furtherstudiesvfx101

[furtherstudiesvfx101]

This is a test sequence for my final animation. The purpose of this was to calculate the correct thickness of the colliders and also determine the height of the waves. If the thickness of the collider is too high then the volume of the waves increases to uncontrollable levels, to the point that the scene can’t be viewed.

The collider  was keyed in certain areas to go fast in the beginning and then slow down gradually towards the end to show the storm decreasing. The whole sequence is 200 frames.

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These shots were taken in an experiment with Arnold texturing. A key difficulty with texturing the water, is trying to create the correct level of reflective and transparency.The water itself is also very thick, even though the particle count has been increased to create better fluidity.  

The ocean shader creates the most realistic texture, but the transparency needs adjusting, since a there is an issue that props up when the opacity is toggled. The issue is that when the opacity is lowered, the light of the mesh turns black, but I believe this issue might be linked to the exit colour, or the diffusion. 

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Storyboard for VFX wave sequence.

The shot will be one long camera pan to imitate the flow of the waves and also keep the viewer focused on how the boat is being pushed around the scene and avoids the rocks. The storm will clear up towards the end with the rain dispensing and the lights growing brighter. This reason the scene needs to be kept in a tight fit is that if the scene is too large the rendering will take longer and it might be too much of a strain on the computer processor. The simulation can also crash if it's too large and strain the cache.

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The objective of this experiment was to mix rain with water and see how to two combined. 

The particle rate for the water is low because I wanted to focus more on the rain and seeing how it reacts to the fluid. 

The rain responds well to the colliders placed in the container, but it doesn’t create ripples in the water, so this experiment needs to be developed further to create a more realistic reaction from the water when the rain hits it.

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This is an annotated schedule for my VFX project. 

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Assignment 1: E-Portfolio

Synopsis

The main objective of my project is to produce a fully rendered storm sequence which will take place in a sea, with a boat being swept along by violent waves.  The final outcome will be measured on whether I’ve been able to create a realistic storm sequence that’s composited with rain, waves, and mist colliding with a boat and large rocks, as well as possessing detailed water and sky textures.  

Evaluation

Over the last six weeks, I’ve dedicated my time creating water experiments so that I have a better understanding of what I want my final project to be. The sequence I want to create needs to have a composition where the different effect can be displayed with realist textures.  The reason I decided to focus on VFX fluids is that I was interested in the different textures and movements that can be created when using Maya Bifrost.

Over the last six weeks, I investigated tutorials and online content to understand how to create water simulations. I started the process off small, working in Cinema 4D with a low Polygon animation, I then expanded my work into Maya and used the Bifrost system to create more realistic water, by using particles and then the BOSS FX feature.

All these experiments helped me understand better how water simulations are created and also gave me a much firmer foundation in how I wanted to build up my project.

The next coming months leading up to my deadline will be spent creating a storm sequence in Maya, using the Bifrost FX to create crashing waves that will collide with rocks and a lone boat. The textures and lighting will need to show the sequence in the best possible way.

The boat will be imported from a third party source since my main objected is to create an interesting storm sequence. The main colour theme will be dark and lightly washed out greys. For the sound effects, I’ve decided I’m going to implements a freedomain musical score to set the mood of the sequence.

By the end of my project, my blog will have digital evidence of my skills development in creating this VFX water sequence.

Risks

There are a number of problems with this projects which I can predict. The first one will be the foam while creating my experiments, I still haven’t mastered how to simulate the foam and assign the right texture, so this is an aspect need to develop over the next month. I will need to focus on creating more wave simulations that have more realistic textures and foam.  I will also need to implement mist into the scene to make it have a more detailed composition.  

When constructing the project, the BOSS Ocean Creator will be the main foundation while the Bifrost fluid will be layered on top to create the waves. The composition with this is key since only a section of the ocean will have wild waves. The camera will need to carefully track the movements of the waves as they crash into the rocks and boat.

Another risk is the different particles reacting off each other. There will be three different types such as Rain, Mist, and Liquid. The rain will need to create ripples in the water, and the mist will need to move in sync with the waves as they crash against the rocks.

Research

The research I’ve done over the last six weeks has mainly been focussed on learning the different technique to create my water simulation. This has involved investigating tutorials online and carrying out minute experiments to develop my skills. I have also looked at help information on the official Autodesk site and have read the fundamentals of 3D in The Animation Book by Kit Laybourne ( Crown Publications; 2nd Revised edition. 1 Aug. 1998. p237).

The further research I’ll need to undertake will be E-Learning materials to help me comprehend better how to composite my scene and understand the inner workings of particles.

Digital Assets

These are the main Digital Assets I will be using for my projects:

Software Maya 2017

·        bifrostLiquidProperties1: FX Bifrost Liquid

·        bifrostLiquidEmitter: Liquid Emitter

·        bifrostLiquidFoam: Sea Foam

·        Fluid1: Water Mist

·        Particle1: Rain particles

·        aiSkyDomeLight: Sky background lighting

·        oceanPlane1: BOSS  Ocean Simulator

·        bifrostColliderProps1: FX Colliders 

·        aiStandard : Hypershade Arnold Textures

·        pCube1: Polygon cube

·        pSphere1: Polygon sphere 

·        locator1: Floating Boat 

·        Camera1: Camera tool

I’ll be using these assets in Maya 2017 since it’s Bifrost and BOSS system have produced better satisfactory results than Cinema4D, and the software has an advanced set of simulation system which caters for liquid simulations.

Software After Effects 2017

·        Curves: RGB alters all channels using a single curve.

·        Brightness/Contrast: Increases and decreases Brightness and contrast

·        Hue/Saturation: Alters Saturation and changes Hue

I’m very comfortable using After Effects for colour correction, and I believe it is the best software for this project because of its interface with layers. With the layer system, I’ll be able to accurately modify and colour correct different layers of my VFX sequence.

Software Premier Pro 2018

·        Pitch Shifter: Alters music pitch

·        deCrackler: Removes crackle in audio

·        Razor Tool: Trims and separates footage

Premier Pro will be my main sound editing software since its system is designed to integrate sound more smoothly than After Effects who’s main function is compositing, not video editing. I’ll finish the final touches of my sequence in Premier Pro and export it out as a MOV with a H.262 compression.

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Further development of sketches, mapping out design ideas and collider movement.

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The boat will need to sit on top of the water and react to the waves, so I'll need to use Maya 2017's 'Add Boat' effect to create a locator which will allow the boat to float and bob along the water.

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Sketches of rain reacting to moving waves. Two different liquids bouncing off each other.

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This is my main inspiration for my storm sequence because of how the waves are formed, and it helped direct me in how I want my storm to be visualised. 

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These are quick sketches of how I imagine the storm sequence will look with the boat and rocks implemented into the scene. 

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This is the development of my wave sequence. there are still a few errors such as the water dripping from the bottom, but so far it’s a good start. 

I used a series of colliders to create the wave sequence with Bifrost. The next step is to add foam to the waves and also fix the water leak. 

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This is a rendered image of the boat resting on the water. This exercise has given me insight into three key things to keep in mind for my projects. 

1. Texture

2. shadows

3.colliders

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In this playback, I’ve placed a boat on top of the ocean sequence and then used the ‘add boat’ effect to have the object float in time with the waves. There are some issues, such as the water seeping into the boat, but so far the object is moving time with the waves. 

[furtherstudiesvfx101]

I've taken a look at The Animation Book by Kit Laybourne ( Crown Publications; 2nd Revised edition. 1 Aug. 1998. p237) . I examined the page focusing on the fundamentals of 3D animation and also marked some chapters on texturing.Texturing is going to be a big part of my project since the water needs to look realistic.

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Using Maya 2016 ocean simulator, I recreated and animated a sea's wave turbulence and key framed the wave volume building and decreasing.

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This is a rendered image of my attempt at recreating a textured ocean in Maya.