Modify cars with intense destruction effects using a blend of Maya and Nuke software tools.
In the world of visual effects, creating realistic battle damage on 3D assets can be a challenging task. However, the Whiskytree VFX team, working on a high-profile TV show, has developed an ingenious workflow that preserves the original look and ensures flexibility and efficiency in the creative process.
The team faced the challenge of creating battle damage on 3D assets without affecting the underlying shaders or geometry. To tackle this, they chose to use their lighting and scene assembly tool, Gaffer, to facilitate the procedural aspects.
The workflow begins by creating damage outlines. These are basic cookie-cutter shapes with irregular edges, extruded to create solid 3D forms. The damage is then laid out by positioning these large damage Booleans where the most significant impact is desired, focusing on areas like the main hull and corners of the wings and engines.
The Booleans generate high-resolution cutouts and proximity maps. The proximity mask helps isolate and displace the edges of the Boolean cuts, providing a more natural and organic look to the damage. These maps are dynamically reimported, enabling adjustments to curvature masks and the paint-to-bare metal ratio mask.
After rendering passes, the masks and beauty renders are combined with the original plate using a tool like Nuke. Smaller bullet holes are scattered using a preferred scattering tool, concentrating more around major damage areas and adding sporadically across the rest of the hull.
Bullet holes are small, pebble-like models used to simulate the effect of bullet penetration. These models are versatile in size, capable of being scaled up or down without revealing their scale.
The setup enables the creation of multiple masks for compositing, including a softened proximity mask, a bare metal versus paint mask, a curvature mask, and masks for the holes created by the Booleans and bullet holes. After the damage locations are approved, destructive modelling can be added for final details using sculpting tools like ZBrush or Blender.
The Whiskytree VFX team also considered two solutions: manually sculpting damage or developing a scalable and adaptable workflow. They chose the latter, finding it more efficient and adaptable to various kinds of damage and models, including buildings, structures, and other vehicles.
By using the assets' original shaders and textures without needing to create duplicates or alter the originals, this workflow offers a significant time-saving advantage. Modifying heavy production-level assets can be time-consuming and complex, but this approach allows adjustments without delving into their complexities. However, it might not be as effective with assets created in-house, where there's more control over development.
In addition to Gaffer and Houdini, the team also utilised Blender's Geometry Nodes in their workflow, demonstrating their commitment to leveraging a diverse range of tools to deliver high-quality visual effects.
This innovative approach by the Whiskytree VFX team not only enhances the visual appeal of the high-profile TV show but also sets a new standard for efficient and flexible battle damage creation in the world of visual effects.
