VFX009 WIP

[Whelkn]

Heres my entry so far. Any suggestions or comments to make it better. :) thanks guys

Jeremy

[Legolas S.M.]

It looks very good.
Only one small critic: the lights on the wall at the two far end of the bridge don’t fit to well. All the other lights have a hot spot: and those are the only two that don't have one.

[ShadowMaker SdR]

Where does the water come from? Is it a composit or are you using 3D of some sorts?

Sander de Regt

ShadowMaker SdR
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

[Whelkn]

Legolas S.M. thanks for the comment-I will turn up the power on those two hot spots. Also I think Im going to add different colored light in the city scape.

es-diar- The water is 3d from lightwave--Its a Technique I learned from a tutiorial a long time ago. The rain is from the DF particle system.

Jeremy

[Landon]

I like where you are going with it but I'm not sure if I like the water I would have to see it moving to give you a better opinion. The rain is cool looks kinda CG though. Keep up the great work

[Paul Moran]

yup, i like it...although the water doesnt look right...it looks more like snow :p ...needs all the cool (and hard stuff about water) froths and splashes, ripples etc etc ..

nice styalised approach...keep it up :)

[Whelkn]

Well I have done alot of updating. I have changed the water and the ran. I have also changed the lights for the buildings in the back ground. You can't tell from this pick but I have animated the image to simulate being filmed from a boat. I still need to add cars on the road and droplits of water on the "lense" of the camera.

Jeremy

[Whelkn]

Heres a better picture that shows of the water a little better. Im rendering the water off again now. Ithink I have improved it over these images but well see. Thanks every one for your comments.

Jeremy

[Whelkn]

Well since I have been messing around with this all night tonight I might as well post this to.:D I have changed the water and I think I like this the best so far. This is an over sized image for adding camera movement when I crop down a bit. as always let me know what you guys think.

[Whelkn]

Dang it I hit the wrong button:p well here it is

[ShadowMaker SdR]

As a still frame I like the water very much...I am just very curious how it will move. Of course doing the water in 3D sort of defeats the purpose of a compositing challenge, but hey...

Sander de Regt

ShadowMaker SdR
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

[Legolas S.M.]

Very nice endeed.
In the last shoot the antialiasing on the border of the bridge seems to be more accentuated: the previewes images was better.
The lights in the city and on the towers are much better.
I was thinking to have the camera pan and zoom too but I found it difficult because the perspective of the bridge would need to change too: what do you plan to do about it ?
Do you want to rebuild the bridge in 3D too ?

[Whelkn]

Thanks for the comments legolas. Ya you got me on the aliasing of the water and the bring. All taken care of. As for the camera panning problems after I see the whole animation moving I will decide if it looks good enough. I havent thought that far ahead yet.:D

Es-diar--I think the water looks pretty good moving. As for your comment about this being a compositing challenge well the rules state---3D is allowed for this challenge, BUT, this is NOT to be the dominating factor. Remember we are here to hone our Compositing and 2D VFX skills, please use 3D elements as subtle parts to your whole. 3D is not mandatory, but is allowed for VFX009. I dont think my use of 3D is a dominating factor.

Jeremy

[ShadowMaker SdR]

Jeremy,

I didn't mean it as harsh as it may have sounded, it's just that the 'mission' is "Make this shot a night shot" not: make this a stormy night shot or a night shot in which the bridge explodes or Godzilla eats the bridge etc.

I like all these entries and I think they're very creative but as someone in one of the other WIP's already pointed out: it's just difficult to compare. In the past some challenges have been won by people who made a cool soundtrack or did something funny or something like that. Not necessesarily the one who did the best compositing.

Hell, the only one that I have won (The hobbit BTW check it out if it's still in the archives - end plug) I didn't stick with the exact assignment either, so I could tell a better story.

So never mind me: go ahead make waves, blow up the bridge...it's just that I am a bit of a purist. Explosions look better on screen if there's a great explosion sound. So in the past I've also campaigned for no sound entries...no luck...and it doesn't matter. Have fun with it. Do nice work. And if you're water is really that good, I may have a job for you in the future!

Greetings

Sander

[Paul Moran]

me thinks its looking really nice :)

much better than the first pass ... the 3d water is fine...same boat as legolas ;)

as for es-diars comments ...i can your point mate ..being a purist... i fully understand what you are saying...but we wouldn't be very nice if we curbed peoples creativity ;) ..we have to set some boundries...but if find the creativity and diversity of entries to be ones of the greatest aspects of the challenges, if we had all entries where there was no room for any creative interpretation...well, I dont think it would be very appealing or exciting :( ..

Anyways ..seems the cmiStudios DVDs are keeting more people interested in VFX009 :) ...and thats a great thing!!

Top work thus far ..looking forward to more

Cheers

Paul

[ShadowMaker SdR]

Hi Paul,

You get no argument from me. Like I said, the only time that I won was the time that I didn't stick to the exact rules either.

My only intention was to explain why I find voting to be more diffcult if people go out and do outreageuos(sp?) stuff. But I totally agree with you on the 'curbing of creativity' - I like these challenges a lot and enjoy doing them of I have the time.

Jeremy,

To make it absolutely clear: I love what you've done with it so far and I can't wait to see it moving.

Best of luck

Sander de Regt

ShadowMaker SdR
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

[Paul Moran]

Originally posted by es-diar
Hi Paul,

You get no argument from me. Like I said, the only time that I won was the time that I didn't stick to the exact rules either.

My only intention was to explain why I find voting to be more diffcult if people go out and do outreageuos(sp?) stuff. But I totally agree with you on the 'curbing of creativity' - I like these challenges a lot and enjoy doing them of I have the time.

Jeremy,

To make it absolutely clear: I love what you've done with it so far and I can't wait to see it moving.

Best of luck

Sander de Regt

ShadowMaker SdR
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

;) :thumbsup:

[Legolas S.M.]

This is definitly the best entry that I have seen on the forum so far. Would it be possible to see a video too ?

[Modus]

I'm a lil agree with es diar about the mission of this challenge..I'm really frustated because i just wanted to fit with the challenge and not being out of subject and i realized that if you do something out of rules, you get a lot of feedback...
So i've planned to throw out my stuff and restart everything without rules. It's not like saying " turn this stuff at night and do what you want" . It was "turn this shot into night...even take a look at some google references to see this city at night"

..but may be i've just misunderstood all the thing...

i hope i'll get something new and intereseting since the end of the month:)

Modus

[Paul Moran]

dont be too quick to throw it all away!!! Being creativley inspired is fine!! Your mission is a day for night ...as long as you accomplish that...anything above and beyond is totally fine!!!

I encourage creativity, its what sets you apart from someone else!!

Day for night -> and then do you own thing if you feel like it :)

Cheers mate

Paul

[Legolas S.M.]

I kind of tend to agree with Modus.
I have been trying to understand what are the boundaries of this challenge and I didn't have much luck so far. I have to say that I'm a new user and I have never seen a "day for night" shoot before, and that is part of the problem. But being so new to the forum let me see the problem that Modus is point out: few weeks ago I voted for the UFO challenge. The guideline said that the shot had to be at night or under the rain, or something like that, but I ended up voting for an entry that didn't have any of the above: I voted for it because I tough it was nice and I didn’t know much about the process of doing it.
My point is that I don't think the users who get to vote for the challenges really care if an entry “bends the rules”: they mostly vote for the nice looking stuff. From this point of view any participant is better off applying the << turn this stuff at night and do what you want>> rule.
Moderator where are you? Could you please help clarifying this point once and for all? :confused:

[Legolas S.M.]

Well, if the the following rule is valid:
"turn this shot into night...even take a look at some google references to see this city at night"
Then I have to say that this is still the most cool looking entry so far, or at least I think so.
Whelkn could you show us a video now ? :D

[Paul Moran]

I just did above :)

Further Clarification as taken from the challenge page:

VFX009 involves taking the 9 second DivX 5.1.1 sequence and completing a Day for Night challenge. Thats it, no specifics to drag you down, no annoying restrictions, simply a Day for Night and be as creative as you want

So..as I said above...complete the day for night ...and then be creative IF you want :)

Cheers again

Paul

[Modus]

Thanks VFX !! you've free my mind :D I'm gonna stop starring at this f.... references images i found in google :D i can't stand anymore them !!!

Thanks again

Modus

[Paul Moran]

:) ... go forth and conquer!! :thumbsup:

[Whelkn]

Well here is the latest image from my project. I have created a new matte of the bridge as well as pretty much painted a new one to make it more defined. I added the cars and I think they have a pretty good personality they pass each other and slow down and get passed again :) . I seperated the suppot beams so the cars pass in front of and behind every other one. The last thing I added was the flashing red light on top. Sorry if some of you think I have strayed from the original idea for this contest. Just trying to be different. I have learned alot on this challenge and look forward to next months. Im just trying to make something good for the ole demo real :D Legolas--Im saving the video for when I post it for the challenge

well heres the image
Jeremy

[Whelkn]

Here is another update. I added more of a glow towards the top of the bridge. I would like more ideas on how you guys would make this better.

Thanks

[Legolas S.M.]

Hi Whelkn,
I’m not an expert so I can’t really criticize a lot but these are my comments:
It looks very good. The water with the rain and the sky give a nice mood to the whole image. I can see that you basically repainted the whole image too. The only real elements left seem the to be the towers on the extreme end of the bridge. I can’t see the car in the image that you posted but I bet they are much better them mine.
The water doesn’t seem to have depth of field: but I would expect it to be in a different perspective, with smaller waves when you get closer to the bridge. Again don’t take my word for it because I haven’t see the water moving and I can’t get the real feeling of what is going on.
Whelkn you have been very kind so far to show us your WIP because all the new user like me can benefit from it, but I have still one question: why are you trying to save the video for the end?
Please don’t take me wrong. I’m not saying that you should overload the server with hundreds of video like I did on my thread. I’m just curious: do you think that somebody could copy your ideas is you show the video? Or are you simply planning to surprise us?
I have personally shown any single (poor) idea that I had and I have exposed myself to lots of critics but in the same time I have learned a lot and I have also provided ideas for other users. At the end I believe everybody would benefit from it, and this is what the WIP forum should be about. But again I may be wrong.
Anyway, in my opinion you are doing a great job and I’m really looking foreword to see the result.
Have a nice and creative day.

[Whelkn]

Legolas thanks for the comments. This is my first attempt at a day for night shot to. I cant thanl you enough for your observation on the water. Something was bothering me about the water but I couldnt place it. Thanks. As for not posting the motion untill the end/. Im not trying to keep it from anyone. Its just I havent really liked it yet. Thanks again for the comments.

Jeremy

[Tuqui-tuqui]

Looking good Whelkn! I like it a lot. Making us wait for that video is cruel :die:

Also, the reason we want to see it is that we want to give you feedback in the ocean, car, sky animation/movements. Don't wait 'till the last minute to get those important comments and crits

[Whelkn]

I will probably have an animation up by late tonight if I can come up with a camera motion I like. That said I have another pic. This time its cropped to 800x486. I re-rendered the ocean again thanks to legolas's suggestion but this time I rendered it as a .RPF file and applied z depth blur and fog to the scene. Let me know what you thin of the pic. Also if any one has any ideas on how to make it appear that light is reflecting of the top half of the bridge that would be helpful. I seem to be stuck at this point.

Jeremy