[Riot Art Contest] - Kevin Leroy

Sirhaian

Hello everyone!

This will be my WIP thread for the Riot Contest, in the VFX category.
And this post will be updated as soon as new content is ready to be shared.



I am a 21yo belgian student studying video games. I recently found myself a new hobby: playing with particles. So, I decided to join the contest !
I'm mostly participating in order to learn from my mistakes...

I started working on this... eh... on the 18th, if I remember well? I have such a bad memory! ^^'


NEWS
======

FULL VIDEO (last WIP):

[vv]113196742[/vv]

Spell 1:

Anyway, here are my first WIPs. I am currently only working on the first spell, while thinking about the second one.

After a few hours of wondering which kind of spell I could create as a fan art, I decided to make a Karthus-like ultimate, but, instead of using souls, I'll be using the Power of the Storm !

Anyway, here are my first Refs and WIPs...





Here's an in-game Mock-Up:


GIF preview of the effect:



And here we go!
I just made a video too, so you can see the actual animation. Please remember, it's only a WIP. I'm currently working on the timing. And also, it's my first time working on this kind of project, so I started a bit in freestyle. ^_^'

Click the picture for a YouTube Link:



You can check out my website here: www.sirhaian.net
(It's still very humble, considering I only started the video games studies one year ago...)

I hope you liked this first WIP. I'll keep working on this and I'll keep you informed. Tell me what you think about it and what I should correct/modify/delete/add, etc. \o/

Spell 2:

Introducing the second spell... Please tell me your thoughts about it. ^^

Ezreal is all about energy. I love it. But I always thought that a Fiery Ezreal would be really cool! I always loved fire, and my main is Annie, so... Think of it as some kind of Annie x Ezreal mix.




For those who don't understand the channeling (and it's perfectly normal XD)... In fact, the first orbs of fire will appear first, followed by the second ones, then third, and so on.

In-game mock-up:


Global .gif:



Now, here's the latest video. NEEDS UPDATE !!

Click the picture for a YouTube Link:



Screenshots:



Stay tuned for more~! \^o^/

C.K.Shepherd

This is already a FANTASTIC WIP thread. Well done. I can't wait to see more results!

Sirhaian

NOTE: EVERYTHING DOWN HERE WILL BE PROGRESS WORK. THUS, OLD WORKS.
=========================================================================


Thank you! ^_^
Here's a new WIP of the "Enemy" view.
Made the rain thiner and made the fade out of the black clouds longer. Also added the main effect on the Electric Discharge, to add more impact.



I will upload a new video soon. Stay tuned. :icon60:

Lokii288

Looking really good. Can't wait to see it done. Have you thought about your second effect yet?

Sirhaian

Thanks!
I'm still thinking about the second effect... League of Legends is such a rich game that I can't decide what I could make next.
I'll tell you as soon as I've decided, and it shouldn't be that long.

Anyway, here's my today's WIP, a video where you can see the actual effect.

YouTube Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjwZ2Tp72Dw
(Updated in the original post)

And also, a new WIP of the Caster view.



Hope you'll like it, and please tell me what I should modify or correct.

Lokii288

Looking good man. I'm so mad that its taking me so long to get started on my effects! My only concern is that since parts of your effect are black and the background is so dark you're not getting to see some of the detail. I don't remember the specifics of the rules regarding BG's but can you lighten it up just a bit?

Sirhaian

Here's what they said about the background:

"Spheres and the background should remain un-textured.
They want your effects to be the highlight of this piece"

Thanks for pointing that out!
Here's a screenshot with a lighter background, and you're right, it looks better in my opinion.

Lokii288

Oh much better!

Sirhaian

Thank you!
I'll start working on the second spell a bit, so that I know where I'm headed. I'll keep working on the first one, but I want to pause it for some time. Then, I'll be able to see the mistakes and correct them.

I'll upload new WIPs asap!

Sirhaian

Now introducing the second spell.

Please tell me your thoughts about it.

Ezreal is all about energy. I love it. But I always thought that a Fiery Ezreal would be really cool! I always loved fire, and my main is Annie, so... Think of it as some kind of Annie x Ezreal mix.



For those who don't understand the channeling (and it's perfectly normal XD)... In fact, the first orbs of fire will appear first, followed by the second ones, then third, and so on.

I will update the original post with this new concept.

Some very early UE4 screenshots:

Sirhaian

Quick update on the first spell's target:



Added more lightning and impact.

sgtscience

Really nice stuff and awesome effects! I really like how you show your textures. I'm working on a VFX entry also and am venturing into Ue4 for It, so that is really cool. The electricity map with rgb is a really nice touch. I'd like to know how to do that :P

Sirhaian

Thank you! ^_^

For the RGB electricity map, I created a first electric arc in Photoshop, duplicated and modified it in each channel.



Then, in UE4, I use a sine to "randomize" the effect a bit, and I also use it to decide when to take the R or the B channel. Oh well, this is the way I do it, but I'm sure there are plenty of other and better ways to do this. If you know some, please tell me!


(Yeah, it's not very tidy, but it's fiiiiine )

Khaja

Looking finnneeeeeeee! no really good. The fiery ezereal though looks too realistic for Riots art style. First one looks ace but again tweaking to fit more with art style would be good. I can't really say how to tweak it to fit with art style as i'm no good with vfx stuff but thouht i'd mention it

Sirhaian

Yeah, thank you for your comment! This is the kind of comments I love!
I'll look into that, and I actually already thought about that issue, even though I am not sure how I could resolve it.
For the fiery Ezreal, I think it won't be "too" hard.
But electricity is hard to render in a cartoony/hand-painted style... I'll have to work on it for a bit.
I'll keep you updated. ^_^

Sirhaian

Adding some references for the cartoony electric style...

Sirhaian

And here's today's video WIP:

YouTube Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVAe-cc0DRM

I tried to give a "cartoon-er" feeling to it, and to amplify the impact. Please tell me your thoughts.

And also, some WIPs:

Caster:


Target:


Hope you'll like it, and don't hesitate to leave a comment!


EDIT: New textures preview:

Flylink

Ouaw great work man!

Lokii288

I like the breakdowns, great to see how other people accomplish their work

Sirhaian

Thank you! ^_^
I'm trying to clean the animation a bit. Some details look a bit pixelated (especially the "explosion" part).
And I'll keep working on the Ezreal VFX! I'm inspired by that one! *^*

EDIT: Thank you, Lokii!
I thought it might be interesting for some people to know how I am working, and it might be helpful if someone has a better workflow or idea. We could share it, and I'd be able to learn a lot from it. And it's actually my primary objective here. xD

Rusty_Gvfx

You might want to turn the bloom pretty much off. League doesn't have bloom like Unreal. If it has any. Turning that waaaaay down will probably make it look a lot more like league.

Sirhaian

I agree with you.
I'll work on that too. ^_^

Sirhaian

Small update:
Thanks to Rusty_Gvfx, it does indeed look a bit more cartoony!
Still needs some tweaking, but it's looking more like what I want.



And now with a .gif preview:


Working on the glow removal... x)

huynhke

Your timing is BEAUTIFUL. I really really love this.

THendersonVFX

This is just my personal preference, but I feel like your channel should be shorter and the release longer. Seems about 3 seconds for charge, and 1 for release. I'm still learning timing in fx, but as a gamer, I'd feel more satisfied if my end was faster and my enemies took more damage. Especially with how fast League plays, the charge should feel fast.

Again, just my un-experienced 2 cents

huynhke

THendersonVFX wrote: »

This is just my personal preference, but I feel like your channel should be shorter and the release longer. Seems about 3 seconds for charge, and 1 for release. I'm still learning timing in fx, but as a gamer, I'd feel more satisfied if my end was faster and my enemies took more damage. Especially with how fast League plays, the charge should feel fast.

Again, just my un-experienced 2 cents

Hey, so I totally understand what you're saying. But I think he's going with the actual in-game skill timing. The ultimate skill for this character actually does have a long charge (it's probably close to 3 seconds) and then there's a huge release burst

Here's the reference! (if you're curious) http://youtu.be/jx_i_E8WCfo?t=32s
It starts at 32 seconds, and he's channeling the red energy.

Sirhaian

Thank you!
And yes, I'm going with the actual skill.
It needs to be channeled for three seconds, then there's a brief silence, then the blast.

Sirhaian

Here's a very early preview of the Ezreal VFX. Very very early. Just so you get the idea.



For now, there's no timing. The little ignition particles will grow bigger as they charge, and I'll add some kind of small explosion for each when fully charged. I also plan to add some trail on the ground, as if it got burnt by the wave. Still researching about the impact effect.

EDIT:

New GIF, with a bit more timing. Still very early, though. Got to go to school, so I can't continue right now, sadly. xD


And I finally found out how to deactivate the Bloom in UE4. *party*

THendersonVFX

Wow, derp. Forgot you were going off Karthus' ult

*crawls back under rock*

Sirhaian

Ah ah don't worry, it's fine! xD

Lokii288

The continued flashing of your emitter points leads me to believe that they are going to keep firing even though it doesn't. Might be cool actually to have a barrage instead of just a single wave even though I know the one wave is more true to Ezreal. Just something to think about.

Sirhaian

Yeah, I already worked on that issue one of my friends reported.
I'll upload a new WIP soon. ^^

Lokii288

lol oop, my bad then haha

Sirhaian

Naaah, it's fine! I'm looking forward to critiques and comments, so... Thank you! x3

And here's a new WIP just for you:


As noted on the gif, it's extremely experimental. Just trying out some stuff, like the fire trail decals. Gotta work a lot on this. *^*

Lokii288

Nice, I like it! The trail is really nice too. Reminds me of Dragon Shyv

Sirhaian

Oooh! I agree, didn't think about her, but now that you mention it, it does look like it. xD

Lokii288

Can you fade out the edges a little more though? Looking at it again I feel like its too perfect of a rectangle shape. The sides look like they were cut off with a knife. Some nice feathering maybe?

I have enough time between waiting for playblasts at work to check out everyone's progress but not enough to start my own haha XD

Sirhaian

Awww! xD
Yeah, I will feather everything, and add some nice particle effects to it.
Right now, I'm working on some kind of glow that would follow the main wave, and add some other effects. Well, I'll add tons of small effects, to give more volume to the scene. ^^

Lokii288

nice. Lookin forward to it!

THendersonVFX

Maybe add some distortion to either follow the particles as they move, or slightly delayed after? Like how there is some distortion at the very end of Lux's Final Spark. If it's hot enough to heat up the ground, it would for sure have some heat coming off the top of it too. Since nothing is textured for our scenes it would have to be intense with a lot of noise to be noticeable though, if you did go that rout

THendersonVFX

Also, it may read better if the fireballs starting at the ends of the initial arc persisted. In your current gif, only the center fireballs grow in intensity, and your furthest ones stay small and fade out. But when the effect releases, the projectile arc has all of its fireballs the same size and intensity. I like the progression from the corners of the arc to the center, but my brain is expecting one large projectile from the very center

Sirhaian

I love the distortion idea! I'll test it for the next WIP, thank you!
And I agree with you on the fact that there should be one large projectile in the center! Didn't notice that. Thank you again!
I'll work on that and keep you updated! ^_^

Sirhaian

New WIP. Unfortunately, I can't find out how to create a distortion. I used to make a lot of them back in UDK, but as we're now working with the PBR, I just have no idea how to re-create that type of effect using particles... =/

Anyway, I modified a few things. Enjoy.



Someone just told me the smoke at the back shouldn't be there, and they're right.
Gonna work on this. Will keep the effect, but will modify it. ^^

THendersonVFX

I love the smoke and fire behind the sphere, really gives it more weight!

Sirhaian

Yeah, that "was" my thought too. XD
But as the explosion comes from the front of the sphere, there should be nothing behind it.
I'll move it on the sides and see how it looks.

Lokii288

I agree though I love the back blast. Pushed out to the sides around the sphere would look pretty great. With some swirling.... I almost wanna make you a slick smoke flipbook in Houdini haha.

Sirhaian

Ah ah, that would be great! xD
I'll see what I can achieve with the UE cascade.

Sirhaian

New .GIF:


I wish I could make the distortion effect. It was sooo simple in UDK. Why does it look impossible in UE4? xD

Lokii288

Lookin really good

Sirhaian

So, today's final WIP:





And a video:

YouTube Link:


Sorry for the bad video quality. I'll make sure the next one will be better.
For now, there's no impact. I'll work on it tomorrow.
I'll now add all of this to the main post. x)
Stay tuned for more~ ^_^

Sirhaian

Adding some refs...