Recon

Here is my final entry :D

A high quality version can be downloaded here or view on vimeo below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/03imurerleyvldq/TheRookies%20Final%20v4.mp4?dl=1

My final breakdown video showing some of the techniques I used. It has been a great challenge and a lot of fun to see how my fellow competitors entries have evolved.

Good luck to everyone.

Massive thanks to The Rookies, Rebelway and all of the sponsors as well as the judges.

Below are a few screenshots showing my Nuke nodes and After Effects Rotobrush for the final composition. 

Below is the Nuke 3D display using PositionToPoints which uses the World Position and Normal AOVs to recreate the 3D scene.

I've spent the past couple of weeks working on the final camera 3 effects.

These include the build up of the energy weapon, the attack and damage to the Hydralisk. Below is a walkthrough of the final effects and how I created them.

Here are a few shots of the particle effects, electricity, beam weapon, snow and pyro damage.

I've spent the past few weeks when I have spare time working on the claw strike shield effect and the RBD sim for the swing at the Cyborg. 

I've used a custom velocity field to advect particles towards the claw. There are several particle sources with different velocity fields or forces combined to make the final effect.

I've added a glowing effect to the claw tip which fades out and leaves a burnt tip material. I also add a subtle pyro sim to give off a bit of smoke.

Next I worked on the RBD sim for the Hydralisk swinging his right claw at the Cyborg causing him to leap back to avoid it. There is a medium layer of debris and a smaller layers of small ice pieces and snow.

I may add a pyro layer of smoke/haze but at the moment I like the final outcome when rendered and it doesn't block too much of the action. 

I will probably work on a snow layer or broken ice when the Cyborg hits the ground.

The middle scene from camera 2 can be seen in this low quality render. It's only 1280x572 and the final render will be either 1920x820 or maybe go higher to 2560x1144.

I've been trying different shield effects. Below is my first attempt at a more geometry based shield. It's made up of packed fragments which I could later use in an RBD sim when the hydralisk smashes his claw down from above. 

The shield currently blocks far too much of the action with hydralisk screaming at the cyborg.

My current layers of destruction, mist and fog.

RBD, environment fog, debris, ice/snow particles and finally mist spray.

I've been working on several more iterations of the RBD simulation and debris. I've now added a dust layer and am currently iterating on a layer of very fine snow/ice crystals.

I've added an environment fog/haze as it's a sunrise on an icy planet.

The cyborg is returning to his ship after a survey mission and is attacked by the hydralisk lying in wait under the ice.

Here is a work in progress, low quality render with the new layers of debris and dust. I've also reworked the ice shader as it was previously glowing with too much SSS.

I've added a burnt tip effect to the hydralisk's claw as it pushes through the shield. I used a Solver to ensure the burnt effect is maintained as the frames progress.

The shield effects are still very early in their development. I intend to add a lot more layers. Currently toying with particles vs volumes. 

Double post. Sorry

I've added a second layer of medium sized debris to the destruction. 

I've also done a bit more work on the shaders, background and cyborg.

This is my first attempt at the cyborg's shield. A long way to go but thought I'd run a test render to see how it looks from the main cameras. 

I'll be doing work on the snow/dust layer for the main destruction then onto the shield and energy weapon effects. 

Here is my cyborg showing my current materials done in Substance Painter

I'm about six weeks late to the party. Only recently discovered this competition and I'd love to have a go and see what I can create. 

I've spent a few hours over the past couple of days working on the RBD sim for the fracture. I did a few constraint iterations with TOPS and I like the below sim.  I used glue and soft constraints.

I've spent a few hours working on the texture for the monster, cyborg and the ice and mountains. 

Below are a few test renders from Redshift.

I haven't decided whether to go with ice, fire or rock. I'll work more on the RBD sim, debris, dust and then onto the force fields and energy beam. Never done force fields or energy beams so will be a lot of fun. 

Below is my TOPS video test of some RBD settings