KNB 221 CG Toolkit Assignment 1 - Final Submission
The past few weeks of activities have helped me greatly to understand areas of the animation pipeline I had previously remained distant from. This mainly included cinematics and rendering in Unreal, and its use for composing elements in After Effects I feel will become a huge benefit for me further along in this course.
The post-production volume in Unreal was also an incredibly handy tool I was glad to discover, and I wish I had more time to experiment with the various functions and settings. Working with blueprints is another area I find myself less intimidated by, though the full scale of their use and functionality may still take some time to become properly familiar with.
While I still find character animation to be my strong suite, blending said animations in Unreal still proves to be a complicated process for me, though I hope to become more familiar with it in the future. Using the A.R.T. Character Creation Tool in Maya has made me more keenly interested in the rigging process than I had been before, however I am uncertain what time I’ll have within this unit to go more in depth into that area. Lighting in Unreal is also another aspect, while I definitely have a broader knowledge of now, I feel I still need a deeper and more confident handle on.
For the upcoming assessment, I have chosen to take on the Visual Effects Development stream. This decision was difficult, as character animation I have found to be my area of strength and confidence, as well as the role I want to take on within 3rd year projects. However, while I have already spent quite some time with 3D Animation, visual effects work is another aspect that I have always been highly curious about, yet have never had the opportunity to fully experience or experiment with.
That being said, while I aim to make visual effects my number 1 focus during Assignment 2, I wish to then still make 3D animation my second-most priority. My chosen task for this pathway will be to composite a shot from Unreal Engine with live-action footage. This aspect of visual effects work has always been an interest of mine, and after experimenting with similar compositional effects within the first milestone, I want to look into expanding my skills and knowledge in this field and perhaps even consider incorporating it into future projects.
My prior experience and knowledge working in Film and TV related units should prove helpful going forward with this task, as well as improving skills in areas I felt weak at or dismissive of (i.e. onset lighting, cinematography).
Inspirational Artist/Studio:
My main source of inspiration is filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, along with his production house Oats Studios. His unique approach to compositing visual effects into documentary-esque, cinema verite-style short films within his earlier carrier lead him to direct his feature film debut District 9, which has since become a major influence and inspiration for myself as an aspiring filmmaker and animator. Blomkamp often takes advantage of limited resources and non-cinematic footage/techniques to believably composite fantastical elements into a grounded environment.
His recent venture in partnership with Steam is his own in-house production company Oats Studios, dedicated to releasing short film online, while sharing animation assets with the audience, employing an open-source, collaborative, viewer/filmmaker production system.
https://oatsstudios.com/studio/
http://www.ilm.com/ilm-careers/
http://www.cuttingedge.com.au/jobs/
Looking into some career requirements via studio job listings, I see that an understanding of simulation effects plays an important role in working within the VFX field. This includes particle and fluid mechanics, used to visualise and simulate effects such as fire, smoke, water, dust, clouds, explosions, or other virtual elements that require chaotic (randomised) systems.
An understanding of lighting and its impact on both real and virtual materials (i.e. fur, metal) play an essential part when applying compositional effects in order to believably integrate two or more separate components into the same environment. A comprehensive understanding of chroma keying and blue-screen extractions is one listed skill I have already begun to explore in After Effects, while skills such as camera tracking play an obvious role when compositing onto a moving canvas.
An understanding of the compositional software NUKE is also a common listed requirement found on both ILM’s and Cutting Egde’s job listings, and this will be one of the first areas I will explore in preparation for the upcoming task.
https://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/non-commercial/nuke-non-commercial/
I have also found a tutorial video detailing the camera tracking functions available in After Effects in order to produce a 3D virtual camera from a live action reference.
Another resource I found details the overall production pipeline to creating believably integrated 3D effects, however it is the areas on capturing light and environment referencing I feel are most useful to me here, as well as how camera lens and focus will affect the shot.
http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/how-seamlessly-integrate-cg-and-live-action-51411697
That last aspect may prove difficult as I am not confident in the quality of my current camera, and may need to look into borrowing or hiring out equipment more appropriate for professional production.