aghourab Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) Hello All, Just thought I'd post a VEX based Lightning HDA (OTL) I made for one of my course modules. I'm still working on adding some extra functionality to it in my spare time (e.g. point cloud to point cloud lightning, shadow promotion). The lightning is basically a set of curves with a custom fBm noise applied to it. Branches are dynamically created/destroyed then reallocated in a sop solver. Targeting is point cloud based. You feed it some painted geometry, the lightning curve will then snap to the closest point with a charge (e.g. grey - white), deplete the color at every frame, then snap to the next nearest point with a charge. There's a fair few controls in their that allows you to control the look/definition/rendering of the lightning. So have a play. Also included are three example scenes, and a manual if you don't know what parameter does what:)I'll be posting a little video tutorial on it next week for fun... Enjoy, and feedback, suggested functionality appreciated! Cheers Ahmad Sample Video -> http://vimeo.com/25426370 (Scene Geometry provided by Ravi Acharya) AG_Lightning.zip Edited June 21, 2011 by aghourab 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annon Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Wicked man, well done. I'll take a look at the scene properly tomorrow. I have an old scene we used on a recent film that was based of LSystems and at one point was midi triggered. I've been wondering if it could be simplified with the SOP solver... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopbin9 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 wow, I could have really used this a few months ago. Way better then what I came up with. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aghourab Posted June 22, 2011 Author Share Posted June 22, 2011 (edited) Thanks gies:) ChristianW -> If were thinking of the same film, and the same Midi triggered shot, then that is pretty much the same scene that inspired me. I tried to give the lightning OTL the functionality that would make replicating that shot possible (or so I hope). Edited June 22, 2011 by aghourab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Sorcerer's Apprentice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annon Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 The only crit I'd say is I don't think the bolts are expanding out as they connect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aghourab Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) The only crit I'd say is I don't think the bolts are expanding out as they connect. Good point actually. Data exists detailing the life/lifespan of each branch, so I guess I could actually add that. Thanks There was also one more feature I never got round to, rigging the main lightning curve (Like Maya's default Lightning), just for an added extra bit of control. Edited June 23, 2011 by aghourab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Ferestad Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 This is amazing. I will have to spend some time digging through it to figure out how it all works. Great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aghourab Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 This is amazing. I will have to spend some time digging through it to figure out how it all works. Great job. Thanks Adam! It's not really all that complex when you break it down (esp not the targeting bit). As mentioned previously, I'll have a (or maybe 2) video 'tutorials' detailing its use and explaining the way the underlying system works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Ferestad Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Thanks Adam! It's not really all that complex when you break it down (esp not the targeting bit). As mentioned previously, I'll have a (or maybe 2) video 'tutorials' detailing its use and explaining the way the underlying system works. Do you have any links to those? I haven't gotten into point cloud work and i would love to get some more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aghourab Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 Do you have any links to those? I haven't gotten into point cloud work and i would love to get some more information. Sorry, what I meant to say was I'll have them uploaded this week. But in the mean time if you make the lightning HDA editable, dive into PC_TARGET_GEN, you'll find sticky notes that explain how the point cloud targetting works. Dive into initial_state, process_geo and post_process in that order (sop solver template like those posted by pclaes), you'll find the VEX code commented, and some more sticky notes to explain what's happenning! If you have any questions, please let me know:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Ferestad Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Ok, thanks. I am looking forward to learning how to do this stuff. My understanding of most of this stuff is still so novice. I am learning fast though. I have found that writing my own tutorials seems to help cement things in my head. I will probably figure out something cool once I get these point clouds down and write one for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aghourab Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 (edited) Ok, thanks. I am looking forward to learning how to do this stuff. My understanding of most of this stuff is still so novice. I am learning fast though. I have found that writing my own tutorials seems to help cement things in my head. I will probably figure out something cool once I get these point clouds down and write one for them. I did a presentation on VEX / SOP solvers / Point clouds. I've attached the draft speech (please, for the love of god, don't take anything on that for fact without double checking, as it was fairly early/messy/innacurate draft). If you skip to the end bit "A Trivial Example", have a gander, its a fairly simple example of VEX + sop solver + point clouds. Also included are the presentation file (should be accurate), and the trivial example hipnc/OTL. PC_SS_VEX.zip Edited June 26, 2011 by aghourab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pclaes Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Hey Ahmad, thanks for sharing your tool with the community and great work! I actually stepped back a bit from that initial_state/process/post_process setup as there is a bit of overhead involved because it cooks the initial state on the first frame. It is nice to have it all packaged up in one place (and it makes sense to do it that way as it makes it easier to learn/understand --similar to some of Maya's way of thinking), but you are better off doing your initial_state and post_process in sops as it does not need to recook. You can't tell the difference in small scenes as the initial state tends to cook quickly, but when you are starting to deal with processing massive amounts of geometry it can take a while. Good luck with you master project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smaugthewyrm Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 this asset is just amazing! aside from the asset build being very intuitive, the output is beautiful. i would love to see this created from scratch. this would be a wonderful masterclass lesson. thanks so much for the share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikoki Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 hey all, hate to drag up and old thread but has anyone tried opening this in 12.5? for some reason it crashes on my system after scrubing just a couple of frames or adjusting any parameters. any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated even just to know if someone else encounters the same issue. thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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