 | | | Here comes the sun! | Here comes the sun! 2004-10-18 - By Matt Geier
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Did I mention applying a bumb map to the earth :)
Dave Angelini <dpangelini@(protected)> wrote:
MessageTony, Allan, Lee,
Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions. The neat thing about the
animation is that it only is comprised of two planes and an omni light.
I
have created realistic looking planets out of spheres (one for the base
planet, one for the clouds and one for the atmosphere) but the effect
seems
to fall apart should I wish to make a sunrise behind the planet (you
just
don't get a realistic looking crescent/terminator...or at least what
we've
been trained to think is correct from all the sci-fi movies ;-). The
shadows on the sphere are always too sharp whereas the actual terminator
on
a real earth image is gradually feathered from full light to dark.
So I hit upon the idea of using two square planes rather than
spheres....one
plane holds the image of the actual earth as seen from space. This image
is
in direct sunlight and contains no terminator across its face. The other
plane is placed above the plane that holds the earth image and contains
a
matte derived from the earth image. This matte has been blured and made
semi-transparente (fully transparent near the planets edge and gradually
getting more obscure towards the center of the planet). As I used the
original planet image for this matte, it creates the perfect terminator
across the earth plane. The matte has also been colored a dark blue. As
the omni light is animated to move from behind the planet plane, the
shadow
plane is animated to slide in the opposite direction to slowly reveal
the
planet and create the crescent in the process.
Its a cheat...but it works.
Thanks,
Dave Angelini
-- -- Original Message -- --
From: Lee Evans
To: truespace@(protected)
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 9:58 PM
Subject: Re: [TSML] Here comes the sun!
Looks great Dave. How'd you make the planet?
Lee Evans
-- -- Original Message -- --
From: Dave Angelini
To: truespace@(protected)
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 2:59 PM
Subject: [TSML] Here comes the sun!
A quick "proof of concept"
http://home.comcast.net/~dianeangelini/sr2.avi
Always wanted to try this, but I could never figure out how to make it
look
realistic. Still needs some tweaking in terms of the animation timing,
but
as a proof of concept, I think I figured it out.
Thanks,
-Dave Angelini
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<DIV>Did I mention applying a bumb map to the earth :)<BR><BR><B><I>Dave
Angelini <dpangelini@(protected)></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER
-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">MessageTony, Allan, Lee,<BR><BR>Thanks for the
encouragement and suggestions. The neat thing about the<BR>animation is that it
only is comprised of two planes and an omni light. I<BR>have created realistic
looking planets out of spheres (one for the base<BR>planet, one for the clouds
and one for the atmosphere) but the effect seems<BR>to fall apart should I wish
to make a sunrise behind the planet (you just<BR>don't get a realistic looking
crescent/terminator...or at least what we've<BR>been trained to think is
correct from all the sci-fi movies ;-). The<BR>shadows on the sphere are always
too sharp whereas the actual terminator on<BR>a real earth image is gradually
feathered from full light to dark.<BR><BR>So I hit upon the idea of using two
square planes rather than spheres....one<BR>plane holds the image of the actual
earth as seen from space. This image is<BR>in direct sunlight
and contains no terminator across its face. The other<BR>plane is placed above
the plane that holds the earth image and contains a<BR>matte derived from the
earth image. This matte has been blured and made<BR>semi-transparente (fully
transparent near the planets edge and gradually<BR>getting more obscure towards
the center of the planet). As I used the<BR>original planet image for this
matte, it creates the perfect terminator<BR>across the earth plane. The matte
has also been colored a dark blue. As<BR>the omni light is animated to move
from behind the planet plane, the shadow<BR>plane is animated to slide in the
opposite direction to slowly reveal the<BR>planet and create the crescent in
the process.<BR><BR>Its a cheat...but it works.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Dave Angelini
<BR><BR><BR>-- -- Original Message -- --<BR>From: Lee Evans<BR>To: truespace
@(protected)<BR>Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 9:58 PM<BR>Subject: Re: [TSML]
Here comes the sun!<BR><BR><BR>Looks great Dave. How'd you make
the planet?<BR><BR>Lee Evans<BR>-- -- Original Message -- --<BR>From: Dave
Angelini<BR>To: truespace@(protected)<BR>Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 2:59
PM<BR>Subject: [TSML] Here comes the sun!<BR><BR><BR>A quick "proof of concept"
<BR><BR>http://home.comcast.net/~dianeangelini/sr2.avi<BR><BR>Always wanted to
try this, but I could never figure out how to make it look<BR>realistic. Still
needs some tweaking in terms of the animation timing, but<BR>as a proof of
concept, I think I figured it out.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR><BR>-Dave Angelini<BR><
/BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><p>__ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ __<br>Do
You Yahoo!?<br>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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