The Sig Sauer Shot

I had modeled the pistol very early on in the production process but I now needed to texture it ready for rendering. Setting up the scene was fairly straight forward as I created a plane, which would depict the wooden table in the film. I would rest the pistol as well as the silencer on that plane. I added some fairly detailed textures to the plane that Chris created using Photoshop. The key to the shot would be decent textures, bump mapping and excellent use of lighting. I applied some basic blinn textures to the gun as I had tried previously to add textures, which had some scratches but looked terrible and would add to render time significantly. I implemented a three-point lighting system that would highlight specific areas of interest within the image. I also brought in a blue rime light to give the still shot a more moody feel that added some dynamism to the image. I frequently rendered the image to see if any areas needed changing and that the lighting and composition were correct.

I realized that the scene needed something else to balance the image. The shot itself is an important one, as Frank feels reluctant to continue his trade. The gun is a symbol of his violent crimes and the victims he has killed. I added some bullets in the scene, which not only help focus the viewer’s attention but also brings a sinister element to the shot. I added a brass and copper blinn to the bullets that would reflect light on the whole scene. Initially I was happy with the scene. However, the gun needed some more detail to make it more believable.

The grip needed a bump and at the start I was concerned how I was going to apply it to a specific part of the gun. I had tried several times before to apply a bump but these attempts failed and just looked struck on. I then had a brain wave and decided to construct the bump using Maya rather than acquiring images from the Internet. There is a specific area where the bump needed to be applied that consisted of small interlocking diamonds that would form the handgrip. To do this I opened a new scene in Maya and created several diamonds and cloned them to form a square lattice. I then applied created a camera, which faced these objects directly. I then rendered the scene in 1080p and imported the image into Photoshop so I could convert it to a jpg file that would be small but detailed enough to create a bump sufficient for the grip.

I then opened the Sig Sauer scene and selected the faces necessary for texturing and planar mapping. By planar mapping the grip area I would ensure that the bump, when applied would not stretch. I was very happy with the results as the bump reflected some of the light created from the area light in the scene. I rendered the scene with shadows and I also rendered an occlusion layer in mental ray that would create some ambient shadows in specific areas. I then imported these renders into Photoshop as psd files and began to composite the image. I realized that the gun needed some scratches and dents to imply that the pistol had been used many times before. At this stage the gun looked too shiny and pristine. I used a variety of brushes to add scratches and imperfections, which would make the whole scene more believable. In the final stages of the composition process I added some sharpen filters that would help define the edges of different surfaces and make the overall image crisper. I was very happy with the final result as well as the visual look of the scene. I paid careful attention to the storyboard and constantly had a vision in my mind of how I wanted the shot to look. By having a goal I was able to create a very specific image that would tell part of the story. The rendering did take a long time but this was worth it as the results far exceeded my expectations and the expectations of the director. It was very important to acquire an emotional aspect to the shot that would help tell the story and reflect the emotional struggle of the main character. During this process I learnt that lighting is extremely important in creating a visually beautiful image as well as good composition. But I suppose the most important thing I gained from this little exercise was the ability to use Maya to create textures. I was able to create accurate textures, which could be applied to my models at a very fast rate. I will use this technique in the future, especially when creating repeating patterns.