So I am working on some cell fracture tests. My method of getting a realistic shatter is strange. What I need to do is take a few shards, make them the same object, and then get the basic skin of them. I want to join the shards together in a way that makes it look like they were never separated. It’s pretty much like sealing up cracks in one big shard. I know that fixing the cracks by box modeling is much too tedious and time consuming. Any solutions?
Well, why not do it this way? First, build the intact model. Then, from that model, create the shards as separate objects which initially occupy the same positions. Set up the lighting, camera angle and so on.
Now, shoot the intact model falling to the floor. Cut!
Next, shoot the shards-model falling to the floor and, with a suitable physics sim, exploding into a bezillion pieces. Cut!
Now, it’s editing-time. The first part of the sequence is the intact-model falling, right down to the point where it hits the floor. The second part of the sequence is the shards-model, from that same frame-number forward. There will be no visual difference between the two strips therefore the edit-point wherever it is will not be apparent to the audience.
I am not manually modeling the shards. The Cell Fracture addon is doing it. And the way I am doing it is most realistic. Plus, it requires no compositing.
Also, the material I am using for the shards is glass. If I use the method you explained, the shatter will look unreal. As soon as the solid object hits the ground, I don’t want to have all the shards just appear. The change in light paths inside the glass is much too apparent.
I wish that this sort of thing was easier in Blender.