Shadowbox Particle Simulations

For a song that I am helping out with, we are doing an effect where the silhouetted figure disintegrates and the forms another shape. For this effect I am doing some particle simulations. In the video below, one object is being transformed into another. The system allows for a lot of room to alter the speed and turbulence as well as many other parameters. The sky's the limit now!

Progress on Shadowbox Project

Work is continuing on the Shadowbox project, and I am starting to work a lot of the technical side of the project. Currently my biggest task is taking greenscreen footage of a shadowbox actor and converting it into a black and white silhouette.

This technique is going to be used quite frequently throughout the show. It will be used to help convey emotion to the audience as well as progress the story of the show. I have probably a half-hour of film to convert here in the next week or so. It's going to be a fun process!

Shadowbox Collaboration Project

For this semester, I have the chance to work with Shadowbox Live in one of their productions. My class is going to be creating all the visuals for the show about Pink Floyd. We are heavily relying on the use of projection mapping, which is basically using projectors to display images and video on objects, screens, and sometimes even people.

I am going to be doing some fun effects, including using on-stage objects in which light will be projected it, as well as using motion-capture of some of the dancers. It is going to be a medley of different mediums and styles, and should turn into a really awesome piece!

We are shifting out of pre-production and going to start head-first into full production to get it all done before the deadline. There are twenty of  us working hard and following the guidance of Stev Guyer, and it will be a good show to watch and one like Shadowbox hasn't done before!

Demo Reel for 2014

Internship season is upon us, and in preparation for it, I have finish my demo reel for 2014.

Stay tuned as I need to get my reel for next year looking even better!

Aston Martin Modeling

Beginning a model of a 2014 Aston Martin v12 Vantage for a project with some friends. Still a lot of progress left to do. More updates to come!

Sad Little Robot

Made a VFX shot using some new software. Took some footage, and stabilized it, tracked it, and composited in a robot that I had lying around. Programs I used were Blender, PFTrack, After Effects, Houdini, and Nuke.

First successful time doing something like this. Definitely more to come. Hopefully a breakdown video shortly!

Characters and Explosions!

Been working on a project for Computer Animation 2. Was tasked to model a 3D character. So I decided to do a futuristic soldier. Here's the result. Hopefully I will be able to texture this in Mari sometime soon!

Also been working on that toon-shaded explosion. Here's an update!

Explosions and the Future(istic)

Been working on the Special Topics Animation class,and I am the one in charge of all the explosions in the film (YES!). I am doing everything in Houdini, and we are going for a toon/2d looking explosion. Here is a sneak peak of what it is looking like so far. Tons more work needs to be done on it though!

Also doing a character for my Computer Animation 2 class. I am going for a futuristic warrior that is badly damage. Here is a base mesh for proportions and placement and things like that. Still a lot of work yet to do on it.

Rotunda Update

Coming at you with the latest version of my Rotunda for Computer Animation 1. Things are going really well, but I still have a lot to do. I have just begun the texturing phase, and thankfully it is going pretty well. I am not a huge fan of unwrapping objects in Maya, but with a combination of a couple other programs, I am able to do a good enough job.

 

What is still left to do is: finish the elephant and his habitat, add in some more detail to a few of the walls, and insert a bunch of miscellaneous objects to make the scene look a little busier than it does right now. The elephant will be a challenge, since it will be my first time modeling and exporting something in Zbrush. I might also have to creatively change what he is standing on, because I do not have enough time to make a photoreal desert environment, like what is in the reference.

 

The project is due in a week, so stay tuned!

 

3D Environment Update

I have been working a lot of the Rotunda for my 3D environment, and thought it was about time to show my progress.

There are a couple parts near the top of the dome that I am not liking, but if I have some extra time, I can go back and fix those later. The desks on the ground floor of the Rotunda also look a bit weird, but thankfully that is just due to the fish-eye effect I am using so that you can see the entire scene in one image.

The next things that I am going to be working on is 1) finally getting that elephant made, 2) working on the rest of the objects on the ground floor, and 3) begin texturing. I feel like the project is going well so far, I just have tp push it into high-gear so that I can get the project fully done before the deadline at the beginning of April!

 

3D Environment Scene Update

For my environment for Computer Animation 1, I am modeling the rotunda of the National History Museum in Washington D.C..



 

So far, here is my progress on this scene. Keep tuned for more!

 

New Cell Phone Model

After a long break, I thought it was about time to post again on this blog. So, without further ado, here is my first project in Computer Animation 1: my cell phone!

 

(Click for full size image)

And here is the wireframe for the phone

Design For Media City Final

The time has come, and here is the final render of my city that I have been working on for the past four and a half weeks. I finished the lighting and did a lot of post-processing to add those final touches. Couldn't have done it with the help of my teachers and classmates! Without further ado, here it is!

 



(Click for larger image)

 

I want to continue this project on my own, making more details and fixing issues. But I think that this is a good stopping point for this project now that we are at the end of the semester!

Near-Final CityScape

2 days before the big deadline, and things are shaping up! Only a few things left to add, a final render to process, and some finishing touches until it is fully complete. I have finished the texturing of all the building and misc. objects, and I have also completely the lighting for the scene. I have decided to go for a dramatic sunrise lighting setup. I would have liked to add a lot more detail to the entire scene, and I still might in the future, but for now I am pleased with how it is coming along. So without further words, here is my result so far!

 

A City Is Born

Major update on the cityscape project that I am working on for my Design for Media class. I have finished modeling everything (with the exceptions of a few last minute details if the need arises) and have begun on the texturing. I have already textured the forest, but tweaks might still need to be done before it is complete.



 

 

The forest might need a bit of tweaking to get the edges around the city looking right, but for the most part I like where it is going.

 



 

The last image here marks the beginning of the texturing phase. As you can see, only the one building in the middle actually has some color. The plan is that by next week at this time, all the buildings in the city will be textured like this. We will see how that goes...

 

The City Is Taking Shape

We have now reached the halfway point of this project, and I have made great strides on my project. I have constructed a complete terrain for my landscape to reside in, and have finished all the roads and city blocks. I still want to add some trees and bushes to give the terrain some life, but that will happen a little bit later down the road (no pun intended).

 

I am also about halfway done with the buildings! I still have a lot of the smaller buildings and residential areas to complete (as well as older buildings, abandoned ones, etc.) , but that will all happen this week. After all this modeling is completed, the material and texturing stage comes next!

It's going to be a sprint to the finish, and honestly I don't know how it will turn out. No matter what happens though, I was able to learn a lot about managing a massive scene with tons of data! Here's hoping the result will reflect the work I put into it.

Did Someone Say Fire?

Been working on a ton of explosions through projects and just messing around and thought I would share it! I hope to have a lot more done soon, as I am finally starting to learn how to make realistic looking fire and smoke. So stay tuned for more in the future!

CityScape Update

Work begins on my cityscape. In the grand scope of things, only a small portion is done, but the foundations have been laid and things are only going to go faster from here on out!

 

 

 

 



(Click for high-res images)

I almost have these few city blocks finished (with the modeling that is), and then I will go into overdrive to get the rest of the city modeled. I want to spend most of my time on this part because it is going to be the tallest part of the skyline and the focal point of the city. These buildings will be the most detailed in the city.

Cityscape Preparation

Concept

The movie project has finally been completed and we are quickly moving into the next project! This project is whatever we want it to be! So, I am going to be ambitious and do a massive 3D scene of an entire city. This will be a very detailed scene complete with cars, people, light posts, everything. I have never tackled something this big, and thought it was about time to do so!

 

I am going to try and make it as realistic as possible, and as massive as possible in these short 5 weeks. Here are some images that I am going to use to keep my city as real as possible. I am not going to make an existing city, but make an entirely new one with buildings that are not actually in existence.

 


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Schedule

For the schedule, this is about how things will look. It will be a fluid process (since I have never done something in 3d to this scale before), so these dates are not set in stone, but I want to try to stick to these dates as best I can.

 

November 27th: City Design and Layout Completed
December 6th: Texturing and Materials Finished
December 13th: Rendering and Final Compositing

Last Week Panic!

This marks the beginning of the last week of the project. Things are getting stressful, but I am confident that we will finish everything in time. The shooting is going well, and the fire is going..... alright. There are a lot of issues with the explosions that we have to resolve, and here's hoping we will find a way to fix them!



As you can see, the final explosion is almost complete! I didn't render out all the frames just yet, but I will here in the next day or two.

There are just a few things left to add: debris coming out of the building and some small trails of smoke shooting out in all directions (that will be Will's addition I believe).

All that's left to fix is baking the final detail and fixing the shadow issues (and the background issues which I didn't have until just now...

We are almost done, and this is going to be an awesome result!