The animation is relatively simple for this short project. The main subjects that needed to be animated were the fighter jets, turrets, and missiles. This is carefully thought out, as I do not want to animate characters for my FMP. 3D character animation will increase the time and complexity of the project. As mentioned earlier, the main objective is to experiment further with the FX in Houdini.
Shot001
Frames:0075f
Frame Range: 0000f-0075f
Shot 1 consists of the arrival, where the mothership and three fighter jets jump out of hyperspace to the local planet. I heavily referenced the Battlefront II game cinematics for the camera movement and framing. I do not have much experience with animation, so I am rather satisfied with the results.
Shot003
Frames:101f
Frame Range: 0296f-0397f
For Shot 3, much time and effort were spent ensuring that the jet movements were realistic in terms of aerodynamics. The initial animation graph lines were linear; adding easing to the keyframes makes the stiff animation blocking more convincing.
Shot004
Frames:49f
Frame Range: 0398f-0447f
Shot 4 was also done similarly to Shot 3. I also closely followed the follow-through and overlapping action principle of animation. The planes are animated with a sense of inertia and bounce.
Shot006
Frames:163f
Frame Range: 0553f-0716f
Shots 6 and 7 referenced the movie Dune Part I invasion scene. The anti-air defence turrets are deployed to shoot down the enemy landing vehicles. The turret slowly emerges from its hidden compartments underground and fires in the general direction of the incoming aircraft. Special attention is given to the moment when the gun barrel fires. There has to be a jerk coupled with sufficient camera shake to show the massive forces and power of the gun.
Shot007
Frames:52f
Frame Range: 0717f-0769f
Shot 7 would be just staggering the different gun deploy animations. Their firing timings are also offset following the reference.
Shot008
Frames:154f
Frame Range: 0770f-0924f
This is another side view shot of the aircraft. However, I animated the pilot in the cockpit, giving the attack hand sign. This will be the final shot of the aircraft for this shot. The aircraft prepares the final approach to its attack target.
Shot011
Frames:35f
Frame Range: 1072f-1107f
For shot 11, the animation involves the missile rack and the missile. I added details to the scene by animating the fins moving in place before flying off. When released, the missile falls slightly due to gravity before thrusting off forward. The rest of the animation is linear and mechanical.
Shot013
Frames:115f
Frame Range: 1142f-1257f
This shot is referenced from the missile scene in the first Ironman movie. The main missile slowly loses speed and releases a swarm of smaller missiles it carries. The swarm radiates out from the main missile, and after a while, their thrusters fire and fly towards the target base on the ground. The animation is either procedural or simulated for the rest of the short. This is because I am running out of time, and animating every small rocket is unrealistic.
The “animation” consists of breaking apart the main missile, a rigid body simulation. The falling of the main missile is a particle simulation.
The missile swarm is also a particle simulation.
This shot contains other miscellaneous elements, such as the missiles’ thruster flames and missile smoke trails.
Shot014
Frames:46f
Frame Range: 1258f-1304f
Like the swarm missiles in shot 13, the small missiles here are also animated with particle simulation. I instanced the small missile models to points falling towards the enemy bases. Similarly, I will also instance the explosion source for the explosion simulation based on these falling particles. That will be further elaborated in the FX section of the FMP blog post.
Shot015
Frames:30f
Frame Range: 1305f-1335f
The last shot is the same as the previous shot, just with a moving camera. However, I planned for the explosion to gradually become bigger and eventually cover the entire frame, which led to a final cut to black, ending the video.