Naturalization VFX
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While at a smaller scale than I first intended it to be, I think the final timings work well.
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I didn't save every iteration of the effect through the project, but I went through quite a few. Here's 3 that show the effect before I made it "water-focused".
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There are five layers of the first impact (six if you count the ground breaking). Each element adds to the silhouette.
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The Water splashes is a combination of a sphere mesh and 3 differently scaled versions of this cone mesh. This is how I create the bending.
I drew the water texture in Photoshop. While not perfect, I think it sells the effect of water.
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This is how the full projectile looks like. Its built with 2 meshes making up the base shape, I then spawn 3 emitters following each other to create the splashy trail.
I got the inspiration from '1Mafx' on youtube.
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This is the niagara setup, its really simple but it works well due to the displacement applied to the meshes.
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This is how the base shape was created, elongated sphere with 0 vertex color in its tip to control displacement.
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Most of my projectile meshes follows a similiar approach in Houdini. This one is the largest shape besides the base projectile.
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Next I spawn this sprawling shape with random rotation to create fake splashes.
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The end of the projectile trail is built using randomly oriented water drop meshes
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The exploding ground is a simulation from Houdini using a sphere shot through a fractured mesh.
I masked the fractured pieces in Maya using vertex colors.
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The butterflies is controlled using this shader. I drew the texture in photoshop.
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I drew the grass in Photoshop and made meshes that fit the texture I drew.
I then built them into combinations I could spawn using niagara.
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I made these textures from scratch in Substance Designer. Except the clouds which I based off 'Toon Cloud' by Eric Lautard and painted over in Photoshop.
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Working procedurally when creating textures allows for quick iterations and allowed me to only work on one segment of the sun for example.
Naturalization VFX
I wanted to create a layered VFX and incorporate more Houdini elements to better understand its workflow, as I haven't used it much before. I also aimed to design an effect that alters the environment in some way.
I was inspired by Simon Stรฅhlenhag's cover art for 'Mutant Year Zero: Machinarium' in which you can see a city being reclaimed by nature. My first idea involved an expanding mask effect, where vegetation would slowly spread out. However, as I developed the concept, I felt that it was missing something, so I decided to go for a more explosive approach.
I experimented with several different ideas to capture the feeling I was aiming for. Over time, the effect changed a lot and became something entirely different in the end.
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- Workflow could have been better with improved planning.
- Should have sketched the effect in 2D instead of excessive experimentation in Niagara and shaders.
- Despite this, learned a lot through iteration and testing.
- Successfully pivoted to a "water-based" effect.
- Able to reuse existing meshes by applying different shaders and textures.
- The project served as a valuable exercise in adaptation and resource reuse.
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- Create multiple versions of the effect for various surfaces (walls, etc.), which was my original intention when making the signpost and curb.
- Expand the environment with additional elements like buildings and cars.
- Develop different "naturalization" effects that respond to where objects are hit.
- Overall, build a more diverse and responsive environmental interaction system.