Major Project: 'When' Previs 002

As I've been managing rendering and locking down some final shots, I've also been trying to put together an updated pre-vis for music composer, Bruce Reid. This is still very rough and I admit I put it together really quickly since I've been scrambling to get as much work done before Easter as possible, but it's quite a large step forward compared to the first pre-vis I think. I tried giving the shots more time to breathe - so the duration has increased. Right now I think these gaps feel awkward simply because there is no music or sound effects to tie it all together.

I also think the final film will be greatly enhanced compared to these pre-vis videos because I'll be adding in glitch effects that I also plan to use to assist with the shot transitions. I've already begun researching some different glitch effects and how to achieve them in After Effects. Once things are less chaotic with rendering and I have all the footage I need I can really hunker down and focus on tying my film together via editing, visual effects, and sound. 

I also think the duration might shift because some shots I'm planning on having glitches jump footage forward (for example, have the sponge only peeking at the bottom of the screen, than glitch forward so it's filled most of the screen). I also repeated some footage by reversing the time so it goes backwards, but I think it would also be useful to create a few more brick/room shots just so I have some variety. 

Major Project: 'When' Previs 001

So I've finally got enough footage, playblasts and tests together to piece together my first pre-vis. I'm obviously not 100% happy with it, but I wanted to be sure I got something out so I can start readjusting what I need to. It was definitely useful putting this together so I know what I was missing, what needs revisiting (for example, 'static' needs to be revisited), and what was working. I was also able to get a better feel of what lines of the poem needed objects/textures, the room, or live action footage. This obviously has no music or soundscape since this first pre-vis is getting sent to music composer Bruce Reid so hopefully I can have a very atmospheric soundscape to go along with it. It's not perfect, it's really a collage of full renders, playblasts, live action clips, and experiments. Any and all feedback will be useful and appreciated.

Major Project: The Room Playblasts & Animation #1

As mentioned previously, some lines in my poem cannot really be represented by specific objects or textures. In addition to live action footage, I needed to put together some environment animation to occupy those specific shots. During my discussion yesterday, it was also suggested to have some time in the beginning of the film where the audience is 'left' in the room before the actual poem starts - so the viewer can see and experience the room itself before the film starts. 

For these three playblasted shots, I put in a temporary piece of geometry to represent the lights since you can't see where the light really is in the playblasts. The first shot I tried out a contra-zoom-like effect which I thought looked really interesting, especially since in the final render the bricks would be 'breathing' as well. The light is also flickering in this shot, which is difficult to see, but I was more focusing on the camera movement in this instance. 

The second test I wanted to focus on the entrance doorway (although people many not know that's what it is). I placed the camera low on the ground, then had it face up towards the ceiling more. I did this to try and make that specific door feel more intimidating, and to also try and represent that there is no exit or escape (no seams, just bricks).

For the third test I wanted to try having the camera higher up, starting from a somewhat awkward angle almost as if it was hiding in the corner, then having it turn and show the majority of the space. I had the camera roll to the side to try and make it feel more uneasy and 'off'. I also feel this particular shot is like security camera footage.

It was also suggested that the film begins pure white, then the camera zooms out, revealing the white is from the light on the ceiling. This could then be reversed at the end, so the film ends with the camera zooming back in on the blinding lights. I really liked this idea so I began working with environment and camera animation for these shots. I had to fully render this shot since I needed the lights to be visible, but I'm glad I did that because the subtle 'breathing' bricks can also be seen. I think some shots I may exaggerate the brick's movement more.

Major Project: Gem Animation Test #4 - Updated Set & Camera Animation

Now that I'm beginning to move everything into my final Room (excluding texturing tests just to keep everything cohesive), I decided to work more on my gem/crystal animation. I also wanted to work more with the camera for this, since I think that could further enhance the shot and in my previous tests the camera was stationary. I created three versions, since each time I had to render it to see what the displacement map was doing (hence why it's relatively low quality, the lighting is different, and doesn't have the final textures to keep render time down).

The first test I didn't have the camera move initially until after the gem morphs into its more aggressive looking state. I also added some additional animation to the displacement map and the rotation of the gem after it spikes out, making it look more volatile and unstable. When the gem is in its more 'peaceful' state, the camera focal length is 35 but when it spikes out the camera jumps backwards, rotates slightly and the focal length changes to 15, distorting the image.

Version 1

For the second version, I wanted to have the camera move slightly initially so it wasn't stationary when the gem was in it's peaceful state. I felt that keeping the camera completely still initially didn't look right. Other than that the rest of the animation is the same as the first version.

Version 2

For the third version, I adjusted the displacement map animation because I noticed that as I was adjusting the timing of the rotate/translate attributes on the molecule, I didn't move the displacement animation too. This resulted in the gem looking like it was sort of 'winding up' before the gem jumped towards the camera in the first two versions. While I didn't mind how this looked, I wanted to see what it looked like without this wind-up. I'm unsure if I prefer it moving slightly before it jumps at the camera to hint that something's off, or if I prefer it being completely sudden. For this version I also removed the gem's rotation (after it spikes out) and replaced it with an additional displacement 'pulse' just to see what it looked like in comparison.

Version 3

Here is also a fully rendered frame of this shot. I need to return to the scene that is fully textured and see what I can do to adjust it since the render time is really high. I struggle to do this because once I achieve what I want a shot to look like, I don't like to change things but I'm going to see what I can do. I struggled to get the gem to be lit and look the way I wanted in this set since the lighting and colours are pretty different from my previous tests. Unfortunately, the refractions, reflections, atmosphere, and number of lights in this scene is what is making it heavy so I'm unsure how much I can do to decrease the render times but I will try.

Major Project: Pre-Vis & Live Footage Distortion VFX

I've been putting together a full 'pre-vis' of my film using images, render tests, and live footage I've been creating and gathering over the last few months. This way I am able to see what I am missing, what I have accomplished, what I want to work on/improve, and hopefully it will clarify my film a bit more for the music composer I am collaborating with (Bruce Reid). There are some scrappy portions of my pre-vis since I am missing pieces, some of my objects/materials are still images, and some of my tests are not in my final room set. I am finding making a pre-vis useful because it's helping me consider what I can do to fill in some parts of my film and tie it together (especially considering some more abstract lines of the poem)...for example, using animations focusing on the hospital room itself/the lights. Once I put together an initial full pre-vis I will post it up on my blog.

I've been going through a bunch of photos and videos sent to me by my sister and father back in America. I've been trying to consider how each piece could fit into my film in a personal/truthful way. For example, for When I think of my family I see scars I've used a video my sister took while at the airport, which to me relates to the guilt and conflict I feel about living in England vs America in relation to my family. This live footage I've been importing into After Effects so I can play with different distortion effects. I really enjoy the VR Digital Glitch effects how it distorts the color and pixels. I feel it has some interesting, abstract results. 

YPGTTO: Additional Finale Shots

As I began work on compositing - we realised that we had a few shots for the Finale that were missing so I went in to fill in the gaps for the environment renders. Some of the character animation was already blocked in by Emily Clarkson while other shots I had to block in the character animation myself before passing it to Nat Urwin. I attached some birds on a motion path just to get an idea of what the birds will be doing round Red, but my main focus was the camera movement.

YPGTTO: The Kingdom of Sound - Selection of Finale Pre-vis Scenes

I've recently been working on some of the chunkier shots for the finale that involve the Conductor statue and the glowing city. This was quite a challenge at times since the massive glowing city caused the scenes to become laggy, especially as I adjusted the shaders per shot to enhance the glowing appearance.

I also worked on the final shot of YPGTTO, which called for a 'Saturn ring' of colourful music notes - with a red and yellow note highlighted in the group as our protagonists. For this shot I created a volume particle emitter and adjusted some of the settings so the particles moved and rotated around the city. I then used an instance node to add in the music notes, then I adjusted some of the other settings so the note generation was randomised. The Red and Yellow notes I placed in and animated on their own so I could have better control of their movements and shaders. After this, I went into AE and added a glow effect to those two notes so they stood out from the rest of them.

 

YPGTTO: The Double-Bass District Master Pre-vis

I've now finished the environment/camera animation for the Double-Bass District. I quite enjoyed animating the lights in this district and I'm happy with how it turned out. Now onto some environment shots of the Finale.

YPGTTO: The Violin District - Master Environment Pre-vis

I've now finished the environment scenes for The Violin District. This was the most difficult one I've worked on so far because of how the first shot is a direct transition from The Bassoon District into The Violin District...but I think I got it there! Here is the master pre-vis for it excluding the wipe cuts which will be in the final version...I look forward to seeing it fully rendered. Next up is texturing The Double-Bass District.

YPGTTO: The Cello District - Master Environment Pre-Vis & Rendered Stills

I've now completed what is required for to render the environment for The Cello District. I'm really happy with how this turned out, possibly because The Cello District is one my favourite districts in YPGTTO. Now onto the Violin District after sorting out some extra detail lights for The Flute District.

YPGTTO: The Cello District - Fish Test #1 & Shots 1 & 2

So I've begun working on the The Cello District's environment animation. Luckily I have some swim cycles so the character animation looks at least a little less blocky and awkward. I've also had a play with how the fish work since they were set up by others on the YPGTTO team (Emily Clarkson & Ethan Shilling). I think I'm at least starting to learn how it all works (they tend to get glitchy and weird when they first materialise), hopefully by the time we reach the character animation I'll have a better grasp on here. But here is a test fish animation and the first two shots for the Cello District...more coming soon.

YPGTTO: Viola District - Environment Animation (All Final Playblasts)

I've been quiet on my blog for a while, and that is because I've been hard at work to test out the animation pipeline (for the environment at least) for YPGTTO. I've been given the 'District Lead' role for The Violin, Viola, and Cello Districts. First I worked on The Viola District...so here are the combined playblasts (with bits of compositing and VFX in After Effects). The character animation is only roughly blocked in so that part of the animation is not complete, but I'm happy with how it turned out even just as playblasts. Some stills of what the animation will look like is included below.