Hi guys, I'm animating a fire sprite for my covenant weapons. I've got things mostly set up, but there is one last step I just cannot do with Paint.NET: I need to make an animation where the view of a texture gradually zooms in. Problem is: I don't know which program should I use. I've tried Adobe After Effects, but it seems that my computer just doesn't want it to install; does someone know a way to do this?

You will need to elaborate further describe the effect plse.

I'm probably the only guy who can help here.

Ok, brief explanation: covenant weapons fire very hot bolts; when bolts hit, you should see vaporizing matter, black smoke and fire-like particles due to the extreme temperatures. This was featured in halo CE plasma weapons with the smoke c generic particle. Later halo games changed this, concentrating on bolts and sparks and leaving fire apart, achieving results that, IMHO, look way beyond bad and didn't really catch the essence of plasma: overpowered energized matter that brings death with extremely high temperatures.
Halo CEA restored this effect to some weapons (namely, the shade turret: look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8dZtYKjF1_M#t=389) and I like it a lot; I wanted to achieve a similar effect, though less smokey and more firey. To do that now I have a mask with an animated dissolving particle; to this mask I want to apply a plate (the fireball plate from halo Reach) that gradually zooms in as the particle grow and deteriorates. Problem is: I don't know how to do this animating thing. I saw a tutorial on youtube where the guy used After Effects to do it, but Creative Cloud doesn't let me install the trial of After Effects (it isn't even listed, IDK why), and I'm not really willing to download a pirated version, for both moral and pratical (VIRUS) reasons, so I wanted to know whether or not there is an alternative program that lets me achieve my little goal with as small effort as possible. In theory, I could even do it with Paint.NET, but it would take something like 2 days of incredibly repetitive operations for a debatable ending result, so I'd gladly take any other program comes.
Edited by rododoonceagain on Apr 8, 2015 at 01:06 PM

https://hitfilm.com/

Or you could edit the effect sprite in gimp by gradually increasing the size of the particle bitmap on each sprite. Giving the illusion that the particle effect is zooming in by faking it with size increastion. (not a word)

Or you could use the scale function which would be the easiest in the effect tag.


PM me your files if your having trouble.





Edited by SS Flanker on Apr 8, 2015 at 01:13 PM

doesn't work on my pc, it's a 32 bit and this program only comes for 64 bit =(

Oh lord what?

(I taught everyone had 64bit now.)

Try photoshop 32bit then? Or just pm your files so I can see what needs doing.
Edited by SS Flanker on Apr 8, 2015 at 01:21 PM

Meh, it's the infamous pdn format of paint.net, I doubt you can open it. However, the scale function doesn't work that way, I'm afraid; it's just the noise bitmap that must resize to animate, not the particle itself.

Hmmm I'd suggest just trying to re-create the effect you want using sprites/particles and effect tags then.

Though surely good for what's it is designed for, I highly doubt that CE engine can achieve something like this on its own
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9x_rZ2XBkk

http://forum.halomaps.org/index.cfm%3Fpage=topic&topicID=46288

Pics are down but whatev's download the file

http://www.mediafire.com/download/x8893ege3y00h5r/%7BSSMT%7D_Flame_Emmiter.zip

Not exactly what I was looking for, but a very good reference nonetheless. Thanks, Flanker, I owe you this one.

Captain Obvious will save the world

thanks God this guy saved the thread

It offends me that information like this doesn't have it's own board.