Author: Nira Gonzalez Sanchez

Weeks 10 & 11: Final Models Render with Studio Lighting in Maya (Wireframes, UV Maps, & Textures)

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 22nd June 2023
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I expended this week setting my final models with a studio lighting scene in Maya to show topology, UVs, and textures.

Studio lighting set up in Maya

I took me a bit to be able to set this scene as it was preset with different colour space, so the scene was giving me error from start. I followed a video that the author of this scene made to explain how to configure the colour space to make it work.

After, I set everything up, I could start setting my models but, unfortunately, some textures were looking way different and with the time limit I have I just could not do anything about it. Therefore, I tried to match the textures such as possible to the originals and proceeded to render. I also rendered the topology and UVs of the models for the showreel breakdown.

Tags Maya, Rendering, Studio Lighting, Textures, UV Maps, Wireframes

Advanced & Experimental Personal

Week 10: River Simulation Fix, Lighting, Camera Movement, & Render in Maya

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 18th June 2023
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In this week, I decided to fix the river simulation (as I was having issues with the water speed and density of the flow), to then illuminate the scene, and prepare the camera movement following my initial story board.

River simulation fix

Since my previous river simulation was way too heavy and it was giving me problems to see the actual speed of the water (I needed to render the whole simulation if I wanted to see the effect as the playblast was not showing the effect), I decided to find another way to simulate water that was not that heavy on the scene. So I found in YouTube this tutorial that uses a noise shader instead, and then I could just use the glass texture and coloured it to make it look ‘wet’.

Water simulation tutorial (SYIA Studios, 2020)

Adding some subtle colours to base and specular and give some contrast

Water simulation play blast in Maya

I then also considered in polishing my river water simulation effect, as the waves were looking a bit too big for a river. They seemed to be more for a lake or a pool, but a river has smaller waves as it is more like a flow of water that follows a unique direction. Then, in the noise shader, I reduced the scale of the waves and added a bit more noise.

Correcting water simulation noise shader in Maya

Lighting, camera movement, and render

For lighting conditions, I searched in Polyhaven for HDRIs that simulate the light we experience at sunset. It should be subtle, yellowish, and that projects soft and stretched shadows. I found an HDRI that was not giving me the exact light conditions I wanted so I also tweaked the amount of light the it was producing and make it slightly darker.

Once the lighting was done, I started to do the camera movement is my scene. I did not want to show only that outer side of the environment from afar, so I made camera to pass through the rainforest to show the trees, palm trees, and foliage, to then jump over the river, going around the scenario in circles, to finish climbing up the pyramid up un til ending in a long shot of the environment.

In the following render of the scene, it is visible the camera movement I set in the scene, however, I noticed that I had some texture problems with the trees leaves, so I will need to revisit the textures paths, relink them properly to avoid this issue, and render again the scene.

References

SYIA Studios (2020). Maya Easy Animated Water Shader (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVjc3vvvJfo&list=PLAlv9GvsMvnMCUwPx_gcXaCj_yHYdIPqD&index=1&t=62s [Accessed 16 June 2023]

Tags Camera Movement, Maya, Render, River Simulation, Simulation

Advanced & Experimental Group

Week 9: Hologram Base Textures in Substance Painter & Final Model Animation in Maya

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 11th June 2023
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This week I focused on finishing the textures of the hologram and refine its animation.

Hologram UVs correction and base texture

When I started to add the textures to the base of the hologram in Substance Painter, I noticed that my UVs were wrong as I sliced them in sections. Therefore, any time I tried to add a rust effect on edges, the programme was not detecting them and placed the textured in the middle. I then went back to Maya and redo the UV maps, but this time only cutting off the edge that was less visible, and unfolded the UV from that cut. Then, I updated the UVs in Substance Painter and added the rust effect in the edges.

Originally, I wanted to do the texture in bronze colour to follow the style of most of the objects in the master render. However, I then realised that this texture will not work as hit is too flat and yellowish so it does not really match with the blue hologram effect on top of it.

Initial bronze texture test in Substance Painter with some dirt and rust effect added on top

After testing the bronze texture, I decided to swap to a more reflective and metallic texture such as the copper texture, and then add the dirt and scratches masks I made for the previous bronze texture on top of the new texture.

Base with copper texture for the overall surface and cobalt texture for the small rivets and the central star

After exporting the textures from Substance Painter, I created the shaders in Maya using the Substance plug-in, and linked each shader the the correspondent part of the hologram. After relinking textures in Maya, I noticed that the metallic textures looked too flat and they did not shine as a metallic surface would do in reality. Therefore, I checked the roughness map of the copper texture and reduced the ‘alpha gain’ till 0.5 (it was 1 before) and then changed the ‘color gain’ to a darker gray so the shadows had some contrast from black to gray (before they were white so they were not visible, hence the flat look). Then, I went to the ‘Lens Effect’ I added for the hologram and reduced the ‘threshold’ from 1 to 0.65 so it did not look that white/burnt shine on the surface of the metallic base.

‘Lens Effect’ added in render settings for hologram effect

After the textures were finally completed, I redid the animation of the spinning of the rings and the little satellites rotation on them with manual key framing.

Final hologram model with textures and animation

Tags Hologram effect, Maya, Substance Painter, Textures, UV Maps

Advanced & Experimental Personal

Week 9: Environment UV Maps & Textures in Maya

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 11th June 2023
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This week, I finished all UV maps and textures of the whole scene so I could start next week with the lighting and camera movement to get it ready for rendering.

Trees and palm trees UV maps and textures

I reshaped all UVs branch by branch, cutting in the edge of each branch and unfolding them. Then I oriented them straight and adjusted the texel so the textures show with consistency. Then, I searched palm trees and trees bark textures in Quixel and linked them in the models in Maya. I used ‘base colour’, ‘normal map’ and ‘displacement’, ‘roughness’ for the specular, and ‘AO’ so the texture does not look flat. Also, in the ‘hypershade’, I went to the placer node of the textures and scaled them down to fit the model shape.

Pyramid UV maps and textures

The pyramid UVs took me a bit more time as it needs to be perfectly straight so the textures of the bricks do not look warped. I took my time to figure out how to dissect it in sections to avoid texture stretching issues. Then I linked bricks and destroyed rocks textures that I found in Quixel.

Ground and rocks UV maps and textures

The rocks were a little bit tricky as they were generated with the randomiser tool, so their topology is made by a lot of triangles and weird angles. The good thing about rocks is that their UV maps do not need to be straight or too perfect as they need to look organic. The ground was way easier as it is a plane so I did not have to retouch the UV. Again, the textures used for these, we’re dowloaded from Quixel.

Tags Maya, Quixel, Textures, UV Maps

FMP Thesis

Weeks 8 & 9: Final Thesis Chapters Structure & Draft Literature Review

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 10th June 2023
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In these two weeks I finished the final thesis structure so I could focus on researching further sources that were more specific to answer the questions and sub-questions of my topic. I also started writing and structuring my draft literature review with the sources I currently have.

Final thesis chapters structure with sources to be used to answer questions/sub-questions

I did some digging through my sources to take the parts that I could potentially use to answer my topic’s questions. Then, I also created an Excel spreadsheet to make notes of the most important points of my sources and to start structuring my literature review too.

Critical notes

Main question – Will photorealism continue to be the leader in the film industry in the future 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? (Manovich, 2002, pg. 198)

How is photorealism used in filmmaking nowadays and how important is it?
- Importance of photorealistic VFX to replace dangerous live action scenes. (Maio, 2021 – Matrix scene Neo dodging bullets; 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, pg. 199)
- Has the audience become more used to photorealism, therefore, more exigent about it? (Failes, 2021 – interview to Eran Dinur)
- Is photorealism considered emotionless?
- At what point photorealism starts to become excessive? (Dinur, 2017, pg. 14)
- Non-photorealism in filmmaking to foreground the work of digital effects artists. (Jeng, 2023; Agrawal and Auryn, 2009; and Cooper, 1999)
- 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)

Draft Literature Review

According to Studio Binder (Kench, 2022), Britannica (Wainwright, 2019), and Tate (2023) official websites, 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. These sources will contribute to explain the concept of Photorealism before diving into a more specific analysis of this movement into film making.

Photorealism can be used in filmmaking in many scenarios. For example, to add CG elements (characters, objects, environments) or visual effects that would be impossible or dangerous to shot during live action. Wadmare examines in his essay the importance of photorealistic VFX in filmmaking industry as a tool to avoid shooting dangerous or impossible live action scenes, which techniques are being currently followed to achieve this, and which new trends are arising to make the process easier. In addition to this, Maio (2021), also reflects in her article What is VFX? Defining the Term and Creating Impossible Worlds about how VFX industries use photorealistic digital assets to create impossible and dangerous scenes such as the scene in The Matrix when the main character dodges bullets shot against him.

Eran Dinur, visual effects supervisor, believes that Photorealism is an aspect that is important across all disciplines as it helps simulating a real character, object, environment, or phenomenon that would have been impossible, dangerous, or highly costly to be filmed or photographed in live action. Delving into Eran Dinur’s bibliography, and more specifically in his book The Complete guide to Photorealism for Visual Effects, Visualization and Games, he analyses how to implement the physics that apply to the world around us to the visual effects in filmmaking and make them look as photorealistic as possible. Since most of the scenery in filmmaking are not even real like alien planets, fantastic creatures, or impossible environments for our understanding of physics, visual effects artists important job is to observe and study the world around us and try to implement it to these fictional shots. These imaginary worlds have also some Earth like aspects that are kept so the audience can empathise with them. Sometimes these familiar aspects can help make the shots more ‘believable’ and, therefore, more photorealistic for the viewer. It is important to keep a balance between what is real and unreal, otherwise, the shot could end being an overly fantastic scene that could throw the audience out of the story.

Dinur also mentions that the quality of photorealism does not depend entirely on the quality digital capturer and display. While high dynamic range and bit depth are important for a successful photorealistic recreation, there are independent aspects such as light and surface, the sense of depth, richness of textures, characteristics of optical lenses, and many other characteristics that make a shot look as photorealistic in high definition as well as in low definition. These characteristics are more linked to the physics of the world around us and the interaction of surfaces, materials, lights, and other aspects with it.

In the beginning of the 21^st century, Manovich (2002) explains in his book The Language of New Media, the origins of photorealism and how it has been developing throughout the years. He also analyses how it is a common opinion that CGI will never be as realistic as images gathered by camera lenses. However, he also counter argues that these opinions are mistaken, explaining why he thinks this and how these CGI is in fact becoming more realistic than traditional photographs (hyperrealism). He also mentions that photorealism is often mistaken with realism, as people has the tendency that this movement depicts the reality as we see it through our eyes, when what photorealism has always tried to achieve is the look of the reality seen through a camera lens.

Going back to Erin Dinur, in an interview he had with the journalist Ian Failes (2021), he defends that if a digital asset does not look like it was shot live in front of a camera and like it is part of the rest of the composition, it will look fake and will not work. This is why, in his opinion, photorealism is so important for visual effects artists and why there is also a lot of pressure on the visual effects artists’ shoulders regarding the so called ‘uncanny valley’ where the audience’s opinion will be stuck in feedbacks such as ‘this looks fake’ or ‘it looks too CG’. Also, he affirms that it is difficult to point out which part of the CG shot needs to be improved to make it look more photoreal, since the work pipeline when creating a CG shot is made by a chain of people, in most of the cases, like a modeler, a texture artist, a shading/lighting artist, a compositor, and a matte painter. Moreover, when we are talking about photoreal, we do not say ‘real’, as we are referring to the way we see through the lens of a camera not through our eyes. Therefore, so many things such as defocus, dynamic range, or exposure are processed differently through our eyes and brain than through a lens and a camera sensor. If we show CG shots as we would see it through our eyes, we will find it strange.

Dinur also has a previous book, The Filmmaker’s Guide to Visual Effects: The Arts and Techniques of VFX for Directors, Producers, Editors, and Cinematographers, where he speaks about the fact that a convincing photorealistic work is possible as soon as there is a ‘respect for the real-world physics and optics’. However, it is also very easy for VFX artists to fall for the desire to use every single VFX available and overload the film with an excess of digital effects that takes off the audience from the story.

Taking in consideration the amount of work, focus, and knowledge a good photorealistic shot requires, Jeng (2023) explain in their research paper, Sidelining Photorealism: ‘Speed Racer’ and Articulation of Digital Effects Labour, how photorealism has always been the leader in the film industry and how some movies like ‘Speed Racer’ have opted to sideline this style to help foreground the work of digital visual effects artists.

Furthermore, Agrawal and Auryn (2009), and Cooper (1999) also explain the challenges and techniques that artists have faced with photorealism (and its issues with the so called ‘uncanny valley’). They also explain how some artists have opted for NPR (non-photorealistic rendering) instead, to create a simpler and cartoony style (animation) that gives more creative freedom and more room to use the artist’s imagination.

Nowadays, photorealism’s quality has become so high and polished that it is difficult to differentiate it from real photographs or live action scenes. This could be beneficial and useful when used with good intentions, but it could also be used with malicious intentions. Meena and Tyagi (2019) argue in their paper, A Novel Method to Distinguish Photorealistic Computer Generated Images from Photographic Images, how photorealism, despite revolutionising the filmmake and game industry, how it has also been used with malicious intentions and how important it is to learn how to distinguish real assets from computer generated ones.

To understand photorealism practices amongst practitioners in the industry, Melki (2019), in his dissertation called An Investigation Into The Creative Processes In Generating Believable Photorealistic Film Characters, focuses on the process to create photorealistic film characters that are credible, as well as its benefits and challenges. The research also extends to interviews made with several industry expert practitioners with the purpose of comparing of all the statements acquired from the participants.

Indicative 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 4 June 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 4 June 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 Bibliography, Draft, Literature review, questions, Subquestions, Thesis Proposal

Advanced & Experimental Personal

Week 8: Palm Trees & Foliage Modelling in Maya

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 5th June 2023
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For this week, I modelled variations of palm trees and foliage to fill up the scene and make it look more like a rainforest.

Palm trees references & models

I needed a palm tree reference that was not too tall, with a thick trunk, and with some coconuts showing in between the leaves. I think this style will suit best my scene as the pyramid will need to stand out in the final long shot above the jungle, so it would be better to keep the palm trees at around the same high as the trees are. I found the below references with similar characteristics I had in mind:

The palm leaves were made using the same technique I used for the tree leaves previously. I created an alpha and a normal maps in Photoshop from a picture of a palm tree leaf I found online, and then linked them in Maya.

Foliage models

These are some references I took as inspiration to create the foliage to fill up the rainforest scene:

Big leaves reference (Jorge Castillo, Lucas Bustamante, Frank Pichardo, 2022)

I also made the alpha and normal maps in Photoshop for the foliage leaves, to then link them to plane shapes in Maya.

Additions of new models to environment

Once I finished the models, I placed them in the main environment scene to see how would they look. I also used referencing in Maya, so when I add the textures to the original models, it would update in the main scene too so I do not need to place everything again.

I also had some problems trying to see the textures of the trees leaves in the main scene when I switched from my personal computer to the university computers. Researching in forums online, I found out that when .ass extensions files were exported, these needed to be exported without ‘Absolute texture paths’ option ticked, as it would always take as reference the same path assigned originally, so when changing computers, these will not show. I reexported these as mentioned before, and relinked the assets with a ‘relative path’ so it does not have a fixed route.

Render settings to remove absolute paths from .ass files

References

Castillo, J., Bustamante, L., Pichardo, F. (2022). Why is Ecuador the best tropical country for nature photography? (online). Available at: https://www.tropicalherping.com/articles/why_ecuador_for_photography.html [Accessed 3 June 2023]

Gerisima (2020). Coconut Palm trees on white sandy beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. stock photo (online). Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/coconut-palm-trees-on-white-sandy-beach-in-punta-cana-dominican-republic-gm1270732523-373579722 [Accessed 3 June 2023]

Lubilub, 2009). Beautiful palm trees by River Dulce in Livingston, Guatemala. stock photo (online). Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/beautiful-palm-trees-by-river-dulce-in-livingston-guatemala-gm117952546-9032250 [Accessed 3 June 2023]

Nurjuwita, D. (2018). Where to travel in 2018: The best rainforest destinations (online). Available at: https://www.lifestyleasia.com/sg/travel/travel-2018-best-rainforest-destinations/ [Accessed 3 June 2023]

Tags Environment, Foliage, Maya, Modelling, Palm trees, Rainforest, Render

Advanced & Experimental Group

Week 8: Hologram Reduction of Model Subdivisions in Maya, & Radio Textures in Substance Painter

Post author By Nira Gonzalez Sanchez
Post date 4th June 2023
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This week I had to remodel the base of my hologram and make the hologram effect to test in in final scene, along with finishing the radio textures.

Hologram remodelling

After Martyna and Roos tested the hologram in the master render, they were having some issues with the hologram as it was too heavy for the scene. Then they figured that the particles used for the particle effect had too many subdivision and asked me to redo this with simple cubes instead (it will not have that polished effect, but it will lower the poly count of he model considerably). Apart from the particle effect, Roos also recommended me to delete any unnecessary subdivisions, so I deleted most of them from the constellations cylinders, from rings, rivets, and base of the hologram. After reducing the poly count, I also had to redo the hologram’s UV maps.

Hologram’s new UV maps after amending subdivisions

Radio Textures

I also carried on with the radio textures this week so the CG lead could have most of the final objects with textures to test the illumination with them in the master render. In Substance Painter, I chose a wood texture for the base and main body of the radio and mixed it with some metallic textures to give that futuristic look to it. I also, found two pictures online about the channel dial of retro radios, so I created an alpha and a normal map version of these and added them to the radio. I made the normal map to add some texture to the typography in it and the alpha map to add some emission to the screen (focusing on the typography only) as if the radio was turned on.

Top channel switchers with bronze texture in the centre – also added some scratches and damaged edges with some masks

In Maya, I linked all the textures as I did with my spaceship, by using the Substance plug-in to automatically link and group the different layers and maps into shaders. Then these shaders were connected to the correspondent parts of the radio. I also linked the channels screens to the radio and added a bit of emission (as previously mentioned) to give the feeling that the radio is turned on. However, after I uploaded this textured model to FTrack, Gonzalo mentioned that this emission was too bright and should be turned down slightly. Therefore, I corrected this and uploaded the final version to FTrack.

Radio model with emission levels too high in the middle channel screen

Final radio model with textures

References

Cobalt. Vintage radio dial (online). Available at: https://stock.adobe.com/gr_en/search?k=radio+dial&asset_id=55983088 [Accessed 3 June 2023]

Pilcher, G. Vintage radio dial face (online). Available at: https://id.pinterest.com/pin/740279257483290061/ [Accessed 3 June 2023]

Tags Final Model, Maya, Poly Count, Shaders, Substance Painter, Textures, UV Maps

Advanced & Experimental Personal

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
No Comments on Week 6 & 7: Further Research, & 1-to-1 Session

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.

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.

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

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