Posts Tagged ‘CG’

A python script for Vue 5 Infinite (it might work in Vue 4 Pro but I haven’t tested it) that loads a sequence of 3d files using each one in turn as the next step in an animation. To use it the script must be placed in the directory containing the files to be imported and then run in the usual way. The files must be named sequentially starting with 1 and counting upwards. You will be prompted for a file type to be imported (enter the appropriate file extension) and a number of frames between importing each file.

It looks pretty straightforward but I had to find ways to stop keyframes vanishing and to stop the objects being scattered around all over the scene.

I would suggest saving any scene before running the script as it can crash Vue if you load a large sequence of complex objects or with objects with large texture maps.

For the latest information see the page devoted to Vue Object Sequence Loader.

I’ve watched the trailer; I’ve read the web pages; and I’m definitely excited about Vue 6. No word on python support in Vue 6 yet but I’m sure E-on will let us know more as the release approaches.

This is my 200th post to this blog in just over seven months. To celebrate I’m giving away the flame I used in my picture In Search of Phlogiston from the Cornucopia 3d Fire lighting Challenge. It was a deceptively simple solution once I’d made it but it took several evenings of fiddling and applying the KISS principle to get to this elegant solution to a flame in Vue. By tweaking the colour map for the texture it can be made into quite a few other flames too.

Download: gas_flame.zip

I’ve uploaded two new pictures to the gallery at my impworks website:

• In Search of Phlogiston
• Hummingbird

I got really fed up when searching the web the other night for some information about Vue that I’ve started a new collaborative Blog just to try to collect Vue news. Jim Coe is going to be contributing too. If you would like to help out with an occasional post drop me an e-mail mark@impworks.co.uk or leave a comment with your e-mail here and I’ll send you an invite so you can post too.

Not much there yet but why not go to the Vue News Blog now?

Went to see "Thank You For Smoking" last night and really enjoyed it. An excellent satire about spin, PR and media manipulation. Smoking is more of a McGuffin to hang the story on than an issue the film explored. To go into it in any detail would risk spoiling it so I won’t. The acting is excellent and while he doesn’t have a lot of screen time Rob Lowe, playing Jeff Megall, has one very priceless moment where he pretty much steals the film without even blinking. They could probably make an equally biting film about that character if someone had the inclination.

Sorry couldn’t resist the title. I bet if I did a search I’d find hundreds like it already. What can I say it is a classic line.

Well hats off to Mr Abrams. The best of the franchise so far. I liked the first one but it lacked the team element for most of the film. MI, to me, was very much about the team. The second one didn’t work, which was a shame because John Woo is one of my favourite filmmakers but his take on MI just wasn’t right. This one was twisty, clever, well plotted, beautifully paced and well made. Best of all it used a lot of the MI moves – the new take on the face mask and the exit from the Vatican on the boat was classic MI to name two elements. Lalo Schifrin’s theme still beat any modern dance or metal reimagining in 4/4, 5/4 just gives it an edge like horror films using dissonance. I’m pretty certain some of the incidental music was based on the scores from TV episodes. Bringing in the private life of the MI team members goes against classic MI but worked because it gave you a reason to actually care about Mr Hunt the person rather than the agent archetype. Great use of McGuffin’s too.

Now all I want is for MI 4 to see them dare to do a tense character driven psychological piece set in a small, brutalistic, concrete location in the post Warsaw pact European People’s Republic. Be brave and give at least half the film to cracking the bad guy without once needing an explosion, gadget or a gun. That’s the one MI standard that has yet to be more than alluded to that I really want to see. Of course once they find out what they need to know let every shade of chaos free. For a classic ending leave the bad guy in the hands of his own bosses. Oh and no more IMF agents gone bad: that will start to get old fast.

So the current flurry of activity in the CGI world in a price range that hobbyist can afford is added to by e-on announcing a competition to win a copy of Vue 6 Infinite and be part of the Beta testing team. Given the panel of judges this clearly isn’t just a quick response to Daz’s recent announcements.