Okay, so you guys remember that Randy Johnson hits bird video? Yeah, that crazy one! Well, I decided, for some reason, to try and recreate it… virtually, of course. No actual birds were harmed in the making of this project, I promise!
First, I started by grabbing some basic 3D models. Found a decent-looking baseball bat, a baseball, and a pretty generic-looking bird model online. Nothing fancy, just something to get the job done.
Then, I hopped into Unity, my go-to game engine. I figured, hey, gotta have some physics, right? So, I imported all the models and started setting up the scene. I created a simple plane for the ground and messed around with the lighting a bit to make it look… less terrible.
Next up: making the baseball bat swing. I attached a script to the bat that would make it swing when I pressed a button. Used some simple animation curves to control the speed and rotation of the swing. Getting the timing right was a pain, honestly. It either felt too slow or too fast. After a bunch of tweaking, I got it to something resembling a baseball swing.
Now for the fun part: the bird! I wanted the bird to fly across the screen, right into the path of the bat. So, I created a simple script that would make the bird fly along a predefined path. I used a Bezier curve to make the flight path a little more interesting. Again, this took a lot of fiddling to get right. The bird kept either flying too high, too low, or just completely missing the bat.
Okay, so the bird is flying, the bat is swinging… time for the collision! I added a collider to the bat and another to the bird. Then, I wrote a script that would detect when the two colliders intersected. When they did, BAM! I wanted the bird to explode… not literally, of course. Just disappear in a puff of feathers (which were just some particles I threw together). Added a sound effect of a “splat” for extra effect. Gross, I know, but it’s gotta be realistic, right?
The first few attempts were hilarious. The bird would either fly right through the bat or bounce off in some weird direction. The collision detection was a bit wonky, and the timing was completely off. I spent a good hour just adjusting the bird’s flight path, the bat’s swing, and the collision detection code.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I got it! The bird flew right into the path of the bat, there was a satisfying “splat” sound, and a shower of digital feathers. I even slowed down the playback speed at the moment of impact to give it that dramatic, slow-motion effect, just like the real video. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough.
Here are some things I learned:
- Physics simulations are harder than they look.
- Timing is everything, especially when recreating viral videos.
- Particle effects can make anything look cool, even digital bird explosions.
So, yeah, that’s how I spent my afternoon. Recreating one of the weirdest moments in baseball history… in virtual reality. It was a fun little project, and I definitely learned a few things along the way. Would I do it again? Probably not. But hey, at least I can say I did it!
