Month: May 2023

Week 7: Pyramid Modelling in Maya

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 28th May 2023
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This week I focused on figuring out the style of the pyramid on my scene and finishing the model in Maya.

Reference pictures and planning

I researched several pyramids in Mexico and Guatemala, and found one that looks a bit more simple but also tall enough to fit the scene that I want to make, which would show the pyramid slightly above the trees of the rainforest. This is the pyramid of the magician in Uxmal, Mexico and it has 3 levels and only one staircase on the front that leads to two different entrances. As my camera movement is going to go from the bottom of the pyramid until the top, I think it could look good to go all the way up the stairs until the top entrances and then open up the scene in a long shot. Regarding the details in the walls, since these would be time consuming and it would take a lot of time to render, I decided to model a simplified version of these instead.

Pyramid of the magician general view (Zwegers, 2013)

Pyramid model

Using a pyramid preset geometry from Maya I started to shape the 3 levels of my Mayan pyramid. Then, adding some more subdivisions, I added the steps that surround the whole shape. Then, in a separate model, I shaped the main entrance in the middle section. The reason why I modelled it separately is because, it needs way more subdivisions than the main body so it would be easier to model it separate from the main body. I added the entrance and the windows along with all the different patterns that would shape the decoration of this section. Lastly, I modelled the top section and added as decoration the same pattern I used for the middle section. I tried to keep the number of subdivisions at the minimum so this model would not be too heavy for the main scene, as it is going to be quite heavy once I add the rest of the foliage.

References

O’Brien, S. (2012). Pyramid of the Magician at Uxmal Mexico (online). Available at: https://pixels.com/featured/pyramid-of-the-magician-at-uxmal-mexico-shawn-obrien.html [Accessed 25 May 2023]

Popp, T. Day Trip to Uxmal and the Pyramid of the Magician (online). Available at: https://lillagreen.com/visiting-uxmal-and-the-pyramid-of-the-magician-yucatan-mexico/ [Accessed 25 May 2023]

Schooley Jr, J.P. Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico (online). Available at: https://knowltondl.osu.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/8275 [Accessed 25 May 2023]

Zwegers, A. (2013). Uxmal, Pyramid of the Magician (online). Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/azwegers/14179854288 [Accessed 25 May 2023]

Tags Maya, Modelling, Pyramid

Advanced & Experimental Group

Week 7: Radio & Planet Hologram Final Models & UV Maps

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 28th May 2023
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This week I added some more details to the radio and the planet hologram, and tried to finish the UV maps of both of them to leave them ready for texturing next week.

Radio model improvement

I considered that the radio was looking a bit flat and boring. Since the style we are approaching is more detailed and crowded, I decided to add some patterns on the top of the radio following the organic shapes I added in the front part of the model. Also, I saw that Liam and Roos had a specific pattern in their models (couch, arm chair, and coffee table) which made the style of the objects look more cohesive. Therefore, I asked them how they made it and added it to the sides of my radio. For the top decoration, I used curves as before that then I would transform into brush strokes and lastly into mesh. For the pattern on the sides, I created a plane, then used the ‘Poke’ feature to create these crossed intersections on each subdivision of the plane, and then I extruded those faces keeping the faces separately.

Final radio model – 360 render in Maya

Radio UV maps

After I finished with the final version of the radio, I moved on with the UV maps.

Planet hologram base remodelling and hologram

After Martyna and Roos had a 1-to-1 session with Dom, he considered that the platform of the hologram was too small and it did not feel like part of the composition. Therefore, I remodelled the platform, this time based on Martyna’s idea of taking an old school compass as a reference. This compass idea fits really good with the hologram style as it would look like it is a navigation map for the spaceship’s route. I also made the Earth continents shape in the inner sphere of the hologram, using MASH distribute node to generate particles and then make a road map so the particles follow the shape of a 2D image that I found online and converted in an alpha map in Photoshop. Then, I also added extra particles in the outer sphere of the hologram to give like a more random and glitchy effect. I also animated the rings and spheres so they rotate simultaneously. Lastly, I also found a tutorial that shows how to create a proper hologram effect (using a multiply and a facing ratio nodes, playing with transmission weight and then adding a ‘Lens effect’ to the render settings).

Hologram effect tutorial (Arnold renderer, 2021)

Distribute node to replicate the particle created and distribute it around the inner sphere

Playblast of final hologram model with animation (no textures added)

References

Arnold renderer, 2021. Arnold tutorial – How to create a holographic effect in MtoA (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glG4dUnSH3o&list=PLAlv9GvsMvnMCUwPx_gcXaCj_yHYdIPqD&index=1 [Accessed 27 May 2023]

Tags Hologram effect, MASH, Maya, Planet hologram, Radio, UV Maps

FMP Thesis

Week 6 & 7: Further Research, & 1-to-1 Session

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 23rd May 2023
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In these two weeks I have focused on structuring my thesis points and doing further research to find the answer to the questions and sub-questions about my topic. I also had my 1-to-1 tutorial with Nigel.

1-to-1 session

Before this session, I prepared the below form with some questions about my thesis proposal to discuss it with the professor.

Framework-to-consider-in-developing-proposal Download

The feedback I received from Nigel was that I had to extend my bibliography and to find more contemporary sources. Also, he said that I should focus more in the peer reviewed papers or case studies already made by other authors, and do not make a survey myself (considering that it would be time consuming, and its would be hard to acquire opinions from professionals of the industry). He also said that I could focus on the ‘uncanny valley’ that exist around photorealism instead of trying to cover every aspect of this topic. I could also take some movies as references and depart from that.

Further research and thesis proposal structure

Doing some further research to expand my sources, I found a book called The Complete Guide to Photorealism for Visual Effects, Visualization and Games: For Visual Effects, Visualization and Games by Eran Dinur. This book provides detailed explanations of the differences between the view through our eyes and the view through a camera lens, the uncanny valley, and the imperfections of reality. It also talks about the challenges that visual effects have faced with photorealism in filmmaking as well as some more technical aspects of how to achieve a photorealistic look. Lastly, it also mentions briefly how photorealism is likely going to evolute with the emerging of new technologies and new techniques. This book is going to help me understand the technicalities of photorealism and why is so easy to get stuck in the uncanny valley with this style.

I also made a new structure of my thesis taking in consideration the new approach I want to focus on which is the photorealism struggles regarding the uncanny valley and the solutions that the industry has come up to deal with it. I also started to link my sources that could answer those questions and to start with the literature review next week.

Main question – Will photorealism continue to be the leader in the film industry in the future against traditional visual effects and despite its controversy around the uncanny valley?

What is photorealism?

Photorealism is an art movement that started on 1960s in America, that shows artworks that look photographic. This form of art is defined by being complex, extremely clear, and emotionally neutral. Since this type of art was considered unoriginal and boring, this led to the pop art movement. However, in the beginnings of 1990s, the interest in photorealism resurged again as effect of the development of digital cameras which could offer a more precise image. (Kench, 2022; Tate, 2023; Wainwright, 2019)

What are the origins of photorealism in filmmaking and what were its initial uses?

How is photorealism used in filmmaking nowadays and important is it?
- Importance of photorealistic VFX to replace dangerous live action scenes. (Maio, 2021; Wadmare, 2021)
- Importance of VFX to replace impossible to shot environments such as outer space scenes or fictional environments. – (Dinur, 2022 – The Reality of the Unreal, pg. 18)
- Importance of VFX for health and safety issues like the use of virtual production when the global pandemic hit and travel to different locations was not a possibility.
- Does photorealism quality depend purely on the new digital technologies’ high definition? (Dinur, 2022 – Image Quality and Photorealism, pg. 19)

Why is photorealism not accepted by all audiences?
- Uncanny valley. (Dinur, 2022; Manovich 2002)
- Has the audience become more used to photorealism, therefore, more exigent about it? (Failes, 2021)
- Is photorealism considered emotionless?
- At what point photorealism starts to become surrealism?
- Non-photorealism in filmmaking to foreground the work of digital effects artists. (Jeng, 2023)
- Photorealism costs and workload. (Agrawal and Auryn 2009; Cooper, 1999)
- Photorealism used for malicious intentions, issues caused, and solutions in place to help avoid this. (Meena and Tyagi, 2019)

Industry professionals case studies. (Melki, 2019)

What could be the future of photorealism in filmmaking? – (Dinur, 2022)
- AI as a tool to help with photorealism demands in film industry. Would AI replace human labour as digital VFX has shadowed handmade VFX artists and animators’ jobs?
- Virtual production – high resolution screens installed in life action shooting. Helping with green screen spill issues? Problems when shooting outdoors or moiré issues? Once shot, can background not be replaced?
- Is Unreal Engine helping filmmaking industry to speed up their work process and to reach a more photorealistic look? (Failes, 2020)

Bibliography

Agrawal, A., and Auryn (2009).Non-photorealistic Rendering: Unleashing the Artist’s Imagination (online). Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5167490 [Accessed 25 April 2023]

Cooper, D. (1999). Personal Thoughts on Non-Photorealistic Rendering (online). Available at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/563666.563690 [Accessed 25 April 2023]

Dinur, E (2017). The Filmmaker’s Guide to Visual Effects: The Arts and Techniques of VFX for Directors, Producers, Editors, and Cinematograrphers. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Dinur, E. (2022). The Complete Guide to Photorealism for Visual Effects, Visualization and Games. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Failes, I. (2020). EPIC’S GOAL WITH NEXT-GEN UNREAL ENGINE IS PHOTOREALISM (online). Available at: https://beforesandafters.com/2020/05/14/epics-goal-with-next-gen-unreal-engine-is-photorealism/ [Accessed 23 May 2023]

Failes, I. (2021). WHAT IS PHOTOREALISM? WELL, SOMEONE LITERALLY JUST WROTE THE BOOK ON IT (online). Available at: https://beforesandafters.com/2021/11/30/what-is-photorealism-well-someone-literally-just-wrote-the-book-on-it/ [Accessed 23 May 2023]

Jeng, J. (2023). Sidelining Photorealism: ‘Speed Racer’ and Articulation of Digital Effects Labour (online). Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=KLOqEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA153&dq=photorealism+in+film&ots=r8349MlY8s&sig=aEhMvSbwORZ1C0leMCKO8dpnEns&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=photorealism%20in%20film&f=false[Accessed 25 April 2023]

Kench, S. (2022). What is Photorealism – The Art of the Real Explained (online). Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-photorealism-definition/ [Accessed 23 April 2023]

Maio, A. (2021). What is VFX? Defining the Term and Creating Impossible Worlds (online). Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-vfx/ [Accessed 30 May 2023]

Manovich, Lev (2002). The Language of New Media. First paperback edn. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Meena, K. B., and Tyagi, V. (2019). A Novel Method to Distinguish Photorealistic Computer Generatd Images from Photographic Images (online). Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=8985711 [Accessed 25 April 2023]

Melki, H. (2019). An Investigation Into The Creative Processes In Generating Believable Photorealistic Film Characters (online). Available at: https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/78290411/Henry_Melki_Thesis.pdf [Accessed 25 April 2023]

Tate (2023). Photorealism (online). Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/photorealism [Accessed 30 May 2023]

Wadmare, S. (2021). Recent Trends Visitation in VFX and SFX in the Animation World (online). Available at: http://ilkogretim-online.org/fulltext/218-1617213160.pdf?1682423818 [Accessed 25 April 2023]

Wainwright, L. S. (2019). Photo-realism. Encyclopedia Britannica (online). Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/Photo-realism[Accessed 30 May 2023]

Tags Feedback, questions, Research, Sub-questions, Thesis Proposal, Tutorial

Advanced & Experimental Group

Week 6: Spaceship UV Maps in Maya & Textures in Substance Painter

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 21st May 2023
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This week I focused on finishing my spaceship by editing the UV maps and creating the textures in Substance Painter.

UV Maps in Maya

Since I consider that my knowledge about tidying up UV maps was basic and my spaceship model had a lot of complex shapes and details, I decided to research about how to lay proper UV maps in complex objects. Therefore, I found the following tutorial which had a useful workflow to do proper UVs.

UV maps tutorial (On Mars 3D, 2021)

After this tutorial, I carried on to do my spaceship UV maps and get it ready for texturing in Substance Painter. Since there were lots of different parts of the spaceship that needed a lot of space in a UDIM, I decided to separate each part in a different UDIM to have the best resolution when adding textures. I also cut each section in pieces to then unfold them properly and use layout to spread them in the UDIM. Sometimes, some of the UVs were layout really mixed up and not properly oriented, like in the main body of the spaceship, so I manually corrected orientations and tidied them up (so they were also easier to spot when texturing separate sections).

Textures in Substance Painter

I wanted to achieve a realistic texture result with my spaceship, so I decided to use Substance Painter for this. Since I have never used this software before, I researched some tutorials in YouTube and also asked to Marianna and one of the technicians at uni for advice. I found the following tutorial that teaches the basics of Substance Painter.

Substance Painter beginners tutorial (Adobe Substance 3D, 2021)

I mostly used the preset textures for my base, such as copper, copper worn, chrome blue tint, and glass firm dirty. Then, from these base textures I started building up with fill layers, masks, and generators to add dirt, scratches, burns, and rusty borders. Once I was happy with the textures look, I baked them all.

However, I had some issues in the outer cover of the spaceship, since the UV maps were not unfolded properly, so they were overlapping and showing like stripy patches in some areas. Therefore, I went back to Maya and corrected the wings UVs, cutting the inside parts of each piece, unfolding them and then laying them out properly. Once this was corrected, I had to search for another tutorial as I was not sure how to update the UV maps in Substance without having to start from the beginning the whole process of texturing. Therefore, I found the following tutorial that has a really quick way to update this:

Updating UV maps in Substance Painter tutorial (On Mars 3D, 2020)

Once the textures were finished, I exported them and relinked them in Maya as shaders following this tutorial for a quicker way to relink all texture maps in Maya:

Exporting textures from Substance Painter to import and relink in Maya tutorial (What Make Art, 2022)

I also added some emission effect to the windows so it looks like there are lights on inside the spaceship.

Spaceship final model with textures – 360 render

References

Adobe Substance 3D (2021). Substance Painter 2021 Getting Started – Part 01 – Materials & masking (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j27AS0VQOw [Accessed 20 May 2023]

On Marrs 3D (2020). Substance Painter – How to Update Models AFTER You Textured It! (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjYzLgVOqrc [Accessed 21 May 2023]

On Mars 3D (2021). How to UV Map Complex Objects in Maya (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiEQNDZapXs [Accessed 20 May 2023]

What Make Art (2022). Export Substance Painter Textures to Maya with Plugin Tutorial (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCKc_6nTRPM&t=227s [Accessed 21 May 2023]

Tags Maya, Spaceship, Substance Painter, Textures, UV Maps

Advanced & Experimental Personal

Week 6: Final Trees Models using MASH, & Trees Arrangement in Environment

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 21st May 2023
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This week I managed to finish all trees models using MASH to place leaves repetitions, and also placed all trees in the environment.

Leaves arrangement using MASH tool in Maya

Since I realised that arranging all leaves manually would take longer that I expected, I decided to look for an alternative and quickest way. Then I found this tutorial on how to use MASH ‘Distribute’ and ‘Placer’ nodes to ‘paint’ an object over a mesh.

MASH tutorial (Ian Waters, 2017)

With the ‘Distribute’ node in MASH, I created the repetitions of the leaves arrangements I designed previously. Also, I made sure to set my MASH ‘Geometry type’ to ‘Mesh’ and not to ‘Instancer’, since this way the alpha map of the leaves will be kept and I will be able to keep the leaves texture. Then, in the ‘Distribute’ node, I set the ‘Distribution type’ to ‘Mesh’ and linked the tree as the ‘Input Mesh’ (so it follows the shape of the tree), and left the ‘Number of points’ as ‘0’ in this case. Then, I used a ‘Placer’ node so I could place the leaves pattern like painting with a brush on top of the tree. With this node I made some tweaks in its setting so the leaves were generated with random position, rotation and scale. Lastly, in order to preserve the leaves texture when exporting the trees with the MASH generated repetitions to the environment scene, I exported them in .ASS extension.

‘Placer’ node used to add leaves too tree

Final trees arrangement in environment

Final trees arranged in environment – top view

The next steps for next week will be to try to finish the rest of the foliage and palm trees using MASH too and to start modelling the pyramid.

References

Waters, I. (2017). MASH Placer Node – Painting Points (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb2ZGa0JBns [Accessed on 20 May 2023]

Tags 3D Modelling, Environment, MASH, Maya, Trees

Advanced & Experimental Group

Week 5: Group Project Presentation, Radio and Planet Hologram Models in Maya, & Full Version of Matchmove Task

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 14th May 2023
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This week we had the first presentation of our group project, I also started with my next two models drafts (radio and planet hologram), & also made the matchmove task until the end of the footage as requested by Gonzalo.

Group presentation

This week we were asked to make a presentation of the current work in progress of our group project, so look dev artists shared the WIPs of our first models, CG generalist and CG lead shared the draft layout of the scene with illumination test, compositor showed their matchmove and clean up of the scene, and compositing lead shared their research about colour palette, textures and overall style of the scene.

Presentation_steampunk Download

Team meeting and weekly target – draft models

After the presentation, we also had a group meeting to review the progress of our project and decide the next steps to follow for next week. Since we needed a more refined layout to see dimensions and positioning of the models in the space, we decided to try and have all draft models done for next Monday. The CG generalist and CG lead also created a folder in the UAL shared drive so we could also access it and upload all our models there as alembic (abc). Martyna also took a human figure from Maya’s content browser and scaled it to the scene size we wanted so we have a scale reference.

From my side, as I already finished the spaceship model (and this was approved on FTrack by Gonzalo too), this week I focused on finishing the radio and the planet hologram draft models for Monday.

Radio

For the radio model, I took the two pictures below as references. Both styles are different but I like some features from both styles that I consider can be incorporated together. For example the main outer shape and the speaker on the left radio could be mixed with the buttons and decoration lines of the second reference on the right.

I then tried to incorporate these elements in my model and came up with the following draft model:

Radio draft model

Planet hologram

For the planet hologram I used the below image as reference since it mixes a futuristic hologram effect with steampunk metallic textures in the rings, planet and base. I consider it is a good example for the futuristic steampunk style we are aiming for.

In this version I made a draft of the model and tested how it would look like with a basic hologram effect and a simple animation made with manual key framing:

Planet hologram draft model

Extended matchmove task

Also, we were asked by Gonzalo on FTrack to finish the matchmove task until the last frame. When I went back to 3D Equaliser and tried to add the last tracking points for the final frames, it was showing as a flat line in the deviation graph, as if I did not add any points from frame 450 onwards. However, after trying to figure it out by myself, I asked my classmates for help and Martyna managed to help me with this. As she had the same issue last week, she asked Dom and he explained that this was due to having two different tracking points in the beginning of the scene and at the end of the scene in the same place. Since they were different points and were on the same place, the programme could not read them properly and assumed that there were no tracking points in that area. Therefore, all that I needed to do was to take the point added at the beginning of the scene and extend it until the end from the point it was visible again inside the frame. This solved my issue with the programme not recognising the tracks and managed to finish the tracking until the end. Then in Maya I adjusted the scene again and exported the alembic cards, cones, and camera to Nuke, to finally add the lens distortion.

Extended matchmove Maya playblast

Extended matchmove final comp

Tags Draft models, Matchmove, Planet hologram, Presentation, Radio, Testing

FMP Thesis

Week 5: Research Frameworks

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 14th May 2023
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In this week’s lecture, we analysed the types of research framework that can be done in our thesis and the research methodology we are going to follow to develop our topic.

Types of research

There are two types of research that we could use for our thesis such as:

Quantitative research. This type of research provides numerical data (analysed using mathematical methods or statistics). It is an empirical research that explains trends so it is more objective.
Qualitative research. This type of research produces findings without using quantitative methods and it is more subjective. It explores the perception, feelings, or ideas of people.

Critical thinking process and thesis proposal structure

The process to follow to analyse a topic in a critical manner is the following:

Investigate a problem thoroughly
Prosecute and defend an idea
Cross examine witnesses (literature review)
Verdict (conclusion)

This process will help us to structure our thesis topic in a logical way until reaching a conclusion where we will explain our findings.

Our thesis proposal structure will be as follow:

Introduction
Background significance
Literature review
Research design, methods, and schedule
Suppositions and implications
Conclusion
Bibliography

Methodology

Our research targets will constitute the basis of the methodology used. In order to explain the methodology used, we will need to follow this structure:

Describe thesis or research problem
Explain chosen approach
Clarify any uncommon methodology used
Explain how the data used was collected
Detail methods used to analyse collected data

Tags Critical Thinking, Methodology, Research frameworks, Thesis Proposal

Advanced & Experimental Personal

Week 5: Tree Branches Modelling, & Leaves Texture Cards in Photoshop and Maya

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 14th May 2023
No Comments on Week 5: Tree Branches Modelling, & Leaves Texture Cards in Photoshop and Maya

This week I focused finishing the tree branches to incorporate them in the trunks I previously modelled and prepared the leaves texture in Photoshop to add to cards as shader in Maya.

Branches

For the branches modelling, I followed the tutorial I found last week. I started extruding some faces of a scaled-up cube, to then scale down the tapper in the ends of the branches. Then adding some rigging to this shape, using a ‘randomizer’ tool, and adding some manual tweaks to it, I created some random shapes of a branch. Once I was happy with the shape generated, I duplicated and tweaked again the original shape. I created 5 variations of the branch which I incorporated to the trunks I previously made. To add the branches to the trunk, I positioned them first where I wanted to place them, then deleted the faces of the trunk where I wanted to add these branches, combined the two meshes, selected both edges in both ends and bridged them.

Branch shape extruding random faces of a scaled-up cube

Leaves

For the leaves I decided the add an alpha and a bump map to a card instead of modelling them as this last would be time consuming and will be quite heavy tot render. Therefore, I found a tutorial that shows how to create your own normal map and alpha from the image I am going to use as texture.

Leaf tutorial (Rees3D, 2020)

First, I search for a leaf image that is placed flat and has a white background. Then in Photoshop I made the background pure white (as it was slightly darker). Then selected the white area with the ‘magic wand’ tool, created new layer, and using the ‘bucket’ tool, I painted this layer in black. Then, I changed this layer blend mode from ‘normal’ to ‘colour’ and I ‘merge down’ with thee original layer. Then, I selected the ‘generate normal map’ 3D filter and in the pop up window, I tweaked ‘blur’, ‘contrast details’ and ‘detail scale’ to design the normal map of the leaf. Lastly, I exported this result in JPEG.

To create the alpha layer of the same leaf picture, in Photoshop, I selected the white area with the magic wand again and created a new layer to paint it in black with the ‘bucket’ tool as I did before. Then, I changed the blending mode from ‘normal’ to ‘colour’ and ‘merge down’ as before too, but this time I used ‘curves’ tool to adjust the image in the curve graph until the main image of the leaf looks black. Lastly, I used ‘invert’ to swap the white and black space and exported the image en JPEG.

Once I had my texture maps prepared, I linked them to a plane in Maya, connecting the original leaf picture to the base colour, the alpha to opacity, and the normal map to the bump map. Then, I oriented the UV map slightly so the leaf centre line was aligned with the centre of the plane, to then bend the plane slightly so it doesn’t look totally flat. Lastly, I duplicated this and arranged the duplicates to form a group of leaves attached to a small branch. Then I started to add them to the trees.

References

Kelly (2019). Green Leaf (online). Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-leaf-2559931/ [Accessed on 13 May 2023]

Rees3D (2020). Transparent Leaf [Maya Tutorial] | Rees3D.com (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM0VgEbc4pw [Accessed on 13 May 2023]

Tags Alpha, Leaves Texture, Maya, Normal Map, Photoshop, Tree branches

FMP Thesis

Week 4: Literature Review, Thesis Main Body Structure, & Possible Questions and Sub-questions

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 7th May 2023
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This week’s lecture focused on explaining the bases of building up a good literature review. I also thought of the possible questions and sub-questions of my thesis and how they would be structured.

Literature review

This will help to orient ourselves and the reader towards what we want to cover in our thesis. A literature review is developed by:

Communicating relevant research methodology.
Showing theoretical framework we could establish.
Detailing where our work fits into the bigger picture.

When structuring a literature review we need to state our research question and explain how we tackled it. Then a body of paragraphs will explain the research in detail. Lastly, a conclusion section will reiterate the research question while summarising the insides. Within our body sources, we will need to identify themes, patterns, and gaps.

Once we have read and understood our sources, we will need to organise a strategy for writing about how we have used them in our research. We can organise them chronologically, by themes, or according to methods used by their author. Once this outline is done, we can start writing our literature review.

Thesis main body structure draft, with possible questions and sub-questions

Based on some of the sources I have already found, I thought of some possible questions and sub-questions, and organised them in a possible structure of my thesis’ main body.

Main question – Will photorealism continue to be the leader in the film industry in the future?

What is photorealism

What are the origins of photorealism in filmmaking and what were its initial uses?

How is photorealism used in filmmaking nowadays?
- Importance of photorealistic VFX to replace dangerous live action scenes.
- Importance of VFX to replace impossible to shot environments such as outer space scenes or fictional environments.
- Has digital photorealistic VFX better quality than actual handmade scenography?
- Has digital photorealistic VFX completely substituted the job of stop motion modellers and animators?
- Has digital photorealistic VFX completely substituted the job of make-up artists and props artists?

Why is photorealism not accepted by all audiences?
- Uncanny valley.
- Non-photorealism in filmmaking to foreground the work of digital effects artists.
- Photorealism costs and workload.
- Photorealism used for malicious intentions, issues caused, and solutions in place to help avoid this.

What is the general public’s opinion (audience) about photorealism? (survey)

What could be the future of photorealism in filmmaking?
- AI as a tool to help with photorealism demands in film industry. Would AI replace human labour as digital VFX has shadowed handmade VFX artists and animators’ jobs?
- Virtual production – high resolution screens installed in life action shooting. Helping with green screen spill issues? Problems when shooting outdoors or moiré issues? Once shot, can background not be replaced?

Tags Literature review, questions, Sub-questions, thesis structure

Advanced & Experimental Group

Week 4: Spaceship WIP 1 & Matchmove Task Reviews, & Spaceship WIP 2 Model Detailing

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 7th May 2023
No Comments on Week 4: Spaceship WIP 1 & Matchmove Task Reviews, & Spaceship WIP 2 Model Detailing

This week I focused on finishing the matchmove task with all corrections required and also tried to finish the spaceship model ready for texturing.

Matchmove task

I had a second 1-to-1 session with Dom and asked him about how to export from Maya to Nuke and how to correct camera alignment in 3D Equaliser or Maya. In 3D Equaliser, I missed to set the point of origin and to set the ground points. Also, I needed to align my camera horizon so everything is level to the footage. Once this was corrected, ,I exported it to Maya and realigned the cards and cones of 3D scene. Then, I exported cards, cones, and camera separately in .abc (alembic) as explained by Dom. As I already had the scene previously set before these corrections, I replaced the camera exported from Maya in the Nuke file exported from 3D Equaliser, then connected the cards and cones as geometry in the ‘Scene’ node, added a red constant and some lighting to give some colour and contrast to the cones, and finally redistorted everything together. I finally exported the final matchmove and uploaded it to FTrack for assessment.

Final matchmove

Spaceship WIP 1 review and further modelling of WIP 2

This week I tried to finish the spaceship model to get it ready for texturing. I added more details such as windows on the sides (adding edge loops and extruding), two extra engines and wings in the sides, changed the bottom part and added extra details so it looks like a boat, and lastly, I added some extra details in the top of the spaceship so it looks like the top fin of a fish. Most of the more organic design ini this model was made using ‘Curves’ to make the shape I wanted and then with a disc, extruding following curve made. My main reference for the added features is the following:

Reference picture (Michal Matczak, 2012)

Once I finished with the model, I exported a 360° view and took some wireframes screenshots as requested in my first FTrack review of my first model version.

Final model 360° view – Maya render

References

Matczak, M. (2012). artwork, airships, steampunk airship, steampunk, aircraft, industrial, fantasy art, smoke, rocks, cave, Michal Matczak, concept art, lights, Zeppelin, HD phone wallpaper (online). Available at: https://www.peakpx.com/en/hd-wallpaper-desktop-kdvbs [Accessed 22 April 2023]

Tags 3D Equaliser, 3D Modelling, Matchmove, Maya, Nuke, References

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