'Den'
(VSFX-350, Deborah Fowler, Spring 2024)
The goal for this project was to utilize Houdini software to create non-key-framed procedural animation with believable motion. The scene uses VEX code, particle simulation and expressions for the movement of the centipedes, as well as simple modeling for the environment.
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Houdini - centipede simulation and modeling, scene building
Nuke - color correction
Responsible for all aspects
First, a particle system in a DOP network is used to drive the direction the centipedes are moving in. Essentially, the particles move at roughly identical speeds while maintaining distance from each other.
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Next, I trail points behind the driving particles which create the structure of the body. The individual elements of the centipede (head antennae, body, legs, back legs) are then copied to their respected positions.
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Last, for the movement of the legs, I manipulate each point's orient quaternion with a simple sin() wave and an offset.