Secret Agent Entry: William Elliott

[irwit]

[delete me]

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1245829973_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1245829973_medium.jpg)

Hi all

I'm pretty pushed for time on this challenge so I'm not sure if I'll have to to complete but I thought posting up my first ideas should be a step in the right direction to getting something complete.

I really like this years theme for the competition as its a lot more open than previous ones I think.

The idea of this scene is pretty simple, aston martin being chased by helicopters, there will be some rockets explosions etc as I just want to have fun with this image.

Im working on some mood boards, I haven't decided on a day or night scene yet but thought I would post up these first ideas I had for layout and see what people thought.

Thanks for reading

Will

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246029654_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246029654_medium.jpg)

Had a bit more free time so made a quick concept piece. I'm not happy with the colours or tone but I think the composition is getting there.

I also think the sky needs so more interest adding but for what is basically a sketch its really helped me out as to what direction I want to go in terms of lighting.

Comments welcome

Thanks for reading

Will

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246289984_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246289984_medium.jpg)

I've been modelling up a building ad here is a quick test render, very basic and untextured but I like the style. Its uncomplicated and so should sit into a background nicely without attracting too much attention. It is based on the Belagio hotel in Las Vegas.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246290204_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246290204_medium.jpg)

An update to the concept including the new modelled hotel. I'm going to change the design as although I like the simple lines the central turret interrupts the lines that should be bringing your eye to the car and so keep faithful to the concept.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246291195_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246291195_medium.jpg)

new building, I think the uninterupted lines are maybe too obvious now but still much better than original.

[walrus]

Great camera angle! Do you plan on having the windshield so opaque - it would be nice to see the Secret Agent him- or her-self! But really nice work so far. :thumbsup:

[Maikl]

Hi,

love the perspective of your last picture, gives a great feel for the speed. :thumbsup:

Good luck!

[loki731]

love your car and the concept really looks like a good speed shot.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246374813_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246374813_medium.jpg)

Updated building with lights added.

I think it is looking a little too uniform at the moment, too many perfectly straight lines, so I'm going to add a really subtle amount of distortion to each window to hopefully break this up. Also add a slight variation to each light. Apart from this I am quite pleased with how the building is looking.

[irwit]

Thanks for the replies guys, glad you like the angle and that its worked by giving the impression of speed.

I'm still undecided if I should have the windscreen opaque or not. I think I will decide later down the line and see if it helps the image or becomes too distracting. I'm not sure if I would paint the character, model him or use some photography but also if I will have enough time to do a decent job.

Anyway thanks for showing interest, hopefully should get some renders of the car started by the end of the week.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246434939_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246434939_medium.jpg)

Front shot of main building before random movement

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246435225_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246435225_medium.jpg)

Front shot of building after movement, I know it is extremely subtle but I think it helps take that cg perfection edge off the model. I know texturing will do a lot of this but this should help break those perfect lines it was creating.

For anyone interested this was done using a great free script from the blur scripts pack called random transform. I normally use particles for this kind of thing but in this instance keeping real objects is working out a bit quicker.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246450183_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246450183_medium.jpg)

Updated concept

I have been playing with lighting ideas on the car, no reflections yet, just seeing what brings out the shape the best. Also played with colours for the image.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246450858_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246450858_medium.jpg)

Another play with the colours. I think there is plenty of scope for change and so I think I will keep experimenting but I like the warm and cold look here.

[luxi]

nice job on the camera... i can almost feel the car coming out of my screen. It would be cool to see a pic like that in stereo. Looking forward to see some progress and a nice color scheme. I like the cold warm theme but i think for now it looks a bit too cold... speed is usually hot, burning... just my opinion.

[Kerem]

Very beautiful concept!

[xeni]

wow that car, like it.

Secret Agent Entry: AGENT (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=291&t=775590)

[diissar]

hi,nice rendering,i like the camera angle too,very dynamic :D

[marcomaxbonaria]

Sweet camera angle and scene, I agree that it might need some warmer colours somewhere, wether it be bullets, street lights, something to bring out the colour range, although I understand it's night. Also, did it have to be an astin... lol, just joking, looking forward to more WiPs.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246613178_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1246613178_medium.jpg)

Firstly a big thanks for everyone's comments and interest. Its great to know people are liking the direction this is going :D

In this image I have updated the building, I didnt like the way it was poking out the top of the roof of the car. Now its creating more pleasing lines bringing you to the car.

I have transfered to max 2009 now from 2008 and the renders have changed. They are Photometric lights so Im not sure if the scale has changed or something else. Anyway I did actually like the change, much warmer and lighter but still keeping a high contrast so I have left it how it is. However 200+ photometric lights and around 2million polys for the pavement floor has taken its tole on productivity so I'm currently rendering out textures for the building to help speed up the file. This will also help to build up the scene outside the camera so the car will start to pick up some highlights and look less matte.

[germanager]

very cool, dynamic comp, keep going!

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1247059906_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1247059906_medium.jpg)

Hi all

After making some full res renders the building was no where near detailed enough so I have spent some time building up a new building. No textures are used, all procedural.

I've also spent some time making the file much more efficient as its getting quite large. The building is now split into sections and each section can repeat and has been converted into mental ray proxies.

Lighting wise I'm still struggling to find solution that I ma happy with. I'm testing out sky portals to see if they are up to the job.

Any ideas are much appreciated :)

Thanks again for reading

Will

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1247069256_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1247069256_medium.jpg)

Another update. After trying photometric lights, spotlights with maps, sky portals I have finally found a best compromise solution. Mental Ray area lights. I have used attenuation and then scaled the light in one axis to give a spotlight effect. I am quite pleased with the results especially since they look as good as sky portals and photometrics but render around 10 times faster! :)

[Terraplex]

Looks awesome so far. Maybe you could add a spotlight coming from the helicopter, since it's dark outside to make it more dynamic. Keep it up. I'm excited to see more of this one.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1248302757_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1248302757_medium.jpg)

Hi all

Its been a while since I updated. I have spent a lot of time getting the buildings to render correctly at such a large resolution. Probably a bit too much but its been a good excuse for some RnD. I have also modelled the helicopter, not you are going to see much of it with the new composition. After playing with some ideas I have found a spotlight on the car helps create a more pleasing image so for the time being the rockets and explosions are no more. I still haven't started lighting the car but I have began a matte painting for the background buildings. These are a mixture of photos found on google and from my own photos taken with my new canon ( which is also taking up a lot of my free time!)

Any comments welcome, hopefully I should have some more solid updates after this weekend!

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1248619889_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1248619889_medium.jpg)

Another WIP update. Got a bit of time to light the car and play about in photoshop to get the scene working. I'm much more pleased with the more extreme blur and the silhouette of the helicopter. I'm really struggling to find to find time to work on this one now so I'm not sure if it will get finished in time, however I'm still really pleased with the amount learnt on this project .

Comments welcome

[irwit]

Looks awesome so far. Maybe you could add a spotlight coming from the helicopter, since it's dark outside to make it more dynamic. Keep it up. I'm excited to see more of this one.

Cheers for teh advice, hope you like the updates :)

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249146552_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249146552_medium.jpg)

Hi all

Slowly but surely getting there. Still need to add the alloy, some spray, sort the helicopter but its getting close I think.

[germanager]

looks cool, but you need hard contrast shadows on car because of the projector behind, it looks a bit fake a the moment, you really need to put lower front in deep dark shadow

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249596386_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249596386_medium.jpg)

Hi all

This will be my final update. Although I'm not completely happy with the final result I still feel I have learnt a HUGE amount and so am very pleased I entered the competition. I'm going to make colour adjustments tomorrow at work and then tomorrow night add some rain drops and such onto the car and call it a day.

As for the comment above, I agree and have toned the front down but seen as you don't know what's in front of the car threes no saying how bright it "should" be. I like it lighter than just illumination from the helicopter as it helps the car "pop" out the picture. Thanks anyway for the crit tho as darkening it down a touch I think has still really helped.

As usual any comments crits welcome, thanks for reading :)

Will.

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249678909_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249678909_medium.jpg)

I know I said the other wip was final but as is the same with file names you always seem to end up with several iterations of your "final" version.

BIg thanks to Geri and Nigel from my work today for what I think are some small changes that have made a huge difference. Much happier with this version.

- note, if the bonnet is bleeching out you need to calibrate your monitor :)

As always any comments/crits welcome ( although nothing too big as the deadline is tomorrow ;)

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249733613_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249733613_medium.jpg)

After covertly retrieving the vital intelligence from a known terrorist cell, our secret agent heads off to deliver the package to HQ. Realising the data has been stolen the terrorist cell take flight in their helicopter and are quickly on his tail. Can he make it back to HQ alive and deliver the package?

[irwit]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249735319_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/24/18306/18306_1249735319_medium.jpg)

Software: 3ds max

Story: After covertly retrieving the vital intelligence from a known terrorist cell, our secret agent heads off to deliver the package to HQ. Realising the data has been stolen the terrorist cell take flight in their helicopter and are quickly on his tail. Can he make it back to HQ alive and deliver the package?

I have learnt a lot from creating this image and have really enjoyed the process. I have also found my girlfriend has quite a keen eye for an image as she has helped a lot during this project. Thanks to everyone for their comments in the forum and I hope you like the final image.

Will

[CGIPadawan]

Well it looks like a nice glossy cover for something like "EA 007 Racing 2009". :)

I mean.. it's got all the detail one comes to expect from a Need for Speed cover shot and still has that 007 feel.

I'm reminded of one of the BMW "movies" that had Clive Owen driving a BMW chased by a helicopter.

Good job. Might have been stronger with more visible human elements. (eg: Gunner aiming weapon from one side of the helicopter). One of the reasons it really looks like an NFS image is because of the absence of humans.

But still great work! :)

[irwit]

Hi

I definitely agree with your comments. The image has gone very much in that direction. I don't see this as a bad thing but I guess it depends what you were expecting from the image. I did play with adding characters and some more human elements to the image however I wasn't finding they were adding to the image. This could be due to not spending enough time getting them to a high enough standard but I guess I should of managed my time better.

Anyway, thanks for the comments.

Will.

[DerRoteBaron]

Fantastic car,white my favorite color. Very dynamic atmosphere render.
Cheers and good luck! ;-):beer:

[CGIPadawan]

Hi

I definitely agree with your comments. The image has gone very much in that direction. I don't see this as a bad thing but I guess it depends what you were expecting from the image. I did play with adding characters and some more human elements to the image however I wasn't finding they were adding to the image. This could be due to not spending enough time getting them to a high enough standard but I guess I should of managed my time better.

Anyway, thanks for the comments.

Will.

Actually yes, that's understandable. The level of detail you put into the car goes into something like "Hyper-Reality"... There's more visible detail on it than most humans can see in Real-Life. And since we are all human beings, it can become a problem eventually that details of say... the car.. exceed that of humans.. and then it becomes not possible to put them in the same picture without extended time or secondary artists.

It also opens up the idea of "Synergy Team Ups" .... like say.. you on cars and Christopher Snow ("The guy doing St. Peter's for this challenge") on Sets.... and then another artist on humans... because it's entirely possible that such an artist can do high-detailed human models.. but can't do an Aston Martin.

We'd probably win the challenge that way... easily.. and then splitting up the prize would be murder. hehehe :P

I do wonder though if that's how teams operate in an actual Studio environment... Or perhaps they expect everyone to be able to model everything?

Just a few thoughts.

But again.. really love the car. :)

[Anatoll]

Very interesting WIP, i find you concept very cool and realistic.

[irwit]

Anatoll - Thanks glad you like :thumbsup:

CGIPadawan - I agree, maybe next challenge I should try and team up with a character specialist and see what we can produce.

[gpepper]

Nice one !
Great render and modeling !

[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.