Week 10
I haven’t had much updates as the past few weeks there hasn’t been much visible project on my part. After these past few weeks I finally have the some stuff to show.
First is one of the set extensions we tested a few weeks ago, with this one focusing on enhancing via 2D compositing for things like murals and posters. I made heavy use of Mocha pro for this shot to track.
We where finally able to get access some anamorphic test footage and I was tasked with learning as much as I could about the anamorphic workflow its differences from plates shot on traditional spherical lenes.
Exporting and compositing the plates was very simple so I don’t really have any worries about that. However the 3D workflow (in Houdini) is quite complicated, with zero official documentation, and only 2 forum posts on the internet. I was able to get the pixel aspect to display and render properly in LOPs but anything I imported from the OBJ level did not match the positioning. Most if not all of the 3D work for this project will be coming from the OBJ level so it is very important that we work out a reliable workflow that doesn’t mess with the position. \
Here is a test composite to show the tracked camera, 3D elements, and lens distortion.
Week 7
Last week was pretty simple, mainly focusing on preparing ourselves for the shoot in January and continuing to make sure we can capture everything we need done on set. We also began to break up roles for each other to focus on during the shoot day so we don’t have to worry in the moment. Additionally we made a list of things that need to be done along with rough time estimates that we can give the film crew in advance so they can allot for said time in the schedule.
I continued progress on tracking the test footage we shot last week and was able to get a decent result. I quickly threw together a test render and composite. Obviously nothing in this shot is considered complete but I believe it gets the point across to the film crew and definitely is aiding us in developing a pipeline.
There is some concern over the lights being off in the shot and not having contrast for tracking markers so I did some research for possible lights to use.
$9 for 24 battery powered lights, about an inch in size
$20 for one laser pointer, $50 for a pack of 4
Week 6
This past week we recorded more test footage. The main issue we encountered was just the camera settings. Whoever had the camera checked out before us completely messed up the settings and we didn’t think to adjust the shutter angle so our initial shots had extreme levels of motion blur and were largely untrack able at least in the time frame we need.
We were able to go back and reshoot and those results turned out much better. My focus for the rest of the week has been learning advanced tracking. Shoutout to Matthew Merkovich for the amazing tutorials.
Week 5
We have continued testing this week. Caleb and I opted to swap shots this week to allow ourselves to have some change in the stuff we are working on. I took on the glowing skin while he focused on the shadow monsters. Here is my most recent render.
We will be meeting this weekend to film more test shots.
Week 4
Over the weekend we filmed some plates to continue our FX testing and to inspect any issues that we should be aware of when we shoot the actual short.
An issue we did encounter when filming the shadow monster shots was the frequency of the flashlight and the shutter speed. We were able to deal with the problem, but it is definitely something to be aware of in the future.
I quickly threw together a test with some of the footage we shot and I think it ended up turning out quite well for a proof of concept test. I think it definitely is reference for the director and producer.
As always, whenever I am doing something there are bound to be goofy moments. I threw a couple together into a little blooper reel.
Back to the serious… We know that for the explosion shot a digital double of the actor will be necessary. We are starting to experiment with different methods of reconstructing a human so that we won’t have to keep calling the actor back to redo a scan. I ended up doing 2 full body scans one of Trip and one of Aaron as well as a close up for Aarons face.
Again this is me we are talking about though and I clearly have a problem with remaining serious…
Week 3
On Monday we showed our most recent animatic to the class. This one was timed a little better and included the 3D previz we have been working on.
After class we each agreed on the next steps for the project. My role over the coming week or so is to continue working on the shadow sequences, begin to develop the glowing skin, and plan possible cameo’s for our team in the final film.
I have booked camera equipment for this weekend and we plan on going to the greenscreen stage to film some test plates.
Week 2
My task for this past weekend was to create some basic 3D previsualizations for the shadow sequence.
I tackled this project completely within the Solaris stage in Houdini. I haven’t worked much with Mixamo models and animations in Houdini so it was fun to learn a little more. I ended up rendering the scene out as opposed to just a play blast because it created a result much closer to what we had previously discussed as a group.
There were some file transfer issues with the breaker room previz model so I ended up having to throw together my own. Luckily the room is pretty simple so it wasn’t really a hassle.
While making this quick previz I did encounter a few thing to note for when we actually do film the live action elements. The main issue that was made clear by this test is that there needs to be some kind of ambient softer lighting in the room aside from the flash light because it limits the spatial awareness for the audience. Just a little bit of light outside of the flashlight gives some context as to what is around in the room.
We met with the director and producer for the project again and where able to plan more on the flashlight aspect of the scene so I can further refine it in context. I also got further clarification as to what exactly happens when the solider disintegrates. The idea is that they become a shadow demon as well in sort of a ink splatter effect.
Here are some dumb goofy things I made.
Week 1
This was our first week meeting with the full class. We presented our animatic and the notes where very positive. The main critique that was given our way was that the animatic itself was cut very fast. This initial animatic is not cut to time properly with the dialogue, therefore it is around 3 times shorter than it should be. To combat this our team is working on recording dialogue to temporarily place into the edit to get a better sense of time.
After the class we met separately to set some goals for the week. We want to make sure we have down how to tackle each effect before we get to filming the entire short.
I have been tasked with further refining the shadow monsters and collecting some reference.
This horror film by David F. Sandberg provides some fantastic reference for a shadow creature.
I liked the idea of using 2D footage and projecting it to 3d geometry so that it distorts and did a quick test for myself.
The biggest lesson I learned from this test is just how low the light has to be for the shadow to appear menacing. I relayed this to the team and we agreed that a character dropping a flashlight could be used to justify the lighting.
The other task I need to tackle this week is booking a camera and greenscreen reservation.