UE4 VFX - Conjuring the Destroyer

Jimster092

Hey guys! I concepted an effect that I plan to create in Unreal Engine 4. This effect involved an abandoned platform (probably found on an isolated chasm), which has the ability to summon a dragon/dragon ability. Once activated, the platform will beat 3 times. Right before the third beat, energy will be drawn towards the center, releasing a beam from the center. At the peak of the beam, a dragon-like figure will burst outwards, completing the summon. The aftermath will be a broken platform, with a gaping whole that no one will dare look into.

The one thing that will be a big challenge for me will be the smokey figure. I'm planning to model a dragon's head, neck and wings in order to emit smoke and fire from it within FumeFX.

Feedback and critiques will always be welcome. Wish me luck!

Jimster092

Hey guys, I thought I'd bring this one back from the grave. I've managed to finish my first iteration of it. I definitely deviated some things from the concept but hopefully, it communicates well to viewer. Let me know what you guys think!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzng7Puc_Sk

Hefe

I really like the idea and especially how the heartbeat and visual effect play together!

However, I think this is a bit too fast at the end. The character appears and disappears bit too fast, and it would be nice to see smoke a bit longer, maybe even after everything else is over. Also, the little explosion right before the beams shoot out of that platform looks weird, as it goes only along "the ground". I'd rather see it explode more upwards from the platform (not straight up, in an angle).

Overall this looks really good! I feel like I'm complaining about tiny little things. Also, this is only my opinion.

Great work!

Dan Powell

Really cool effect. I absolutely love the 'beating' thing you've done with it!

I do agree with Hefe - it would be nice to see that dragon's head for a few seconds more. The timing of the beating is perfect for me, and it really feels like something is trying to break free - just slow down the end a bit to make the 'escape' more epic.

Jimster092

Thanks for the feedback guys! I'll try to incorporate those into the next iteration @Hefe, for the little explosion, are you talking about the ring that expands outwards?

Kbrom12

Ha that's pretty cool looking, always love particles like this.

Hefe

@Jimster092  Yes. Okay, it's not so little. My bad, sorry about that

Jimster092

@Hefe , lol ahhh okay got it. I think I'll make a change to replace that ring with a different radial element. Stay tuned!

Jimster092

Ok folks, here is an update on the effect. I added some tertiary colors of pinks and purples to give a more magical feel, as well as convey some more color variety. I added some more elements to the initial explosion and made a few tweaks to the timing. Got rid of the camera shake to focus on the effect more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jWqHbiNp5U

Jimster092

Here is my third iteration on this effect. I gotta say, that I really like the difference from just last iteration. I feel the colors are nice and harmonized. Hopefully I didn't over do it. I'm hoping to be on the final stretch of this effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVMrNv81XGc

Jimster092

So here is another iteration, where it's a lot more different from my previous iterations. I wanted to rework the effect to a point where the effect was more cohesive to a dragon theme instead of just putting together pretty assets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-ZmoK9JggU

Jimster092

I finally got a chance to go over the iteration in 2D and this is what I am looking to accomplish through the awesome feedback that i received. I chose to piggy back off the idea of the egg-orb that anticipates the explosion with collecting energy. For the end transition, I'm going to play with the either dissolving the dragon away or having the dragon perform a material transition to an actual dragon (i'm leaning towards an actual dissolve).

Lucospade

The rhythm of the beating at the start seems super jarring to me. It happens way too fast I think. I think it would work better if you slowed it down and made it more akin to a heart beating - in twos. Beat beat ... beat beat ... beat beat.

Jimster092

Here's another update on this effect: I added some flames to pair off with the wings and extended the timing on the dragon phase to give the climax some more screen time.

For the beginning, I didn't really want to extend the timing of the beats because i felt it would take away from the build the followed the beats. Thanks for your insight though @Lucospade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDZlP89hWg

Jimster092

Here's the finished product. It took many iterations but it's to a point that can call it finished. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0geTjprjqIM

Bruno Afonseca

NICE! I really like the timing and the breakdown. The background in the presentation is a bit odd though with that line on the top, and also the framing.
The dragon pose looks a lil bit silly with his legs spread open and a bit too symmetrical, it's hard to make it out whether it's facing the camera or the other way around.
I'd play around with camera animation (check out the final fantasy summons, they do this super well) to make both the thumping more intense and to frame the dragon in a more threatening way. Also you could make good use of vector fields and gpu particles to make the dragon dissolving a bit more satisfying, right now it looks too gentle.
But really good work all around Glad to see some vfx here!

Jimster092

Hey @Bruno Afonseca, thanks for the feedback! Maybe I could've made another portion of the video with some fancy camera animation like you said, since it definitely is in that realm of dramatic summonings. 
I did use vector fields for those dissolving particles, but I could've probably tweaked some numbers on the tightness or re-simulated a more interesting vector field.
I'll make sure to keep these notes for the next effect I'm making. Glad you liked it!

Blade113

nice job

cmc444

very cool. I love the orb explosion!

Jimster092

Thanks guys!