So... what happened with through the medium and why was it incomplete for the hand in date...?

The main problems were

• Time scheduling and anticipation
• Rendering
• External Circumstances (Qualia's animation)

The visual effects for debbie posed a number of different challenges, such as recreating a virtual set and creating some complicated multi layered effects.

To automate the distortion effects i researched in to python coding and developed a custom plug in for nuke that created the desired distortion effect

A series of plug ins created for this years projects

The NoiseWarp interface (the custom plug in used for the distortions)

Most of the shots were straightforward thanks to the plugins, but there were some tricky ones which required a combination of multiple layers and techniques to achieve. Here is a progression of one of the trickiest shots:

Original Greenscreen Footage

Background Plate

CGI Virtual Set Extension

Hand drawn animated roto matte

Combined Background with Virtual Set

Distortions (via cr_NoiseWarp custom plugin)

Color Corrections and Defocus

Final Shot

Rendering with Arnold on the University machines posed some troubles as both me and Jonathan were trying to bridge the gap between Cinema 4D and the Renderer itself.

After researching i came up with a plan that used Arnold's native frame format (an .ass file for each frame) and some software called Kick Ass GUI that would automatically take these ass files and render them, therefore bypassing the need for a 3D package and talking straight to the renderer.



The problem however was that both our machines and the university machines had trouble with licensing. As at the university the licensing server is just another PC in a room, if someone turns it off everyone's renders at the university would come out with a watermark and sometimes fail.

Animating the CGI was a very interesting and fun process, during which i started to see the other half of the film coming to life. Working closely with Lauren over many Skype sessions (as this was over easter) we refined the actions to the voices, starting from the facial animation as this was the most important, then focusing on the body, camera and any secondary animation (sometimes featuring secondary characters and extras)




One thing that i noticed that duplicated the ammount of time needed to animate the scenes was the cloth simulations and scenes with multiple objects, something which i will consider next time...

To try figuring out some of the techniques behind the effects for "D-Eb31e" me and Shahid shot a test using the GH4 and the Motorized slider.

The idea is that by repeating the same camera move, but shooting all of the elements separately on a green screen i can separately isolate and edit all of the elements individually, avoiding other more time consuming techniques such as rotoscoping and paint work.

The first step is to synchronize all of the shots and then key and merge all of the individual passes to reconstruct the shot as it should look if it was shot for real.




To distort the wall a "displacement map" is needed, basically a black and white image where the black areas will remain unaffected, and the white areas will be displaced from their original position. If the texture is animated this can produce a really nice effect.

To create this map i'm using Nuke's built in noise gizmo, as well as some other ones downloaded from nukepedia.com.


To properly add the effect to the moving wall the background layer was tracked and the position of that was applied to the displacement map. I also added a color grade gizmo using the displacement map as a mask in order to create an interesting glow near the areas where the distortion was most noticeable.


although it started to look cool, to add a bit more warp and distortion i added a spline morph gizmo to the layer, but before the displacement map. A spline warp allows you to draw outlines around the image and then warp those outlines.



I also added the spline warp to the background elements in order to make them bend also.


As final touches i added some color effects and camera shake, and also a color correction layer.


This is also an earlier test using Primatte instead of Keylight, and using other methods to warp the wall and objects:



Personally i like the first version's wall warping, but the keying process from the second version. The render times for both of these are considerably high so i will need to rethink some elements to lower the render times.

Lastly, through using Nuke Studio i discovered that it can automate the export and import process for the visual effects files. This could save almost 1-2 hours spent exporting the images and setting up the projects.

To better portray our style and will for the project, Lauren suggested that we create a trailer/pitch video, but instead of just filming ourselves we create it as a 2D animation.

To illustrate the cartoon characters and props i used Adobe Illustrator.

Initially i created a rough single layer sketch to get the drawing right, and then i would trace over that separating each layer ready for after effects.

This is our finished 74 page production pack about "Through the Medium":
 

And this is the presentation used in our pitch:

One very important thing that i notices in cartoons and computer animated films is the extreme expressions, that even though are physically impossible add to the comedy and exaggerate the movements.

I managed to find this video on fxguide that shows how extreme these poses can be, and how the laws of physics have to be bent for other elements to work (such as cloths)
I also found this interesting video on character design for cartoon character from an upcoming film.

After looking at examples during our group tutorial with Kathleen, we started preparing our group production folder.

The first thing we also looked at was creating a logo for our film. so that we could also use this across the printed production folder.




After going through lots of tests and ideas and guidance from Lauren, we designed this final logo that we believe incorporates both the characters and the mediums, and is clean and simple:

With the logo done, we've started layouting the production folder, using the logo and its colours. We have come up with a rough table of contents and are gathering all the necessary information for completing the production folder.

During our second camera workshop we had a more in-depth look at the C300 and the URSA, including their respective lens kit, matte box and follow focus, alongside the ronford heavy duty tripod and the TVLogic monitor.

After that i added another skin material to the rest of the body to match the face material.


I Then continued to extrude to create the hands and fingers:

Rigging:

To start off the rigging process, i used Cinema 4D's Character Object, a system that allows a generic rig to be modified to fit the model, this works by adding key points to the model:






Facial Expressions with Morph Targets:
Since we wanted the character's facial expressions to be more expressive and stylized, beyond the boundaries of a conventional rig,  i decided to use morph targets. Copies of the main model are made, modified with the different expressions and those expressions are morphed between each other. I also used the "doodle tool" to draw over the viewport to get a guide for modeling the expressions. This also made the expressions feel more cartoony.


Rig tests:
The following tests were made to test out the current version of the rig and spot any problems that needed to be fixed:

After getting our script ready, i broke it down in to a shot list


This shot list is to assist us throughout the production, such as planning shot times and production duration.

One of the main things this shot list was made for was to get storyboards created, these will later help us with animatics and art direction.

This shot list was handed out to Katherine and Mollie to storyboard. Katherine did the line drawings and mollie is currently doing the final coloured versions.


For Mollie's version of the final storyboards i scanned in the line drawings and scaled them up slightly and reprinted them on thick paper. Mollie then will draw over these:

As we had already figured out most of our schedule, i booked the following rooms and dates for our production:

During our first tutorial with Kathleen we discussed several elements about our projects.

One of the more technical questions i had from the beginning was "Maya or Cinema4D".
Maya is an industry standard supported by the university, but i feel uncomfortable in it, and also

After speaking and discussing with John Hunn, an an animation tutor technician at uca, the benefits of both were outlined:

Maya is an industry standard and the main reason it is supported at universities is because it is free for educational use. However Cinema 4D is also supported by the industry, not as much as Maya.

I was advised that if i feel comfortable with Cinema 4D and can work with it then there is no problem with using it. However we need to keep in contact to see if things work.

Uni also has a dedicated render farm running "Arnold", an industry standard renderer. Arnold is supported by both Maya and Cinema4D, and i've downloaded a personal learning version to test it out. The only limitation is that my renders will have a watermark, therefore i need to see if the project files that i create at home can be rendered at uni.

Also as a backup, if uni can't render our project, i'm thinking of setting up a render farm at home using regular computers.

The only problem i've had with Arnold so far is that it only works with it's own materials and lights, therefore there is a bit of a learning curve since they are different from the standard materials and lights. Also they look different, so that is another thing to consider.

Left: Cinema4D's Standard Renderer - Right: Arnold Renderer

The skin material works well, although i still need to figure out how to overlay a texture onto it. Also the hair needs more research and shadows need to be figured out. I feel as if with the arnold renderer the skin is too shiny, however that might be due to the settings.

Lastly i will try sometime soon to send a test scene to the uni machines so see if any problems pop up.