Scanner beam. How'd I do it?
Sentinel-3
Posts: 52
I really just want to see if you think like me. This was done in DS4.6 with no post. Not hard to do at all.
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Comments
Nicely done.
I'll have a go. 2 planes parented to a spotlight ?
You got it! Of course the light had to cast shadows for it to work. I was actually surprised it worked the first time.
Weird thing was, I wanted to have the beam expand at the beginning and close at the end. I thought I could just animate the spread angle to do it. I still think I can, but the opening was so thin that the light just didn't shine through when the beam was narrow. I imagine I would have to have the gap precisely at the center of the light for that to work. Of course I could have parented two more planes -- which, DUH, I just thought of.
Hmm... a Single Plain with a Trans map and the Spread angle of the light set to Wide. Then as you move the Plane closer to the light the beam should widen and then tighten as it is pulled away from the light again.
Tested this for you this is what I got.
That's another way, I actually didn't have a chance to think about that. Though by widen, I meant widen from a point to a line. Thickening the beam was easy by separating the planes.
But seriously, with the transmap approach, I could do all sorts of things, like predator-type 3-point laser sights.Thanks!
Point to beam? Easy, use a Spot light and the width setting animated with the plane. The thickness of your Transmap opening will dictate the height of the beam of course.
EDIT: I suggested this so you have less overhead. The fewer objects loaded the more RAM you have free to render.
@Sentinel-3, nice scan video clip!
I am attempting to get a similar effect (no animation) of the scan line, but other lights in the scene seem to be completely washing it out. Any chance this was an issue anybody here encountered and found a solution to?
is your light source for the scan casting shadows? That must be on. Also, don't have your light settings respect limits. My scan beam was at 1000% intensity.
Thanks for ther comment
Yes, my light source is casting shadows. I have turned my light settings up beyond what the limits appear to be.
What are the other lights your using? Also check for Ambient on the item your scanning in the Surfaces tab.
Other lights in the scene include the following:
UberEnvironment 2 1 Intensity 40%
SpotLight on foreground: Intensity 100% shadow type raytraced (software only)
SpotLight from inside Intensity 100% shadow type raytraced (software only)
Spotlight sunset on roof Intensity 100% shadow type raytraced (software only) (this light probably doesn't affect that area.)
door bottom object's ubersurface Intensity 19,000% Falloff off
door top object's ubersurface Intensity 7,000% Falloff off
display object's ubersurface intensity 100% Falloff off
If I turn off the other lights, the scan beam, while not quite as desired, does become mostly visible. The problem is it that it is not bright enough to be the dominant light, and when the other lights are added, it becomes washed out and nearly invisible in places.
The ambient strength of the surface I'm currently testing with is 100% but ambient color is black. (I Haven't checked everything in the scene since I don't yet know exactly where the scan line will be positioned.)
I'm in both threads on this, and I'm stumped. The UberE just causes to much Washout on the Beam in anything I try.
Thought it looked really cool!