georrdan

[georrdan]

I only found this through mindlessly scrolling, but this post showed up on my Twitter feed and made me begin thinking about how else I can display my Pepper's Ghost. Do I want a display around it? Will it add any effect? Should I make it interactive in such a way, or have it just tell a little story with the character I am making?

Either way, I found myself scrolling through this account and wanting to replicate the projects this person had created.

[georrdan]

Character Design

Over a few days, I attempted my first character design of someone who is supposed to be clearly from a digital world that will be displayed in a physical space.

My ideas for her is that she is an interdimensional traveler, so I began by searching for photos of characters I know of that follow the same concept.

Based on this, I attempted to come up with a somewhat simple design. I would make it more complex, but I need to be able to model it, and I am only just learning how to do so still.

I realized during the second critique that she won't be showing up very well with my means of display. I will have to alter her color palette.

[georrdan]

I've attempted to follow a tutorial and make my own model, but I find it difficult to follow and not very helpful in learning how to do this. I think I would prefer to find a different one and learn how to make more simplistic characters.

[georrdan]

Photogrammetry

I got my friend to take 41 photos of me to import to a photogrammetry software to make a 3D model of myself, however, it ended up failing. I believe I understand how the program works a little bit better now and will be trying again soon. I think it is best to attempt it with a stationary and small object before having someone else take the photos for me. I should understand it first.

[georrdan]

I've just done a little bit more research into a few more projects and processes to create holograms.

I found a specific piece of art called Pushing Up the Daisies made through projections, but there is only one image of it that I could find. However, upon skimming the website linked to this, I could not find any more information or projects that interested me.

After scrolling through websites, I did find the performance of Tupac at Coachella in 2012 that was created by projections. I found this to more directly relate to my project and could help me find a new technique or material to create an easier projection- and it did. The effect was made with a Mylar screen. I will look into it more and attempt to find an inexpensive option.

[georrdan]

Over the past weekend, I attended a class (that I am not in) to learn about motion capture. I was shown how to set up and use the motion capture suit, as well as how to record and export the animation. I was shown different ways of obtaining animations and models, and was told how to import and use the files in Blender. We ended up applying the motion captured to an already existing model within Blender.

[georrdan]

This project is making me go insane (in the best way possible, I want to try a million different things) but I believe this is the best design I’ve made so far. So here is Miku performing in front of some vitamin C supplements.

[georrdan]

I finished a prototype to display this on a small scale. I feel as if it can be improved. There is no reason for the plexiglas to be so high up. If I have the time to fix it over the weekend, I will have to.

The benefits of it looking the way that it does is that you have no vision of the projection underneath once it’s at eye level. But also, it could be a lot smaller. I could make a window at the front of the box, and it will all depend on angles and height. This setup may be more practical for a critique, but I will still have to test.

[georrdan]

So I’ve found the tactic if I would like to do this at a larger scale. The allocated space for the critique will not be enough to pull this off, I’m going to have to simply use my iPad for it (as much as I would have liked to have a larger scale).

I am going to have to hang the plexiglass from the ceiling/attach the bottom part to the wall if a certain angle is needed. I also have to continue working on my 3D modeled character / character designs for it in time for the critique. I’ve been too focused on this.

[georrdan]

After getting a projector, I learned that recreating Pepper’s Ghost is infinitely easier at a small scale. This is as expected, but I will need a wider area to effectively display the videos I would like to via projection.

This is a VERY BASIC model of how I’m going to display things for the upcoming critique. I will have to cover the iPad reflection. It might be better to leave the iPad flat, angle the plexiglass, and bring the box to eye level.

[georrdan]

Update on experimenting with Pepper's Ghost technique:

[georrdan]

This past week, I attended a program on the basics of character creation/design to give myself a better understanding of it. While I do not have much to show for it (the latter half of the meeting was to redesign characters with 5 minute time limits), I did come out with a better understanding of the very basic rules of designing a character (color use, silhouette/shape, exaggeration, and focus).

The link to the presentation (despite most of the information coming from the one teaching it) is here.

[georrdan]

Holograms

I have been having trouble trying to think of ways to combine visual effects, character modeling, and rigging, but I never even thought about how it could be physically displayed. While I am aware this is less of a hologram and more of a projection, my interest in VFX and character modeling reminded me of Hatsune Miku concerts. Miku is not a real person, so I began to wonder how she is projected during concerts.

The technique is called "Pepper's ghost." The only other place that I can remember encountering it would be in Disney's Haunted Mansion- and after reading a little about it, it did not seem too intensive to recreate. I ended up looking for a few tutorials (DIY Pepper's Ghost in a Jar, How to Make 3D Hologram Video Projector at Home).

Though I don't have the materials on hand, I (horribly) recreated this technique with a makeup sorter anyway.

This made me realize I could likely create my own project- The character modeling is still a work in progress, but I can combine my own character with rotomation and present my own hologram.

[georrdan]

Character Model Tutorials

I ended up watching a few tutorials on how to create character models because I am extraordinarily interested in character design and would love to learn how to model them.

Here are a few videos I watched and will be following in the next coming days (after making a reference sheet for a character I would like to make):

From Blender Art

Bran Sculpts

Kumo Blender

TipTut

[georrdan]

9/30/23

I took the rotomation tutorial and applied it to Blender. I have also never keyframed anything in Blender, but that did not take long to figure out. I just used some stock footage and a model I was already messing around with to figure out texture applications.

I do need to pay more attention to detail when doing this, though. After rendering (I cannot upload more than one video, sorry), I realized how aggressively he shakes and how twisted his arm is.

Model credits go to Hoyoverse.

[georrdan]

9/29/23

I used today to look into Raghav Anil Kumar's projects and YouTube, gathering a little bit of inspiration and looking into his process. I had never realized I could make a model by tracking the motion of the camera while working with a video, like how he had done to transform his dog with VFX. Seeing that was called rotomation, I watched a basic tutorial on how to use a pre-rigged model to animate based on a video to get a basis for it. Unfortunately, I didn't find how to model based on camera tracking, but I was interested regardless and found that it would likely be useful to my studies. I then watched how to do it in Blender because of the fact that I don't have Maya. I will likely try it out tomorrow.

[georrdan]

7 Days of Iteration

Day 7. I followed a tutorial to make a particle system in Blender. It felt very similar to the snow, though I got to mess around with the physics a lot more. I think I need to learn more about Blender before trying to create more particle effects at the moment, but it does seem much more efficient than Cinema 4D.