Asset Modelling- Tree Style 1
An essential part of the modelling process will be the variety of trees that make up all the different environments and set them apart aesthetically. For the first environment, I wanted to model some pine trees with a contradicting length to the shorter character to fill up the three-dimensional space behind the character.
Finding an interesting tutorial online, I decided to follow it in order to achieve a more low-poly effect to help reduce render times later on and match aesthetically to the less detailed character models. The initial step was to create a flat plane which would act as the base of the layers of ‘leaves’.
Using the multi-cut tool, I created some rough shapes around the edges to give the impression of a group of trees that will eventually be layered similarly to that of a skirt.
Using a wrap deformer, I was able to get the mesh to form cylindrically so that it would be easier to place around the trunk of the tree and also to manipulate shape-wise.
Using the soft select tool, I adjusted the faces so that they look less uniform and more natural in build to assist in selling the environmental shot.
Repeating this process several times, I was able to build a layered tree which I think has the simplistic aesthetic alignment I need for my project but does not sacrifice the impression of detail, which is exactly what I wanted to achieve. While it is not the neatest of models, it will work perfectly well for my project and its time constraints. In future, I would like to play around with the text textures with transparent backgrounds that I layer to give the appearance of individual leaves.
X-Gen Grass Test
Since Grass is an essential part of some of my shots design, I wanted to learn how to use x-gen simulations to see if I could add this to the shots for more dynamic passive animation. I feel passive animation is a really important aspect of animation, in particular when it regards the environment, as otherwise, the shot can appear quite stale and lacking in life.
After creating a plane, forming the X-Gen description and adjusting settings such as the tapering and bend parameters, I saw that all of the strands of grass moved uniformly, which does not appear naturalistic at all. In order to fix this, on the bend parameters, there is a slight line of code that will randomise the bend direction of each blade of grass. By going into the expression editor and typing ” rand (-1,1), it adds a random disparity of direction between the values of 1 to -1 so that while all the blades are facing different directions, they do not collide with the mesh.
The effect of this looked much more natural and realistic, and I was happy to move forward to the overall textured look from here.
Since in the tutorial, they use an Ai standard hair surface to texture the planes, I thought it would be useful to test how the Ai toon shader would look applied to this simulation as I am trying to keep a consistent aesthetic within my film.
As shown above, the overall look, once the edge contour colour was changed to green, looks quite fitting however doesn’t have the strength of the black toon shader line, which could cause some visual discrepancies when rendering later on. While it does not perfectly match the time constraints I have at present to complete this 3-minute film, I feel the look will work just fine.
Placing this grass into the environment to check how this looks the character model and the trees again, I think that due to the fact it does not have a heavy outline, it actually draws your attention more to the central aspects of the screen rather than the ground. This will aid me cinematically, I feel, as it does not distract viewers from the actual animation but still creates more atmospheric density to the scene that will enhance the overall setting. I will apply the same technique to the other scenes that will require grass.
Room Modelling and Light Testing
Shot 9 and 13 have quite an extensive environment, leading onto an entire Birmingham-inspired street; I wanted to start modelling this and testing the lighting set-up early on. Using the base of my previous model. Due to the attached nature of the street in question, I wanted to try and fit all the houses together in a way that sells it as a street that is on a slight incline so that the height differences between the roofs match that of the reference imagery, and separated the houses from one another, so it does not just look like one big, long house.
The most difficult part of the process here will be correctly lighting the interior part of the building model. As learned from a tutorial from last term here at LCC, I know that for a successful lighting set-up to work, there needs to ideally be three sources of light hitting a model to make it very clear what is happening in the scene and reduce noise in the render. For this room, in particular, there will be the key lighting from the window, a ‘directional’ light that I will use in the place of a ceiling light, and a mesh light, which will emit from a lamp I intend to model that will brighten the corner.
In order to start getting effective light emission tests, I began modelling the lamp that will be a key feature in the room. For this, I just used references of standard floor lamp images while not being too extravagant to make this home seem as ordinarily British as possible.
For texture and colour inspiration, I drew reference from these very classic green and gold desk lamps I particularly like the contrast and feel the colour scheme matches the brown of the character.
The next most important part of the modelling process is the ‘sofa’ or, more accurately, an armchair for the character to sit in. When modelling this asset, I decided to use the character rig to get I direct size reference and see exactly how they would fit size-wise into it.
In order to decorate the walls of the interior room, If I had the time, I wanted to create different family photos, including this house with potentially a smaller house, giving implications of a child/grandchild or a wedding picture that sell the ‘family photograph’ aesthetic. However, due to timing constraints, I decided to use different renders from the film as that is already in the works currently and makes direct reference to the other characters that are relevant within the film.
Below showcases a more finished idea of the ‘street’ outside the window, and I feel the houses working in descending order draw your eye to the central house (with eyes) and also the car asset, which helps decorate and add realism to the scene. I used the car that drives past in shot 2 also, giving reference that potential it is this character’s car and that they reside in the same world.
Below is the first render test I did for this street. However, there is an overwhelming amount of light as there are 5 different skydomes all attached to the individual referenced assets. This also highlighted a transmission error in the window that I need to create a pan shot out of.
In order to fix this, I changed the material type from Ai toon to an Ai standard surface, as there are more options to choose from and aspects such as transmission and emission can be adjusted, which aided in achieving this see-through look so that the character in the shot does not instantly vanish and allows for continuity.
Next Week’s Goals:
- Finalise and Adjust Rigs