Bridge Animation

First topic message reminder :

Hi all,

I wanted to share an animation I'm working on here at Arup. The project is the Tappan Zee Bridge on the Hudson River in NY. Attached are a series of images and an animation that shows what it looks like today. The plan this year is to add to this existing model, a new bridge design that will include pedestrian access and a new rail line.

Stills















Animation:

http://www.3d-mg.com/flash/worx/tpz/TPZ_Final_full.wmv

Thanks alot for viewing our work and your kind replies!

Here are some of the steps we took to produce this animation:

A Digital Elevation Model was downloaded off the USGS website, a great resource where you can get any terrain and satellite images in the US. The best thing about it is that it’s all information paid for by American tax dollars. Microdem was used to convert this data into a format suitable for importing into 3DS Max.

The approaches were sectioned off to be developed with a higher level of detail fidelity…these were based off of existing topographical CAD data.

Vue 6 Xstream (www.e-onsoftware.com) was used to place 3D trees and other vegetation in the scene, it’s also a great piece of software to make your own 3D Skies, which can be rendered out sequentially or exported out as a 360 HDR image.

Snapshots of the scene were taken to put together a quick storyboard…during this phase, we were able to discuss how elements will be frame in each shot and how editing might move from shot to shot.

Animatics were also created. When setting up cameras for pre-viz, it’s a good idea to make the move slower than you think it will be in the end. Also be sure to have the camera start earlier and go beyond what you think the action is. If you edit, you will cut the shot down to the action that looks best, and you will speed up (or slow down) the shot to fit the mood and feel of the film. After you have an edit of your pre-viz material, you will go back and re-build or tweak your 3D cameras in your pre-viz environment.

http://www.3d-mg.com/flash/worx/tpz/Animatics/Shot3a.avi

Heavy bridge traffic was needed so it was created using particle flow and max scripting. Adding this amount of cars individually would be too time consuming, Particle flow placed multiple vehicles on a single path, at the desired speed, and random spacing with a few clicks. Also the left lane traffic can be adjusted so that they're faster than the middle lanes and right lanes.

Particle flow in action:
http://www.3d-mg.com/flash/worx/tpz/Particle%20flow%20traffic/SHOT_01_Together_traffic.avi

Some early tests of the Hero car…

The animation was rendered in several passes using mental ray in 3DS Max Design 2009. Render passes allow you to break up your render elements in to smaller parts for more control and better scene management. It also comes in handy when you need to only fix certain parts of the scene, just render those elements instead of re-rendering the entire scene. Breaking things up and compositing is the best way to have complete control over your scenes.

This step also lets you add those final touches or ‘finessing’ that can make your animation shine!



So that’s a rough idea of the development of this animation from start to finish…I’m glad to be able to share this to you all. Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer!

- Anthony

Awesome sir! whew! lots of effort used here! Spectacular!

wow,,superbly executed

wow...ang galing..

Good work...it is really a job well done. I enjoyed the whole clip. Great job also for sharing on the workflow so that some members can have an idea or learn something about the process. congrats to your team. Will be looking forward to see your future works.

wow... astig na astig kayo sir galeng

Napaluha ako dito sir sa pagkamangha hehe....very nice

ang galing nito sir, ayos na ayos, ilang ulit kong pinanood sir bago ako mag reply sa thread. superb,superb at superb!!!!!parang nasa loob ako ng kotse,hihihi.

WOW! naman po Sir galing nyo po! sana magaya din kita kahit 60% lang hehehehe! anu po ba gamit nyo software ang galing naman 3D max po yun?

Very nice visualization Sir, Superb more than words...

Maramng Salamat guys! I used mostly Max with Vue XStream. I hope you all have a Happy New Year, ready to be inspired in 2010!!! Peace!!!

nice sir superb poh to........woow talga....

ot: concern lng poh....ok lng poh b e post e2.....ksi mukhang big projet poh....e2....bka magalit poh ang company.....

@zildian- Don't worry about it, I've got permissions Salamat!!!