[CSF] Project 03 - space helmet

A little comp showing different passes used during Project 3 of CSF. *credits for the renders and plate to CSF department.

[VEF2] Month Projects -

Project 04

In project 4 we had to create a viscous liquid object, I went for a really thick one like pizza and arepas dough. My idea was using a Knife to cut the dough through.  I used a viscous liquid with a really high viscosity on a tube geometry. adjusting the particle separation and raidous were also key to avoid a to liquid simulation. then I added a simple ground plane and added static object properties to the knife. 

Project 03

In this project we were introduced to FLIP liquid simulations in houdini, I decided to create an stream of tap water coming from a faucet. I create a fluid emitter for the water, adjusted the shader to make it look accordingly to the reference and added a Fields to add the randomness of water.  

Project 02

This project was about doing a fire, smoke or a combination inside houdini. similar to project one we have to study the movement and shader of a referenced fire. I started by using the explosion module, so I can get both fire and smoke and the movement I was looking for. the render is medium quality as a production quality was taking me 1 hour per frame. 

Project 01

In our first project we use maya fluids and particles to create fire, in my case I needed fluids only, particles would be added for wood crackling sparks. 

STE Research Project

This was a fun project, we created a marble machine within Houdini to simulate physics.

our idea was a continuum machine, which will play the marbles around a circuit and then catch them back to the start.

We modeled the assets in maya and imported them back into Houdini. We had a good idea from the beginning on what we wanted to do, we didn't  find any major issues, and the ones we found we manage to resolve them fast enough for deliver.

some of the issues we found was setting the collision to track the geometry surface and also the animation, which were resolved in the collision settings. by activating concave representation under bullet settings inside the collision module (for accurate geo representation), and also check on Use deforming geometry (for animated geo)

the only issue we couldn't figure out before the presentation was the animation editing, specially deleting created frames. When we selected the parameter or the geo and went to the channel editor we couldn't find any keys on the graph.

These are some images of the project.

CAN2 Final animation

this is my final animation for can2 project 2
Had a lot of fun working on it, even with 5am classes which can literally hit your performance when you had a class the day before till 9pm. but anyways it was a fun class with an amazing teacher!.

I used photoshop and a wacom cintiq to develop the concept idea, I also edited the audio (adding more fx) qith audition and finally the animation was don in Maya.
same Animation project workflow as usual, first creating the contacts, key poses, then breakdowns, anticipations and moving holds, then expressions and follow through.

these are some of the concept ideas and breakdowns for the animation

Antsy Final Animation [CAN2]

Final Animation for CAN2 Project 1.

Antsy Animation - 4thPass [CAN2]

Here is my 4th pass on the Falling from a cliff animation.
working on:

- Z rotation COG, spine.

- Moving hold after stop in the air. 

- Anticipations and breakdowns on realization and fall. 

1) Explain the project(s) shown in the blog post.

This month we explored photo realistic render. First we match the lights from our source image, using one area light (rectangular) for the key light on the left side, then we added an area light (sphere) with less intensity and a warmer tone. The IBL gave the fill in the scene. 

After light and geometry matched the reference image, we start creating the UV maps for the objects. these are the examples for the pulley and scraper. 

Then we start retouching and painting the texture map with real photos as references, we had to pay attention to detail. Where the rust starts, lens deformation from the photo, noise, shapes, were some of the properties we have to be careful to avoid seems or unrealistic placement. 

We moved to the reflections and refraction, mostly focused on the bottle, we created from scratch the glass material and personally I comped the bump maps, texture maps, of the label, stamp, tax label, and wax seal. Once done we rendered all passes to get the final image. 

2) What useful tools and techniques did you learn this month?

the two most important tools for this month in my opinion were the UV editor and mental ray materials in general. 3d/2d placement, textured layers, and material properties were studied in detail. I feel I can now UV anything without asking myself were to start. 

Also knowing exactly how mental ray handles different material has expanded my reach in creating new and accurate materials. 

Also render settings in mental ray, these can make the difference in the overall quality and crispiness of your image. 

3) Are there any tools you explored on your own?

Yes, even though it wasn't required, I added dust on the table and books surfaces, as I painted the pulley with dust layers, it used to stand out of the other objects. 

I started by creating a simple plane, and created a texture map for the dust in Photoshop. I use several dust, fingerprints, and splatter brushes to achieve a really dusty look. I then use that map over a ramp (to control the B/W levels), connected to the cutout opacity property to create a mask over the material. 

I then use the same map with different Photoshop filters to create the color attribute of the material. 

This is a little breakdown video of different stages of the render.