Pro 3D

[andy_winton]

hi guys,

I'm in the position to maybe buy
newtek's lightwave 3D.

On many web sites it states this has
been used for films like Fifth Element,
Men in Black, etc etc.

My question is what other software was
used? I find it difficult to believe
that it was used alone without extra
packages like composition packages
(like shake) or other effects packages,
or motion capture, etc, etc?

Seems a bit tricky to read in detail
what was used for what? Even in 'Computer
graphic world' magazine, seems to skimp
on this at times.

I'm sure I'll probably still buy LW and
think it's great, but I'd like to
know before hand what it doesn't do.

cheers,

andy

[titaniumdoughnut]

i don't know a whole lot about lightwave, besides that they did twister with it too.

i do know that the best (and most expensive) 3d program you can buy is Maya, from alias|wavefront. i personally have never used or even set eyes on maya. it was used for all the rendered effects in lotr, then shake was used to comp them. a motion capture rig was used as well. it is safe to assume that with lightwave you will need similar stuff. why not get a LW demo and give it a spin?

goodluck

[eidde]

Alias Wavefront and Maya are the pro standard.
Was Alias Wavefront bought out a few years ago...? Or was that Silicon Graphics?
These are miles ahead of programs like 3D Studio Max, which are essentially domestic programs (although amazing things can be done with them.)
You will need an extremely good computer, perhaps an Indigo, to make the most of it.
Of course the professionals will have used motion capture and other extras, but learning your way around one of these 'real' CGI packages will be really useful to you.
Ive seen impressive stuff done on just the basic software and an Indigo 2000 silicon graphics computer, this was about 6 years ago - who knows what its capable of now.
The learning curve is huge. If you have some knowledge of Numerical Mathematics, such as spline fitting, interpolation, regression.....differential equation solving this will help you get an enormous amount from it.

Welcome to the real world [img]smile.gif[/img]

[andy_winton]

hi,

yeah, maya+renderman is what they use in the top
end films, but I don't have a spare 10K to get
that.

lightwave is used in most tv work, with some film
stuff.

I was just wondering after they do all the
rendering what post-processing they do on the
images, or if they get put in the final frames
with little or no alterations.

Found another good magazine, cinefex.com.

I've played with Blender, 3ds, povray and others
in the past.

'Welcome to the real world?'

''I'm already there''

andy

[titaniumdoughnut]

in a way I'm not the one to be advising you because the highest my 3d package goes is Carrara Studio, but the I use it for game animation so it works. basically what I've learned from experience, reading, tutorial websites, and tips from the pros is this:

you CAN render a file, and put it straight into your tv show/movie

you SHOULD do TONS of post effects

for example, in many programs it is not possible to get really good control over depth of field or camera focus. the pros render the scene in 3 OR MORE passes. first they render the forground objects, then the main subject of the scene, then the background. then they import these files into after effects and layer them using the alpha channels for transparency, then apply gaussian blur and you can control the focus perfectly. similar techniques are used for achieving motion blur or more realistic smoke and fire. render the particles seperetly and you can blur and shift them in after effects. etc,

always color correct. it's often amazing how much better you can make a render look with a little bit of levels.

as you experiement you'll get a feel for when to render in layers and when not to. it took me about a year to realize the power of many passes. it's something they did in the old starwars, except with real cameras. they would render, erm, film, a ship, then they'd do it again with just the lights showing against black, etc. that way you can adjust everything to your hearts content later. this image was done with multiple passes to add focus, rain, and lighting. not anything amazing but it shows the technique.

good luck!

cheers - perry