Unit 2.1 Advanced and Experimental 3D Computer Animation Techniques – Project 1, week 6.
I am at the point where I have compiled the the environment models into a composition. At this stage I am focusing on positioning and scaling in contrast to each object, building and the character. I am attempting to imagine how the ‘skyscraper’ perspective/theme will work in this scene. I believe that more low, close-up camera shots would be appropriate, at least in the beginning, in order to show this perspective. I can always add high angle shots, looking down at the character when appropriate in the timetable.
Colour scheme all blue- meaning cold/ cool- new.
While green can mean new life, mostly affiliated with plan life, the color blue, and too much of the color can have connotations of melancholy and negativity (Bourn, 2011).
I have decided to try out ‘labeling’ certain objects and scenery with warmer and brighter/bolder colors symbolism familiarity with the character. This will also drawn attention to the main parts of the scenery, perhaps the areas which the character mostly visits or passes through. These will include the food bowl, the dog house doorway, dog door of the main residence.
Such as the lightest purple or lightest turquoise. Same as the character colouring- will be similar, either of these colours. and a white or tinted purple or turquoise white for the rest of the body. Two toned body.
There has been a revision in the storyboard. I need a better climax. I believe that my message/theme and how it translates to visual narrative should be emphasized. The way I will change the story is by adding a few shots at the end where the puppy character will peak out of the dog door after running inside the house. The puppy will look at the source of the noise and realize that it was only the gate banging against the fence post. The puppy will collapse/sigh or just lower her body out of relief.
Enviro Edits
I had to restart the textures multiple times as they did not seem to work. Even now I am forced to leave out the textures on the main residence model.
The environment model shapes, in terms of the exaggerated theme was altered. Instead of the
I realised that due to certain reasons the environment and composition lacked depth. The foreground and background colours should be considered. As in, the foreground should be darker and the background lighter. Therefore, the fence and plant containers could be lighter of a lighter colour. Additionally, beyond the immediate scene is empty – there doesn’t seem to be anything beyond the garden fence. I intend to add 2-3 layers of simple hills to give the composition more depth. These will be a very light colour, lightening in shade the further than are in the background.
Altered Exaggeration Theme Building Deformer
Restart Grass for Environment
I am not fond of the grass I have previously made. I believe that with more experimentation, I can make the grass look better. Through manipulation of the length and size I can change the style of the scene completely, rather than remaining stuck to the generic realistic looking grass. For example, see figure 2. (Taper is always at about 0.9).
Key: W=width. L=length. D=Density.
I find the above grass interesting. The short and spikey grass (figure 3) when not bent creates an interesting enhancement of my fearful theme. For instance, the shape of the grass could reflect on how the character always feels on edge. Or the long and thin grass (figure 4) could have connotations of wanting to hide. Figure 4 settings would also relate to the theme I include in the project which is ‘the character feels small and everything else is big’. Roughly just below chest height should look good.
Further Setting Tests:
Personal Feedback
I like figures 6 and 9. The grass in figure 6 is a suitable density and appearance, it does not fit the ‘tall and thin’ specification, however it could still work. The density doesn’t allow the cam POV to see the ground very much, which is much better than figures 7 and 8. In contrast to this, figure 9 is like not having any grass at all. I quite like this, since, it will create an interesting effect when the character moves through the grass. You can fully see the grass and the characters whole body, so none of my animation is hidden. Also, I should think about the length of the grass with the environment e.g. it should not cover the gate too much or obstruct the camera’s perspective.
Peer Feedback
- Chosen grass=figure 6. “it looks scary to go through big and thick grass like that, which will stay with your theme”- Ominous appearance.
- Figure 9 is too thin and like there isn’t any grass there at all, in a bad way.
- “Change the colour and ask me again.” I can’t give you proper feedback until you change the grass closer to how it will look.
Grass Colour
Looking at the scene from this perspective, the dog house should be changed. It was the only model that was able to have working textures on it, so I should change it to the same as the rest of the environment. Actually, this render is without the lighting, which does change the colour of the scene, so I will make another render to check the colouring of the grass and dog house.
Sample Final Grass Colour Rendered
Grass Animation
My intention was to create a simulation with the Xgen Animwire modifier. This would create realistic grass moving in the wind and by adding a collide, the character’s movements and the grass could interact. This is the reference that I used in my attempt: Maya Tutorial: Animate Xgen grass with nHair – YouTube
However, this time I was not able to generate the animwire map and create the hair system. The ptx. file never showed when it should and I couldn’t create a map to specify a focal area of animwires density. Also, the brush tool did not show, I am not sure if this was an error on my end or the system. Either way, I should consider having grass that will not move and/or will not interact with collision objects. With the collisions and animation applied, the animation would have looked much more advanced and aesthetically pleasing. It is unfortunate.
References
Bourn, J., 2011. Meaning of The Color Blue. [online] Bourn Creative. Available at: <https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-blue/> [Accessed 20 March 2022].