MA 3D Computer Animation

Just another myblog.arts site
Categories
Collaborative Unit Week 6

WEEK 6

UV AND TEXTURE

Yuting and I were responsible for the job of UV mapping. I thought it would be very complicated since this is my first doing UV mapping, but it turns out it’s easier than I imagined. To do UV mapping, firstly, I need to select the model and open it in the UV editor. I need to unfold and organize the UV to make it easy for texturing. Then I import the model with the UV to Substance Designer to paint textures.

After finishing the UV mapping and painting, I sent the file to Yuting. She is responsible for the compositing the whole scene.

NOTES FROM USING SUBSTANCE DESIGNER TO DO TEXTURE:

Substance painter software is a powerful 3D texture mapping software. The software provides a large number of brushes and materials. Users can design graphics and texture models that meet the requirements. The software has an intelligent material selection function. When users use paint, the system will automatically It is efficient to match the corresponding design template for them.


Substance Painter is an independent software. It is a brand-new 3D texture drawing tool and the latest next-generation game texture drawing tool. It supports the latest technology of PBR based on physical rendering. It has some novel functions, especially its particle brush, which can simulate the natural particle drop. The trajectories of particles form textures. Whether water, fire, dust, or other effects on the simulated model, it can help us express them vividly, draw all the materials, and add exquisite details to our texture in a few seconds. The texture can be drawn directly on the 3D model, avoiding the problems caused by UV seams, and the function is very powerful.


Compared with other 3D model texture drawing software, such as BODY PAINT, MUDBOX, and 3DCOAT, it is much more robust in efficiency, effect, and function. Its interface and process are very clear and relatively easy to learn after some theories are understood. The software comes with many texture packages in Sbsar format, which can be modified and used by simply adjusting the parameters. Many scratches, dirty marks, etc., can be automatically generated. Dust, paint, etc., can be drawn naturally using physical particles.

Generating model from video

This week we also upload the video we shoot last week to a software that can turn video into 3d scan. I think this type of 3D scan technique has been used in some work-flow to help with the production.

Categories
Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques Week 5

Week 5

FEEDBACK: this is the tutor’s feedback(sketch on the left) on how to improve the camera shot.

1.I think I’ll take the advice on shot 1 and 2 (when the dog approach the door) I’ve been told my choice of composition is too flat. I think the problem might be the setting on the camera length. When I use 135mm one, everything looks more flat and it conveys a feeling of peeping through the camera. And when I use a 35mm one, the camera looks into the whole scene deeper and tells more information but it is harder to control the composition.

2.I’ve also been told that the third shot is nice so I guess I’ll use it. I was advised that the monkey shot should be on the left. I think I wouldn’t put that way when I have my final piece(a rendered one). I prefer a composition with a character in the middle, though it might lose the narrative of the story. I always prefer the aesthetics.

Goal for the past week: building the first previz.

Difficulty: find a beautiful composition that can show the narrative of the story.

next week’s goal: improve the composition following feedbacks and research.

feedback sketch

My four main shot

The shots

SCREENSHOTS

week5Download
Categories
Collaborative Unit Week 5

WEEK 5 Render Test

Yuting, the leader of the group project told me that she likes the effect I rendered in Cinema 4D. So I did some render tests in Cinema 4D. In this way I can be ready to prepare and provide ideas for the final visualization in substance designer and Arnold.

I want to go for a cute and creative vibe for the concept render.

Notes for lighting in Octane

Although there are not many lights in Octane Render, it is one of the most important tools when rendering the texture of the work. It can illuminate the scene and affect the material effect.
Octane area light is the main lighting tool in Octane Render. It can not only be used to illuminate the scene but also can be used to make some special effects, such as custom shadow shapes.

week5-1Download

VISIT TO TATE

We are suppose to use luma 3D to generate 3D model from videos at Tate. My phone is not charged, so I just shoot some videos for next week.

Categories
Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques Mechanical Arm Week 5

Week 5 Modelling and basic rigging

Arm rigging:

After finishing the constrain on the small objects. I simply create a parent constrain between the controller for the elbow and forearm. Then I create parent constrain between the shoulder and upper arm.

Tips for rigging:

1.Rigging 1_elbow ctrl-forearm-parent constrain

2. Use point ctrl to centre the control curve

3. Shoulder/upper arm–parent constrain

4. Set driven key-crtl/shoulder pad-key

5. Modify constrain-limit information

Modelling process:

Rigging:

Categories
Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques Week 4

Week 4 Details

I made a lot of progress completing the worldview and detail of my story over the past week. Following the feedback, what I need to do for the next week is the first rough previz.

This week I found that a lot of belief from Shamanism is similar to my story, so I used Shamanism to support my story. For the aesthetic part, I’ll design based on the Shamanism aesthetic instead of following it entirely. Also, Shamanism is an ancient system that is practiced in a lot of different regions. The aesthetic can be varied from place to place. From all the places that have been influenced, I want to take inspiration from Inuit art related to Shamanism.

Search more background details for my work. Storyboard. Modelling.

week4detailDownload
Categories
Collaborative Unit Week 4

WEEK 4

This week I had to rush my work to keep up with the workflow. So I had to figure out the quickest way to do stuff to keep up with the plan.

notes for improving work speed:

In modelling, it can happens that multiple models appear in the same Area at the same time. If I need to select the desired model quickly, I can try the following method: hold down [ctrl] or [shift], Area, right-click, and a model list will pop up. After the modelling is completed, if I need to view the light and shadow effects of the object, I can use [default light] to view it.
In complex scenes, if I need to turn on the wireframe mode (N-G) to make adjustments, it may be affected by the backline segment and interfere with the line of sight. I can click [N-P] to cancel the display of the backline segment. Only the line segment facing the camera will be displayed for further optimization—display mode.

collabweek4-1Download
Categories
Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques Mechanical Arm Uncategorised Week 4

Week 4 Arm finishing and Constrain

Introduction: use different constrain to rig the mechanical arm.

Use aim constrain to create control between locator and the pipe.(1) Then use point constrain to create the popping animation between the pipes. At last, create parent constrain between the top axis and top locator(2)

Nick went through what he taught last term this class, which is animating with Set Driven Key. It is a relatively new way for me to animate, but I think it is very useful in lots of situations. It’s very clean and not so hard to set up. Use Set Driven Key can be a very nice workflow when comes to animating.

aim constrain—-control the rotation

point constrain—-control the translation

parent constrain—both the translation and rotation

1.Place the locator (Nick’s explanation)

(2)(Nick’s explanation)

tip1: holding ctrl while mouth right click=extra bar

tip2: use Set Driven Key to make animation.

Process

Render View

Rigging

Categories
Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques Mechanical Arm Week 3

Week 3 Modelling the forearm

Introduction:

tip1: ctrl D + shift P to duplicate and take it out from the hierarchy.

tip2: crease tool and mid mouth button to create hard edgy.

tip3: put on display handle and then it’s easier to keep the pivot from one parts together.

Process

Categories
Advanced and Experimental 3D computer Animation Techniques Week 3

Week 3 Building up the Camera Shot

Next week to-do-list based on feedbacks:

-more detailed design for background and character

-storyboard

-models(maybe use unreal engine with Megascans)

week3Download
Categories
Collaborative Unit Uncategorised Week 3

WEEK 3

USING DIFFERENT TOOL TO EXPERIMENT AND WORK

Creating the characters was quite challenging because it was hard to achieve the characteristic we wanted initially. Because we have sculptures as main characters, the model initially didn’t look cartoonish enough. So I exported the model to different software and played with the decimation setting to find the ideal amount of polygons we needed. After getting the suitable polygons, I modified the model’s shape to make them look alive.

This I worked on both the virtual classroom model and concept for the character.

collabweek3Download