Summer 2012 Depository

The last three months have been packed with full of tedious stressful creative work outside of CG Arts so I'm anxious to get back and start my third and final year. Naively believing it will feel like a holiday compared to this summer's workload.
Aside from the usual hush-hush work I've been doing some on-the-side personal work to keep my sanity, expand my skill-set and fulfil my technical curiosity.

I've been engaging more into After Effects coupled with Photoshop as part of VFX, due in part to the post-production work from The Skeleton Key on Broadway. More on that later after I can get it rendered :)




Working further on the transcription project, slowly adding to the scene and fixing the camera shots a la Spielberg. As well as fixing the particle effects for the fountains and torches. and hoping for it to not corrupt again be ready to render any time soon.







I've also been working on environment concept art for Nanomation's 'Hansel and Gretel' Animation- Being in charge of imagining the gritty side of our world.












Having a keen interest in other methods of rendering and the extra added element of interactivity within a scene, I've touched into UDK, ID Tech 4, Source and Cryengine 3-Exploring the pipeline of transitioning models from Maya into other Game Development Kits, some being harder then others to transfer. I may do a write up on each pipeline in the future.

















Finally, the overhaul of the Blog design was because the last one was so depressing. The change to a more creative design also comes with a more direct approach to showcasing past projects and social plugins (portfolio/email/facebook/etc).

Transcription: Summary Post

Pre-Production

Transcription: Project Start
Transcription: Initial Ideas-Tower of Babel
Transcription: Idea Two - Music to Music Video
Transcription: Final idea. Real starting point
Transcription: Influence Maps
Transcription: Direction Change
Transcription: Tower of Babel Sources - WIP
Transcription: Tower of Babel Sources - Continued
Transcription: Normals Texturing Tests with Arabic Ornamental Patterns
Transcription: Final Art Direction
Transcription: Intro - WIP
Transcription: Architecture, Direction and Symbolism of the Islamic World- Part One
Transcription: Architecture, Direction and Symbolism of the Islamic World- Part Two
Transcription: Architecture, Direction and Symbolism of the Islamic World- Part Three




Production

Transcription: Modelling Update
Transcription: Modelling Update 2
Transcription: Modelling Update 3
Transcription: Modelling Update 4
Transcription: Modelling Update 5 - Tower, Trees and Dynamics
Transcription: Modelling Update 7
Transcription: Final Film, Art of and Technical Paper
Transcription: Full Stills



Tutorials:

Maya: Dynamics 1: Particles, Emitters & Forces
Maya: Game Modelling: Head Part 1-3
Maya: Dynamics 1: Particles, Emitters & Forces - Part 2
Maya: Game Modelling: Head Part 3-6
Maya: Game Modelling: Head Part 6-8
Maya: Dynamics 1: Particles, Emitters & Forces - Part 3
Maya: Lighting & Rendering 2: Intro to Mental Ray
Maya: Normal Maps
Maya: Dynamics 2: Goals, Instances, & Sprites
Lighting & Rendering 2: Intro to Mental Ray
Maya: Dynamics 2: Goals, Instances, & Sprites - Part 2
Maya: Dynamics 2: Goals, Instances, & Sprites 2

Transcription: Full Stills

Containing Beauty, AO and Specular Passes

Transcription: Final Film, Art of and Technical Paper

Transcription: Art of Tower of Babylon



Transcription: Technical Document

Transcription: Modelling Update 7

At this point in time all the essentials are finished. I'd honestly like to do more with the foliage and flooring, (especially the sand dunes) but time is running out and I need to prioritise/sacrifice.

Got a backdrop with a matte painting behind it, colour correction, torch lights, and Physical sky sunset lighting + camera movements + 3 minutes worth of raw footage of it batch rendering over the weekend. I'm going to take as much as I can of the footage that's good and couple it with transitions for a 1-2 minute film.


For now, here's a playblast of the raw camera footage.








Bad news - Particles unfortunately fail to render. I'd like to find out why and fix it, but again time is a big factor now and there's too many reasons why it could to go through. Instead I'll be re-doing them, rendering them on another layer on Monday, and place it in during post-production with what I already have.

Also worth noting clouds + dust particles were going to be added to the scene too add more moving elements, but for the time it took to render and how unconvincing they looked, both were cut. The walkthrough was also going to be a lot less static with the buildings, i.e. buildings, pillars, and such were going to rise from the ground in wireframe and transition into the full render as the camera focuses on it- Again cut because lack of time unfortunately.

For the weekend I'm going to prep the sound, create the interior for the Tower, and generic interiors for the temples and render seperate shots for them on monday.

Transcription: Modelling Update 5 - Tower, Trees and Dynamics

Tower is almost complete with the only remaining part being the insides of insides of the tower, to be completed alongside the temples insides. Also almost complete is the Statue of Marduk which will be placed in the centre of the Kigalla and connected to the tower.






The starting stages of vegetation have also been placed - Dotting palm trees and bushes throughout the courtyards and Kigalla. At the moment the tree's base looks odd rooted to the ceramic flooring, so pots will be added soon in the Great Courtyard.
I'm also doing experimentation with adding vegetation coming down from the buildings, in order to add some variation to the very stone-like exteriors.


Finally there's the dynamics- I've started on water for the fountains, and fire with smoke for the Torches.





By tonight the vegetation will be finished and I'll be ready to prep all the required lights, cameras and passes for rendering tomorrow.

Transcription: Modelling Update 4

Added Temples for the 'Gate of Ishtar and Zagaga', as well as the temples in the Zagaga, UV'd and added textures to all of the buildings (probably not final), swapped the positioning of tower and larger temples, as the Tower sitting directly in front of the courtyard's gate was odd. (It doesn't explicitly state where the courtyards were situated, the Tower is still on the West side. The courtyards are on the East so should still technically be correct)

The statue in front of the larger temple is Nebuchadnezzar, King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. His model was based of reference images.
Another modelled statue which needs to be placed in one of the temples is Ishtar, Babylonian goddess of fertility, war, love, and sex, also based of reference images. I will plan to have a statue of Marduk, patron deity of the city of Babylon, as the 200ft erection that sits in the middle of the Kigalla and connects to the tower.

After the tower is complete I'll be adding in sunset lighting, using dynamics for the fountains and for fire torches along the walls, dotting around vegetation, and a matte painting behind.

Transcription: Modelling Update 3

Combined both courtyards, added the Kigalla to bring everything in scale and laid the foundations for the temples inside the Kigalla.

Few more buildings need to be completed before I can dedicate solely towards the Tower's construction. Specifically, the six temples that lead from the Court of Ishtar and Zagaga. Also various objects need to be added into the courtyard to make it look less empty, eg, gardens, fountains.

Had to backtrack on this unfortunately, UV and Textures need to be redone again due to scene corruption.

Transcription: Modelling Update 2

Transcription: Modelling Update

Transcription: Architecture, Direction and Symbolism of the Islamic World- Part Three

(Note: Incomplete post, Heavy use of images)

Part Three of Three

Windows

Fig.20 (pg.152-153, Michell)

Fig.21. Openwork Marble screen or jali, from apartments of Shah Jahan in the Lahore Fort.  (pg.209, Clevenot)

Fig.22 (pg.216-217, Clevenot) Inside the Tower

Fig.23 (pg.190, Clevenot)

Fig.24. Mihrab of the Great Mosque, Cordoba (pg.206, Clevenot)

Fig.25. Garden Pavilion of the Hasht Behesht, Isfahan.  (pg.62, Michell)

Fig.26 From left to right- ￭Mihrab of the Friday Mosque, Morocco. ￭Palace of Rajah Birbal, Sikri. ￭The Great Mosque, Thatta. ￭Courtyard of the Great Mosque, Sikri. ￭Column decoring the pier of the door of the 'Ala'i Darwaza, Dheli. (pg.210-215, Clevenot) Gates

Fig.27 (pg.50, Michell)

Illustration



Windows
Fig.20 (pg.152-153, Michell)
Fig.21 (pg.209, Clevenot)
Fig.22 (pg.216-217, Clevenot)


Inside the Tower
Fig.23 (pg.206, Clevenot)
Fig.24 (pg.62, Michell)
Fig.25 (pg.210-211, Clevenot)


Gates
Fig.26 (pg.50, Michell)


Architecture of the Islamic World: It's history and social meaning
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture


Bibliography

Architecture of the Islamic World: It's history and social meaning
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: George Michell
Publisher: Thames & Hudson; New edition edition
Date Published: 21 Aug 1995

Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: Dominique Clevenot
Publisher: Vendome Press
Date Published: Nov 2000

Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: Michael Barry
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Date Published: 20 May 1996

Transcription: Architecture, Direction and Symbolism of the Islamic World- Part Two

(Note: Incomplete post, Heavy use of images)

Part Two of Three

Texturing

Fig.9. Zahiriya Madrasa, Damascus (pg.81, Clevenot)

Fig.10 (pg.182-183, Clevenot)

Fig.11 (pg.188-189, Clevenot)

Fig.12 (pg.205, Clevenot)

Ceramics

Fig.13 (pg.229, Barry)

Fig.14 (pg.151, Michell)

Fig.15 (pg.111, Clevenot)

Brick

Fig.16 (pg.93, Clevenot) Stucco

Fig.17 (pg.84, Clevenot) Mosaic

Fig.18 (pg.162-163, Barry)

Illustration



Texturing
Fig.9 (pg.81, Clevenot)
Fig.10 (pg.182-183, Clevenot)
Fig.11 (pg.188-189, Clevenot)
Fig.12 (pg.205, Clevenot)

Ceramics
Fig.13 (pg.229, Barry)
Fig.14 (pg.151, Michell)
Fig.15 (pg.111, Clevenot)

Brick
Fig.16 (pg.93, Clevenot)

Stucco
Fig.17 (pg.84, Clevenot)

Mosaic
Fig.18 (pg.162-163, Barry)


Architecture of the Islamic World: It's history and social meaning
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture


Bibliography

Architecture of the Islamic World: It's history and social meaning
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: George Michell
Publisher: Thames & Hudson; New edition edition
Date Published: 21 Aug 1995

Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: Dominique Clevenot
Publisher: Vendome Press
Date Published: Nov 2000

Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: Michael Barry
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Date Published: 20 May 1996

Transcription: Architecture, Direction and Symbolism of the Islamic World- Part One

(Note: Incomplete post, Heavy use of images)

Part One of Three posts on the environment's description regarding its art direction and ornamentation.

These areas are left to be interpreted as the text I'm transcribing from does not state anything in relation to them. Therefore, I'll have to look at real world references and use them as the basis for

Part One focuses on the courtyard, temples and ornaments.

----------------------------------------------------

Courtyard

Main aspects- Large enclosed area, surrounded by buildings or walled confinements. 

Fig.1. Diwan-di khass, Fatehpur Sikri (p.19, Clevenot)

Fig.2 (pg.21, Michell)

Fig.3. Zaituna Mosque, Qairawan (pg.16, Clevenot)

Fig.4. (pg.30-31, Clevenot)

Temples
Dedicated to the various Babylonian gods, used for worship, prayer or other religious/spiritual activities.

Fig.5 (pg.153, Barry)

Ornaments
Purely decorative elements in the architecture especially common in Islamic architecture. Comes in a range of methods, which will be looked at more in Part Two.

Fig.6 (pg.128, Michell)

Fig.7 (pg.148, Michell)

Fig.8. Minaret and Mosque, Amir Akhur (pg.21, Clevenot)

Illustration
Fig.1. Diwan-di khass, Fatehpur Sikri (p.19, Clevenot)
Fig.2 (pg.21, Michell)
Fig.3. Zaituna Mosque, Qairawan (pg.16, Clevenot)
Fig.4. (pg.30-31, Clevenot)
Fig.5 (pg.153, Barry)
Fig.6 (pg.128, Michell)
Fig.7 (pg.148, Michell)
Fig.8. Minaret and Mosque, Amir Akhur (pg.21, Clevenot)


Architecture of the Islamic World: It's history and social meaning
Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture


Bibliography

Architecture of the Islamic World: It's history and social meaning
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: George Michell
Publisher: Thames & Hudson; New edition edition
Date Published: 21 Aug 1995

Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: Dominique Clevenot
Publisher: Vendome Press
Date Published: Nov 2000

Colour and Symbolism in Islamic Architecture
Amazon Store Direct Link
Author: Michael Barry
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Date Published: 20 May 1996