newbie desperately looking for help - 3D movie

[zeviance]

To whom it might concern,

Hi and thank you all for reading my post. I'm planning on making a movie based on the fiction Jurassic Park. Basically all I want to do is to take real life films while blending computer rendered dinosaurs into the film. Based on my
research, I have figured out using Half Life models could be one of the very few choices, as I'm completely know nothing about 3D modelling. Speaking of Half Life modelling, I got myself a raptor model from Half Life 1 and opened it with Half Life Model Viewer. The viewer runs smooth and I can record it by using screen capture program however I can not manage to zoom in or out, control and place the dinosaur as the way I want. Then I know I should create a black background map with Valve Hammer Editor and mount a HLTV to do the recordings BUT I have no idea on how to command/spawn/control the dinosaur in Half Life. Then I did some research on Half Life 2 but I can't find any raptor models for HL2, even so, I still have no idea on how to create a room environment that can let me to control, animate and record the dinosaur. Speaking of 3D, I have tried 3d studio max/milkshape/XSI and I still have no idea. I know my request is a bit random but please do me a flavour, I am desperately in need and I believe you guys are the only ones who are
capable of answering my concerns.

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Programs in hand:
Half Life 2
Counter Strike
Milk Shape
MDL Decompiler
Half Life Model Viewer 1.25 for Half Life 1
XSI 4.0
XSI 3.5 for HL2
3d Studio Max 8
Valve Hammer Editor 3.5
Steam(I don't have SDK for HL2...don't know why as

it doesn't show up at the tools menu.)
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Once again, very much for your help.
Best Regards,
Chris.

 

[crackhead]

what is the question exactly? also jurassic park is copyrighted and trademarked. and also a model from hl1 is goign to look alot worse than the original dinosaurs.

 

[zeviance]

umm actually I want to do know if I can control a mdl model manually and render its actions. No doubt hl1 model is going to look worse..however are there any
alternative choices? Keep in mind that I'm totally I newbie at 3d modelling and animations. Thanks for replying btw.

 

[mindless_moder]

Your pipeline as it is now will not work and i can gurantee it .. you might get a few shody composites out of the work flow but it WILL not entertain anyone not even the likes of Uwe Boll and here is why :

1) HL1 does not have production quality models and the engine's rendering system is FAR from being realistic you will find it extremely hard to match the lighting and shadowing in your live footage plates.

2) Animations made for games in that era are boring and reptetive so if u plan on making a movie solely based on predefined animations you're going to send ur audience straight to bed.

3) as far as i know the Valve Hammer Editor has no support for matte materials which makes the job of extracting shadow and lighting information that much harder.

but it seems like you're a dedicated individual so i really sugest that you take time and learn a few programs to help you realise this project. you only really need 3 tools for the project

-3ds max
-Adobe After effects
-Adobe Photoshop.

 

[zeviance]

what if I import the HL model to S3d max and do the animations and rendering overthere? Unfortunately I don't have much time left...the deadline for this project is going to be the end of May...

 

[Ti133700N]

Even if you have the correct tools, I doubt you can learn how to rig, animate and render something in Max, then do some compositing and produce a good looking and interesting video in 2 months. This is a good project but im affraid this is a bit too ambitious.

 

[zeviance]

may be you're right..but still I'll try to give it a go.... probably I gotta do some tricks with my video editor......
o anways, one more stupid question, how can I put the model in Half Life so that I can move it around from left to right?

 

[xC4RN4G3x]

dude....i havnt even touched animation and rigging. thats how scary it is!!!!!!!!!!!!! =O, and not only that but i don't know how to render realistic scenes(there are tons of tweaks u have to do to such as lighting, reflection(spec maps if u want), shadows, etc). i've really been contemplating about learning how to create realistic renders but the thought of it is pretty scary, going into the deep abyss of 3dsm can be a very frightening thought because it almost feels as if there is a unlimited amount of things you need to learn. just open up 3dsm and look at all the buttons and menus, that itself should be overwhelming. i am nowhere close to knowing how to use all the tools and utensils of 3dsm. and as this is a hl2 modding forums, most of us model in polygon edit mode(which is the only thing i'm decent at). beyond that it gets into the areas where professionals make a living creating realistic animations/renders/movies, whatever. but i am sure some of these people here can be of some help for some are very experienced indeed. nonetheless, with no knowledge of 3dsm you are pretty much screwed. sorry to be mean. :| not to mention, this is only 3dsm we are talking about, who knows what other programs you might have to use. but if ur really up to it, you should start learning....skip the actual modelling but you should start to learn how to animate/rig/whatever else u need. one more thing, hl1 models are gonna look ugly as hell.

 

[zeviance]

ummmmm let me show you guys something..
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7OWN92AI

 

[mindless_moder]

congrats mate ..you managed to take a screen cap from camtasia . now what ? . do you think that you can just overlay that onto a live film plate and the shadow and lighting information will just magically appear ?. hate to be harsh but ur just completely ignoring our advise .. a project of this magnitude will take many months of learning and many more years of practise . there are no loop holes.

 

[zeviance]

all in all I have to give up this project....sigh...

 

[Alexferris]

Well you're not exactly the dedicated type, are you?

 

[zeviance]

1. time is an important factor, honestly, I don't have enough time.
2. the rendering part is far more technical than I expected
3. quality of the movie is not even up to standard...
but still..I 'm figuring other possibilities... may be I should buy some plastic dinosaur heads and put up just the same as the one you see in Microsoft Office advertisement....with a cup of coffee in my right hand =\