My First Building Animation

Zero18 · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 6:54 pm Post subject: My First Building Animation

My first building animation. I know its awkward structures but I wasn't quite sure how to make it look good and plus its first time . Any tips that I can make it better? I'm doing 1x1 structures first. Confused

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Mig Eater · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:21 pm Post subject:

Needs more variation, four colours isn't really enough for a whole building.

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Zero18 · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:24 pm Post subject:

Yes, I also made another test animation.

Weird that it doenst loop continously. I uploaded on photobucket and the file is saved as gif?

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Mig Eater · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 7:30 pm Post subject:

Gifs can be made to play once or loop, the program you used to make them should have an option somewhere to change that setting.

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Lin Kuei Ominae · Seth **Joined**: 16 Aug 2006 **Location**: Germany

Unless you aim for a 1980s 16color EGA graphics mod, i fear this won't go anywhere near a usable ingame style and quality format.
Especially since pictures done by hand never achieve the accuracy for the isometric view and always have more or less noticeable faults in the perspective.

The only way to produce something with a good enough quality is using 3d modeling programs like 3ds max, cinema 4d, blender, maya etc and then render the model with the right lighting and camera settings.

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Mig Eater · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:23 pm Post subject:

I beg to differ, I made this completely by hand. So it is very much doable but quite difficult & a lot more time consuming compared to working in 3D.

So I'd recommend learning to use a 3D modeling program tho, it's a lot easier to do in the long run.

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Lin Kuei Ominae · Seth **Joined**: 16 Aug 2006 **Location**: Germany

You did what? Surprised

That huge building, and you did that by hand with Paint or Photoshop? wow
The perspective of the elements (columns, building, domes etc) is impressively accurate.
Only the lighting is very artificial and noticeably different/wrong. (e.g. too weak or completely missing selfshadowing like the missing shadow of all the smaller colums)

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Allied General · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:54 pm Post subject:

Well Miggy did spend 1 year on Reichstag building using 2d methods (afaik was Photoshop) but yeah I doubt many modders have that dedication anyway.

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Mig Eater · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:21 pm Post subject:

I've only been making buildings in 3D for about 6 months, everything else I've done in the past decade was made by hand in Photoshop.

The Reichstag Was the first big building I made & I only worked on it for a few hours a month over a year.

I think we are getting a bit off topic now #Tongue

Anyway Zero18; 2D easy at first but a lot of work later. 3D a lot of work at first but easy later. Both require lots of practice tho, so keep at it & I look forward to see what you come up with in the future.

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Zero18 · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 10:16 pm Post subject:

Mig Eater wrote:

I beg to differ, I made this completely by hand. So it is very much doable but quite difficult & a lot more time consuming compared to working in 3D.

So I'd recommend learning to use a 3D modeling program tho, it's a lot easier to do in the long run.

Sweet jesus christ.

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Lin Kuei Ominae · Seth **Joined**: 16 Aug 2006 **Location**: Germany

The result is awesome Mig, but imo a lot of wasted time and work. If you've done them in 3D right away, they would be so much better usable, adjustable and convertable also for other applications.
You also don't see many 3D models of real buildings in such a high detail level.
It's a pitty now, that your 2D buildings can't be rendered from different perspectives and lighting conditions. These would have made awesome wallpapers and you could have even used them for a later Ion Cannon similar destruction animation in a short FMV.

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4StarGeneral · General **Joined**: 14 Sep 2006 **Location**: Limbo

I have always held pixel artists in the highest regard, and to be honest, nothing beats a hand drawn. Not even some of the best 3D modelers. In fact, you can make details much quicker with a pixel than in 3D, provided you have the patience for it.

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Mig Eater · Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 10:46 pm Post subject:

I've already started redoing my 2D building in 3D, it's quicker to redo them in 3D from scratch then to finish making all the damage frames & anims in 2D etc. So you will get your wallpaper in the future #Tongue

I don't really consider the effort I put into making the 2D ones a waste of time. I think of them more as the concept art for the 3D models. So now I know exactly where everything goes etc so making it in 3D should be easy.

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Lin Kuei Ominae · Seth **Joined**: 16 Aug 2006 **Location**: Germany

Mig Eater wrote:

I've already started redoing my 2D building in 3D, it's quicker to redo them in 3D from scratch then to finish making all the damage frames & anims in 2D etc. So you will get your wallpaper in the future #Tongue

yay

What program do you use? 3ds max?

Waste of time was maybe a bit bad choice of words. What i meant is that a 2D image is a fixed one that can't be used for anything else anymore.
3D simply offers a bigger variety in which way and how you can use them.

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5 GDI, 5 Nod, 1 Mutant, 1 Scrin unit, 1 GDI building

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Exley · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 1:11 am Post subject:

if he's making build anims of already made buildings (static) then
photoshop (or similar) is most easiest way to do it

no fancy overlap parts of building just rising up of object (frame by frame) #Tongue

not to mention, who the hell cares for 3 second anim you see only once ?

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Atomic_Noodles · Defense Minister **Joined**: 05 Oct 2011

That and of course Pixel Art has its own appeal. If Mig was redoing all the graphics into Pixel-Art it of course have a more coherent feel.

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Zero18 · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:06 am Post subject:

Too bad I messed up the free trial 3DS Max.2013. It expired in 1 day rofl. Now I gotta find other program that's actually FREE. :-/

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Mig Eater · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:16 am Post subject:

Blender is free but I'd recommend getting 3DS Max as it has more support within the C&C community.

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Zero18 · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:24 am Post subject:

Yeah, but I screwed with free trial by attempting to "time travel" ans it expired. Wow never knew that would happen. But I don't want to put my money just to get license to be able to use 3DS Max. Sure 3DS Max have more features, but bleh. I'm going to do this other time.

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Orac · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:47 am Post subject:

I liked the softness of the shadows in Mig's work. It evoked a good deal more realism to me than extreme over shininess ever could. But I live in a land of cloudiness.