Major Project 13 - More Drone Animation

Continued on with more drone animation. These are going along much quicker than expected. As the drones are robotic, I have found the keyframing to be rather simple, often being happy with the result after just a few keys. I've been trying to focus on realistic motion and weight. The drones always have a bit of bobbing up and down from their propulsion engine. They also sway and twist based on their position and direction, as there is a single engine on their underside, this would create a rocking kind of movement. 

The second drone destruction was much easier than the first but I found more satisfying. I didn't have everything fall apart since this was more of a glitch and shut down rather than full destruction. I really enjoy the way the ring and shields just fall as the idea is the electro magnets would turn off. I also keyframed the emission shader turning off as well which I am really happy with. 

The moment in which the wanderer punches inside the drone's jet engine was a slightly more tricky part. I first thought of tracking Liam's hand to attach the drone to, but since there was already the 3D camera's movement, I ended up doing it by eye. This seems to work in the viewport, however I will have to review this once rendered and composited. 

Speaking of rendering, I am starting to render the backlog of shots through the nights and during the easter holidays, I plan to render through day and night. This is the first time I have used AOV render passes for diffuse, emission, specular, and indirect. This should be very useful in compositing. I'm really happy with what Dan has done with the textures, I think they look incredible. I am again using HDRI images shot on location for the lighting to be as realistic as possible. 



At my current pace I hope to get all drone animation done in the next 2 weeks. This is slightly over schedule but the time waiting for finished drone has pushed me back a bit. However I'm still confident I can get the film finished in time.