“Light On Water” by Hardie
Conference:
- SIGGRAPH 2004 More animation videos from SIGGRAPH 2004:
Title:
- Light On Water
Length:
- 3:20
Director(s):
Description:
In these short animated sequences, the primary intent is realising the sensations evoked by the play of light on water. The colours and shapes generated by the movement of waves and ripples, the changing surface of reflections, the light bouncing off the water’s surface. The works explore the area between realism, exploring the tools now available in a 3D computer animation system for these purposes, and abstraction, looking at the aspects of colour, form, and movement.
The primary tool used in making “Light on Water” was Softimage XSI. It was used to:
• Construct the scenes.
• Colour and texture the scenes using procedural displacement,
transparency, and colour textures.
• Create material properties such as the reflectance of the water
surface.
• Light the scenes, including generation of caustic light off the
water surfaces.
• Composite separate layers of images together.
• Render the final images for the animation sequences.
Adobe Photoshop was used to paint houses, trees, boats, and sky images for the reflections. The work was produced on a Dell PC. The sparkles in the “Sparkle Sea” sequence used the Glimmer Shader developed by Andy Hayes at Bournemouth University.
