The Butterfly Effect WIP

[Scazzino]

This is my WIP thread where I'll be designing the butterfly effect character for The Autiton Archives: Fault Effect.

I've already designed the main Autiton unit 0090, the generic Autiton units and the Instance Generator Lattice. This butterfly effect character is the last character for the initial webisode.

This butterfly character will be based upon the Butterfly Curve which was discovered by Temple H. Fay and is described by a pair of parametric equations seen here in Apple's Grapher application. (with some Photoshop effects tossed in as I start to explore some glowing energy effects for the character)



Hang on, here we go again...

[Silkrooster]

Thats sweet. If i could only understand half the math thats involved. So many time I regret not taking algebra in high school.

[Scazzino]

Thanks Silkrooster!

Don't worry, I can barely follow the math myself. I came across the butterfly curve formulas in Wikipedia while researching butterflies online for inspiration in creating a glowing energy butterfly like "bug". It even took me a while to get the formulas to work properly in Apple's Grapher.

Now that I have it plotted and exported as vectors I'll probably end up using the plot to create some UV maps or maybe even a tubular model that I can surface and animate.

[Silkrooster]

Hey that would be kind of cool if you could bring it into lightwave. If you have LWcad you could use profiler to create mesh tube. Or use the truss2 plugin.

edit: I was just thinking even as 2 point polys it would look quite cool.

[Scazzino]

Oh I'll definitely be bringing it into LightWave. I just meant that it probably won't be as a mathematical formula but either UV maps or tubing... No need to have to keep computing it on every frame when I can just compute it once and then bring it in...

[Scazzino]

I thought of trying to use Aurora's Attractor to calculate it, but that plugin's PC only and I'm not sure if it could even calculate this particular formula. So a UV map or model will be my most likely approach...

[Silkrooster]

Oh I'll definitely be bringing it into LightWave. I just meant that it probably won't be as a mathematical formula but either UV maps or tubing... No need to have to keep computing it on every frame when I can just compute it once and then bring it in...

Yeah thats what I figured you would do.

I thought of trying to use Aurora's Attractor to calculate it, but that plugin's PC only and I'm not sure if it could even calculate this particular formula. So a UV map or model will be my most likely approach...

Yeah I am not sure, I never tried his attractor. Not sure why either, guess I keep forgetting about it. He is one smart cookie though. I don't think I could do half of what he can. Nor the time he puts in.

[Scazzino]

I may try an effect similar to how I created the rings of saturn in this image, though I used gradients for these effects I could do the same with UV or weight maps.

[aurora]

Mike, quick note since I've got to run in a second. I started working on that script I talked to you about but alas I got slammed with more crap for this week. A LOT more then any of us expected since finals are only 2 weeks away. The short of it is I can get it to you but probably not till this next weekend.

[Scazzino]

Hi Tim,

That's much appreciated but please don't do anything that takes too long or causes any problems. I was really just inquiring if the plugin already did this formula and just needed a compile on Mac OS X's Xcode which I could try for you. I wasn't trying to give you more work to do, since I'm sure you have more than enough to do already. Take care of what you need to do and I'll see what I can do with the vector plot I have in the mean time. Then if you get to a point where you have some time and if I hit a dead end, then an LScript might be worth a shot. But please don't worry about it at all. I wasn't really expecting you to create anything custom for this that you hadn't already created.

[Scazzino]

Here's the first step (or rather second step, plot was first ;-). I created custom paths in FreeHand based on the plotted butterfly curve. This way I can adjust and control them as desired. Next I'll bring this into modo and play with a rail model and/or UV maps.

[kurv]

Wow, went over my head and I took Boolean Theory in College. LOL

Great work, cant wait to see more!

[Scazzino]

Thanks Wes!

Here's a quick initial rough test of a hypervoxel render using points from the eps paths. The points were a bit bunched up in areas which made the render a bit blotchy. At this point I'm just investigating which direction I'll take, such as hypervoxels using points or transparent planes with UV maps. Then I'll refine the FX character much more once I settle on a direction.

[Scazzino]

OK I've redistributed the points. Here's an initial hypervoxel turntable animation render test with the "Butterfly Bug" in 3D and slightly animated with morph maps.

[aurora]

Mike that looks real pretty. I'm curious about render times though. If they get a bit extreme you might want to think about using two point polys and rendering the lines. I know it could turn into a royal PIA up front but in the end it may save a lot of render time. The down side to doing that though is that you will loose some of the wider sweeping arcs you currently have that I really like.