Lights, Camera, Action !
Lighting and camera work was in a way the most basic skill wise but the most complex experimental wise. It took a number of tutorials before i understood the basic idea of studio lights setup, previous projects either had no light or just one photometric light and no real experimentation was needed, intensity might've been experimented with but that was the height of it unfortunately, so this was a massive learning curve on very little time.
As you can see through the 50 plus examples i've given on my lighting work i experimented with the intensity, reflected lights, ambient lights, angle and attenuation.
It took about a week at least of fine tuning the lighting, i'm very proud of the outcome, it took alot of work and i could've stopped after a day or so experimenting as the results are better than previous work but the point of this project was to professional quality for both the client and my final year portfolio. I would've liked a warm summer glow however it was so difficult to achieve the realistic old time look i did achieve so i'm happy enough with the result. it wasn't exactly like my intention but it really feels long ago and hallow thanks to the lighting. it really improved the final look. took it from basic student to something id be extremely happy and confident putting in my professional portfolio.
Problem solving is always a fun part of 3Ds Max, A problem i found regularly when dealing with non modelling issues or very small scale modelling was frequent programme crashes. thats 3ds max in a nutshell.
I fixed this my scaling way up in small detail modelling ad then once finished scaling WAY WAY down to the appropriate size, and if i could guess the appropriate size i built a demo 6ft person for rigging and used that as a measurement reference. For cameras and lighting i hid or deleted anything not needed and when that wasn't good enough i made a similar 4 walled room with similar window and fixtures and then copy and pasted those lights and cameras attributes to my actual scene then fine tuned it from there.
I've also decided unless i land a job where an employer is very forthcoming with technology funding, i may have to upgrade my old bessy of a computer. Brilliant for any program under the sun, she was a top spec master piece not a year ago.... this year however she struggled rendering playblasts in less than 15 minutes at a time, which was very time consuming when doing camera work. It got to the point i had to prioritise finishing less than expected but well, or have unfinished camera work and possibly lighting by including my original storyboard starting from the chimney down the building across the bike rack used at the time and through the front door, swing to the left and then what i actually finished, down that hall through the admin doors and through to the commandants office. It was only when i had finished rendering (2 days per 5 seconds! not an exaggeration, i have never needed more than a night to render anything!) i realised parts i missed, like 'authorised personell only' on the doors, the fire exit sign, the directions and stairs signs, the wall decor in his room, the curtains i never finished and electric sockets behind his table. None of these things matter in the grand scheme or to the audience but they matter to me as it was what i had planned and this entire thing feels unfinished and although alot of care attention and time went into everything, i feel it just isn't enough personally for what i had wanted out of the project. It is what the client wants but not what i had wanted. Future employers wont see it, no one at the beach hill museum will see it but for myself as an artist, i see it.
And there should always be a level of self criticism and accountability but there shouldn't be regrets. There should be recognised factors you wish t work on in future but the project should still feel finished in my opinion. whereas this project was obviously more than i had anticipated, and i wouldn't change any of my techniques or skills, but i would work on my time management more. i wish i had moved along the modelling so much quicker than i had. i enjoyed that i had a fleshed out plan with influences etc from the discover stages and i think my skills greatly improved this year as seen in the develop and deliver stages but i feel the define (initial 3d work) shouldn't have taken as long as it did and it created a domino effect and for me personally dampened the final outcome for myself.
I tried improving my outlook near the end while one computer rendered i used a separate computer to work on a HDRI image and experiment with an idea i had and for the sake of organised chronological order i will discuss it all in the next post.
As you can see through the 50 plus examples i've given on my lighting work i experimented with the intensity, reflected lights, ambient lights, angle and attenuation.
It took about a week at least of fine tuning the lighting, i'm very proud of the outcome, it took alot of work and i could've stopped after a day or so experimenting as the results are better than previous work but the point of this project was to professional quality for both the client and my final year portfolio. I would've liked a warm summer glow however it was so difficult to achieve the realistic old time look i did achieve so i'm happy enough with the result. it wasn't exactly like my intention but it really feels long ago and hallow thanks to the lighting. it really improved the final look. took it from basic student to something id be extremely happy and confident putting in my professional portfolio.
Problem solving is always a fun part of 3Ds Max, A problem i found regularly when dealing with non modelling issues or very small scale modelling was frequent programme crashes. thats 3ds max in a nutshell.
I fixed this my scaling way up in small detail modelling ad then once finished scaling WAY WAY down to the appropriate size, and if i could guess the appropriate size i built a demo 6ft person for rigging and used that as a measurement reference. For cameras and lighting i hid or deleted anything not needed and when that wasn't good enough i made a similar 4 walled room with similar window and fixtures and then copy and pasted those lights and cameras attributes to my actual scene then fine tuned it from there.
I've also decided unless i land a job where an employer is very forthcoming with technology funding, i may have to upgrade my old bessy of a computer. Brilliant for any program under the sun, she was a top spec master piece not a year ago.... this year however she struggled rendering playblasts in less than 15 minutes at a time, which was very time consuming when doing camera work. It got to the point i had to prioritise finishing less than expected but well, or have unfinished camera work and possibly lighting by including my original storyboard starting from the chimney down the building across the bike rack used at the time and through the front door, swing to the left and then what i actually finished, down that hall through the admin doors and through to the commandants office. It was only when i had finished rendering (2 days per 5 seconds! not an exaggeration, i have never needed more than a night to render anything!) i realised parts i missed, like 'authorised personell only' on the doors, the fire exit sign, the directions and stairs signs, the wall decor in his room, the curtains i never finished and electric sockets behind his table. None of these things matter in the grand scheme or to the audience but they matter to me as it was what i had planned and this entire thing feels unfinished and although alot of care attention and time went into everything, i feel it just isn't enough personally for what i had wanted out of the project. It is what the client wants but not what i had wanted. Future employers wont see it, no one at the beach hill museum will see it but for myself as an artist, i see it.
And there should always be a level of self criticism and accountability but there shouldn't be regrets. There should be recognised factors you wish t work on in future but the project should still feel finished in my opinion. whereas this project was obviously more than i had anticipated, and i wouldn't change any of my techniques or skills, but i would work on my time management more. i wish i had moved along the modelling so much quicker than i had. i enjoyed that i had a fleshed out plan with influences etc from the discover stages and i think my skills greatly improved this year as seen in the develop and deliver stages but i feel the define (initial 3d work) shouldn't have taken as long as it did and it created a domino effect and for me personally dampened the final outcome for myself.
I tried improving my outlook near the end while one computer rendered i used a separate computer to work on a HDRI image and experiment with an idea i had and for the sake of organised chronological order i will discuss it all in the next post.
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