Snow

SpecialFX · Post by **SpecialFX** » Mon May 24, 2004 1:31 am

any have any idea how to make a fake snow storm nothing for a big area but maybe for a set?

U.S.Amateurfilmaker · Post by **U.S.Amateurfilmaker** » Mon May 24, 2004 1:49 am

3 choices...

1. Snow machine
2. bits of crushed up foam
3. CG Particles (ie: particle illusion, Combustion, etc.)

SpecialFX · Post by **SpecialFX** » Mon May 24, 2004 1:57 am

which would make the most realistic snow?

BrownCowStudios · Post by **BrownCowStudios** » Mon May 24, 2004 2:44 am

Take a guess...

The snow machine...

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Mon May 24, 2004 3:56 am

I like shredded styrofoam for filling up snowy scenes. Although it will stick to everything!

insert_coin · Post by **insert_coin** » Mon May 24, 2004 8:47 am

remember if you use cgi particles to track the camera movement and do the particles in 3d that way it will look authentic... oh and dont forget dof on the particles oh and interaction with the environment and actors... oh oh oh and get lots of ram to handle the hundreds of thousands of particles... but you dont need to goto that trouble particle illusion will do it but if the camera moves it will look like a cheesy christmas cartoon...

you know what to save time and effort? just buy a snow machine

SpecialFX · Post by **SpecialFX** » Mon May 24, 2004 9:44 pm

With styrofoam how would i make it look like its snowing other than getting on a ladder and dumping buckets of it?

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Wed May 26, 2004 6:51 pm

Aim one (or more) of those giant fans upwards, and angled into the shot, then dump the bucket of styrofoam into the air stream, so the "snow" fals down into the shot.

ssj3gohan · Post by **ssj3gohan** » Wed May 26, 2004 6:58 pm

you can get a nice air flow with 27 computer ventilators and guess what, I've got 'em! *freak*

ALove · Post by **ALove** » Wed May 26, 2004 8:59 pm

or buy gallons of that fake snow stuff.

SpecialFX · Post by **SpecialFX** » Wed May 26, 2004 9:17 pm

gallons of fake snow?you mean for a snow machine i dont really want to spend like 150 dollars or more on one.

ALove · Post by **ALove** » Wed May 26, 2004 9:43 pm

no that stuff they use on the dickens village

SpecialFX · Post by **SpecialFX** » Thu May 27, 2004 2:01 am

anyone know where or how much to get of it?

Justin · Post by **Justin** » Thu May 27, 2004 2:38 am

you could wait seven months and use the real stuff.

tallman_house_pictures · Thu May 27, 2004 3:52 am

lol.............I don't have that problem. We have smow for like 8 months (well.......there's still 4 months of no snow)

Gyro · Post by **Gyro** » Thu May 27, 2004 5:02 am

Corn Flakes spray painted white work excellent. Just check "It's a Wonderful Life."

justsomeguy · Post by **justsomeguy** » Thu May 27, 2004 5:07 am

doesnt detonationfilms.com have snow you can add in? maybe its just rain. but that would be hard to use if the camera is moving

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Thu May 27, 2004 6:35 am

Gyro wrote:Corn Flakes spray painted white work excellent. Just check "It's a Wonderful Life."

Sounds tedious! Also seems like a waste of food.

The best way is to collect the punched out holes from the 3-hole puncher device. That really is the best way, costs nothing more and looks decent!

justsomeguy · Post by **justsomeguy** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:32 pm

Sounds tedious! Also seems like a waste of food.

The best way is to collect the punched out holes from the 3-hole puncher device. That really is the best way, costs nothing more and looks decent!

that sounds like it woul;d take even longer. where would you get all those holes? and they are often different colors, corn flakes actaully sounds easier and faster

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Fri May 28, 2004 6:15 am

No, just collect the holes whever you empty the puncher. You will be thoroughly surprised how many holes you will get. If it comes down to crack time, then just go to an office building and empty all the office devices! That would give you a bag full right there!

Corn flakes don't fall like snow either, and that's an expensive way to do it.

insert_coin · Post by **insert_coin** » Fri May 28, 2004 10:13 am

the relevant issue here is cost how much do you want to pay?
Nothing-CG
Something-throw *fake* snow in front of some fans
Heaps-hire a snow machine

depends on how important the film your making is. if your not going to complete it show it and earn money from it whats the point? also you could change your shots to more close ups so you dont have to do so much work for one long shot that will look okay. but saying that it depends on what mood your trying to get from the scene... so i need more info.

justsomeguy · Post by **justsomeguy** » Sat May 29, 2004 12:36 am

yeah so if youre decently good at cg and dont want to pay go with cg.

seantree · Post by **seantree** » Sat May 29, 2004 4:57 am

Just use CG and render the snow in different layers so you dont have to eat up all of your PC's resources rendering the whole anim at once. Most 3d apps have a layer option. You could also render a larger image than needed then just shift the image to left or right in your compositng app, vary the anim timing and get the layers using one sequence. That would also allow for quick DOF in your comp app.

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Sat May 29, 2004 7:05 am

Oh!? And just how much do think it would cost to collect punched out holes???

insert_coin · Post by **insert_coin** » Sat May 29, 2004 6:32 pm

The cost would be time... and I dont think he has enough time to pay for virtue