Page 83 - 3D World - October 2017

Artist q&A
Your CG problems solved

exPeRt tiP
inPUt MAP
Once you’ve created the Input Attract Map, flood it with black and use the softest

brush and white as your colour, Click three or four times in the middle of the jellyfish.
I find that this works best with the jellyfish’s motion and helps create realism.

SteP by SteP SIMUlAte tHe MotIon oF A JellyFISH

Model tHe JellyfiSH AniMAte tHe JellyfiSH
01Go to the Polygons shelf and create 02 I animated the jellyfish so that it
a sphere. Keep its Height subdivisions low, would go directly up. In my example, using
around 8-10. Delete the lower half. Scale a 200 frames timeline, I moved the jellyfish
it up in the X and Z axis – when looking up (in the Y-axis) by 20 points in 20 frames.
from the top in scale mode, you’ll see a In the next 20 frames, I moved the jellyfish
small square, use that. Extrude the edges down by 5 points. Then again, in the next
on the bottom and drag them downwards 20 frames, moved it up 20 points, so on
as you want. Now, on the newly created and so forth. It’s pretty simple – just look at
polygons, delete every other face. You’ll some reference footage if you need more
end up with a cylinder of sorts. help on this.

study the movement of objects in real life and
then if you successfully simulate that, you can
play around with the styling and textures but
still create something recognisable

Once that’s done, you can move on to
texturing. In my case, though, I didn’t use JellyfiSH AS nClotH find tHe Middle GRoUnd
a detailed model. Instead, I just used a 03 Select the jellyfish model, move 04 One thing that you might have
simple model and used textures to create to the FX module and select the nCloth noticed is that once you turn the mesh
details, since it’s going to be dynamically menu bar. Click the Create nCloth button into nCloth, it loses the original animation.
simulated, I don’t want too many details. and you’ve turned the jellyfish into an One way to solve this is to go to the
It’s an artistic choice as well as a technical nCloth. Go to the Nucleus node and play nCloth node, and under the Dynamics
one, so do as you like. I simply used a map with the settings there to really sell the tab, dial the Input Attract Mesh to .8 or
of a gradient from the middle of the head effect of being underwater. Under some so. Now go to the nCloth tab in the menu
to the tentacles. I used a similar map to conditions, this might not even be needed bar, go to the Paint Texture Properties and
create the opacity. You can use Refraction – enable Ignore Solver Gravity in the then click Input Attract. You should now
and Reflection to add realism but that nCloth node and it’ll pretty much work. be able to paint what part of the mesh you
really depends on your scene. Anyway, Again, it depends on the scene. want simulated.
let’s get started.

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