Animated propeller test

[Skyraider3D]

Here's a little test animation I made some time ago. Before I explain how it's done, I'd like to have your opinions please :)
The main idea behind this test is to render a convincing prop for animations that does not require any motion blur and renders really fast. This test anim was rendered in about one minute.
Rather than judging it on its own, try to imagine it on a fully animated aircraft flying through a realistic scene - i.e. where the prop is just a small part of the whole thing. Would it convince?

http://skyraider3d.military-meshes.com/animations/volume_prop_test_01.mov



PS. The prop is for the Mustang and will replace the props in this work-in-progress animation (http://skyraider3d.military-meshes.com/animations/mustang_anim01_wip01.mov). Possibly I will combine them, making the current prop less visible, to still give the impression of individual prop blades.

[Evan]

IMO I think it's quite realistic, even at this size. Only thing that doesn't look right to me is the specular high light running across the blades...seems too smooth to me. That's nit picking though...once in a environment with other aircraft I don't think it would even be noticable.

Looks great!

[Spinner]

In flight sims a prop disc is the current solution to balance the various restrictions while still getting close to a believable prop.
I like both your solutions and tend to agree that the first with an added blade pulse would be great in your anim. I love the light reflection and feel that handled well that could add a lot to the anim as it is now.

I like the anim. It felt like IL-2 with full Track IR support. I kept on wanting to check 6 and my panel! lol. 'Scan or die' - close rocks, far rocks, inside formation, outside formation, panel. Head on a swivel, now where's my snoopy scarve?

[mseraser]

I thought the hightlight chould be more bright & more "scatter" like this:

http://www.konnek-t.com/Photo/Images/inflight/IMG_6677s.JPG

[Skyraider3D]

Thanks guys.
Maseraser, that's possibly the strangest highlight I've seen :) I know it's real...

[Big Red 11]

Holy crap, that mustang animation is simply amazing.

The prop is good, but I don't think that there should be a dark inside loop (the one that connects to the hub). I think there should be a much more transparent loop there, since the main propeller blades are much wider than those sections. Now if you could create the illusion of the blades slowly turning backwards like you see sometimes in real life...

[dangreve]

<waiting to see how ya did it....

and still jealous of the p51 drawings...lol

[jiverson]

That looks pretty convincing. It's a tough thing to make look "right". I guess it depends on the look you're going for, they always look different to me in real-life vs video or film. It seemes to have a good real-life look. Maybe a little sharper on the highlight.

[Skyraider3D]

Thanks very much guys :)


OK, how I did it... funnily enough I used a very similar technique to this:
http://home.wanadoo.nl/r.j.o/skyraider/tut_cloud.htm

Basically I created two (one for the thicker inner part - just for the Mustang, so it looks right side-on), squashed sphere gizmos and applied Combustion to them, so they basically become grey clouds. By turning regularity to 1 and setting the scale to be very big (to get a solid colour) you get a semi transparent 3D disc that gets denser when looking at it from the side. Of course with this technique you can't replicate a precise sideview profile of the propeller blade you're making, but for an animation this hardly matters.

The yellow outline is a simple flat yellow disc with a big hole in the middle.

The specular highlight is a piece of fully transparent geometry, with a 3D procedural noise for the strong. specular highlight, which was modified to look "zig-zaggy".

The whole assembly is then rotating at a rather fast pace (70-odd degrees per frame) and I've put a bit of noise on the density of the discs to create more of a feeling its alive. Its a bit too strong here and there at the moment, but you get the idea I hope :)

As mentioned earlier, the main benefit is a lifelike prop (seen with naked eye) that renders really quick, as it does not require any motion blur. And unlike faked alpha mapped props, it looks "full" and 3D from side-on.

[LegalAssassin]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see the end result!

[coffeebot]

I have a question about this. Since you are using Combustion for this. If I tried this in LightWave, what would be the same kind of setting? I'm not really sure what Combustion is.

[Skyraider3D]

Yes, I'm using Combustion (Fire Effect) for it, with a huge Size setting. So basically it fills up the squashed Gizmo with a semi-transparent grey-black colour. I haven't a clue what Lightwave uses for this. Maybe Wiek knows?