Mackenzie Flay - Rookie Awards 2022!
A compilation of projects created during university and my time studying at Rising Sun Pictures!
"Firefly Forest"
A fully CG forest containing trees, rocks, plants, and groundcover plants. The layout can be adjusted and procedurally generated to create a million different scenes with a single click.
The fireflies are created using a particle network to determine their path, with a firefly model generated on each point following the direction. The pathing of the fireflies avoid colliding with the trees in any generation of the scene.
Completed during my studies at Rising Sun Pictures, as my major FX Project in Dynamic Effects and Lighting.
- Firefly model sourced from CGTrader (https://www.cgtrader.com/)
- Plants, rocks, and groundcover plants sourced from Quixel Megascans (https://quixel.com/megascans/home)
Pine trees constructed using the Houdini Labs tree building toolset and render wedges:
"Gore-termelon"
The Gore-termelon was one of the first tasks I undertook during my studies this semester at Rising Sun Pictures. FX Artist Ben Cooke taught us techniques in Houdini to create squishy, exploding gore using Vellum and RBD Material Fracture. I adapted the idea into a watermelon, and while real-life watermelons aren't as juicy, it creates quite an explosive effect. I also added a RBD Bullet Solver to create some exploding watermelon seeds within the simulation.
"Particle Sphere"
Adapted from "Abstract Particles" by Matti Brandmaier. An effect which utilises an evolving texture on a warping sphere to procedurally generate particles, using pop networks and attribute wrangles to adjust a variety of settings.
"Frost and Fire"
Frost
An effect adapted from "Create Winter scene" by Topic Vfx, turning a lush forest into a harsh wintery scene. This shot is part of a short film I "creatively" titled The Cool Fight, starring Callum Reeman and Shaun Moffett. I plan to remaster this effect later this year as I study and expand my skills in roto and tracking.
Fire
Another effect for The Cool Fight, depicting a fireball in the actor's hand. I also plan to remaster this effect later this year using more efficient roto and Houdini Pyro tools.
"Nebula Exploration"
Created using Adobe After Effects and Video Copilot's Saber Plugin. Different light sources and noise are layered in 3D space to create a starry galaxy.
"Unreal Particles"
Inspired by "Rotate Around Point in UE5 Niagara" by CGHOW, I explored Unreal Engine's Niagra particle system and pre-made environments. The particles use equations to determine a spiral path in 3D space, and emit a trail of particles as they move. By layering effects and adjusting the settings of the system, a variety of iterations can be made.
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