Devin Johnston Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I'm working on an animation that needs to have stands of people cheering for the team playing on the field. I've never tried rendering out people on this scale and I'm a little unsure where to begin. I was thinking that maybe I could use some stock footage of crowds and comp them into the animation but the camera will be moving all around and I don't think it will work. That leaves me with using animated people and I'm not sure of the best way to go about this, any advice is welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francisco Penaloza Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I think a few years a go this would be a big problem, but thanks to technology today it can be more simple (sounds like commercial hum). I have not made any stadium shots yet, but I managed big crowd, and a good scatter tool will be the best choice, Forrest pack, Multiscatter, Carbonscatter, they can manage the memory of those hundred people no sweat. Now interesting enough you will no need all of them to move, mostly seated with some of them standing and waving will create a good effect. For sure I would render separate from anything else, so you can fix problem later on without sacrificing the rest of the production. What part of Houston are you, I lived there for 12 Year, incredibly enough I miss it, not the Humidity thou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 A pretty good article on the matter; http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/vfx-in-tvcs-how-to-make-a-crowd/ I think the easiest would be to forest pro them, as that is what we do for our stadium people. But I have yet to do an animation with that, so far it is just static shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Francisco I work right outside the Galleria but I live in Pearland, it's a 40 minute commute but that just comes with working in a big city. You, Scott and I are all thinking along the same lines here, I think scattering them is the best way to get it done. Right now I'm planning on making some animated proxies of the AXYZ models I have and then scattering them throughout the bleachers. I only have about a week and a half to get this done so whatever I do needs to be done quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I used a turbosquid file rather like this one: http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/soccer-stadium-fans-animation-max/669113 The fans+seats are distributed on splines, so you can just relocate the splines into the new stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Tom that's really interesting, I'm going to have to reconsider what I'm doing now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I had to do an image super fast, so I didnt have the luxury of building it all. If I had to do it again I'd do it the same way, but Ive never actually used 3d people other than this so dont have any tools in place to do the job. Something Im going to have t address sooner rather than later, but I am an advocate of buying rather than building, why re-invent the wheel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 The only problem with them is they aren't as realistic and I'd like but not having to do all that work might just make it worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Not as realistic as what though? There's no way you'll be able to comp video footage. Even with a locked down camera it would be a keying nightmare. 3d people are your only option. I think a pre-made sports crowd is hard to beat. You need to get creative with the camera and post work is all. Keep your crowd shots distant and use DOF on your tight ones. Is it a night shot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Too bad he doesn't just sell the people. I'd totally buy that if it was just the people. That is what we lack right now is good 3d people that make sense when they are scattered 6-14,000 times and have the ability to have their shirts easily swapped for the team color. Our system using rail clone for the seats and forest pro for the people all using the same spline works really well, but I just haven't had the time to develope some good people other than the ones I got for free form the Maximo store. The AXYZ people are all too douchy for my taste and they can't really be make to look like sports fans. From 99% of the shots of the stadium the people look fine in the distance. For close up stills, you could just photoshop some real people in the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 I'm thinking of using about 4 different libraries of these people. https://secure.axyz-design.com/shop/memscs003m3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Too bad he doesn't just sell the people. I'd totally buy that if it was just the people. That is what we lack right now is good 3d people that make sense when they are scattered 6-14,000 times and have the ability to have their shirts easily swapped for the team color. Our system using rail clone for the seats and forest pro for the people all using the same spline works really well, but I just haven't had the time to develope some good people other than the ones I got for free form the Maximo store. The AXYZ people are all too douchy for my taste and they can't really be make to look like sports fans. For real? Its like $700...http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Artists/dtp.3d Not bad for a bunch of animated people doing exactly what you want them to do. Oh, and you get a free stadium... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Schroeder Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I'm thinking of using about 4 different libraries of these people. https://secure.axyz-design.com/shop/memscs003m3 Suits in a stadium? That is one high class event! For real? Its like $700...http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Artists/dtp.3d Not bad for a bunch of animated people doing exactly what you want them to do. Oh, and you get a free stadium... I'm still going to probably buy it as that is a hell of a find, but I highly doubt we'd use the stadium as we'd always design our own stadium. It would just be nice to get a people package, since I have to re-scatter them using forest pro anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Johnston Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 No not suits there are other casually dressed people in these libraries but in the end it might not be that important. Tom how easy would it be to replace some of those scattered people with some of mine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 No not suits there are other casually dressed people in these libraries but in the end it might not be that important. Tom how easy would it be to replace some of those scattered people with some of mine? Pretty simple. All the proxy parents are lined up in the max scene and you can just add the new people to the list of scatter objects. Only thing that may throw a wrench in is world units. .bip files are hinky when scaled. You can also clone the fans in there and Photoshop their textures to alter the clothing color to add more variation. There's 45 fans to play with. Like I said before, I had to do the job in a rush so just used what was there. I think you can most likely offset the mocap timing also, so they wont all wave their arms in perfect unison. Like I said before, its all in how you compose the images. The previews on turbosquid only show he crowd from a distance for a reason, but if you save a bunch of time on getting the people, mocap and scattering done then you have more time to refine the people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Make sure you buy one of the more expensive ones, looks like the stadiums from that vendor that are over $800 have 45 fans (+players and refs) and the others have less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francisco Penaloza Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 That stadium setup look like a great find, if it is everything setup it can be a very good time saver. Now regarding quality, that is not a big issue because unless you are doing very close up shots to them they will work just fine, unless the movements are bad and repetitive. Hey one of the recent winners of the CGA videos was about a stadium and I remember that the crow was not high polygon at all, nothing that motion blur and out of focus can't fix plus as mentioned you don't need all of them to be moving. I used to work close to galleria too, fun area, and I lived in Houston and later on Katy, so yep the driving was big and boring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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