This project has felt like a long journey squished in a really short period of time. At the beginning 10 weeks looked like plenty enough time to fulfill all required aspects for this project from gathering the group members, going through planning roles, tasks, and targets, to finishing up in time for the exhibition at the end of term 2. However, this was not the case for this group, since we started with several delays in getting the brief of this project and to get it going. This project has been exciting and inspiring, at the same time as draining and stressful. However, I feel like has been a good learning experience to know how to respond towards similar stressful situations that could be presented in future jobs in the industry.
The key aspects that I consider important for a collaborative project would be realistic time management and organisation of targets, prioritising most important tasks first, problem-solving skills, team work helping each others, and clear communication.
The time management and organisation in this project was difficult as we all had different schedules, other projects, and lectures, in addition to the fact that it was also a big group with 8 students, 2 lecturers, and 2 external studio partners involved. A good solution we came up from the beginning was the shared space we created in Miro where we could upload all our mood boards, references, links, tasks, and other important information for the group. Later on we came up with a fixed schedule for weekly meetings and if we could not attend, we could always check the recording of it. I feel like that helped a lot to keep all of us in the same page. We also learnt to prioritise tasks by level of importance in the project and to disregard other tasks that maybe were not doable or achievable for the time frame we had to finish the project.
Another aspect I learnt a lot from was the fact that nearly every task I had to make, would come with a technical problem: for example, the optimisation of the models for Unity, learning how to link textures in Unity, fixing UV maps in Maya, learning new programmes apart from Unity like Mudbox, or even learning new techniques in Maya like to generate hair with XGen to then optimise it for Unity.
One of the most important aspects in team work is communication and sometimes it was a bit difficult. As mentioned before, we all had different schedules and sometimes to receive an answer to a question could take hours or days to be answered. However, we tried to make the most of the weekly team meetings by preparing all the work in progress we had to show to the team, and reviewing all the tasks and targets we needed to get done every week (every weekly meeting would take between 2 to 3 hours).
Definitely, this has been a good project to get to know how working on the industry would feel like, and I can say that I have developed not only new technical and artistic knowledge, but also important soft skills needed to keep up with a professional VFX company pipeline.
With the extension approved until 14th April, we have been refining the environment and memories objects.
Objects modelling, & texturing
Some objects that needed to be retextured and look more destroyed were a fire extinguisher hose, a converse shoe, spectacles, some vents, pipes, etc. So I destroyed some of the mesh in Maya and then retexture it in Mudbox, using the stencil tool to add some dust, mud, and rust effects. Then I relinked the textures in Unity and exported the Unity package ready for VR girls to use.
Fire hose retextured in MudboxFire hose remodelled in MayaFire hose remodelled in MayaFire hose remodelled and retextured render in MayaFire hose remodelled and retextured render in MayaFire hose remodelled and retextured render in MayaFire hose linked textures in UnityRusty vent texture in MudboxRusty vent texture in MudboxRusty vents retextured, Maya render viewRusty vent texture relinked in UnityRusty vent texture relinked in UnityRusty vent texture relinked in Unity – exporting packageOld cardboard and papers retexturing in MudboxOld cardboard and papers to fill up environment, Maya render viewOld cardboard and papers to fill up environment, Maya render viewOld cardboard and papers relinked textures in UnityRusty pipes texturing, Maya render view – lowered metallic effect and specular so the metal would not show that polishedPipes rusty texture, Maya render viewPipes rusty texture relinked in UnityConverse shoe retextured in MudboxConverse shoe laces retextured in MudboxConverse shoe retextured, Maya render viewConverse shoe textures relinked in UnityConverse shoe textures relinked in Unity
I also needed to model a clock to add to the waiting area that looks like brutalist style and rusty/dirty/destroyed. So I modelled this in Maya taking a reference picture shown below and then added some texturing in Mudbox. Then as with the other objects, I relinked the textures in Unity and exported the Unity package.
Reference picture of Chernobyl clock (Skrypko, 2016)Clock modelling in MayaClock modelling in MayaClock times design in IllustratorClock design linked in MayaClock weathering texture in MudboxClock weathering texture linked in MayaClock Maya renderClock wood texture relinked in UnityClock times texture relinked in Unity
Team meeting
In this team meeting, we started off by reviewing all the elements that needed to be amended and finished off by next week:
Walls and floors texture: it needs to be more weathered and not looking that much like ‘just concrete’ building. This means, that it should look like the walls were once painted but with the weather and all the time that has passed on, this paint looks peeled off, dirty, mouldy, with some graffitis on top, and maybe some rusty pipes sticking out. Also, we agreed to add several murals instead of one, showing some advertising.
Waiting room: the floors water should not show like rippling and more like still and stuck water. Maybe one or two ripples from drops that are falling from the open holes on the broken ceiling. Also, the chairs in the waiting area should be arranged in circular rows of chairs around the fountain in the centre. We also need some plants like lichens and moss showing on the floor, and walls, but these should look not too green and more greyish/brownish (less rich colour). Maybe we could also add some roots coming in through the ceiling holes and also we could add moss on the corners of the walls.
Lights: the circular lights style is not working, so the lectures changed their mind and requested them to be a strip lights instead with some ends falling out. They also considered that there should be some electricity running in the building so we could show some flickering lights.
Pikachu toy: it is not destroyed enough so Klaus suggested to add some cigarette burnt marks to it.
Objects: need to add more objects like oil barrels (were homeless people make these fires to warm up), tyres, a shopping trolley, etc.
Barriers: they need to look more destroyed.
Cell: the ceiling is too high, the broken wall at the end of the cell is too narrow (need to be more destroyed or completely open), and we also need to add a control panel were the people could choose the different experience they wanted). Also, the pod where the skeletons are, blocks too much the view of the deer and would need to be changed or removed. If it is removed, the skeletons would be on top of a hospital-like chair that would be moulded and destroyed too. Lastly, the deer should move left to right and more slowly so it is more visible.
Corridors: they could have like a bumping rail on the walls (like the ones hospitals have).
Ghost particle: The particle type need to be changed as they are too stable/defined. It needs more random effect with more glitches and noise (not hologram-like). Also, we should be able to see only some parts of the memory ghosts and not the full body.
Objects modelling, & texturing after meeting review
After this meeting, I fixed the Pikachu toy with the cigarette burnt marks, and later on also fixed the face as they mentioned that the face was not recognisable so I removed some of the dirt and burnt marks. Also, I retextured with dirt, rust, mould, and mud splashes the rest of the models for the environment as requested.
Pikachu cigarette burnt texture in MudboxPikachu cigarette burnt texture in MudboxPikachu cigarette burnt texture in MudboxPikachu cigarette burnt texture linked in MayaPikachu cigarette burnt texture linked in MayaPikachu cigarette burnt texture relinked in UnityPikachu burnt marks clearing around the face in MudboxPikachu dirt and mud splashes clearing around the face in MudboxPikachu final textures relinked, Maya render viewPikachu final textures relinked in UnityTexture used for barriers rust effect (Quixel)Barriers retextured, Maya render viewBarriers retextured, Maya render viewBarriers retextured, Maya render viewBarriers retextured, Maya render viewBarriers textures relinked in UnityBarriers texture relinked in UnityBarriers texture relinked in UnityOil barrels remodelled in Maya – I only took top part off the modelConverse show remodelled in MayaConverse show remodelled, Maya render viewRemodelled Converse shoe, textures relinked in UnityRemodelled Converse shoe, textures relinked in Unity
References
Quixel. Rusty Painted Metal Sheet (online). Available at: https://quixel.com/megascans/home?category=surface&category=metal&category=corroded&assetId=tj2xahsbw [Accessed on 9 April 2023]
Skrypko, I. (2016). Radioactive clock in pool in Pripyat school, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (online). Available at: https://www.alamy.com/radioactive-clock-in-pool-in-pripyat-school-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-image365494939.html?imageid=D670F65E-1F10-4EE1-9347-11A715502AE5&p=1146864&pn=1&searchId=44a812789b720a47c9d6917d5a1ccea3&searchtype=0 [Accessed on 19 March 2023]
This week, we finished the test version of the VR experience and showed it on the exhibition day.
Exhibition – Testing Version
We arrived one hour earlier to the exhibition so we had time help the VR girls to set up the VR headset in the computer of our designated space. However, arriving one hour in advanced did not seem to be enough since we had some problems linking the VR headset to the programme in the computer. We asked for help to one of the technicians and we changed to another computer since this one did not seem to have the VR application properly set and to fix this would take too long. The other computer did not let us log in either so at the end we switched rooms, and we went to the main room which had a free computer where we could try luck again. This computer had the same issue with the application, so after expending 1 hour trying different computers and VR sets, we decided to use Ria’s personal laptop and connect it to one of the desk computer’s screen so we could see the experience in big screen. At the beginning the application was lagging a bit but then started to work just fine. One of our studio partners tested the experience and was quite happy with what we currently have. He did also mentioned some things we could also improve during the Easter break, like the texture of the walls, addition of more objects, and take care of proportions (for example, one wheel chair looked really big compared with the rest of the environment).
Some lecturers and students tried it too and they all looked impressed about the environment (which is good sign), but obviously since we could not include any interaction with the objects in this version, the experience was only focused in exploring the environment.
Team meeting
Triggered memories: we debated how do we want to show these, as we could show it in the helmet of the viewer as an imposed 2D video, or as a ghostly like effect in 3D space. The VR girls said that the ghosts in 3D space would be easier than the 2D, but we would also need full figures of all ghosts so we could see it from all perspectives.The memory of the man helping the child to scan his hand at the entrance has been changed to a man helping an old lady on a wheel chair to scan her hand. This change is because we also have another memory with a child (the memory of the kid playing with the Pikachu toy and being pulled by the mother), so it would be too many child’s stories in the experience. For this last memory of the Pikachu toy, we also decided to make it shorter and show just the mother pulling the kid from the arm and the kid drops the toy.
Objects needed to fill up environment: we need more objects like folders/files, cans, rusty pipes, a football ball, a shopping trolley, etc. Also, they considered that the Pikachu I made needed to be more destroyed like with an arm hanging and part of the face chopped off. Then also the barriers at the entrance needed to be more destroyed and we also needed a scan screen to attach to it.
Environment textures: the lecturers and the studio partner considered that the environment looked like a castle as it was too grey and too concrete-like. It needs more colours like in walls showing a painting that is peeling off, with water stains, murals with advertising, grafittis, bold, etc.
Objects retexturing
I destroyed a bit more the Pikachu toy as requested by the lecturers. I took off half of the face and left one of the arms hanging. I also made some extra holes around the model.
Pikachu more destroyed render in MayaPikachu more destroyed render in Maya
This week, we tried to finish up a testing version of the VR experience to show in the exhibition next week. We also discussed and confirmed with the tutors the application of an extension of the deadline.
Objects Retexturing
I remodelled and retextured a Pikachu toy downloaded from internet. First, I removed some bits of the mesh to show its destruction. Then I sent the model to Mudbox, linked Pikachu textures that came with the downloaded model, then created a new material, and using the stencil textures of the programme, I painted some dirt and mud splashes effect in the model to make it look more weathered. Then I exported the textures created and linked them to the model in Maya. Then exported the model with textures in FBX and relinked them in Unity. One relinked, I exported model and textures into a Unity package so the VR girls could place the objects directly in the VR scene without having to relink textures.
Pikachu retexturing in Mudbox with stencilRelinking textures in Maya to double check how it would look likePikachu render in MayaTextures relinked in Unity
Me and the rest of the group also found some objects online that could be retextured and destroyed to blend in to the dystopian environment, such as spectacles, converse shoe, fire extinguisher, electric box, barriers, etc.
Individual showreel (Not final)
Since we were not sure if we were going to have approval on the deadline extension, we decided to put together a group showreel, in which each one of us would show their work in the project. Therefore, I exported 360s of my models I had so far, and put them together in After Effects with some titles describing what I did on each asset. I then sent uploaded this in our shared drive so Alex would put all the individual showreels together in one.
Team meeting
In this week’s meeting, we got confirmation that the extension of our deadline was 90% sure that it was going to be approved so we focused first on the priorities we had to get the testing version done for the exhibition, and then we checked what we would need to complete the beta version during the Easter break.
We reviewed the objects we had and the objects we needed for the finished beta version of this experience (not the testing version for the exhibition). We agreed that the objects found online needed to be more decayed as the original models looked too polished and new.
We also reviewed the textures that needed to be added to the environment such as rubble, the doors of the corridor cells (some closed, others half open or destroyed), the dead fish in the fountain, and the rest of the objects found online to make the place look more credible and like there were once humans there long ago.
This week, we focused on the interactive objects we had for the memories, and on the environment texturing and props.
Objects
Along this week I worked on some of the needed objects for the memories so 3D Animation could start with the animation of these.
I started with the diary as Veronika already had the bugs model rigged. So I made a standard hard cover book model that can be opened in the middle and one of the pages can be bended and animated too.
Individual middle page modellingPages modellingHard cover modellingFinal model with texture
Then I also tried to model a fingerprint scan machine for the lobby memory. However, as I was really undecided on how to make this one, I researched some references like the following:
The Predator (Mainguet, 2018)
I liked the simple style of this scan and I also liked that is not just fingerprint scan but whole hand scan machine. However, I figured that since the walls were going to be curved, I could also add like a stand underneath to it so it does not need to be attached to the wall. The final model I came up with is the following:
Hand scan modelHand scan with texture
I also found a Pikachu toy online which I plan to remodel a bit in Maya, and then in Mudbox I will add dust and mud texture to show decay and the pass of time. Some other models were bought with the budget we had approved for this project, so in order to keep track of this, we also made a list in Miro.
I also researched a bunch of environment materials to fill up the space to give the dystopian look we are looking for:
Team meeting
In this week’s team meeting, we discussed the possibility to request an extension of our deadline so we had plenty enough time to finish the beta version of this project. The reason why we need an extension is because we got the brief of the project late, and the budget we needed for the models bought on internet also got approved late, so we has been falling behind week after week due to these inconveniences.
Regarding the project feedback, in this meeting we pretty much spoke about the environment and the objects we have and what we still needed to make or improve.
My hand scan model was disregarded as it does not fit the style the professors wanted. They also suggested more objects for the memories and they also provided a list in Miro of what they wanted.
Mainguet, J. (2018). Biometrics movies 2018 (online). Available at: https://biometrics.mainguet.org/movies/ThePredator_hand.jpg [Accessed 4 March 2023]
This week, I had a meeting with the girls at the beginning of the week to review what we had done and organise what we need to do, and also had another meeting with the lectures and external studio partners to agree on final designs and interactions.
This week I finished modelling the child’s ghost with textures taking as references the following:
Child reference (Cottonbro Studio)Child final model
Also, we considered that the team needed to gather in a meeting with lectures in order to discuss technicalities and issues we could have when importing mesh, textures, and animation into Unity. The VR girls confirmed that Unity could accept simple textures with normals, bump maps, roughness, etc., but that this should be embedded in the fbx file exported from Maya.
Since I am not familiar exporting fbx from Maya and even less with Unity, I downloaded Unity so I could test my models directly into it before sending the final ones. VR girls explained that it seemed that the textures needed to be relinked in Unity and this could be a problem and time consuming. Therefore, we reached an agreement that, since I know how and where the textures should be linked, I would test the models in Unity, relink textures and export the Unity package with the model and textures already set. Also, I had to re-set the UV maps of the ghosts models as when I combined all the parts of the model into one unique mesh in Maya, the UV maps got messed up. I also tried to simplify the model removing the double faces of every part and getting rid of unnecessary mesh that was not going to be seen (like torso, arms, legs and feet).
Mother textures in UnityChild textures in Unity
We also thought of the possible memories that can appear when triggered by objects interaction (we made a list in Miro):
Also, MA VFX had our first collaboration project presentation to the class and the tutor, so we put together a Power Point presentation taking as reference some of the slides used in 3D animation and VR presentations (all of us contributed in these presentations).
Later this week, we had the meeting with the lecturers and the external studios partners. We discussed the possibility to buy assets taking the budget offered by the university as we had lots of assets to model and very limited time. Ana the asked us to make a list of assets and add which ones we had to model, which ones we could download for free and which one we needed to buy.
We also reviewed the model of the environment Martyna and Jess have been putting together:
Corridor:
It needs to be longer and have the final room in between (not at the end). So each side would have 5 doors and then the third door on the left would be the final pod.
It should be a dark place with just one point of natural light at the end.
It could have stripe lights that are not working (or one can be flickering). These lights need to be organic and not straight industrial lights.
It should have broken doors with holes in them. We need to add something in the way of the broken doors, so the main character cannot access the rooms.
We considered the idea of these corridors being underground or flooded but due to time limitations and the fact that the whole structure would need to be redesigned, we disregarded it. Instead, we considered the addition of ramps that change slightly the level of the floor from the transition from the waiting area to the corridors.
One of the rooms could have an image of trees moving with the wind shown in a screen.
The environment will need to look close to us now (familiar), so the user can empathise with it (do not make it futuristic or high tech).
Natural lights overall. We can have working lights (when switched on), but not all of them are working (could be flickering or hanging from the ceiling).
Final room:
It has natural light (single lights source would be more dramatic).
It has a broken wall where the deer will appear.
Everything is decrepit and broken.
The light could be moving with the reflection of the water ripples (from the have flooded floor).
Main waiting room:
We need to agree textures of the walls which would be broken, moulded, with rusty pipes showing, etc.
The ceiling will also have some broken parts with natural light coming through.
The walls could have panels, decoration from the past, murals that are aged, etc.
We need to add more than one corridor that would be accessible from the waiting room (but not operational for this beta version of the VR experience, just one corridor will be accessible).
In the middle, there is a pond with water and dead fish floating.
Objects/memories:
Teddy bear. We thought of making it look that it was made out of scrapped materials like metallic stuff found, however, we need to be careful with making it look too futuristic so we disregarded this idea. Maybe we could change it for a car toy for example. This toy will show the memory of a child playing with it and then being grabbed by their mother to get euthanised, so the child drops the toy.
Fingerprint scan. In this memory, we thought of showing someone being forced to scan their fingerprint so they signed their contract for being euthanised. However, after discussing this with the lecturers, we felt like these should be shown like an option and not like being forced to do it. So instead, we thought of a parent grabbing the child’s hand to help them scan it.
Headset. It could reproduce the sound of a radio station that was trying to bring some happiness to people (happy music being cut by the voice of the radio presenter).
Diary. This object will only trigger a voice over of somebody reading the diary. When the main character picks the diary and opens it, some bugs would come out from the bottom of it.
Poster. It could show health and safety advice like wear a mask, etc.
Daily objects. These would not trigger any memory but could show some bits from the past, like a converse shoe, a diary, etc.
Megaphone. From were they made the announcements to call people’s turn to die.
We also talked about how VR will construct the UI of the VR experience. It was pointed out by the lectures that this needed to be more an emotional experience than a game itself, so the user’s attention should be driven through the environment using sounds or vague scenes from the past (memories) that are triggered by them passing nearby a place or when touching an object. Some points that were mention regarding the UI were the following:
Main character’s POV. It could show like the texture of a helmet (like scratched or dirty glass). We could also add some info showing on the helmet’s glass, like icons (these are less distracting than letters, and less intrusive). We could show UI for the memory object but we should not give away much information.
Lobby/entrance. We could add a welcome hologram.
Final room. There is a mechanism in the wall that brings up a cell with the human skeletons of the mother and the child hugging. Furthermore, in the collapsed wall, there is a deer that looks us up and then leaves (showing first the deer and then the skeletons). We could hear the singing from the ghosts.
References
Cottonbro Studios. Free Dystopia Photos (online). Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-black-and-white-hoodie-wearing-black-gas-mask-4888482/ [Accessed 22 February 2023]
This week, I had one meeting with the group students another with the lecturers and collaboration partners. We reviewed the first models from ghosts and environment as well as optimisation for importing into Unity.
I started to model the ghost of the mother this week so the 3D animation girls could carry on with the rigging and animation of the characters as soon as possible. To start off, I took a reference female model from Maya’s ‘Content Browser’. Then I researched about possible looks that were more suitable for an apocalyptic ambience. I started to think about what a person would wear the day that they are supposed to be euthanised, and I reached to conclusion that a person that is going to kill their child to then kill themselves, would not care much about appearance, so basic jeans and jacket would be the most logical option.
Then using symmetry and the soft brush, I started to shape the features of this character since the preset model from Maya is pretty standard. I also duplicated the body, dissected it in sections, and adjusted the scale so I had the basic shapes for the model’s clothes. Then with a smaller soft brush, I also added some creases to the clothes so they would look more realistic.
Clothes modelling
Later on, I researched about how to model hair as I have never model this. I found a hair tutorial with XGen in Maya:
Maya XGen tutorial to create realistic hair (Karimi, 2021)
This tutorial uses XGen tool in Maya to generate ‘guides’ that would lead the direction of each strand of hair. After all the guides have been placed the tool creates a duplicate of this in the form of hair strands. We could add more or less density, width, and even texture. Then we also have to set up painted maps so the tool recognises the direction that the hair needs to follow. Lastly, with the help of modifiers we can refine the final look with tools like ‘clamp’ (to fix hair to place), ‘frequency’ (to add ‘noise’ and randomness). I followed most of the tricks and techniques from this tutorial and came up with the following hair model:
Hair UV map and guides placementTidy up of guides to set hair styleHair generation, adjusting ‘density’Reduction of number of guides and replacementAddition of ‘modifiers’ such as ‘clumping’ to determine orientation of hairFirst attempt of xGen hair – Front viewFirst attempt of xGen hair – 3/4 viewFirst model – Full body
I was so proud of this hair but it needed some tidying up as it looked a bit messy. Also, as this was only a practice I also started to think about what kind of hair style this character could have. I think straight hair would be the easiest as I also have limited time and to shape the hair takes me quite some time.
Main weekly meeting
In this meeting, the VR team showed us their floor plan of the building’s interior we are going recreate. They also set some possible routes and interactions the main character could follow.
From VFX side, I presented my ghost model of the mother. They liked it, however they mentioned that it could be nice to add eyes and face features. Since this was going to be distorted with particles effect in Unity I considered unnecessary, however, they said that it could help to have something that gives a bit of characteristic features to the ghost. I came up then with the idea of a face mask, taking in consideration that the people cannot really breathe properly because of air pollution, so they could wear like a face bandana tied to the back of the head. Also, VR girls mentioned that the hair could give some issues when importing into Unity since it is not made with geometry so the programme will just ignore it.
Regarding the environment, a draft model of the map was presented by Martyna and Jess. It also looked very good but we needed to discuss dimensions as it needed to be tested into Unity to see the scale of the ceilings, walls and how it would look like from the viewer’s perspective. Overall, it seemed to need higher ceilings, the waiting area needed to be rounded with some exterior light coming through the ceiling (windows, or broken parts), and the shape of the door frames should be in a transitional form and not flat (see sketch below). We could also see some parts of London from the broken parts of the walls so the audience can be situated.
Door frame sketchMain building – Outside viewEntrance main buildingWaiting area main buildingCorridor – Interior view
Model hair optimisation, face mask, and eyes
Following the review received in the last meeting, I decided to optimise the hair top convert it into mesh so Unity would be able to read it. But before to do so, I wanted to adjust the hair style of the model first to a low pony tail and also model a hair band.
Pony tail made with xGenHair band model
I optimised the hair following a tutorial I found in YouTube, which explained how to convert an xGen curve into mesh:
Hair optimisation tutorial (My Oh Maya, 2016)
First, I needed to select the hair guides created with xGen, and then in the xGen tool ’utilities’ tab, select ’guides to curves’ and ’create curves ’ to be able to create physical curves that can be used to create a mesh. Then in ’create’ we select ’sweep mesh (dialogue box)’ and we click on ’one node for each curve’, so each curve can have a mesh that can be modified individually. Then we adjust the mesh to the shape we want. In my case, I used a flat card shape to then add the texture with ’standard surface’ and link the hair texture with an alpha and a normal map. The alpha will be linked to opacity so the black parts of the texture card do not show in the render, the normal will be linked to the bump map to give texture, and the diffuse is linked to the base colour.
Hair guides converted into mesh planes – Front viewHair guides converted into mesh planes – Back viewHair guides converted into mesh planes – Side viewHair optimised with texture added
In addition, taking a plane divided in half and forming a triangle shape with this, I also started to fold it on top of the character’s face to form the face mask. I also added some creases and with a deformed and scaled down torus I created the back nod of the bandana.
Bandana mesh and texture
For the eyes, I simply took a sphere and duplicated it, and then adjusted the UV map so it fits the sphere. I added a texture of eyes that I had saved from one of my previous projects from term 1 (lip synch face model). Lastly, I added the rest of the textures (clothes and skin).
Model with eyes and eyebrowsFinal model of the mother
References
Charro, J. Fade to White Characters (online). Available at: https://charro.artstation.com/projects/PY5e3 [Accessed 18 February]
Karimi, H. (2021). Creating Realistic Hair with Maya XGen (online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkpJ4LGJrf8 [Accessed 18 February 2023]
My Oh Maya (2016). XGen for Game Character Hair (Part 1) (online). Available at: https://youtu.be/1Fs6rle_IbE [Accessed 18 February 2023]
Nam, H (2014). Marlene : Last of Us by Hyoung Nam (online). Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/gw9x [Accessed 18 February 2023]
In the second meeting of this project, we already started to discuss how the characters, objects, animals, environment, lighting, colour, and interactivity would look like.
Characters
We started the meeting discussing how the ghosts characters would look like. These characters should be faceless figures or they can even have some eyes, mouth, and nose but showing very vaguely.
These models will need to be modelled by 3D modellers to then be rigged and animated by 3D animators, therefore, we will need a clear break down of both processes so the models are created and exported correctly. Also, VR will need to let us know how do they include elements in Unity, and what format do they need for compatibility. Later on, we clarified that they will prefer us to export in FBX but we could also export on OBJ. Also we will need to use simple materials such as colours, reflections, etc, but never use shaders as these are completely ignored by Unity when imported into the programme.
Male ghost. This should be the father that is trying to stop the mother to euthanise their child, so he should look threatening initially, but he should also transmit his love and desired to keep his child.
Mother ghost. She has chosen to euthanise her child to then kill herself, so she should look like conflicted and desperate.
Child ghost. Running from mother? Is he aware of the situation?
Main character (POV). One tourist is looking for evidence of life 300 years after the global disaster, (with limited resources as most of technology is lost).
Characters moodboard in Miro
Artefacts
The main character could be receiving hints of what happened in that place with the objects they are finding and the possible interactions they can have with these:
Posters/propaganda. Like warning signs, posters (showing health, political, or global warming propaganda), holograms (with instructions or a message)
Oxygen bottles. Rusty and empty.
Space like suits. To protect from gas/fog and radiation? (thin atmosphere due to global warming lets harmful sun radiation in so can cause skin cancer or really bad sun burns).
Futuristic tablet devices. Showing holograms with departure lounge scape procedures, or euthanasia options?
Sunk or floating objects. Like books, helmets, bags, clothes, children toys (everyday objects so viewer empathises with story – emotional response).
Photographs. Showing ghosts from past memories (happy memories)?
CCTV footage. Would this show too much of the story? Would it be too obvious?
Animals/Plants/insects
These remains of nature could show both the extinction of live on Earth and at the same time the new rise of life in the planet with only survivors (it would give hope).
Dead fish in water. This could be part of past memory. In the present it would look decomposed.
Moss. This could help to minimise number of objects angles such as bricks, broken walls, or other environmental assets.
Deer. Showing at the end cell to transmit the new rise of life in the planet (hope).
Bugs. Such as cockroaches, which are resilient to extreme conditions.
Environment
The environment would look like an airport terminal like an open space, tall ceilings, and big windows, but this area would be the waiting room for people that has consent to be euthanised. It would also be a half collapsed building with the following features:
Broken walls, ceilings, and windows. covered with moss and dirt.
Flood. Partly flooded floor with animated ripples and little waves. Can add the floating objects and decomposed fish here.
Water drops from ceiling. From condensation as it would be a really warm environment.
Fog. As CO2 levels are extreme, this dense fog covers the whole scene giving a monochrome colour feeling.
Broken bricks. From collapsed walls and ceilings.
Rusty pipelines. Coming out of walls or floor.
Door covered on dried blood (stains). It can be one of the cells’ door?
Euthanising beds. Inside of cells.
Mother and child’s skeletons. In final room, skeletons of mother hugging child.
Environment moodboard in Miro
Lighting/Colour palette
Natural light. Coming through broken walls, ceilings, and windows.
Flickering lights. Would they be working yet after 300 years?
Hologram light.
Monochrome palette. With desaturated colours, like a sepia photograph.
Interactions
Site specific. So it will trigger glitch memory when reaching certain area.
Grabbing objects. Memory will be triggered.
Testing
This week I have also been testing some hologram effects in Maya following this tutorial in YouTube:
Hologram tutorial using MASH tool in Maya (CG Artist Academy, 2020)
The final result I got was this:
Hologram effect test in Maya
Despite the result was good, after speaking with VR, they confirmed to me that these effects cannot be transferred from Maya to Unity, so it would be better to create this effect in Unity directly.
Miro board
We also organised in Miro the tasks to be done, the role of each member of the group, the assets we needed, the timeline with targets of each week, and links to important shared spaces from the group (like Trello, Google Slides, and OneDrive).
Miro board
References
CG Artist Academy (2020). Maya MASH Holographic HUD Procedural Tutorial (online). Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8He2bcS6ao [Accessed 11 February 2023]
In this week, we finally had our first team meeting to received a detailed brief of the project and to agree which sequence are we going to focus on.
We all met through Teams to start discussing this project.
Teams meeting with lecturers and external studio partner
The project is based in a post global warming VR experience where the user walks through a dystopian London environment.
The viewer starts in a landing craft from where they get out with a protective suit, as the environment is surrounded by a dense mist (it could be due to the increase of CO2 caused by an excess of noxious gases produced by humans over the years). In this part we are thinking to add a projection of what happened reflected in the visor of the viewer’s helmet.
The viewer can interact with objects found in their way that would trigger some flashes of past memories from the same place. It should show vague suggestions of what happened but never give the full information.
It could also be shown the story of a mother that has decided to euthanise her child to then kill herself since they could not get into the spaceship that is taking the most fortunate humans to leave the already destroyed planet Earth. Also, it can be shown a father that is trying to stop the mother to kill the child as he does not agree with this measure. These stories can be triggered when the viewer suddenly finds the ghosts of these persons crossing their way. These flashes of ghostly images should be more like blurry and unfocused images (ghosts from the past) mixed with sounds and effects to add to the experience. The viewer could hear the voice of the ghosts from the moment they get out of the craft until they find their dead bodies inside a building (the voices could guide the viewer through the environment).
The aesthetic of the scenery would be like the Eastern European buildings that are collapsed or unfinished, with some brutalist (naked concrete) look.
The lecturers made a Miro board so we can keep every update there and have a place where we can all share our thoughts and progress.
Moodboard added in Miro by the lecturers
Some aesthetic materials the professors recommended were Alien, were they have some static interference that can be taken as example for the glitches that happen in between memories.
(add example images)
Also Blade Runner 2049 arid and apocalyptic scenography mixed with Solaris & Stalker decade Soviet Union mood can be a notion of how the environment could look like.
An aesthetic that I also found interesting and inspiring is the one found in Alien Covenant. I found the following video showing the CGI and VFX breakdowns of the different sequences created by MPC.
Inspiration from Alien Covenant aesthetic and VFX made by MPC (TheCGBros, 2017)
We also decided to focus only in one section of the story as time wise it is impossible to get the whole experience done. This scene we are going to focus on will be like a beta version of the experience and not a finished piece. After another meeting separately with the MA members only, we decided that the part of the story we want to focus on would be the end scene as it would take place inside a building so it would be easier to model than the whole outside London scenery. Also, we found interesting the interaction of the user with objects found around in the building until they discover the dead bodies in the final room.
References
Framestore (2023). Blade Runner 2049: Art Department (online). Available at: https://www.framestore.com/work/blade-runner-2049-art-department?language=en [Accessed 4 February 2023]
Godwin, K. G. (2017). Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker(1979): Criterion Blu-ray review (online). Available at: https://www.cageyfilms.com/2017/07/andrei-tarkovskys-stalker-1979-criterion-blu-ray-review/ [Accessed 4 February 2023]
TheCGBros (2017). CGI & VFX Breakdowns: “Alien Covenant” – by MPC (Online). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv5FyBK_u5Q. [Accessed 4 February 2023]
This week we settled our group and continue to develop a draft moodboard.
This week we sent our blogs with our work to the VR tutor – Ana Tudor – so she should check our style and skills. After her consideration, she confirmed to us that the final group was agreed and that we were all in so we added our group in Padlet.
Addition of final team to Padlet board
Since we could not meet the involved lecturers and the studios’ external partners this week to discuss the brief of the project, we thought of making an initial brain storming of our idea of a dystopian environment related to global warming. Therefore, we added a moodboard in Mira with pictures and notes of our thoughts. We also made a WhatsApp group chat with all the student team members so we can share ideas and communicate easily. I think everyone in our group is really respectful and involved in this project so we got along with each other easily despite the fact that we do not know each other yet.
Initial Moodboard
Our first idea departs from desolation and fallen apart buildings with some small greenery ground depicting the pass of time.
Destroyed interiors with moss and small plants growing back
Also, due to rise of the sea level, we considered the possibility of an underwater world with the destroyed buildings surrounded by seaweed and just a few fish floating around (as most of them are extinct.
Underwater world due to rising of the sea level
We also took researched another artists work as reference of dystopian scenery design.
Reference artists
Lastly, we thought of ways of interaction of the user with the story and environment, for example, with objects that could trigger memories from the past that gives details of what happened and how the world ended like this.
