Rendering settings

As it needs to be imported into the vfx software, our usual rendering settings and camera settings need to be adjusted.

• The first step is to change the focal length of the camera to the same focal length as when we shot the actual green screen video. After the change the lens needs to be adjusted and then rendered.

• The second step is to change the rendering settings, we use the exr format to export and turn on the depth channel and sRGB channel. This format can be used by effects software to match character movement.

• The exr format, an open standard high dynamic range image format, is widely used in computer graphics for storing image data, but can also store some data required for post-compositional processing.

Rendering process

A portion of the footage was rendered using the learned deadline, and the render farm brought a very big help, with over 50 machines rendering at the same time, the rendering could be done in about an hour.

However, shots containing particles could not be rendered using the render farm and I rendered them using my own computer and learned desktop machines.

Scene integration

Input water effects into the scene

The light was too dark to illuminate the ripple shapes, so I changed the layout of the lights to show the water better. A long, thin beam of light was shone parallel to the ground on the water, and the overall light was lowered.

The blue colour is the effect of the light shining on the surface of the water. The ripples on the surface of the water cannot be seen until the light is applied.

Place the particle effects that surround the brain into the scene.

The special effects team created the particle effects and I composited the effects into the 3D scene, changing the material of the brain in this shot and relocating the lighting to achieve a better look.

When importing the particles for the first time, I imported the particles directly into the finished scene file in maya format. Some problems arose: for example, the particles were missing and did not show up when rendering.

The top circle is the particles and the bottom are some line like particles, made by the vfx team member.

Several different decals were created for the brain, realistic human brain texture, and metallic texture. The metallic texture allows the structure itself to be reflected in dim light through the faintest of light, giving a better picture.

How to batch link textures to a new file after changing the file location?

As the laptop does not import particle files properly. I ended up using the school’s desktop computer. I tried to import the scene file into the particle file, which would result in the loss of the texture material.

The mapping of scenes containing normals, basic colours, depths, reflections etc. is a very efficient way to save a lot of time by specifying them in bulk and to avoid specifying the wrong mapping.

Open the path to windows→General Editors→Files Path Editor, click Browse, then click Repath to show that all mapping has been reassigned.

Assignment Submission Requirements

• A work in progress film. (3-5 min).

• A final rendered moving image of the work produced in a film format.

• A Hero Image for the project.

• Sketches, images as well as written analyses and reflections.

Scene integration

The lab is floating in the air and the floor of the lab is transparent and overlooks the whole city. so In order to keep the lab dimly lit while illuminating the city below, I carried out some experiments and this is how the tests were carried out

1 Try importing the model of the city scene into the scien lab scene, the city scene is too large which requiring very bright lighting that would bringing too much impact the lighting of the lab scene.

2 Try to render a top view map of the city scene. Make a plane below the lab scene and paste the city scene on it.

3 Gave a parallel area that the light could not illuminate.

4 Try lighting around the perimeter of the city scene. The light is too bright and affects the lab scene.

5 Used a spherical light, the light was too bright.

6 Use a realistic sky light that not only imitates the light of the sunset to illuminate the city, but also maintains the original light of the lab scene well.

Screenshot of the process of lighting.

Video Editing

I made a stream of consciousness video by edited using previously recorded videos .This video is designed to show the protagonist traversing numbers and codes to a utopian reality

At the bottom of the video are two video clips of me in the UK, One from a trip to Kew Gardens and the other from the London Eye fireworks display in the New Year. I then adjusted the channels and tones etc to combine the video with a glitch art effect.

The relationship between the world of algorithms and code and the real world is subtle and complex, they are not completely opposed to each other, sometimes people need a virtual world but they should not lose sight of the beauty of the real world by indulging in it.

For the last part I let the light in the frame go white so as to take over to the next shot.

Frameless

This week we visited frameless, an exhibition with very interesting ideas and a very relaxing and immersive exhibition. Using modern technology to present timeless classic paintings, each gallery has a different theme, different style and presentation, a comprehensive artwork that combines the senses of sight and sound and interaction. Providing a place for people to rest, the

• The entire venue is divided into four galleries

The exhibition combines projections and mirrors, and features a number of famous paintings such as The Persistence of memory, and The Dawn of Venus.

There is advanced motion tracking technology that allows for more interaction with the paintings, and works by painters such as Van Gogh, Monet, Robert and Delaunay appear.

Preview video ＆ Workflow:

• 3D construction of the preview video, animation in the scene with geometry instead of the main character.

• Rendering and exporting the preview video, exporting the camera file in fbx format to the visual effects team for further processing

• Keying the green screen characters and matching them to the scene through VFX techniques

Here I used a lot of what I learned in the course, such as making the blocking first and then gradually making the details

Preview animation of the main character falling into the water

The four walls of the scene are mirrored, I built a 3D draft to test the effect of different lights in the scene

The red squares represent the characters, this is the second adjustment to the animation of the protagonist falling into the water, the protagonist should first be stationary on the ground and suddenly the ground melts and the protagonist falls.

3D Tests:

This week I made some test of the lighting in a room with a mirrored surface.Repeated adjustment of lighting and textures.

Change the fog, diffusion, exposure, diffuse reflection of the light.
Rendering after changing the degree of reflection and transparency of the specular surface.

The red cube in the middle is used to see the mirror reflection effect on the four walls.In this scene I initially tried a frosted lens material and could see that the reflections on the wall were not completely reflective but with a certain roughness and relatively blurred. For the lighting I tried the area light, which needs further adjustment.

In the short film there is a shot of the lights flashing, where I have created keyframes for the lights. This is the effect of the lab in the dim light of the preview.

This is a comparison of a laboratory in different light. Here I have moved the red geometry underneath the floor, because the floor is transparent and melts into water in the film, and because it is also possible to see through it to the tall buildings and towns below (the laboratory is in the sky), so I have analysed the floor as a transparent, reflective material. And not completely transparent, because during the tests it was found that the light from the city below would penetrate the completely transparent floor and thus affect the light in the laboratory itself.

Changed the diffusion and exposure of the light to create a mysterious atmosphere with fog.

Some attempts to change the colour of the light.

Input the model into the created scene to test it.

Character design

The protagonist will be a human silhouette, inspired by the thermogram. The protagonist’s brain is trapped in a laboratory, but the container holding her brain malfunctions and the protagonist’s spirit falls from the airborne laboratory to the lower utopian world. Understanding and being exposed to the utopian world, the protagonist’s spirit becomes enriched and he eventually returns to the laboratory to stand in front of his own brain and think and reflect.

I made a sketch of the main character

Inspiration:

When people receive different emotions, their body temperature changes, in such a way that it shows a unique soul leaving the anti-utopian world to see and feel in the real real world, and the protagonist’s soul changing after contact with real humans. The protagonist is originally pure white and becomes coloured after contact with the Utopians.

Production methods:

We designed the movement of the characters in advance, then shot realistic cha, racter movements through green screens and added materials to the characters using visual effects.

Green Screen Performance

• In order to create flat characters using vfx technology, we have to perform and shoot through a green screen.

I performed the following shots in the final film ：2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13

What specifics do I need to perform for each shot:

2: Video of scientific researchers walking around the lab and me walking in front of a green screen.

5: The most challenging would have to be when the protagonist falls from a high laboratory, drops to the ground and then starts to observe the world.

7: Coming into a new world, walking in strange streets, bumping into strangers, being affected by utopians.

9: The protagonist walks into a room where a couple is watching a movie. The protagonist observes the surroundings and the cozy room makes the protagonist yearn for the life of Utopia even more.

11: The protagonist sees a movie screen, a light appears in the middle of the movie and the protagonist is pulled in

13: The protagonist returns to the laboratory and stands in front of his own brain

This week we learnt how to put the scanned model into the 3D software

And we creat our own Unique MetaHuman In Minutes. Turn our Own Scan Or Model Into MetaHuman w/ New Plugin for UE5

Various new modelling techniques were learnt in the process of making the models. For example the use of sweep mesh for wires.
Making brains through symmetry and the iron grid for the roof.

Using basic geometry to build, the inset edge loop tool learned in class can be used to create mechanical twists and turns very quickly, and then mirror symmetry can be used to enrich the structure of the machine.

Next I expand the uv for the container model and draw the mapping.

A number of difficulties were resolved in the process:

• 1.How to make a mirror-reflective glass material？

I initially tried using the Opacity channel in the sbstance painter to change the transparency of the material sphere, but this had the effect of no light refraction or reflection.

I then used the technique of making metal to try to make a transparent metal so that there would be some reflection, but it didn’t work as expected.

The final method used to create the mirror material was to combine the transparent material method, first changing the glass cover into a reflective mirror and then making the mirror material translucent. This allows the glass cover to be transparent and at the same time reflect the surrounding light.

• 2.How to make luminous material？

At first I tried to use the metallic material sphere in Substance Painter to make the material glow by adjusting the values, but this did not work. I then worked directly with the Arnold material in Maya, changing the exposure of the standard material to create a glowing effect.

• 3.How to reflect the texture of the brain in a dimly lit scene？

I have created a variety of materials for the brain, and the metallic textures are better suited to the light of the actual scene than the meat textures that mimic the real brain, which are more in keeping with the sci-fi world. The low reflectivity of the meat texture makes it difficult to reflect the texture and structure of the brain in a dimly lit scene, whereas the metallic texture combined with the lighting can show the structure of the brain.

Tate Art Museum

Tate Modern’s collection of 20th century modern art, with works by Picasso, Matisse, Andivajo, Mondrian and Dali, does not display its artworks in a traditional chronological manner, but instead divides them into four main categories: History-Memory-Society, Nudes-Action-Bodies, Landscapes-Materials-Environment, and Still Life-Physical Objects-Real Life. This display shows artworks created around the same theme in the same space and time and in different eras.

• Also I Scanning artwork through Luma to generate 3D models

What are Avatars?
The avatar represents this user.

What is your PFP?
We showed our avatars together and I used a WeChat avatar 🙂

What is the role of avatars in digital spaces?
Avatars can reveal aspects of people’s preferences, personalities, etc.

• In class，we wrote about the difficulties we had in working in groups. It is a challenge to make short films in a uniform style. On the one hand, everyone likes different styles so we need to be well coordinated, on the other hand, the 3D built scenes and the 2D flat characters need to be combined and careful consideration has to be given when making the models and materials for the scenes.

Brief summary：

• During the week our group decided on a division of labour and implemented it.

Laboratory scene design and modelling

Design concept

• A sci-fi, dark and cool room with various experimental equipment, an anti-utopian biochemistry lab, the frameless exhibition hall inspired me to try to design the four walls of the lab as mirrors to give the space a feeling of infinite extension.

• It is also inspired by the Japanese capsule flat design, where people maintain basic living in extremely cramped places in order to save space, further reminiscent of one of the Black Mirror episodes where everyone lives in a virtual world, constantly participating in talent shows to create entertainment value dishes to survive. Both are reflections on the phenomenon of over pursuing virtual worlds at the expense of real life.

Models

Study of the fabrication of wires

• There are two ways to create a wire:

1.Make a set of curves and then click on sweep mesh.

2. First create a line, then create a circular piece, the diameter of which will be the diameter of the pipe, align the centre of the piece with the end of the line and click on the wire mesh from curve in the wire tool.

• Learning to create light atmospheres, I wanted to create blue-green tones, referring to the images on the moodboard, and first built a 3D draft to experiment with different lightings.

Several different types of lighting were used here

1. Top light

2. Hidden lights at the bottom of each container

3. lights parallel to the video line, on the left and right side of the subject, towards the subject

And changed the material of the brain container to transparent, so that we can preview the effect of the light passing through the container

• We invited teammate from special effects to join our group in a collaborative meeting and decided choice the theme “Utopia and dystopia”.

• We are going to produce a short film combining visual effects, glitch art and green screen filming.

This week we worked together to define the plot of the short film, inspired by the Matrix and love, death, robots.

• A distinction between anti-utopia and utopia through the virtual world and the real world.

Storyline: In an anti-utopian world where humans have lost their bodies and their brains are trapped in containers, unable to experience life in a real way, and the antithesis is to experience the good in real life.

• The initial idea of a utopian world: the happiness in everyday life, such as taking a bite of pizza, calling friends and laughing together, a couple meeting and hugging.

(Here we will need special effects to create the characters: e.g. the characters get in a good mood their body temperature rises, their body colour changes to warm tones, etc.)

• This part of the scene is modelled, we will use green screen and act out the required movements, then the special effects will be created by a team of special effects professionals.

• During the week we discussed with sara the ideas and progress of the group. Sara gave us great advice!

For example, to consider how to combine 3D with the required 2D effects, and provided us with great references for this. Sarah also helped us with some technical issues. For example, the issue of booking the green screen classroom

In this course we learnt what a collaborative project is and identified what kind of work needs to be submitted. We saw a lot of work from previous collaborative projects and learned about the workflow of different disciplines, which not only broadened my horizons but also gave me inspiration for my choice of topic.

Among the following topics I was interested in ‘a feeling moment’.

The reason why I am interested in this subject is that there are many unforgettable moments in life. Feeling happy moments and feeling sad moments are all part of life. Sometimes I wish time would stop at a beautiful moment. I would like to create a series of scenes where people are happy in their lives and it would be great to work with a visual effects professional.:)