Avalanche of Shiny Rocks ‼️‼️‼️
This one involved i think around 500,000 of these little rocks for the simulation if i remember correctly.
Took some trickory to make sure he didnt get hit #gorillatag #VertexFBX #Blender #VFX #animation
Hey everyone! So, you saw my post about that massive Gorilla Tag shiny rocks simulation? I wanted to dive a little deeper into how I managed to pull off an avalanche of nearly half a million sparkling pebbles without my character getting completely buried. When I first started thinking about this project, the idea of creating such a dynamic visual for Gorilla Tag was both exciting and a little daunting. My journey began in Blender, which is my go-to for 3D modeling and animation. For this 'shiny rocks' effect, the particle system was my best friend. Setting up a simulation with so many individual elements—500,000 is no joke!—requires careful planning to ensure your computer doesn't just give up. I started by creating a simple rock mesh, focusing on making it look suitably 'shiny' with the right material properties. Think about how light reflects off different surfaces; that's key to getting that sparkle. The biggest challenge, and what I meant by 'trickery,' was ensuring the main Gorilla Tag character wasn't impacted by the falling rocks. You can’t just let physics take over without consequence! I used a combination of collision objects and force fields in Blender. Essentially, I created an invisible shield around the character that repelled the rocks just enough to create the illusion of near misses, without actually colliding. It's all about making it look chaotic but controlled. Fine-tuning the collision margins and particle interaction settings took a lot of trial and error. For anyone looking to experiment with similar VFX or animation for their own Gorilla Tag creations, my biggest tip is to start small. Don't jump straight to 500,000 particles! Begin with a few hundred, understand how the physics bodies interact, and then gradually scale up. Experiment with different material shaders – a metallic shader with a high roughness can give a great 'shiny' look without being too overwhelming. Also, don't underestimate the power of good lighting. How light hits those tiny rocks can make or break the visual impact. The rendering process itself was a beast, given the sheer number of elements. Optimizing the scene, using instancing for the rocks, and carefully managing memory were crucial. The end goal was always to create something truly immersive and eye-catching within the Gorilla Tag universe. It's amazing what you can achieve with a bit of patience and a lot of Blender tutorials! I hope this gives you a better insight into the process behind my shiny rocks avalanche. What kind of VFX challenges have you tackled lately?
