Here is the first look at Shot0011! I feel this is a lovely start with steph using Nuke to get that depth of field. We plan to adjust this scene abit more as the lighting needs some more depth to it. But as a first completed render I think we have really started to capture a nice style and essence.
Above is the first look at Shot0014, no compositing has happened yet and there are few tweaks with the poses and the buttons disappear at the start but as a first draft we are really happy with the other come. I did the lighting for this shot and I'm pleased to see the screen reflection has come as good as it did!
Friday 16 March 2012
Personal Reflection
During this project we have established our films market (introduction-for-professional-skills post & Marketing Plan) and how we plan to advertise our film through the use of social media links and video streaming sites like youtube. (Marketing Plan Blog). Through this I have shown how I can use this to advertise my self as an individual by having external links to my blogs as well as having a brief bio about myself on the films website and Facebook page. Through research I was able to see that these websites and social media forums are really beneficial and easy to update and improve on. (Marketing Plan: How Others have done it post).
For the Degree show I have invited several big names at Framestore and Cinesite, two examples are Diamid Harrison Murray who is the Head of 3D Commercials at Framestore and Scott Eaton who is known for being one of the best 3D sculptures in the world. I have also got Ellie Emes wanting to come and she is going to be a big bonus for people who want to get work as a Runner at Framestore.
This project and the whole project has been all scheduled using Facebook and Google Calendar. These have been a great way to plan deadlines for work as well as weekly meetings via skype or in person! When it came to the degree show I have mentioned how as a Group we plan to advertise our film. Also how I plan to advertise myself at the degree show, through images and videos of my work as well as entering into competitions. Also at the beginning I posted an individual contract that shows a plan for the rest of the project and keys dates we want to meet so we leave enough time for tweaking things! This follows along with the Google calendar as all the dates are on there are followed by a meeting to critique and move onto the next task.
This project has given me a chance to look at how to sell an idea or film as well as advertising myself professionally and effectively through a wide range of websites and links. I plan to develop my own website before the degree show but the blog is something I feel really shows my developmental progress when creating my work.
It has shown me that however good you are at what you do, if you don't advertise yourself or use all the tools such as facebook and youtube and work in magazines. This is something I plan to do more and enter in asmany competitions as I can and send my work out to magazines to see if I can get published.
Finally, I believe that from this project is a start to bigger things. We are working well as a team, we are sustain a organised project, we are on time for completion to a high standard and we are well a where of all the areas that we need to keep on top of such as Rendering and the time it takes to do this.
Thursday 15 March 2012
Poster Designs
Developing these images in 3D was a key moment for the group as we could look and see exactly what the final film animation renders should look like when we finish the film. For the Posters I worked with Joe to Render all the images needed for both the posters and the website.
Finally (right) you can see an image that is the size perfect to be a printable poster or to be a display picture again for our website or facebook page.
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Who will I Invite to the Degree Show
For the end of year Degree show I have emailed and managed to get a few people to agree to come along! This should be a great way to get not just myself but the whole class.
Scott Eaton - I have had the great chance to work alongside Scott on a feature film as well as attend several of his courses. He has agreed to come along as is due to to confirm this later this month!
Ellie Emes- Has been my boss for several years now at Framestore and has the role of hiring runners for the commercials department for framestore she is already agreed to come along and this would be great for people to make contacts in the industry. Image shows a email conversation with her agreeing to come!
Warwick Hewett - Warwick was one of my line producers for the feature film I worked on during the summer holidays. He and some others including Jonathan Fawkner who was the executive producer on the film has agreed to come along.
I have also emailed a few others such as Ben Lambert (Head modeller at Framestore), Romain Seguardo (modeller) Diamid Harrison Murray (Head of 3D commercials Framestore), Russell Dodgeson (Head of Nuke at Framestore) and finally Adam Redford (Texture Artist at Cinesite).
For this project I have used some of my contacts within the industry and hopefully will give great opportunities to the rest of the students at the degree show.
Sunday 11 March 2012
Quality Control
We had a lecture with Mike Davidson. Here are some of the notes taken during the lecture and from the manuals sent to us. We are using this information as its important the film fits the QC specifications:
Picture Quality:
- The picture free of excessive noise, grain and digital compression artefacts.
- The picture must be free of excessive flare, reflections, lens dirt, markings and obstructions.
- Movement must give rise to distortions or break-up to moving objects, or cause large changes in resolution.
- The picture must be free of excessive black crushing and highlight compression. Hard clipping of highlights (e.g. by legalisers) must not cause visible artefacts on screen.
- There must be no noticeable horizontal or vertical aliasing, i.e. jagged lines.
- The picture must be stable and continuous - i.e. no jumps.
- There must be no visible contouring caused by digital processing. Noise must not be noticeable.
- There must be no noticeable spurious signals or artefacts e.g. streaking, ringing, smear, echoes, overshoots, moiré, hum, cross-talk etc.
- 1080 lines not 560 as it will look static and odd on the screens.
- 1080i interlaced footage - Also has to be 25 FPS to be able to be played on the big screens around uni.
- 1920 x 1080 pixels in an aspect ratio of 16:9 ␣ 25 frames per second (50 fields) interlaced - now known as 1080i/25, colour sub-sampled at a ratio of 4:2:2
- Before our video we must have a count in to with the image below counting in our video.
This is to give indication to the editors who take the footage when they are cutting together several films and it protects against any cutting of the film!
The image to the left shows an image of the Safe areas for Caption. So any text or credits must be contained in the central box you run the risk of it cutting.
Picture Quality:
- The picture free of excessive noise, grain and digital compression artefacts.
- The picture must be free of excessive flare, reflections, lens dirt, markings and obstructions.
- Movement must give rise to distortions or break-up to moving objects, or cause large changes in resolution.
- The picture must be free of excessive black crushing and highlight compression. Hard clipping of highlights (e.g. by legalisers) must not cause visible artefacts on screen.
- There must be no noticeable horizontal or vertical aliasing, i.e. jagged lines.
- The picture must be stable and continuous - i.e. no jumps.
- There must be no visible contouring caused by digital processing. Noise must not be noticeable.
- There must be no noticeable spurious signals or artefacts e.g. streaking, ringing, smear, echoes, overshoots, moiré, hum, cross-talk etc.
- 1080 lines not 560 as it will look static and odd on the screens.
- 1080i interlaced footage - Also has to be 25 FPS to be able to be played on the big screens around uni.
- 1920 x 1080 pixels in an aspect ratio of 16:9 ␣ 25 frames per second (50 fields) interlaced - now known as 1080i/25, colour sub-sampled at a ratio of 4:2:2
- Before our video we must have a count in to with the image below counting in our video.
Sound Info found in the manual for broadcasting specifications:
- Sound must be recorded with appropriately placed microphones, giving minimum background noise and without peak distortion.
- The audio must be free of spurious signals such as clicks, noise, hum and any analogue distortion. The audio must be reasonably continuous and smoothly mixed and edited.
- Audio levels must be appropriate to the scene portrayed and dynamic range must not be excessive. They must be suitable for the whole range of domestic listening situations.
- Stereo audio must be appropriately balanced and free from phase differences which cause audible cancellation in mono.
- The audio must not show dynamic and/or frequency response artefacts as a result of the action of noise reduction or low bit rate coding systems.
- The audio must be free of spurious signals such as clicks, noise, hum and any analogue distortion. The audio must be reasonably continuous and smoothly mixed and edited.
- Audio levels must be appropriate to the scene portrayed and dynamic range must not be excessive. They must be suitable for the whole range of domestic listening situations.
- Stereo audio must be appropriately balanced and free from phase differences which cause audible cancellation in mono.
- The audio must not show dynamic and/or frequency response artefacts as a result of the action of noise reduction or low bit rate coding systems.
Photosensitive Epilepsy:
Flickering or intermittent lights and certain types of repetitive visual patterns can cause serious problems for viewers who are prone to photosensitive epilepsy. Children & teenagers are particularly vulnerable.
- All programmes for tape delivery must be tested using the Harding Flash Pattern Analyser v2.54b on an SD down converted SDI feed. Any failure whatsoever will result in rejection of the programme, and any affected sections must be repaired and re-tested before acceptance. Broadcasters will, at their discretion, either test the programme during the Quality Control process, or will require a relevant Harding FPA pass certificate to be delivered with the tape.
- Verbal or on-screen text warnings at start of programme may only be used in exceptional circumstances when:
The relevant content is completely integral and necessary to the context of the programme and,
Permission to use the relevant content has been cleared by the relevant broadcaster and documented in writing by those responsible for commissioning /editorial content.
Advance notification and planning requirements will vary by broadcaster.
Flickering or intermittent lights and certain types of repetitive visual patterns can cause serious problems for viewers who are prone to photosensitive epilepsy. Children & teenagers are particularly vulnerable.
- All programmes for tape delivery must be tested using the Harding Flash Pattern Analyser v2.54b on an SD down converted SDI feed. Any failure whatsoever will result in rejection of the programme, and any affected sections must be repaired and re-tested before acceptance. Broadcasters will, at their discretion, either test the programme during the Quality Control process, or will require a relevant Harding FPA pass certificate to be delivered with the tape.
- Verbal or on-screen text warnings at start of programme may only be used in exceptional circumstances when:
The relevant content is completely integral and necessary to the context of the programme and,
Permission to use the relevant content has been cleared by the relevant broadcaster and documented in writing by those responsible for commissioning /editorial content.
Advance notification and planning requirements will vary by broadcaster.
This last post about photosensitive is important to use as we need to make sure we check with Mike that we can have a warning at the start of our film as we need to have more than 5 flashes a second.
My Employability & Advertising Myself
For this project I have also looked into how to advertise myself through websites and videos streaming sites. Below you can see a link to my Blog where I can show work I have been doing in my own time as well as link to my projects from uni and even commercial or film projects that I have worked on. This is a great way I feel I can catalogue my skills as I can show how I develop my work as well as things I learn whilst creating them.
http://oliverkane.blogspot.com/
Below are some images on my Blog:
Below is my Showreel, this is a great way to send a brief look at some of my work. I have tried to show a range of work to advertising different abilities to model using different softwares or techniques.
I have used my blog and showreel as a way to advertise my work and my abilities. I feel this is important as it it gives potential employers a chance to see what I can do! I feel that when I leave RAvensbourne I will be a at a level and have the experience to work as a modeller in the film or commercial industry.
What I have learnt!
Apart from having a youtube channel, facebook page and a blog. I have learnt that magazines are also a very strong tool for getting noticed. I want to try get myself in a magazine. I have been looking at the 3D world magazine as a possible goal as it publishes peoples work and does pages on students. Here is the link to their site: http://www.3dworldmag.com/
I have also as mentioned early planned to enter myself into the student of the year competition and see if I can try win one of the categories. Even if I don't win I will still get my work noticed and might lead to other possibilities.
http://oliverkane.blogspot.com/
Below are some images on my Blog:
Below is my Showreel, this is a great way to send a brief look at some of my work. I have tried to show a range of work to advertising different abilities to model using different softwares or techniques.
I have used my blog and showreel as a way to advertise my work and my abilities. I feel this is important as it it gives potential employers a chance to see what I can do! I feel that when I leave RAvensbourne I will be a at a level and have the experience to work as a modeller in the film or commercial industry.
What I have learnt!
Apart from having a youtube channel, facebook page and a blog. I have learnt that magazines are also a very strong tool for getting noticed. I want to try get myself in a magazine. I have been looking at the 3D world magazine as a possible goal as it publishes peoples work and does pages on students. Here is the link to their site: http://www.3dworldmag.com/
I have also as mentioned early planned to enter myself into the student of the year competition and see if I can try win one of the categories. Even if I don't win I will still get my work noticed and might lead to other possibilities.
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Degree Show: Group and Individual Marketing Plan
When Marketing this film we have looked into a range of ways to get our film out there! All of these tools will be to advertise our work for the Degree Show. We have planned out a few things we want to create and do to make sure we get people knowing about our film before or even after the degree show.
As mentioned earlier, we as a group have identified our chosen target market. We want to try aim it at all ages groups. But personally I want to make an award winning film. I want the film to be an advertisement for what we can do and our abilities within our chosen careers.
We have looked at a range of festivals we want to try and get our film show at. This will be a great way to get out the film seen by a wide range of people. Here are the festivals we have looked at:
British Animation Awards - http://www.britishanimationawards.com/
Edinburgh film Festival - http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/
Anima Mundi 2012 - http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/animation/
London International Film Festival - http://www.liaf.org.uk/entries/
Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film - http://www.itfs.de/en/
Annecy 2012 - http://www.annecy.org/home
Animex 2012 - http://www.animex.net/
Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF) - http://www.haff.nl/en/
Also we want to try send our work around different companies as again it shows what we can do and if they like a certain aspect of the film, for example the modelling we will give contact details and information for them to get into contact with us. Here are some of the companies we plan to send our work to:
MPC
Cinsite
BlueZoo
Pixar
Bluesky
Framestore
When it comes to advertising and marketing our film, we plan to use a wide range of platforms to which we can promote the film. Here are the tools that have already started using!
Website - http://www.goingdownfilm.co.uk/ - here is a link to our website that we have created! This is a great source to get work uploaded on there and then we can send that round to everyone we want to try get involved. We also have links to our own personal blogs and to our Facebook page.
Youtube/Vimeo - like I found in my research these two video streaming sites are really beneficial as we can upload any videos we create and add them to any of our sites or even send the link directly to potential employers. Here is a link to Going Down's channel http://www.youtube.com/user/GoingDownFilm?feature=mhee
Facebook Page - GoingDownFilm, as previously mentioned we have created a Facebook page that is our hub in which we will post weekly updates of new posters or renders to keep people interested! Here is the link to the Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/GoingDownFilm
- Website with loads of downloadable content
- The final film playing on loop
- Videos showing breakdowns of shots and a making of video!
- Posters, Business cards and stickers
- A youtube Channel that will have all videos made in the production.
- We plan to have facebook on going form now until past the production vase to keep everyone who follows in the loop of what we are doing and even how we are doing it.
We believe all these tools are a great plan to get our film noticed and to showcase our work where alot of people can see it! Also all these tools will be a great way to get our product out to our target market. We want this film to be watched and enjoyed by anyone but we want to make sure it sells what we can do. The idea is its a short showcase of our abilities and that we can use it to show to companies, festivals and competitions so advertise ourselves and us as a group.
My Individual website marketing on-line presence.
The image to the left shows a about me page on the Goingdown website. On this there is a link to my blog (http://oliverkane.blogspot.com/) where you can find more information about me!
Also I wrote a brief introduction about myself and my work:
'I was the Character Artist on Going Down! I have been a modeller for 4 years now and have worked as a Modeller for Framestore's Film, Commercial and Design departments. My main goal is to get into Creature or Character modelling but also love modelling anything that is a challenge!
Please check out my blog for more information!'
Here is a link to my Youtube Channel, as mentioned earlier its a great way to show work in progress or turntables and know they can be easily played and stored! Link Here - http://www.youtube.com/user/Oliverkane2010/featured
Another way I plan to advertise myself is to enter into a few competitions as entering or even winning is a great way to advertise myself as an able professional:
http://www.cgstudentawards.com/ - I plan to upload a few of my best pieces of work and try see if I can get far in a few of the categories.Also I have entered into the CGHub 3D production Challenege, this is a challenge to model a posed sculpt based on a piece of concept art.
With my experience and contacts within the industry, I think I am now more employable than someone leaving uni without working on a film or a commercial. I am already being offered job opportunities at Framestore in the film department. All of my work with my blog, youtube channel and showreel has paid off as Framestore have given me great references and contacts to be able to move to other companies around london maybe even abroad.
Degree Show
As for the Degree show as an individual, I plan to try have a selection of pieces of my work. I will create an upto date showreel that can be played on my laptop. I want to be able to maybe have a 3D print out of one of my best character peices. But I want to be able to give business card to anyone that may want it. Before the degree show I plan to invite several more people I have worked with or worked for. Finally by then I plan to have a fully made website as well as blog, a youtube channel (already running) Facebook page and start design posters from my work to maybe generate some other income.
Here are some of the images I made and that we plan to use in future posts for our Website.
As mentioned earlier, we as a group have identified our chosen target market. We want to try aim it at all ages groups. But personally I want to make an award winning film. I want the film to be an advertisement for what we can do and our abilities within our chosen careers.
We have looked at a range of festivals we want to try and get our film show at. This will be a great way to get out the film seen by a wide range of people. Here are the festivals we have looked at:
British Animation Awards - http://www.britishanimationawards.com/
Edinburgh film Festival - http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/
Anima Mundi 2012 - http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/animation/
London International Film Festival - http://www.liaf.org.uk/entries/
Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film - http://www.itfs.de/en/
Annecy 2012 - http://www.annecy.org/home
Animex 2012 - http://www.animex.net/
Holland Animation Film Festival (HAFF) - http://www.haff.nl/en/
Also we want to try send our work around different companies as again it shows what we can do and if they like a certain aspect of the film, for example the modelling we will give contact details and information for them to get into contact with us. Here are some of the companies we plan to send our work to:
MPC
Cinsite
BlueZoo
Pixar
Bluesky
Framestore
When it comes to advertising and marketing our film, we plan to use a wide range of platforms to which we can promote the film. Here are the tools that have already started using!
Website - http://www.goingdownfilm.co.uk/ - here is a link to our website that we have created! This is a great source to get work uploaded on there and then we can send that round to everyone we want to try get involved. We also have links to our own personal blogs and to our Facebook page.
Youtube/Vimeo - like I found in my research these two video streaming sites are really beneficial as we can upload any videos we create and add them to any of our sites or even send the link directly to potential employers. Here is a link to Going Down's channel http://www.youtube.com/user/GoingDownFilm?feature=mhee
For the Degree show, we plan to have:
- Website with loads of downloadable content
- The final film playing on loop
- Videos showing breakdowns of shots and a making of video!
- Posters, Business cards and stickers
- A youtube Channel that will have all videos made in the production.
- We plan to have facebook on going form now until past the production vase to keep everyone who follows in the loop of what we are doing and even how we are doing it.
We believe all these tools are a great plan to get our film noticed and to showcase our work where alot of people can see it! Also all these tools will be a great way to get our product out to our target market. We want this film to be watched and enjoyed by anyone but we want to make sure it sells what we can do. The idea is its a short showcase of our abilities and that we can use it to show to companies, festivals and competitions so advertise ourselves and us as a group.
My Individual website marketing on-line presence.
The image to the left shows a about me page on the Goingdown website. On this there is a link to my blog (http://oliverkane.blogspot.com/) where you can find more information about me!Also I wrote a brief introduction about myself and my work:
'I was the Character Artist on Going Down! I have been a modeller for 4 years now and have worked as a Modeller for Framestore's Film, Commercial and Design departments. My main goal is to get into Creature or Character modelling but also love modelling anything that is a challenge!
Please check out my blog for more information!'
Here is a link to my Youtube Channel, as mentioned earlier its a great way to show work in progress or turntables and know they can be easily played and stored! Link Here - http://www.youtube.com/user/Oliverkane2010/featured
Another way I plan to advertise myself is to enter into a few competitions as entering or even winning is a great way to advertise myself as an able professional:
http://www.cgstudentawards.com/ - I plan to upload a few of my best pieces of work and try see if I can get far in a few of the categories.Also I have entered into the CGHub 3D production Challenege, this is a challenge to model a posed sculpt based on a piece of concept art.
With my experience and contacts within the industry, I think I am now more employable than someone leaving uni without working on a film or a commercial. I am already being offered job opportunities at Framestore in the film department. All of my work with my blog, youtube channel and showreel has paid off as Framestore have given me great references and contacts to be able to move to other companies around london maybe even abroad.
Degree Show
As for the Degree show as an individual, I plan to try have a selection of pieces of my work. I will create an upto date showreel that can be played on my laptop. I want to be able to maybe have a 3D print out of one of my best character peices. But I want to be able to give business card to anyone that may want it. Before the degree show I plan to invite several more people I have worked with or worked for. Finally by then I plan to have a fully made website as well as blog, a youtube channel (already running) Facebook page and start design posters from my work to maybe generate some other income.
Here are some of the images I made and that we plan to use in future posts for our Website.
Above are the two images created for the website, we have adjusted them slightly now by changing the lights around in 3D as we wanted them both to be abit brighter. The final images can be found on the website.
The three images above show renders I created for the character sheet that we plan to develop ready for the degree show!
Final image found below is a latest piece of figure Sculpt I have been working on. Renders such as these and turntables to the same degree I plan to have at the degree show. Showing a wide range of models I have created.
Tuesday 17 January 2012
Marketing: How others done it!
I have looked into how other Animators/Creatives have marketed there project. I have focused mainly around Student work and films that have been a success not just in the final film but the way its been advertised and marketed through websites and social networks.
Mac N Cheese
Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/MacNCheeseShort - Here is an example of MacNCheese using facebook as a hub to all other external links and events. This is a great way for use as fast and easy to get that started.
Vimeo - http://vimeo.com/27127177 - Again we plan to try do this once we have a good amount of videos that we can showcase
HaFF - http://www.haff.nl/nl/programma/competities-haff-2012/selectie-europese-studentenfilms/ - on the facebook page you can see all the different competitions that the group has entered into. This Haff students film competition is just one of 5 examples. This is what I mean by a hub where to branch off of as you can get people who have liked the page voting and viewing all your links and videos!
Meet Buck - http://salesmanbuck.com/- Meet Buck Animation also usese vimeo, youtube and facebook as well as a site that contains two of their films! This can be an idea for future films that we realise, putting alongside other films that already have followers.
Okapodi - http://www.oktapodi.com/ - This is a great reference for us, as we plan to design our own website and we think this is a lovely simple layout we can use showcase out work.
Polished Off - http://www.polishedoff.blogspot.com/ - This is a great example of Ravensbournes work! really well made film. The use of blogspot is a really easy and quick way to get work out there. Also you can show updates as you go along which sometimes attraches more and more people. For example the hobbit film production has been sending out updates on how the film is going and key things they are developing which creates a buzz around the film before its even released. (http://www.facebook.com/TheHobbitMovie)
Other films we have referenced for our film are more relative to the story and idea as its films like Shaun of the Dead or The Walking dead. But we have already we don't to make it have load of blood and gore as we want it to be appealing and able to be watched by the younger audiences.
These films to me represent how to get a film out there using social networks, video streaming sites to their advantage and using their 3D renders and abilities to improve on these things!
I have been looking at 3D world magazine and I think thats a very good way for us and myself individually to use. As 3D world magazine has a very big reader base and always showcases good student work whether it be group or individual. See below for a selection of examples:
http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/02/23/short-cuts-swing-of-change/ is a link to an example of a project from a group of students being showcased! This is a great way to get noticed.
http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/ - again this link shows a selection of different animation shorts showcased on the website and in the magazine.
Some images below of the website:
Mac N Cheese
Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/MacNCheeseShort - Here is an example of MacNCheese using facebook as a hub to all other external links and events. This is a great way for use as fast and easy to get that started.
Vimeo - http://vimeo.com/27127177 - Again we plan to try do this once we have a good amount of videos that we can showcase
HaFF - http://www.haff.nl/nl/programma/competities-haff-2012/selectie-europese-studentenfilms/ - on the facebook page you can see all the different competitions that the group has entered into. This Haff students film competition is just one of 5 examples. This is what I mean by a hub where to branch off of as you can get people who have liked the page voting and viewing all your links and videos!
Meet Buck - http://salesmanbuck.com/- Meet Buck Animation also usese vimeo, youtube and facebook as well as a site that contains two of their films! This can be an idea for future films that we realise, putting alongside other films that already have followers.
Okapodi - http://www.oktapodi.com/ - This is a great reference for us, as we plan to design our own website and we think this is a lovely simple layout we can use showcase out work.
Polished Off - http://www.polishedoff.blogspot.com/ - This is a great example of Ravensbournes work! really well made film. The use of blogspot is a really easy and quick way to get work out there. Also you can show updates as you go along which sometimes attraches more and more people. For example the hobbit film production has been sending out updates on how the film is going and key things they are developing which creates a buzz around the film before its even released. (http://www.facebook.com/TheHobbitMovie)
Other films we have referenced for our film are more relative to the story and idea as its films like Shaun of the Dead or The Walking dead. But we have already we don't to make it have load of blood and gore as we want it to be appealing and able to be watched by the younger audiences.
These films to me represent how to get a film out there using social networks, video streaming sites to their advantage and using their 3D renders and abilities to improve on these things!
I have been looking at 3D world magazine and I think thats a very good way for us and myself individually to use. As 3D world magazine has a very big reader base and always showcases good student work whether it be group or individual. See below for a selection of examples:
http://www.3dworldmag.com/2012/02/23/short-cuts-swing-of-change/ is a link to an example of a project from a group of students being showcased! This is a great way to get noticed.
http://www.3dworldmag.com/category/showcase/shorts/ - again this link shows a selection of different animation shorts showcased on the website and in the magazine.
Some images below of the website:
Planing my time
I have been using iCalendar to plan help organise the group and organise the deadlines needed to keep the project working at a good pace and to make sure everyone can keep working as we rely on referencing and some jobs need others to complete their work before the other to get started.
We have been having weekly skype calls and a weekly meet up where we will discuss what work we have completed or whether things need changing by someone else in the group. The image below shows some of the key dates for our prodcuction. The dates in blue are also meeting dates as its a day where certain things need to be completed and thats when we either skype or meet up to go over the completed work.
We have used the social media website to help aid the google calendar as we can post images or videos to everyone working on the film who can look at them on a wide range of devices. This gives great advantage when receiving or giving feedback.
We have also used it to update each other on what we are working on and what changes we might of made to a referenced scene keeping the group in the loop on whats going on else where on the production. The image to the left shows a discussion (most comments hidden) that was had about the lighting development I was doing on one of the shots, this was a great way to see and make sure the lighting was going in the right direction, also giving the chance for everyones input.
The first three images show us planning our week and what work is needed to be completed and also meeting we had with our sound engineer and an example (last image) shows quick message for our weeklies meeting.
The last image shows my updates to both the characters for the blendshapes and the model.
We have been having weekly skype calls and a weekly meet up where we will discuss what work we have completed or whether things need changing by someone else in the group. The image below shows some of the key dates for our prodcuction. The dates in blue are also meeting dates as its a day where certain things need to be completed and thats when we either skype or meet up to go over the completed work.
We have also used it to update each other on what we are working on and what changes we might of made to a referenced scene keeping the group in the loop on whats going on else where on the production. The image to the left shows a discussion (most comments hidden) that was had about the lighting development I was doing on one of the shots, this was a great way to see and make sure the lighting was going in the right direction, also giving the chance for everyones input.
Also we have been using Google Calendar and Face to set up dates for meetings and note taking for update models or shots. See the images below, they show discussions on reworks and plans for group meetings:
Designing our Website
HERE IT IS! Now this is something that I think has really given the film a great boost. Not just because it gets some people interested but for the group we can all see that we are progressing and things seem to be working well!
Above shows the front page, that contains links to all the other pages on the website. As you can see we have tried to show emotion in the characters and set the mood for the film! In the bottom left you can see our customised Facebook link which takes you to the Facebook page we have created!
The About us page shows images of us but when you click on our faces you don't just see a zombie picture of us but a brief bio about the individual as well as the links to their work outside of the website. My page is found below and it links to my blog site that shows my showreel and latest work.
We wanted to show some of the Renders or drawings that have been created during the production of the film. The images are all downloadable and it shows how the film is developing and how we plan to make it look!
Below is an image of the enlarged poster design found on the Gallery page. As for posters we plan to make a selection of different sizes and designs.
For the website creation. I worked as render and worked on all of the 3D side of things for the renders found on the site. I worked with Joe and the rest of the group to render images suitable for the site. Greg then took all images I rendered and the layout Joe created in photoshop and applied them onto a flash document.
Sunday 15 January 2012
Using The Renderfarm
During this project I don't plan to use the Renderfarm how ever last year I rendered out one of my turntables (see image below). The reason I don't plan to use the render farm at Ravensbourne is that I'm lucky enough to have access to Framestores render farm (unable to show images of their Renderfarm sever). I plan to use this instead as I have used it many times when working in the film department and its very easy and user friendly to set up when it comes to render layers and render passes in EXR format, I have tried to do this at ravensbourne and it was unable to render them out correctly or the render would fail.
Here are some of the notes found about the renderfarm:
- All project and texture files, reference files and of course scene files relating to your project should be in a single folder or sub folders thereof. This folder must be copied in its entirety to the \\vanguard\repository share.
All texture locations in your project must reference your project folder. So you must change all of these appropriately when you copy it to the \\vanguard\repository share.
Use Render Layers. By using Render Layers you can avoid making any individual frame too complex. This will minimise the potential impact of issues to a single layer as you are not putting all your eggs in one basket. And renders will be much quicker overall.
Texture tips:
Size. All texture sizes should be a power of two in each dimension e.g 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 etc.
Purpose. If you work for a special effects house huge textures 16384x16384 may be appropriate. However, textures of 512x512 or less are sufficient for most of the projects you are working on.
Square textures. Usually, it is best to use textures that are square because Maya can use these more efficiently. However, it may be appropriate to use a non square texture if it suits the object being textured.
File Format. The tiff format is recommended because it is more detailed and is uncompressed, so suited towards processor intensive applications such as rendering. Avoid large jpeg’s altogether.
Optimise your Maya scene. This process will optimise the scene of all unassigned shader nodes. This is found on Maya’s menu under File>Optimise Scene Size.
Perform a render diagnostic to identify any problems that there may be with your scene. This can be started from the Render View window by selecting File>Render Diagnostics from the menu. Once this has completed the results will be displayed in the Maya Script Editor. Using this information you can fix problems that may prevent your scene from rendering or at least from doing so inefficiently.
Here are some of the notes found about the renderfarm:
- All project and texture files, reference files and of course scene files relating to your project should be in a single folder or sub folders thereof. This folder must be copied in its entirety to the \\vanguard\repository share.
All texture locations in your project must reference your project folder. So you must change all of these appropriately when you copy it to the \\vanguard\repository share.
Use Render Layers. By using Render Layers you can avoid making any individual frame too complex. This will minimise the potential impact of issues to a single layer as you are not putting all your eggs in one basket. And renders will be much quicker overall.
Texture tips:
Size. All texture sizes should be a power of two in each dimension e.g 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 etc.
Purpose. If you work for a special effects house huge textures 16384x16384 may be appropriate. However, textures of 512x512 or less are sufficient for most of the projects you are working on.
Square textures. Usually, it is best to use textures that are square because Maya can use these more efficiently. However, it may be appropriate to use a non square texture if it suits the object being textured.
File Format. The tiff format is recommended because it is more detailed and is uncompressed, so suited towards processor intensive applications such as rendering. Avoid large jpeg’s altogether.
Optimise your Maya scene. This process will optimise the scene of all unassigned shader nodes. This is found on Maya’s menu under File>Optimise Scene Size.
Perform a render diagnostic to identify any problems that there may be with your scene. This can be started from the Render View window by selecting File>Render Diagnostics from the menu. Once this has completed the results will be displayed in the Maya Script Editor. Using this information you can fix problems that may prevent your scene from rendering or at least from doing so inefficiently.
Referencing
We have a very rehearsed naming convention so we know that things will keep the reference working as if the names change then the reference file wont work and things such as the rig will break and start a chain reaction
The most recent development is using nuke and the ability to use the naming conventions when rendering started making it work across softwares as Nuke works with naming conventions with files so if the render scene keep the same file type and render settings all the adjustments we make in nuke will be carried across.
Below is a collection of images showing the use of Dropbox to organise our project using different folders for different stages of production. Using name conventions has also given a great way to link scenes through multiple software.
Targets & Group Roles
Group Members & Roles:
Oliver Kane - Character Modeller & Texturing. Rendering and Compositor.
Nick Georgeou - Storyboard, Editing artist and Animator
Joseph Henson - Editing and Animator
Stephanie Joy - Lighting, Render & Compositor
Greg Martin - Rigging, Set Modelling & TD
David Fish - Set modelling & texturing. Lighting
Below shows my individual and group contract we have made raedy for this project. This should keep myself and the rest of the team on task and will make sure we know what we are planned to do next or when work is needed to be completed.
Each role and member has their own vital role to play as most roles there is only one person working on that particular role.
We have used Google Calendar to plan deadlines and key dates we want to meet as dissertation has heavy impact on work levels this term so planning is key. We want to start doing weeklies, this is a great way to see that we are on task and completing work on time and it will also give us a chance to look and critique eachothers work.
Introduction for Professional Skills & Our Target Market
For this term professional skills brief, we have to show a wide range of skills in organisation and planning. As well a a look at some of the technical aspects of Referencing and Rendering.
But firstly we have established a target market that we want our film to be aimed at. We are creating a zombie related film but with a twist. We want to aim our film at all ages. We have tried to stay away from the normal Zombie blood and gore design as we see that as unsuitable for younger age groups, so using brighter colours turns the Zombie into more of a comedic character rather than the normal horror monster. However we want to make sure our style appeals to all ages, by using light humour and comedic value we believe that our film can be appealing for a wide range of audience. We want to create an original style that will appeal to other students or other creatives as well as having high quality work at the end of it.
We have looked a number of films we really like and plan to try use them as a good reference on how to maybe create a successful short film!
Below is a list of things I plan to look at and do this term:
- With the group, we plan to identify our target market and what we want to get out of our movie.
- I'll show my groups way we use referencing and Dropbox to make things easier for us to work apart but still get all the updates and files we need to continue working.
- I'll research and develop the idea of rendering use the Rave renderfarm. As I work at a production company I know alittle about the renderfarm experience but being able to render at uni would be a big advantage we would really want to take.
- Another part of the project is to develop and advertise our group work, so we want to create a website, plan our end of year show, design posters and start to get our video out there.
- We are using google calendars to plan out deadlines and events we want to achieve for our project.
- For a more personal aspect of this project. I will develop my showreel to show at the end of year show but this will most likely develop.
- We will be looking at the quality control aspect as our videos need to hit a certain specifications that work on the big screens around uni and online, keeping as much quality as we can.
Out of this I plan to learn alot about professional skills that I need to keep developing ready for when I look for work. As being able to meet deadlines, advertise my work to a high standard.
But firstly we have established a target market that we want our film to be aimed at. We are creating a zombie related film but with a twist. We want to aim our film at all ages. We have tried to stay away from the normal Zombie blood and gore design as we see that as unsuitable for younger age groups, so using brighter colours turns the Zombie into more of a comedic character rather than the normal horror monster. However we want to make sure our style appeals to all ages, by using light humour and comedic value we believe that our film can be appealing for a wide range of audience. We want to create an original style that will appeal to other students or other creatives as well as having high quality work at the end of it.
We have looked a number of films we really like and plan to try use them as a good reference on how to maybe create a successful short film!
Below is a list of things I plan to look at and do this term:
- With the group, we plan to identify our target market and what we want to get out of our movie.
- I'll show my groups way we use referencing and Dropbox to make things easier for us to work apart but still get all the updates and files we need to continue working.
- I'll research and develop the idea of rendering use the Rave renderfarm. As I work at a production company I know alittle about the renderfarm experience but being able to render at uni would be a big advantage we would really want to take.
- Another part of the project is to develop and advertise our group work, so we want to create a website, plan our end of year show, design posters and start to get our video out there.
- We are using google calendars to plan out deadlines and events we want to achieve for our project.
- For a more personal aspect of this project. I will develop my showreel to show at the end of year show but this will most likely develop.
- We will be looking at the quality control aspect as our videos need to hit a certain specifications that work on the big screens around uni and online, keeping as much quality as we can.
Out of this I plan to learn alot about professional skills that I need to keep developing ready for when I look for work. As being able to meet deadlines, advertise my work to a high standard.
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