Hello again.
Time for more of that pixel action! Today, I am going to talk briefly about something we've just started learning in class, Mudbox. No, its not a sandbox filled with mud or anything like that (although that would be a fun thing to study in class).
Mudbox is a program made by Autodesk, the same people that make Maya, and it is designed to let you take a 3D model, and essentials paint textures in them. In fact, the technique is known as texture painting. Mudbox, isn't the only one that does it either, there is another program that is far more popular in the industry, but more expensive, called ZBrush. While they do have an entire class on ZBrush, I am currently learning Mudbox as in introduction to texture painting in my textures and shaders class, since it is easier to learn.
It reminds me a lot of subdivisions (subDs). They both work like polygons, have multiple levels of details that you can increase and decrease interactively, and automatically smooth the object. I have been wanting to get more practice and study on subdivisions, and this is a similar system that I think will be good practice. And this works similarly to ZBrush, so it should make it easier to transition between in the future.
So for now, I have been playing with the different things you can do, and boy is it cool and a ton of fun! You can literally paint a 3D face, or draw 3D scales on something, or etch in a scar on a character, or any number of textures. It is going to take some practice and playing around to figure out all of what I can do with this, so it will be a few days before I will show any WIP (work in progress) on this, but please look forward to it. I will not likely not be using a model I made, since I don't have the time to made a character stable for Mudbox, but I know how, so perhaps someday soon I will have my own characters finely detailed and awesome.
Keep pixellated!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Beginnings of a film
Today, I want to briefly talk about what the rest of my time as SCAD is going to be dedicated toward. While I will still take pictures in Photography, Lighting, and so forth, I have to make a senior film, a project that showcases my work. As thus, I have started working on a story that allows me to focus on lighting and compositing. I have been working on some updates this this as well, and hope to have some of them in a new animatic before too long. I want to add a particle effect to the main character, as well as reworking the story a little for a better flow.
Until I have the time to get these changes in here, this is my current animatic. As soon as I get the changes in place, I will post a new one, and will probably be posting a new blog dedicated to the film as well later on. So for now, enjoy this short animatic. If you have any questions or suggestion, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Until I have the time to get these changes in here, this is my current animatic. As soon as I get the changes in place, I will post a new one, and will probably be posting a new blog dedicated to the film as well later on. So for now, enjoy this short animatic. If you have any questions or suggestion, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
The Godfather
So I have been thinking about things that inspire me. I usually do a lot of research for art, and usually it helps me focus my thoughts. I find that if I can reference something, I tend to do better in my art. So I often go out and take pictures or visit locations for inspiration. On that last image I posted with the diner, I visited a Steak and Shake and looked up a bunch of pictures about Coke bottle, glasses, salt shakers, and more. It really helped, but only for the production if the art itself. My inspiration comes from a variety of places, from photographs to books, and one of those would be movies.
I have taken it upon myself to research and watch as many classic films as I can, everything from old silent films to modern day classics. I specifically try to look at how light and color play into the film, and how the characters are developed. I have recently seen films like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Apocalypse Now, Road to Perdition, and many others. The last film I watched with my wife was a long one, and has been on film historians' and critics' top 10 lists for decades. The Godfather. And you know... It was okay, had a complex story, but I was not as impressed as I expected to be.
I don't want to go into a full-fledged review or anything, but I will say that the story was predictable. The visuals weren't usually particularly awe-inspiring, although there were some good scenes in it, and the lighting was rather natural through most of the film. Since this was the restored version, I'm not sure if the color treatment was intentional or just an artifact of the film or age of the film.
I honestly can say that while I didn't hate the movie, like my brother, I don't plan to own a copy of it either. I'm glad to have seen it, and maybe I can pull some sort of inspiration out of it, but I think other films set in the same period, such as Road to Perdition, do a much better job in cinematography, lighting, color, story, characters, and pretty much everything else.
So my last say is that it is a well made film, but overrated. If anyone can point out to me something about the movie I am missing, I will gladly take a second look ad discuss this with them in the comments.
I have taken it upon myself to research and watch as many classic films as I can, everything from old silent films to modern day classics. I specifically try to look at how light and color play into the film, and how the characters are developed. I have recently seen films like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Apocalypse Now, Road to Perdition, and many others. The last film I watched with my wife was a long one, and has been on film historians' and critics' top 10 lists for decades. The Godfather. And you know... It was okay, had a complex story, but I was not as impressed as I expected to be.
I don't want to go into a full-fledged review or anything, but I will say that the story was predictable. The visuals weren't usually particularly awe-inspiring, although there were some good scenes in it, and the lighting was rather natural through most of the film. Since this was the restored version, I'm not sure if the color treatment was intentional or just an artifact of the film or age of the film.
I honestly can say that while I didn't hate the movie, like my brother, I don't plan to own a copy of it either. I'm glad to have seen it, and maybe I can pull some sort of inspiration out of it, but I think other films set in the same period, such as Road to Perdition, do a much better job in cinematography, lighting, color, story, characters, and pretty much everything else.
So my last say is that it is a well made film, but overrated. If anyone can point out to me something about the movie I am missing, I will gladly take a second look ad discuss this with them in the comments.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Iron Man 3
Hi everyone!
Another day, another pixel. I don't have any artwork picked out for today, so I thought I'd talk a little about Iron Man 3, but only briefly. And don't worry, I'm not a spoiler. I had the honor of going to a special premier of the movie at 9:00 before the official release, and got to see it on an all-new Sony Digital Cinema 4k display. It was a magnificent display! I really enjoyed the plot, and the twists, and of course the characters. They really like to lie on those trailers, or at least trick you into thinking something else will happen then what really does.
But of course there are the graphics. Amazing, again. Almost every scene was filled with CG goodness very well integrated.
However...
I was a little disappointed at times with the quality of the animation and compositing. Yeah, I know, I said something bad about Iron Man. Hey, I still enjoyed it, a lot, but nothing is perfect. In short, there are scenes that have iron man walking around and interacting that just look too mechanical or fake, like the physics are off. In one scene he's walking down a small staircase and for some reason he doesn't look right, like his weight doesn't shift correctly. It was subtle and easily missed, I can't even say now what specifically was wrong in scenes like that but the motion was just ever so off. Also, in the scenes where you see actors' faces inside the iron man suit, there is this sort of dark shadow creeping along the outside of the face that looks very artificial, and makes the face look like it was just placed inside a CG body. Worse yet, in a few scenes, the tracking of the face and the motion of the head/neck/body of the suit don't match! It appears the face is ever so slightly disjointed from the suit, in the wrong way.
Now that I've said these things, don't kill me over it. I really did enjoy the film, and I think how they handled Ben Kingsley's character was brilliant. Please, go see this movie and give me your response. I'm interested in seeing your take on the story and if any of the effects fell apart for you. Go! Enjoy it! Love it! It was fun, well-acted, full of amazing visuals and action, and worth the dime to see it. Just don't bother with the 3D, it was all post 3D and not filmed that way so save the penny.
And stay till the very end, very cute joke after the credits.
Another day, another pixel. I don't have any artwork picked out for today, so I thought I'd talk a little about Iron Man 3, but only briefly. And don't worry, I'm not a spoiler. I had the honor of going to a special premier of the movie at 9:00 before the official release, and got to see it on an all-new Sony Digital Cinema 4k display. It was a magnificent display! I really enjoyed the plot, and the twists, and of course the characters. They really like to lie on those trailers, or at least trick you into thinking something else will happen then what really does.
But of course there are the graphics. Amazing, again. Almost every scene was filled with CG goodness very well integrated.
However...
I was a little disappointed at times with the quality of the animation and compositing. Yeah, I know, I said something bad about Iron Man. Hey, I still enjoyed it, a lot, but nothing is perfect. In short, there are scenes that have iron man walking around and interacting that just look too mechanical or fake, like the physics are off. In one scene he's walking down a small staircase and for some reason he doesn't look right, like his weight doesn't shift correctly. It was subtle and easily missed, I can't even say now what specifically was wrong in scenes like that but the motion was just ever so off. Also, in the scenes where you see actors' faces inside the iron man suit, there is this sort of dark shadow creeping along the outside of the face that looks very artificial, and makes the face look like it was just placed inside a CG body. Worse yet, in a few scenes, the tracking of the face and the motion of the head/neck/body of the suit don't match! It appears the face is ever so slightly disjointed from the suit, in the wrong way.
Now that I've said these things, don't kill me over it. I really did enjoy the film, and I think how they handled Ben Kingsley's character was brilliant. Please, go see this movie and give me your response. I'm interested in seeing your take on the story and if any of the effects fell apart for you. Go! Enjoy it! Love it! It was fun, well-acted, full of amazing visuals and action, and worth the dime to see it. Just don't bother with the 3D, it was all post 3D and not filmed that way so save the penny.
And stay till the very end, very cute joke after the credits.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Diner
So you remember yesterday how I showed you all a sneak peak of my project for today... well I finished everything and it looks great! I plan to do more with this though, but I am satisfied with where I got it for now.
In this scene, I modeled the background, the bottles, the cups, the plates, the ketchup the salt and pepper shakers... pretty much everything except the chairs (which you can barely see), the bottle caps (which I adjusted for my scene), and the flatware (which I also adjusted). All the textures (with the exception of the photograph in the back) were made by me. With the exception of the labels, they are all procedural.
This project was specifically designed to show reflection and refraction, which is why almost everything in the scene has some of this on it.
In the future, I plan to adjust the plate thickness, adjust the brightness of the glasses, add some wear and tear, model a booth, fix the background, and give it all new lighting. I also plan to take this into Nuke, and do some post production composite work on it.
Again these are all NURBS (which the exception of the table and salt shakers, and the things I didn't model), which are really underrated. NURBS can be used for so many different things, and or really great tools to use, I am surprised more people don't use these. I would like to learn for Subdivision modeling on my own, but for now, NURBS are doing a fantastic job. I am also really pleased with the way the table came out and the Coke bottle. The ketchup was also fun to do and very effective.
So enjoy my newest render. I will post more when I make edits to it in the future.
Now I'm hungry...
In this scene, I modeled the background, the bottles, the cups, the plates, the ketchup the salt and pepper shakers... pretty much everything except the chairs (which you can barely see), the bottle caps (which I adjusted for my scene), and the flatware (which I also adjusted). All the textures (with the exception of the photograph in the back) were made by me. With the exception of the labels, they are all procedural.
This project was specifically designed to show reflection and refraction, which is why almost everything in the scene has some of this on it.
In the future, I plan to adjust the plate thickness, adjust the brightness of the glasses, add some wear and tear, model a booth, fix the background, and give it all new lighting. I also plan to take this into Nuke, and do some post production composite work on it.
Again these are all NURBS (which the exception of the table and salt shakers, and the things I didn't model), which are really underrated. NURBS can be used for so many different things, and or really great tools to use, I am surprised more people don't use these. I would like to learn for Subdivision modeling on my own, but for now, NURBS are doing a fantastic job. I am also really pleased with the way the table came out and the Coke bottle. The ketchup was also fun to do and very effective.
So enjoy my newest render. I will post more when I make edits to it in the future.
Now I'm hungry...
A sneak peak...
Hi again everyone!
Time for another daily pixel fix. This time I am working on a very complex materials and shading scene, and I'm not really ready yet to show it, since I have little time left to work on it. So instead, I will show you something I am using as reference, just a quick snapshot I took. What you will see will not, I repeat NOT, look anything like the final project which you should see tomorrow or so. However, it will be using the same theme.
I find that visiting a location and taking a few pictures, even mediocre pictures, is a big help in getting ideas for a scene. But it is better to take nice pictures, which I just didn't have the time for.
So back to work I go...
Time for another daily pixel fix. This time I am working on a very complex materials and shading scene, and I'm not really ready yet to show it, since I have little time left to work on it. So instead, I will show you something I am using as reference, just a quick snapshot I took. What you will see will not, I repeat NOT, look anything like the final project which you should see tomorrow or so. However, it will be using the same theme.
I find that visiting a location and taking a few pictures, even mediocre pictures, is a big help in getting ideas for a scene. But it is better to take nice pictures, which I just didn't have the time for.
So back to work I go...
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Mushroom Madness!
Hey everyone,
Big news today! I applied to be a student volunteer at SIGGRAPH 2013, and they accepted me! Not only did they accept me, but they are going to cover my housing! This is great news, as this is a perfect opportunity for networking with professionals from all the major and influential companies in animation and visual effects. The conference will be this July, and will last about a week, in Anaheim, California.
In other news...
Today I have a new project for you, and this one moves... sort of. It animates at least. The entire project was about using Autodesk Maya to render out Primary and Secondary passes, and then composite and animation them, post-production style, in Nuke. Sounds like a bunch of fancy words I'm sure. In short I am telling my 3D software to render out my scene in pieces, and then I put them back together and make changes to them in the composting software.
So this exercise involved taking existing models of mushrooms and applying up to 3 textures to them, and then adding my own background. I decided to use an existing background I made before for a different class, and manipulated it for the scene. I then rendered it in passes, brought it into Nuke, and make the colors change. I also added the camera move and the depth of field as well in post as well.
While this is a "finished" project, it is not actually finished. I will be reworking this to fix a bug or two and to enhance some of the effects. Until then...
Enjoy!
Big news today! I applied to be a student volunteer at SIGGRAPH 2013, and they accepted me! Not only did they accept me, but they are going to cover my housing! This is great news, as this is a perfect opportunity for networking with professionals from all the major and influential companies in animation and visual effects. The conference will be this July, and will last about a week, in Anaheim, California.
In other news...
Today I have a new project for you, and this one moves... sort of. It animates at least. The entire project was about using Autodesk Maya to render out Primary and Secondary passes, and then composite and animation them, post-production style, in Nuke. Sounds like a bunch of fancy words I'm sure. In short I am telling my 3D software to render out my scene in pieces, and then I put them back together and make changes to them in the composting software.
So this exercise involved taking existing models of mushrooms and applying up to 3 textures to them, and then adding my own background. I decided to use an existing background I made before for a different class, and manipulated it for the scene. I then rendered it in passes, brought it into Nuke, and make the colors change. I also added the camera move and the depth of field as well in post as well.
While this is a "finished" project, it is not actually finished. I will be reworking this to fix a bug or two and to enhance some of the effects. Until then...
Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)