*** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Yes, as with an earlier sketch I made, there are controls for the front arms and hind legs. But simple pedals for the front legs (I remember someone mentioning that those were the least dexterous). <-- please correct me if I'm mistaken.

I'm pretty sure most of you are familiar with the Borg set, the pseudo alien cyborg species from Star Trek. I imagined the Aera would opt for something similar to that design.

Please let me know what you think, I will try to get as much modeled of the generic Aera cockpit as I can this weekend so you can look and give me some feedback.
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

I'm not familiar with the borgs ( nor the borgias ) , but if they look like this :
Image
I think that the final result will be impressive .
Don't forget to make pockets ( yeah again a brilliant idea Jacks ) also , that could serve in a MMO RPG configuration .
:wink:

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

I got busy this weekend, but did manage to make this much of a generic cockpit (more details needed).

I came across one question that I wanted feedback on, I'm using very sharp edges, as opposed to rounded edges (very little use of subsurface modifier in Blender).

Please let me know what you think about that and other general comments about things that you would like to see modified.
ss01.jpg
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

:shock:

Once again , this is a beautiful job !
I like the two designs very much .
( black and white i mean )
bravo !

We could soon make a sitcom with such well designed rooms :
A situation comedy, often shortened to the portmanteau sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, with often humorous dialogue. It entails people sitting down somewhere and having a laugh.
I just watched two machinimas yesterday , plenty of british humor , based on Eve Online .
When you will be tired by your work , just watch them , and let the magic happens :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehN1eS6HSro

This kind of cinematics applied with the Jack's background universe would be fantastic .
:wink:

Edit : There is a place for cinematics on base too , by the use of video room :
( even in python guys :wink: -> http://spacetechs.free.fr/VEGASTRIKEDEV ... _room.html )
"""----------------------------------------------------------------"""
1816 """ """
1817 """ GUIMovieRoom - implements a cutscene movie as a room with just """
1818 """ the movie playing, it will transition to another room """
1819 """ when the movie ends, or a "skip" key is pressed, or """
1820 """ the mouse clicked anywhere on the screen """
1821 """ """
1822 """----------------------------------------------------------------"""
So it could be possible to hook a video to a link in a base .
Example : You click to shipyard , a fullscreen video shows you the shipyard .
Also for the bar , traders etc ...
Hey , imagine when you dock to a base , you dock to the videoroom first :
you'll see a docking cinematics first , then you're in the base .
Same for undock .

Even if you can't do all the universe in cinematics , a good story-driven short cinematics
production would give a new dimension to the game . And sure people like me would explore the universe just to find the new cinematic ( in the solo campaign mode only perhaps ? ) .
Last edited by ezee on Wed Apr 09, 2014 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Thanks, I will work on the cockpit this week, please let me know what you like to see or not see in it.

Regrading the in the video for docking and undocking, I always imagined we should have one, but how would the starship be displayed? because if it were an external view, we would have to have a flight path for the starship model.
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by klauss »

Regarding hard edges, while they're not forbidden, remember the Aera's tendency to make things look as if cut form a single block of material (if it's still the guideline related to Aeran shipbuilding).
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Regarding "cut from a single block" I might have overlooked that.

I did section-off parts of the interior, I will try to make the frame and interior walls look more continuous.

If I made no divisions, such as trims, it (from a modeller's point of view) it would be too simple... it would look stream-lined.

I'll continue to try to work on the cockpit, I'm working on the individual controls now.

Controls for fore arms and hind legs, displays on the sides for the lateral eyes and a rather open frontal view with a super-imposed vector display...
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

cool !
:wink:

GreenDreamer and I are stuck with the script for convert the .png content of a folder to .dds .
Looks like the original script works on windows but not on linux .
So our pngtodds.py script is in :?: state
Still working on that.
Edit : :idea: Woohooo ! I fixed the win32 side .
( 120 files converted in less than 1 minute )
:wink:

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

That' s great that we have a converter now for all those png frames. :)

But are we still going to use Theora videos?

I'm still working on the cockpit, but I did get an Aera Ascendancy logo worked out, its needed for certain cockpit textures, I was wondering what you think of the design:
aera_logo_rendered.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7yoqizgxknsu ... logo.blend
aera_military_logo.png
I made it a triangle-shape because Aera's like the number 3 (such as 3 digits on their limbs) and the glowing orb in the centre represents their "drive" (or Ascendency). The triangle is also edge-sharp, and I tried to make it look as if it were cut from one piece at the same time.

Edit: Updated blend:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xuke6iaqx2edx ... -1.1.blend
aera_scendency_logo_rendered.jpg
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Last edited by DarkVixen on Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by loki1950 »

Like it 8) as you mention it simple and clean.

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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

I like the first too !
Could be nice also as target reticule , with the number of cross bars indicating the missile
range , match velocity etc ...
good job !

For the video support , ask to Klauss ?
:wink:

Edit :
:idea: With Pyglet i learned a technique called " Atlas " that could improve 2D animations in vega strike , and solve the problem to have hundreds of frames in folders :
Texture atlas [1][2] is a technique to group smaller textures into a larger texture. This decreases the number of state switches [3] a renderer needs to do and therefore often increases performance. Texture atlases have been used for a long time in the video game industry for sprite animations. When using texture atlases, the uv-coordinates of the models have to be changed so the original 0..1 map to the textures tile in the atlas. Grouping of textures can be done manually by texture artists or with tools. The texture coordinate system can be changed to map the new texture in a tool, or in the shader at run-time.
src : http://www.gamerendering.com/2009/12/08/texture-atlas/

I think i could create a big texture instead of hundreds , but that mean change the way
VS use the textures for animation . If i have time , i will try that too .

So my pngtodds will turn in pngtoAtlas .

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by jackS »

DarkVixen wrote:That' s great that we have a converter now for all those png frames. :)

But are we still going to use Theora videos?

I'm still working on the cockpit, but I did get an Aera Ascendancy logo worked out, its needed for certain cockpit textures, I was wondering what you think of the design:
aera_logo_rendered.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d7yoqizgxknsu ... logo.blend
aera_military_logo.png
I made it a triangle-shape because Aera's like the number 3 (such as 3 digits on their limbs) and the glowing orb in the centre represents their "drive" (or Ascendency). The triangle is also edge-sharp, and I tried to make it look as if it were cut from one piece at the same time.
Neato!
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Generic Aera cockpit set work in progress.

I have most of the instruments worked out and modeled.

The only remaining thing I need to add is the HUD, plasglass windows (do the Aera use Confed stuff?), and a few other minor details.

Please let me know what you like or dislike, and anything you'd like me to change.

Keep in mind this is a "generic cockpit" that will be used as a set for the Aera Comm animations, it should look ambiguous as to what type of ship this is for. Hopefully it will ambiguous enough to even be used as a capship cockpit (with strategic camera placements).
ss01.jpg
ss02.jpg
ss03.jpg
ss04.jpg
ss05.jpg
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

WOOOHOOOOOOOO !!
:shock: :shock: :shock:

:idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea:

Excellentissimo !
I want to be an aera now .
:wink:

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by loki1950 »

Looking good like the detail and the displays.It looks comfortable for an Aeran pilot what we humans would call ergonomically correct 8)

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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Ok, the cockpit set is about done, I'm going to take a break for a day or so and then begin the animations using this new Aera Generic Starship Cockpit set.

Let me know if there are any last minute changes that you want me to make. I do realize it does look a smaller fighter cockpit as opposed to a capship but I'm confident good camera angles can work around that.
ss01.jpg
ss02.jpg
ss03.jpg
ss04.jpg
ss06.jpg
Thanks to ezee for getting me back into Blender. :)

Edit: Here is the .blend

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e2vd3uez4j11w ... -1.6.blend
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

Nice my friend !
You make me dream a lot , that is fantastic .
thank you for the blend , i will try to use it .

Try to make a vegastrike compliant video , and i'll find a way to load it in vs .
:wink:

edit : finally , you are very good at the ship design too .
Will you make a base one of these days ?

Ah , and i think we could try to make your cockpit a 3d cockpit for aera's ships .
...
other than that, the cockpit is just a plain xmesh... modify the bomber_cockpit stuff so that you can just see your new mesh in action... cockpits can only have a single xmesh" http://wiki.vega-strike.org/HowTo:Creat ... in_Wings3d
http://forums.vega-strike.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13303
HUD:
http://wiki.vega-strike.org/HowTo:Edit_HUDs
Do you have already tested the areus ? It is very cool , my favorite .
If we could implement your HUD system and your cockpit...

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Thanks, couldn't have done it without your help, ezee! :)

I haven't made a complete starship before, so far I've done "interior design". ;D

The cockpit could be used for the game too, it's got a few objects you'll probably want to delete, like excess controls and etc. I didn't use Subsurface modifier because of how Aera designs are, so it should be low-poly enough for game.

I forgot to pack the textures I think, I'll do that today and post a new .blend shortly.

Note that you need to turn off Properties->World->Incidental Lighting to speed up rendering otherwise it's super-slow.
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

Okay , i will try that .
And i'm very interested by porting the cockpit in the game .
I'm on the way of being able to display Blender collada exports in a 3d web environment ,
interactive .

I noticed that you plan to create the Aera environment , and that would include stations
i guess .
We could try to make an interactive tour in the Aera world , through a web interface ,
in the MMo we are trying to make with vega strike , Eye~R and i .

I will proceed myself to preliminary tests ( loading a room , like a bar ) , and if they are
positive we could work in that new project together ?
More details here :
http://forums.vega-strike.org/viewtopic ... 52#p137252

i look after your blend with packed textures .
:wink:

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Here is the new .blend with the packed textures.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iwjtlajfvjbwf ... -1.7.blend

Renderings of the Aera Generic Starship Cockpit with in-atmospheric flight lighting and background.
ss02.jpg
ss03.jpg
I'll try to help out with the cockpit as much as I can, but the MMO (multiplayer?) and web design is something I don't have experience in. I program (GTK, OpenGL, Python, ...) but not network programming.
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

wow ...
Your results are impressive .
BEAUTIFUL !!
:shock:

About the collaboration for the MMo , i was talking about your artist's skills !
I just succeeded on using the relaysat mesh from vegastrike into webgl .
I will give you a link soon to a web page that show it ( currently i'm searching to render the texture ) .

An application could be to load your cockpit , and moove on it on real time in a web page .
Just like in a real game ...
All you got to do is stay a very cool artist , and i will play the crazy engineer ...
Well , i must finish that first test , and i'll PM you later to explain my idea better .
I'm so exited ! -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6A6pMO_WKM
:lol:

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

Ah I see, yes I'll try to add what I can. :)

Yes, I also need to work on the Aera base models, but that is further down the road. My next step is to work on the Aera comm animations using the new cockpit model that we have now.
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by DarkVixen »

"You may pass, but keep flying." Version 2.2
frame0060.png
Added the Aera Generic Starship Cockpit set model to the animation.

Please let me know if you like the lighting and overall setup, I'll start working on the other Aera comm animations tomorrow.

PNG image sequence:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cizns3cldw9ih ... ng-2.2.zip

Theora video:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gbb82sp9y4fz8 ... ng-2.2.ogg

Blender model:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/moatvlzy40tck ... -2.2.blend
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

Beautiful !
I see one issue with the left shoulder/arm , but is minor because will be displayed in a
smaller window .

I like a lot the effects of the light and shadow .
So let me see if my pyglet script can do the conversion .
:wink:

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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Re: *** NEW AERAN COM ANIMATION RELEASED ! ****

Post by ezee »

:!: My script is working fine , the 120 frames are processed and the .ani is created
But in Vegastrike , i have only a blank picture .
I will further investigate , but the main reason could be that you forgot to set "transparent background " in your blender render settings .

Can you verify that point please ?
( there must be an alpha channel in the frames , check if rgba is enabled for example ,
or try to use the same settings than the previous time )
:?:

Edit : i have downloaded the blend , and the setup seem correct .
I don't know what's going wrong .
I will check that later , i want to try your cockpit under webgl now .
And also try to make it available as 3D cockpit in vs .
Good job !

Code: Select all

 if (!track.HasWeapons())
            {
                // So what are you going to threaten me with? Exhaustion gas?
                return ThreatLevel::None;
            }
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