Texturing Continued... - 08/03/2016

I had begun with applying a chrome material to the chamber pod to begin with but quickly found that although it fitted in well in the environment, it was not particularly fitting well with the chamber extension. I wanted the same material on the chamber pod that was on the chamber extension. This was my first render test in Vray before I carried on with the materials in Substance.



I had altered the base colour and the metallic reflectivity to make it fit in more with the chamber extension. (Shown above)

Below, is the original chrome material with only the base colour altered. This section is a rendered frame in Vray.



Although I liked the look of the chrome material, I felt it was a little rough and not reflective enough. I liked the streaks that came from the altered steel material I made and so I applied the same material on the chamber pod.

When rendering tests in Vray, I found that I would have many close up shots where the textures became distorted sometimes and were appearing quite harsh. For example for the wall behind the chamber, even though I had exported the maps at 4k resolution, it still seems distorted. This can be because the whole texture is spread across a large surface area. To get rid of this problem, I could use small chunks and apply the texture to the chunk of a wall and duplicate it across.



Above is shown a rendered frame in Vray. I applied the same steel material I had created for the chamber extension. The bumps and scratches were too evident, especially when rendered in a close up. (Shown below)



This was rendered from one of the camera's in the film. The gold accent was rough and the dirt material layered on top was too bold. I had to decrease the amount the scratches were shown hugely. I did this in Substance, altering the opacity of the specific attributes of the individual material.



Above is when I had decreased the opacity of the height. Below is when I had decreased it furthermore to get it just perfect. I had also added a layer to the material and painted only a metallic map on the UVs, which is why it comes across as more shiny.





The following renders below are images of my progression and render tests to get the right look for each individual part of the chamber pod.












Above I had tried the aluminium material on the pipe running through the holders, but it came out too crinkly and not like a pipe. I then made an altered version of the glass visor material which came across much more like a pipe, as shown below.

Beginning to UV/Texture - 09/03/2016

I had begun uving and re-uving the assets. I had been advised by some of my colleagues to look into texturing in Substance painter. I spent 14 hours on YouTube tutorials in order to be able to use the programme properly and efficiently.

I first Uvd and painted something simple so that I could test exporting the maps for Vray to see how they would turn out. I tried the wall that is behind the entrance door for this and got the following result in the first try:

Above is shown a rendered frame in Vray. I found that the maps came out more prominent in Vray and even though there are sliders to alter different setting in the attribute editor, it did not affect how the textures looked in Vray at all. I had to alter the map settings in substance painter to get the desired look in Vray.

I also Uvd and painted the wall for the hallway.













I began UVing my entrance doors which will be seen in the first scene of the film. I had laid out the UVs and exported the assset as an OBJ (as that is the only file type and FBX, that Substance will recognise when creating a new project)  but I found that the UVs overlapped when I imported the file. I later realised after a continuing attempt to solve the problem, that I had to set the asset up correctly in my used 3d programme before exporting the file. I had to create UV sets in Maya before exporting the file. For my entrance doors, I had made 7 Texture sets and applied a different material to each set and then exported the file as an OBJ. 

I textured the generators using 5 maps. Roughness, height, normal, metallic and colour. All together combined, they created this look. After I had textured the pillar, pipes and fuse boxes on the arch, I realised that other texture sets had not been set up properly and I had to therefore create seperate files in substance and bring the texture sets of the two files back together in Maya. 

On the right of the screen displayed the UV layout of the texture set and on the left, the 3d model that you were painting. 

I had used the technique of using preset smart materials and altering their properties and adding layers along with black/white masks to create my desired looks. For example, for the pillars I had used a preset gold material and added a metallic layer to it to make the gold a little more shiny. I altered the dirt properties of the layer within the material so the material wouldn't seem as distorted and gave a more clean outlook. I also added a black mask and painted where I wanted the gold to show exactly, which meant the altered copper material underneath would show on the rest of the generator.

Below are images from my progression:

Above, I was trying to alter the Vray material settings in the places I plugged in the maps. No matter where the slider went, the outcome of the render would be the same. Due to this, as explained earlier I had to work around this and set up the materials appropriately in substance painter. It meant I had to do many tests before I was absolutely happy with the outcome in Vray.

These are the completed doors in substance painter. I had to use a separate file as explained earlier as some texture sets weren't set up correctly. 

Above is shown a rendered frame in Vray of the doors. I chose rocky marble for the walls as earlier on in the project, when I created the mood boards, I envisioned the chamber to be in a cave type layer. I also feel the rocky marble works well with the materials on the entrance door.

After having textured the entrance doors, I moved onto the chamber door extensions. I thought that the chamber doors needed to resemble something heavy. I textured parts of the extension with an altered glass visor material. I used an altered steel material for the rest and painted the edges with gold to compliment the theme. I used this technique for all the accessory assets on the chamber extension.

The floor was textured well by my year 2 partner and so I went onto texture that too. I applied an aluminium material to it, which I then altered to make a dark grey/blue. I made my own Vray material for the glass sheets which cover the pipes running through the floor. I altered the reflection and refraction in order to get the opacity and reflectivity correct. I had to do a few render tests before I was completely happy with the outcome. When altering the aluminium material, I also had to add a roughness layer and painted in parts of the floor. This was so the floor wasn't too reflective everywhere, as everything else in the scene was going to be reflective besides the wall. My results are shown below:

The main chamber where the plaques are placed and the door after were Uvd well by my year 2 partner so I did not need to redo any of those. The spinning vault, the hinge and the pipes I had to redo to get the checkered pattern material lay appropriately on the asset. After this, I went onto texturing the chamber pod.

Camera shots/Developing Shots/Animation - 03/03/2016

Referring back to my storyboarding stage as reference, I went onto shoot my first animatic. I figured I'd be more comfortable knowing exactly what shots would be in place. I came up with the following animatic:

I wanted to have shots established before continuing but after having compiled this animatic, I knew I had to continue working on my shots. I had to do many shot tests in order to configure which one fitted and looked right. In the end, I came up with the following animatic from which I felt I could move on from. This is shown below:

I thought these shots displayed a more accurate story of what was happening and about to happen. There was less camera movement which was displeasing to the eye and a more straight forward tone. After I had these shots in place, I went onto the UV mapping stage. I had the help of a year 2 student, but unfortunately I had to UV unwrap 90% of the models he had given back to me, as the checkered texture sheet did not sit correctly and many of the models were auto unwrapped which did not give good UVs.

I animated as I set up my camera shots. For the flag movement, I used the FX tab in Maya and applied an ncloth to one flag. I then ncached the animation on the flag from fram 180 till 1500. I had then duplicate special the flag over to its appropriate places. What I had unfortunately not known, was that I could not texture the cloth as it was not UV'd. If I did UV the cloth with the cloth still on the flag, the texture would move incorrectly when the cloth would play.

I also could not transfer the UVs over to the flag with the ncloth, as once I later had UV'd the flag and textured it, I found both flags did not have exactly the same geometry.

Prevention In Continuing Project.. - 23/02/2016

I had aimed by now to have completed the texturing of the first scene but I had been unable to do anything since 13th February. My family have gone over to do a pilgrimage and so I have to be at home to care for my father. I did not feel too stressed at this point though as I felt I had completed a good amount and feel I am on track.

Due to the demands at home, I will most probably be unable to work on my project until the 29th Feb. This may mean I have to try to work faster or perhaps cut down my scene a little in order to get the same message across.

I have begun UV Mapping some of my assets which are in individual files. For the most part, my assets have been combined into one scene and built inside the whole scene as it was easier to position assets and model according to consistency in looks. My computer at home crashes every time I attempt to open my scene and so I guess I will return to work on my project when I am able to come back to university.

In the mean while, I will think about the types of shots I want to include in my film, working off the pre-production material.

Adding detail to the whole scene - 11/02/2016

After having completed the chamber doors and been happy with the outcome of them, I decided I would like to populate the scene some more, attempting to exaggerate the cult theme of the film. I had a look at 'The Hunger Games, Catching Fire' and saw a scene which came across really cult like.

The whole walk of the chariot riding up to the state seems almost all like a ritual. I noticed that the logo and flags were placed almost on every building and with some more flags between the audiences sitting on the side. I decided to take this on board and populate the wall above the chambers with with flags which would further exaggerate the feel of the cult theme. Shown below is my design of the chamber hall .

I thought I could further further add detail in the texturing process of the models. I left the modelling process here and went onto UV Map and prepare my models for texturing.

Modelling the Midwife Drone - 08/02/2016

Having textured the majority of the first initial environment, I went onto modelling the drones that would be a primary part of the film.

My initial thoughts, at the storyboarding stage, was that the midwives would be performing a sort of ritual at the second scene, when the car is to be "welcomed" into the world. As I modelled and the project progressed, I decided there should be sets of midwife drones. Two, which open the gates to this "beast" that is to be welcomed and two that will reveal the "beast".

The drone I knew should be menacing and represent really iconic colours that have been present throughout the whole theme. I kept to the purple, black and gold theme for the drone. My progression images of the midwife drone are shown below:

Modelling Continued... - 05/02/2016

Having followed on from modelling the chamber extension, I blocked in the shape of the chamber pods and worked in each particular part individually. I realised this would come in handy when I came to UV mapping the chamber. It would allow me more flexibility and control and ultimately better UVs so that the textures wouldn't stretch and become distorted as I knew I would have a few close up shots.

I didn't particularly work from many references directly at this point. I let my artistic flare take control for which shape looked like it suited the scene. I did have a look at bank vaults when going into more detail as it began to resemble some of the same characteristics. The images I looked at are shown below:

As a result, I came up with the following model. Progression pictures are shown with the last image being the latest.

For the hinges I looked at one reference for inspiration. What really captivated me about this image was the detail that has gone into every single bit of geometry and texture. I too wanted to make sure my models and the whole outlook captivate my audience, so I thought carefully about how I wanted my  chamber door to maneuver.

I decided to place designs on the chamber door which light up adding a more cultish/magical edge to the model, allowing it to be more than just a sci-fi type model. I initially thought that these engravings could light up as the wheel spins so the audience is aware which chamber has been 'chosen'. The colour of the engravings is purple, in order to keep towards the theme of black/gold/purple. My inspiration for these engravings came from the door of Durin from Lords of the Rings:

Below is the image I used for inspiration of the chamber hinges:

Having completed the chamber door, I felt something was missing from the top of the chamber and thought I should perhaps place something there which really accentuated the theme and what this vault lead to and hid inside. i first tried to place the logo I had created at the top but felt it was too repetitive, as i have placed it in a few places around the film.

I though that perhaps some kind of plaques could be placed above the chamber marking significant dates. As I had research a little into the formation of freemasonry, I decided to cross reference that against the plaques I modeled. The first plaque date is the formation of the Freemasons, the second plaque being the establishment of the grand lodge in England and the last plaque is the current time in the film, which relates to the grand reveal of the car inside the chamber.

As the door was going to open slightly in the shot, I decided to model the inside of the chamber too, created a space and a timing lock of some sort. I did not render it out as, in the film, I would like to create fog which would escape the chamber as soon as it opens anyway.