PRODUCTION DIARY 002
I've been preparing a number of elements for future scenes and learning a lot as I go. This is a fluid process after all. At least, that's the way I want it to be. You see, there are two ways I see to approach setting up a sequence or the environment for a sequence. One is to start on paper. Drawings are done, erased, corrected and revised until the desired design is arrived at. Maybe a color chart is done for the set and everything is set in stone before any actual models are built or background paintings done. We all know this works. It is the way it has been done for years. It's not the way I want to work though.
Programs like Vue 6 Infinite come with a lot of simple, little, everyday objects that often seem forgotten on the extras CD. I have yet to really grasp the wealth of stuff that is there. On top of this, the way Vue's interface is setup, when browsing for objects, it can also show items which are available on the content site for quick purchasing while working. I know some hate this setup, but I tend to like it, mainly because rather than searching through mounds of content on the site, it is organized based on what I am working on at the moment. The need can be more apparent.
Anyway, the point of having all these little pieces opens the door to more trial and error. That means it is fast and I can work in the environment I am creating. I can add things and see if they work or, if not, throw them out. This is fast and a lot more fun. I do the same with characters in Poser. I have built up quite a library of costumes, weapons and other pieces both from my own library and the content sites, such that when I create a character I can "try things on", mix and match pieces and see what "feels" right. Even if I have a vision of the character in my mind, sometimes I am surprised by something better.
Setting up an environment for an action scene brings its own set of challenges. How the characters will interact with the environment, and thus what program elements will be created and rendered in, becomes extremely important. For example, what is background and what is "cel"? What if a character picks up an object and throws it? What if a character needs to go behind an object in the background? There are a few ways to do this. It could be done as a matte in compositing. That one object could become a "cel" for that scene and thus be part of the character animation. The object could be cel shaded or it could still be textured and shaded. There are many considerations.
As I mentioned before, I like speed, just like the Universe. This brings up many questions on when and where to use compositing and the necessity of it. I remember Q once spoke about the hectic pace of doing weekly TV like on CSI and he mentioned that often times, for reasons of speed and productivity, they get shots right, completely inside of Lightwave 3D and render, even with DOF and other FX goodies. I see the value of this, especially on a larger project. Many of the benefits of multipass rendering are actually unnecessary when working alone.
Programs like Vue 6 Infinite come with a lot of simple, little, everyday objects that often seem forgotten on the extras CD. I have yet to really grasp the wealth of stuff that is there. On top of this, the way Vue's interface is setup, when browsing for objects, it can also show items which are available on the content site for quick purchasing while working. I know some hate this setup, but I tend to like it, mainly because rather than searching through mounds of content on the site, it is organized based on what I am working on at the moment. The need can be more apparent.
Anyway, the point of having all these little pieces opens the door to more trial and error. That means it is fast and I can work in the environment I am creating. I can add things and see if they work or, if not, throw them out. This is fast and a lot more fun. I do the same with characters in Poser. I have built up quite a library of costumes, weapons and other pieces both from my own library and the content sites, such that when I create a character I can "try things on", mix and match pieces and see what "feels" right. Even if I have a vision of the character in my mind, sometimes I am surprised by something better.
Setting up an environment for an action scene brings its own set of challenges. How the characters will interact with the environment, and thus what program elements will be created and rendered in, becomes extremely important. For example, what is background and what is "cel"? What if a character picks up an object and throws it? What if a character needs to go behind an object in the background? There are a few ways to do this. It could be done as a matte in compositing. That one object could become a "cel" for that scene and thus be part of the character animation. The object could be cel shaded or it could still be textured and shaded. There are many considerations.
As I mentioned before, I like speed, just like the Universe. This brings up many questions on when and where to use compositing and the necessity of it. I remember Q once spoke about the hectic pace of doing weekly TV like on CSI and he mentioned that often times, for reasons of speed and productivity, they get shots right, completely inside of Lightwave 3D and render, even with DOF and other FX goodies. I see the value of this, especially on a larger project. Many of the benefits of multipass rendering are actually unnecessary when working alone.
4 Comments:
Again - great tonal values on your renders - Vue really is an amazing program. Are you doing any color correction after rendering or is this straight from Vue?
I was thinking of you tonight as I watched an interview with Spielberg on YouTube. At the end he was going on and on about how 35MM film was good enough for our "forefathers" and so why isn't it good enough for us? (digital bashing) and I thought to myself - "Well gee Steven, maybe some of us don't have a zillion dollars at our disposal to work with. Oy - Give me a break.
Cool stuff man. How does it look animated?
I'll have to remind myself to look over that Extras CD that came with my copy of Vue (you tend to forget about that stuff while you're learning the ins and outs of the program)
- "Many of the benefits of multipass rendering are actually unnecessary when working alone."
Depends on what you consider to be a 'benefit'. If you're talking about things like render time of the scene, I've found the differences between multipass and singlepass renderings are very minimal. For things like scene composition and effects, it's like you said, those things totally dependent on your level of planning/set-up and how much of those things you feel are necessary.
Although, I think part of that is also dependent on how a person is initially "trained": for someone like me who's studied in an area like graphic design, using multiple layers within a composition of a scene is relativly easy to plan/setup and is second-nature to me; for someone else who's more focused in video/audio editing, that person maybe more used to working off a single track/layer than multiple layers.
cathy: I'll have to find that interview, although I don't know if he was just refering to the costs of shooting on film (I haven't keep myself up-to-date with Spielberg, so I don't know what technology he's familar with or has used himself).
I think the "expectation", if you will, from certain filmmakers is that whatever technology they pioneered or had access to should be good enough for the next generation. I don't know about Spielberg's beliefs or how other directors of his generation feel about this subject, but I do know that his associate/friend George Lucas definately does not feel that way about technology. ;)
So far it doesn't look any different than anything I have done before, which is a good thing in my view.
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