Texture Baking

After deciding it was necessary to texture baking certain static objects in the scene in order to cut down on the excessive rendering times of VRay, I decided that the most important geomatry to focus on was the walls, roof, and floor, as this is where the most noticable shading takes place. Using a VRaySelfIllumination map as the texture, i was able to apply the bake to the corresponding objects. I then had to ensure that any lights within the Scanline scene now excluded the walls, roof, and floor, as they already have shading baked into them. Once changed back to the Scanline renderer, I was able to apply a simple glass material as well, almost completing the texturing stage of this assignment. Here is a side by side comparison of the baked C010 room with a reference photograph.

I feel that the lighting in the room is true enough to the original and this was made easier by my standardised use of the metric unic that I used throughout the modelling stage.

Through the use of VRay texture baking I successfully lowered the rendering time from 6 minutes to 4 seconds, with a minor deffect on quality; this was a definate hurdle in the production of this assignment.

Limitations on Quality Vs Time (Rendering)

Due to the complexity of the scene (50,000 polygons and counting) and the materials used (glass), the rendering time for the 1 minute long animation would be too long; this is because a single test frame rendered  out in 6 minutes. After looking out my current options I am adamant that I want the advanced effects of the VRay rendering engine in my project, however I will have to approach it in a different manner. Texture baking is a technique in which the calculated shading is 'burnt' into a standard material, and once rendered can be mapped on the corresponding mesh. The difference between rendering and calculating the lighting in each frame as apposed to Texture Baking is huge, and means that the shading only has the be calculated once in order for it to be shown throughout the animation. Of course, this technique can only be used for static objects in the scenery.

Test Render Of The Current Progress

As I wanted to have a high level of detail and realism represented in my animation, I decided it was necessary to use an advanced rendering engine. VRay 2.0 grants me access to an enhanced library of shading possibilities, which in themselves, give all the materials a more realistic feel (as light is calculated in a much more precise manner to that of the default Scanline renderer). After finishing the creation of the assets, and building the seen (placing computers of desks and chairs on the ground) I did a quick test render. To the left is the resulting image of the C010 computer lab, rendered with VRay.
  Of course, the windows are a standard material for the time being, but this will be changed in the final artefact.

The Character

I decided to use a female character model for my animation. The model itself was premade (as I am weaker at modelling organics) but I decided to rig and animate the model entirely through my own doing.

I began by loading the mesh into 3ds Max, and scaling it to the corresponding size in my already specified, metric unit setup. I then created a biped. After positioning and rotating the bones of the biped to fit the pose, this was the result:

At this stage, I was able to select the mesh and use the modifier "Skin" to enable me to attach vertices to the biped. As a result, when a bone is moved, the corresponding vertices will as well. The other option was to use "Physique", however I had not had much experience with this modifier.

 

Having skinned the female mesh, the model was ready to be animated according to my storyboard; of course, this would have to wait until the scene is ready and prepared.

Creating the Set (Part 2)

As there are so many assets involved in this short animation (hallway lights, posters, different computers) I have spent another 2 days modelling and texturing. Luckily, assets such as the XPS can simply be duplicated around the room.

As a result of this work, I am extremely happy with how the look and feel of the animation is coming together. My frequent use of 3ds Max combined with Photoshop is definately improving my skills over the course of this assignment, and I feel very comfortable working with UVWs. To the left is a quick Scanline Rendered image of the low-polygon textured XPS machine. These are very outstanding an iconic to the room in which the character will end up in, therefore it was necessary to get it looking as realistic as possible. Of course, my final animation will be rendered in a more suitable engine such as Mental Ray or Vray, providing better shading and lighting to my scene. The picture below shows the overal progress of the lab (C010). The posters on the wall show another use of Unwrap UVW modifier supplied in 3ds Max. The walls are yet to be placed, however I have designed to the layout in a manner which will allow me to simply extrude the walls from the frame.

Creating the Set

  With the concept and storyboard in place, it was now time to start progressing with the scenes creation. The hallway and the end  "Graphics Specialist" room are the two most important areas, as the character will be directly interacting within them. Therefore I have decided to recreate them as accurately as possible through use of reference photos and phyisical measurements.

Using 3ds Max's Unit Setup, I have specified that all models should be measured in meters. 1 Unit = 1 Meter. This will allow my real world measurements to be accurately implemented on the 3D models within the software.

The assets on the left will be objects that the character will be directly interacting with (turning the chair, pressing the keyboard) so I was certain that a high level of detail should be portrayed; especially for close-up shots. Of course, assets like these can be duplicated around the room in a quick and efficient manner to help populate the environment. As can be seen in the picture, I simply created a Box, scaled it correctly, and then used the Unwrap UVW modifier. Using Photoshop, I cropped a reference picture and fitted it to the UVW template, giving me a simple yet effectively textured model.

Storyboard

After deciding on the theme and concept for the animation, the next step was to create a storyboard which would be concieved of the main events in the clip.

1. The beginning

The character is first seen at the front doors of the University's Computer Lab hallway. During this sequence, the character will show off the walk cycle.

 2. Window Fantasy

As we see the character progress through the hallway, creative ideas and events will be happening on the other side of the windows. For example, a model tank will roll past. Of course, it's all in the characters creative imagination so it should not be judged in a realistic sense.

 3. Window Fantasy (Continued)

The character nears the end of the hallway, approaching two glass doors. Ideas can still be seen occuring behind the glass. The character stops to watch for a brief moment before continuing.

 4. Door Opening

A key feature of the animation will occur now, as the character leans and grabs the door handle, interacting with the scene. He will then adjust his walk to fit through the smaller gap.

5. Sitting down

Another key character pose will be shown as the character enters the Graphics Specialist room at the end of the hallway. He will grab and turn the chair around into a suitable position, and finally sit down on it.
 6. Working

As we near the end of the animation, the character has now sat down in his working environment, and is supposedly putting his creative mind to use on the computer. He will be seen turning the machine on and touching the keyboard/mouse.

Overview

Here is the layout overview in which the whole animation takes place. I have modelled this myself, however it is only 50% complete at this stage. (The Gizmo gives a sense of the scale of the character in relation to the scene it's in).

The Concept

  As the assignment brief states that we must include certain features to gain the required grades, my first step was to begin trying to piece together a story in which i could effectively demonstrate all of these features. I am a very keen 3D modeller, and am effectively self-taught in the 3Ds Max environment, so i wanted to be able to create all of the assets for the animation clip. The other main point to consider is that it has to take place within the Bedfordshire environment.

  By the end of the first night, i had decided that i definately wanted the animation to take place within the Computer Labs (my particular area of study and passion). This would also work well as I am currently taking on a large scale model of the whole of the Computer Lab area within the University. I would be able to use assets from this in my animation.

Storyline Idea

  From the start of the assignment there was an idea in my head that I really wanted to persue. The character (Male or Female) will be walking through the Computer Lab corrider and his or her ideas will be being projected behind the windows either side (this will work well as the Hallway Windows are a very dominant feature). The tag line "What will you create?" will be shown at the end before fading to white and eventually the University of Bedfordshire Logo. Before this however, the character will reach the end of the hallway and take a seat at his or her desk, ready to get creating.

  I feel that this idea will allow me to include all of the areas of the marking criteria, and also allow me a certain level of experimentation and fantasy; All the features needed to attract someone to come to the University.
The tools i plan on using are 3Ds Max 2010, Adobe Photoshop CS4, and a compositing program such as Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere.