UFO CGI

Hi all,
I haven't contributed to this group for some time, but I am a
professional graphic designer that has become rather involved in CGI
and effects post-production. I am doing some test renders of the UFO
effects with a goal of (possibly) recreating the title sequence.

I have uploaded one quick test shot of SkyDiver. (If these files are
too big to put on this group, I can move them over to my own server)

I am wondering as the technology has now become achievable (and
affordable), if anyone else would be interested in maybe creating a
fan movie/spinoff/production of some kind. It might even generate
enough interest to make UFO a commercial viability again. I am based
in the UK, but always open to doing a lot of this over the web.

Any ideas, suggestions or brickbats welcome.
Regards,
Rob

PS, I am uploading test shots on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FAB-CGI/

Nice test shots!!! Gordon

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 8:01 PM
Subject: [SHADO] UFO CGI


Hi all,
I haven't contributed to this group for some time, but I am a
professional graphic designer that has become rather involved in CGI
and effects post-production. I am doing some test renders of the UFO
effects with a goal of (possibly) recreating the title sequence.

I have uploaded one quick test shot of SkyDiver. (If these files are
too big to put on this group, I can move them over to my own server)

I am wondering as the technology has now become achievable (and
affordable), if anyone else would be interested in maybe creating a
fan movie/spinoff/production of some kind. It might even generate
enough interest to make UFO a commercial viability again. I am based
in the UK, but always open to doing a lot of this over the web.

Any ideas, suggestions or brickbats welcome.
Regards,
Rob

PS, I am uploading test shots on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FAB-CGI/



________________________________________________________________________
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Rob,

The stills look great. I look forward to seeing the movie.

I have a few models in Maya that might be useful. Still work in progress.

Check out http://goofyghouls.com/UFO/interceptor.htm 
Scroll to the bottom of the page for the latest version of the interceptor.
There's a link at the bottom to the page with the UFO model.

Cheers,

Kevin Bulmer
Synthetic Dimensions
www.SynDime.com

Great pics, you captured the essense of the crafts. I can't wait to
see the finished product.

I discovered this series about a year ago, but I have never seen an
episode until this week. In spite of the campiness of the series, I
have enjoyed what I've seen so far.

I found this group as part of a background search for X-COM, in which
I was trying to generate some material for a role-playing game
conversion. The conversion has been put on hold for the time being
since I'm doing some ghost writing for a Sci-Fi expansion of another
RPG.

If you really wanted to take this to the next level and generate
interest, don't be afraid to perhaps "modernize" the vehicles. Look
what the retooling has done for Battlestar Galactica. While I recognize
there's a bit of nostalgia associated with this, it's the stories and
the relationships between the characters that propel a series past the
development stage to the first season and beyond.

Good luck, and if you need a story developer or help with dialog — I
offer my services.

George "Clay" Mitchell

--- [hidden email] wrote:
________________________________________________________________________
> Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and
> security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from
> across the web, free AOL Mail and more.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>




____________________________________________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.
http://new.mail.yahoo.com

Hi George,
Well I have considered an update of the vehicles etc, on the premise
that if I (we) did develop a new show, it would be set around 2020, so
the gear would reflect that. However I do love the camp retro look of
a lot of the show, and the whole thing has that Anderson/Meddings look
about it I dont want to lose too much. or the time being I want to
recreate the models as they were, but just make them look totally
authentic as real machines, and not minatures.

I would love to see anyones ideas for a "UFO2", either carrying on the
original characters and storylines, or maybe transposing it on to
later years, different people, in the same way as STNG did for Trek.

Regards,
Rob

--- In [hidden email], Clay <sportsmovieguy@...> wrote:

Hello,

I made an entire Website with possible designs for UFO - 2. It is no longer
up - but I have 3.9 Gigs of pictures. Anyone see it?


Gordon

Reference:

Hi George,
Well I have considered an update of the vehicles etc, on the premise
that if I (we) did develop a new show, it would be set around 2020, so
the gear would reflect that. However I do love the camp retro look of
a lot of the show, and the whole thing has that Anderson/Meddings look
about it I dont want to lose too much. or the time being I want to
recreate the models as they were, but just make them look totally
authentic as real machines, and not minatures.

I would love to see anyones ideas for a "UFO2", either carrying on the
original characters and storylines, or maybe transposing it on to
later years, different people, in the same way as STNG did for Trek.

Regards,
Rob



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Nearly 4 Gigabytes for a website???!!!!
What were you using, life size images?

Well if you still want to run it, I can offer hosting.
Rob


--- In [hidden email], harada357@... wrote:
>
> Hello,
>  
> I made an entire Website with possible designs for UFO - 2. It is
no longer
> up - but I have 3.9 Gigs of pictures. Anyone see it?  
>  
>
> Gordon
>

Rob Neal wrote:
> Nearly 4 Gigabytes for a website???!!!!
> What were you using, life size images?

Hmmm, maybe he meant "megabytes".

Even ufoseries.com is barely 1 gigabyte... most of which
are the music & effects tracks for the episodes.

Marc

Hi Rob,

For years I have been interested in learning how to do computer motion picture graphics. I have seen examples of it on the web, and heard about how much more available it is to the general pop nowadays through commercial software.

I too, have a "dream" of making a few movies of my own some day, and if I could learn more about some of the software packages available, etc, etc, and some of the tricks of the trade, I might be on my way. I'd even like to work on a UFO type story.

In the past, I've worked a bit with some photoshop type packages, and done quite a bit of work on AutoCAD, albeit the AutoCAD version I used to work with was DOS based.

If you'd be willing to share some of your information, ideas, suggestions with me, I'd appreciate it. If I got up to speed, I'd even be willing to work on something like you're suggesting. I can give you an alternate e-mail address if you want to discuss any off-topics off list.

Dave H.


--------------------------------------------------------------



----- Original Message -----
From: Rob Neal
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 8:01 PM
Subject: [SHADO] UFO CGI


Hi all,
I haven't contributed to this group for some time, but I am a
professional graphic designer that has become rather involved in CGI
and effects post-production. I am doing some test renders of the UFO
effects with a goal of (possibly) recreating the title sequence.

I have uploaded one quick test shot of SkyDiver. (If these files are
too big to put on this group, I can move them over to my own server)

I am wondering as the technology has now become achievable (and
affordable), if anyone else would be interested in maybe creating a
fan movie/spinoff/production of some kind. It might even generate
enough interest to make UFO a commercial viability again. I am based
in the UK, but always open to doing a lot of this over the web.

Any ideas, suggestions or brickbats welcome.
Regards,
Rob

PS, I am uploading test shots on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FAB-CGI/





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

FOR GOD's sake...take it easy. CGI files are big - the finished product
image is then reduced for posting on the web. My back up takes almost a whole
DVD. I did not expect anyone to get all hot and bothered over the amount of
memory it takes up.

Alright...the original art, Scans and pics filled up 3.9 gigs. Get it! The
posted images are compressed Jpgs. Many of the images are CGI generated -
the mesh files - Lightwave, Bryce, and Poser - take up a lot of space. The
original CGI files were not posted on the web site. To CREATE the web site -
it took a lot. Sorry I mentioned it....some of the meshes are still posted in
the FAB CGI group. Jesus....sorry...sorry sorry...FORGET I mentioned it.
Anyone who deals with graphic images knows the original High res Scans of
artwork, Photoshop files, and CGI model scenes ARE BIG FILES. That is what I
meant...never mind. Sometimes people get all over in a huff over minutia. That
is why I never bothered with putting the web site back up. A hell of a lot
of work, and nobody even missed it when it was gone. Now I will go back and
count the number of exact megabytes the actual posted images takes up. Then
I will count the number of pixels in each image....never mind. This is
probably my last posting for a while. I loved UFO enough to create some unique
art, post 3D Mesh Models for other to enjoy. Anthony Appleyard got the Don
Showalter UFO mesh models from me. I saved them. I provided them to him for
posting for other UFO fans. He converted the mesh to poser. I created a
series of advanced UFO designs for the Interceptor, SKydiver, and even the UFO's.
Anthony's FAB web site still hosts the Don Showalter Mesh files. Never
mind. It was a BAD idea mentioning it....

GC




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sounds like YOU'RE the one getting all hot and bothered. For a second I was afraid that you might blow a blood vessel or something, LOL! : )

Jeff

[hidden email] wrote:
FOR GOD's sake...take it easy. CGI files are big - the finished product
image is then reduced for posting on the web. My back up takes almost a whole
DVD. I did not expect anyone to get all hot and bothered over the amount of
memory it takes up.

Alright...the original art, Scans and pics filled up 3.9 gigs. Get it! The
posted images are compressed Jpgs. Many of the images are CGI generated -
the mesh files - Lightwave, Bryce, and Poser - take up a lot of space. The
original CGI files were not posted on the web site. To CREATE the web site -
it took a lot. Sorry I mentioned it....some of the meshes are still posted in
the FAB CGI group. Jesus....sorry...sorry sorry...FORGET I mentioned it.
Anyone who deals with graphic images knows the original High res Scans of
artwork, Photoshop files, and CGI model scenes ARE BIG FILES. That is what I
meant...never mind. Sometimes people get all over in a huff over minutia. That
is why I never bothered with putting the web site back up. A hell of a lot
of work, and nobody even missed it when it was gone. Now I will go back and
count the number of exact megabytes the actual posted images takes up. Then
I will count the number of pixels in each image....never mind. This is
probably my last posting for a while. I loved UFO enough to create some unique
art, post 3D Mesh Models for other to enjoy. Anthony Appleyard got the Don
Showalter UFO mesh models from me. I saved them. I provided them to him for
posting for other UFO fans. He converted the mesh to poser. I created a
series of advanced UFO designs for the Interceptor, SKydiver, and even the UFO's.
Anthony's FAB web site still hosts the Don Showalter Mesh files. Never
mind. It was a BAD idea mentioning it....

GC



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Good point. Your response is exactly the reason I did not bother trying to
put up the web site again or make the CGI mesh files available. The next
email will be from Marc saying it is time to move on. I won't take up the
groups time by name calling. See Ya.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sensitive, touchy people make me laugh.

Jeff

[hidden email] wrote:
Good point. Your response is exactly the reason I did not bother trying to
put up the web site again or make the CGI mesh files available. The next
email will be from Marc saying it is time to move on. I won't take up the
groups time by name calling. See Ya.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

WOAHHH!!!!! Foot off the gas mate!

You said the *website* was 3.9gb. A website does not consist of CGI
support files, photoshop, all the original hi res stuff etc.
I meant purely the files that are uploaded. Theres no need to bust a
blodd vessel over it. I for one would appreciate the original Don
Showalter Lightwave meshes as the OBJ conversions have lost some
resolution. (They are the ones I used for my renders.)

I am not in a huff about anything, and in web terms, its not minutiae.
Let it go.

Rob




--- In [hidden email], harada357@... wrote:
>
> FOR GOD's sake...take it easy. CGI files are big - the finished
product
> image is then reduced for posting on the web. My back up takes
almost a whole
> DVD. I did not expect anyone to get all hot and bothered over the
amount of
> memory it takes up.
>  
> Alright...the original art, Scans and pics filled up 3.9 gigs. Get
it! The
> posted images are compressed Jpgs. Many of the images are CGI
generated -
> the mesh files - Lightwave, Bryce, and Poser - take up a lot of
space. The
> original CGI files were not posted on the web site. To CREATE the
web site -
> it took a lot. Sorry I mentioned it....some of the meshes are
still posted in
> the FAB CGI group. Jesus....sorry...sorry sorry...FORGET I
mentioned it.  
> Anyone who deals with graphic images knows the original High res
Scans of
> artwork, Photoshop files, and CGI model scenes ARE BIG FILES. That
is what I
> meant...never mind. Sometimes people get all over in a huff over
minutia. That
> is why I never bothered with putting the web site back up. A hell
of a lot
> of work, and nobody even missed it when it was gone. Now I will go
back and
> count the number of exact megabytes the actual posted images takes
up. Then
> I will count the number of pixels in each image....never mind.
This is
> probably my last posting for a while. I loved UFO enough to create
some unique  
> art, post 3D Mesh Models for other to enjoy. Anthony Appleyard got
the Don  
> Showalter UFO mesh models from me. I saved them. I provided them
to him for
> posting for other UFO fans. He converted the mesh to poser. I
created a
> series of advanced UFO designs for the Interceptor, SKydiver, and
even the UFO's.
> Anthony's FAB web site still hosts the Don Showalter Mesh files.
Never
> mind. It was a BAD idea mentioning it....
>  
> GC
>  
>  
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Hi Dave
Well I have done a few tutorials and such in the past, some are on
YouTube. I could do similar for here.
It has to be said, although the technology is now available to achieve
impressive pro-quality results, it is still a major undertaking, in
software required, beefy hardware and a lot of perseverance
understanding how to use it all.

I am primarily a major Adobe fan, and have been using Photoshop and
others for many years, so I tend to use all their software at some
point or other.

With regard to 3D work, although there are a number of lower end, or
specialist apps like Bryce and Poser, the only serious choices are
Lightwave (fantastic renders, but not very friendly), Maya (Movie
industry standard, but expensive) and 3DS MAX (Games industry
standard) - Personally, I'm a MAX fan. If you have worked with
AutoCAD, you will find it very similar as the original 3D Studio was
developed from it.

MAX's rendering leaves something to be desired though, it's generally
poor, and/or slow. The two best render options are VRAY, or
Splutterfish Brazil, which I use. This gives superb textures and
lighting and can really bring a shot alive.

I guess the biggest "trick" that most 3D users miss is they render a
single image and say "There ya go". This rarely results in great
images or movies, and usually takes a lot of time to render. The way
to do it properly is render elements individually, ie foreground,
background, lighting, effects etc. Each of these 'passes' is then
composited, I use Adobe After Effects for this. With this you can then
control colour, light, animation and a lot of extra effects. My
Skydiver for instance, was a "matted" shot of the sub (ie: a
transparent background), and then I added various components such as
the ripples, surface waves, bubbles etc. It is much easier (and
quicker) to work within a "fake" 2D environment than it is a 3D one.

I hope this gives you a little insiht into what you might be letting
youself in for!, but if you or anyone else is interested, maybe we can
work on some ideas.

Best regards,
Rob

--- In [hidden email], "davrecon" <davrecon@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Rob,
>
> For years I have been interested in learning how to do computer
motion picture graphics. I have seen examples of it on the web, and
heard about how much more available it is to the general pop nowadays
through commercial software.
>
> I too, have a "dream" of making a few movies of my own some day, and
if I could learn more about some of the software packages available,
etc, etc, and some of the tricks of the trade, I might be on my way.
I'd even like to work on a UFO type story.
>
> In the past, I've worked a bit with some photoshop type packages,
and done quite a bit of work on AutoCAD, albeit the AutoCAD version I
used to work with was DOS based.
>
> If you'd be willing to share some of your information, ideas,
suggestions with me, I'd appreciate it. If I got up to speed, I'd even
be willing to work on something like you're suggesting. I can give you
an alternate e-mail address if you want to discuss any off-topics off
list.
>
> Dave H.

Hi all,

I've just added 3 more UFO behind-the-scenes photos, all contributed
by Phil Rae:

http://ufoseries.com/newPhotos

Marc

Did not realize there was such an abundance of smart asses in this group.

Looks like we are having a roll call.

Now you give me a laugh.

Thanks!

GC


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Rob;

I'll try to track down your shows on YouTube, just as soon as I figure out how to download and save them.

Have you ever seen the animations for either Eaglelander 3D or Jetfighter IV? Which of those softwares might have been used for making those videographics?

I have an idea on how to make a moviemaking graphics package based on ideas cobbled together from about 4 different gaming softwares and AutoCAD. However, I'll never know if they're valid until I start learning more about the operational gut's of the packages. My programming experience falls far short of that needed for making such hi qual products....

But then most products come from a team effort. I like the idea of creating a 3D virtual world, and then setting up the cameras in that world, and then turning the software loose to generate the 2D scenes within it. It gives unlimited flexibility in scene set-up and complexity.
I might not know the lingo, but if you'd like to bat ideas around, we could go off list on this.

As far as a UFO story, I have about 3 of them semi completed. I have lots of ideas, but never seem to have the time, or ideas to fully flesh them out to a deliverable finish. My favorite one is where a new member is brought onboard after an unfortunate encounter with UFO's while flying carrier duty over the Mediterranean in the early 1980's (I wrote most of the story around 1991). It covers a lot of the training and acclimation process a new member would go through after his life is plucked out of a mainstream military career and inserted into a top secret one, one awash in far more advanced technology than the world he is used to.

Again, if you'd like to discuss anything of this further, we could go off list. There is a whole potential rich culture contained in the characters of UFO which I sadly saw go unexplored in the single year of the series.

Dave H.


--------------------------------------------------------------


----- Original Message -----
From: Rob Neal
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 7:44 PM
Subject: [SHADO] Re: UFO CGI


Hi Dave
Well I have done a few tutorials and such in the past, some are on
YouTube. I could do similar for here.
It has to be said, although the technology is now available to achieve
impressive pro-quality results, it is still a major undertaking, in
software required, beefy hardware and a lot of perseverance
understanding how to use it all.

I am primarily a major Adobe fan, and have been using Photoshop and
others for many years, so I tend to use all their software at some
point or other.

With regard to 3D work, although there are a number of lower end, or
specialist apps like Bryce and Poser, the only serious choices are
Lightwave (fantastic renders, but not very friendly), Maya (Movie
industry standard, but expensive) and 3DS MAX (Games industry
standard) - Personally, I'm a MAX fan. If you have worked with
AutoCAD, you will find it very similar as the original 3D Studio was
developed from it.

MAX's rendering leaves something to be desired though, it's generally
poor, and/or slow. The two best render options are VRAY, or
Splutterfish Brazil, which I use. This gives superb textures and
lighting and can really bring a shot alive.

I guess the biggest "trick" that most 3D users miss is they render a
single image and say "There ya go". This rarely results in great
images or movies, and usually takes a lot of time to render. The way
to do it properly is render elements individually, ie foreground,
background, lighting, effects etc. Each of these 'passes' is then
composited, I use Adobe After Effects for this. With this you can then
control colour, light, animation and a lot of extra effects. My
Skydiver for instance, was a "matted" shot of the sub (ie: a
transparent background), and then I added various components such as
the ripples, surface waves, bubbles etc. It is much easier (and
quicker) to work within a "fake" 2D environment than it is a 3D one.

I hope this gives you a little insiht into what you might be letting
youself in for!, but if you or anyone else is interested, maybe we can
work on some ideas.

Best regards,
Rob

--- In [hidden email], "davrecon" <davrecon@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Rob,
>
> For years I have been interested in learning how to do computer
motion picture graphics. I have seen examples of it on the web, and
heard about how much more available it is to the general pop nowadays
through commercial software.
>
> I too, have a "dream" of making a few movies of my own some day, and
if I could learn more about some of the software packages available,
etc, etc, and some of the tricks of the trade, I might be on my way.
I'd even like to work on a UFO type story.
>
> In the past, I've worked a bit with some photoshop type packages,
and done quite a bit of work on AutoCAD, albeit the AutoCAD version I
used to work with was DOS based.
>
> If you'd be willing to share some of your information, ideas,
suggestions with me, I'd appreciate it. If I got up to speed, I'd even
be willing to work on something like you're suggesting. I can give you
an alternate e-mail address if you want to discuss any off-topics off
list.
>
> Dave H.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Dave,
Might I suggest we move this topic over to the FAB-CGI Yahoo group
rather than bore all the series fans here rigid with talk of CGI.
Anyone else interested is also more than welcome, and I have some more
of my work on that group.
Cheers,
Rob



--- In [hidden email], "davrecon" <davrecon@...> wrote:
>
>
> Rob;
>
> I'll try to track down your shows on YouTube, just as soon as I
figure out how to download and save them.
>
> Have you ever seen the animations for either Eaglelander 3D or
Jetfighter IV? Which of those softwares might have been used for
making those videographics?
>
> I have an idea on how to make a moviemaking graphics package
based on ideas cobbled together from about 4 different gaming
softwares and AutoCAD. However, I'll never know if they're valid until
I start learning more about the operational gut's of the packages. My
programming experience falls far short of that needed for making such
hi qual products....
>
> But then most products come from a team effort. I like the idea
of creating a 3D virtual world, and then setting up the cameras in
that world, and then turning the software loose to generate the 2D
scenes within it. It gives unlimited flexibility in scene set-up and
complexity.
> I might not know the lingo, but if you'd like to bat ideas
around, we could go off list on this.
>
> As far as a UFO story, I have about 3 of them semi completed. I
have lots of ideas, but never seem to have the time, or ideas to fully
flesh them out to a deliverable finish. My favorite one is where a new
member is brought onboard after an unfortunate encounter with UFO's
while flying carrier duty over the Mediterranean in the early 1980's
(I wrote most of the story around 1991). It covers a lot of the
training and acclimation process a new member would go through after
his life is plucked out of a mainstream military career and inserted
into a top secret one, one awash in far more advanced technology than
the world he is used to.
>
> Again, if you'd like to discuss anything of this further, we
could go off list. There is a whole potential rich culture contained
in the characters of UFO which I sadly saw go unexplored in the single
year of the series.
>
> Dave H.

CONTENTS DELETED