Toolkit 2 - Maya: Subsurface Scattering

  To start with our provided character is in a low resolution form. We need to give the charter a new shader, so we will use the Arnold aiStanderSuface shader.  Under the attributes, we set the Arnold subdivisions to CatClark, and the Iteration to 2 (2 is the standard practice in Arnold). 

Starting Character

 To give this character better realism, we will need to use 6 maps;

 - Diffuse: The outer layer of the skin.

 - Scatter: Inner layers of blood and flesh.

 - Weight: The amount of subsurface scattering present, darker areas are pulled in (lighter ones more pushed out).

 - Secular: Amount of light reflecting from the surface.

- Normals: Smaller details on the skin.

 - Displacement: The push and pull of the skin folds.

 1. To start with, we bring in the Diffuse map. This is done via the Surface Shader base colour box. Then in the hypershade, we rename the newly made nodes as Diffuse_. 

  *we noted a mark on the forehead, this is down to the UV map smoothing. To change this, we go to the shape node and change the UV smoothing from pin corners to UV smoothing. This will smooth all the uv's present*

 Following this, we go back the the material node (Head_ss) and place the Diffuse node into the subsurface colour box. This means the diffuse map is now in two places, but as both on full power it gives the skin a washed out effect to the skin. The subsurface and base blends together, bringing down the subsurface weight to 0.5 reduces the washout. 

  2. The next map is scattering, which is placed into the subsurface radius box. Turning off the filter node will gives a sharper image. When light enters the subsurface, the radius image return the value of the  image selected though the surface, giving the impression of blood and other layers of skin. *nodes should be named Scatter_*.

  3. The weight maps needs to be brought into the subsurface weight box, this will complete the blending between the base and the subsurface attributes. *Nodes should be labeled as Weight_*.

  4.  The speculator map is required next. Firstly, we bring up the original spectacular weight to 1 and bring in the map via the checker. Some changes will be need to be made as high speculator will appear very shiny. Bringing down the colour channel and bringing up the roughness will give the surface appearance as required. (Mid-grey and 0.4). * Nodes should be named as Spec_*

  5. Normal Maps will be placed in the geometry section of the aiStandardSurface. Under the Bump map node, change the Use As to Tangent Normals, then turn off the filter. (Normal maps cheat the perspectives of the camera to make details appear that are not there. *Name the nodes as Normals_*.

 When in the render view, the spectacular and normal details are not overly notable,. To improve this, we change the colour space in the normals maps to Raw. Making sure the Ignore Colour Space File Rule is turned on so Maya doesn't try to convert back to RGB.  Bring up spectacular as desired.

  6. Lastly is the Displacement map, this is done from the shading node. Under the Standard Surface, place the file pathway into the Displacement Mat option. Rename the nodes to Displacement, and close down the render view. 

Required Node Set-up

 We change the Iterations to 3, creating a more dense map. Under the Displacement attribute, make sure the height is 1 and the same is in the Displacement shader. Also, we need to make sure that auto bumping is turned off in both areas. Finally bring in the Displacement map. 

 When rendering at this point, the character will look like a blob! this is normal and some settings need to be changed*

 Under the Displacement shader, we turn back on Auto-bumping, and in the character shape node we reduce the height in the displacement attributes to 0.010. Afterwards re-rendering the scene and changing the height as needed. 

 When ready to render, bring back the resolution to 100% and change the settings in the Arnold render to;

SSS to 3.

Transparency to 3.

Camera to 4.

Speculator to 3.

Diffuse to 3.

  Although mainly complete, there are some areas that can be improved in Maya without needing to jump into Photoshop. This will involve using two new shaders in the hypershade, and linking them in. Under the Hypershade, we go into utilities and chose both the remap colour node and remap HSV node (Hue,Shade and Value). By connecting these in, we can do the required changes here. 

Finally, we create a beauty_pass EXP image and a ambient_occlusion. Placing them both into Photoshop, we can merge them together. By keep the transparency on the ambient occlusion, we change it to become a multiple layer and place it over the beauty_pass. This brings out the shadows more and gives that extra detail of realism.

Finished Render

Toolkit 2 - Maya: Displacement Maps

  Displacement Maps  

Displacement Maps - Works in a white to black gradient, pulling surfaces in and out. Black is where the geometry will be pulled in, white will bring it out. Grey means no change will happen.

 Vector Maps  - Works in 3 channels, X,Y and Z.These channels brings the surface displacement out an contains a blend of normal.

 In Mudbox: To generate a displacement map, go into Maps, Extract Texture Map and select Displacement map.

  In the options, we bring the lowest res model into the target models channel, and the highest into the source models. You can change the models by click on them and choosing the one desired.

  For the methods, we need to use ray casting as this will find the highest and lowest points. In the search distance, selecting best guess will help capture the whole image. 

  When creating the Displacement maps, in the options we need to make the image 4096 (4K) to allow the best quality. Following this, place level change as the highest point, and save as a EXR (32) floating point file. Then  wait for completion, turning off the bump map so to be able to export correctly. 

  To export for Maya, click on the geometry and use PG Down button to get to the lowest polygon level (base mesh). Extract and save as a .obj file.  

  * When importing from Mudbox to Maya, Mudbox works 10x bigger. So, you will have to zoom out quite a lot see the object in the Maya view port*

 Once imported, select the geometry and under the shape node in the Arnold tab, use subdivisions, CatClark, creating a Iteration of 2. Work up slowly in the Iterations, taking renders to make sure the smoothing is working correctly with the maps. 

 Create a new aiStandardSurface Material for the geometry.

   Under the Hyper shade, select the shade material node and the aiStandardSurface2SG, creating a importing image file in the Displacement Mat channel. 

 * The node editor will create a displacement node. When creating a first render, it will make a TX. file for Maya to read*

  The map may not read well, this is due to the size difference between Maya and Mudbox. ,Under the Displacement attributes shape node, change the height to 10 (making the map 10x bigger). We want to avoid tearing in the maps. 

  Finally increase the Iteration in the sub visions to the highest point (in this case 6).

Final Render

Vector Maps

 In the likes of the toadstool model, displacement maps wont able to cope with the  high degree of change and undercuts, This is where Vector maps will work better. 

  As with the previous map, chose vector map instead of displacement when creating. Change the size to 4096 (4K), vector space to object, the hi and low res model boxes would have already been pre-filled. When saving the file, place the degree of change in the title (0-6), and finally click yes to adding a .VDM notation when promoted.

Bring the model down to the base mesh, and export into Maya. When in Maya, add a new aiStandardSurface material to the geometry.

 Leave the Iteration at the lowest point, and under the hyper shade go back into the shading node. As you would with the displacement map, at a image pathway in the displacement mat box. 

  In the node editor delete away the place2dtexture node and file1. Then using the checker on the Vector Displacement channel (shading node), add a image file pathway. 

      *Maya will create a vector file node in place of the displacement node*

  Change the iteration to the highest point to allow the vector map to work. I did not have the texture map that came with the toadstool, so its stayed like this.

Collaboration: Film Lecture 1 - Myths and Storytelling

 To start our series of lectures, we explored the ideologies of myths and legends. It's important to remember that myths are not lies, they would have come about from real life situations and their narrative would have transformed over time. 

 - Myths are about teaching morals and meanings, each having their own reasoning behind them.

- Myths have been passed down though the ages, and many are still believed in whilst being incorporated into modern storytelling.

- Modern story telling is now seen on a digital format - Film, Games, etc.

- Fandom's takes on the appearance of recent spiritualist and religions beliefs. (Jedi)

  When talking about myths and storytelling, the Hero's Journey was one of the first structures formed. It can be found in most fictional writings, even if in a different orders. There are 3 main writers to have expanded this structure:

  Joseph Campbell - The Mono-myth

  Seen as the hero with the thousand faces, Josephs Campbell theory of the Hero's Journey takes on the complexities of the world and breaks it down into more simplified stages. The Hero's Journey looks like this: 

 To expand on these, the following stages 17 can be described as so;

0. Stability -  Naive and unknowing hero lives in a normal environment with personal attachments. Conflicts may be noted. 

1 . Call to Adventure - Shaken up by internal and external pressures, bringing conflict to the hero.

2. Refusal to the Call - Feels can not leave due to personal responsibilities, or fears.

3. Supernatural Mentor - Meeting of the mentor, received special object/powers and given advice.

4. Crossing the Threshold - Joins new comrades, committed to the change (accepting the new and disregarding the old).

5. Belly of the Whale - Entering danger, hero becomes consumed by evil but emerges alive. Hero mind set begins to change, becoming more cautious.

6. Road of Trials - Hero begins to train skills, exposes powers, weakness and relationships.

7. Meeting the Goddess - Meeting with love interest. This can be a physical or a abstract notion, becoming the symbol of a the end goal and a better life. This gives the hero a boost.

8. Temptation - This can try to draw the hero away from end goal, can be a physical of abstract.

9. Atonement with the Father - Hero becomes more like the father figure, bringing conflicting relationships between father and son (independence vs manhood).

10. Apotheosis -  This is the change to becoming god-like and the shaking off of innocence. This leads to growing in responsibility, and can come from dramatic events (death/loss).

11. The Ultimate Boon - The ultimate goal of the story, but is not the end of the adventure.

12 - Refusal of Return - The adventure continues, the goals had been achieved but another appears. This goal is improving the lives of others. 

13. Magic Flight - This is the do or die sequence, the one in a million shot with great outcomes.

14. Rescue from Within - The hero is not alone, rescue comes from a unlikely source. 

15. Crossing the Return Threshold - The final trail, the hero's last chance to win against evil.

16.  Master of Two Worlds -  Hero as risen up over fears, saves the day and has control over inner and outer worlds.

17. Freedom to Live - The hero as transformed and carries the treasure of power. Hero and friends can live peacefully.

 Myths and the Movies - Chris Vogler: The Writers Journey

 Coming to the digital age, Chris Vogler reviewed the Hero's Journey and adapted it down to a more simplified version. However, its believed this more user-friendly version has brought more repetition, creating possible boring and dull storytelling. Vogler also created the structure so it can be move about, allowing different storytelling sequences. 

  

Vladimir Propp - Morpheme, Morphology and Narrateme.

  These are the based forms of storytelling that gets passed on, Vladimir looks more into the structuring of fairy tales.

 - Morpheme: All parts of the story should hold the same value.

 - Morphology: The study and description of word formation. (The changing  meaning behind words)

 - Narrateme: A building block of word (a storytelling journey). 

Film review 1 -  Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

  For my first review, I decided to do Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Having read all the books (but not being overly keen on the films), I felt that Harry's encounters takes on a almost perfect representation of Josephs Campbell's "Hero's journey", although with a more magical persona.

Harry being made to cook breakfast

  Our hero starts in an undesirable beginning. An unwanted orphan, Harry is forced to live in bad conditions by an oppressive aunt and uncle. His body language is downtrodden, with a longing for something more in life. In this film, "the call" mainly comes from the letters that the uncle refuses to allow Harry to read (due to family fears against magic), but Hagrid's appearance can be seen in two notions. He is enforcing the call and is the first of two supernatural mentors. Dumbledore is the more obvious mentor, but though out the film Harry approaches Hagrid more in learning about the what lies in the trapdoor. Hagrid also helps in Harry crossing the threshold, guiding him into the wizarding world.

Hagrid's appearnce

  Although seeming innocent on first appearnce, the boat journey towards Hogwarts as actually a indirect form of entering the beasts belly. Here is when Harry will encounter multiple dangers throughout various stages of the narrative, starting with the Troll, being Jinx on his broom, and finally coming across the parasitic Voldemort. Harry's continued learning inside and outside of lessons is a symbolic reference of the trials, but he seemingly never goes though his trails alone, often accompanied by his chosen companions. 

The journey to Hogwarts

  In terms of the "Goddess", a more abstract version is that of the golden snitch. Learning to fly early on and gaining the position of seeker gives him a closer connection to the father that he never knew. When in the first Quidditch match, the capturing of the snitch against the house he so desperate wanted to avoid (Slytherin) represents the "Goddess" boost. However, this boost is also seen in the relationships he has with Hermione and Ron. 

The Golden Snitch

  As the hero continues on, temptation comes in few directions, the first being the enchanted mirror in which Harry sees his parents. Having never seen them before, encountering them gives him a sense of fulfilment, but also a longing to stay with them. He chooses to continue returning there, diverting him from his journey until intervention comes from one of his Mentors. However, it seems that temptation is present twice. Voldemort's empty promises of bringing his parents back during the final trail makes him rethink fleetingly about his decision to try and stop him. 

  The choice to no long seek out the mirror as Dumbledore instructed (Harry's current father figure) would be a small part of atonement, showing growth in Harry's mental strength. A this point, atonement is only built up half way. Ron's later sacrifice in the chess game helps him to come to the decision to keep going alone, even if it means facing his fears in order to protect others.

Ron's later sacrifice

   A boon is about half way into the narration. The invisibility cape is a overpowering gift that gives him the powers his father would have had, becoming a great help in the continuing adventure by sneaking into the library and trapdoor.

  The more Harry learns about the trapdoor and the stone, the more his integument grow. This build up sequence leads to the dangers in the forest, where unlikely help comes from a centaur fighting a shrouded daemon to save him. Harry's discovery about Dumbledore's departure brings him to the realization that he and his friends are no longer safe, sealing his decision in the magic flight down the trapdoor. 

Where the "No Return" begins

   A second unlikely form of rescue comes from Harry's departed mother. In placing the spell on him before death, Voldemort is unable to harm Harry, ensuring his safety. Harry's unlikely protection works not only as deterrent, it also enables him to become a master of his fears. He knows that Voldemort can return from the brink of death, but he is safe from direct harm. This point leads to his ability to have the freedom to live in safety at Hogwarts, due to not only his mentor, but enchantment placed on him. 

An Unlikely Protection

 Growing atonement with the father seems to have the largest impact in this film. Harry's relationship with Dumbledore and sense of belong is a seemingly large factor, and sets up the narration for more films. Harry's abilities to overcomes future trails becomes heavily dependable on his mentors, and his strength to get fight when all is seeming lost.

 

 

 Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone - Warner Brothers Pictures (2001).

Collaboration - Scenario Ideas and Post-Tutorial Discussion

   Thinking more about The Worlds Worst, we decided to continue thinking of scenarios until our talk with our tutor about direction. Originally, we was split between the notion of silent comedy/ 1950's comedy training videos. I found an example of how the training video it would look in terms of style and comedy possibilities.

Other Possible World's Worst

Scenarios for World Worst Employee

Continued World's Worst Employee Scenarios

Thinking of styles in Comedy

Some of the language can be seen as sexist due to its time period.

  After a discussion with our tutor, the idea off a intrusion video around the worlds worst employees seemed a much stronger contender. This means we can concentrate on getting to know one character rather then making several, and the journey of them failing at several jobs till possibly finding the right one. In terms of theme, we decided on the 1980's. The bright colors and design would match our studio well, also in make props we can design them to be quite clunky and comical. 

  So, in terms of our character, we need to think about who they are and why they are so bad at the jobs they get fired from. 

  - Is it a physical problem(clumsy) or mental (oblivious/lazy/nervous). Do they even want the job? 

  - Will all the skits lead up to finding the perfect job? 

  - Appearance to fit the time period(or do they stick out) and the characters personality.

  - Are they hiding something (lower class trying to be upper class?).

   Additional advice was to think about jobs that was around in that time period, some of them may be different from today. Also, Model the characters personality around people that already exist (Comedians, Celebrities, etc). This will enable a photo fit vision of the character and a blending of personalities to get the right one. 

  Following this, we had a small group discussion about areas to research. I was given the task of finding jobs that was around then. Also, I found a few 1980's styled instructional videos to help gain an idea of the aestheticism. Finally, in thinking about comedy characters, I did a little profiling so to see different personality types and how some can be used in our own character. 

Toolkit 2 - Character Design: Research and Post Tutorial Direction

  

   As promoted by my character design brief, I decided to bite the bullet and do some zombie Research.  Zombies are a fictional character/design that has gain popularity over the last few years, mainly due to series such as "The Walking Dead". Originally, zombies came from Haitian folk lore. There was two types of zombies, a Bokor and the Astral. Bokor is normally possessed by a witch or sorcerer, and has no free will. Astral zombies keep half their soul, and is normally kept in a small bottle for good luck.

  To break away from the normal zombie look, I research some more animated/ cartoon styled versions. However, this still didn't promote any inspiration. 

  So, to solve this I've decided to use the 1930's German Expressionism art style with a extended play on the psychological. The "Zombie" will become more of a psychological state of mind, this can be done though drugs or though a mental deterioration. 

  The scenario can be more modern but placed in a abandoned 1945 German Bunker, exploring darker themes. The colours in the 1930's German expressionism will be seen though the shifting environment of the hallucinations, fed though the need to feed (which can been seen as drugs). Using the cabinet of Dr Caligari as a influence will also help me think about the changing appearance of the bunker. 

  In discussing this with my tutor, knowing my characters back story a small amount will help me understand why they are in they are in the first place. I need to think about their body language and if they are symbolic to anything. Is it a experiment? Was they a soldier? did someone force them or did they go willing? Is the character aware of whats happening to them?

Also, as this is a shifting mental state/environment, how much will we see of them? The environment will also become a character, so this raises some questions about a sidekick. Will we need one as such? or will they be a vision from the psychosis? 

  Its a good idea to get a small understanding of psychosis, and how drugs can bring it on. The drug itself can be made up, but will need real life element to make the side effect believable. 

  At the moment, I have written some research on Psychosis and Drug. 

Toolkit 2 - Maya: Fog and Atmosphere

   Maya has two ways of generating fog, this is with aiFog (Legacy) or the new arnold system: Volumetrics. To navigate to setting up fog, you have to go into the Arnold render settings, under environment, atmosphere, and choose either aiFog or aiAtmosphereVolume. Each of these has their own set up and render style. 

aiFog

  Some adjusts need to be made for both systems, but aiFog works on the z axis to begin with. To change this go to  the Ground Normals settings (attributes), and transfer the values from the Z axis to the Y. This will move the fog from the bottom of the screen upwards. 

  Distance = This is the amount of frog in the Scene

  Height = How high the fog is reaching up into the scene. The higher the number, more more fog. 

  Colour = This changes the colour of the fog, but also work in a blending effect with the background colour of the rendered. 

  

Distance

Height

Colour on a Black Background

Blended Background

Volumetric Fog

  Volumetric fog will often have fireflies, these are hotspots where the sampling is too high so some cleaning up is required.  

  As with the previous fog, its can be found in the arnold render settings and under Environments, but is called aiAstmospherevolume. 

  Density = Bringing light decay into the scene.

                    (The colour box also helps this, white being no decay and black completely decayed).

  Anisotropy = Widening and sharpening of the light source.

    Under Contribution Attributes:

  

             Camera = Can remove atmosphere from the scene entirely.

              Diffuse = Allow atmosphere to affect the colours in a scene.

            Specular = This is activated by default.

  Adding Colours to fog:

  The colour box: Add a base colour to the fog.

  Attenuation Colours: This subtracts colour aways from the scene and works in oppersites to the colour wheel.  

  Lights samples = 3 - 5 is best.

  Camera AA = 3 - 5.

  Volume Direct = 2 .

  *Finish with the Atmosphere samples first before placing arnold render samples, once rendering starts  fog can take a long time*

  Another way to stop fireflies is to activate Clamping. This stops sampling rates from going too high and reduces the amount of hot spots present.  Clamping is best at a setting of 1 or 2.

Final Render

Toolkit 2 - Character Design: 1945 German Bunkers

 

  The setting for my character design project is a 1945 German Bunker. One of the main intact bunkers I found though my research was Gare De L'Est, which is found under a train station in paris. Originally french, this bunker first intention was to be a air raid shelter but was taken over by germany in the nazi occupation. 

  Spanning a length of 1290 square feet,  Gare De L'est walls are lined with thick concrete as with most shelters. There are several different chambers including a telephone communication systems, oxygen cylinders and various pipes and equipment. 

  There are alot of german bunkers found in northern Pas de Calais, including La Couple ,Fortress of Mimoyecques, Wolf's Lair and Bergkristall. Fuhrerbunker is located in Berlin, and become Hitler's last residence before the end of WWII. This also included housing several of his highest officers and recently wedded wife, Eva Braun. 

  Fuhrerbunker  was at first a large air raider shelter, but was converted into two bunkers. Vorbunker (1936) was first, then fuhrerbunker (1944) was placed 28 feet below, both connected by right angled stairways. The entrance to Fuhrerbunker was sealed off with a heavy steel door and bulkhead. A 3 meter thick reinforced concrete ceiling protected 30 rooms, which consisted of living quarters, communications equipments and a secret exit leading to the garden. Fuhrerbunker had a constant supply of electricity from a generator, but was extremely damp due to be positioned under a large water table. Hitler decorated Fuhrerbunker with lavish furniture and oil paintings.

Toolkit 2 - Maya Lesson 2: Acting Poses

   Following on from our previous lesson, today's Mooms are going to take on acting poses. Acting poses are much more subtle then action ones, meaning the importance in getting the spine correct is the highest priority. Curves are much less prominent in these gentler actions, so finding them can be harder. We also need to looks for subtle clues on how the character is feeling, whilst keeping a grip on motion and gravity. 

  To start the lesson, we had a quick warm up. This ment choosing a pose, and under the timer of 5 mins try to model Moom the same. This isn't about just throwing a pose together, but being able to think on our feet. 

  This may take some practise to get good at.

 

5 Minute Warm-Up

  Afterwards, as with the previous lesson we was tasked with finding 5 acting poses and modelling. Mine are as below;

Pose 1

Pose 2

Pose 3 

 Pose 4

*It seems I've left the reference for this one at university* 

Pose 5