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In conclusion, I feel I have learned a lot with this group project especially when it comes to modelling and texturing. I have learned what it takes to create a to scale 3D model and the best techniques available to make it look as real as possible in Maya and Substance Painter. I feel I have also broke the ice with asset placement inside of nuke and what that entails. Similarly, familiarising myself with 3D camera tracking and point cloud generators in nuke have broadened my understanding of what is possible with compositing.

Even though my goal for this module was to sharpen my knowledge of compositing I found myself leaning more towards the 3D side of the project. I found that I enjoyed learning about Maya and substance painter more so than nuke, giving me a lot to think about where I would like to put my focus in the future.  I have definitely learned that I need to use my time more wisely in the future, using it more to develop my skills and to produce higher quality work.

Following this, I believe this development of skills whether small or large has readied me for my final year project.

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Technical Issues

While exploring and improving my skills, things didn't always work out the way I had wanted. For example, the model of the building I had created for the group project had a number of issues that I managed to rectify. Specifically, once I was nearing the end of my model I noticed that some parts of my mesh were clipping. At first I thought it was the camera settings as the scale of the model was to scale with the real building. However nothing changed when I edited the camera settings, this was when I realised that most of the edges of my mesh where duplicated. Which meant that whenever I tried to move my model as a whole or move an individual face it would break the mesh.
I'm not entirely sure how this problem occurred, however I was worried that I'd have to restart completely but with some trial and error I found a solution. I used the function in Maya called 'Vertex Face' to open up my model and find all of the duplicate edges. I would then delete these duplicate faces and use the merge vertices tool to make my model seamless once again.

Personal Reflection

I am generally proud of the work I have produced this semester, however I do have a lot to work on. For example, my main focus for this module was compositing but I believe the quality of some of my compositing work wasn't as expected, because of this, I decided to focus heavily on the modelling side of the project losing sight of my compositing goals. Another thing i'd like to improve is the use of my time, as I felt like I was using most of my time working on something I am already familiar with rather than working on something I would like to learn.

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Nuke compositing | Hugo Deconstructs | Rival Kingdom | Part One

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In order to achieve my personal goals I mentioned in a previous post I was required to do some research using different material. For example I bought a book from my Universities library that has helped me a lot so far its called: A Filmmakers Guide To VFX by Eran Dinur. This book describes the basics and complexities of most areas in VFX, it has specifically helped me to better understand camera tracking and creating a 3D environment within software like Nuke.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eran-Dinur/e/B06X6CB2HD?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000

I also used a variety of YouTube tutorials to guide me through my less comfortable areas of compositing and modelling.
A VFX artist and Tutorial Youtuber Hugo's Desk has helped me in many areas while working as a compositor in our group project. In specific, his tutorials have helped me to better understand model placement within nuke.

I still have room to improve but I managed to create a small test scene within nuke using these materials as reference. Its worth noting that our group decided to take our project fully 3D so this Scene was not improved upon.

Furthermore, I was given the task to create a realistic 3D model of one of the buildings in the street where our footage is shot. I was comfortable modelling the building but not so much with texturing it. Although it was not my role focus on the team I wanted to attempt it myself to better understand Substance painter.
This is where I used research materials like Andrew Smith's 'Substance Painter 101' Video to help me familiarise myself with the basics of texturing a model.

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Below this post is some reference material from other artists that will help to demonstrate what style of work I plan to do within this Semester.

Some of the work seen may not directly apply to the type of project that I am working on but is something I am also interested in.

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                                 Research Goals

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                                 Research Goals

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- Explore polishing a scene in nuke (colour correction / model placement ETC)
- To create atmospherics within nuke like dust, light rays etc
- To create matte paintings in nuke / photoshop representing our short film
- Be comfortable creating and texturing a model and bringing it to nuke

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This is one of the first things I worked on in our short film project. Once we had gathered our stills of the area we planned to eventually film I decided to create a simple matte Painting in photoshop that I thought helped to put our ideas onto paper. This way we had a slightly clearer idea of what the final result may look.

I decided to add some extra hanging cables from building to building that I took from various reference material on google (see below) The basic idea of our project is to make it seem like time has past between the original image and the image I created, turning it into a Sci-Fi Cyberpunk world. This, I feel, helped to add that feeling of time shift.

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Compositor / Modeller

A compositors role is to create and polish a believable final image or sequence by using a variety of digital elements like animations, Special effects Etc.

Software Used:

- Nuke
- After Effects
- Photoshop

A modellers role is to think up, design and then create multiple relevant 3D assets that can then be used in the project.

Software Used:

- Maya
- Substance Painter

I aim to be a compositor for my role in our future project as I enjoy making the finishing touches to a sequence to bring it to life. Its also the reason I joined this course as I find the composition of a scene to be one of the most important processes of the film and TV industry. I hope to have a career in this profession in the future.

However I do enjoy modelling too and I believe that currently I am a stronger modeller than a comp artist. This is something I hope to change while working on this group project.

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I have Gathered a list of artists within the industry that share the roles I am interested in and what they have worked on.

Tosin Akinwoye

Role: VFX Technical Director (TD)
Known for: Interstellar (2014), Spiderman: Far from home, Black Widow
https://tosinakinwoye.com/

Chris Nokes

Role: Visual Effects Supervisor
Known for: The Expanse, Polar, Resident Evil
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2234030/

Personally, these two artists stand out to me in particular mainly because they have worked on some of my all time favourite pieces of cinema / TV such as The Expanse and interstellar. However, I especially appreciate their work because it is very similar, and something I am personally interested in, they both work on very realistic convincing Sci-Fi shots.

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Personally I am largely interested in the cinematography of a scene, focusing mostly on the compositing and visual effects.
These are the areas I am mostly interested working in throughout my future career, weather that's freelance or for a company.

I am largely inspired by blockbuster Sci-Fi films and TV shows such as interstellar, Alien and The Expanse