Ghostbusters FX?

[ShadesMcPherson]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum but not really new to 3D work. A bit of history-

I did a lot of 3D work in high school using 3D Studio Max 3.1 (yes, it wasn't "3dsmax" yet) and still remember all of the basics, but haven't really touched it heavily in years. I mainly focus in 2D work now, using after effects and programs like that.

My question is this. How would I go about making a proton pack styled effect in 3DSMax? I have 3DSMax 2010, as well as the most recent release of Blender and know my way (more or less) through both.

I need it to look like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AlkXIllrJc) but in 3D so I can rotate around it. I've got the texturing portion down thus far, I just can't get it to move right, and I really don't feel like hand animating. Are there any modifiers I can use to help me achieve the effect I need?

I tried both Wave and Ripple, and while they work for the most part, I really need the starting point to not move up and down with the rest. I tried using the falloff settings on Wave but it didn't really work to my liking.

Also, if anyone can help me out with getting the lightning to spiral around the beam I'd be eternally grateful.

I know, it's a tall order, but I'm not asking for someone to do this for me. I just need some guidance in the right direction and I've always looked at this site for outstanding work in the past.

Thanks a ton in advance!

- Jeff

[Nupsi]

You could use a noise modifier upon a poly select-modifier with soft selection. Than add a Noise Float-Controller to the Scale-Variable using the curve editor. A strength between 15 and 30 should work fine - depending on your scene scale.
Another way would be using pflow.

Let me know if you need any further details.

[Neil_F01]

what you want to do is create a bone structure along the mesh that you have for the beam.. and side beams..

then add a skin modifier and then play around with the weights.. so that the mesh changes..

i can bosh together a little run through if you like..

[ShadesMcPherson]

Nupsi-Thanks for the reply. I had never known about the poly select. SO useful with this. Instead of noise I just applied a wave modifier, but now it won't save my keyframe data. I set a keyframe at the beginning with the phase at 0, then change the phase at the end of the timeline, set a key but when I scrub back or hit play it just acts as if I never changed it. Any ideas?

Neil- A run though would be amazing! Thanks so much!

[Neil_F01]

yeah cool.. i'll do a vid of what id do.. a bit later on today.. just woke up.. so not feeling the 3d vibe yet... think i might watch two and half men or dexter or something first.. who knows..

[Neil_F01]

right i am trying to upload the video.. but youtube is being g4y as F8ck... it keeps saying movie lenght too long.. which is weird as the video is only like 17 mins...

and i have uploaded other videos to my youtube page that are like an hour long.. so i dont get it..

am now tryin to upload it onto my facebook page..

once its up.. i'll send the link.. and attach the work file.. so you can see for yourself..

[Neil_F01]

here you go dude.. hope it helps

http://www.facebook.com/video/video....38459&comments

[ShadesMcPherson]

Neil-

Wow. Thank you so much. I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate you going to the length you did for me. I'll be sure to post my results when my first version is done! Again, thank you so much.

[Neil_F01]

thats cool... no worries.. glad to be of assistance..