Equipment
Workstation- Dell I7 920 6gb DDR3 windows professional 64 bit
Dedicated render node- Custom I7 930 4GB DDR3 windows proffessional 64 bit via videomach
1 TB HD repository
software
maya 2011 w/ blastcode
Eon vue xStream 8
luxology modo
Zbrush 4
Realflow 5
photoshop cs5
after effects cs5
trapcode suite
magic bullet suite
adobe premier pro cs5
adobe soundbooth
reason adapted
pro tools mbox suite
(possibly Nuke)
budget- none. however I do plan on competing in the february gnomon 3D image contest in order to win some training DVD's that would otherwise be costly
january 25th- begin research on following topics- blastcode suite, hybrido solver in realflow, rigging and character animation in maya 2011, nCloth, underwater dynamics, maya fluids vs. fumeFX (max), Nuke vs. After effects, 32 bit linear workflow
February 8th- character modeled and textured, all maps exported to maya, shading networks set up, begin work on secondary models and continue research
February 15th- character rigged and animation begun, secondary models finished
February 22nd- begin working realflow, blastcode, nCloth and/or particle simulations
March 1- at least 1 scene finished, being rendering 24/7
March 15th- continue rendering, begin working on look development & post production
April 1st- post production, implementation of practical effects, begin work on soundtrack, send out print commissions
April 5th- soundtrack recorded and polished, final touch ups, title sequence & credits IP
April 12th- absolute final touches finished, video exported and compressed, stills framed,
April 14th- Installation
tentative schedule due to change drastically based on extreme failure in one or more categories
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Proposal
For my thesis proposal I want to explore a conceptualized surrealistic CG-animated short about dreaming, or that state of the unconscious. I want to explore the extremes of a visual spectrum of story telling by focusing on aspects such as look development, camera work, particle interaction and visual storytelling.
The loose concept will be that of a woman falling through space while interacting with various elements, falling through different layers and aspects of space. The main protagonist will be a woman falling through space in super slow motion, perhaps 2-300 frames/second animations. The background elements will interact with the figure, morphing both its position in shape as well as its materiality. The interaction and visual presentation will be both surreal and hyper-realistic at the same time, shifting between an alternate reality and back seamlessly.
I want the entire short to be one continuous shot where there are no cuts but instead shifting foreground and background elements as the character falls through different levels of time and space. I want to include usage of surrealistic imagery, such as the figure falling through the skin of the sea as it shatters beneath her like a plane of glass. Varying interactions like this will occur as the figure descends further, eventually crashing through back into reality in the form of a safe and familiar environment.
I will put a lot of time and though into lighting and camera work, creating a work whose narrative lies in the visual look of the film, as opposed to cause-event linear storytelling. A particular focus will be the seamless shifting between realism and fantasy, as if to personify the blurry line between fantasy and reality upon waking.
Technical aspects
I will be using zbrush and mental ray to model and shade the character, realflow to simulate ocean, water, smoke and other particle interactions, blastcode to simulate shattering and breaking, maya to simulate particles, soft and hard bodies, ncloth, dynamics, rendering, etc. I might use Vue to render background matte paintings for some shots. I will be compositing in either after effects or nuke, time allowing.
I am using ballet photography as reference points for the character animation, in super slow motion shifting from position to position in order to fully explore the movement of the human form
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