Hello guys!

I am having a debate with my old friend and work colleague regarding the flames and smoke in the Halo 3 dio. I suggested it was CGI - given that is what it looked like to me-and also the fact that flames are notoriously hard to model in static 3D. My non-model-making friend reckons it's a model. Can anyone offer there expert view-or indeed does anyone know definitely?

Cheers

A

I say "Not CGI"
Looking at this image shows the left side as a solid. Now, I think it has a light source that gives it more feeling than paint can give.
Also there is talk of it touring so it'd be a let down if the flames weren't in it.

Dammit! Ha ha ha. Yes that image looks more 3D than in the video. Some kind of resin do you think?

A

I'm not convinced the flames are not CGI. There are none visible in the wide shots.

I'm with Al. Here's a pic from the same website that Scoitt's referring to:



No flames or smoke here. This shot appears to be taken during construction of the diorama, but I would guess that because it seems to be so far along in the building of the thing, it would be pretty hard to add flames and smoke effects at this stage regardless of the materials used. This isn't definative proof, but based on these assumptions, I'm convinced that the smoke and flames are CGI. They're just CGI'd to look like thay've been modelled as part of the diorama using resin, or whatever.



Bob

Check out the gallery here:
http://www.newdealstudios.com/
Many photos showing explosions present along with model makers in frame and smoke being made. There are also galleries of their other works for major feature films, TV and other ads that are pretty interesting. The explosions remind me of the fake fireplace logs and embers I remember seeing as a kid in the early 70's with a light bulb underneath.

Okay, good one Scott, now I'm not so convinced. Those sure look like they're modelled in place, lit from within and are not CGI.

Hmmmmm........



Bob

BTW, I love the models built for "From The Earth To The Moon" and "The Aviator".

Not sure why anyone would think its CGI, its pretty clear in the first photo its a physical object painted.

Its good to see that using minatures is still going strong with non-stop CGI getting so overused there's nothing 'special' in the effects anymore. Hell you could simply change the software and Star Wars episode 3 can become the Princess bride in 5 minutes.

At first I thought it was CGI, as they do use some at the end of the Ad. However, I'm now convinced it even mentions 'static explosions' on the website. While i'm not over-awed at the detail in the dio (understanable considering the scale) i'd love to know how they managed to pull these off!

James

Direct centre of the image, Big black shape.

This would be the thing in the actual diorama.

Wow. I literally joined this site last night to ask virtually this same exact question.

After looking at this diorama extensively I also concluded that the explosions are in fact 'real' in the sense that they are 3D and not computer generated. So my question is how exactly would you go about making fiery explosions like the ones in the Halo diorama? I've read through the wire frame/cotton ball technique Don Franklin uses for flame thrower flame, so that is obviously one method that could be used with some minor tweaking. That would also work perfectly for any exploding shells or smoke. Though instead of using reds, yellows, and oranges, the cotton would just have to be painted using tans and browns (something I'm sure a lot of you already knew). Those are the 'easy 'ones though, I'm looking to try and tackle the big fiery ball of gas type of explosions.

I'm in search of something that will yield a more translucent looking explosion that can be lit internally, so the cotton method isn't going to work here. I was thinking that some clear type of resin that is either dyed, or painted using glass paints, could probably be used to achieve that effect, as far as the color aspect goes anyways. The part I can't seem to figure out a real good way to duplicate would be the shape of the explosion itself. So far one of the only ideas I've had, and it is a very bizarre one, would be to use cauliflower cut to shape to make a mold. Whether or not it is even possible to make a mold of cauliflower is beyond me though. But just looking at the vegetable it does look seem to vaguely resemble an expanding ball of gas and I think with some tweaking it just might work as the shape of an explosion. I was thinking that it could be made to be at least partially hollow so that it could then be lit from the inside. Other than cauliflower I guess there is always the old-fashioned sculpt it from scratch method, one in which I'm not very good So does my cauliflower method sound at all reasonable to you more experienced guys, or am I way off the mark here? I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how to go about this.

@A-Train - Scott, that's definately a 'boom' taking shape there, good catch. It looks like it's a dark plastic or resin shape that could be lit from within. Cool.....



Bob

What ever there made of, they look like there lit up from the inside.

It is a possibilty that they've been lit up.

Although i'm sure we'll find out at one point.

Proof that the smoke was also static, and not CGI.
Circled in red, two explosions.



Here are the explosions in the real thing.

Just go to the New Deals Studio site and look under gallery. It says they made EVERYTHING including the smoke and explosions. A friend of mine showed me a neat trick for recreating explosions and it looks similar to some of the ones in the Halo diorama.

I think it is a static model.
Although I have yet to try modeling an explosion ( although am planning on trying a dio with one) It doesnt seem too compicated to get a decent, believable result.
Using several layers of clear resin molded ontop of eachother, and layers underneath painted and lit from the inside can give a decent explosion effect i believe, as for smoke and dust, they got very good results in the dio using what appears to just be cotton, although it would probably only work well with thick concentrations of smoke.
Also the explosion in the dio doesnt look all that great (as said, modeling one is hard) if they used CGI im sure it would have looked better
Also Don Franklin seems to have gotten a good flame thrower effect using cotton in his feature on this site.