English > Forum in English
Pictures of Solaris
Dom:
[justify]I watched recently a TV show called ALIEN PLANET, it is the story of an imaginary expedition on the planet Darwin 4 in the near futur to study creatures living on this world and which is carried out by by two probes-robots : Leo (for Leonardo da Vinci) and Ike (for Isaac Newton). One of the creatures of Darwin 4 is the Amoebic Sea , a vast area of dark gelatinous substance which evokes strongly the ocean of Solaris (however it does not cover all the planet, it have only the size of the of Switzerland). This show is based on the work of a very talented artist, Wayne Barlowe (an arbook called Expedition). It is obvious that Barlowe has read Solaris, the Amboebic Sea is a tribute to Lem's book. It is also said that the planet Darwin 4 orbit around two suns, like Solaris.[/justify]
Below, some pictures I extract from the DVD :
- picture 1 (http://signodom.club.fr/Solaris/Ressources/Alien%20Planet/Picture-1.JPG)
- picture 2 (http://signodom.club.fr/Solaris/Ressources/Alien%20Planet/Picture-2.JPG)
An overall view of the Amoebic Sea, from the prob Ike. Look very familiar. Even the sky have the good colour.
- picture 3 (http://signodom.club.fr/Solaris/Ressources/Alien%20Planet/Picture-3.JPG)
- picture 4 (http://signodom.club.fr/Solaris/Ressources/Alien%20Planet/Picture-4.JPG)
The Ameobic Sea spreads apendices to catch flying creatures, Ike must escape.
- picture 5 (http://signodom.club.fr/Solaris/Ressources/Alien%20Planet/Picture-5.JPG)
- picture 6 (http://signodom.club.fr/Solaris/Ressources/Alien%20Planet/Picture-6.JPG)
On the gelatinous surface of the Ameobic Sea lives huges creatures called the Emperor Sea Striders. They walk over the ameobic gel and feed on it through mouths on their feet.
[justify]I was astounded when I viewed the show, it is very close of my own vision of the protoplasmic ocean of Solaris. It give a good look of that could be the ocean in a movie. Beside that, the show is very good, its creators have succeeded to give life to a foreign planet with a whole ecosystem, in a realistic and scientific way. I think that lem would have liked it. If you have the opportunity, buy the DVD, it deserve it widely.[/justify]
The official website of the show ALIEN PLANET, produced by Discovery Chanel :
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/alienplanet/alienplanet.html
The article in Wikipedia about Wayne Barlowe :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Barlowe
Dom:
I have just updated my website, I added some new pictures and also videos.
Deckard:
Hi there our French Solarist!
It was quite interesting to watch your videos.I think you are the only one who's ever tried to visualize Solaris entities - and that's good for you!
I understand that all of the animiations you shared with us on your web page are just tests before something bigger, however a few things came to my mind when I was watching it:
a) Your ocean is static. There are a few examples of moving waves but they are not very explicite. I remember that Solaris ocean was not like a typical water, but more like a gel. So I think the movement should be more plastic. I also have one more suggestion: give it a try with transparency, so we could see some undersurface movements of that gel. This could be interesting. On the other hand I don't rememeber how transparent Solaris ocean was...
b) In your animations solarianas emerge from the ocean without disturbing nearby surface. Maybe you could emphasize some sort of surface tension (just like you did it in your stills "agilus" or "symetriade").
c) Try to include more natural movements in your videos. When you show the Solaris phenomenas show us also moving clouds in the sky, like you did it in one of the animations. Include moving surface as well. Try to use more light effects, because I didn't see any shadows (only reflections on the water).
d) You included red and blue day in your animations, so I see that you really pay attantion to details given in the novel. That's great! I like it!
You also updated your pictures of Solaris entities. There are also some with humans! You show hight difference this way - good job!
OK. These were my remarks. I understand your animations are only tests and nothing more so keep above remarks just as suggestions for your future works. I'm looking forward to your next updates.
CU
Deck
Dom:
Remarks are always welcome, thank you.
[justify]Indeed my ocean is static and I try to find a animated texture which can correspond to the substance whose the ocean is made. There is so much in my CGI software, it is necessary that I test them. I found one which resembles to tar and which gives an interesting result. I like the aspect of the ocean in Tarkovski's movie, it was certainly obtained by a simple process (a liquid filmed in slow motion).
Giving an effect of transparency to the matter is a good idea, this phenomenon appears in certain passages (in the testimony of Berton, buildings are visible under the surface of the ocean) but that poses a problem because the complexity of the animation is increased and thus the duration of calculation. The short sequences presented on my site taken each between one and two hours of calculation (with my new computer, which is however more powerful than the old one).
In my animations, there is not interaction between the solarianas and the surfaces of the ocean and it's my big problem. Currently the surface of the ocean is jute a plane surface with a texture, I do not know yet how to create a surface tension in CGI animation (in my fixed still pictures, I correct the joint between ocean and solarianas with a photoshop-like software). I work to solve this problem.
Right, the videos including natural movements, as those of the clouds, give much better results indeed. I have still some difficulty to parameterize correctly my animation software, there are many functions. For the shades, that depends on the position of the sun, I should be able to obtain shades more visible by modifying its position.
For the moment, I concentrate on the mimoides (they are less complex than the symetriades and move less than the agilus). I would like to manage to make a beautiful sequence of replication of clouds and perhaps even of an helicopter, with a larger picture size and a better quality. Afterwards, I'll go ahead for things more complex.
I bought recently a book entitled Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, by Wayne Barlowe, the artist who is at the origin of TV show Alien Planet, about which I spoke in a previous post. In this book, Barlowe illustrated 50 aliens from famous science fiction novels (including Solaris). But we see there only a general view of the planet and rudimentary drawings of a mimoide and two independent (see below). Wayne Barlowe is a very talented artist and I waited more from him. I was a little disappointed.[/justify]
Deckard:
According software you use for your works. Have you tried Blender3D?
This software is free! Yet it has an incredible potential.
CU
Deck
Nawigacja
[#] Następna strona
Idź do wersji pełnej