I’m a 3D prop/environment modeler who is taking a hail Mary art test for a VFX position with a games studio. I have a little VFX experience on a past title and even less Unity experience. I was hoping perhaps I could run my ‘pipeline’ by you to make sure I’m taking the right course.
The test is actually software/engine independant so the showing of proficiency in Unity, overall, isn’t necessary. It’s the VFX angle (and to some extent how I present the ‘story)’ the studio is interested in. Thus cheats are allowed (ie. camera cuts can be done in post and not in-engine). That said, I’m all for learning as much as I can.
I’ll spare you the actual storyboard version and give you the quick and dirty. I’ll follow up with a list of questions.
A wooden barrel falls from the sky, to the ground bounces and settles (creating a dust ‘poof’).
A distant missile launcher activates and fires missile (ignitions sequence with sparks followed by the WOOSH, smoke, flames, etc).
Missile takes a ballistic arc (leaving behind smoke trail)
Missile strikes the barrel and barrel explodes (explosion with shock-wave, physics debris objects).
Ok, now for the questions. This test is a last minute situation and while I have researched there are still some gaps in my knowledge…
I assume I would be wise to animate the barrel drop and bounce via animation software (Maya in my case.) However, for the missile, considering it’s wide arc and distance traveled can I, should I animate via Unity?
For the barrel’s dust ‘poof’ upon landing. How can I order the particles to spread out via X and Z (along the ground plane) to simulate the dust moving away from the barrel in all directions?
Regarding the missile’s launch sequence; I want to have an ignitor effect (think Apollo and Shuttle launches) followed by the rush of smoke and flame as the engine starts. Can I animate when particles stop and start? I’d like to avoid having to use state machines and other witchcraft that I barely understand.
The shockwave; I’ve thought about animating a ring with a alpha’ed texture, using self illumination? Sorta pulling that one out of my butt. Any better ideas?
Any advice would be appreciated. I really want this gig! Of course it’s last minute and of course I’m also dealing with a sick wife and toddler. Good times.
Hmmm… it sounds like since the test is independent of software/engine, they are mostly testing your visual/artistic ability. If that is the case, I would really put your focus on that (making it looks as cool as possible) and leveraging the tools you know the best. If you can animate in Maya faster than it would take to learn and animate in Unity to get the best possible results, stick with Maya. For the particle elements, you can use multiple particle systems and time/trigger them using sub emitters, or stack them using using an mechanim/animator to trigger/move at specific points in sequence. But that can get a little complex if you aren’t familiar with it.
Also, animating meshes with vfx textures is common way of creating complex/slick vfx (and cheap from a resource standpoint). It is also something that you can do entirely in Maya. That might be an option as you can focus on actually building animation rather than diving to far into unity in short time period. Again, since it sounds like focus/test is probably on visual quality, I would focus on that. If something looks awesome, the tech can be sorted later. Good luck!
Thank you zombiegorilla. Sound advice! Why complicate things indeed, I’ll stay in Maya as much as possible. Thank you for the advice regarding animating the particles as well as the well wishes.
Interestingly, I heard from the AD and he actually wants something much more simple than originally posted. Essentially, just an explosion. Granted it’s going to have to be one hell of an explosion and not something ‘off the shelf.’
Ok, so now I merely need to come up with a believeable/efficient grenade explosion.
I’m winging this, so I’m open to ideas:
Currently, I have a ‘flash’ of 5 particles with very short lives, to simulate the very fast flash seen when a grenade detonates. Unfortunately, the billboards are clipping through the groundplane. I’ve tried editing the shader in Monodevelopment and specifying it as an overlay, but frankly am over my head. Saving and building makes no difference with the shader and when I go back into the editor it is back to transparent.
