“RECOG”
Team W
William Leung
http://willleung3d.wordpress.com/
http://willleung3d.ca/
(wla44@sfu.ca)
ABSTRACT
There would be elements of working with team dynamics,
much similar to collaboration in freelance jobs or related
industries, as well as the ease of workflow. However, there
could be negative issues as well, and one can only predict
and imagine how it can or could be.
This document discusses the combination and process of
elements that contributed to the development of the project.
From the first week to the final showcase, components from
pre-production, production, and post-production are
portrayed and analyzed. Procedural elements are described,
and samples from each of these steps are also shown.
PRE-PRODUCTION
The pre-production stage offered many opportunities to
develop ideas and helped finalize what needed to be created
for the final production. This included developing sketches
for the characters, setting, and other elements of the
narrative (storyboard). Also available was the feedback
from KJ, from the provided portfolio pieces and
deliverables that related to the proposed concept. Through
this initial procedure, insights were brought across through
the lectures, with many ideologies and samples of past and
industry renown work.
INTRODUCTION
My initial idea was to have this individual project be a main
piece in my online 3d portfolio. The plan was also to
implement new techniques in modeling, and possibly try
new software in compositing. Inspirations came from the
photorealism from Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise,
and the work of ILM. Concentration would be on modeling
and the environment would be composited from actual
video footage. I shied away from the more cartoon and
stylistic animation and rendering techniques as I also
wanted to challenge such photorealism.
RESEARCH / INVESTIGATION
Being a project that was solely mine to develop, and had all
the freedoms associated with the theme, I wanted to create
something that I would enjoy the process as well as the
final result. In 2011, I had already created a robot head,
reminiscent of the unreleased Bayverse Transformers
character. Thus, I wanted to do the same thing, except in a
much larger proportion, and for a class project/personal
reel, not just for enjoyment.
Research then went to I wanted to create, which evolved
during the process, but eventually turned into a short teaser
of what I could do in CAD. Later developments and
improvements will be made, but my target audience is the
students of IAT-343, and of course Kyungjae Lee.
PRODUCTION OVERVIEW
Being the only member of the team, not only offered much
freedom, but had constraints as well. Firstly, the workflow
had to be much more intense on my behalf, as well as
having very little insight on feedback or external opinions. I
am fortunate enough to have two computers available to
split the task of rendering and other work, but having
another member(s) in my team would be just as unique as
this solo process.
Figure 1: Sketch to concept rendition
1
PRODUCTION
Modeling
Modeling was a challenge, due to the references and chosen
accuracy with both vehicles. Realism was a goal, and
textures alongside a high detail model are necessary to pull
of such a feat.
the first portfolio, animation of the plane became evident
that the level of realism had to be achieved. This meant the
moving of the ailerons and stabilizers according to the way
it is portrayed to the virtual camera. That being said, a lot of
the shots were from an animated camera, simulating the
motion of the plane, matted out to footage from the sky.
The perspective here was quite intriguing to experiment
with, from POV to dynamic shots. As for the vehicle,
background images and footage were captured at my local
gravel pit, and I was able to composite them with adequate
shadows in CAD. This meant the freedom of having a
stable camera, while part(s) of the vehicle could move
individually. The problem here was the matching to the
taken footage and camera angles, as constrained to the
ground, it did not have the aerodynamic freedoms of the
fighter jet.
Lighting
Figure 2: 1k+ model with high accuracy
Texturing
UVW unwrapping of many of the more organic models had
to be done (F-18 Hornet jet), while because of the amount
of singular elements of the other vehicle, I was able to
texture them without large scale maps. The jet required the
use of Adobe Photoshop to match different paneling from
actual plane images to the fuselage, while the construction
vehicle was more clean. Such created unwraps and textures
were then applied to different materials for the model,
named accordingly and organized, of course.
I could have went for the standard daylight system setup,
highly useful in simulating environments and daytime/night
time lighting, but I choose a more traditional method. I once
came across an interview discussing the daylight system
being very similar to the older way of having a skylight
coupled with a target light. This way I could control
elements of each, being the colour of both emitted lights,
types of shadows (raytraced), and the way shadows were
projected.
Rendering
My main rendering engine was using Mentalray, though for
some elements, I choose the reflective mapping qualities
and presets from Solidworks. Rendering at 900x506 was
not the most ideal as for most production work; at least
1600x900 or higher is adequate. However, time was the
issue, as well as limited processing from CPU and NVidia
Quadro with high poly counts; the resulting renders were ok
for the scope of the project, and could be edited in post.
This ensured the same aspect ratio as my camera footage,
and gave consistence when editing
Figure 3: Just some of the textures used
Animating
Animating the plane and construction robot was entirely
different, because of the lack of personal footage from the
gravel pit, versus up in the sky. From feedback received in
Figure 4: Test render on ground footage
POST-PRODUCTION
Compositing
Using the footage I took of the Lafarge Gravel Pit, I was
able to create backgrounds and implement them in 3d.
Doing so allowed the models to be positioned in a fashion
that seemed reasonable to the angle and perspective of the
taken image, and a ground plane could be created to catch
shadows on. Similar to this would be of the external footage
high above the clouds, which offered the freedom of
matting out the background behind the plane, and later
compositing the video footage of the sky instead.
Figure 6: Flare used to simulate missile exhaust
Figure 5: Main filming location
Compositing all the renders into a single production piece
was left to Adobe After Effects, as special effects would be
needed. (See below).
Figure 7: Particular trail effects
DISCUSSION
Sound
Suggestion and improvements:
Sound is an extremely importance aspect in conveying
atmosphere, mood, and meaning in a video production. The
project included a background track that had to highlight
the visual elements, but not be conflicting with it. As I have
no vocalizations or actual speaking characters, this idea of
narration had to be brought forth by the audio choices. This
included Jablonky’s music score from Transformers (2007),
as well as related audio from an air force clip. Other robot
sounds and relevant effects also were from such sci-fi
movies.
 Do not use special effects in post but via 3d programs.
 Matchmaker implementation on footage.
 Gather actual footage and have proper camera setups.
 Provide own sound design and video footage.
 Create an even higher detailed model(s).
 Model and create transformation scheme for full robot.
 Cockpit and CGI pilot in CAD.
 Utilize other rendering engines like VRAY/IRAY.
Special Effects
 Create and use grunge maps, specular maps, bump maps
etc.
Related to compositing the entirety of the reel, I used
plugins from Adobe After Effects that could boost the
visual quality of my footage. This included an abundance of
my custom optical flares from Video Copilot, and missile
trails from Trapcode Particular. These helped bump the
sense of realism, as well as create the missile trails. Other
than these, colour correction from Adobe Photoshop and
After Effects were used to give the composition the right
hue, as well as to colour burn a few areas that seemed too
bright.
 Possibly make the environment(s) photorealistic in 3d.
 Paint and
reference).
create
textures
 Work in a group
workflow/rendering.
3
and
from scratch (without
stick
to
timeline
for
CONCLUSION
http://www.adobe.com/ca/products/photoshop.html
This project and its process gave me a great opportunity to
learn and develop my very limited skillsets in 3d modeling.
Though it is a passion of mine, creating the project alone
not only presented many difficulties, but also showed
myself firsthand, the importance of collaboration and the
limits of a single, amateur individual. However, I am
excited to have learnt the techniques that I implemented this
semester, from the special effects in post-production, to the
accurately moving pistons and hydraulics of my virtual
Volvo front-loader.
External:
http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/transformers.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1A2GrvFJ1w
http://www.showcase.ca/continuum/continuumphotos.aspx?
s=Season+2+Episodics&e=Season+2,+Episode+1
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1288558/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279/
REFERENCES
Tutorial on Missiles:
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorial/smoke_trails/
Software:
http://pixologic.com/
http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-3dsmax/overview
http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodeskmaya/overview
http://www.redgiant.com/products/all/trapcode-particular/
http://www.adobe.com/ca/products/aftereffects.html
https://www.videocopilot.net/products/opticalflares/
Filming Locations:
http://www.yvr.ca/en/communityenvironment/community/community-engagement/PublicObservation-Area.aspx
http://lafargehomedelivery.com/location/
http://www.topofvancouver.com/gallery.html
TEAM BIOGRAPHY
I am a 3d artist and visual designer extremely passionate in
the visualization of ideas. My specialty is in 3d design and
conceptualization, with skills in illustration, sculpting,
modeling, texturing and lighting. Although, I am fluent in
using CAD aided and digital media programs, I am not
constrained to the platforms, and am very willing to try new
techniques and experiences for designing.