Moving Forward

In this module I have explored several things this semester, the main focus of course being my Showreel. I have also looked at design and working on some more involved hard surface modelling that follow these designs. This is something that I will be taking forward into my future projects.
Design itself was also the main focus for one of my other modules, and is something I will be focusing on more in the future.

In regards to showreels. I came across this fantastic video on Youtube by artist Gilberto Magno. It takes the showreel Idea and uses it to present and show off a very complex and involved model In an incredibly compelling and original way. It is a technique I want to try and replicate within one of my future projects as-well in showing off a model that I feel deserves it.



An incredibly inspiring project and presentation.

Modelling Showreel 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH8Nn96BmtY&list=UU81Kn2k

https://vimeo.com/90228106

Here it is, the final version (for now)!

Im glad that I undertook this project, as it not only enabled me to apply to MPC and start getting some work shown around. It was also my first time trying to create a professional showreel in order to present my work to employers. I learnt a lot about how to construct a reel as well as different tips and technique for showing off different kinds of model.

I am planning to update the reel soon with some more finished work as well as fixing the CGHub links (as CGHub was shut down). This is another reason I am glad I did this, I now have a framework and a template in place for creating future reels and adding new pieces, so that it will not take anywhere near as long in the future to produce.

The thing I regret most about this though is that the sheer amount of time it took to produce meant that I was unable to focus on certain other works, that will need to be completed in future. Rendering out all the separate elements as they were required as well as putting together each draft took significantly more time than I had originally estimated. However I am glad that I chose to do this now as I was able to get great feedback on its creation from peers, lecturers and on-line communities.

Below is a quick view of the actual FX Compositing tree that was behind the creation of each section of the video.

Drafts 5 & 6

I am putting these two drafts together as there is very little that changes between them.
These drafts were heavily based on feedback from another lecturer. They have been cut back to include a more focused selection of hard surface work, as well as being timed to fit better with the music.

The still images have also been improved to help add even more context to the models. I tried to show them within the environment that they were intended for using a photo bashing technique within Photoshop.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqNR-o6uysE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sIbVtZHNYk

Draft Showreel Version 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd4tMNxoIEs

There is not a lot to say about this version, I have re-done the title card as well as adding an end card. Both of these have links and contact detail on them. I felt it was important to include on the title card as well so that if for some reason the viewer doesn't see the end, they still have contact details.

Draft Showreel Version 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WqWOsyxwo8

Another draft, here we have an idea which goes some way to helping solve the issue of dizziness that was plaguing my reels beforehand. The still images that are panned over slowly have been designed to give the viewers eye a rest between turntables. They also serve to show the models off in some form of context. As I mentioned previously, the reel is about selling yourself and showing off the models the best way you can. I felt that these images would help add an extra layer of that, as well as providing something different and interesting compared to the turntables.

In this reel, we also have the final piece of music I wished to use, a track by Kirill Pokrovsky that he created for Divinity: Dragon Commander. I was able to obtain the composers permission to use this piece of music within my show reel. I feel that it fits very well. I extended the track using audacity to loop the main melody so that it could be as long as I needed it. The percussive nature and strong beat of this track as well as the memorable melody provide the sense of rhythm that I was looking for to help carry viewers through my show reel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEUpe9QCAnI

Another track I had thought about using was this, however the track itself is a bit too intense and too fast for the reel. Timing it correctly and having the right flow would have meant speeding up the reel. This would only have compounded the issue of dizziness that I was on my way to combating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UmJaa3k1c4#t=66

The labels have been included here as well, as we are getting closed to a final presentable version.

This version of the reel also required some more work. For a start it is still too long and I needed to find some way to cut it down. I was also unhappy with several of the still, panned images. So this was something I needed to correct before It was presentable.

Final Layout and Music: Draft Version 2

Here we can see that I have begin to implement a lot of the ideas brought to my attention by feedback given on the previous iterations. I also began to look at selecting appropriate music for the reel. Looking through a lot of breakdowns and reels I knew I wanted to select something that was upbeat and added a sense of rhythm to my show reel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmh4TJ60_as

https://vimeo.com/80989764

The piece of music I chose in this draft was not intended to be the final piece. There was a few pieces of music I had in mind that I wanted to use for the final, however I had to go about obtaining permission to use them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ckxrV7R9vk

As a place holder piece however the track isn't too bad, although the lack of a percussive instrument within it means that it isn't adding much of a sense of rhythm to the video. Which is important as I wanted to use that to help carry a viewer through the video.

Layout wise I've also nailed down how to present the different types of model. For example I reckoned that for the organics models It wasn't too important to see the hi-polygon wire frame or model, and adding it would just take up much more space within the reel and make it last too long.

The presentation of the models has been improved as well, with most of them being posed in some sort of way and rendered out within V-Ray. As this is the point of the show reel, to show off the models the best that I can, and so, again based on feedback from a lecturer. I set about posing my models to make them more interesting.

Within this we can also see the indication of the title cards that will provide the links and contact information for my other folio websites.

In future drafts, I still needed to address the issue of people becoming dizzy when viewing it because of the constant spinning. There are also a few wire frames that do not stand out well just because of the way they are coloured, so this needed addressed as well.

And the background has also been changed to not be as similar to Maya, but a nice neutral shade that should fit reasonably well with all the models displayed on it.

Initial Layout and Compositional Ideas

This is a quick demonstration I through together of how I felt like I could work around the issue of it jumping between all the different maps, and cutting too quickly for the eye to rest on one image.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZpOepeARm8

This goes some-way to solving this problem. However there are still issues with it as pointed out by one of my lecturers. For a start there is no priority given to any of the image so the eye does not know where to look. Secondly, it does not solve the dizziness issue.

Other issues include the fact that the background is too similar to Maya's. Which would put a lot of people off, as they would spend a lot of their days staring at those colours regardless.

However I was very happy with the idea of having the different models all on the one page and this is the way that I chose to present my creations from here on. As I felt it provided a good looking, effective way to show the breakdown of images.

In deciding how to present my models I looked at other showreels and breakdowns.

http://digitaldomain.com/projects/261?list=9
http://digitaldomain.com/projects/286

These are two of the break-downs that are what initially inspired some of the choices I made in presenting my models. Such as showing the texture maps on the model as opposed to as a flat texture (Which can be seen on my folio site).

It also gave me the idea of layering the wire frames over the top of the actual model rather than having it as a separate turntable like this. Layering them over was just a matter of simple compositing.