"Scott's Brain" » WIP

Picture of the day

Scott Gammans — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:12:57 +0000

Don’t get the Enterprise angry. You wouldn’t like her when she’s angry.

Careful Sulu, you might scorch the paint if you leave that thing on too long

This is an actual frame grab from Decker’s near-suicidal attack on the doomsday machine. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I’m nearing the end of Act II… it just means that I skipped ahead several scenes and have been working on this particular sequence since the beginning of the month. The Enterprise attack on the planet killer is one of the “money shots” in “The Doomsday Machine”, so I’ve been lavishing a LOT of attention on it. Not to give away everything, but one of the things I’ve been spending a lot of time on is extending the soundtrack during this sequence to make the phaser barrage last a little longer. And ooohhhh, it’s a barn burner. I think when you see the finished product you’ll agree it was worth the wait. (Well, I hope you will!)

*yawn* Off to bed… see you soon!

Phaser Test – Stardate 2010.0217

Scott Gammans — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:08:40 +0000

Here’s an animatic test of the phaser fire effect I whipped up for Decker’s attack on the planet killer.

And you thought I wasn’t working on this project. Tsk tsk tsk.

Decker's Revenge

Hangar deck and shuttlecraft – part 2

Scott Gammans — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:42:17 +0000

Another angle on the Jefferies (click to embiggen).

I figured out the problems I was having with radiosity—no more splotches. Still no major texturing changes here; just some noodling with saturation and contrast levels. From this angle I can also see where I need to add more visual interest to the hangar deck model, either with texturing, physical details or both. The CGI model is a pretty faithful recreation of the physical hangar deck model built in 1966-67 for the original series episode “The Galileo Seven”, but that means it’s also kinda bland and plastic-looking.

Hangar deck and shuttlecraft

Scott Gammans — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:38:55 +0000

I’ve been a little motivationally-challenged for a few days now, so I’m taking a little break to work on something that’s going to have to be tackled anyway when I get to act III. Here’s an amuse bouche for you.

Unmodified hangar and shuttle models from Summer 2007

I haven’t touched the Jefferies or the hangar deck models since I finished them way back in the Summer of 2007, and they still need texture and lighting tweaks (especially the lighting—there are some bad radiosity artifacts right now). This is a raw image with no modifications to the models or the 2007 lighting setup, so consider this a starting point.

Part 3 of 8 Test is now online!

Scott Gammans — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:38:51 +0000

Part 3 of 8 is now online–sort of. Let me explain, after the jump.

What you’re viewing in this clip is an assembly of visual effects footage in various states of completion. The opener to Act II with the Enterprise sailing through the debris field is complete but for a planned re-rendering of the planet killer–I tweaked the model’s textures after I released test footage last month, and now it doesn’t match the appearance of the Doomsday Machine in the following scene. Speaking of which… the next sequence where the planet killer cuts loose on the Enterprise is semi-complete; there are about 20,000 more asteroids and the glowy blue dust cloud that still need to be added, and I may re-render the planet killer itself to give a better angle on the antiproton beam effect (right now, it’s kind of hard to see all four of the beams that lance together into one unified antiproton beam).

The rest of the visual effects from that point forward are actually old shots from my March 2008 attempt to complete this episode. I haven’t shown this footage to hardly anyone until today, so I hope it’s of interest for–if nothing else–comparison purposes with the visual effects that will eventually replace them in 2010.

I’ll be online sporadically until after the new year, but I welcome your comments in the meantime–I promise I’ll try to respond as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Blessed Kwanza, Festive Festivus and Happy New Year, everyone!

The Enterprise is about to have a very bad day

Scott Gammans — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:17:02 +0000

Here’s a little work in progress image from Act II. Don’t worry; the lens flares will be toned down for the final animation.

The Enterprise is about to have a very bad day

Act II Scene 1 WIP

Scott Gammans — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:57:54 +0000

OK, so you’ve probably noticed that August 31st came and went with no Act II. Unfortunately, a combination of real life and a dissatisfaction with the appearance of the planet killer have indefinitely delayed Act II until sometime in October. This will of course put the whole project deadline in jeopardy, but hey, a guy has to earn a living and sleep now and then!

Run away! Run away!

To tide you over in the meantime, I’m going to do something I don’t normally do and share one of my “rejects” with you. Follow the link below to watch the opening scene from Act II when the Enterprise is fleeing the planet killer:

Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine – Act 2 Scene 1 WIP (Compressed zipfile containing Windows Media Video, 7,323,452 bytes)

Decompress the zip file and watch the movie on your local workstation–easy peasy!

There are some things I like about this scene (mostly, the POV jump—I was going for a 1960′s-style camera pullback here and I think that it works pretty good, but I’m all ears for your comments!), and a laundry list of things that I don’t (the too-procedural appearance of the planet killer, a goof with compositing the “fire” effects of the PK, the motion of the Enterprise as she swoops through the debris field, the asteroid that looks like a giant wadded ball of bubblegum, etc., etc.) Better luck next time!