knower's blog

Mudbox and Rman 4 Maya problems...

knower — 2009-08-11T11:30:17+01:00

Pre prduction images: the room

knower — 2008-06-22T17:52:27+01:00

Following there are some drawings I did for the room.
Let's start with the archi-stuff: the top view with all sizes and a perspective drawing to check room and props spaces.

The walls will have something like this, but of course 3D and animated:

Here there are some props drawings. I had to make a huge research on real props for the starting years of 1900, when the short film takes place.

The Metamorphosis

knower — 2008-06-22T14:51:52+01:00

The Metamorphosis...what's this ?
Ok, this is the title of my 3D short film (and my thesis for the Art Academy). Of course the short is a free interpretation of Franz Kafka's book wich I have always loved, since the first time i read it when I was about 14.
I have always dreamed to make a 3D short based on the novel, and finally, after a lot of troubles, it seems I am close to it.

I am actually working with 2 friends of mine: Giorgio Caruso, a young writer, and Paolo Cancello, a great artist.
I must say when you want to do something yours, it is really hard to find people to work with you without money. Many will say: "Yes! What a great thing! Let's do it!" but after some time they won't help you anymore, they will disappear or simply they will look uninterested. You can't expect much from this kind of people, they can't understand how much important is for you what you are trying to do. And to make a short film, and to make it good, you have to spend time, and time means money...

The problem is I didn't want to make it alone. I wanted people with different skills, I want to make a good film, not just my film. I wanted someone to draw the storyboard, someone to correct my script, to check my ideas. But too many yes...and little work, so starting and stopping the production. After a while, I stopped looking for help, I started makeing everything by myself, script, drawing, sculptures, 3D and so on trying to get some money away to pay some people to work at the short.

One day Giorgio called me after some time and asked me what I was doing. I talked about my short film, and we started talking about it. Finally he liked the idea so much that in some days he wrote the full script. It is just 4 pages, is a short film not a full movie, but those 4 pages were really important for me: after a lot of yes... I had a script, a full one, written by a writer, as I wanted.
As for Paolo, the artist behind the storyboard, the character design and the one that helped me improving the general look, well he is not only a friend, but also a colleague. We worked toghether for a long time and I have always liked his drawings and his ideas. So I talked about the film, and I also had the script to show him. So he liked the idea a lot, he is a Kafka fan, too and so he promised me to work on the drawings I needed, storyboard included.

Now the storyboard is finished, and it works !
Actually we are making the story-reel, by editing the scanned storyboard.
I think at the end of the next week we'll be ready to start the animatic (a 3D pre-visualization to check action and time).

This section will be updated according to the progress we will make.
Enjoy !

Lighting

knower — 2008-06-09T12:37:52+01:00

Avoid brith spots or bright colourful patches awawy from the main subject.
They will distract the eye.

Composition

knower — 2008-06-08T20:24:57+01:00

Space division and depth

The aim in composition is to produce something that will appeal to others, so you have to get theri attention, to hold their attention and then make them want more.

Be sure not to leave empty spaces around main subjects.

Analize the shot through silhouette. The shot must communicate the action perfectly.

Try not to use cameras aligned to world axis; is more interesting to use perspective lines of the 3D world.
2 and 3 point perspective gives a lot more illusion of depth.
Overlapping gives more depth. Volume creates depth. Dof creates depth. Image requires depth...did you know ?

Avoid horizons, riverbanks, or strong horizontal lines in the centre of a composition: this brak the photo into two pictures and causes some conflicts in the viewer about which half is more important.
The same is for vertical lines. Don't use strong verticals near the midlle of a scene it this is not your wanted effect.

Pay attention to the rule of third; remember that you are in a 3D world so you can extend the concept to the 3rd dimension.

A useful thing to enrich a picture is to use framing. You can use branches, trees or everything that cut a space, to block out or fill boring areas of the picture. Moreover, this will improve the three dimensional effect. Be sure not to use too strong a framing, because the view must always go onto the subject.
To improve the composition you can compose the picture diagonally (not when you have long straight elements, like the horizon or a vertical wall). If you compose from bottom-left to top-right, then you'll have a more static picture. If you compose from bottom-right to top-left, more dynamic effects is achieved.
About diagonal composition, you can use something leading into the object from a bottom corner; it can be a road or even a series of trees or everything that guides the eye where you want. As the framing, those elements must not be dominant or the subject won't be the subject :)

Avoid large blank areas like clear blue sky, or boring blank ground. Try to have something filling them, like a branch or cloud or something that overlaps on it.
You can use different camera angle to eliminate the sky or ground portion as needed.

About symmetrical composition...well, avoid them unless it is at the base of the idea behind the picture.
If you have strong patterns you can break them with a secondary element that cmplements with it in colors or form. Again, remember this it not the main subject so you have not to make it too strong. A "distraction braker" gives the picture richness and the viewer will like to explore the image deeper.

A nice trick: it seems nice to use an odd number of objects in a photo. Three flowers looks better than two or four. This can look strange...but try it !
Now, this will look even stranger...You can add a third element to create a "story" in the picture. This will let the viewer think about what's happening. An example can be a flower with a leaf or two. You could frame it's nice form or colors, but you could improve the picture by adding a bee or a butterfly as the third element.

Color and forms

Lighter values seems nearer and attract more the eye.
Warm colors feel nearer then cold.
Use similar colors or in high contrast (complementary rule).
Everything should be balanced, if you have a great luminous color, this should be balanced wiht a low one.
The same is for really saturated colors; they should be balanced with low saturated ones.
A picture results equilibrated if the summary of all the tones give us a medium grey.

Remember that elements close to each other and similar visually are perceived in a single shape

Make sure the subject doesn't merge into the background due to similar colours or textures.
This can be avoided using different light angles, or camera positioning or depth of field.

Important thing: fill the frame. The subject should be as large as possible. This forces the viewer to see what the photo is about eliminating the natural instinct of the eyes to go around the picter (if this happens your composition is wrong, anyway :)).
The picture should be balanced; the top of the image shouldn't look heavier than the bottom, the same for the sides. Remember that composition is not only space, is also colors. So the "heaviness" of the picture can be due to hard shadows, es example.