During these two weeks, our team completed some basic layouts of the street environment, in the process of environment modeling, we will model some relatively basic model modeling, and we also use some 3D resources (Available at: https://free3d.com/zh/) (Available at: FREE 3D Asset Kit: Neo City – KitBash3D ) that are free of copyright and available for free use to improve our environment construction and our model artist also completed the modeling of the characters, and we also completed some basic actions of the characters in the storyline motion capture for later animation.
The characters, weapons and equipment, item preparation and animals or special creatures in many special effects film and television works are inseparable from the exquisite construction of model artists, so that we can see aliens on the screen, Orcs in Lord of the Rings. So the second role I choose to research is modelling artist. Model artist is also a position that I am very interested in. The level of detail of the characters and models they build has a very important and direct impact on the final presentation of special effects.
Modelling artists work at an early stage of the CG and 3D part of the VFX pipeline. The 3D models that they produce can then move on to be animated, given texture and lit. Modelling artist usually start with a brief, which might be 2D or 3D art produced by a concept artist. Or they can work from reference materials, such as photographs or line drawing sketches, which can be scanned into 3D software. Modelling artist need to be able to create a 3D model from a 2D brief, decide upon the best method to complete a 3D model quickly, while having a required level of detail and quality. The software they will use the most are Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D and ZBrush. Also Modelling artists take the brief from the concept artist. They draw their models into the work created by environment artists, so they work closely with them. They then pass their work onto the texture artists, riggers or animators. Building a good VFX portfolio is very important for the beginning of a modelling artist. And this is a showreel from a 3D modelling artist.
This week we learned to adjust the color of the picture by isolating and extracting different tones, as well as some skills and knowledge of green screen keying.
Through research on job positions in the VFX industry, we can more accurately position ourselves in the industry and plan our careers.
The first job role I choose is environment artist. Environment artist is a position I personally like very much. They play a very important role in many film and television works and 3A-level games. They also have a very important influence on the perception of visual art effects and the final effect that present to the audience. Environment artists create computer-generated places in which actors move. They make galaxies, lunar landscapes and desecrated cities – any environment that it’s too difficult to film in real life. It is precisely because of these excellent environment artists that we can freely travel between the stars and the sea in movies or games.
Also the environment artists are able to further sculpt the environment to more closely resemble what’s intended. They use digital tools, such as sculpting brushes, and a physical graphics pen and tablet in order to do this. To be an environment artist you need to be good at drawing and have a strong understanding of form, colour, texture, and light, know how these elements work together. It also very important for them to work with other VFX artists. Environment artists often work from a brief from a concept artist. They also work with the modelling artists who create objects to put into their environments. Once they have created their environment it goes to the texture artist to add details. They report to the CG supervisor.
I was very shocked by the environment in Batman Arkham Knight because of its details and realism, which made me deeply realize that to become an excellent environment artist, is inseparable from careful observation of the surrounding environment and continuous improvement own environment modeling technology.
Image from Batman Arkham Knight Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3554580/
Image from Batman Arkham Knight Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3554580/
Image from Batman Arkham Knight Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3554580/
In this week’s lesson, we learned how to arrange computer-generated (CG) objects in a composition and how to grade and color-correct the item to fit it into the plate we are using.
First, we spilled the channel to color-grade the machine
diffuse direct + indirectSSS
Also, we learned how to properly cast a shadow on the model. The shadow is a crucial element to include; these are spot shadows cast over the machine to make it appear less false throughout the scenario.
machine with shadow
Also, it was demonstrated to us how to update the object’s lighting and texture. I selected the choice depicted in the above picture out of the three alternatives that were offered to us about the texture we wanted to add to the scene. Also, in order to relight it, we utilized several passes to assist us to achieve the proper alpha, and then we screen-merged it to add it to a grade and add a little bit more lighting.
machine with relighting and retexture
We also did a master CG where we added basic grading to change the basic color of the machine given to us.
Our collaborative unit will create a cyberpunk-themed short video that includes a vision of a future technological city and an awareness of environmental and ecological protection while allowing the protagonist to switch between 3D and 2D to express the two ideologies of the future and the past. My role in our production group is mostly in environment building and final CG composition.
Storyboard by Hansen Li
Because our story will involve a huge difference between the rich and the poor in the future society, we will create two extreme representations of the city, one close to the upper class of Elysium and one close to the dirty streets of Gotham City, and I will also study and borrow some scenes and street models from Batman Arkham Knight.
This week we learned and practiced the Maya bullet fx to restore some of the physical actions of objects in the real environment. And I want to build a trajectory of a small ball in a water theme park.
While living a low life in a futuristic cyberpunk environment thinking about what this high-tech world has to offer to someone that can not afford anything. Slanting through the streets of the enclosed built-in city that you live in throughout your whole living days. I stumbled upon A street I have never seen. Forcing me to change direction from my usual path, following a glow out of this world. In front of me is something that went extinct a while ago, a flower, but not any flower, a flower that will give rebirth to our society.
Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, a ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body.
Cyberpunk plots often center on conflict among AI, hackers, and megacorporations, and tend to be set in a near-future Earth. The settings are usually post-industrial dystopias but tend to feature extraordinary cultural ferment and the use of technology in ways never anticipated by its original inventors (“the street finds its uses for things”).
[Ayahuasca]
Ayahuasca is a plant-based psychedelic that alters all the senses of a human, such as thinking, time, and emotion. They can also cause a person to hallucinate by seeing or hearing things that do not exist or are distorted.
Ayahuasca is culturally used as a traditional brew used for spiritual and healing purposes. For cultural purposes, it can be seen as vegetalismo which is a religion that says they receive their knowledge and power to heal from their special relationship with the spirits of the rainforest.
Not going too deep into that subject matter it is quite an opposite of the cyberpunk scenery. For a story, I think it is good to match these two together. Not ayahuasca as a direct form of the idea but more in a way where as humans we tend to go back to the forest and to our nature. Since if u think about it we as humans aren’t meant to live in such a society that is why we can relate to birds in the city, we feel bad for these birds because it is not their living environment. In this futuristic cyberpunk world, there will still be people that search for this natural nature world. But as they live in the city they won’t be able to find this natural place these ‘low lives’ are searching for. So for my Idea I think of a character living in the cyberpunk city live that feels sad/out of place. While walking around in hit cyber aesthetic he finds a hidden place of the city. In this place he finds a weird different kind of aura coming from (for example) an alleyway. Here he finds this small selective area where there grows one flower (the lotus flower)
Lotus flower have different meanings across cultures, in general the lotus flower is commonly used as a sacred for purity, rebirth and strength. Because lotuses rise from the mud without stains, they are often viewed as a symbol of purity. As seen this meaning of the lotus connects with the cyberpunk [man] trying to go back and be reborn but one other meaning of the lotus is transcending; to rise above or go beyond the limits of. Which may be linked back to how far we go in this futuristic view of the cyberpunk world and aesthetic and go beyond this.
