There was room for improvement on my last video to do my ship a bit more justice. Previously, the movie represented my ship a little bit too much on the 2D side. Now, I have changed the camera position and created an ocean shader resulting in a more impressive 3D render with a kinda real looking (but not really) ocean underneath it. I'm content with this and it seems to have been all worthwhile! Fingers crossed for Simon getting it projected in freshers week later this year..
I achieved this by first rendering the ship alone from Maya using Mental ray. Then I put a black surface shader on the ship and rendered the ocean shader using Maya software. I then composited them together using Composite and put it through after effects to make the final movie files. I also experimented using a bezier warp tool in After Effects to create more of a fish eye effect, this works well in making the ship seem massive. I will upload a video of this and put it here soon. The whole process took a day from when Simon told me yesterday he would like the final ship files to this afternoon when I handed them to him.
Showing posts with label Projected History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Projected History. Show all posts
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Projected History.. My ship is now in ship shape! Woo!
This project has been chugging along happily in the background alongside all our other projects and so it has taken a while but.. the ship is pretty much complete(depending on Simons approval.) This image shows my work in progress.
Firstly, I created two patches for the front and back of the ship that imitated the curves of my original Polygon ship. Then I stitched the patches together - adding another curve to the front half before stitching to keep the result in the right shape (second image.) Following this I converted it to Polygons (third image) then divided up the hull into six areas (fourth image) in order to add on the 6 separate texture maps. This allowed for the texture to be detailed all the way across (which is important as this will eventually be projected to a very large size.) Since this work in progress image, I have changed the font and perfecting the texture as much as possible in photoshop to keep it looking as life like as possible.
I think ultimately it would have been good to get photos of this ship using a good DSLR camera on a more overcast day as opposed to using my compact camera on a sunny day. The problem was these ships come and go fairly quickly, so the opportunity for photographing on a day with overcast weather whilst this ship was at the docks didn't present itself (typical!)
Here is a little test movie of the most basic way in which the ship will be animated. At this stage I'm not sure to what extent the building will be in front of it - you may just be seeing it through the buildings windows. The idea is that the hull will occupy the size of the whole building as it goes through it.
Since the completion of my ship, I have been experimenting with the ocean shader in Maya. The first image has been rendered using mental ray, and the second - using maya software. As shown both cause problems, but I'm sure there will be away around these. It requires a bit of research and playing around with render settings, using alpha channels and composite. The question is whether there is need for the ocean. It looks cool but would it make sense perspectively looking at it going through a building..
Here are a couple of images I rendered just for the sake of it. (I used photoshop to get rid of the visual errors that came out in the renders like those above.)
Nice :)
Firstly, I created two patches for the front and back of the ship that imitated the curves of my original Polygon ship. Then I stitched the patches together - adding another curve to the front half before stitching to keep the result in the right shape (second image.) Following this I converted it to Polygons (third image) then divided up the hull into six areas (fourth image) in order to add on the 6 separate texture maps. This allowed for the texture to be detailed all the way across (which is important as this will eventually be projected to a very large size.) Since this work in progress image, I have changed the font and perfecting the texture as much as possible in photoshop to keep it looking as life like as possible.
I think ultimately it would have been good to get photos of this ship using a good DSLR camera on a more overcast day as opposed to using my compact camera on a sunny day. The problem was these ships come and go fairly quickly, so the opportunity for photographing on a day with overcast weather whilst this ship was at the docks didn't present itself (typical!)
Here is a little test movie of the most basic way in which the ship will be animated. At this stage I'm not sure to what extent the building will be in front of it - you may just be seeing it through the buildings windows. The idea is that the hull will occupy the size of the whole building as it goes through it.
Since the completion of my ship, I have been experimenting with the ocean shader in Maya. The first image has been rendered using mental ray, and the second - using maya software. As shown both cause problems, but I'm sure there will be away around these. It requires a bit of research and playing around with render settings, using alpha channels and composite. The question is whether there is need for the ocean. It looks cool but would it make sense perspectively looking at it going through a building..
Here are a couple of images I rendered just for the sake of it. (I used photoshop to get rid of the visual errors that came out in the renders like those above.)
Nice :)
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
The ship continues.. Projected history update
So the battle between Polys and Nurbs continues..(wow! a slightly geeky comment there.) I think as a result of my efforts today I have realised Nurbs are far more efficient for this ship in terms of speed of getting them made, and quality of the result.
So first, I completed the Polygon ship as much as possible. While it looks fairly good, I was sure that Nurbs would end up looking smoother. Pictured at the top here is my latest update on the Polygon ship. As you can see, I made several lines around the Polygon ship and the result at the bottom of the picture is what happened when I lofted the lines producing a Nurbs ship..
Yeah.. a bit of a monstrosity! I think its probably because a lot of my control vertex points on the curves are not consistant from curve to curve. Then, I was struck with a moment of inspiration. I had watched a tutorial on stitching Nurb surfaces earlier and produced a quick sketch of how I could make two different Nurb Patches - one for the beginning and one for the end of the ship, and then stitch them together.
As a result of this, I tried a quick test which took around 10-15 minutes and I was happy to see that it was possible to make a Nurbs ship using this method. Not only did I do it a hundred times faster then my Poly ship, it has come our looking much smoother :-)
So first, I completed the Polygon ship as much as possible. While it looks fairly good, I was sure that Nurbs would end up looking smoother. Pictured at the top here is my latest update on the Polygon ship. As you can see, I made several lines around the Polygon ship and the result at the bottom of the picture is what happened when I lofted the lines producing a Nurbs ship..
Yeah.. a bit of a monstrosity! I think its probably because a lot of my control vertex points on the curves are not consistant from curve to curve. Then, I was struck with a moment of inspiration. I had watched a tutorial on stitching Nurb surfaces earlier and produced a quick sketch of how I could make two different Nurb Patches - one for the beginning and one for the end of the ship, and then stitch them together.
As a result of this, I tried a quick test which took around 10-15 minutes and I was happy to see that it was possible to make a Nurbs ship using this method. Not only did I do it a hundred times faster then my Poly ship, it has come our looking much smoother :-)
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Projected History
Just a quick note to say I have been working on this a bit every week. The model is pretty much done. The texture you see here is temporary, I think I will physically paint a texture and then layer that on. Simon said he would like it looking worn and weathered.
I have quite enjoyed doing this.
25/2/2011 - update
Just when I thought the model was complete..it pulled me back in ! I feel comfortable within my time restraints at the moment, Simon is expecting the ship scene to be complete by the end of term - so in 4 weeks. This has allowed me time to experiment with different modelling techniques. I looked at the model above and thought it would be best to match the front of the ship to my initial reference. This took a surprising long amount of time to do as I had created so many faces and points on the model. In the end I deleted a large chunk of the front of the ship and filled it in again fairly quickly with edge loops. See below.
The rest of the ship still needs sorting out. Ideally, the lines should wrap around the entire structure. I also created some rails that line the deck. Here is a rendered version of the front of the ship.
Here, I tried recreating the ship with nurbs to see the difference. This was pretty straightforward - I just created 4 bezier outlines around and up the ships structure - defining the shape at the front of the ship, then lofted them and created planars for the top and bottom. It took less then an hour to recreate something that had taken me many days! Oh well I guess thats the nature of learning software. To be honest the nurbs ship wouldn't look half as precise if I didn't have the original poly one to model around.
Here is the front of the nurbs ship rendered.
This does look a lot smoother - the way the light bounces off it. But the other one has a bit more character and shape. I also think it would be easier to model the back of the poly ship. Nurbs or polys.. who will win in the end ! Watch this space...
6/2/2011 - Update
I have been very busy recently on my post production project so unfortuantly have not made a great deal of progress on this since the last post. I have modelled the end of the ship with polys now, but the model as a whole still needs to be complete and I would like to try and make a nurbs version again as it does seem to make a much smoother result. So here is my most up to date version:
I have just done a time plan and I would ideally like to aim for a finished model and texture by the end of this week. Leaving next week for the other elements ie. Fog and lighting etc. and the final week for putting it all into the final scene, animating and Rendering.
I have quite enjoyed doing this.
25/2/2011 - update
Just when I thought the model was complete..it pulled me back in ! I feel comfortable within my time restraints at the moment, Simon is expecting the ship scene to be complete by the end of term - so in 4 weeks. This has allowed me time to experiment with different modelling techniques. I looked at the model above and thought it would be best to match the front of the ship to my initial reference. This took a surprising long amount of time to do as I had created so many faces and points on the model. In the end I deleted a large chunk of the front of the ship and filled it in again fairly quickly with edge loops. See below.
The rest of the ship still needs sorting out. Ideally, the lines should wrap around the entire structure. I also created some rails that line the deck. Here is a rendered version of the front of the ship.
Here, I tried recreating the ship with nurbs to see the difference. This was pretty straightforward - I just created 4 bezier outlines around and up the ships structure - defining the shape at the front of the ship, then lofted them and created planars for the top and bottom. It took less then an hour to recreate something that had taken me many days! Oh well I guess thats the nature of learning software. To be honest the nurbs ship wouldn't look half as precise if I didn't have the original poly one to model around.
Here is the front of the nurbs ship rendered.
This does look a lot smoother - the way the light bounces off it. But the other one has a bit more character and shape. I also think it would be easier to model the back of the poly ship. Nurbs or polys.. who will win in the end ! Watch this space...
6/2/2011 - Update
I have been very busy recently on my post production project so unfortuantly have not made a great deal of progress on this since the last post. I have modelled the end of the ship with polys now, but the model as a whole still needs to be complete and I would like to try and make a nurbs version again as it does seem to make a much smoother result. So here is my most up to date version:
I have just done a time plan and I would ideally like to aim for a finished model and texture by the end of this week. Leaving next week for the other elements ie. Fog and lighting etc. and the final week for putting it all into the final scene, animating and Rendering.
Friday, 21 January 2011
Crew Assignment - Projected History
I'm going to be working for two third years projects this term (and next I expect.)
One of which is 'Projected History' directed by Simon Carter.
The aim is to do a 3d mapping projection onto Tremough house (The old building situated in between Darington and Tremough campus.) We will be visually portraying the history of the building alongside references to the ages its been through (ie. the Industrial age.) It's quite an exciting project to work on and interesting to be behind the scenes.
My job so far has involved being part of the pre production team, but has also extended into modelling. Below, I have designed some of the shots for the Animatic.
Tremough house used to be a Nunnery..
Here is a boat I designed which I made an Animatic out of quite simply in Flash. The seagulls are a nice little addition :)
I have now started modelling the boat using the 2d image in the animatic above as reference, along with a couple of photos from the internet to show the front/top viewpoints of the boat. This all helps with the 3d modelling.
For these I have used NURBS as you get nice curves with it and also it is easier to texture then polygons. After speaking with Georg I've realised its now best to convert the NURBS to Polygons in order to join the side with the front. Texturing should still be easier as it transfers the NURBS UVs across. So the model is still in an early stage at the moment.
One of which is 'Projected History' directed by Simon Carter.
The aim is to do a 3d mapping projection onto Tremough house (The old building situated in between Darington and Tremough campus.) We will be visually portraying the history of the building alongside references to the ages its been through (ie. the Industrial age.) It's quite an exciting project to work on and interesting to be behind the scenes.
My job so far has involved being part of the pre production team, but has also extended into modelling. Below, I have designed some of the shots for the Animatic.
Tremough house used to be a Nunnery..
Here is a boat I designed which I made an Animatic out of quite simply in Flash. The seagulls are a nice little addition :)
I have now started modelling the boat using the 2d image in the animatic above as reference, along with a couple of photos from the internet to show the front/top viewpoints of the boat. This all helps with the 3d modelling.
For these I have used NURBS as you get nice curves with it and also it is easier to texture then polygons. After speaking with Georg I've realised its now best to convert the NURBS to Polygons in order to join the side with the front. Texturing should still be easier as it transfers the NURBS UVs across. So the model is still in an early stage at the moment.
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