6 weeks now due to an accident in sports
thus i highly doubt i will finish anything anytime soon -- being one handed sucks XD
this means that someone else should do the reactor, and i didnt like the direction it was heading anyway
there is an .fbx up for grabs for autodesk users
-
Noob here, do all backgrounds use a focal length of 99.94mm? Or is it just this one? I've been trying to figure it out for the elevator area.
No, they're all different.
For MD8_3 for instance it's 62,773.
The elevator is indeed really a pain to setup, the camera is located below the floor, I'll have a look later to see what I've got.
thanks SpooX that help me out a lot m8, you left out the part about turning on Show Safe Frames i was looking at my screen for about 5 mins thinking ok what the did i do wrong lol, i had do a bit of rework on my models but it came out ok also redone the lighting.
Oops, forgot that, I'll add it to the post.... (shift-f) :o
update from me
i tried to obtain the hq fmv dvd, but someone else got it....
i have not been able to use my left hand for about 6 weeks now due to an accident in sports
thus i highly doubt i will finish anything anytime soon -- being one handed sucks XD
this means that someone else should do the reactor, and i didnt like the direction it was heading anyway
there is an .fbx up for grabs for autodesk users
I always knew sports are bad for your health... ;)
I hope you get well soon.
MD 8 update....
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8142/7450131034_2462ea14d7_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7450131034/)
District 8 Square WIP (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7450131034/)
Now on to distroying the scene hehe... :evil:
oh and for comparison...
(http://www.glitterberri.com/content/ff_series/ffvii/prerenders/MD8_3a.png)
8)
-
Tolden, unless you have normal maps for your textures, I would suggest modeling such details as the stones on the upstairs floor of the blacksmiths' shop.
-
i have one more Field scene iv bin working on to share with you.
SpooX how did you get the walkway and camara by the way.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7453084946_4d440a5739.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/7453084946/)
-
SpooX i might be wrong but i think the geometry you recreated on the top (left and right) near the doors/stairs, isn't correct.
Under the columns you have steps and doesn't look like it.
-
SpooX i might be wrong but i think the geometry you recreated on the top (left and right) near the doors/stairs, isn't correct.
Under the columns you have steps and doesn't look like it.
The geometry is correct, it is just the width of the steps that needs adjusting so that the blocks are inline with the columns.
Edit: You are correct, the persective is a hard to see. They drop to the floor level so each section of stairs is separate from its neighbour.
-
SpooX i might be wrong but i think the geometry you recreated on the top (left and right) near the doors/stairs, isn't correct.
Under the columns you have steps and doesn't look like it.
There are no stairs under the collumns...
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/7370135124_1fe08b8985_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7370135124/)
(previous render)
But I'll have a closer look, I'm changing the building anyway, the side arms should stop richt left of the round lights anyway. :-)
SpooX how did you get the walkway and camara by the way.
Simple, I've extracted them from the psx field files.
But...the camera setting is not 100% correct, the location is, but fov is of and has to be corrected manually afterwards.
8-)
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SpookX don't forget to keep the 'clean' scene as an archive. I believe some of the data is part of the intro anyhow correct?
As for destroying it, is the arcing in the scene file overlay animated tiles?
Cyb
Back to fiddling with OpenKinect (which I almost have bleeding working!)
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SpookX don't forget to keep the 'clean' scene as an archive. I believe some of the data is part of the intro anyhow correct?
As for destroying it, is the arcing in the scene file overlay animated tiles?
Cyb
Back to fiddling with OpenKinect (which I almost have bleeding working!)
No worries, every session is a new file, so I can always roll back.
(I'm at about version 68 right now)
Are you going to include OpenConnect in QGears? ::)
weeeh, let's create some silly dance (http://youtu.be/QrNqP-DoeS0) events in FFVII :-P
8)
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No worries, every session is a new file, so I can always roll back.
(I'm at about version 68 right now)
Are you going to include OpenConnect in QGears? ::)
weeeh, let's create some silly dance (http://youtu.be/QrNqP-DoeS0) events in FFVII :-P
8)
That could make some pretty interesting game control fun. Though I think interaction should be limited to game sequenced stuff one doesn't want to do weird stuff like kneeing Barret etc. (cough cough) no matter how much one wants too! There is an open kinect interface for playing Marrowind already. I believe someone was working on Oblivion (skyrim Fallout 3 and Fallout NV is not likely far behind that means). So yes it could be done.
Side note yes Cloud's hair defies gravity (seriously). I am SO glad they didn't do YMCA (LOL)
Cyb
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If you google FAAST you will find that alot of games already have implemented kinect stuff. The way it works if I can remember by intercepting controller inputs. So you just define rules and conditions for whatever you want it to do. You can define gestures and voice commands to map to what would be a set of controller input. That probably dumbs it down too much so here is a nice video making it look impressive. Skynect (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z83wzJwrBK0&feature=player_detailpage):P
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Good job here, nice work guys :)
Ah Tollen, I wanted to modelize this background, I don't know why, but I love it. When I played the game, I was absolutely certain that there was something special in the safe :-D Your work is verry clean, well done!
My turn now, I'm working in the bar del sol, from costa del sol. Here's the WIP
(http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2012/27/1341675749-bardelsolint.png) (http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2012/27/1341675756-bardelsolintori.png)
Can someone explain me what is the object on the right of the jukebox?
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Looks like a wetsuit.
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My guess is a vending machine for cigarettes or candy.
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Alohaaaa...!
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Looks like a suit to me too... maybe the Bonus disc images from international ff7 can help? THey placed a lot of the field items up...
Like these:
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Final_Fantasy_VII_Items
Near bottom. The suit isn't on that page sadly.
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Looks like a wetsuit.
DragonNinja is correct.
(I've checked the Kusanagi sketches and...indeed it is a wetsuite.)
8-)
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thank you. I had the Kusanagi Artworks, but I lost them wit my HDD. I should find them, it could help me for futur modelisations.
Ok let's go ;D
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Something else I noticed is that the thing next to the plant on the left of the stairs is actually a surfing board. Right now it looks more like a cone than a surfing board...
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oh yes!! We can see the same surfing board under the "BEACH" neon. I thought that it was a strange conic plant, a sort of modern artistic decoration :-P
Thank you, I'll correct this mistake
(http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2012/27/1341702712-ePSXe2012-07-0800-11-02-07.png)
Someone has confirmed, it a wetsuit, thanks to Acro
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Hi, what's the exact status of this? How many backgrounds have been rendered and finished, so far?
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Current projection, full completion by 2030 imho :P
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lol
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Current projection, full completion by 2030 imho :P
But that's just the bombing mission, not the full game.
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But that's just the bombing mission, not the full game.
Ok now this is depressing! :-(
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Current projection, full completion by 2030 imho :P
You're optimistic :P
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Current projection, full completion by 2030 imho :P
You would be pessimistic but it wouldn't work, fatalistic but we are all going to die (eventually), apathetic but you don't care.
:D
Thought I would spit out a few pitiful puns and mindless metaphors to add to the fun.
Cyb
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Current projection, full completion by 2030 imho :P
Ah finally someone with a decent deadline
Now I can breath again....pfew.
8-)
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You're optimistic :P
:P
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Details details details.
Opening Night is here...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7135/7804163034_c3a3959c12_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7804163034/)
Oh and don't forget to bring your own chairs for now
8)
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Details details details.
Since I am competing for the trophy of being today's pain in the butt, may I point out something? :evil:
"Les Marronniers" with two "n" is the proper spelling (as it is in the crisis core post-credit scene).
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Details details details.
Since I am competing for the trophy of being today's pain in the butt, may I point out something? :evil:
"Les Marronniers" with two "n" is the proper spelling (as it is in the crisis core post-credit scene).
Finally someone who noticed .... :-o
checked it with the opening movie, and you're correct, so you won't get any 'pain-in-the-butt' points from me....this time
No more dinners for now, I have to order a new sign....oh and chairs of course.
8)
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Finally someone who noticed .... :-o
I cheated: I can speak French. Anecdotally, it means "the chestnut trees".
-
If you only knew how hard it is to get a new sign into Midgar....grrmble :x
after bribing lots of guards....
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/7827371660_daabc2c7f6_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7827371660/)
and the more well known view point....
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8307/7827371344_70f058eca5_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7827371344/)
It could be a magic or weapon shop, looking at the barred door....
8-)
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Sorry about the trouble for remaking the sign :oops:
By the way, I have a question about some tiny details concerning the re-modelling of Midgar features.
I understand that you aim to recreate something very faithful to the original. However, in the original FF7, there are several features which are "wrong" or "mistakes". A couple of examples to illustrate my point:
- In Final Fantasy VII, in Midgar, several items bear the mention of "Midgal" (like the tiny three-wheeled truck) or "Midgul" (on a couple of signs), which come from a wrong conversion of the Japanese phonetic alphabet into roman characters (they should have shown "Midgar" instead).
- As it was mentioned elsewhere, the street layout of Sector 8 is odd, as the vehicle seen in the intro sequence actually come from nowhere and are driving into dead ends.
So, my question is: do you intend to replicate the original features even if they are wrong, or is there any plan to correct/modify these aspects to make things more sensible?
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Sorry about the trouble for remaking the sign :oops:
pas des problèmes :)
By the way, I have a question about some tiny details concerning the re-modelling of Midgar features.
I understand that you aim to recreate something very faithful to the original. However, in the original FF7, there are several features which are "wrong" or "mistakes". A couple of examples to illustrate my point:
- In Final Fantasy VII, in Midgar, several items bear the mention of "Midgal" (like the tiny three-wheeled truck) or "Midgul" (on a couple of signs), which come from a wrong conversion of the Japanese phonetic alphabet into roman characters (they should have shown "Midgar" instead).
I tend to go for the Midgal's Motor Mobiles and Midgul Oil
- As it was mentioned elsewhere, the street layout of Sector 8 is odd, as the vehicle seen in the intro sequence actually come from nowhere and are driving into dead ends.
So, my question is: do you intend to replicate the original features even if they are wrong, or is there any plan to correct/modify these aspects to make things more sensible?
And there's an interresting point, as you can't look around the buildings, you really don't know what's there.actually there are wormholes.... ;D
And it's very normal to drive your cars up and down the stairs I think.
All kidding aside...
it could go either way (modeling wise), however for the graphics the aim is to be as close as possible, and if that will mean cars crash into walls...so be it.
On the other side if it were to be used as a full blown sandboxed environment you could walk and drive around in, there might be some hard to notice changes overall.
Some details are in a due need of some artistic freedom, such as the table setup in Les Marronniers...
So as far as I'm concerned, let the people decide....
but that may be a different thread
8)
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update...
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7834507162_2ba56776e8_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7834507162/)
enjoy.
8)
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Noob effort
(http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6371/wipthisguyaresick.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/526/wipthisguyaresick.png/)
This guy are sick...
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Looking good.
Sharp it up!
-
By the way, I have another question:
- Is there somewhere a list of the field screens to be modelled and who is taking care of which? Given that Team Avalanche does not seem to have that much manpower, it would be silly to end up with 2 people working on the very same things.
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There is a list, but only for the Bombing mission, and, if I'm correct, it hasn't be updated in a long long time.
8)
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There is a list, but only for the Bombing mission, and, if I'm correct, it hasn't be updated in a long long time.
8)
I was under the impression that all the 3D fields of the Bombing Mission were already being taken care of. Nevertheless, maybe a big list as I mentioned above would be in order. I could volunteer, but I think it'd be better if someone who's been around TA much longer (and knows who did what) did it.
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Noob effort
This guy are sick...
Great stuff Mayo, I don't think anyone has really touched the slums apart from one other person here. Good to see it's getting some attention!
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yes Les Marronniers with 2 N, but this mistake is nothing compared to the whole french translation of FF7 :-D Fortunately we have a mega fan who retranslate the game from japanse, we will have soon a new experience of the game :)
Nice modelisation guys, each time I see new work here, I want to continue mine
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Great stuff Mayo, I don't think anyone has really touched the slums apart from one other person here. Good to see it's getting some attention!
Thanks Sapphire! Well, with the Bombing mission mostly taken care of, I figured the Slums were the next logical step. Plus I wanted to start with something rather simple.
yes Les Marronniers with 2 N, but this mistake is nothing compared to the whole french translation of FF7 :-D Fortunately we have a mega fan who retranslate the game from japanse, we will have soon a new experience of the game :)
Nice modelisation guys, each time I see new work here, I want to continue mine
Tell me about it! Ah, I remember the good old times (I discovered FF7 in French), the translation mistakes, the gibberish phrases, the typos, and even the bits of English text left in some lines...
Anyway, I look forward to seeing you continuing your work on Costa del Sol!
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Tell me about it! Ah, I remember the good old times (I discovered FF7 in French), the translation mistakes, the gibberish phrases, the typos, and even the bits of English text left in some lines...
Anyway, I look forward to seeing you continuing your work on Costa del Sol!
Ah so I assume that you speak french? Yeah it was so bad that we couldn't understand correctly the story, until now, the most french speaker don't know the correct story of the game. The guy who launch the project is Acro, the creator of http://ff7.fr/ (the biggest encyclopedia of FF7 that exists on the world, I think ;D ) , the patch is almost finished, I can't wait! He even restored 2 missing quest of the game.
About costa Del sol, now that I have a fresh Maya 2012+ an interessant render engine (VRay 2.0) , I think I will continue.
It's not finished, but here's a pic, just for fun :)
(http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2012/35/1346200545-test.png)
I really don't like the wood texture :-\
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Ah so I assume that you speak french? Yeah it was so bad that we couldn't understand correctly the story, until now, the most french speaker don't know the correct story of the game. The guy who launch the project is Acro, the creator of http://ff7.fr/ (the biggest encyclopedia of FF7 that exists on the world, I think ;D ) , the patch is almost finished, I can't wait! He even restored 2 missing quest of the game.
About costa Del sol, now that I have a fresh Maya 2012+ an interessant render engine (VRay 2.0) , I think I will continue.
It's not finished, but here's a pic, just for fun :)
I really don't like the wood texture :-\
Well, I'm French, though I now live in the lands of elks and hockey players. It is true that back then you had to rely on your imagination to follow the story (I had it right though). I know of ff7.fr, I have been lurking around Acro's site for quite a while - a very thorough and impressive work. Still, now that I am used to English language in video games (video game voice acting is way better in English than French, which is the opposite in movie industry for some reason), I'm not looking forward to a French re-translation as much as before.
All the best for your progress on that Costa del Sol scene, and happy modelling!
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I really don't like the wood texture :-\
I would go for a texture more like this one (http://images04.olx.pt/ui/18/07/54/1331573696_235640354_3-Vende-se-CAMISEIRO-de-madeira-macica-de-cerejeira-Venda-de-artigos-usados.jpg)
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http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00SCOaKpZnKNcm/Wooden-Bar-Furniture-DJ-981-.jpg
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Update - I started to use Blender's cloth physics...
(http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/4409/wipthisguyaresick2.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/138/wipthisguyaresick2.png/)
... much to the agony of my poor old laptop :|
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Update - I started to use Blender's cloth physics...
... much to the agony of my poor old laptop :|
Blender uses Python for it's scripting correct?
I haven't used it in years heh. Probably should do an update and play with it. :D
Anyhow, the cloth physics is just a static mesh being bent over 3d objects correct? So you just apply it once. You haven't reduced the polygon count yet I assume then on the draped meshes?
Anyhow that's a good job thus far on the "man in pipe" field position. :D
Cyb
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Thanks!
Blender indeed uses Python for its scripting.
Well, I don't know how experienced modellers would use the cloth physics, but this is how I did it. Let's take the case of the hanging clothes in the background:
I used a refined mesh for rectangular clothes, which I let fall onto the clothesline. The refined mesh is necessary for getting nice ripples. The collision physics (including self-collision) make the cloth ripple and wave dynamically with the cloth subject to gravity, and I let the "simulation" run until the cloth assume a "near-rest" position. It may not be very clear in the picture, but the clothes are hanging on both sides of the clothesline. So in that case, I had to compute all the animations between the release of the cloth and the "near-rest" position. Once all the animation is computed, I could access whatever frame and render it (I was interested in the "near-rest" position so I rendered the very last frame I calculated).
Probably there are much simpler ways to do what I did, if you have some tips I'll appreciate :)
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Texturing almost done...
(http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/2051/shinracola.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/shinracola.png/)
... hope you enjoy!
-
:D
-
Thanks!
Blender indeed uses Python for its scripting.
Well, I don't know how experienced modellers would use the cloth physics, but this is how I did it. Let's take the case of the hanging clothes in the background:
I used a refined mesh for rectangular clothes, which I let fall onto the clothesline. The refined mesh is necessary for getting nice ripples. The collision physics (including self-collision) make the cloth ripple and wave dynamically with the cloth subject to gravity, and I let the "simulation" run until the cloth assume a "near-rest" position. It may not be very clear in the picture, but the clothes are hanging on both sides of the clothesline. So in that case, I had to compute all the animations between the release of the cloth and the "near-rest" position. Once all the animation is computed, I could access whatever frame and render it (I was interested in the "near-rest" position so I rendered the very last frame I calculated).
Probably there are much simpler ways to do what I did, if you have some tips I'll appreciate :)
First I am not an expert at blender, however I suggest you export the final frame as a static model then do a polygon reduction on it. That should speed things up for you. Otherwise you will have however many polygons it used per mesh instead of the reduced count you probably can get concatenation strips of polygons into larger ones. There are a number of polygon reduction algorithms I believe for blender. You are just working on a static scene correct? Is the TV ever on in the game? I can't remember.
Cyb
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First I am not an expert at blender, however I suggest you export the final frame as a static model then do a polygon reduction on it. That should speed things up for you. Otherwise you will have however many polygons it used per mesh instead of the reduced count you probably can get concatenation strips of polygons into larger ones. There are a number of polygon reduction algorithms I believe for blender. You are just working on a static scene correct? Is the TV ever on in the game? I can't remember.
Thanks for the advice. In fact, once the "animation" is fully computed, I can work on the scene without much problem. Still, exporting the stating frame is a good idea and would lighten the file a lot. I don't think I would even need to reduce the number of polys (still I would consider it for more complicated scenes, so thanks for the tip).
Concerning the TV: in game, the TV is on, but with a static screen which is overexposed. At this point I used the screen shown in Avalanche headquarters for UV mapping (the screen is not flat because it's an old TV). However I was wondering:
- Is it feasible to implement this scene into the game as a dynamic scene? In which case, we could play a movie on the screen (such as the post-bombing mission short FMV with the reactor exploding) to enhance all that.
- If it were possible to do the above, would TA go with this idea or stick to a purely static screen because the original game was so?
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Ok folks, I think I'm almost done with this one...
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/4253/wipthisguyaresick3.png (http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/4253/wipthisguyaresick3.png)
I'll be on a trip to Europe tomorrow, so I won't be able to do any 3D modelling for 2 weeks. However, in the meantime, feel free to send suggestions as to improve the render of this scene - I think that's the best I can do without further input.
Cheers!
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Those trophes are the shiniest thing in Midgar.
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Those trophes are the shiniest thing in Midgar.
I can put "make the trophies more dull" on my to do list, if you think that'd be better *nods*
After closer examination of my Hi-res render, I was considering the additional revisions:
- Instead of making corrugated metal sheets and grids with bumpmaps, I should do them with actual 3D meshes
- I should revise some junction between the floor and the mattress
There's something I could really use some advise about: overall, I feel like the place feels "too clean". I tried to fix it by putting some subtle "dust" textures, but I think it doesn't achieve the effect I would like. To be more specific, I feel like the scene needs to convey a certain "thickness" to the light, and I'm not sure how to do that. I thought about particle modelling (for floating dust) but I'm not sure that's the way to go. The lighting effects in the renders by anaho and Spoox are pretty awesome, and I really don't know how to do something like that.
-
I can put "make the trophies more dull" on my to do list, if you think that'd be better *nods*
After closer examination of my Hi-res render, I was considering the additional revisions:
- Instead of making corrugated metal sheets and grids with bumpmaps, I should do them with actual 3D meshes
- I should revise some junction between the floor and the mattress
There's something I could really use some advise about: overall, I feel like the place feels "too clean". I tried to fix it by putting some subtle "dust" textures, but I think it doesn't achieve the effect I would like. To be more specific, I feel like the scene needs to convey a certain "thickness" to the light, and I'm not sure how to do that. I thought about particle modelling (for floating dust) but I'm not sure that's the way to go. The lighting effects in the renders by anaho and Spoox are pretty awesome, and I really don't know how to do something like that.
I totally agree with your revisions, I was looking at the feet of your telly, and it doesn't look right due to missing mesh, also the shadows look to straight.
That can be fixed with replacing the bump map (partly) with actual meshes.
For the textures, it looks extremely clean, start by adding some noise, stains, scratches,rust, etc. to the maps.
Tone down the colors, look close to the reference what colors are used.
Tone down the illumination of the TV screen, right now it's too bright. (it's in the slums, the TV is an old one, just like the rest of the slums).
The general light (ambient) should be a bit warmer, it will change the overall color and feeling, do some experimentation with that. (I don't have the original as a reference right now).
As for comparing it with my renders, that's something totally different, I work in 3ds Max with a physical render engine. I don't have a lot of experience with Blender, so I can't give you much advise on the render settings you should or could use, but the above tips should (hopefully) help you on your way.
By the way, I'm impressed with what you've achieved so far, keep on going :-)
Also like the shinra-cola :D
- Is it feasible to implement this scene into the game as a dynamic scene? In which case, we could play a movie on the screen (such as the post-bombing mission short FMV with the reactor exploding) to enhance all that.
I've been asking myself the same thing, when I worked on the TA Headquarters, as I made a complete animation for the screen, however the current FFVII engine uses layers where only two or three frames are displayed. However with the new engine Akari is working on it should be possible if we use the fields as models instead of pre-rendered backgrounds. With Ogre there are some plugins where you can map a video as a texture on a mesh... But I'm not sure if that is somewhere in the roadmap of QGears.
8)
-
I can put "make the trophies more dull" on my to do list, if you think that'd be better *nods*
After closer examination of my Hi-res render, I was considering the additional revisions:
- Instead of making corrugated metal sheets and grids with bumpmaps, I should do them with actual 3D meshes
- I should revise some junction between the floor and the mattress
There's something I could really use some advise about: overall, I feel like the place feels "too clean". I tried to fix it by putting some subtle "dust" textures, but I think it doesn't achieve the effect I would like. To be more specific, I feel like the scene needs to convey a certain "thickness" to the light, and I'm not sure how to do that. I thought about particle modelling (for floating dust) but I'm not sure that's the way to go. The lighting effects in the renders by anaho and Spoox are pretty awesome, and I really don't know how to do something like that.
I believe in FF7 they have semitransparent overlays to simulate light in areas. That technique is used I believe in wall market (?) So to achieve a mottled atmosphere you could add a 'floating' textures that modulates everything like static. You will have to check what needs to be modified in the basic scene for animating the TV. Doors have triggers I believe there are lights that do the same thing. In wall market they have 'area' lights. Anyhow by choosing the right dither pattern you can add a dusty look as your character moves around. It would seem like you will need to experiment with that a bit. Fortunately you can do that expost factor in the scene.
Second you probably wish to DARKEN the scene. In fact you could let the light from the TV be the 'modulation' for the scene. IE as the scene changes so can the 'area' light that covers the scene. So if you have a low ambient light you can add the light 'area' to increase the brightness of areas with the i/r^2 distance of the TV.
Can you export a POV scene file from Blender? I might be able to show you want I mean by applying the affects in a short movie. I suppose I could YoTub it so you can view the scene with 'animated' TV textures (like stained glass but animated).
For your scene you could make 2 scenes 1 with a darkened color setting and 1 with everything in white mostly and add media then use a light source from the TV to modulate the intensity of the overlay. After that you can play the overlay over the scene as part of the animation. I don't know how that would look but it might be worth a try.
Anyone remember how they added scene 'lights' for areas such as wall market? I believe there were tiles that had different colored light areas that lay transparently on the screen to brighten things like a light would (the light would be in front of the character so it might take a bit of tweaking).
Cyb
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Thanks a lot for your feedback guys, good food for thoughts. Too bad I'm off for two weeks. I'll try to find the time to discuss these points. 'Later!
-
I'm back from my trip to Europe and can resume this discussion at last.
Before I get back to the points you guys mentioned, I would like to point out two things:
- I am totally unaware of how things are implemented/programmed/computed within the game (and how the game handles assets, objects, and scenes). Besides, I have no insight into that because the versions of FF7 I own are only the PlayStation ones (so no mods for me to play with, at least so far. Anyone knows if the recently released PC version is mod-compatible?)
- The particular scene I am trying to model is actually full of inconsistencies. Among other things: The wooden supports of the trophy shelf have wrong perspectives (which is why they cannot be modelled in 3D like in the original picture), the bed is too small compared with many items (such as cans and cigs - if the bed is 2m long, the cans are 25 cm tall), the lighting doesn't add up (the actual lighting devices should be casting blue-shaded or white light, but the scene shows warm colours). Thus some aspects of modelling are difficult to choose.
I totally agree with your revisions, I was looking at the feet of your telly, and it doesn't look right due to missing mesh, also the shadows look to straight.
That can be fixed with replacing the bump map (partly) with actual meshes.
For the textures, it looks extremely clean, start by adding some noise, stains, scratches,rust, etc. to the maps.
Tone down the colors, look close to the reference what colors are used.
Tone down the illumination of the TV screen, right now it's too bright. (it's in the slums, the TV is an old one, just like the rest of the slums).
The general light (ambient) should be a bit warmer, it will change the overall color and feeling, do some experimentation with that. (I don't have the original as a reference right now).
As for comparing it with my renders, that's something totally different, I work in 3ds Max with a physical render engine. I don't have a lot of experience with Blender, so I can't give you much advise on the render settings you should or could use, but the above tips should (hopefully) help you on your way.
By the way, I'm impressed with what you've achieved so far, keep on going :-)
Also like the shinra-cola :D
I've been asking myself the same thing, when I worked on the TA Headquarters, as I made a complete animation for the screen, however the current FFVII engine uses layers where only two or three frames are displayed. However with the new engine Akari is working on it should be possible if we use the fields as models instead of pre-rendered backgrounds. With Ogre there are some plugins where you can map a video as a texture on a mesh... But I'm not sure if that is somewhere in the roadmap of QGears.
8)
I will make an effort to make things "dirtier" with textures (though I did apply some in my previous render). As for the lighting, I am still unsure: the original scene actually does not look very dark. The TV does show a brightly overexposed area in its vicinity. Anyway, I'll play around with the lights some more. So far I tried to be consistent with the lighting as should be given by the TV, lamps, and such, more than with the resulting colours of the scene. I have 3 lights: the TV, a daylight neon tube in the ceiling of the "pipe", and an outside light coming from the surrounding market plaza (which looks blueish).
Then, I know you can apply a video as a texture on a mesh in Blender, but we'll have to see how things can be implemented within the game indeed.
I believe in FF7 they have semitransparent overlays to simulate light in areas. That technique is used I believe in wall market (?) So to achieve a mottled atmosphere you could add a 'floating' textures that modulates everything like static. You will have to check what needs to be modified in the basic scene for animating the TV. Doors have triggers I believe there are lights that do the same thing. In wall market they have 'area' lights. Anyhow by choosing the right dither pattern you can add a dusty look as your character moves around. It would seem like you will need to experiment with that a bit. Fortunately you can do that expost factor in the scene.
Second you probably wish to DARKEN the scene. In fact you could let the light from the TV be the 'modulation' for the scene. IE as the scene changes so can the 'area' light that covers the scene. So if you have a low ambient light you can add the light 'area' to increase the brightness of areas with the i/r^2 distance of the TV.
Can you export a POV scene file from Blender? I might be able to show you want I mean by applying the affects in a short movie. I suppose I could YoTub it so you can view the scene with 'animated' TV textures (like stained glass but animated).
For your scene you could make 2 scenes 1 with a darkened color setting and 1 with everything in white mostly and add media then use a light source from the TV to modulate the intensity of the overlay. After that you can play the overlay over the scene as part of the animation. I don't know how that would look but it might be worth a try.
Anyone remember how they added scene 'lights' for areas such as wall market? I believe there were tiles that had different colored light areas that lay transparently on the screen to brighten things like a light would (the light would be in front of the character so it might take a bit of tweaking).
Cyb
If I get it right, do you mean to make an initial render with the 3d modelling software (i.e. Blender in my case) and then we can add extra layers accounting for changes in light, suspended dust, and such, with an image processor such as Photoshop or Paintshop? Or rather make several renders with different lighting conditions (namely the one from the TV) and have them "loop" within the game to create an "animated light"? Or use both techniques?
Anyway, I already have a bunch of things to try in order to improve the scene.
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I'm back from my trip to Europe and can resume this discussion at last.
Before I get back to the points you guys mentioned, I would like to point out two things:
- I am totally unaware of how things are implemented/programmed/computed within the game (and how the game handles assets, objects, and scenes). Besides, I have no insight into that because the versions of FF7 I own are only the PlayStation ones (so no mods for me to play with, at least so far. Anyone knows if the recently released PC version is mod-compatible?)
It's secureROM'd so this is not going to happen without some questionable operations. I have no idea if the new data is remotely similar. Currently people are just wanting to use the new engine so it works (http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=13569.0) on there newer PCs. It appears it is mostly a rework of the graphics engine so it can run better on newer systems.
- The particular scene I am trying to model is actually full of inconsistencies. Among other things: The wooden supports of the trophy shelf have wrong perspectives (which is why they cannot be modelled in 3D like in the original picture), the bed is too small compared with many items (such as cans and cigs - if the bed is 2m long, the cans are 25 cm tall), the lighting doesn't add up (the actual lighting devices should be casting blue-shaded or white light, but the scene shows warm colours). Thus some aspects of modelling are difficult to choose.
Well as I was saying earlier there are many paths to get to where you want to go. It would be good to use the actual engine to do so apart from just making it a higher resolution. The original scene makers drew something and it was scanned in (very much how Anime is done by drawing certain amounts of a scene and overlaying sections etc). The person who ran the FF7 project was a film major so they used a more movie like method. It wasn't designed to be realistic (in any fashion).
I will make an effort to make things "dirtier" with textures (though I did apply some in my previous render). As for the lighting, I am still unsure: the original scene actually does not look very dark. The TV does show a brightly overexposed area in its vicinity. Anyway, I'll play around with the lights some more. So far I tried to be consistent with the lighting as should be given by the TV, lamps, and such, more than with the resulting colours of the scene. I have 3 lights: the TV, a daylight neon tube in the ceiling of the "pipe", and an outside light coming from the surrounding market plaza (which looks blueish).
Then, I know you can apply a video as a texture on a mesh in Blender, but we'll have to see how things can be implemented within the game indeed.
FF7 has no scene lighting instead it has cameras and 'modulation tiles', these tiles brighten sections of the background. Did you notice they never had spot lights ANYWHERE in the game except if they were fixed or in a movie?
See further on about my thoughts. It doesn't HAVE to be a major challenge although I suppose one could make it difficult (LOL).
If I get it right, do you mean to make an initial render with the 3d modelling software (i.e. Blender in my case) and then we can add extra layers accounting for changes in light, suspended dust, and such, with an image processor such as Photoshop or Paintshop? Or rather make several renders with different lighting conditions (namely the one from the TV) and have them "loop" within the game to create an "animated light"? Or use both techniques?
Anyway, I already have a bunch of things to try in order to improve the scene.
The scene is made up of a complex tile scheme (http://wiki.qhimm.com/FF7/Field_Module/DAT/Tile_Map) that handles the background, foreground, and animation, all of which are controlled by the field script (http://wiki.qhimm.com/FF7/Field/Script). They use this to add moving fountains water flowing (repeated sequences). Tiles can have transparent pixels. I believe FF7's engine Added those on top of the existing color image. So essentially it increase scene brightness doing that. The physical tiles exist in a MIM file (http://wiki.qhimm.com/FF7/Field_Module#PSX_MIM_Format) so those need to be generated as well.
It is too bad one cannot use a battle scene instead of the field scene data. Unfortunately the engine does not allow flexibility to move inside a battle scene. I suppose to open doors leave etc one could just make the objects enemies and 'attack' them. Still it would not be the same.
Anyhow FF7 field screens consist of a background (everything is in front of it), sprites (player can walk behind or in front) and animated sprites (like the pitcher plants in the ancient forest or the water scene in the city of the ancients). So when you are making a re-render keep these elements in mind. The animated sprites can be transparent (so you could have slowly moving dust and light overlaying everyone in the scene). They can also be turned on and off (doors closing et al). It does add up if you aren't careful however (consumes more tile space).
The PSX builds scenes (see this image to clue yourself in (http://wiki.qhimm.com/Image:Field_BackgroundVRAM.jpg)) from data in the PSX VRAM. The PC information is here (http://wiki.qhimm.com/FF7/Field_Module#Field_Format_.28PC.29).
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Latest update on the "This guy are sick" field screen...
(http://imageshack.us/a/img266/5126/wipthisguyaresick5.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/266/wipthisguyaresick5.png/)
For comparison, here is the original...
(http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6083/thisguyaresick.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/341/thisguyaresick.png/)
Lots of small details added (click for the high-res) - corrugated metal made with mesh instead of bumpmap, grid, nails, screws, dirt, texture and mapping revisions... I also spent some time on the lights and tried a couple of things with Blender's options for Mist - I don't think I can do much better than this. Even though the scene may seem somewhat brightly lit, I would like to point out that my render has a colour scheme which is actually slightly darker than the original.
I think at this point the only additions I would consider would be about making more dirt textures.
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That looks amazing, I thought i was looking at an actual highres render from the game, Nice one!
Should pick up one of the few fields the bombing mission hasn't done yet :P
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Looks great.
Could you post also the original file for side to side comparison?
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Looks great.
Could you post also the original file for side to side comparison?
Done!
That looks amazing, I thought i was looking at an actual highres render from the game, Nice one!
Should pick up one of the few fields the bombing mission hasn't done yet :P
I think all the fields of the Bombing mission are already being taken care of. Maybe it would be good if someone can put a clear update about what remains to be done for this part (battle models of enemies?).
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Done!I think all the fields of the Bombing mission are already being taken care of. Maybe it would be good if someone can put a clear update about what remains to be done for this part (battle models of enemies?).
I looked at the shelf and thought "how Japanese he has manga books there" LOL.
Erstwhile, I'm glad you were able to persevere much of the 'trouble' with doing scenes is getting over "gee when is this thing done."
I believe the word is "good enough" I'm not sure what 'good enough' is but if you are satisfied it's good enough :D
Cyb
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The cloths on the wire are a bit stiff.
Add some waves into it.
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The cloths on the wire are a bit stiff.
Add some waves into it.
Ahh to be precise they look FLAT is what I think you ment.
Latest update on the "This guy are sick" field screen...
For comparison, here is the original...
(http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6083/thisguyaresick.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/341/thisguyaresick.png/)
Lots of small details added (click for the high-res) - corrugated metal made with mesh instead of bumpmap, grid, nails, screws, dirt, texture and mapping revisions... I also spent some time on the lights and tried a couple of things with Blender's options for Mist - I don't think I can do much better than this. Even though the scene may seem somewhat brightly lit, I would like to point out that my render has a colour scheme which is actually slightly darker than the original.
I think at this point the only additions I would consider would be about making more dirt textures.
Perhaps a suggestion on how to 'wave' the towels, is to bend them first (sinusoidal) then redrape them. That would be my suggestion. My guess is the wave the person was refering to is the unjulation one sees in towels drapped with a slight stretch at the ends and not in the section in contact with the rope.
Cyb
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I believe the word is "good enough" I'm not sure what 'good enough' is but if you are satisfied it's good enough :D
I agree. Else I'd be stuck working 1 year on a somewhat simple scene (things like that are always perfectible), while the amount of job to be done is huge. I guess it's time to move on to something else, if it's good enough for you guys.
On another note, I think there is one last thing I would like to try, which would be smoke simulation. But it's not a priority.
The cloths on the wire are a bit stiff.
Add some waves into it.
No. >:(
I'm kidding - I'm not angry - but I don't think I am going to revise that. I'll explain.
Perhaps a suggestion on how to 'wave' the towels, is to bend them first (sinusoidal) then redrape them. That would be my suggestion. My guess is the wave the person was refering to is the unjulation one sees in towels drapped with a slight stretch at the ends and not in the section in contact with the rope.
I don't think I'll retouch this part. You see, the clothes are "at rest" after a dynamic cloth simulation where I let them fall on the wire (collisions with the wire and self-collisions were modelled). I picked the last frame of this simulation because it corresponds to a "at rest" position (earlier frames were more wavy) - and I deleted these unused earlier frames. I believe the air should remain very stagnant in a place like this, thus there is no "real" reason for the clothes to be in motion. For references, I recommend watching clothes hanging on a drying rack :evil:
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I don't think I'll retouch this part. You see, the clothes are "at rest" after a dynamic cloth simulation where I let them fall on the wire (collisions with the wire and self-collisions were modelled). I picked the last frame of this simulation because it corresponds to a "at rest" position (earlier frames were more wavy) - and I deleted these unused earlier frames. I believe the air should remain very stagnant in a place like this, thus there is no "real" reason for the clothes to be in motion. For references, I recommend watching clothes hanging on a drying rack :evil:
Hmmm Point well taken plus the total gist of the image is complete.
Anyhow good enough as I said!
Cyb
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Dear Cyb,
I enjoy reading all of your quirky posts please keep it up. All seriousness I feel smarter just reading Cyb's stuff, dunno bout you guys but I love um' LOL.
@Mayo your awesome too that pipe house is lovely! Bookmarking your account. To those keeping track I have the following acounts bookmarked:
SL1982
Covarr
Cuppy
Cyb
Micky
Sith
Omzy
Bosola
...and Obese.
Now Mayo!
**
Now for something constructive: is there any plans to 'dirty' up the scene? That is the only major difference with the two.
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Now for something constructive: is there any plans to 'dirty' up the scene? That is the only major difference with the two.
Your wish shall be granted ;D
Behold the addition of smoke... (thanks to Blender physics engine) - again, click the pic for high-res.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img42/7228/wipthisguyaresick7.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/42/wipthisguyaresick7.png/)
Here's the original for comparison.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6083/thisguyaresick.png)
The smoke is obtained through physics simulation process. Compared to the original scene, the smoke is bound to be much more visible in front of a dark background than in front of a clearer background (which is why it is more noticeable in the back end of the pipe). I chose to render the smoke after having let it "settle", in order to convey the impression that the air is stagnant in the place (while the original suggests smaller billows).
As far as I am concerned, I would settle for this render and call this field scene screen "Completed".
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@Mayo your awesome too that pipe house is lovely! Bookmarking your account. To those keeping track I have the following acounts bookmarked:
SL1982
Covarr
Cuppy
Cyb
Micky
Sith
Omzy
Bosola
...and Obese.
Now Mayo!
(Very off topic) But bookmark them O.o...but why?
Anywayss back to topic! Mayo that just looks superb! :OO But I'm still thinking should be teeny bit dirtier but meh my dodgy opinion don't count il leave it to you experts ;) Other than great just wow
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(Very off topic) But bookmark them O.o...but why?
Cause I like what they have to say. :) I consider most of that list a distant pen pal. LOL I'm wierd. =/
Your wish shall be granted (http://forums.qhimm.com/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
Behold the addition of smoke... (thanks to Blender physics engine) - again, click the pic for high-res.
@_@ wow that's very nice! I like your version better! Keep up the fantastic work. :D
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@MayoMaster,
three comments on the render:
- The 'black cheese' should be a can, looking at the reflections of the original, it is an open can.
- The studs of the most right part of the shelves aren't correct, I think you've made them perpendicular to the shelves, however that doesn't look right, try to set the more like "/ \" (when you look at the front of the shelve) that should get a better fit.
- Still too clean to my opinion, throw some noise through the maps, that should help, add scratches, especially on the metal near the TV, the reflection looks too perfect. Try to differ on the metals, now all the metals have the same tone, the ribbed plates, circular steel rings, the hoses, they all have the same tone, reflection.
These are just my thoughts on the render, oh and for the smoke, Try replacing that with a volumetric light, from the TV.
oh..that's more then three :o
I hope this will help.
8-)
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Mayo master the scene needs harsher shadows. The originals go pure black at some points. You need to make sure the colors pop out more somehow get saturation up. The smoke takes a lot away.
Make sure you have your monitor gamma calibrated correctly. That matters the most when it comes to rendering and good color reproduction across all screens.
At this point you have most all the major details set now you have to go in there and add more subtle smaller details.
In the end it adds to the whole final scene as a whole. Thats what ff7 is all about all that small gritty detail in every scene. Its all inspired by all those old Anime. Akira, ghost in the shell, nausicaa and hell lot more i cant remember lol.
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This scene will never be called "done" :'(
Anyway, I can try to revise some of this stuff...
three comments on the render:
- The 'black cheese' should be a can, looking at the reflections of the original, it is an open can.
- The studs of the most right part of the shelves aren't correct, I think you've made them perpendicular to the shelves, however that doesn't look right, try to set the more like "/ \" (when you look at the front of the shelve) that should get a better fit.
- Still too clean to my opinion, throw some noise through the maps, that should help, add scratches, especially on the metal near the TV, the reflection looks too perfect. Try to differ on the metals, now all the metals have the same tone, the ribbed plates, circular steel rings, the hoses, they all have the same tone, reflection.
These are just my thoughts on the render, oh and for the smoke, Try replacing that with a volumetric light, from the TV.
oh..that's more then three :o
I hope this will help.
8-)
1- I had a debate about what the "black cheese" should be - the original picture is not clear at all on that. I was told by someone else that it must be some kind of opened can, like you pointed out. I replied that it made no sense to have an opened can standing among the trophies... though I had no much better suggestions. A cast-iron weight? A trophy base without a trophy? Or should I indeed change this object for a huge, label-less, opened tuna can?
2- That's precisely an "inconsistency" of the original drawing I pointed out in one of my previous posts. The perspective in the original picture is awkward: many shelf supports were drawn too long with respect to the inclination. For the ones at the very right, the last but one is perpendicular, but the very last one is not perpendicular. I actually followed closely the original drawing to do that. The visual "awkwardness" in my render may be emphasized by the fact that the perpendicular and the non-perpendicular supports are connected together. But this visual awkwardness in "faithful to the original".
3- I'll see what I can do about texturing, though I am not sure how to remedy - lots of trial and error in perspective. Then, I am not sure about trying different metals: in the original picture, it seems to me that they do have similar tones and reflections.
4- Well... I've never come across "volumetric lights" during my Blender tutorials, so I could use directions - I don't even know what could qualify as "volumetric light" with the tools available in Blender. Do you mean stuff like cone-shaped lightings? The lights I use are called "area lights" - I don't know how those relate to what you suggest (I know, I'm a noob).
EDIT - Apparently the only type of volumetric lights in Blender is the "spot", which makes a cone-shaped lighting where light scattering can be included, though it is said Blender is not great for volumetric lights. After some tweaks, I think it will be mostly useful for creating the "halo of blueish light" around the TV.
5 - There's no 5-
Mayo master the scene needs harsher shadows. The originals go pure black at some points. You need to make sure the colors pop out more somehow get saturation up. The smoke takes a lot away.
Make sure you have your monitor gamma calibrated correctly. That matters the most when it comes to rendering and good color reproduction across all screens.
At this point you have most all the major details set now you have to go in there and add more subtle smaller details.
In the end it adds to the whole final scene as a whole. Thats what ff7 is all about all that small gritty detail in every scene. Its all inspired by all those old Anime. Akira, ghost in the shell, nausicaa and hell lot more i cant remember lol.
I'm not sure how to make harsher shadows. I'll try to investigate on that. There is also a very big difficulty for me: on the one hand, I need to have a scene with colour contrasts, but I need to make it look dirty and foggy at the same time. I'll do what I can.
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Isn't there a program or something that tells what things are what in each map?
I think i saw a picture of costa del sol map with it.
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Color saturation rise the contrast up.
It will make the blacks blacker and other colors more uh saturated.
Idk the original scene doesn't seem to give hints of volumetric lights so smoke shouldn't be there i think.
The tv has that blue green glow all over one side but the rest i clear. Idk what renderer youre using tho.
Don't have experience with blender just max and MR. Raytrace the light bounces or fake it.
Getting the render setup is tricky i know.
Tho hell even in the original ff7 im sure they used a lot of photoshop to fake effects as post process.
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nice work mayo master im very impressed. i remember pointing you to that wiki book and just wow youve done well
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nice work mayo master im very impressed. i remember pointing you to that wiki book and just wow youve done well
Thanks! Back then, I actually didn't realize that the making of 3D object would be rather the "easy" part of modelling - I find texturing and lighting harder. When I chose to make the "man in the pipe" scene, I didn't figure it would have me play with cloth simulation, smoke simulation and light scattering :o
Anyway, here is the new version, trying to follow your recommendations and doing closer inspections... (click for high-res). For reference, please check the original a few of posts above.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img823/3747/wipthisguyaresick8.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/wipthisguyaresick8.png/)
Comments: I made a number of revisions on the textures, namely by tuning and adding noise bumpmaps. I also added extra noise textures to apply darkening smears on the wood shelves and the corrugated iron sheets. I revised some details on the shelf supports, and the trophy plates. But obviously the biggest change is about the modification of lights - pumping up the brightness of the TV, creating a halo of volumetric light around the TV, have a slight smoke effect to give more light scattering.
Then, I still don't quite know what to make of the "black cheese" (copyright SpooX). I think I'm pretty happy with the metallic textures now. I don't know if the shelves need more scratches: if you take your average solid wood or your cheap melamine-coated furniture, it doesn't show noticeable irregularities even after some wear (unless you have a cat using the furniture as scratching post, but that's another story).
I decided to increase the TV light a good bunch in order to make the colours more vivid (as in the original) and have more contrasted shadows, while also be consistent with the light over-exposure near the TV. However, I don't think it is possible for me to create really dark shadows (say, around the wood shelf) because of the multiplicity of lights (for example, the trophies are lightened from above, so I put a light near the ceiling. Thus there is a lamp lightening the topside of the shelf, but the TV also lightens the shelf from below). With respect to the original, either I'm consistent with the lighting, or I try to adjust the shadows, but it seems matching both at once is not feasible. I chose to focus on being consistent with the lighting.
As always your feedback will be appreciated :)
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Great work! just a quick review. In the original picture I notice that the metalic surface is dirtier with rust and dirt too (not just dust), the blanket has more intense color and patches on it are more obvious and the trophies are shiny gold, not just mustard. Also towels are creased.
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If you're having trouble matching lights, there is always post production, aka Photoshop!
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Done a little test for the studs on the right side....
oh and the black cheese, is a ring according to the reflections.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8177/8043991777_a7dd1826bb_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/8043991777/)
with regards to the blue haze around the TV, it seems they used a simple point light, so the metal around the TV reflects this, and not the air around it. I might do a test for that as well, if you like.
8)
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Spoox perspective looks better indeed.
It's like it seems as a different angle.
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and with an added light in front slightly above the TV.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8179/8044223408_1b187a67a3_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/8044223408/)
8)
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Great work! just a quick review. In the original picture I notice that the metalic surface is dirtier with rust and dirt too (not just dust), the blanket has more intense color and patches on it are more obvious and the trophies are shiny gold, not just mustard. Also towels are creased.
For the metallic surface, I may consider adding more dirt to the texture, but in terms of rust, it has plenty already. For the "intense colors of the blanket", it is also a matter of lighting. I think you perceive that because a non-negligible part of the blanket in my render is in the shadow of the tv light. As for the trophies, they're not that shiny (I made them very shiny at first, and got a comment that they were too shiny) - beside they already have specular intensity to the max. As for the towels, I already discussed the matter in an earlier post.
If you're having trouble matching lights, there is always post production, aka Photoshop!
The idea crossed my mind, namely for adding the layered tiles for simulating variations in lighting, as Cyb mentioned before. However, I would like to be able to make it without post-processing as much as possible.
Done a little test for the studs on the right side....
oh and the black cheese, is a ring according to the reflections.
with regards to the blue haze around the TV, it seems they used a simple point light, so the metal around the TV reflects this, and not the air around it. I might do a test for that as well, if you like.
8)
Shall I transform the black cheese into a smooth, large metal ring then? I can do that. Concerning the studs, I modified the right-most stud so that is is nicely fixed into the wall, which may be a difference from the original. However, I have a question: in your scene, does the last but one stud (the upright one) actually touches the pipe wall? Or did you twist the perspective by aligning it closer to the centre of the shelf? In my renders, the studs were aligned with respect to the edge of the shelf - I don't know if you'd advise a change on this.
As for the light, actually I perceive the opposite. I think the air is colored in the original (namely I feel that the blue halo makes a clearly visible sphere, part of which are obvious in the down-left section, where the pipe is "cut". I think it also really shows in the deep section of the pipe, right below the hanging clothes (it is not directly lit by the tv, but blue scattered light comes in front of it). The light (as opposed to the scattered light) itself isn't that blue in my opinion, else it would change the hue of the blanket and pillow case as well. You're welcome to go ahead with a try on volumetric lights on your side to check things out.
Spoox perspective looks better indeed.
It's like it seems as a different angle.
Well, I did try to align the camera to the original scene in the best of my abilities. True, making pre-alignment with Sketchup might have been better, but it was not within my possibilities (and unless someone else has the Pro version of Sketchup for exporting .obj files, it still isn't). Though I don't know if the camera position can be exported in the process.
and with an added light in front slightly above the TV.
8)
Interesting. However, here comes another question: for my scene, I put light sources where there could be "physical" light sources... I don't know if putting light sources where there's no actual item that emits light is a desirable course of action...
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Shall I transform the black cheese into a smooth, large metal ring then? I can do that.
Yes please.
Concerning the studs, I modified the right-most stud so that is is nicely fixed into the wall, which may be a difference from the original. However, I have a question: in your scene, does the last but one stud (the upright one) actually touches the pipe wall? Or did you twist the perspective by aligning it closer to the centre of the shelf? In my renders, the studs were aligned with respect to the edge of the shelf - I don't know if you'd advise a change on this.
yes they are, all connecting from the shelve to the surface of the pipe.
As for the light, actually I perceive the opposite. I think the air is colored in the original (namely I feel that the blue halo makes a clearly visible sphere, part of which are obvious in the down-left section, where the pipe is "cut". I think it also really shows in the deep section of the pipe, right below the hanging clothes (it is not directly lit by the tv, but blue scattered light comes in front of it). The light (as opposed to the scattered light) itself isn't that blue in my opinion, else it would change the hue of the blanket and pillow case as well. You're welcome to go ahead with a try on volumetric lights on your side to check things out.
if you walk outside at night, and see a room with only a (CRT)TV on, what color do you see?
In my renderer, there are no volumetric lights possible, I'll have to fake that to achieve that effect.
Well, I did try to align the camera to the original scene in the best of my abilities. True, making pre-alignment with Sketchup might have been better, but it was not within my possibilities (and unless someone else has the Pro version of Sketchup for exporting .obj files, it still isn't). Though I don't know if the camera position can be exported in the process.Interesting. However, here comes another question: for my scene, I put light sources where there could be "physical" light sources... I don't know if putting light sources where there's no actual item that emits light is a desirable course of action...
As for the camera position, here it is far away from the scene, don't know if blender can handle that. I used the walkmesh to position and create the tube. In my scene, there are also two lights (low capacity) at the ceiling of the pipe, in order to light the shelves.
For the 'invisible' lights, that's quite normal to use, and to fake light situation, it used to be used to fake global illuminosity before that came along. In FF there are many fields where this is used. take the NMKIN3 scene for instance....
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8294/7713077696_85cd10cd09_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/7713077696/)
at the place where you enter this scene ther is a hidden light (there are more in there), check out the original if you like.
For the tube and the lights, look closely at the shadows, also the towls have a shadow which can't originate by the TV.
Since we can use illuminated maps (as the image shown on the TV) that was not possible with the software Squaresoft used, so they faked it with a light in front of the TV.
my current scene looks like this:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/8044377873_99c88865a8_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/8044377873/)
Note, the pink cylinder is only used to block the light entering from the back side
8-)
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Just as a note, I uploaded the file as obj in the repo under 'testing files', I don't know if you have access to that.
and the double post her is on purpose, so the notification will be send
8)
[edit] added 3ds version as well, as the obj version is screwedup when opening in Blender[/edit]
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Yes please.
yes they are, all connecting from the shelve to the surface of the pipe.
if you walk outside at night, and see a room with only a (CRT)TV on, what color do you see?
In my renderer, there are no volumetric lights possible, I'll have to fake that to achieve that effect.
As for the camera position, here it is far away from the scene, don't know if blender can handle that. I used the walkmesh to position and create the tube. In my scene, there are also two lights (low capacity) at the ceiling of the pipe, in order to light the shelves.
For the 'invisible' lights, that's quite normal to use, and to fake light situation, it used to be used to fake global illuminosity before that came along. In FF there are many fields where this is used. take the NMKIN3 scene for instance....
at the place where you enter this scene ther is a hidden light (there are more in there), check out the original if you like.
For the tube and the lights, look closely at the shadows, also the towls have a shadow which can't originate by the TV.
Since we can use illuminated maps (as the image shown on the TV) that was not possible with the software Squaresoft used, so they faked it with a light in front of the TV.
my current scene looks like this:
Note, the pink cylinder is only used to block the light entering from the back side
8-)
- I will change the "black cheese" for a ring.
- I will revise the position and orientation of the shelf studs
- Concerning the lights: I also have a third light (which has a "physical" source), which is a light coming from outside the pipe. This light is actually consistent with the shadows you see on the clothes, which are projected by the shelf holding the books. On another note, I didn't know that lights emanating from non-existent object was common practice - yet I am not sure they would be a necessary element for this scene. Then, to revise my lighting tests, I propose to make a "Case study" with different light settings and conditions, and putting everything side by side for people to judge. I'll make small renders (comparable with the size of the original picture) so hopefully it shouldn't take long.
- I'll check the alignment of my camera with the scene (which I did manually), but I don't think I'm far off the angle of the original picture.
Just as a note, I uploaded the file as obj in the repo under 'testing files', I don't know if you have access to that.
and the double post her is on purpose, so the notification will be send
8)
[edit] added 3ds version as well, as the obj version is screwedup when opening in Blender[/edit]
Not yet, I'll have to ask permission for accessing the repo. When I do, I could share the blender file of my scene if you're interested (I think could export it in .3ds if you wish).
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@MayoMaster
Metal objects should not cast white specular highlights but be tainted with their diffuse color ( only a little brighter). This is easy and quick to fix in Blender and will take away some of that "plastic" look.
And do at least one inset with control edges on the right "puck" to fix the shading issues.
And to Spoox: Thanks for the camera locations you gave me the other day !
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Just as a note, I uploaded the file as obj in the repo under 'testing files', I don't know if you have access to that.
and the double post her is on purpose, so the notification will be send
I got access to repo and checked your file (thanks for sharing). Unfortunately, when importing .3ds into Blender, it looks like the camera position wasn't kept (like it imports the objects, not the camera) - unless I made a noob mistake :oops:
Anyway, one other drawback is that we modelled things at a very different scale (like your objects were 10 times larger), so I doubt the information about your camera position will be of some use to me.
However, your modelling draft incited me to completely revise my scene and fine tune the viewing distance and focal length. Because of this, I had to revise the position of all the items, and I've been also going through a revision of all the meshes. I think that, when I started the scene, I could be satisfied with an approximate position and appearance of the items in the scene, but you guys have raised my self-expectation standards :-P
I should be able to finish the revisions on object position and meshes by this weekend. Then it will be back to texturing/lighting.
@MayoMaster
Metal objects should not cast white specular highlights but be tainted with their diffuse color ( only a little brighter). This is easy and quick to fix in Blender and will take away some of that "plastic" look.
And do at least one inset with control edges on the right "puck" to fix the shading issues.
Thanks for the input - looking how you modelled your scenes I could definitely use your advice! - Indeed practically all my items have white specular highlights, I will revise that when I get back to texturing. While revising my meshes, I fixed the shading on the shelf supports (initially with basic flat shading, now with the classic "smooth shading - subsurf - edge crease").
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Just be aware that the egde-crease modifier most likely wont be exported in case you ever decide to render your scenes in a different render engine outside of Blender.
On the modeling side of things I am course willing to help, but everything seems very fine to me. What could be improved are the two towels. maybe apply (bake )the cloth modifier as it is now, subdivide a couple of times and simply sculpt over them. Should not take too long IMO.
What I did for image aligning was a bit of a pain but proved to work quite well to my surprise once I got it figured out:
1.) Get a copy of 3DSMAX trial and sketchup pro (?) trial
2.) Align scene in Sketchup and export to .3ds ( that should include the camera positions)
3.) Open scene in 3ds
4.) Get the scripts http://www.blender.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17168&sid=3bd6896ffa9be3121ce142f22e941432
I sticked to the Blender 2.52 version, the newer ones never reliably worked for me. Run the 3dsmax script ( it says only 2010 but it worked at least up to 2012). That exports the scene and cam data to a format Blender can read.
5.) Get Blender 2.52 and install the script in the link. This will give you a button under the World or Scene options ( sorry doing this by heart) that says import scene. You select the scene you exported from 3DSMAX and voila you get the cam data in Blender.
6.) Since 2.52 is pretty dated and very unstable I suggest you open your nice and new 2.64 at the same time and paste the camera location and rotation and FOV values from the 2.52 scene to a scene in 2.64. This will give you all you need.
7.) Open up the image of the filed scene in Blender and press Z for wire frame mode. Ensure that the FOV is right as you need to manually tweak it a bit. Rotation and location are always matching though.
8.) I then split the window in two halfs. one the right I stay in wireframe mode to ensure that stuff matches up. On the right is normal 3DView with regular shaded view.
This might sound way more difficult than it is. Once you know what these exporters do it does not take longer than 10 min at best. But really paste the camera values and do not work with the imported camera. I got really weird termination and Z-fighting errors using it, esp. with AO turned on.
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Oh and by the way: I generally abuse the project from view unwrapping. It is a bad habit but since these renders will only be viewed from one angle the speedup you get from doing that is quite dramatic...
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Well, rendering in another engine was not in my plans... I am actually unaware of the benefits of another rendering engine (especially if it can't be compatible with Blender's features) - even though it seems to be in what is suggested in the "Midgar remake" thread.
Concerning this particular field screen, I think I got the alignment spot on, after my latest revisions. However, the procedure you suggest was definitely what I was thinking about for further field scenes to model, and it has been pretty much in line with the support provided by SpooX (though I didn't figure about using scripts and that kind of things). I actually wonder if this preliminary work on camera view shouldn't be made systematically (though it's a lot of simple boring work), with saving .3ds files in the repository.
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I think the only person that can extract the camera data directly from game to 3DSMAX is (still) Spoox.
And personally I also think that the internal renderer of Blender is fine for the style of Final Fantasy VII.
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Update on my field scene screen...
Since last time:
- I revised the viewing angle - or to be more precise, the distance and focal length. As a result, I had to modify the diameter of the pipe... which resulted in also revising all the items of the scene :-o
- The revisions of the objects include position, texturing, and in some case, meshing (for instance I remade the leftmost trophy). Concerning texturing: the metallic parts have layers and layers of textures, and in my opinion, I feel like adding more layers to my textures would add nothing.
- I resimulated the clothes (it was vastly demanded apparently) and got a frame where they look a bit more "wavy".
- I revised lighting. I added some small lights around the TV, change the colour of the TV light (blueish), and change the colour of the ceiling light (yellowish).
I must admit: now I feel like I'm turning in circles between lighting tuning and smoke effects. Here are some possibilities:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img5/3943/thisguyaresickwip.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/5/thisguyaresickwip.png/)
1- Render without halo nor smoke
2- Render with smoke
3- Render with halo
4- Render with both halo and smoke
Of course, both the intensity of the halo and the smoke are tunable.
Again, here's the original for reference...
(http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6083/thisguyaresick.png)
Another option, which I have just been suggested, would be to make the smoke with blender, but make the halo by post-processing (Paintshop). I liked the low-res I made, so I decided to go full scale (click for high-res).
(http://imageshack.us/a/img255/3747/wipthisguyaresick8.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/255/wipthisguyaresick8.png/)
Let me know what you guys think.
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- I resimulated the clothes (it was vastly demanded apparently) and got a frame where they look a bit more "wavy".
I think the issue with your original simulation is that it was too straight. If clothes is filthy enough (which it probably is, in the slums), it'll keep way more shape than if it's clean. Sometimes, the stiffness can be stronger than gravity, and so manual tweaking might give that effect better than a realistic cloth simulation.
Also, I like option four, but you might wanna try and make the TV's light fade out more gradually; it seems just a bit too sharp, not soft enough.
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I don't think the matter of the clothes has something to do with realism. I think it is more a matter of our mind associating cloth with the idea of a supple, smooth material, and the "wavy clothes" convey more this idea than "still hanging cloth". Anyway, I preferred to let the physics wave the clothes than do it manually - I'm personally always getting better results that way - maybe because I have more the mind of an engineer than that of an artist :-P
Concerning the TV light, I could try that. However, I did spend time calibrating the fading off of this light. You see, one of the subtlety (at least for me) in the original picture is that the metal reflects blue near the TV, and yellow near the end of the pipe. So I had to adjust the fade-off of the blue TV light with that of a yellowish light bulb on the ceiling. I fear increasing the distance of the blue light may not be consistent with the somewhat yellowish reflections of the original.
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The lighting in the '5th' or last one you posted is best. I'd make the blanket dirtier sa per the original. Post progress on that, and once thats cleared, this scene will be considered done and approved.
Best to move on to other work than to fiddle with this forever. Good work.
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Dirtying the blanket by increments...
The first one is my original version, the fourth one was dumped in ashes.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img607/6705/wipblanket.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/607/wipblanket.png/)
Which one do you like?
It is also possible for me to get "intermediate" dirt levels. Between each steps shown above, an extra layer of dirt was added to the UV map texture, and I can vary the intensity of each. Just let me know. My personal preference: go from picture 2, add a very subtle amount of dirt from 3, and get a very slight overall dirt of 4.
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No 4 but why don't you brighten the colors a bit...
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I'd use 4, and pop out the patches a bit from the blanket, just extrude that area to get a little extra relief.
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I see you guys like #4, but personally I think that's going to create 2 little problems:
1- If I make the blanket that filthy, I will have to increase considerably the level of dirt and filth on all the other objects of the scene to make something self-consistent. Which would mean... revising all the textures all over again :'(
2- If I do the aforementioned step, I doubt the amount of dirt and filth would correspond to the original picture.
Here is what it's like at 20% of the size (with only the blanket being filthy) - I don't know if you get my point.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img829/7989/wipthisguyaresickfilth.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/829/wipthisguyaresickfilth.png/)
So that's just my word of caution, if you do want me to proceed, I'll go ahead. Though at this rate I'll keep retexturing this scene for the rest of my life :-P
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Then don't make it litterally dirt. Stains, spills, rips will do the job.
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One thing that I keep noticing is that the blanket looks as though it's slightly folded over itself on the end near the TV, whereas in the original it's more smooth. That, to me, is more noticeable than the dirtiness (or lack thereof) of the blanket. But since no one else mentioned it, perhaps I'm in the minority :D
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Other than that i think this scene is perfect.
Don't find it much of a issue tho (the fold).
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Then don't make it litterally dirt. Stains, spills, rips will do the job.
I'll give another round at texturing. I was also suggested to make a big stain that would be mostly covered by the patches, creating a bigger contrast between the patch and its immediate surrounding. By the way, the patches are not mesh, but part of the UV maps (color and bumpmap).
One thing that I keep noticing is that the blanket looks as though it's slightly folded over itself on the end near the TV, whereas in the original it's more smooth. That, to me, is more noticeable than the dirtiness (or lack thereof) of the blanket. But since no one else mentioned it, perhaps I'm in the minority :D
In fact, I used Blender's physics engine to make a cloth simulation, where the blanket falls on a bolster lying underneath (as well as the mattress). Because this "hidden bolster" has a similar shape to that of the visible bolster, the blanket folds that way. I could remake the cloth simulation using another collision shape instead of that bolster (like a very large, somewhat flat pillow) to get closer to the blanket folds of the original.
Other than that i think this scene is perfect.
Don't find it much of a issue tho (the fold).
Thanks!
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Update on my field scene screen... namely: redoing the cloth simulation for the blanket to have folds closer to the original, revising the blanket texture, revising the shelf texture and colors, minor light tuning, a tiny bit of Paintshop post-processing. (Again click for full high-res)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img594/1521/wipthisguyaresick10.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/wipthisguyaresick10.png/)
Here's a side-by-side comparison, at original resolution.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img259/7651/thisguyaresickcompariso.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/259/thisguyaresickcompariso.png/)
Let me know how that's for you - though personally I'm growing a bit tired of this one.
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Your field background is full of win and looks awesome. I don't think splitting hairs on the super fine details
are really necessary at this point, it certainly looks completed to me :) I kinda would like to see what
it looks like in-game against the colors of the field models. If I had to mention anything id say the tv screen looks a lot brighter in the
original and so does the color of the rope that the clothes are hanging on.
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Yeah this is pretty much done to me. Nothing i can see here that stands out as wrong. Like i said before to me the big parts are well done, shading is good. From here on you could just endlessly tweak it to be "perfect" adding small little details to make it your own.
Make it dirtier add more grit uh more small details i say. Look up Rage the game for inspiration as to what i mean by adding small detail that enforce the feeling of a cyberpunk wasteland. Which ff7 and midgar is all representing. Like i said in my other post. Cyberpunk anime, games and movies.. like blade runner im sure served as inspiration for midgars art style. You should look into those for inspiration for how to expand on the original scenes and make them better.
I say you've done a great job already move on to the next one. Come back to it later when you feel you can improve it.
You guys can also take your scenes to the bigger cg art forums Like Cgtalk if you're looking for more indepth critique lots of professionals there always giving out awesome advice.
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Congratulations for your awesome work but I still prefer how the original is made. The stains, patches and colors on the blanket tube dirt and smoke, towels. Trophies color. The only thing that's wrong is the low resolution image... I admire any effort but it's physically impossible to please everyone's taste. Of course this doesn't mean it's poor of taste. Thank you for the time you spent anyway ;) Keep up with other scenes!
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Release quality. Time to put your talents to other uses
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Your field background is full of win and looks awesome. I don't think splitting hairs on the super fine details
are really necessary at this point, it certainly looks completed to me :) I kinda would like to see what
it looks like in-game against the colors of the field models. If I had to mention anything id say the tv screen looks a lot brighter in the
original and so does the color of the rope that the clothes are hanging on.
The TV screen is so bright in the original that you cannot even see what's on TV. It was more a personal decision to make it visible. There's still the idea somewhere (not immediate project) of animating what's on the TV screen (with extra layers, like for door animation), besides. In which case it's better if we can see what's on the screen.
As for the rope and cloth, maybe I'd have needed to add a small light in there, but then I might have had to recalibrate all the other lights around.
Yeah this is pretty much done to me. Nothing i can see here that stands out as wrong. Like i said before to me the big parts are well done, shading is good. From here on you could just endlessly tweak it to be "perfect" adding small little details to make it your own.
Make it dirtier add more grit uh more small details i say. Look up Rage the game for inspiration as to what i mean by adding small detail that enforce the feeling of a cyberpunk wasteland. Which ff7 and midgar is all representing. Like i said in my other post. Cyberpunk anime, games and movies.. like blade runner im sure served as inspiration for midgars art style. You should look into those for inspiration for how to expand on the original scenes and make them better.
I say you've done a great job already move on to the next one. Come back to it later when you feel you can improve it.
You guys can also take your scenes to the bigger cg art forums Like Cgtalk if you're looking for more indepth critique lots of professionals there always giving out awesome advice.
I tried to add dirt and grit, but trying to be subtle and moderate. As I said before, the main difficulty for me is to make the scene look dirty, but at the same time it is very colourful, and those two aspects are somewhat contradictory. To be honest, I don't think I'm at the level of "adapting to a style", I'm rather at the level of "ok let's try to make something look reasonably decent". Many artistic tricks don't come to me as intuitive. Maybe I can find good advice in CGtalk indeed.
Congratulations for your awesome work but I still prefer how the original is made. The stains, patches and colors on the blanket tube dirt and smoke, towels. Trophies color. The only thing that's wrong is the low resolution image... I admire any effort but it's physically impossible to please everyone's taste. Of course this doesn't mean it's poor of taste. Thank you for the time you spent anyway ;) Keep up with other scenes!
Given the very low resolution of the original scene, the amount of dirt and stains is actually open to interpretation, which is why everyone may have a different perception of how the scene should look like at full resolution. That, and also I don't have the skills to make a replica of the original, even if that's what I wanted :P
Release quality. Time to put your talents to other uses
Woooohoooo! That made my day, thanks. I will put the file in the repo shortly. I will enjoy working on something else, this one was starting to become a chore.
By the way, what is the actual file name of this field scene (I can't get a way to access this information)? Just so I name it as such for adding it in the repo.
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You should Check in the File Reconstruction Sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhqH9L8_QubjdEstb1JrRjV6NFFzOHBtSG8wVG93MWc#gid=0) In the LGP Files Section look for Field.lgp for your data name. it would be quicker to use Makou Reactor to find the file name since it only list field and in order.
the name for this is location is :mds5_dk
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You should Check in the File Reconstruction Sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhqH9L8_QubjdEstb1JrRjV6NFFzOHBtSG8wVG93MWc#gid=0) In the LGP Files Section look for Field.lgp for your data name. it would be quicker to use Makou Reactor to find the file name since it only list field and in order.
the name for this is location is :mds5_dk
Thanks for the link! I didn't know all that information was already compiled somewhere, that's most useful. It might have come in handy when I wanted to make the Tasklist (probably I'll modify that one accordingly).
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May I make a suggestion? Try to do all your scenes in one geographic location. It will be easier on the eyes with all the different art styles.
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May I make a suggestion? Try to do all your scenes in one geographic location. It will be easier on the eyes with all the different art styles.
Good point - that would mean I stick to the slums of Sector 5 for now. I know anaho made another scene in there, but since we both use Blender, I'm hoping it won't be a clash of styles.
By the way, I just added my file to repo, alongside ulpian's latest work. Speaking of which, I didn't find anaho's completed scenes in there, it may be good to update the repo on that.
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I also believe it would be better to split cities/places among "our" modelers.
It's a good way to optimize "our" resources and also I believe is somewhat inspiring for them to have freedom to work completly redo a place without having to mix their works with different styles.
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Just something I realize only now: ulpian and I have uploaded our images in the wrong repo (the WIP repo instead of the "Final version" one). Do we have to upload them again or can you transfer them from one repo to the other?
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They can be moved.
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I had these still lingering around my hdd (and on several backups ::))
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8493/8272096501_ba93f1fc88_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/8272096501/)
and some details...
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8494/8272096693_7e988059a5_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39897743@N05/8272096693/)
enjoy.
8-)
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Where are all of the 3D files used to make these renders?
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Either on their hard drives or uploaded to the TA SVN repository. Either way they aren't available to the public
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Is there anyone here who could help me get started on getting the BG from the flevel.lpg? I want to start modeling scenes but I want to do it right so areas that are animated also get in. I understand the LGP tools but I'm lost as to actually grab the image. I noticed using palmer that it has bug, is there a way around this with modeling the scene?
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From the tasklist thread...
Please also check out the File Reconstruction Sheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhqH9L8_QubjdEstb1JrRjV6NFFzOHBtSG8wVG93MWc#gid=0) which has all the images and file names, among the .lgp files, under field lgp. [/font]
You can get the background images from there.
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From the tasklist thread...You can get the background images from there.
I didn't see the LGP files tab below when I looked at it last night... Found it, ty
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By the way, for my curiosity, what scenes are you interested in?
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Dont know if I ever posted them here:
All WIP, the Junon file is still corrupted.....
http://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=166733&d=1326292982
http://blenderartists.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=166735&d=1326293649
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Nice work
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hi guys iv got some free time on my hand and not much to do so, i was think of doing some more Scenes i was just wondering if you wanted any in particular done.
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Texture up n do the lighting on those scenes you started?
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ready to start textures on this one, just some details to add on the small box but cant tell what it is from the picture.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8215/8378782441_083b213035_z.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/8378782441/)
sbwy1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/8378782441/) by Tollen86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/80793948@N02/), on Flickr
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8221/8378802977_35cab0fed9_n.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/8378802977/)
sbwy4_11 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/8378802977/) by Tollen86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/80793948@N02/), on Flickr
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Really nice!
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Nice work Tollen! Looking forward to seeing it textured.
Concerning the box, I think it could be a power socket, or a fuse box. It would make sense to find either in a utility tunnel. By the way, perhaps you may want to extrude the air duct (i.e. make a rectangular conduit perpendicular to the tunnel, outwards).
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thanks mayo i was thinking it had to be some sort of power socket.
and a quick updata on the texture side.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8494/8382869262_ff13d82a16.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/8382869262/)
sbwy1_render2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/80793948@N02/8382869262/) by Tollen86 (http://www.flickr.com/people/80793948@N02/), on Flickr
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A few quick remarks:
- Maybe you'll want to make the yellow and black stripes more narrow.
- It seems to me that the metal plates were painted in blue. The rust shows where the paint has flaked off. So, perhaps it would be better to replace your grayish metallic color by a blueish paint color matching the original picture.
- Before going further into texturing, perhaps it's best you take care of your lights. You can evaluate the light intensity/colors based on the rgb values of the yellow and black stripes on your rendered images. I think it is simpler to have the lighting more or less set before doing most of the texturing, mostly when it comes to adjust texture colors. At least that how it works for me, maybe someone more experienced can give you better advice and recommendations.
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I think the issue with your original simulation is that it was too straight. If clothes is filthy enough (which it probably is, in the slums), it'll keep way more shape than if it's clean. Sometimes, the stiffness can be stronger than gravity, and so manual tweaking might give that effect better than a realistic clothing simulation.
Also, I like option four, but you might wanna try and make the TV's light (http://www.robustbuy.com/led-lighting-gadgets-led-flashlights-c-505_1027_730.html) fade out more gradually; it seems just a bit too sharp, not soft enough.
I think you are right, his issue is quite straight..