United3dArtists Archive

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 03 Nov 2015, 02:06

Well.. how about that.. a "do what you were doing November 1st" competition. I could do this one.

I was going to work on my animation study project that I had for the last competition - but in the end.. I worked hard on some paid work.

Lately I've spend the past few weeks with my client working on a rather ambitious yet possible music video animation for an electronic tune he made. The same DJ who hired me for the wings wanted to do this, but with a better budget - which is nice.

I then started immediately with him on scripts, on shotscripts and concepts to then start an Animatic soon, then I got my talented illustrator who has worked with me on a project that didin't pay at all (but deliciously worked well with me and the storyboard/animatic/conceptualization) to help me. He has made a bunch of cool characters, and now I'm in the process of modeling them. I have to finish all of the female characters (mainly dancers) tonight.

The little guy is the protagonist. The Big guy is the secondary protagonist.

I will do this project modeled in trueSpace and Blender (So far i've used Blender for some Retopo from a DAZ 3D body) and the rest was done in trueSpace - with complimentary very heavily modified hands and feet and lips and shoes.

I was a bit silly and said I could take 1 hour per person, but my average is 3 to 4 hours per person.

After trying to model with the viewport in Blender... I went back to trueSpace and breathed a breath of fresh air. The fact I could make some objects transparent, wireframed, hidden line wireframes, etc, colored and not all in the same viewport with shadows and realtime lights really really was... nice.

So this project is actually a 2D animation, with 2D backgound and 2D linear animation at 3 to 15 frames a second - but done with 3D referenced backgrounds and 3D characters and composition tricks.

I hope to deliver or finish this project by December 15th - somewhat super ambitious. I will try get another computer to do it here in my house so I have an extra hand - whom I hope I can pay with the budget I have.

So enjoy my first modeling iterations!

Scale Chart:

jamesmc · Post by **jamesmc** » 03 Nov 2015, 03:18

Love the characters and their presentation...

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 04 Nov 2015, 02:18

Hehe, thanks.

Glad you like it. Here are two more to the family that I did between yesterday and today.

Alan, Ryoker, Cynthia, Maggie, and Amelia, can you guess which is which?

Cellulo · Post by **Cellulo** » 04 Nov 2015, 08:17

Cool project Draise.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 10 Nov 2015, 01:48

Here are some updates!

Terrains has been conceptualized and I spent maybe 5 hours sculpting it. Man, sculpting in Blender really makes time fly by! Love it. I got to about a million polygons. My Mach Studio Pro renderer maxes out at a million polygons per object, so I will have to dice and slice this terrain up if I want to keep adding detail.

I also finished all the characters, including some stock characters to swap and change to create an illustrated crowd.

Lots of work! And lots more.

Fortunately I will be able to get anothe computer soon, or 3.

Steinie · Post by **Steinie** » 13 Nov 2015, 15:25

Why does this look like a version of "Jesus Christ Superstar"?

Anyone that has seen the movie will laugh....

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 13 Nov 2015, 16:19

Looking forward to seeing the video. Good idea making them modular for variety. Or you could use a crowd simulator. I'm sure you have ultra dollars to buy one.

Could you make a detailed bump or normal texture from the detailed terrain? Then use a simplified geometry with the bump applied for the details. That would use less of your polygon limit.

Steinie, the characters give me a strange mixed impression of old "black-sploitation" movies like Blackula and disco movies ... or a compulsion to yell "ho!". Speaking of characters how about another Steinie masterpiece?

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 13 Nov 2015, 21:43

Hehe, Jesus Christ, Super Star... hehe

The terrain is actually only a reference for a 2D matte painting. The project is infact.. a 2D animation. But we are using 3D tricks to make and do it faster. Me and my illustrator dude, and the client, maybe my brother too if I need him.

But yes, I could and should do a texture bake from Blender onto a simplified or retoplogized or remeshed topology.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 18 Nov 2015, 04:31

Been working on the factory exterior and interior for some time now. Meanwhile my illustrator Heyner (cool guy) is working on the lighting and concepts. Soon I hope to start the animatics.

I have been rendering out the terrains and scenery so my illustrator can paint the lighting on them later. He does it quickly, which will ultimately save me time in the final compositions.

The factory has a lot of geometry.

The pink and bleu boxes will be luminecent, and they were made with Model Sides trusty particle spawner. Simple enough to get the job done, wonderful!

I wish I had a Copy-Transform/Offset system (to copy geometry at intervals, or a long a curve). I am sure it can be done in the LE somehow.....

The crowd system.. I am still not sure how to do it. I know Softimage has a crowd system in ICE. I might.. give that a go, if not.. I will.... animate cards by hand and create a system in Softimae by hand.

I got a computer upgrade, now with an I7. Feeling more powerful now. I also got another computer for my illustrator/intern/partner. I also tried to build another I5 machine and turn it into a server, but I accidentally corrupted the BIOS. So.. that's out of action for the moment.

Anyway!! My room now looks like a small studio with a big bed in the middle.

I hope to finish some kind of animation by the end of the month. Till then!

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 18 Nov 2015, 17:09

"I wish I had a Copy-Transform/Offset system (to copy geometry at intervals, or a long a curve)" On model side there is an array copy tool. It has spline mode for putting objects along a spline curve, radial mode for circular layouts, and grid for walls or cube layouts. There is also geometry paint where you can spray copies of objects onto another object.

Hexagon can place copies of an object along a curve and on the vertices or polygon centers of an object.

spacekdet · Post by **spacekdet** » 18 Nov 2015, 22:16

See also 'Spline Array'

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 20 Nov 2015, 15:33

Oh hey! I completely forgot of those tools. Nice. I have to use the bridge more. Somtimes when I get into the millions of Polygons the MS can't hack it, but I have found a workflow of isolating geometry and working with the MS tools in a clean scene. SO thanks for that, completely forgot it had those tools.

I used the Spline array - but I found it didn't follow the curve normal of the path. But that's ok. It saved me a lot of time.

I really should learn to use the ICE tools in Softimage for exactly these kinds of exercises and procedural modeling...

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 20 Nov 2015, 18:31

spline ... curve normal ... it has been a while since I used that in TS (I'd use Hexagon but have to break that habit and get into Blender) so I'm not sure of the following. The right click menu for the array tools has some options that may cover that. Also if you rotate one of the objects, the first one I think, it will rotate the others. I think size works that way too. Vaguely remember that resizing the object on one end scaled them on a gradient, or small to large, and the other end scaled all the objects the same.

Dragneye · Post by **Dragneye** » 02 Dec 2015, 04:20

Whoa Draise. COOL look to the characters, and cool terrain sculpt!

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 31 Dec 2015, 00:45

Thanks guys.

Update

I am still working on this. I have had two deadline shifts. One was supposed to be the 15th of Dec, and the other now is tomorrow, the 31st, and I probably will be given till the 4th.

I am way behind schedule, over budget. I accepted a too ambitious project.

But... I am getting there........ Just thought to update.

I am now doing animation, and soon hopefully lighting and finishing some assets. I have done the animatic with my illustrator, and some lineart animation for special effects. I have done maybe 70% of the animation. I have done only 20% of the renders.

But.. oh well.

I'll be working late tonight again.

My client is not happy, and very picky. He has been too involved in thecreative process, and I think that has me back about two weeks as we started to review the animatic - which I told him was not feasible for the time and price he wants. I am not too happy with the client being so involved in the creative process.

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 31 Dec 2015, 05:08

I hope you finish in time so your client is happy.

When you finish this project review all your past freelance work. Use your research to learn your strengths and weaknesses and where things went right or wrong and why. Learn what your competitors charge.

Work on the creative aspects in more detail with your client early in the process (simple storyboards, quick sketches, etc.). That should move changes to the early parts where they are not so harmful, if at all, and creates a better agreement about what will be done. Make your client aware at the start that significant changes later will cost extra and take longer and be sure he agrees to that.

Negotiate honestly and fairly with a professional and courteous attitude but also with strength. Don't be afraid to pass on unprofitable work. Don't be afraid to bid the most you think a client will pay. Better to negotiate down than be stuck with a low bid.

I hope to see the finished product. It looks like fun.

RAYMAN · Post by **RAYMAN** » 01 Jan 2016, 17:16

Yup Finis you are right..but.. in 3d I learned the lesson
that the right tools will speed up the process inredibly...
you can do everything with the method of use what you
have...but its a lot more time consuming......
Renders can be finished in a few hours ...or can be matters
of days.... depending on what you use....also if you use
poly software ecclusivly....every hole that you make takes ages
and very good planning.....if you model the hybrid way..
you shave off 90% of your modeling workflow...!
Even Modo now offers a subd plugin to do exactly that
job.....!
The tools cost a fraction of what you can earn with them
if you speed up the workflow!
Peter

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 01 Jan 2016, 20:49

Yep, using the wrong tools is one of the weaknesses to be detected. Using the tools you know well improves speed and quality. Learn efficient powerful tools and workflows so they are what you know well. Then you have the benefits of all of that.

The current Modo has character rigging and animation (video). Mmm, Modo, mmm, (wanders off dreaming of Modo).

Note to Admin or super powered moderators: you can alter the BB code for embedding youtube videos so they can go full screen. You can add BB code to embed Vimeo videos like we do youtube vids (). How to is all over the web just search.

RAYMAN · Post by **RAYMAN** » 02 Jan 2016, 02:00

I mentioned Modo not because its so special per se but because
Modo as THE polygon modeling icon now suggests hybrid modeling
or ib other words poly ..tspline... nurbs...and back as a much more speedy process!
Gone are the times when the poly only diehards used to dominate..

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 05 Jan 2016, 03:43

Yeah, you are right on the right workflows and software. Whatever is more efficient. I hear animation in Modo is still limited. No animation layers, no animation mixer/clips. A deal breaker for me. But other than that, I like the sounds of Modo as a concept.

I have been using Mach Studio Pro 2 for the rendering and Softimage for everything else other than modeling. Previz and modeling was done in trueSpace. Softimage is a great powerhouse. I built a crowd generator with it (swapping out body parts using the visual programming with ICE) and the autorigging of GEAR addon - great free rig generator. Best rigs I know of with least amount of work. I also very much like Softimage, it handles heavy scenes like butter, and really is good at handling data. It's not hard to script in it for mass data processing - and the ICE ability to nodal programming of everythign is great. It's explorer (or overview) is excellent, and I have a schematic view to opt for aswell. And more! It had a middle click on ANY menu to open up or repeat last action of said menu, no matter how deep it goes. SO GREAT! I wish ALL software had this. A middle click to repeat ANYTHIGN!?!?!? SO REVOLUTIONARY. It clearly is a professional software, and it sucks you can't buy it anymore.. but heh.

I am doing composites in Fusion 7, and the other software things I use is DJV viewer, Krita, Gimp.

Let me tell you, for a dead free software, Mach Studio Pro 2 is AWESOME. It's a bit clunky when handling large data sets (but Blender is worse for that - no schematic view, a clunky overview panel, no nodal access to objects) - but the speed you can render out some quality renders is great - a huge time saver. I am confident that I don't have to sit for days or weeks rendering the 11000 frames I would have to render.

I can see potential for it. Maybe hard to develop shaders, but for a specific style I can develop, and a workflow.. rendering takes seconds in it. I do need a better graphics card though, as I'm cutting some corners to get out HD 1080p pics.. but it is nice.

UPDATE:
Coming soon....

As soon as I am over with this, I will do that reflection. I learnt a lot this year, mostly through mistakes - but I have some good material to boost a better showreel and got some great exprerience for the future. Was a good year all round despite the difficulties. Thanks for the support..

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 05 Jan 2016, 07:15

Not sure I posted these, but here is some previz from trueSpace.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 22 Jan 2016, 05:07

I'm in thefinal stages ofthe project. WAY over schedule. My client isn't too happy about it. But I did tell him my time frame was for a 3 minute video, but he went on ahead and hired my skills per hour anyway.

It's looking good.. I still have a lot to do.. no sleeping today and tomorrow. Theoretically I have to deliver tomorrow. Fat chance.. but I'll try.

I'm kinda down. This project - I was stupid for accepting a 6 minute video in less than 2 months production.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 22 Jan 2016, 05:34

Here are some frames. Near final renders and composites.

Dragneye · Post by **Dragneye** » 22 Jan 2016, 13:45

Too late...
So nothing to feel down about.
Keep pushing forward buddy. Show him the best you can. The effort pays off down the line in a variety of ways.

Rock on!

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 22 Jan 2016, 14:53

That all looks great! Amazing work on the crowd. Your beautiful landscape makes me want to go hiking. I'll guess that the story is an old factory in the desert is remodeled into a dance club.

Don't feel bad. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn. Making the same one again without improving is dumb. You have learned how long it takes to do a job like this, what to expect when a customer wants to change things later in a project, what price is appropriate for a project like this, various technical things, and that you have the strengths of perseverance and self discipline needed to succeed in difficult situations.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 25 Jan 2016, 05:34

Hehe thanks for the support. It means a lot to me.

Yes, I have learnt a lot through these mistakes.

Now I know my average per minute of animation can roundly be animated to about 150 man hours of work.

Here is a preview for a scene.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 28 Jan 2016, 17:08

Here is a collage of my illustrators illustrations compared to some final renders and composites.

Here is an AA comparism that I have from a 720p image rendered off my GPU in Mach Studio Pro 2, and to the right is a 1080p blown up image with some post processing done in Virtual Dub. I did this experiment to test quality and better AA - make it a little smoother but keeping detail. I managed it, infact the blown up image is higher quality than the lower!!!! It saves me GPU power and time and stability, as my GPU renders are unstable at 1080P.

Here is some of the lighting progress of the scenes. I'm nearly done.. NEARLY... kind of. I have to work hard today and tonight. And tomorrow... to finish hopefully tomorrow night.

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 31 Jan 2016, 04:25

ARGHHHHHGHGHGHGHGHGGHGHGHGH!!!!!!

I travel in less than a week and I STILL HAVEN'T FINISHED! DAMMIT!

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 05 Feb 2016, 15:33

Project done. I delivered all 130 shots or so. 6 minutes of animated content. Not the most stellar of quality, but pretty nonetheless. They guy got a bargain for it - I made a deal so he wouldn't sue me for taking so long doing it.

The project took 1000 man hours to do.

Fortunately he will edit it for me, meaning I am free today to get ready to go to Europe!

I won't work with him again..

Finis · Post by **Finis** » 05 Feb 2016, 18:30

Going to Europe-istan? You sure you didn't make a bunch of money on this job?

Even though things didn't work out for the best it all looks great.

RAYMAN · Post by **RAYMAN** » 05 Feb 2016, 21:11

Hi Draise good to hear!
Where are you going to when you are here in Europe?

Draise · Post by **Draise** » 06 Feb 2016, 02:23

I'm sitting in the airport going now! I'll land in Paris soon enough. Scale in Frankfurt. The work. ..well 3 quarters of it went to costs and paying those I had working with me. So not that much! I am going to see my girlfriend in Nancy, France.

Steinie · Post by **Steinie** » 06 Feb 2016, 12:27

Draise's Selfie in Nancy

RAYMAN · Post by **RAYMAN** » 07 Feb 2016, 19:26

Draise wrote:I'm sitting in the airport going now! I'll land in Paris soon enough. Scale in Frankfurt. The work. ..well 3 quarters of it went to costs and paying those I had working with me. So not that much! I am going to see my girlfriend in Nancy, France.

Great! Next time lets make an appointment.. a meeting of untited 3d artists !

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