Personal developement

This year I will be working on a short film called “Patience.” The story itself revolves around a hit man called Frank. He is roughly in his late forties caught in a downward spiral of criminal blackmail and corruption. He ultimately has to decide whether or not to kill his lover or discard the contract completely. The story features the moral struggle that Frank faces, does he overcome the shackles of his past or do they consume him.

Lately I have been working on various concept designs for the main character Frank as well as making 3d models for the various scenes in the story such as chairs, sofas, tables and the apartment itself.

In order for these objects to work within the scene they have to be relatively low in resolution that is to say that they can be made only by a few polygons. However, they need some resolution so when they are sub divided they retain hard edges and slight bevels.

I didn’t have much knowledge in sub divisional models prior to the project. In order to create objects that would have high detail when rendered I needed to find out how to use edge flow and sub divisions in Maya effectively. I looked at various tutorials online such as you tube and digital tutors. I acquired some video tutorials from my father who works in the film industry. Some of these video tutorials were very helpful indeed. I needed to create a space for the main character within Chris’s story. The space had to be big enough for the character to walk around in and had to be big enough for several pieces of furniture such as a table and chair as well as a sofa. Although the floor plan had been drawn up I still had to use the geometry in the space to my advantage. For example the geometry had to be good enough for manipulation as well as rendering and UV mapping. If the polygons within the scene were made up of more than 4 sides this would cause discrepancies within the mesh, which would cause problems when it came to texturing the surfaces in the room.

The tutorials were very helpful in this respect as it helped me to construct the apartment space in a logistical and pragmatic manner with good workflow. The tutorial itself from digital tutors also went into great detail in making furniture in the room. Although the chairs and table were too modern for the story I used the tools and techniques and applied them to the objects Chris wanted. I also learned of about new tools that could create nice effects very quickly. These tools include things like taper, and bevel to create seem lines on cushions for example. Knowing where these tools are and how to apply them will be hugely beneficial when it comes to modelling objects in the future within Maya.

I have also been experimenting with Zbrush recently. It is a sculpting program heavily suited for character creation. This programme has made the concept stage so much easier as I can create character busts in a very short amount of time. This is very handy if someone wants a character design done. Using the programme I can manipulate the mesh to the specifications of the director. Rather than drawing up several concepts for a character I can narrow that down just to one. Zbrush makes it very easy to adjust features like the ears, nose mouth and eyes very quickly as well as the width and height of the head itself. This saves huge amounts of time in the production process.

I have been using video tutorials online, which primarily deal with zbrush characters and creature creation. Although this has no direct relevance to the projects I am working on at present it has given me a better insight into the way in which anatomy works. For example the artist who works for pixologic starts off his character by blocking in the basic shapes of his character moving the geometry into position to get a rough silhouette. Then you can start building up muscle and bone structure using the default tools available. Although the tutorial primarily deals with creating some sort of demon the character itself is largely based on real human anatomy. The artist shows you where the defining features of the face are the bone mass near the corner of the eyes as well as the supple flesh around the nose and mouth. By observing the way in which he creates his images I have a better understanding of the way in which muscles relate to each other and the dramatic changes in exterior appearance through bone matter.

I have not just gained an insight into the inner workings of the human body but also the workings of software like zbrush. The tutorials themselves deal with a whole range of techniques and effects created by different tools and parameters. For example I have learned to create supple skin tissue using the clay tubes brush which when smoothed can also create muscle tone. I have been exposed to the way in which alpha channels work to create detailed patters such as leathery skin as well as hair. Just talking to students at college I have learned a few tricks, which make the production process easier, more productive with a better quality result. All this information will be hugely beneficial to my artistic development and will ultimately augment my portfolio.