A first full-length tutorial. This covers setting up a scene for hail to come pelting down from the skies above. I don't cover the hail ball itself much since at a very tiny size, there isn't much to the mesh or material. This tutorial is much longer than I hoped for, but I do go over many things. Here is what I do cover and the outline: * [0:22] Viewing the potential final render (though from a different project) * [1:05] Reviewing actual hail (got lucky and it hailed here last week!) * [2:35] Preparing the work space (setting up the camera and optimum work settings) * [3:09] Setting up a background video for the camera (so it shows in the workspace) * [4:40] Setting up a background video for the rendering (all those compositing nodes!) * [7:39] Creating a simple ball of hail (not much is needed since it is quite small) * [8:10] Adding a very simple material to it (again, no need to get fancy) * [9:05] Add Environment HDRI for lighting (lighting is EVERYTHING!) * [10:35] Creating a ground plane for the hail to land on (our fake ground) * [13:00] Creating a sky plane for the hail to emit particles (hail balls) from * [13:41] Add a particle system to distribute the hail (here's where the magic happens) * [15:30] Adjusting the physics for the sky (the Hail Maker) * [17:48] Adjusting the physics for the ground (so the hail bounces nicely) * [20:06] Adding some "wind" for angling the hail (but not with a wind force) * [21:55] Fine tuning (getting all the settings right) (Really, the main stuff is done. Afterwards, it's more about cleanup--like getting the hail off the shoes) * [28:22] Adding "blockers" to prevent overlap of the shoes (otherwise, it looks very wrong) * [32:08] Catching a hail ball (general guide but rough) * [35:30] Demo of what my detailed "leg blockers" look like (no need to get this crazy) * [36:29] Ready for final render (ensure it's all good before committing an hour of time) * [38:00] Viewing the completed project render (this is how it actually looked) Whoa! I don't know how I missed it, but I totally forgot the motion blur, which helps a LOT! It's in the first video though. I will be uploading a new video soon with the effect of that done. But I will just have to add the instructions on how it's done (if you don't already know) here. But yeah, the motion blur is critical. You can see the difference by comparing the opening demo to the one at the end. And yeah, the opening demo is a little different and more detailed. To see what the tutorial actually creates, just view the ending part first [38:00]. I'm just showing what is potentially possible in the first part. Always good form to give credit where it is due. For the music used, we have: * Ketsa performing Beautiful Rain. * Beethoven Op 69 No. 3 by Brendan Kinsella * Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod
A first full-length tutorial. This covers setting up a scene for hail to come pelting down from the skies above. I don't cover the hail ball itself much since at a very tiny size, there isn't much to the mesh or material. This tutorial is much longer than I hoped for, but I do go over many things. Here is what I do cover and the outline: * [0:22] Viewing the potential final render (though from a different project) * [1:05] Reviewing actual hail (got lucky and it hailed here last week!) * [2:35] Preparing the work space (setting up the camera and optimum work settings) * [3:09] Setting up a background video for the camera (so it shows in the workspace) * [4:40] Setting up a background video for the rendering (all those compositing nodes!) * [7:39] Creating a simple ball of hail (not much is needed since it is quite small) * [8:10] Adding a very simple material to it (again, no need to get fancy) * [9:05] Add Environment HDRI for lighting (lighting is EVERYTHING!) * [10:35] Creating a ground plane for the hail to land on (our fake ground) * [13:00] Creating a sky plane for the hail to emit particles (hail balls) from * [13:41] Add a particle system to distribute the hail (here's where the magic happens) * [15:30] Adjusting the physics for the sky (the Hail Maker) * [17:48] Adjusting the physics for the ground (so the hail bounces nicely) * [20:06] Adding some "wind" for angling the hail (but not with a wind force) * [21:55] Fine tuning (getting all the settings right) (Really, the main stuff is done. Afterwards, it's more about cleanup--like getting the hail off the shoes) * [28:22] Adding "blockers" to prevent overlap of the shoes (otherwise, it looks very wrong) * [32:08] Catching a hail ball (general guide but rough) * [35:30] Demo of what my detailed "leg blockers" look like (no need to get this crazy) * [36:29] Ready for final render (ensure it's all good before committing an hour of time) * [38:00] Viewing the completed project render (this is how it actually looked) Whoa! I don't know how I missed it, but I totally forgot the motion blur, which helps a LOT! It's in the first video though. I will be uploading a new video soon with the effect of that done. But I will just have to add the instructions on how it's done (if you don't already know) here. But yeah, the motion blur is critical. You can see the difference by comparing the opening demo to the one at the end. And yeah, the opening demo is a little different and more detailed. To see what the tutorial actually creates, just view the ending part first [38:00]. I'm just showing what is potentially possible in the first part. Always good form to give credit where it is due. For the music used, we have: * Ketsa performing Beautiful Rain. * Beethoven Op 69 No. 3 by Brendan Kinsella * Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod