Zachary Lauri
Day / Night Cycle
1
I always begin my projects with experimentation and testing to get accustomed with the task at hand. Seeing as I was crafting a lighting cycle I configured different colors and angles to inspect unique combinations and possible errors.
2
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When I was initially creating the Day / Night cycle was tough as I have never coded a VFX without graphing yet it was a fun learning experience that helped me understanding lighting and shadows.
3
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A special trait about night time is the stars that are able to rotate with or against the moon. Properly embodying that feature was difficult as I had to also juggle star transparency which made for a more distinctive experience.
4
The coding is built upon separated sections of Time Settings, Current Time, Sun Settings, Moon Settings, and Stars. All these sections have their own values incorporating graphs, sliders, and Booleans to ultimately come together and create the Day / Night cycle. Alongside this coding the sun and moon are separated light sources that needed to gradually mellow out during sunset or sunrise to smoothly integrate the viewer from contrasting lighting.
5
After days of examining, tweaking, along with getting proper feedback, I was finally able to create the vision I set upon when starting this VFX and like always was excited to share my work after properly learning a new skill.