Industry level task Week 2

This has mostly been updating the model/scene that we want and to begin the UV process. Compared to last week my work flow is to complete the main objects I want in the scene first then polish them before starting the unwrapping the UV process.

The objects in the scene that I have included this week are the, lamp, ashtray, two shot glasses, a liquor bottle and a packet of cigarettes with 3 cigarettes in it. I have also added more to the type writer, the main improvement for that are now the keys. I will do one more model for the scene for now (the telephone) then update all of the models in this scene by making them smoother.

The way that I have done this process at a decent pace is by giving some models multiple objects to work on. Two examples would be the lamp shade and the lamp are two separate objects while the typewriter has over five so far. For now i will add as much detail to the scene as possible but by the end I will normal map the scene to lower the poly count but without removing the detail. As well as unwrapping the UV's in the scene and texturing, other elements in the scene will be the lighting too add to the ambiance to the scene.

My main problem now is that the typewriter has a major drop in the top and how to do it right is going to be a problem.As well as finding a way to make the shot glasses clear rather than opaque.

2 Point and 1 Point Tracking

This week we tried other ways that tracking works in after effects (i case you didn't know I tried a point tracking task last year to have a lightsaber effect from recorded footage). This time we had to create a one-point track point in a created set of footage.

We had to create 3 extra layers to get this effect to work. Like before you need to find a position in the footage that has contrast to that the tracker can stay in the same location while the footage moves in the scene. Each tracker has an outer and an inner box. The outer box is the area of where the tracker finds the contrast the inner box is the point where the contrast should be found, without this the marker would fly across the screen again and again. Before it can be used however you need to apply it to the footage first.

Once we found the location and tried out the tracker to make sure it works well. I added another layer underneath the tracker to make the image imported into the footage look like it belonged there.

The extra part was trying out 2 point tracking in a different piece of footage. These 2 points are where the points go in the footage but the final purpose is the same as one point tracking. This version is for put an object where no contrast exists.

I will say that I understand this process but it is annoying to fulfill the task. Plus the final result could have been smoother than what it is. I would like to do some practice for this however I don't know any alternative to adobe after effects without paying the £50 a month for all of the programs.

New Modeling Task (Industry Level Standard)

This week we started a new modelling task using all of our modelling skills to create the best possible model in 9 more week sessions. This week was mostly about creating an idea, getting reference images, a few sketches and starting to model the idea. The idea that I choose was to create a desk for a detective during the 1930's.

This is an environment model since is does not contain only one main object in the scene I will be adding objects such as a typewriter, lamp, ashtray, liquor and a office chair. I will do these objects in the difficulty that they appear to have so immediately after the desk I worked on the typewriter.

Any secondary ideas I have are making a back wall with blinds and having papers on the desk. The style of this will have a noire look to it.

The main point that I have to use in this environment is to use many more individual meshes for each object. However planning for the future you can colour code your meshes for the object to have similar textures for the final product.

Now, since this is an environmental design I am not going to fully detail every poly in the scene. There are many ways that I can do this an example would be using normal maps to achieve a good look but without imploding the poly count. Another point that was given was to constantly bevel many edges to look smoother because not too many objects have really sharp edges.

Other than that my only goal is to finish all required objects before the beginning of next week and I will improve my assets as I go along.

After Effects/Illustrator Logo Update

I have been working on my logo since I finished my logo assets in Illustrator and to combine them together. Aside from my plant and my moon, I have added a background and sub-assets in the final design.

I have done many things to improve the look of my logo. It will appear better in After Effects when all of the particle effects and lighting effects are added into the short six second animation. Firstly, the plant hasn't been changed for now (even though I have a few ideas) , the moon has had editions. I have added more ellipses in front of the main asset, with different shades of white and black to have more relation to reference images of the moon. To stylize this, I changed the outline of the moon to a more of a rough pencil outline.  Finally for the moon, I have added a major lighting effect to make the moon shine brighter from the background, this effect was a radical blur that was scaled outwards. 

Secondly, the sub assets in the shot are the stars, the hill, the background and the title. The stars are all small, white ellipses that have the outlines blurred out. The hill was created with the pen tool to make a un-even semi circle and have a colour gradient horizontally to add the colour on the hill, combining light green, dark green, and some brown. The title is something that the logo needs but it is subject to change.

For now I am happy with my progress with how it visually looks, but to get the animation done the next steps is to work backwards to the first frame I want the animation to start since this shot is the final frame for the logo (but without the particle effects). Aside from the things that I want to improve I am happy with my progress.

3D Tracking Shots

This week, we created a 3D tracking shot in after effects. The way that we did this is was by creating a 3rd dimensional title in a recorded piece of footage. This is just another feature in after effects to use in the future.

This is one of three forms of tracking in after effects, (1 point, 2 point and 3D tracking) This is also the simplest form of tracking in a piece of footage.  Firstly, we had to use a new format for this task to fit the footage and also lower the quality of the footage so it can load at a better pace.

The way that this was accomplished was by, having after effects analyse the footage in a 3 dimensional space to create tracking points across the screen. The point represent where after effects thinks that it can hold that point throughout the piece of footage. You then connect three points to create a triangle that you then use to position whatever you want in the shot. The reason we used are names are just because the are easy to identify in the shot and you can see effects in the VFX effect, including a lighting effect in the middle of the word.

I am happy with the final result of this task and that it works perfectly fine in after effects. The only thing that I can think of that will improve my work is learning more about the other 2 ways of tracking and if I was to do this again, I would add extra effects in the shot to make the 3D writing appear more natural, such as shadows on the ground.