{"id":3231,"date":"2015-01-14T18:52:19","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T18:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/?p=3231"},"modified":"2015-01-14T20:06:56","modified_gmt":"2015-01-14T20:06:56","slug":"lucas-green-space-suite-proof-of-concept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/2015\/01\/14\/lucas-green-space-suite-proof-of-concept\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas Green: &#8220;Space Suite&#8221; (Proof-of-Concept)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/111882554?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=ffffff\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"first\">&#8220;Proof-of-concept for a project which relies heavily on space visuals to demonstrate compelling footage can be created quickly and easily by mining the impressive public access image libraries of NASA (and others) for stunning photography, and then bringing them to life with simple 3d \u2018tricks\u2019.\u00a0The final project, which is being produced by Two Story Productions (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twostoryproductions.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">twostoryproductions.com\/<\/a>), will air on BC&#8217;s Knowledge Network (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.knowledge.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">knowledge.ca<\/a>)&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"first\">From\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/2015\/01\/space-suite\/\">http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/2015\/01\/space-suite\/<\/a> :<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Saturn\u2019s Polar Hexagon<\/strong><br \/>\nIf you\u2019ve never heard of Saturn\u2019s polar hexagon before,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.space.com\/27392-saturn-hexagon-vortex-nasa-photo.html\" target=\"_blank\">check this out<\/a>. It\u2019s mind-blowing.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the shots of Saturn and its moons were accomplished in the same manner, by simply projecting\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/saturn.jpl.nasa.gov\/photos\/\" target=\"_blank\">high-resolution Cassini photographs<\/a>\u00a0onto spheres, and then navigating around those spheres with a virtual camera. Most of the shots are one image + one sphere = really simple stuff. For a shot of the polar hexagon, however, I worked in additional elements to bring the scene to life.<\/p>\n<p>I started with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/729527main_PIA14646_946-710.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">this photograph<\/a>\u00a0of Saturn\u2019s south pole, and projected the image onto a sphere. Then I found\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailydot.com\/lifestyle\/nasa-gif-saturn-storm-cassini-spacecraft-awesome\/\" target=\"_blank\">a timelapse sequence of images\u00a0<\/a>taken by the Cassini space probe from directly above the polar hexagon, showing the enormous vortex swirling slowly over a period of several hours. The sequence was comprised of eight individual frames, shown below:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Pole-Frames.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6185\" src=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Pole-Frames.jpg\" alt=\"Pole-Frames\" width=\"1903\" height=\"1001\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=twixtor\" target=\"_blank\">Twixtor<\/a>\u00a0was used to stretch these eight short frames into a seamlessly smooth 240-frame long animation, which was then layered onto my 3d model of Saturn.<\/p>\n<p><em>(The camera icons you see below are actually projectors: the left-hand one is projecting an image of saturn onto a sphere. An angled plane behind the sphere is \u2018catching\u2019 Saturn\u2019s rings. The camera pointing down is projecting the polar hexagon onto the same sphere. The resulting image can be seen to the right.)<\/em><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Saturn-Projections.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6186\" src=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Saturn-Projections.jpg\" alt=\"Saturn-Projections\" width=\"1903\" height=\"1001\" \/><\/a>\u00a0Once it was lined up with the photography, the animated polar hexagon element was then blended into the rest of the shot:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Hexagon-Steps.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6184\" src=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Hexagon-Steps.jpg\" alt=\"Hexagon-Steps\" width=\"1903\" height=\"1001\" \/><\/a>To create this lovely final composition (complete with animated weather systems!):<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Blog_064-2014-xx-xx.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6187\" src=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Blog_064-2014-xx-xx.jpg\" alt=\"Blog_064 (2014-xx-xx)\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>2. Tycho<\/strong><br \/>\nFor a shot of the mountain in the centre of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tycho_%28crater%29\" target=\"_blank\">Tycho Crater<\/a>, a slightly more detailed approach was needed. In this case, the<a href=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/fb\/LRO_Tycho_Central_Peak_0.25.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0source photograph<\/a>\u00a0was projected onto a low-resolution 3d model of the landscape in Maya.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Tycho.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6182\" src=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Tycho.jpg\" alt=\"Tycho\" width=\"1903\" height=\"1001\" \/><\/a>\u00a0The model didn\u2019t have to be too detailed, just enough so that a virtual camera could slowly move around the peak:<\/p>\n<div class=\"arve-wrapper arve-normal-wrapper arve-vimeo-wrapper aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"arve-embed-container\">\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/114320208\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p class=\"first\"><strong>3. Iapetus<\/strong><br \/>\nOther scenes required a more detailed sculpting of features, such as this flyover shot of the surface of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Iapetus_%28moon%29\" target=\"_blank\">Iapetus<\/a>. working from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.practicalspace.com\/saturn\/iapetus\/images\/cassini-iapetus-surface-6.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">this beautiful image<\/a>\u00a0of the moon\u2019s icy surface, I sculpted out ridges and craters in Mudbox and staged the scene in Maya.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/064_01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6183\" src=\"http:\/\/lucasgreen.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/064_01.jpg\" alt=\"064_01\" width=\"1903\" height=\"1001\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nOne of the happy side-effects of working off real photographs is that the 3d model inherits the light and shadows of the photograph being projected onto it, so there is no need to worry about placing lights in your scene.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/114320207\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, as Space Suite is further developed, I\u2019ll be able to show off more beautiful shots!<\/p>\n<p class=\"first\"><a href=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.24-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3234\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.24-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 12.55.24 PM\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.24-PM.png 1920w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.24-PM-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.24-PM-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.24-PM-640x400.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.05-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1916\" height=\"1136\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3235\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.05-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 12.55.05 PM\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.05-PM.png 1916w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.05-PM-300x178.png 300w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.05-PM-1024x607.png 1024w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.05-PM-640x379.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1916px) 100vw, 1916px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.50-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3236\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.50-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 12.55.50 PM\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.50-PM.png 1920w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.50-PM-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.50-PM-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.55.50-PM-640x400.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.01-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3237\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.01-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 12.56.01 PM\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.01-PM.png 1920w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.01-PM-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.01-PM-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.01-PM-640x400.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.15-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1200\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3238\" src=\"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.15-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2015-01-14 at 12.56.15 PM\" srcset=\"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.15-PM.png 1920w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.15-PM-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.15-PM-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Screen-Shot-2015-01-14-at-12.56.15-PM-640x400.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Proof-of-concept for a project which relies heavily on space visuals to demonstrate compelling footage can be created quickly and easily by mining the impressive public access image libraries of NASA (and others) for stunning photography, and then bringing them to life with simple 3d \u2018tricks\u2019.\u00a0The final project, which is being produced by Two Story Productions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,20,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d-models","category-animations","category-inspirational-vids"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3231"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3241,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions\/3241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}