The film's setting has been through a numerous amount of different ideas, ranging from deserts to forests, but in the end I decided to settle on a snow-covered setting, based within a forrest. This was chosen because it allowed a good display of particle effects to create the snow, as well as to shorten the camera render distance needed to be activated, as a white-grey fog can be used to cut off far-away sections of the forrest to keep the render load as low as it can be. An effect that I will also attempt to use is an ice effect, to give the impression of cold.
This will be done through various methods, such as icicles, frozen lakes and freezing parts of the main protagonist's body. As real generated physics wil be used throughout the film to make it appear more real, the ice sections will use a setting called an Ice Physic Material Boundary, which allows it to have the physic properties of ice, allowing it to become more slippery to generate a better effect of realism. With this effect applied the animation can be started on, as the majority of the construction of the scene will be complete.
The scene will be set in a small icy valley, with a mainly grassy base and small snowy patches spread around, along with constant snowflakes falling from a particle generator about 30-40 meters in the air (to keep extra particles from being rendered). A grey-white fog will be applied in order to create a better atmosphere and reduce computer stress. The use of this fog will also help to conceal objects that are further away from the action, or that will be used in later scenes but do not want to be on camera yet.
The first scene will take place on a cliff overlooking a valley, which will be used for the opening shot and to allow the correct lighting. This will also be close to the location of the final scene, as a similar lighting effect will be used but at sunset as apposed to the dawn. Using this lighting effect will help to illuminate the places that require it, while baking the entire scene in a light that suitably fits the scene. throughout the short film, the time of day will change as though time is actually passing. this helps add to the story, as the viewer can decode how far through the short film they are based on the lighting, and will add a much nicer orange-pink colour to the final fight at the end, giving the impression that it is the end if they don't win.
Throughout the film, I aim to slowly increase the amount of snow in each scene as well, as though it is realistically setting. This will be done through texturing the areas for each scene (as all of the terrain has to be individually modeled and textures have to be painted no for it to not be its default white) with the appropriate amount of snow. For instance, the first scene will have hardly any snow present, but will have an easily noticeable amount of snow falling, while the end scene will be almost all snow covered with very little to no snow falling.
I aim to create different textures for the protagonists in each scene with an increasing amount of snow on them, however this may not be feasible due to the time this would take (roughly 40 extra textures, on top of the current 5). With this effect in mind, I would like to research if it were someway possible to replicate the effect within my editor, as the editor has an effect called a Projector, which is often used for shadows with a low rendering power. These can be programmed with any texture however, and can project the texture at any angle and position needed, so they may be an alternative.
The use of snow within the scene has other uses besides atmosphere though. Using snow allows for logic reasoning as to why certain parts of the film are as they are, for example why the battery that the group finds is stood on end and hasn't fallen over. In this example, the battery will have snow surrounding it's base with very little of it's bottom side showing, if any. Another example of snow effecting the film in a logical way is that wheel tracks do not have to carry over through scenes, or sometimes even shots. for example, in the first shot there is now snow on the ground and the mud would be frozen, and therefore would not allow for much of the wheel's tracks to show. However, later on in the film, there is snow, which would display the tracks, but as it is still snowing they would be covered fairly quickly. In the final scene, the tracks would stay, as it will hardly be snowing and the ground will be covered with snow.
Some of the sets need to be designed with certain effects in mind. for example, when the mining laser is introduced and used for the first time on the rock wall, it has to make a hole in it for the protagonists to enter through. This will be tricky, as the terrain is usually static and cannot be changed while the program is running (e.g. when the animation is playing). However, my current way around this is to place a temporary destructible rock (one that is intentionally made in pieces, and then wrapped with a rock texture that removes the seems in it) over the entrance, which is a pre-made hole in the rock-wall. This, along with the use of a dust particle effect and smaller particle rocks that would fall down for a little while after the initial rock's destruction, should give a convincing effect of the rock being destroyed, and were this coupled with a glowing yellow/orange texture around the edges of where the rock was, should produce a fairly realistic effect. I can combine this with a shaky cam in order to enhance the desired effect.
Another of the limitations of the default method of creating terrain is that it only allows the terrain to be created going upwards, with overhangs, caves and cliffs being impossible to make. Therefore, I will have to separately code an editor extension that will allow such formations to be made. This will be a large amount of extra work, and will require likely quite a lot of time, so I will try to find alternative methods before creating one from scratch, but I will have to use one either way, as a large amount of the scenes rely on these different formations to create the right lighting and place shadows in the correct places.
However, these will often be combined with other lighting sources, such as the small crystals in the cavern that the group break into with the mining laser. These crystals will be of a variety of colours, and will each emit the appropriate light colour to the crystal. they wil also be spread out through the small cavern, so that the light colours do not mix too much, and the centre of the cavern will be lit from a gap in the roof, allowing sunlight to come through. These crystals will hopefully each project shadows, giving a realistic and unique lighting effect. However, due to limited rendering power, the lights in a scene with real time shadows are going to have to be limited to around 6-7 (not including sun-style light sources) in order to keep it running at above 30 frames per second.
Keeping the frame rate above 30 is important as that is what I aim to record and render the short film as. However, if it is possible without causing too much stress on the computer I would like to record at 60 frames to create a smoother and better quality product. Additionally, it will be recorded in 720p quality, giving it HD quality, something else that must be considered when creating the scene (as the capture program will cause a large amount of additional stress on the computer).
Having a natural looking lighting throughout the film is am important aspect of designing the scene, but what should also be considered is that the program has a bilt in feature that allows a global reflection box (6 textures arranged in a cube formation which is often used to give the impression of sky, similar to a skybox but not seen directly) to be applied to all objects within the scene. This gives a consistent colouring to all objects, including terrain, making the scene look more as though it is intended to fit together and giving everything a similar glow as though reflecting the sky. Using this, I can use one of my high definition space-boxes (similar to a skybox, but covers all faces unlike a skybox which doesn't cover the floor) in order to give the space a realistic effect.
For the earth, I will aim to use a high definition sphere and a large atlas for the texture, as this will give it a good effect. I will them apply a outer halo, which will give the impression of an atmosphere, and make the material a specular, making it glisten with colour (which i will make a light blue to reinforce the atmosphere effect). The camera's pixel bloom effect, which brightens lightly-coloured pixels to the point of looking as though they have a glow around them (an effect that is very helpful for producing lifelike lighting effects) will illuminate the atmosphere effect and make it appear lifelike. Choosing a good space-box colour, such as a cyan or light blue, will give a good effect on the reflection of the earth.
In the final scene of the film, lava will be present and will be taking a vital role in the plot. For this, I will have to create a custom shader in order to make the lava flow and move in a realistic way, and will make a custom boosted version of the pixel bloom to give off a much brighter effect, which will make a more convincing heat effect. The shader should also morph the texture around any colliding objects or meshes to give it a better flowing texture and effect. This will be important for the conclusion of the final battle, where the antagonist is thrown into the lava, as I would prefer the lava actively move around him as he sinks into it.
The lava will also be one of the main lighting sources for the scene, making it an important part of the final scene in terms of design and setting. As it is a crucial part of the plot, It will have to be shown onscreen a couple of times in order to emphasise its importance, so it shouldn't have to be made too bright or it would obstruct the scene. In order to get around this, I will make the rock around the lava and that the scene mostly takes place on a darker colour to contrast against the colourful red/orange/yellow of the lava.
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