Light Ramp Fall-Off

As an exercise, I wrote a PyMel script that would require the user to select objects in the scene. The script would check object types, identifying lights and cameras - and would then create a node tree that would allow for a ramp with random color attributes to be attached to the selected light's fall off.

As a result, all lights in the scene would give off unique falloffs based.
I thought this was pretty cool. I was also rather proud of this exercise because Python and PyMel are starting to make much more sense to me.

Next up - Data Visualization! This will also lead into my final project. More to come later.

THREE MORE WEEKS OF COLLEGE! Yikes.

Jobs, Zebras, and Triangulation

It's been a while since I've updated, but I will try to make this brief. Tomorrow will mark the start of week 3 of my last quarter at SCAD. I got most of my hefty classes out of the way, and I'm taking this quarter to learn some things I don't "need" to graduate, but I think will help me in the long run.

The only required class I have left is VSFX 490 - or Portfolio. We're creating everything we need to successfully land a job, right down to a detailed budget of all expenses on a potential salary. Scary. This class also inspired me to get my recruiting packets together and head over to the SCAD Career Fair that took place this past Friday. I spoke with some great companies - RTT, Perception, The Mill, Click 3X, Method, and a few others. Hopefully I will hear back from someone. This whole "not knowing where I'll be living in 8 weeks" thing is a bit unnerving.

I'm also taking a class in Python, taught by the brilliant Ken Huff. I am certainly not a programmer, so it's been tough so far, but Ken is a spectacular teacher, and I'm much more focused than I was even a short time ago, so I know I will get something out of it. For now, we're working past "Hello World," and working in the Python Interpreter doing simple stand-alone scripts, like the one below.

For my final project, which I am working on a proposal for, I have decided to work with Data Visualization inside of Houdini (possibly implementing CHOP Networks). - But more about this later.

On top of Portfolio and Python, I am also taking the Visual Effects Supervision class, mostly because it sounded fun, but I figure I can use the opportunity to learn some things that would make me useful on set. This weekend I did an exercise in camera triangulation, which is actually insanely cool.

I shot a background plate.

Then I recorded data on the camera and it's placement according to an established baseline, which then dictated where this baseline would be in relation to an object I want to comp into the scene, in this case, my friend's car.


I could then composite the two shots together, and the perspective would be in tact, as you can see in my comp below. Cool, huh?

Here is a little diagram that shows the triangulation aspect a little clearer (maybe).

Our next assignment will be similar - only with a scaling element added. I'm pretty excited! It's nice to finally get away from the computer screen once in a while and actually get out to shoot something.

Anyway, that was my "quick" update! There should be more coming soon! Although, not many pretty pictures this quarter. :)

February 2011, Reel

My updated reel:

The Rose: Jan 31st

Well, the rose project was due today, so this is what I ended up with, even though Youtube puts terrible compression on it.

I would still like to continue this project because I really think it has some potential. I still think it needs some variation in the model, but it was coming down to the wire and I had to just call it. I am however really happy with how the velvety feel is coming across. When I was setting priorities for this project, that was very high on the list for what I thought it needed for a level of believability.

I also need to increase the bump, but I was having issues with that because of my UVs. It could also benefit from some better occlusion, but I was worried about pushing it too far because I have a habit of under-lighting things and I think I over-compensated for it a bit too much. I'd also like to continue working on the texturing. I was having a lot of trouble getting it much redder, but my shading network goes so deep that there are so many different elements feeding in to the overall color. I did a higher-resolution still of a close-up of some of the petals, and you can see some of the veins through the subsurface. I'd like to embellish that to make it a lot more obvious.

Anyway, overall I'm happy and proud of how this turned out, even though it isn't as Photoreal as I would like. Hopefully I will have the time to continue it to really push it to the next level.

Rose Update: Jan 30th

The rose has come a long way since last week, but it still has a long way to go. The sub-surface is working well. I used Steven J Tubbrit's velvet tutorial , which uses Facing Ratio with incandescence to mock the velvety highlights. I plugged this into the Diffuse layer of my sub-surface shader. It seems to be doing it's job, but I am still working on some tweaking. The following image is before Occlusion or any other kind of composting.


More updates coming soon.

The Rose: Update #2

Well, the rose is coming along slowly. I've been experimenting with the Subsurface Scattering mental ray shader. I also experimented a bit with lenses, and I ended up with a 24mm. I'll start to add textures tonight and post another update soon.

The Rose: Update

Well, I've completely remodeled, and I'm about to start texturing. I threw a matte red on it for sake of this render. Still texture and bump maps to worry about, as well as lighting. It is making progress though.

And a little bit of progress....

A little more progress... This image looks really dark, but hey - it happens to be what I'm looking at on the screen right now, so I'm postin' it. Trying out this Mental Ray Sub-Surface Scattering Shader nonsense (that was a mouth-full).

The Rose

Well, the rose is coming along. I've started over several times, and am working on another one that I think will be "final." Here is one of the variations I ended up with, obviously, it's not textured or lit yet.

I've been changing around the model because I can't decide on a composition. I've decided to get really close to the model, so that I can show extreme detail in the texturing. The one I'm working on now is much more detailed, and I think more realistic. Renders to come.

A rose is a rose is a....

So for my first project for Photo-realistic rendering, I decided to do a rose. It's not super-creative, but hey, it'll be cool, right?

Anyway, here's how it's coming. I started modeling it today and it proved to be a lot more complicated than I originally thought. Here's how it's looking as of right now. Obviously it is still a work in progress.

This is the first "organic" model I've done, so I know it's going to be a huge learning experience. I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt, but it's going to take a lot of tweaking to get it where I want it. A huge part of this project is the lighting and texturing, so I don't want to spend too much time focusing on modeling. We'll see how it goes. Back to work!

Tomorrow Marks...

.. My last first day of Winter quarter! This is the homestretch of my SCAD career! It's bittersweet - I'm excited to get into the industry, but I'm going to be sad to leave college behind me. But more about that later.

Tomorrow I pitch my idea for VSFX Studio II to the class. I've started a blog specifically for that, which you can find here. It's still in the works, but I will be posting updates there regularly, and I will post large landmarks here to let both of my readers know how it's going. Right now the project is still in it's concept stage, and I've got my good friend Arielle working on some concept art for me. This project is going to present a lot of challenges for me, and I'm excited to get it started.

I am also taking Photorealistic Rendering, which I know is going to be TOUGH, but I am excited to take it head-on. It's going to be a great quarter!

Stills From Studio 1

Well, I'm still fighting with Youtube to get an HD version of the video uploaded. I think I'm going to have to try uncompressed, but it will be interesting to see how it gets handled. In the mean time, here are a few stills. They are not full quality, but you can get the general idea behind it.

The first shot is an overhead shot of the city. I don't have it uploaded quite yet because I'm not happy with the quality of the still, so just pretend it's here.

This second shot (directly below) probably provided the most challenges. We had to make it a 50% mix between the city in the first shot (which looks entirely normal), and the city in the 3rd shot that is entirely overrun with toys. We kept adding and removing elements from the 1st and 3rd shots to create a balance that was more believable.

This third shot (directly below) was probably the most fun to work with. Coming up with ideas for toys and seeing what my group members came up with was a blast, and we had a great time reminiscing about toys we had years ago.

This final shot is my favorite. We decided last minute that we needed something more, and ended up adding it in the last 2 weeks. It was a bit of a rush getting it together, but I think it was rather successful. We got a lot of great feedback on this one.

Overall, this turned out to be a great experience. I'm glad I did a group project, it was a great learning experience. I was surprised about how well we all communicated. I've heard about, and experienced less professional group projects in the past that fell apart or hurt friendships because of miscommunications. But the three of us came out of it with a nice portfolio piece, and some strengthened friendships.

Hopefully more to come soon. And preparation for Studio II (YIKES!).

Update on the Studio 1 Project

We did end up successfully finishing our Studio 1 project! I am currently working on getting an HD version uploaded to the web, and then I will be adding that here. Sorry for the delay!

Match to Live With Animation

Object animation from my match to live project.

More to come later.

Exploding UVs!

Well, I had some more issues with my UVs from shot 1 of my Studio 1 project. But I DID manage to find a solution with the help of one of my friends. But still, I can't help but laugh at the ridiculous damage:

So anyway, apparently the trick is that you have to delete construction history before moving an object with it's UVs laid out. Hey, who knew? Ok, probably everyone, but now I've joined the ranks.

Jinn Teaser!

Hey everyone! I thought I'd take a few minutes to update! Running around like crazy trying to get things done. Lighting Mood-Match project and also class 15 presentation for Studio 1 are in the works for tomorrow.

My mood match is coming along, I will post it later when I have the movie all put together. Studio 1 is also coming along, and we're working on a fourth shot to try and tie things together. This project has definitely presented some challenges, and I will elaborate on that when I have some visual reference to show.

On another note, the teaser trailer for Jinn, the movie I had the pleasure of working on during my internship this Summer has been released! I am so pumped to see this movie! It's crazy seeing it from it's most primitive form, and watching it transform into a real film.

Check out the teaser:

I worked on the Jinn title at the end. I created a fire simulation using Fume that was only used in the reflections. Just a small part, I know, but I'm proud of it nonetheless. :) Can't wait to see more!

On another note, there are only 3 weeks left in the quarter. WHOA. This has to have been the shortest quarter yet!

Anyway, back to work! Another late-night date with Montgomery Hall. Don't wait up.

Studio 1 Update!

Well, Jackie, Leighana and I are well on our way with the texturing! I did have some issues with my UVs when I switched from my laptop to a school computer, I almost had a heart attack. I think the UV Editor threw up. Check it out:

Also, I rendered out the city layout with an occlusion pass... which just makes everything look so pretty. :)

And here is one with what textures I've been able to get done, and rendered with some fancy final gathering. Render times are still under 1:30, which I'm thinking is excellent... we're going to need all the time we can get once we start adding lights.

We were thinking of rendering just with Maya Software, but after doing some FG tests, let's just say that everyone else on the Render Farm isn't going to be too happy with us. :)

And don't forget you can check out even MORE progress from this project by visiting our Studio 1 blog here.

My First Match To Live

Here's my very first Match-To-Live! It was for project 2 for my TECH 316 (Digital Lighting and Rendering) class. We had a critique today, so there are some things that I still need to fix, so I will repost it when it's more "final."

I have to say this is probably one of the hardest projects I've ever done - but at the same time, I don't think I've ever been as proud of one. It's given me a new way to look at things, and find a huge number of details in even the simplest of objects.

Anyway, I think it's coming along, but it's still not perfect yet. I'm struggling with Nuke a bit because I don't have a lot of experience with it. The shadow isn't quite right, and I still need to work on the highlights and bounce at the bottom. Also my shader still needs some work. I think (and the class generally agreed) that they both look real, just not quite right together. It's getting there!

Also, here's a screen shot of my Nuke script. It seems really jumbled to me, but give me a break, I'm learning. :)

Studio 1 Project Update

I'm almost done texturing the city!!!!! Yea, just kidding.

Capture

Dear readers (both of you!),

My good friend Courtney is in the midst of doing her senior film. A few years ago she met a little girl named Bailey. Bailey was very sick with Leukemia, so Courtney bought her a camera so that she could record her journey. What she didn't expect was what was revealed on the screen - even though Bailey was sick, her ability to overlook that fact, and still maintain a childhood as best she could was remarkable.

Please support Courtney's film by checking out the trailer on the site below. Courtney is a very talented filmmaker, and this is going to be an absolutely beautiful film.

http://www.indiegogo.com/childhoodcancerdoc

Thanks,

Rose

I'm learning how to light!

Not my catchiest title, but give me a break - I'm excited.

For one, I am FINALLY taking a class with Bridget Gaynor. I've known her for some time now, occasionally conversing in the hallway and at SIGGRAPH this Summer. I've only heard great things about her teaching, and I haven't seen one person come out of her technical direction classes without at least one portfolio piece. With 2 weeks down, I've already gained a great deal from her tech lighting class. I'm finally starting to understand a lot of the different render settings and shadow types. It also helps that she's very approachable, extremely willing to help. I'm not kidding when I say I want to be her when I grow up.

Our first project was to create a composition with a simple object, and render with 4 different techniques - raycasting and raytracing with Maya Software, and photon mapping and final gather with Mental Ray. Here's my final result:

Our next project is a "match-to-live," which I am quite excited for!