Energy shields

bigdragon · November 2012

I was curious to know if any one knows how to make effective, realistic energy shields from sci-fi films like star-trek or Stargate atlantis. I have tried any number of things but they never look very convincing.

Jafit · November 2012

Can you post some examples of what you've managed to come up with so far, and some pics of what you want to acheive?

Chris2005 · November 2012

Well, you can accomplish an effect in After Effects using the CC Sphere, but it'll require some work...

For the shield effects in this:

I rendered out the passes, for example on the Enterprise shields, I rendered out of the 3ds max the sphere with the noise map on it, and I used the Opacity and layer blending settings in After Effects to control when it was visible, etc. added a few tweaks, glows, etc. I did the same for the green energy surge, just applied it to the same sphere in 3ds max and rendered it out as a separate layer and did it's tweaks, and thus the final product, as seen in that video. I did the same flow for the BoP shields, which could've been a little better, but that's a side issue, but the methodology for how I create shields is the same.

Randal R · December 2012

Well , me myself, am not very well versed.

The few times I have done a shield effect, was very similar to how Chris describes it.

I have not actually done this, but have seen it demonstrated.

Proximal shaders can be used very effectively for this, from what I understand.

It works by proximity. One has an effect on the other.
It can be tricky to do I think. And the effect can be a number of things such as transparency,visibility etc.

With something like this, you can add it to lasers and shields and when they contact or close to each other , they do all the work. And distance + effect attributes can be changed.
One goes invisible and one starts glowing with noise....or the closer the laser gets the larger
the shield is revealed.

As for texture or materials, I have typically used noises.
or also Lights with Noise that have no visibility, but will project onto an Object
Also, have made animated textures for the shields efx (Obj. mat.)
(Laser Hits Rise of the Cylons Pt.2)

Regards,

Randal R.

bigdragon · December 2012

Here are some examples of what I want to acheive. These are the images of some shield impacts that I have found from Stargate Atlantis. Now take these and add the swirling energy disapation that you can see when the energy weapons hit.

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take note of the shield discharges at about 30 seconds into this film

I have been able to go into blender and create a sphere that has a specific texture and color. I have then applied a texture to it that makes it completely invisible until a predetirmined object or particle system comes in contact with it. When that object comes into contact with it, it then reveals a small area around the contact point. The problem with this is that when it is then rendered into an animation, the "shield discharge" shows up as short one-frame blips that don't look very good. I am looking for a slightly sustained energy flair that has energy swirls in it. Maybe even some explosion effects at the contact point.

I am unable to upload any of my current results but I will as soon as I can.

count23 · December 2012

In lightwave you used to be able to use a null as a reference value for transparency, and it would hide the sphere with a falloff radius of your specificiation the closer the null value got to your sphere. So when the null was on the sphere surface you could have a big wash, when it was further away it would fade appropriately. I could never quite figure out the same setup in Maya and have no idea how to pull it off in blender though. Maybe if you use a circular transparency map and overlay it on your shield bubble?

Hell, you could even make it an animated map so that it starts large and shrinks over time, then you just play that map for transparency on every impact and it should give you the same effect.

bigdragon · December 2012

These are the promise results that I mentioned in my 12/12/12 post

This was one of my first attempts

After the first test I changed the shape of the shield for easier testing. I also made changes on the particle system and shield settings

This is just a still image so that you can see the textures used.
Attachment not found.

vivienneanthony · December 2012

bigdragon wrote: »

These are the promise results that I mentioned in my 12/12/12 post

This was one of my first attempts

I'm working on the same problem. I'm using Blender dynamic painting and particle system. What I have so far is this?

I revised the the nodes setup. The most current has a more transparent field with emission that modulates. Also, the hit areas matches the rest of the shield.

bigdragon · December 2012

In response to vivienneanthony's post on dec 17.
could you post screen shots or a "tutorial" on how you got that effect. The way it spreads is on effect that I was looking for. If you could do that I would be greatful.

vivienneanthony · January 2013

bigdragon wrote: »

In response to vivienneanthony's post on dec 17.
could you post screen shots or a "tutorial" on how you got that effect. The way it spreads is on effect that I was looking for. If you could do that I would be greatful.

I'll see if I can make a tutorial as I have updated the effect.

Greetings!

Energy shields

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Energy shields

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