Animating a Lightning Bolt

This tutorial will show one way to animate a lightning bolt in Bryce ( 5 or 4 ).
It uses Bryce 5, Photo Impact 5.

This type of animation is done using a 2D plane as an image object. Although Bryce does not support importing avi or QT animations to use as a background or material, the same effect can be done by creating an image sequence and importing it using the Picture Library as an image material applied to the same 2D plane.

Creating the Image Sequence

This tutorial uses Photo Impact 5, but it can also be done using any plug-in filter that produces lightning type effects, or the images can be drawn manually in an image editing program.

Create a new image with the dimensions of 1024X1024 set the background color to black, ( the dimensions could also be 512X512 for lower resolution settings ). Save the image ( while still blank ) to a folder, and name it lightning_000. Then the lighting effect generator is opened ( Effects/Creative/Lighting ).


Before any lightning images are made some planning needs to be done, 1. how long will the lighting strike last, 2. what frame rate will be used. For this tutorial the lightning strike will last for one second, at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. So in the keyframe text block type or scroll in ( 1/30 ) . This will automatically create a lightning strike that last for 30 frames.


Then with the frame control slider set all the way to the left ( frame 1 ) hold the mouse over the bottom of the lightning bolt in the preview window, when the cursor changes to 4 arrows, click and drag the bolt all the way to the top of the preview window.


Then move the frame slider all the way to the left, so the text block reads 30/30 ( frame 30 ). And grab the bottom of the lightning bolt again and drag it down towards the bottom of the preview window.


The frame slider can be moved to any frame, then a keyframe added and the properties of the lightning can be altered/adjusted using the Basic or Advance Properties Menus. This is where effects like flashing brighter, or fading out need to be done.


Once the sequence has been made it needs to be rendered to the blank black image, one frame at a time. So set the current frame to 1, and press the Ok button. Then save the image to the folder ( using Save As option ) naming it lightning_001. Undo the lightning effect ( so the image is solid black again ) then go back into the lightning effect generator and move the frame slider so frame 2 is the current frame and hit OK. Name this image lightning_0002 when it's saved as. Undo and repeat the process until all the frames have been rendered and saved with the appropriate name.



Importing the Sequence and Setting Up the Animation

Before setting-up the sky and lighting in the scene, one of the lightning images need to be imported and used as a test guide, for set-up the sky & lighting. So create a 2D square plain, and position/rotate it so it's facing the camera correctly.


In the Material Lab, activate texture one in the Diffuse and Ambient Color Channels and Transparency Optic Channel.


Then enable Blend Transparency mode, and disable all Shadow Options.


Set the mapping mode to Parametric, Once this is done go into the Picture Library.


Load one of the lightning images, by clicking in a blank space, ( an image with full branches is best for testing ). Then copy and paste it into the middle image window. Exit the Picture Library for the Image to be used.


Exit the Materials Lab, and do a test render. Load or create a sky setting to be used, adjusting it so the lightning is at least partially visible. If needed add a light ( directional lights with ranged fall off work best for this ). Place and adjust the light so it illuminates the lightning, ( adjusting the ambient channel can also help ).


Once the sky and lighting is set-up, the animation can be set-up. On the animation set-up menu, set the length and frame rate for the animation. The frame rate should match the time and rate discussed when making the image sequence. Here the lightning strike animation will last for 1 seconds, at 30 FPS.


Using auto key and ticker marks at every frame will make the set-up easier.


With this done set the current time to the begging of the animation, (frame 0), select the 2D Plane and delete any keyframes that my have been auto set by holding the Ctrl,Alt, Shift key and pressing the delete keyframe button. Set a keyframe for the 2D plane and go into the Material Lab and set a keyframe. ( setting keyframes for the object is not a required step, but setting a keyframe for the object where a material keyframe will be set makes it easy to track the material keyframes while in the scene window )


Then go into the Picture Library and load the first image in the sequence, Lightning_000 ( the solid black one ).


Copy and paste it to the middle window, then exit the Picture Library and Material Lab.


Now the plane should be completely invisible when rendered.


Move the time line to the frame where the lightning will begin ( frame 1 in this tutorial ). In order for this technique to work properly the time marker has to be moved precisely to the correct frame going in chronological order ( Example frame 1,2,3,4,5, ect... ). An easy way to precisely do this is to open the Animation Set-Up menu and type the frame number into the Current Frame text block.


With the current frame set to where the lightning strike will begging, set a keyframe for the 2D plane, then go back into the Material Lab set a keyframe for the material, then into the Image Library, load, copy and paste the next image in the sequence. Then exit both the Library and Lab.

Continue this process of moving the time marker, setting keyframes for the 2D plane and material ( one in main scene window and one in material lab ) and loading the next image until they are all loaded.

If sky elements are also going to be keyframed, it is wise to not change the sun/moon light properties because this can change the lighting set-up for the lightning images.

Since this is basically a material animation, playing the time line in wireframe mode will not show any problems that my exist in the animation. But a nano preview can be rendered and then scrub by moving the time line marker manually or playing it after the nano render.

This animation tutorial is written and provided by : Stephen Ray