Artefact 5 Outcome

From the storyboard I posted previously, I then edited a short film using rendered images, effects, and sound. I only managed to render it slowly at 640x360 because for some reason a tiny bit of volume light adds days to render times! It's not great quality, but sufficient enough for what I was experimenting with.

Here is the video from Vimeo (for some reason the start quality is worse when uploaded online - it's usually better on the original file!)



The Classroom (Artefact 5 - Editing) from Samantha Freeman on Vimeo.

Artefact 5 - Finally close to rendering finished & storyboard

For my final artefact I chose to continue from the shots produced in my previous one, and to focus on editing skills - including some animation and effects.

So, the main reason I haven't updated here for such a while is because of very little progress due to ridiculous render times. I am only rendering at 640x360, which I thought would save time, but it still takes about an hour per frame so has been taking rather a long time! Anyway, it is nearly done now, just rendering as many frames for the final camera shot as possible to lengthen the video.

I have started editing the shots I have already rendered in After Effects, fading them together using opacity, as well as adding effects and some sound. It is quite amazing what difference a backing track can make actually, when I tried adding some horror style music it totally changed the feel of the video so far, which wasn't totally what I was expecting.

I have also produced a quick storyboard following on from what I planned in my previous artefact presentation, using ink style renders (Quicksilver renderer) in Photoshop...

External Client Project Outcome - Rendered Images

The main outcome for my client project was to submit my 3ds max project file and texture folders, but I also decided to render stills of each wall in their environment using a merged file of all of our models in one scene. I did these using my final textures on my parts, and texture the rest in a light grey to highlight to the client which part was created by me.

Here are my rendered images of my final models:

Castle Texturing - Diffuse Maps Done.. I think

As the title suggests, as I aimed to do, I think I have completed the main diffuse maps (colour information) for the textures of all three of my walls of the castle now and it is looking pretty good. I know I am not great with normal maps from what I have experimented with so far in photoshop, but think I should be able to add a little more detail with this when I have made these maps from my diffuse textures - hopefully by tonight or earlier tomorrow. If I have time, I may also look into how specular/reflections can be creating through texture maps, to see if I can improve the effect of the windows.

Below are a few renders of the (pretty much) final diffuse textures on a merged file of the castle walls. (Notice I have also added a basic plane for the roof... not sure if I have time to do the chimneys too - I shall see!)

View from East front wall

View from North front wall

View from South front wall

Texturing Update - North front wall and Basement/kitchen

I am currently rather ill if I am honest, but still trying to do a bit work here and there until I start to feel the effect - trying to get the texturing done a couple of days before the deadline would be nice! At least I don't need to do a walkthrough for the client, so no rendering this time (woohooo).

I have tried to texture the north front wall and basement areas in a similar style to the other sides of the building and here are some iterations of the texturing process so far, up to the point of having most of the diffuse detail mapped out:

1 - Texturing the main walls and edges

2 - Texturing the windows, door and pillar detail

3 - Texturing the window and door frames to add final effect

I think this is working quite well, although some changes to be made before creating the normal maps could be to change the colour and aging on the main balcony area (edges and pillars) on the basement, aswell as slightly more detail on some window frames, and making these match with other walls a bit better.77

Castle Texturing - getting there!

I am now in the final week or so of this client project - time has flown by and am finding myself frantically trying to finish texturing and organising the project for submission on the 22nd.

I have been working on the East and South front walls so far, unwrapping them all using the flatten mapping tool and texturing in Photoshop. Okay, so originally the plan was to use so called 'vector textures' but Illustrator seemed quite challenging to get to grips with in terms of producing more realistic textures, so we decided to go back down the Photoshop route for now. We have also been given the Substance Designer software to consider using for the project, although I still haven't figured out how to use this effectively, as my textures tend to look less detailed using this substance method, but I still have a few days at the end to consider producing a version with these textures used with the same source bitmaps, etc.

Here are some of my main textures and examples of unwraps so far to show how it looks at the moment...

East front main wall - added some dirt and detail since meeting

Main pillar unwrap

Entrance steps unwrap

East front main wall unwrap

South Front texture progress

South front main wall unwrap

South front balcony unwrap

From looking at these now, and also merging in 3ds max, I can see that they are slightly different colour tones, as in the south front wall seems more much yellow and saturated, so this is something I can work on later on when adding finishing touches. Also, the archways on the south front wall are proving difficult to texture effectively because of the low poly effect on the tops of them, so I may add a few more segments after texturing, by collapsing the unwrap modifier onto the editable poly modifier in 3ds max, therefore not effecting the final texture.


Another technique I have been working on is creating normal bump maps. This is basically like a bump map I am used to using in 3ds max, where an image is created to add an effect of relief, but it also effects lighting and shadows. These normals maps are blue and purple mainly in colour, and I am creating them using the nvidia normal map filter in Photoshop. Here is an example of how I have experimented with it so far...

End pillar normal map test

East front wall normal map test

South front wall normal map test

Artefact 4 Evaluation and Outcomes

Artefact 4 - Genre with Camera

The aim of this artefact was to experiment with camera techniques in order to add to the mood and atmosphere I had already created in my previous artefacts. In addition to this, I decided to focus on specific genres used in film, to help with research of which techniques would be most effective. The genres and styles I chose to work with were horror, thriller, and mystery, mainly due to them all using quite similar techniques and complementing the mood that I had currently created well.

In response to feedback from my previous artefact, I made some improvements to my scene before working on camera techniques. For instance, I added some blue lights through the ceiling windows with a slight volume effect, to add contrasting colours and a moonlight effect. I also added an ambient occlusion material, so I could produce a separate render pass to add to my final rendered outcomes.

For my outcomes for this artefact, I decided to produce five rendered images using separate cameras. From researching my chosen genres, I realised that the best techniques to use would include close-up/extreme close-up shots, birds eye view shots, low camera angles, slanted camera angles, and shallow depth of field. I therefore tried to use a mixture of these within my images, also considering how they could fit together in an edited video for my next artefact. I particularly used depth of field a lot throughout all five images, as I found this added to the effect I was trying to create, as well as adding a more filmic style.

Once again, I found most of my feedback in the focus group was positive in terms of the aesthetics of my artefact. I also received some suggestions to take into my final artefact, such as considering both animation and sound of features in close-up shots (ticking clock, creaking door, etc.) when editing my final video. It was also suggested that I could consider making some of the windows appear broken, to add more to the derelict, uncomfortable atmosphere, and to add contrast to one of my camera shots.