Floradore!

Final Film - Finalizing Models and Working on Shaders

I spent my time during the holidays working on textures, shaders, and character rigs.

The Arnold aiStandard or SSS shaders will be layered using Maya's Layered Shader. For the aiStandard, I noted that tweaking the opacity setting in the shader's parameters was required if I wanted to add a gloss over a matted paint layer on metal. A map could be used to add rust or dust, or any other added details. For the SSS in the plant, I followed the tutorial found on Arnold's support suggested to me by a coworker.

Here are some quick renders I saved during the time I worked.



It's a work in progress and there are still many things that require fixing and polishing. There are no textures on the characters as of yet, and I will need to make time to do some, though time is ticking and I need to move onto other steps and assure I do the best I can in all the different areas of the film!

Alas, An Update on the Film!

There have been a lot of changes, and there will continue to be a lot of changes. I need to make sure that I can meet the final deadline, and I truly believe I will (I BETTER>:C).

 I'll put things here in the order that they were created (from oldest to newest).

Here are some layout shots that were done near the end of November. I find the layout stage really easy and really ugly.

So, we can see that a base model has been set for the environment, characters, and props. The light shaft lies right above the flower and isn't in the shot.

Here I explored how to create an "organic" looking flower. I'm still unsure about some of this but that's how it is with everything and me, so it'll do for now. 

Started with a sphere, sliced, turbosmooth (above all modifiers), tweaked low base mesh of sphere, added FFD modifier above all. I ended up using a free flower head that was quite beautiful (from here) but kept the mid level leaves I created (below head but at top of stem... (confusing)) and the two bottom leaves I created. 

Began texturing. *spazzes*

I love texturing. Reaching a realistic look is quite challenging though results can be quite beautiful if done right. I will aspire to do so. 

Mmm, checker pattern.

SHADERS!!! <3 And no, I didn't add the stem texture from above. I lied about the order, I actually played with shaders and lighting before doing the texture... And the refined stem/leaves model.

Arnold renderer, you make anything look great. *spazzes again*

She had her proportions changed slightly. Her hands encountered some difficulty when being rigged. I designed them badly so they don't work well. Her shoulders as well. :(

This is the new Vladimir. A robot, whut? He's supposed to be a robot so he could mesh better with the other character. Problem is, they still look like they're from completely different worlds. I'll have to see what I can do about that.

-_-

SO MANY THINGS TO FIX.

fin.

Biweekly Progress on Final Film

This week I cleaned up and reorganized my production schedule according to due dates and reviews. I'm sure there will be more changes to this schedule but it's nice to see it all laid out.



Characters models are still progressing slowly but surely.



Looking for different ground types and environments that work for the base layer of the cave ground. I'll likely pick something that combines the two ground types put together (Arizona, US and the MOON!)



I've also begun an animatic now that my story is finally coming together! :)

Zbrush Model 02

A zbrush model done for class. 27K polys at low res.

Sunnnnnnnnn

ALMOST SUMMER!
Olaf would be happy. (:
Made from scratch! Except for the books, flower pattern, and the BG in the render, haha.

The Past Few Weeks

I participated in a few game jams in the past few weeks. Very fun. It feels nice to put your skills to work and see it being used. I'll post updates on this soon.

I also completed a creature bust in ZBrush over the past few weeks. Here is a summary of the work!


Creature bust rotation:

Zbrush Modeling

Zbrush is fun. c:

M-O from Wall-E

This is my friend M-O from Wall-E (© Disney) whom I modeled in 3ds max and textured and rendered with VRay. He's a good friend. I learned sooooooo much from this project.

Matte Painting

A little environment I came up with and created for Matte Painting class. Here are images of the final piece, the render in 3ds max with lighting and default textures, an ambient occlusion render, and preliminary sketches of the ship design. Modelling in 3ds max, textured (over render) in Photoshop.

Final piece:

Rendering with Mental Ray in 3ds Max

Exploring different materials and different lighting methods.

Interior with Ambient Occlusion

For class, we had to model an interior. Time consuming but I learned a lot in the process, mostly about bugs and glitches involved in unwrapping in 3ds max 2012. e.e