The process continues...

This is a continuation of an earlier post where I started going through my process of taking a scene in Maya from the basic materials to a fully finished piece.

To refresh your memory here is the scene we started with:

(as always, click on an image to see it bigger)

I did a ton research and found a lot of reference images that I liked and began the process of applying materials and textures to all of the objects in my scene.

Here is where I am now:

As you can see, there is still a long way to go before the texturing is done. Everything looks a little too clean and new. I have to add some dirt and scratches to everything and "bend and dent" the metal appliances a little. It needs a "lived in" feel.

I started to work on that with the copper stew pot and the rest of the pots. They have separate textures applied to modify their color, bump, specular color and reflected color. Here is a close up of the pot with just a straight material applied to it:

The next step, in addition to "dirtying" everything up, is to texture the character - his clothes, skin and hair.

Then I have to light the scene and render it out. So far, a single frame takes 90 seconds to render. The scene is 375 frames long. 375 frames x 1.5 minutes per frame = 562 minutes = 9.375 hours. That will increase once I add the animated character, camera moves, light refraction off of the metal...

It's due on the 12th of December. Ugh.

I gotta get back to work. More later.

Cheers!

Daniel

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...

Our friend Todd Stashwick has, of late, been living a geek's dream life.  He has been a costumed/makeupped(?) demon on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, a Vulcan on Star Trek Enterprise, Dracula on Supernatural, a terminator on Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, and a costumed/super-powered villain on Heroes.

There are trading cards of his character from Buffy and Angel.  Pretty cool right?  Right.  But now the game has changed.  He is in the webcomic for Heroes.  You can check it out here.  Apparently it's chapter 153 so you will have to catch up.  Hurry, I'll wait.  Although I have never seen Heroes (I missed the boat in the beginning and then it was too late to catch up) this looks really cool.  We are going to have to get caught up fast so we can watch it when Todd's episodes start airing.

So, there it is, he is forever immortalized in a comic book.  What is that you say?  It's only a web comic?  Well, I guess you didn't know that at the end of every season they print a graphic novel of the entire season's webcomic, did you?  No, I guess you didn't.  O.K. then.

So to sum up, for the slow ones in the crowd, there is nothing greater for a geek than having yourself immortalized in a comic book.

Except being made into an action figure.

Congratulations Todd.

Cheers!

Daniel

P.S. Somewhere in our apartment is a picture of me as a Simpsons character drawn by an actual Simpsons illustrator.  It was given to me as a gift and I love it.  If I could find it I would show it to you but right now I can not, for the life of me, locate it.

Worldwide web premiere...

People have been asking us when we were going to post our film "Marlena" online.  For those of you who don't know, it is a short film we did back in 2006.  Here it is...enjoy!



We actually shot this film over our wedding anniversary weekend.  We had just bought our Canon XL-2 and were hesitant to spend more money on an anniversary trip.  But then, in a stroke of genius, we decided that if we could turn the trip into a shoot, we could justify going.  We chose Las Vegas and set out to write a film noir (perfect for Vegas) that we could do with just one actor and a one-man crew.

Over the next month, our story began to take shape during nightly brainstorming sessions on walks to the Santa Monica Pier.

"We can't go anywhere for our anniversary this year.  We spent too much on the camera."

"What if we went out of town and made it a shoot?"

"We would have to drive."

"Santa Barbara?  Wait, no.  Vegas!"

"Perfect!"

"So what happens in Vegas?"

"Stays in Vegas."

"Stay on track...stop kidding around."

"How about noir?"

"That works.  And in black and white, too."

"We'd have to shoot it in the hotel room."

"I have my old wedding dress.  And we have a bottle of champagne..."

And from there the seed of a story was planted.  We had been watching a lot of classic film noir and knew it had to be a downer.  But what kind of downer...murder, kidnapping, betrayal?  Things began to fall into place.  Daniel's background as a wedding photographer inspired the use of stills.   We also knew that we couldn't control noise in a hotel, so it would have be told visually,  and remember, one crew member, one actor.

Luckily, we were blessed to have an amazing musician friend, Craig Henry, who in turn, had wonderful musicians in his circle.  The music was an essential element that contributed to the success of our film, and we are eternally grateful for the work that they did.

We built the story around what we had available.  We played to our strengths and interests.  We planned ahead, budgeted, storyboarded and wrote a script.  In the end our film cost us $1398 total.  If you subtract the travel costs, it set us back $849.

Throughout 2007 and 2008 it was accepted into Reno Film Festival, Big Island Film Festival, Crested Butte Reel Fest and Sedona International Film Festival.

Everybody has stories to tell.  A film doesn't have to bankrupt you.  Get creative, plan ahead and you don't have to spend thousands of dollars.  Good luck!

Cheers!

Daniel and Brigitte

He has to eat too...

I thought that this was the best way a great way a good way a funny way a way to introduce you to "My Doctor," the Fourth Doctor, played by Tom Baker from 1974 to 1981.

I don't know where I first saw Doctor Who. It was probably on PBS after Sesame Street or Electric Company, or, most likely ZOOM, which I watched religiously (I wore my long sleeved shirt for every episode. It was purple and orange with white cuffs and I called it my ZOOM shirt), and it makes sense according to the years they were both on (Zoom ran from '72 to '78.) But I digress.

Where was I? Oh yeah! My Doctor - Tom Baker. Don't get me wrong, Christopher Eccleston was great and I was a little skeptical when David Tennant replaced Eccleston after one season, but I soon was saying Christoper who? Oh, I just realized that the last line looked like a joke (who, get it?, who? Doct... nevermind, it wasn't on purpose anyway.) But no, My Doctor was Tom Baker mainly because I was about 6 or 7 years old when I discovered him. Incidentally, I also discovered Star Wars at the same time. Thus, sealing my fate as a nerd, a geek, a science fiction freak, and all around dork forever.

So without any further ado, here he is, the Fourth Doctor:

Like I said, he has to eat too. If one of you utters the word "shill," comments will be turned off for the rest of the day. Don't ruin it for the rest of us.

Oh, in case that wasn't enough for you, he was Prince Koura in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

He was also the narrator on Little Britain. If you don't know what I'm talking about, shame on you.

Cheers!

Daniel

Paranormal Inactivity

I don't plan on using this blog for traditional movie reviews but I will post things that I think my world needs to know and this just needs to be said.

I saw Paranormal Activity tonight at a friend's house.

Hype.

That is all.

Cheers!

Daniel

P.S. - I want to say thank you to the host of the party for inviting me so I could see the movie without paying for it. I can now check it off the list. Oh, and the only part from the trailer that made me want to see it - - - isn't in the movie.

P.P.S - I DO recommend both Trick-R-Treat and Drag Me to Hell. I will definitely be watching Trick-R-Treat every Halloween and Sam Raimi's return to his roots in horror was as creepy and funny as I would expect from the man who brought us the Evil Dead series.

P.P.P.S. The antepenultimate David Tennant Dr. Who episode - "The Waters of Mars" aired on the 15th in the UK - we get it in December on BBC America. I just thought you should know.

Film Love Isn't Wrong

There are two types of people. People who watch movies one time and one time only, and people who watch them multiple times. No judgment on those single-dip kinds, but I am happily in the latter category. I can watch movies several times, and in some cases many, many times, and still find fulfillment, enjoyment and occasionally, something new.

Some films are so layered that one viewing simply cannot scratch the surface. Every time I watch such films, it's like Christmas all over again, with new "gifts" to open and enjoy. In some cases, the same scenes, perhaps fully understood the first time around just continue to be a treat each time. I find this in comedies when the scenes are so well executed that they can make me laugh again and again. Or in dramas that ring so true that they make you cry with fresh feeling every time.

What is the secret? Why do some films hold up so well, while some just don't?

I would say that the distinction is difficult to define...but think of it this way...

Sometimes when you see a film you just know...you know it's the One. Well, one of the "ones". But you know.

Some films are blind dates. Your friend suggested it. Or another film was sold out and you went to it in it's place by chance. You may hit it off, you may not.

Other films you've had your eye on for a long time. You saw the preview, you waited and waited, and then you finally got your chance. With this much hype, it may let you down.

But there is that rare film that just fits you like a glove. It's like coming home. And when you find that film, you know that you want to spend the rest of your life watching it. If that happens, don't let it get away. Lighting may not strike twice.

Or it may strike dozens of times. In which case, it's not really cheating on the other film. Maybe you have an "understanding".

Let's just leave that metaphor behind.

The point is, the way I see it, some films are just a one night stand and some films are a bit like falling in love.

And that is what I wish for all of you. That film that you'll want to take home for Thanksgiving. To share with your family.

You'll want to...but let's face it. It may not go well. Maybe it won't be a good fit for your family. They'll embarrass you in front of your film. Someone will get drunk and then start talking politics. Things will be said.

Maybe it's better to just run off together.

In the beginning...

I thought that for a few posts I would share my process of taking a scene in Maya from the default materials stage all the way through to a finished piece.

I should start by saying that I am still learning this process so some many most all most of the things I do could be done better and faster. I'm learning and this is part of the process for me. I find that when I teach someone how to do something, I understand and retain more of it.

Please note that this is not a tutorial, just a little peek into a process that I will try to keep brief, informative and interesting.

Here is the scene I am starting with.

(you can click on any image to see it bigger)

It's already animated but now it needs to be textured. That is the process of assigning "materials" to each surface that dictate things like its color, whether it's shiny or dull, its transparency and reflectivity. We also tell the software where the bumps, grooves and scratches are.

I start by collecting reference images to see real-world examples of what I am trying to create. I had some images from a headshot session with my friend Donna Jo and I also did a google search for "professional kitchen." Here are a few that I liked:

I just thought the colors and the lighting in this one were beautiful.

I love the copper pots in this one.

A good reference for a working kitchen - scratches, grime, stains...

Jewell Rae Rules!

I like the wood and steel look of this one. It's going to be my main reference.

And, just for a little nod to the masters, I am going to steal the floor from Ratatouille.

Well that's where I am now. I have a lot of work to do so I better get started. Check back often as I will be updating this blog as I progress along.

To see more, part two continues here.

Cheers!

Daniel