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Jonas72 — Stargate Experiment
Published: 2009-07-04 13:00:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 510; Favourites: 1; Downloads: 27
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Description
Experimenting around in Bryce, trying to recreate the look of the Stargate's event horizon, as it looks in the series. Stargate model is by Osiris9 at sharecg.com ([link] ) and is free to use. The rest (what little there is) is set up by me, including the event horizon. I'll experiment some more, and try different configurations.EDIT 4:
All the experiments with the event horizon, numbered from the first one to the latest one. Also added some more glow to the last one.
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Comments: 80
This is mainly to try out the effect of the event horizon of the stargate. Not satisfied with this one, but I can't seem to get it just right... The experimentation continues!
I'm currently watching the entire Stargate SG-1 from start to finish. Just started season 7. (I had previously only watched upto season 5). It's a great show.
Thanks for the kind words.
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I think it's great. Im not that great with graphic manipulation or anything so i have no idea how you done this but it looks good.
For me the best series was the final one. As much as i loved Jack i think they just played the G'ould to death. Especially Apophis who came back what, three times. Not as much as Daniel but still quite alot.
Any time.
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It's done using a 3D program. This is not half as advanced as it looks, actually. Like I said, this is just a test to get the event horizon right. I will make a more elaborate scene when I get it right, or when inspiration hits.
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Sounds good. I will definately keep watching for an update. Yeah i think just all graphic programs confuse me. I barely know how to work my camera [thats a complete exageration since i know my camera inside out but you get the picture 
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Hey, that´s not a bad start at all! To the event horizon, it could be more blueish and not so... rough? It´s hard to describe. More like soft ripples in a pond. Yours looks a bit like ice.
However, looks promising.
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It's hard to not only find the right watery-looking surface, but also get the lighting right. I will continue to try it out. I found another and better Stargate-model, that looks better than this one, but I have to get it converted so I can use it in Bryce. This is good enough for now, to experiment with the event horizon.
Thanks for the favorite.
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So... I've been playing around with my Stargate picture again, let me know what you think. I feel the event horizon looks better now, I've gotten closer to the colors they use on the show, but I'm still not satisfied with the ripples.
By the way, I've started on season 9 now, and have encountered the Orai (is that how it's spelt?) Not very nice guys. I must say that the entire last season (8) and this one has let me down. Season 8 had a lot of weird episodes (but I enjoyed the one where Dan Castellaneta, who is the voice of Homer Simpson, guest starred), and it feels like they've lost something along the way. And season 9... I miss O'Neill!!
Anyway, let me know what you think of the new event horizon.
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I agree, the color is very close but the structure is still a little to hard. It still has little straight lines in it, which makes it look "icy". The original has no such thing, it´s all rounder. But you have seen it often enough yourself... 
Another thing is the DHD, it´s a bit to shiny and silver, and it lacks the red "engage" button in the center.
Yes, seasons 8 - 10 are a little forced, as I said earlier. I don´t know how "Orai" is spelled correctly... I guess ONeill would say: "You don´t spell Orai - you chase them."
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Yes, still not quite there. I might have to try making a texture for the event horizon in Photoshop. We'll see, I'm not giving up yet.
This is not my model, and it's also not a very good one, but it is just to get the event horizon correct. Once I have that in place, I will try to get the other gate I have lying around imported into Bryce.
I've watched the first 5 episodes of season 9 now. Where the hell is Carter??? It's not enough that O'Neill's gone, but Carter only appeared for a few moments in the first episode of the season, and hasn't been seen since. I'm not sure I like that Vala character either, she's no substitute for Carter. Oh well, I've watched it all the way to here, I'm not gonna stop now.
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Well, those small soft ripples I have seen before in 3D pictures. If they are used for a lake or so, they look a bit to equal to be real. I´d expected it would be a standard setting... oh well.
Yeah, the best always go first... 
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Water effects are actually quite easy to make in Bryce, yes. Getting it to look like the event horizon of the stargate is a lot harder than I ever expected.
I've just watched the 6th episode of season 9, and Vala's gone, at least for now (I do know she comes back), and Carter's back! 
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I´m not familiar enough with those 3D programs to give any tips, so I can only say what I see - and you know what a event horizon looks like yourself by now, I guess.
Yes, they all like to come back at times, like in the "Continuum" movie. Must be quiet special, to work in the same role for 10 years or more.
The problem with Mitchell, and also the guy in that position in Atlantis, is that they try to be like ONeill. With the funny remarks and all... Perhaps they should have tried something different - someone like the ONeill in the Stargate movie played by Kurt Russell. Or someone else with a own personality. But it had to be a ONeill lookalike - I bet the producers demanded that. To be on the "safe side", you know.
There are several funny scenes when they refer to "real life"... A good one is when ONeill and Carter inspected the nearly completed spaceship, and Carter says: "No Sir, we can´t call it Enterprise."
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I've decided to cheat. I'm gonna capture a frame of the Stargate event horizon from one of the episodes, and try to use it in mine. We'll see.
They are sticking with what has worked before: A funny lead man. Well, no one is as funny as O'Neill, so it just doesn't work as well. Still, I like both Mitchell and the lead guy in Atlantis, they're just not as good as O'Neill. They should try more to do their own thing, instead of being a lite version of O'Neill. But there are a lot more famous guest stars now, I'm wondering if they are trying to compensate. Lou Gossett, Beau Bridges, Lexa Doig, Claudia Black, etc. Which is fine, but the stories aren't as compelling as previously. Oh well...
By the way, like my new Goa'Uld Avatar?
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You´ll use special effects, you mean...
Exactly... They don´t just have the "ONeill" role in the team, they are like copies of ONeill - the honor thing, the jokes and so on. And it very similar with the other main characters really.
Sure the guest stars serve to make it more attractive, and with the grown popularity and a bigger budget they can get some fairly big names. Some guys also like a quick job in a SF show - they did it in STNG too.
Yea! Cool avatar!
Just don´t make the peak of the glow to bright - it seems you reduced it a little already since the beginning?
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Well, steal someone else' special effects, at least.
And the jokes aren't as funny anymore. I really miss O'Neill, the more I watch. The show is still exciting, but something is missing. Maybe it'll get better, I'll just have to keep watching. 
Thanks!
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I can imagine it´s more and more difficult to write something real new but yet typical Stargate, after 200+ episodes.
The good thing is, if you want to see ONeill just watch the earlier seasons again...
Yes, it´s already better, but perhaps some less glow still, like in this pic [link] . Its only the white in the eyes that glows. But in such a small picture that could be a problem.
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Well, I dunno... Think it will be a while before I start from the beginning again.
I have an idea to animate more in the picture, but it'll have to wait a while. There is some glow outside the eyes, I've studied several clips from the series, but not as much as I've made. We'll see...
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Yes, I noticed you converted to a real Stargate fan like me...
Well, I´m not saying the episodes with the new people are crap - it´s just different to the original way. I´m just now watching season 3, and they are at their peak performance then, especially the story writing. There is a lot of variety in it, not just the fighting against the Goa`uld.
Sure, one get´s used to the new actors after a while, they do have their qualities, too.
True, there is a vague glow around the eye, but mainly it´s the eye itself. In the show that glowing is usually shown in a close up and easy to see - in the tiny avatar picture that´s somewhat different. But you´ll get there...
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I was always a fan, just not to that big an extent. It seems like they found their "tone" along the way, the episodes got better and better, all the way to season 7, and then things a little bit downhill. I guess they had to reinvent some things after Anderson left the show, but things seem to pick up again now. Not all the early episodes were that good, either, so it's a balance all the way, I guess.
I will perfect my avatar eventually, when I find the time. Starting next week, however, we start on a HUGE project, and I have to translate at least 2000 words per day for the next 65 days!
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Nothing to be ashamed of...
Well, it´s perhaps the fate of every show that runs for so long. The Star Trek shows have the same problem - the were really good at some stage, STNG and DS9 and even Voyager, but Enterprise is a disaster. It´s just to long to be always on the same level and keep the feel.
Holy moly, what are you translating? The handbook of the new space shuttle? Well, a lot of work - but it beats being unemployed, I guess.
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Picture has been updated, have a look and comment, please.
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Oh yes, much better! Perhaps the difference in sharpness sticks out a little. May be a bit of blur for the rest of the picture at the end would help. Sometimes that´s a problem with rendered pictures - they are to crisp to look real. But it´s certainly much better already.
Also the avatar has improved concerning the glow. Don´t know about the black bars though... looks a bit like a muslim woman possessed by a Goa´uld.
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Well, you have to remember that I snatched a picture of the event horizon from a video file downloaded off the net. It's bound to be a bit blurry. But I could try blurring the rest of the picture slightly, I will have to look into that.
I put the black bars there to emphasize the eyes. My thoughts were that it looked a bit like a ninja possessed by a Goa'uld.
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Sure, I´m aware of that. And that you can´t sharpen it enough without making it grainy. That´s why I suggest blurring the rest a bit. Just a little, to get rid of the super clean edges and that. In the show we never see so crisp pictures - some visual effects are quiet crude in fact, but you only notice it if you view it as a still picture. That´s our disadvantage here: in a still picture the viewer has far to much time to spot flaws...
A Ninja... ok, if you say so...
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I can turn down the "crispness" but ironically, that means the rendering takes a lot more time. Anyway, this was just to see if I could get a working event horizon. Now to find a stargate that actually looks like the one in the show.
Would the avatar have worked better if I made the black bars transparent instead? Hmmm... I gotta try that, I think.
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Well, I´ve got a stargate that looks like the one in the show (SG1). Several, actually. One is a skin for Winamp - it even has a animated event horizon, and you can open and close the iris, the symbol ring spins and the locks light up. There is also a DHD to enter gate adresses (and control Winamp) and more - way cool!
The resolution is pretty low, though.
I also have some screen shots from the show, and some (of various quality) made by other people here.
How do you mean "transparent"? As in cutting them away? That would make the pic very small. However, perhaps worth a try.
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Winamp skin??? Where can I find it? I guess I'll try finding some better resolution pictures of the event horizon, shouldn't be that hard. Dunno why I hadn't thought of sooner.
Yes, making them transparent would, in practice, be the same as cutting them away. It wouldn't matter for the size, the eyes would remain as they are now.
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Sure, don´t you know it? It´s quiet old, but still the best Winamp skin I know, Stargate or not. You can download it here: [link]
Well, I don´t think you´ll find many pictures of the gate in resolution higher than the TV resolution, since that´s where they come from. Unless it´s something somebody else made himself, like you did.
Yes, and that would make the avatar very small - about a third of it´s possible size. But anyway, it´s your decision.
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New update, made the event horizon in Photoshop this time, using filters and effects. Not quite like the original, but it's mine, and it's crisp and crystal clear, saves me having to make the rest of the picture blurry or fuzzy.
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Yeah, that´s real close! May be the ripples a bit smaller and more of them, and the light a little less bright. But the look of the soft ripples is right now. Nice work!
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I might work some more on it as I go... The edges should be darker, too, I think. But getting there...
By the way, just saw episode 200, now that was a laugh!
I think I deleted one of your previous messages without replying to it, just so you know. It was an accident, not me being rude.
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You are sure getting there... I like what you did with the pyramid and the desert. Mist is always cool...
The 200th... is that with Martin the alien TV writer? Wormhole X-treme and that? Yeah, they have their moments... and a good portion of self irony at times.
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Well, like I've said a few times, this is just a test setup to get the event horizon right, now I need to get a better looking Stargate (no, I'm not about to model it myself, I'm really not that good). So it'll hopefully get better, and I'll soon start making some scenes, I hope.
That's the one, indeed. I loved where they imagined Stargate as a puppet show (like it was made by Gerry Anderson). I laughed so hard when they went through the gate, and their threads were cut, and Teal'c stands there laughing at them.
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Yes, it´s a kind of running gag, that they basically show themself making the show. ONeill as "technical advisor from the airforce", Peter DeLuise in the background demanding a yet bigger explosion from the sfx guy, Teal`C chasing the people away from the cold buffet... or the actors who do not know if they play in a real series or only play actors inside another series. Pretty crazy stuff... I wonder if the backstage area was a smoke free zone when they made this.
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Yeah, fun stuff.
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I fully agree... despite it´s basically a action series (with the people who get killed during the series you could fill a war cemetery) there is always the humor element, and sometimes they freak out completely.
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I've never cared enough to download skins for Winamp, as it usually plays in the background when I work anyway, but this one I had to have.
I've finally managed to come up with something myself that looks a lot like the Stargate event horizon, update to follow.
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Oh yeah, cool it is.
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I think I did. I found the iris controls, at least. It's a really cool skin.
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You mean among the dialing pads? Now there is more... if you check the bottom left of the base of the DHD (the usual place
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Ah, yes, found the control crystals. Cool!
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Not quiet as fast as Carter normally find them, but anyway... In the DCS mode (looks like a computer monitor) it has most Stargate extras. A list of gate adresses from the show, "MALP data" (a picture) from the planet you are connected to, and whatever. The people who made this really had to be big SG fans.
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I don't get the picture to display on the MALP screen, other than that, it's working fine. Yeah, this is the work of hardcore fans, alright.
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Did you dial up a world from the list before? If so, you should be able to see a picture from it. Try dialing Abydos or the Alpha site. Once the wormhole is established, click on the MALP button on the DCS screen. Btw, the size of the gate, DHD ect is freely scalable.
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Yeah, got it working now.
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If you right-click on the gate you´ll get a menu with the option "Window setting", that opens the options "Opacity" and "Scaling". This can be done individually for the gate, DHD, but also the other Winamp windows like EQ or playlist.
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Thought I'd bring all the threads together by answering your two latest messages in just this one reply.
I don't take any unnecessary risks where my work is concerned!
I think I've figured out all the features of the Stargate skin now.
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Wow, how time is running...
Well, I guess you don´t have much time for idle talk anyway.
Really, I´m not sure if I have found all hidden functions yet.
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Indeed.
Oh, keeping very busy, some would say insanely busy. But I gotta think of the money.
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