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For the longest time I've been trying to find a satisfying way of making an aura effect which behaved properly and, had the same or similar visual properties as in DBZ, and also looked correct from any given angle. I've tried many methods as well.
The first method I tried was a plugin called ChaosPhoenix, which is primarily used to recreate realistic fire, but I could never get the aura to behave chaotically enough, and the effect was difficult to see through with a character in the center; it was also murder on rendering time.
The 2nd method I tried was an animated sprite-based aura. I tried using a "look-at" constraint on a normals-inverted sphere I had stretched a bit, but the alpha map didn't work properly (aura had grey edges) and I could never constrain the "look-at" controller to behave only on the x and y axis' as the z axis would come into play and force the aura to constantly try to "about-face" to the camera.
My third method firstly used an unanimated photoshopped aura "stripe" which I would add to a 2-sided cylinder with it's caps removed and instanced the geometry for use in a super spray prticle emitter, which I modified to start at a mid thickness, grow for a frame or two, and then shrink to a point to go for the typical overall shape DBZ auras are known for. It worked reasonably well, but the geometry seemed a bit too obvious and unbelievable seeing as the energy "spikes" were only connected horizontally. I still wanted something more though...
Now I'm trying a new and more radical method, yet simple in most respects. I believe it's what DB: Source had originally been going for with their aura. It's basically a sphere which I've added about 100 segments to , stretched to a basic shape, and then used a displacement modifier using an animated noise map (which I also added a radial gradient to the black so the top of the aura would always be the tallest spike. I used a 2nd one on the bottom of the aura with a seperate map to prevent it from spiking downward unrealistically. Then I went into the material for the aura itself, made the aura totally yellow, added 100% self-illumination and then added a fall-off as the opacity map which would make the aura bright, yet see-through, and remain bright at the edges in particular due to the "facing" properties of the fall-off, which behaves much like in DBZ. I then added a glow effect to the aura to make it truly shine.
While this new aura is certainly one of the better looking, I still think it needs something to make it as good s it can be. In particular, I'd like somehow to make the spikes expand at a certain degree away from the aura center as well to prevent it from being totally vertical.
A small video of the aura is here:
http://media.putfile.com/Geometry-Aura-Test
Anything you can say or advice you can give to better the aura's appearance, or if perhaps you have a superior method to this, please do share it. I'll also be sure to credit you if I use the aura in anything I may later put on youtube. As a side-note, this aura is not intended for use in a game. It is PURELY for video presentation. I also use 3dsmax 7, just so you know what I have to work with.
Thanks in advance to all! =)
The first method I tried was a plugin called ChaosPhoenix, which is primarily used to recreate realistic fire, but I could never get the aura to behave chaotically enough, and the effect was difficult to see through with a character in the center; it was also murder on rendering time.
The 2nd method I tried was an animated sprite-based aura. I tried using a "look-at" constraint on a normals-inverted sphere I had stretched a bit, but the alpha map didn't work properly (aura had grey edges) and I could never constrain the "look-at" controller to behave only on the x and y axis' as the z axis would come into play and force the aura to constantly try to "about-face" to the camera.
My third method firstly used an unanimated photoshopped aura "stripe" which I would add to a 2-sided cylinder with it's caps removed and instanced the geometry for use in a super spray prticle emitter, which I modified to start at a mid thickness, grow for a frame or two, and then shrink to a point to go for the typical overall shape DBZ auras are known for. It worked reasonably well, but the geometry seemed a bit too obvious and unbelievable seeing as the energy "spikes" were only connected horizontally. I still wanted something more though...
Now I'm trying a new and more radical method, yet simple in most respects. I believe it's what DB: Source had originally been going for with their aura. It's basically a sphere which I've added about 100 segments to , stretched to a basic shape, and then used a displacement modifier using an animated noise map (which I also added a radial gradient to the black so the top of the aura would always be the tallest spike. I used a 2nd one on the bottom of the aura with a seperate map to prevent it from spiking downward unrealistically. Then I went into the material for the aura itself, made the aura totally yellow, added 100% self-illumination and then added a fall-off as the opacity map which would make the aura bright, yet see-through, and remain bright at the edges in particular due to the "facing" properties of the fall-off, which behaves much like in DBZ. I then added a glow effect to the aura to make it truly shine.
While this new aura is certainly one of the better looking, I still think it needs something to make it as good s it can be. In particular, I'd like somehow to make the spikes expand at a certain degree away from the aura center as well to prevent it from being totally vertical.
A small video of the aura is here:
http://media.putfile.com/Geometry-Aura-Test
Anything you can say or advice you can give to better the aura's appearance, or if perhaps you have a superior method to this, please do share it. I'll also be sure to credit you if I use the aura in anything I may later put on youtube. As a side-note, this aura is not intended for use in a game. It is PURELY for video presentation. I also use 3dsmax 7, just so you know what I have to work with.
Thanks in advance to all! =)
and have big spikes
