Simon Butler, Digital Environment Journal

WEEK 9 - Tune ups, fixes and Post Production

2007-11-30T06:21:00.000-08:00

Now is the time of rendering. We all messed around with lighting, Harrison the most. Although most of this was in mental ray which for some reason skrewed up for us and NO ONE could fix.

This is a glass brick i did that looked really ugly on its own but really good in mental ray (which of course we couldn't use). So Harrison made a more attractive glass brick and put it in the scene.

I also did the editing. Which looked good. There was a few things that didn't match up or had to be done. For example there was two door scenes rendered where the character opens the door. one is shot from outside set, the other from the inside set. The frames that lin kthem though are different AND different lighting. To fix this I did a simple transition between them, keyed out around the inside door to make it brighter and faded it into the scene's colour to be the transition. I didn't actually used the transtition effect within premoere Because there was still an obvious cut i made a blur between them. I also experimented on one from with some lightning for some eye veins. It's not necassary at all but it was fun to do.

And this is the camera flash part. To do this I just used the normal transition effect on premiere between a pure white frame. Along to the sound this works perfectly.

And finally here is the gherkin i modelled which i forgot to do before.. which of course is the most IMPORTANT model! :P

WEEK 8 - More texturing

2007-11-30T06:13:00.000-08:00

This is some shots of my textured models in the scene. The bottom picture is rendered in basic lighting.

This week I'll also be compiling everything together and touching up the walls.. texturing tables/booth etc.

Modelled Planks of wood

2007-11-30T06:09:00.001-08:00

Here are some wooden planks created and textured quickly. Its a bit late for the schedule but nothing too drastic.

Here is the texture i used. I cut out four panels so they look different from each other.

here are the final boarded up windows. I used the nails from before to put around the wooden panels also.. again for realism.

Here is from the side.. with basic lighting.

Jukebox Texturing

2007-11-30T06:05:00.000-08:00

This is the final texture for the jukebox. Its not brilliant and it only uses simple textures taken from a photo of the jukebow. Except for the light wood texture which was from a seperate file. The lights were done with a simple blinn. As they weren't going to be 'on' and colourful anyway.

Overall though I think the jukebox worked quite nicely, but is best when seen from a distance :P

Week 7 - UV Mapping

2007-11-30T05:51:00.001-08:00

This is the UV (placed on the model) of the booth.

This is a texturing test on the booth uv which worked fine!!! :D

This is the texture I made. I did simple colours then put a leather texture over it, all in photoshop. I thought this was cool but I thought it could do with some more dirt.

This is the dirtier texture which I think Is good enough.

Jukebox Modelling

2007-11-30T05:24:00.001-08:00

For the jukebox i used this image as reference.

And after hours i had this made! I never realised the jukebox would be so hard to do so I think I won't have enough time (or energy) to do much detail.

And here is the final design after hours and hours and HOURS!!!

I'm happy with it but not too happy. It could of been a lot better but it was just taking far too long so I had to leave out small details like metal parts around the jukebox.

Here is it in scene. Basic Render.

This is wood put up on the jukebox and modelling the inside would have taken too long. I also had no reference of what it looked inside, so this was the best option. Simple low poly nails were put in too for realism.

WEEK 6 - Modelling

2007-11-30T04:39:00.000-08:00

Im now modelling! And i'm starting with the diner booth.

To start with I kept the proxy version of the booth in the scene to use as guidelines for height and width of the booth.

These pictures are of the booth i made. It was a good start and doesn't look bad but it doesn't really stand out. So instead I made the one below.

I made this version a lot more round on the edges and put a simple design on the seat to look more liek the style of a 50s booth, but in my own style rather than copied. I also put some rough colours on just to test.

Here is the booth and the double booth in the scene.

And here are the final models.

Referencing and Proxy Referencing

2007-11-30T03:22:00.000-08:00

In order for us all to work on our own seperate parts and to have them all in the same scene without exporting/importing them in and wasting time, I learnt how to do referencing.

The parts I am modelling are most of the furniture objects. This includes Booths, tables and chairs. Referencing this means instead of creating one object like a booth and importing it later then creating a table and importing that, I could just create a reference of where the objects WILL be WHEN they are made. So when they are completed I can move the files in and it will automatically be in the scene.

The only problem with this is that there needs to be something there so that Daryl can start animating whilst me and harrison are modelling. This is where Proxy referencing comes in.

Proxy referencing is like linking a reference to another set of files, which you can easily switch between. In this case, I made 'proxy' versions of my furniture which is basically blockout furniture. I can then concentrate on creating the proper models to put in whilst Daryl can animate. When the files are done, I put them in the folder and just switch the reference from proxy to proper!

Blockout-like furniture

Paris Texas - Research from Film

2007-11-02T05:05:00.001-07:00

These are some examples of a road and sign posts in a desert environment. This can be very good reference to use when creating our environment, for a road outside our diner.

These shots are some good examples of a rundown building, also similar to a diner, but in a much different style to our own. Other than style though this can still be very helpful in getting the aesthetic of the building right. For example, the bits of barbwire fencing outside and a barrel making it look very old, and the general dirty look to everything.

The lighting used inside is also very good reference to use, as our lighting will probably be very similar to this, but to fit in to our storyline. For example, we probably won't have blinds, but horrible blowing curtains. And in other areas parts will be boarded up. Will shall probably have more light than this, be it will still be quite dark and murky nevertheless.

These are some nice shots of rock formations in a desert in Texas. This is some good reference for the background scenery we will be needing for our environment.

Production Schedule

2007-11-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

Production Schedule for project created in Microsoft project.

WEEK 5

2007-11-01T08:27:00.003-07:00

This picture which I found on google I thought would be perfect to base our diner on. It seems just the right size for our diner, and enough space for our character to move around in and interact in.

This is a product dimension sheet of a 50s diner booth. I used this as a base for creating a blueprint of our diner, also based heavily on the photo above. I decided to cut out the worktop to the north of the diner as it didn't seem necessary for what we needed. Instead though, I placed a jukebox in that space, which we felt is VERY important for a 50s diner.

Rough blueprint created to scale in Photoshop.

These are some pictures from a website of 50s style diner furniture. I think this is great reference material to use when creating the environment.

These two screenshots show a rough 3D layout of the inside of the diner (part being used). I followed the dimensions of the blueprint and also scaled it round our character model which we found online. The reason for this is so that Daryl can start animating the scenes whilst me and Harrison create the models, texturing etc to place in the environment later.. basically to structure our time better.

These two screenshots show a rough 3D layout of the outsdie of the diner. Again, just for a base for Daryl to work on.

WEEK 4 - Specific Research

2007-11-01T08:27:00.001-07:00

These are some pictures of 50s diners. I like these, mainly for the shape and 'futuristic' design of the buildings. The first is kool because of how tinny it looks, kind of like a toy building. The colours are quite funky too. The second is also quite good, perhaps not as good as the first but the massive signpost is quite cool.

Again I like the title of the diner on the sign going through the building, but the rest of the building looks really boring. This may be good t oduplicate in 3D though for an authentic rundown diner in the middle of nowhere.

This is evidence of a COMPLETELY DESTROYED diner. We probably wouldn't want to have a diner THIS bad, but i thought it was interesting how the sign is intact.

This diner I htink is brilliant. It's really cool looking and quite simple. Inside, though cramped for a character to go through, has a lot to work with. lots of seats, stools, tables etc. I think we will probably copy a lot of things from this picture, like curtains/windows, and the general look and possible layout.

This is a finished animatic of our story from Daryl's drawn storyboard.

Basics of what happens...

The character has arrived at the diner and is looking at his make to make sure he has found the finest gherkin diner in the world. He looks away from his map towards the diner, walks up and enters it. He is shocked to see the inside of the diner is completely run down, unlike the near perfect outside.
The character then starts to take pictures of the building in reference of the once established famous Gherkin diner. He travels round the room taking picture after picture until he finds a remaining Gherkin. He grabs the Gherkin jar and the story ends.

WEEK 3 - Barcelona Pictures.. FINALLY up!

2007-10-22T02:39:00.001-07:00

These are photos from a locational shoot in Barcelona. I had taken over 200 photos in total but unfortunately erased about 150 of the pictures by accident.. but here are some from the collection I didn't manage to delete.

This is a beutiful photo of a Hospital in Barcelona. It is so different in comparison to a hospital in Britain. The design is so marvelous and flawless and any part is either sculpted or painted. Making an environment of buildings like this would be hard to do, but would look amazing, especially if I did it in my own style.

This is one of many buildings I had taken pictures of. So many buildings were created in so many similar and different styles. Mainly Gothic, apart from the surreal works of Gaudi.

I wouldn't mind doing an environment like this because of how good it looks.

These are just some photos of street lights from the streets of Barcelona mainly because of how intricate the detail is. It's also quite gothic which i kind of like. They are taken from different parts of Barcelona and are really unique. I also like the artists' branding/signiture on the work itself. I would love to create something as nice as these in Maya.

These pictures are part of a complex of more of Gaudi architecture. These were mainly taken for research on rocky textures and the way tehy can be formed together to create paths such as the cool alleyway shown.

These are some more walls and pillars made from rocks and bricks. It's really nice with the palm trees also. The thing i like the most about these is that they look like they are almost incomplete, yet still standing.

These were next to the previous architectures. It is basically a giant room with pillars holding up the ground above and completely filled in mosaics, but mainly white. This was probably to make the center piece stand out more (the colourful weird parts).

These are some more of Gaudi's buildings and architecture. Like before, focusing on more mosaics. Some of these are used alongside plants and one even representing an animal of some sort. I think it's quite interesting but personally I don't really like these as, to me, they just seem boring.

these on the other hand, I though could be quite cool to use as textures for something else. These ore from a wall, but perhaps used as a floor texture or artwork on their own would be nice.

This video I cannot embed on this blog but I thought was really cool. I have no idea who it is made by but it's really dark and modeled andanimated really well. It's very surreal and dark but so interesting.

LINK <<============================================================

WEEK 2 - Starting Research

2007-10-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

This piece of art work is H R Giger's Hommage, a hommage to Arnold Bocklin’s Island of Death.

I like this kind of surreal artwork and is really the starting point for my research into the environment project.

I realise copying something as complex and intricate as this could cause many limitations for the animation. For example, limited capabilites for character interactions, but if pulled off could look like a really nice interesting piece of animation.

Arnold Bocklin’s Island of Death

The following images are a few more pieces of H.R. Gigers work which I found quite interesting.

This is another outdoor surreal environment. It's really interesting because of how indisguishable it is.

This is completely different in style but i thought it would be cool for an extremely out of the ordinary environment or thinking completely 'out of the box'. Doing something like this would be great to differenciate from other normal or standard environments, and would be.

This is yet another of H.R. Giger's work. It would be cool to do things like this AS the environment, like walls or floor containing faces, just for a creepy environment.

These pictures are great. The statues themselves are quite boring but being underwater makes it really different than normal art and is inspirational. Doing an underwater environment with odd or creepy statue like scenery could be really good idea, except the methods involved (and time restraints) may not be worth the outcome.

This is more over to the creepy research again with a shot from 'Monster House'. This shows literally a monsterous house, which I think would be great to make and probably really fun too.

The house wouldn't necessarily need to move, it could just look creepy and broken and just have the visuals that hint thatit 'could' be alive.

These Pictures are from the game 'Silent Hill 4' I thought the shots of the game shown here are really dark and interesting. The door looks really strange with the chains being around it but it makes its really simple storytelling. (keeping something in/out) It also instantly shows the audience that the environment is a threatening one. doing something as simple as this which can cause such a big impact I think can be a really good idea.

This shot is just a shot from the game looking down a huge pipe with light at the end. Very odd and the old television-like effect works really nice for conveying emotion too.

I really like this shot because its so unusual. It's very industrial in it's nature yet it appears to go on forever as all that can be seen is that from the light bulb. With this darkness and the strange camera angle it makes it creepy looking, probably because you don't know what's going to be at the end of the escalator.

In-game the shots were used it different ways and in some ways weren't that great, but seeing them seperated from the game makes them a lot more interesting.

These are shots are from porky's Wonderland. The storyline is simple, but the journey porky goes on goes through some really surreal areas filled with completely crazy characters.

What's really weird and cool are the things shown, like the tree in a trunk growing paper as leaves. Also, the character dripping through the pipe and staring at the million different doors that are continuously opening infront of him. The door to the imaginary house and window is one of the best bits though, almost like the door opens to a different world.

Doing an environment with doors going to different environments could be really cool.

This video I found on youtube I thought was amazing. The only problem I had with it is that I felt it went on too long and makes it a bit boring. On the good side though I think the setting and the fact that the environent IS the character I thought was a really good idea. I also felt that this fits directly into the brief also, having a simple environment accompanied with animated objects inside.

The camera work done in the video is done really well, especially alongside the sound effects. The effects used are really kool too, even if they are used in experimentation.