Lighting the Way
Over all camera / cinematic feel for swooping camera
**Day 1**
We connected all the PXR textures for the sushi bike and then did the same to the scene itself. We deviated a little from the pre-production in terms of lighting, instead of using white and blue lights on the building, we opted to use warm white (slightly yellow) which works much better in terms of a believable 3Dscape of a neon dystopian city. We then created the textures that were decided to be different from the 'in-house' textures and applied these as well. We then started to tweak the camera, as the time that we've been given is a bit more than we expected, allowing us to create an even slower pan.
We connected all the PXR textures for the sushi bike and then did the same to the scene itself. We deviated a little from the pre-production in terms of lighting, instead of using white and blue lights on the building, we opted to use warm white (slightly yellow) which works much better in terms of a believable 3Dscape of a neon dystopian city. We then created the textures that were decided to be different from the 'in-house' textures and applied these as well. We then started to tweak the camera, as the time that we've been given is a bit more than we expected, allowing us to create an even slower pan.
**Day 2**
Today was spent mostly cleaning up the Maya scene by naming the lights groups etc. And adding the AOVs (including learning how to add z pass aka depth of field) and then changing the textures for the Sushi-bike to make it much more grungy and less saturated because we received some feedback and upon reflection it stood out from the environment quite a large amount. The displacement map and normal maps were added to the ground texture which brought it much more to life. The team also spent some of this time helping each other, giving feedback on how to approach certain scenarios (written in feedback given).
Today was spent mostly cleaning up the Maya scene by naming the lights groups etc. And adding the AOVs (including learning how to add z pass aka depth of field) and then changing the textures for the Sushi-bike to make it much more grungy and less saturated because we received some feedback and upon reflection it stood out from the environment quite a large amount. The displacement map and normal maps were added to the ground texture which brought it much more to life. The team also spent some of this time helping each other, giving feedback on how to approach certain scenarios (written in feedback given).
**Day 3**
Today the team received the naming convention for files, and unfortunately had to retroactively rename files because instead of being the following layout
Today the team received the naming convention for files, and unfortunately had to retroactively rename files because instead of being the following layout
file_specular_sushiBike
pxr_sushiBike
pxr_sushiBike
They were as follows
sushiBike_specular_file
pxr_sushiBike_mat
pxr_sushiBike_mat
So the whole project was combed over and files and materials as well as groups and lights were renamed to a proper convention. After this the team received some feedback to reshape the window lights (written in feedback given). Then the team sought to plug in the texture files of the pxr materials into the lamberts that pxr shaders automatically generate. This was done so that the scene could be seen in the view port as well as the renderview which will make for a much nicer playblast when it comes to the cinematography. Then the team finally created some renders. 3 of which they felt were good, but one could use some work as it contained some strange noise, so feedback will be sought after to see if there is a way to fix this.
**Day 4**
Today was spent receiving feedback and making those changes. Those changes were the tyre shininess and the camera smoothness. As well as some colouring issues. Also applying displacement maps to the brick walls. The lighting was toned down to be more realistic. There was some extreme problem solving put into two cases of the displacement maps. One would not show because the displacement shader does not support two textures being placed on one geometry. In order to get around this, the building texture was changed to have the windows on it, by doing this we were able to render the displacement map on building01. The other displacement problem that was encountered was the wallZ. This had small holes in it when displaced, this was fixed by duplicating the material, disconnecting the displacement map on the second material, duplicating the mesh and then moving it back and applying the material. This way the second mesh acts as a light blocker. The team felt this was the best method as the only other way would increase the polycount a fair amount. Renders will begin again, and feedback sought after tomorrow.
Today was spent receiving feedback and making those changes. Those changes were the tyre shininess and the camera smoothness. As well as some colouring issues. Also applying displacement maps to the brick walls. The lighting was toned down to be more realistic. There was some extreme problem solving put into two cases of the displacement maps. One would not show because the displacement shader does not support two textures being placed on one geometry. In order to get around this, the building texture was changed to have the windows on it, by doing this we were able to render the displacement map on building01. The other displacement problem that was encountered was the wallZ. This had small holes in it when displaced, this was fixed by duplicating the material, disconnecting the displacement map on the second material, duplicating the mesh and then moving it back and applying the material. This way the second mesh acts as a light blocker. The team felt this was the best method as the only other way would increase the polycount a fair amount. Renders will begin again, and feedback sought after tomorrow.
**Day 5**
Today was used to composite the renders and seek feedback. The target audience reacted positively to the renders and the composite. When the ID pass was added to after effects it didn't quite work as expected. So instead the render was re-rendered with the pxr_default instead of pxr_pathtrace with only the ID pass and saved as a png which allowed the team to include it in the after effects file allowing advanced compositing techniques. Then paper work was filled out for future use from the discoveries of this project and the files handed in.
Today was used to composite the renders and seek feedback. The target audience reacted positively to the renders and the composite. When the ID pass was added to after effects it didn't quite work as expected. So instead the render was re-rendered with the pxr_default instead of pxr_pathtrace with only the ID pass and saved as a png which allowed the team to include it in the after effects file allowing advanced compositing techniques. Then paper work was filled out for future use from the discoveries of this project and the files handed in.
Pre Production
Post Production
