For my one minute video, I basically started off with the idea that I want to create a desert scene in Unity, a 3D game engine, and record an animation using screen capture software.
I start off by creating the background or ‘skybox’, a 6-sided cube that will act as the horizon and sky in my environment. Here I’ve chopped up and used a NASA Milky Way panorama.
Afterwards, I quickly generate some test terrain to see how the skybox looks in a desert scene.
Not bad. I think I’ll keep the colours closer to the original though.
The terrain is OK, but I’m after more of an ‘infinite dunes’ look. I use WorldMachine, a generative, algorithmic terrain generation program to create a 'heightmap' and 'blendmap' that Unity can import as a terrain mesh.
I import it in to Unity to see how it looks, and add a sand-ripple texture to the dunes.
I'm happy with that. Now I want to create an object for the 'camera' to pan around, to keep the video short and sweet. I decide on a hovering boulder, made using a freely available Unity asset.
To spice up the boulder a little, I add a Phong Tesselation Shader, normal used to make objects appear smoother in games. I adjust the levels on the shader to an unnatural level to create a glitch effect as the boulder moves nearer or further from the camera. I add a script on the boulder to have it rotate in the air indefinitely, as well as an intense orange light in the middle of the boulder which doesnt rotate. This will create the effect of the light moving around the boulder from within.
I add the camera animation paths using a plugin. This will create the panning effect.
Lastly, I add some particle shader effects below the 'floor' to create the effect of dust blowing across the desert, as well as adding a soft area light near the floating boulder, so that the video isn't too dark.
I export the 'game', and open it, recording the loop using OBS free screen capture software. Afterwards I drag everything in to Adobe Premiere, and add an old unfinished song of mine as a 'soundtrack'.
In the next post, I’ll upload the finished product. Here is a test version without the audio track.
origamiaround
prguitarman
dededos
janainaart
romaincrisis
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
