Satellite Scene

In order to make our scene as realistic as possible and better establish the environment in which the audience is positioned, we considered it important that we include secondary objects/props. Because of the complexity of the satellite as an object, and the limited screen time that we planned for it to have we decided to base our satellite on an existing model that we found on an online 3D Model library. Whilst we used this model for the basis of our satellite, we did not think that the textures or overall shape of the satellite were entirely believable or realistic. We therefore decided that our best course of action was to customise the satellite extensively so it was as close to our aesthetic preference as possible. We therefore stripped the satellite model of all its materials, embarking on creating our own to apply to its different parts. We felt that this gave us more creative control and increased the extent to which we could achieve our aesthetic vision.

Although we had the basis of our satellite using the static 3D model, we also customised it a great deal further in terms of animation. As can be seen in the screenshot below, we keyframed the movement in terms of the position co-ordinates in order to make the satellite move towards the moon smoothly. Like much of our other Cinema 4D work however, this required an extensive level of rendering and trial and error, as for us, it was imperative that the satellite was moving at the correct slow speed in order to achieve the most realistic look possible. 

After animating the movement of the satellite however, we come across the most time consuming element of this scene, which also happened to be one of its most minor aspects. We endeavoured to create a small flashing light on the top of the satellite to add a further aspect of movement, making it closer to mirroring a real piece of astro technology. The process of doing this was as follows. Firstly, we had to use the materials tab in order to create a new material for the glowing light. Specifically, this material included Luminance, to make the material appear as if it is emitting light, Glow, to make the button radiate, and also colour, to give it it's red colour. After this, we had to keyframe each aspect of the material simultaneously in order to achieve glow and luminance at the same time as the button 'flashes'. Whilst visually this created a fairly convincing result, we found that the luminance on the button was only creating the impression of light, rather than casting real light beams. We could tell because the satellites remaining surfaces was not reflecting this light. In order to negate this issue, we had to create a red 'omni' light which we hid inside the button, keyframing it at the exact same intervals as the luminance and glow in order to create the impression that the button is radiating light sequentially as it glows. Although this was a particularly lengthy process, we feel as though it was necessary, as the minor details such as this are what contribute to making the piece feel as realistic as possible.