Abyss Diary - The Main Menu


	In this exclusive section we will follow the development of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s “The Abyss Special Edition”. In irregular updates we will keep you informed whenever new developments occur and new information becomes available, so make sure to check by frequently to keep up with the latest development on this highly anticipated title.


		by Guido Henkel January 31, 2000


	o create such a continuous environment Van and Johnathan Banta created the interior of Deepcore's Sub Bay as a 3D environment. To make sure it looks and feels more organic with signs of wear and tear, the two paid a lot of attention to the geometry, textures and

bump maps they used to create the various elements. While elaborate texture maps can create the illusion of stains and discoloration, bump maps are a great device to introduce the imperfections found in objects that are in constant use, like dents and scratch marks. "We ended up modeling the entire exterior of the Deepcore as well as well as the interior of the Sub Bay," Van

recalls with a smile that reveals his enthusiasm for the project. To add some atmosphere to the imagery, light refractions from the undulating water in the moonpool was also added which resulted in fully animated menus that are looped continuously."We used Electric Image on the Macintosh to do all of the 3D stuff," Van reveals. "Digital artist Johnathan Banta was instrumental as my Electric Image expert on this whole project. He writes software plug-ins, too, and modified a number of his custom Electric Image plug-ins for the project. Not only were we creating all the menus for "The Abyss" DVD in Electric Image, we actually used the program on the "Terminator 2" film itself. I'll also be using it extensively on upcoming disc projects as well. Electric Image is in my opinion simply the best 3D package on the Mac," he raves.To put all the separate elements together that ultimately make up the menus, the two used Adobe After Effects, a standard tool of the trade for all sorts of compositing work. After Effects was also crucial to the image processing of the over five thousand text and image stills on the disc.For the hardcore fans of the special edition, Van also notes that he has put a few things on the disc that won't be

immediately obvious. "Like bits of interesting information in various areas that people might have to do some work on to figure out," he explains. "You check the items on the screen and figure out what it all means. It gives additional info to people who are very involved and interested in the whole thing."Like with any good user interface, Ling wanted to make sure all the elements are easily and quickly accessible, with only a few clicks on the remote control, and he paid much attention to this paradigm. One of the major discussion on DVD titles still surrounds the issue what a disc should do once inserted in a DVD player, and different producers have different opinions. While some want the movie to start immediately, other feel it is important to give control to the user, and that the disc should bring up the main menu. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, in part depending on the variety of set-ups the disc allows for. One thing everyone agrees with however is that the movie should be accessible very quickly. On a side note, this is also why most menus default to highlight the "Play" option on the main menu, because with only one click you can directly start or restart the feature presentation.When you insert "The Abyss" into your DVD player by the time it will be released, two clicks will start the movie. First you will have to select which version you want to watch, and from there, all you have to do is press "Play" and you're in for your treat.


	Here you see an early rendering of the disc’s main menu. The geometry is still rather abstract and preliminary texturing has been applied to check the general look and feel.


	Some detail and the water surface hasbeen added. The geometry has been refined and some detail has been added to the texture maps in this image.


	In this rendering you can see the refractions from the water on all surrounding surfaces. The texture maps are fully detailed now, and the lighting of the scene has been adjusted to give it a more atmospheric look


	In this rendering the menu entries have been added as they will appear i nthe final menu. Please note that the door is now closed ar part of an animation, and that the texture mapping has once again been slightly refined to give the image more visual depth.


	This is the final image, also showing the highlighted ares that can be selected in the screen. The water has been completed with all its reflections and the animated refractions on the walls and ceiling.


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