Need advanced solutions for feature quality scenes.

[alexx]

hey,

i dont really think those shots are that tough..

1) perfect shot for particle Instancer. with that 10000 feathers wont be any problem

2) and 3) solve the biggest problems in post (especially the morph.. keep your hand of the idea doing this in 3D.. )
use something like elastic reality to achieve those effects.

do you already have something to show? would be curious :)

cheers

alexx

[wireFrame]

0. Make it simple. Even a not so overly complex and detailed animation can win.

1. Try as much as possible to render passes for compositing. Saves you a lot of re-rendering/rendering times.

2. Use hi-res texture maps for final rendering so your images won't break. Use proxies for tests renderings (video res).

3. Invest on a separate rendering machine(s).

4. Don't use one app. Try others as well like for Painter for BGs (mattes). A faster and realistic cloud generator. Generally, you can do those in maya but there are other apps that would make your your production faster. After effects for compositing, etc.

5. Cheat where you can. There are things that are not that important in a scene.

6. Get all the help you can get. You can't do that alone.

7. Eat and sleep well.

Goodluck!

[wireFrame]

Detailed suggestion for your problems:

1. Yup I agree with alexx, particle instancer would work for these feather scene. Stay away from sprites and hardware rendered particles. Use about 10-20 variants of modeled feathers and several particle emitters.

2. Wings: This could take you a long time to setup but you need a lot of feathers for the wings. Use a real feather then scan it hi-res. Visit Jackal's Forge site; it has a tutorial on setting up a detaied bird wings (forgot the url try goole search).

3. Use a 2d morphing app for this purpose. I think it's only Elastic Reality that you could use for an NT setup.

[Lunatique]

alexx- Hey, thanks for the suggestions!

Those shots might be easy for others, but I've only gotten into 3D recently, so I'm learning EVERYTHING.

At this point I have the following:

Screenplay- 100% completed
Storyboard- 25% completed
concept art- 50% completed
modelling- first version of the head of main character completed(still needs minor tweaking, and translated into a sub'D version for production).

You can see the head model I have so far at my site. It's actually my first 3D model, and I still need to tweak it to make it feature quality even at closeup shots.

wireFrame- Thanks you for the advice. I'll look into your suggestions.

When you say that I can't do this alone, do you mean it's physically impossible? I feel I'm really crazy to attempt this too, but I've seen other examples before me(Rust Boy, Dark Age of Light, Typical Male Robot Behavior..etc), and they were all done by people who worked alone for a couple of years. I think those guys all did theirs during weekends and after work too. I'm actually taking a couple of years off to work on mine full-time. The guy that did Dark Age of Light actually started his as a 3D newbie too. Examples like him gives me hope and courage. :)

Or maybe it's because 10 minutes is too long?

[wireFrame]

Yup. that's the major reason but it's possible. Maybe 5-7 mins is workable but defintely, the way I see what kind of animation you'll be doing, it's more of a group/team work. Those animations (and people) that you've mentioned did a pretty simple animation (and a shorter duration too).

If you look through the oscar winners (oscar.org/com) for this category, those individuals did a simple animation that tells a very good story. Also, most of them are professional animators and all they have to do is to 'do' it.

Three years for that full time on your own isn't enough unless you really have to bring someone in or trim it (story) a bit more or simplify and limit the characters. Rendering is also an issue since you have to output it al least to HD format to have a passing film transfer.

A final fantasy type of animation is hard to pull and you'll be judged based on the quality that you intend to do; you have to match a standard so to speak meaning you have to devote time on details.

Anyway, you have to do your short and I'm looking forward to it in three years time. Just make it concise/succint to tell your story.

Best solution:

1. Get some people to help you.

2. Invest on several rendering machines and workstations.

3. Make a timetable so you know if you're on track/schedule with the project.

Goodluck!

ps. By the way, you could start on the not so important scenes first to get that phasing or learning stage then jump to the important ones later in production.

[Lunatique]

wireFrame- Ok, I see your point. All the issues you have raised are the same ones I had debated over in my head when I was planning this project.

1)Even though I want to visual style to be similar to the FF games, I'm definitely not doing a big fantasy/sci-fi action RPG type of epic masterpiece. My story takes place in some very mundane settings(a forest, a classroom, a bookstore, a bedroom, an elevator, an office desk..etc) The only complicated setting I have is a huge palace that is supposed to represent heaven. The characters are also quite normal looking--no fancy outfits. The only complication is that there are wings on some of the people.

2)I definitely want to keep it as short as possible--as it will make my life much easier, but I'm fundamentally different from most of the other 3D guys in that I'm a writer first, and an artist second. To keep the integrity of the story is far more important to me than anything else. I would shoot this whole film in live action if I could afford it. There's no real reason for me to do this film in 3D, other than that I can have total control over style and performance. I think ultimately, the most important thing to me is to have a beautiful film- be it 3D or not.

If you are interested, I could send you the screenplay, and you can tell me if it's doable?

[wireFrame]

Okay, send me a copy in this address:

digitalfxartist@hotmail.com

You could send me a synopsis as well. I'll give you my opinion and suggestions and maybe I could help you work on it.

[Lunatique]

BTW, what is your background? You don't have a website listed.

I'm sending the stuff to you now.

Do you have icq, msn, or any other chat number I can reach you at?

[wireFrame]

I'm into 3d/2d digital visual effects (+6 years inferno/max) and currently training for Maya character animation/rigging. I mostly do local tv commercial work and some feature films.

I used to have a website but the content was bought by a local movie producer so I have to shut it down. I also have plans of doing my own short animation as well.

[Lunatique]

Get on icq, irc, msn, yahoo or something. We need to take this conversation to realtime. A forum is not a good way to discuss production details. :)

My icq- 33437863, msn- caprimouse@hotmail.com, yahoo- lunachild_sf, irc- server:enterthegame channel:eatpoo

[wedge]

location: Manila?

i'm half-Filipino i was just in Manila in late June visiting my family :bounce:

[wireFrame]

Yup. Manila!

wgeddes, Nice site you got there! I wish I could browse through it completely but my eyes hurt 'coz I've just finished a (stressful) project.

I'll drop by again maybe tom.



:thumbsup:

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.