Test 1 | Further Light Wrap Test

After having problems creating a light wrap in one particular shot in my Test 1 video, I have created a light wrap using After Effects in addition to the highlights created with the node in Nuke.

Original - no light wrap:

With only Nuke light wrap:

With this particular, and all light wraps:

I have sourced this tutorial by Jerzy Drozda, Jr. It was recommended by Matt Cameron. 

Here is his description of the process:

"Apply a 'Set Channels' effect and set the source RGB values to the background composition. Apply a 'Channel Blur', blur the RGB channels by 10 and blur the alpha channel by around 200. Invert the alpha channel by applying a 'Levels' effect and swapping the 'Output Black' and 'Output White' values. Matte the result with the original alpha by applying 'CC Composite' and setting 'Composite Original' to Stencil Alpha. Next duplicate the light wrap composition and change the Alpha Blurriness to a value of about 30 for a sharper light wrap. Finally set the blend modes of the light wrap compositions to Add and reduce the opacity to taste."

I definitely think this is an imperative effect to create in compositing, and this has made the shot come on leaps and bounds in my opinion, and I now see this video visually as fully complete. The audio will hopefully be created over the next month in the form of a trial for the proposed sound engineer for the final film, and then I will upload a final version onto the net.

Concept Art Image

Here is a Photoshop/After Effects image of one the panels from the first storyboard:

It is an important shot in the story, the scattering, but unseen figure, casting a double shadow behind them which crosses over on the hip - hinting at the siamese nature of the character.

The setting is factory-esque which ticks the boxes of atmospheric smoke in film noir (as well as the shadows). The setting changes and reflects different worries and areas of the character's inner thoughts and feelings as the short film goes on.

This shot is proposed to be composited with a live action shoot, with added smoke and CG elements to enhance the peculiarity of the setting - much like many of the shots.

Looking at the storyboard, it is mostly made up of anticipation and reaction shots in close-up or mid, when it comes to timing. This is one of the 'selling shots' which are of the main area of my compositing research and practice, although there are more complicated shots than this such as the extreme long shot of him silhouetted having entered the vast environment.

More to come on these as well as some more areas of focus in the storyboard...

Storyboard 1

Here is the first full storyboard:

So, these are the initial/still-basic ideas for the film's sequences (if you can make anything out). It is likely, and hoped, that they will develop substantially. 

Some of my aims in the storyboarding process are:

• To tell the story with 'pure cinematics' in showing the character's thoughts through them anticipating and reacting to events and what they see
• Creating a 'film noir' feel through the visuals - smokey and shadowy
• Reflecting parts of their possible character history and thoughts such as a pampered childhood, sharing and not owning, surgery, work - as well as the initial and real setting of an abandoned factory 
• Avoid cliches by creating visually the situation people would not expect
• Make choices of things that are achievable, both with budget and time, as well as specialist roles available
• Show the character to be slightly useless (or even a little clumsy) as well as looking for their brother, as this is their specific characteristic as well as desire.
• Make good use of cinematic conventions (such as shot types and movements, and axises) to aid the story and even homage to other films
• Make sure suspense is built, or comedy is delivered at the right times
• Create a vision of the character as possibly self-destructive in nature.

In order for these to be achieved, I need to develop this storyboard and then open it up to my collaborators for debate and development (in the next few weeks to a month), as well as do more research into siamese twins and techniques (these will develop more in semester 2).

Research Skills and Methods | Academic Poster

This poster is currently in line for printing. The poster design's function is to put across clearly the context of our proposed research for masters, and display what we have already gathered and learned in a concise and visually clear manner, basically.

Here is the final poster:

I produced it using Photoshop, and when printed A1 size it might therefore be a little pixelated, due to everything, bar the text, not being vectors. My computer began to slow up a bit over the last week with renders going and files using up memory (probably), so there may be errors within this poster which I didn't have the patience to fix. Hopefully it is all good for presenting officially next week.

I have found over the past while the proposed research I intend has evolved and has clarity, and I hope the poster hints to this, although I will also support this poster verbally for assessment.

Shoe And Tell 5 - "Get Your Shoe Off of the Table!"

I have practically composited the shoe model, textured, into the required scene.

It didn't take too long at all, just say an hour, to composite (included copying files and all that usual stuff.) But, I hadn't really practiced in Nuke too much by that point, so it was a way to do something fairly basic compositing-wise and try out a few things I had seen done or read about and find those nodes to create the effect I desired, such as: GridWarp, ColorCorrection, LensDistortion, Grade, Blur, etc, etc.

Here is the written/rendered image:

I think that the shoe could particularly, an initially, do with some pixelation/compression to it to match the video, as well as some Image Based Lighting with a HDRI (although it was not provided).

I took a screen shot of the node graph to give you an idea of what the image consists of, and to review it.

Here it is:

I look to the future, and further along the masters project and program, where more complicated and comprehensive use of Nuke will be utilised by myself...

Some experiments might be sooner than you think...

A Pair of... Shoes. Shoe and Tell 4

These shoes are soon to be composited into a live action scene/onto a compressed image from a video of a room using Nuke... This should be good practice for the final project.

Example Shot From Test

Here is the multiple flash going off within a scene in the test film I have directed for this semester:

The light wrap is still to be done in Nuke...

This is the After Effects flowchart for this particular shot:

The test video is good practice working with live action to CG integration. 

I have tried to match everything with the environment at the shoot, and now adjusting everything in the grade and addition of smoke and CG elements such as fog, and create light wraps (in other shots) in AE (through luminances, simple chokers, and blurs), etc...

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Final polygon composite, NURBs model and video, academic poster, concept art and an animatic for 'The Escapist' coming soon...