Orlando Grand Prix

[spankybus]

Hey mates. I am a student at Full Sail and just finished the Compositing/Scene Finishing Class. This work here was the final project for that class. Thus far the response has been very favorable, but i wanted to get the opinion of the fine folks who frequent the galleries here. Your C&C welcome and appreciated!

HD footage shot in Orlando by the Staff. F1 Ferrari Model and textures from Turbo Squid (username of Marcel23, if I learn the artists proper name, I will update it here) Converted to Maya, as the original model was a 3d Max 7 asset. I did the setup on the car for animation. All other models, textures, VFX, and lighting done by me using Maya 8.5. Tracking done using Syntheyes. Composite completed in Shake 4.1. Total time from pre-pro to final composite approximately 2 weeks.

http://www.spankybus.com/OrlandoGranPrix.mov

*Approx 10meg, 6 seconds. 853x480 - Sorensen 3 Codec

I can add a link to the breakdown video. I did not add it here as the file is very large. PM me if you'd like to see it.

C&C always welcome and appreciated

[lazzhar]

That looks great !
Very well done. I like especially the colors on the blue car, colors are really working.
The only thing that I think is not as good as others is the distortions caused by the heat behind the cars. I t looks too sharp.
Good luck.

[spankybus]

Thanks mate!

I have received a couple of PMs requesting to view the breakdown of the shot. I am new at compositing, so this breakdown probably be more thorough (IE showing the VFX aspects in a separate plate). But here you can see the progression from HD plate to final composite. It is fairly large, and I reduced it's resolution to 720x405. C&C always welcome! Thanks for your time!

127 meg, sorensen 3 codec, quicktime.

http://www.spankybus.com/Orlando_Gran_Prix_Breakdown.mov

[ShadowMaker SdR]

It does look good, but...you have a realistic cameramove of a camera car that you
3Dtracked and matchmoved. Very nicely done. It feels as if it's a real camera car in the shot...Uhm, but how is it possible that this camera car didn't knock over the pylons? The F1 cars swerve to avoid them, but the camera car floats miraculously over them. It kind of destroys the illusion. Apart from that I really like it.

[spankybus]

Thanks for your feedback, mate! I've heard a few comments locally about the believability of the camera move. The project was such that we were assigned HD footage. Then we were told to make a live action/CG sequence. The stipulations were that it had to involve a CG car and at least on other dynamic object or effect.. It also had to be realistic, so no aliens, etc. We were also not allowed to simply have a car driving on the road like average-joe driver...something interesting had to be taking place.

So, this was my answer to that project, which typically sees students adding a car and a few cones that it hits. Because I like a bit of everything(in this case modeling, texturing, rigging, animation, VFX and lighting) I wanted to push it a bit. I might have taken the project past the point of 'believable' with the camera move not being realistically possible on a working race track.

Some of the people who like the concept cite that CG camera work frequently puts the viewer were a real camera cannot physically operate. But I do understand what you are saying in this case; The camera motion suggests that its meant to be a real camera, instead of a viewer's detached window into the world. I expect the ESPN graphics that imply this is a TV broadcast further emphasize this problem.

Do you think the problem would be lessened, if not eliminated, with the removal of those graphics, taking away the the direct implication of a TV broadcast from a real camera?

Again, mate. I appreciate the time you took to review and critique the work!

Cheers,
Frank Mignone