buildings falling?

[wes]

I need to create a shot of a skyline of a city and have the building fall like they are being destroyed....make it look like some demo team took them down. The shot is from one angle and no movement. How can this be done. I was thinking of creating it in After Effects where the sky is seperate from the buildings but not sure how to make it look real.

[majormorgan]

You will be surprised what you can do in aftereffects with 3D layers.

I would first of all make flat textures in photoshop of the building. Front back top left right. Use real photos and amend them so that you have them flat. Save them as pngs.

I would then create a comp called building and import the pngs. Clicking on the 3d layer button for each I would then assemble the building, rotating and placing the sides where they should be.

Then create your master comp which will have the street, the sky etc... and put the building comp into this. Choose the button for the building comp layer that keeps the 3D in tact. Now you can move this building around and it will keep its 3 dimensions. rotate it etc...

When it comes to breaking you could make 2 building comps. A top and a bottom. In the top you have the building pngs but you cut them jagged. Make sure you have the same jagged edge for the bottom, just the opposite ends. In fact if you keep your pngs the same hegight as uncut ones, just transparent in the cut area [below for the top, above the bottom one] then you can copy the building you made eariler and just replace the images. you can then place bottom building in exactly the same place as top building and it will line up visually. Then you can break it apart and have the top fall.

Be sure to add in dust clips, lighting etc to help blend it all in

Enjoy!

Richard
The Major

[ProfessorU]

3d might be overkill for this effect, since your shot is stationary. Lots of dust is a good idea. I'd probably try some warp effects with some homemade building layers from photoshop.
I'd pick one building and have it pancake, whichever is the most prominent. The rest could be a simpler 2-piece effect like MajorMorgan suggests.

[majormorgan]

Yeah ProfessorU's got a point. The bulk should be simple, but one or two heroes buildings in aftereffects 3D could really add production values and be the focus of the action.

Great idea Proffessor !

Thanks
Richard
The Major

[wes]

not sure if I know what you mean on making them fall looking real. What do you mean by cutting the buildings?

[majormorgan]

I'll post some images and a quick test later to show you what I mean by cutting. IT will be crude for speed. Thanks

Richard
The Major

[wes]

awesome! I was looking at some stock footage of buildings being demo'ed and it looks like the more dust you use, the better.

[kanasonic]

there is one I tried
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTgaCSxhbB0

[tcindie]

Seems to me you could probably do this pretty easily with the shatter effect (Andrew Kramer used it in his recent death of a planet tutorial).. add plenty of dust either practical dust composited in, or particle dust (or perhaps a combination of the two) and you should be good to go.

I'd put each building onto its own layer, that way you can have multiple buildings toppling over at different times with all their pieces interacting together. If you wanted just part of the front of a building to fall away, you could hide a layer with that buildings remains behind it, so when it crumbles you see the remains left standing.

The more you tweak it, and more little details you add the better you'll sell the shot I think.

[tcindie]

there is one I tried
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTgaCSxhbB0

That looks like a good start.. the pole looks very fake once it gets close to the ground, and some of the debris didn't look quite right. It felt like the gravity wasn't quite normal or something.. also adding a little camera shake on the impact of that pole would be nice, or have it hit and smash the cars. :)

[ProfessorU]

That looks decent, but the whole thing looks like CG. I like my effects a little grittier.

[richke]

there is one I tried
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTgaCSxhbB0


the building and the exploding fireball were amazing!!! I agree about the pole....damn i need this software.

Were the buildings separate layers? A layer of the undamaged builing then one of the destroyed...after the effect came in. But how did you do it with a moving cmaera...move the separate layers i would imagine....but that must have been a chore?

[kanasonic]

I took a picture then made version of the picture where building was damaged. I also used sky replacement. Stone from the wall, pole and bricks made with 3d max and smoke and camera moves are made with after effects.

[x-angel]

Looks good.. I agree about the pole.

The only thing I would add is when the meteor hits, there should be a lot more smoke. It's a speeding artifact from outer space( I am guessing), and should produce more smoke than a kitchen fire. :) I am not saying that to be negative...just to point out realism.

Looks good though.