Uncontainable

Proceedings of the URECA@NTU 2011-12

“Uncontainable”- Exploring Fluid and Dynamics Simulation for Creating New Media Digital Arts Yew Yong Xiang Ivan School of Art, Design and Media

Asst Prof Ina Conradi Chavez School of Art, Design and Media

Abstract - Autonomous and independent expressions of new digital tools and painterly tactics will be used for the production of a wide range of visuals across the multiple media. This project focused on exploring the fluid and dynamics simulation for 3D visual effects and 2D digital print on various substrates, merging fields of animation, painting and rapid prototype.

in time and spacei. Through the inventive use of flowing fluid mesh processes generated by NextLimit RealFlow 2012ii and the specific rendering qualities of Autodesk Maya 2011iii, the project‟s main goal seeks to create surreal cinematic experiences that would propels the capability and creativity to better convey our intention and emotion in films.

Keywords – fluid simulation, visual effects, new media, animation

3 LITERATURE REVIEW / BACKGROUND

1 INTRODUCTION

New media digital arts can be identified as a genre through which new media technologies are used in the creation of artworks, ranging from digital computer graphics and animation to interactive virtual art. [8] The industry has an extensive association with many market segments and particularly in movies, which digital visual effects (DVFx) are most prominent. In a way, DVFx can be used as a tool identical to sound, colour or camera angles, which convey crucial story information that enhances the visual power of the narrative and build the story world for virtually every kind of film narrative no matter the budgetary restraints. [1] The power of visual effect these days has far exceeded the preliminary conception of purely for aesthetic purposes and has provided a framework for the narrative.

Emotion alone, and not mere craft or technique can create living meaning. An artist's mutual influences, borrowings and modifications are fascinating as art history has repeatedly shown. So much so that even when the viewer knows nothing at all of that, the image will have an effect.

This project is inspired by contemporary art, the medium of painting and how they can be intensified via the dynamics of digital media. Art of today is like never before open to remediation and the crossing between tangible material and immaterial virtual media. The earlier URECA research in experimental animation dating back to 2010 employed digital visual effects and various processes for generating and manipulating images, attempting to reconcile a digital sensibility with painterly animated projection. [5] At the time, fluid properties were used to emulate painterly marks in an abstract and expressive manner. Thus an abstract painting was experienced via the medium of digital animation. The resulting forms were organic and nonrepresentational in their appearance and were holding the expressive intent of gesture mediated by technology.

The goal this time is to use the "uncontainable" and process of flowing fluids for creating imaginary, micro cinematic universes. Fictional photorealistic images would carry impossible surreal qualities; such as for example: the main character of a film would dissolve and morph into ambiguous fluid shapes or would evaporate into smoke. Non-linear film story would be enhanced with these effects. The images would evoke new contemplative moment common to all of art media.

2 AIMS / OBJECTIVES

Dr Shilo T. McClean – Shilo is an Australian Film and Television Radio School (AFTRS) graduate with a PhD in Digital Effects in Filmmaking from University of Technology, Sydney. She is a regular guest for many tertiary courses and seminars of her expertise in filmmaking, DVFx, and as well as story-crafting. Her consulting work ranges from digital image curation for games developers, strategic advice on educational/ media ICT industry development and digital content.

[1] As DVFx‟s new technologies have often „wow‟ the audience, its newness also allows the audience to observe the pacing and the images as narrative. With the emergence of new media as unique platforms for storytelling, it has widened the evolution and reinvention of narrative structure in films. [2] i

Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 1 Project Title: 3D Stereo Animated Pictorial Space: Towards New Aesthetics in Contemporary Painting- RG 55/10 PI Conradi Ina (Asst Prof) ii

The fusion between realism and surrealism has blurred and expanded the boundaries of our perception for visual effects in films and animation. This conception will be injected into an ongoing production of a short "war" film, interacting with the characters and settings

NextLimit® RealFlow® is a unique fluids and body dynamics software package for creation of flawlessly realistic simulations. realflow.com iii Autodesk® Maya® software is an integrated 3D modelling, animation, visual effects, and rendering solution. usa.autodesk.com

Proceedings of the URECA@NTU 2011-12

“While DVFx have completely re-equipped the storyteller‟s toolbox, they have not re-written the storyteller‟s rulebook entirely.” [7] – A note mentioned

by Shilo in her book “Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects” served to reinforce the project‟s aim of enhancing cinematic experiences through 3D visual effects, while strengthening and preserving the narrative of the film. With RealFlow‟s unique ability to create visually stunning fluid and dynamics simulations varying from traditional wave crests and splashes to zero-gravity effects, exemplified in many of nowadays movies (Fig. 1) [4] and commercials (Fig. 2), it has spurred us to approach them as the core visual references for the project.

4.1 ANIMATED CONTENT CREATION– REALFLOW’S MORPHING EFFECT The shift from the previous abstract treatment and usage of fluids towards a more focused and specific purpose requires a greater control over the particles and meshes generated in this research. In particular, the morph and magic daemon are crucial elements to achieving the desired outlook. As such, trials and recordings are made before hand on these affecting daemon tools and parameters for their relationships to the particles emitted. This will ensure a more efficient workflow in the later experimentation.

Morph Daemon The purpose of the morph daemon is to allow the user to be able to create morphing effects without having to resort to various tricks and workarounds, using multiple daemons and scripts. The daemon has two modes: “Approach” and “Cover”. (Fig. 3) [9]

Figure 1 Screenshot from references- The Chronicles of Narnia- Prince Caspian, (2008).

Figure 2 Screenshot from references- Frey Chocolate commercial, (2010).

4 METHODOLOGY The challenges in this project ultimately revolves around the creation of morphing effect in RealFlow, where the particles has to be directed and conformed to specific surreal subjects, and as well as the application of DVFx appropriately in the sequences within a film.

As visual effects aid in conveying the emotion and narration of the film, this research requires a closer working relation between the effects and the storyline.

This resulted in the constant to and fro workflow between RealFlow‟s fluid dynamics and Maya‟s specific texturing. The research is developed into 2 stages, first being the experimentation on the morphing effect as seen in the references, and secondly being the application of the deeper understanding for RealFlow‟s fluid dynamics, onto the requirements of a specific shot sequence in a proposed “war” film.

Figure 3: Morph daemon‟s parameters; main parameters to work with are Target Object, Branches, Approach Slope, Approach Speed and Cover Speed.

“Approach mode” controls how the particles approach the target object, while “Cover mode” controls how the particles behave once they‟ve reached the target object.

[9] In the process of using the morph daemon, the particles emitted flow in branches or in branching patterns according to the values set. (Fig. 4) Even if the imported object‟s position, rotation or size is animated in the midst of the morph, the emitted particles will continue to follow the trails of the object till it sticks and forms its shape. (Fig. 5)

Proceedings of the URECA@NTU 2011-12

However so, both daemons can be used in conjunction with one another for greater control. The morph daemon is used for its conformation branches while magic daemon deals with the retaining control of the particles to shape. These morphing effects are often used as DVFx for shape transition from one object to another. With the different possibilities of working around such effect, it allows a range of transformations varying between simple texts objects (Fig. 7 – 11) to complex 3D models.

Figure 4 Generated particles flowing to the imported cone object in branches according to the values set.

Figure 7 Imported 3D text object is filled using a fill object emitter.

Figure 5 Particles moving and following to the trails of the animated cone object during the morphing.

Magic Daemon “Magic” is one of the most powerful daemons in RealFlow and works like a “morphing engine”. This means that the daemon turns the attached object into an attractor pulling the particles towards its faces. [9] Similar to morph daemon, during the process of the conformation, external supporting or disturbing forces can be applied to create a more vivid simulation. One of the key techniques to using the Magic daemon is to animate its strength to achieve interesting attraction and repulsion effects. (Fig. 6)

Figure 6 Magic daemon‟s parameters; main parameters to work with are Approach Strength, Escape Strength and Magic Mode.

Despite both daemons having similar morphing effects, the morph daemon has more control over how the particles are to flow or be directed to the object, unlike the Magic daemon where the particles move randomly or have their movements affected by other forces.

Figure 8 Various forces, such as noise field or D-spline tool are added to the simulation.

The setting of the jittering parameter to a higher value will allow a random alignment of the particles, which is partly responsible for the creation of a more natural mesh. These simulations can also be key-framed to be inactive or active, allowing us to set when the forces will affect the daemon or when the morph/ magic daemon will start to attract the particles. To further enhance the realism of the fluid outlook, an object emitter is used to create a dripping effect by which the certain faces of the polygonal object that are selected will emit fluid particles at the desired key-frames. In addition to that, a gravity daemon needs to be added to make the particles drips naturally. A point where more forces are added and required to act specifically on a distinct emitter, the exclusive links can be of great use just by middle-dragging the selected emitter/s into the exclusive links column and the subsequent forces or daemons into it. [9]

Proceedings of the URECA@NTU 2011-12

particle occupied is relative to the simulation time and mesh building duration. This can be resolved either via the use of kVolume daemon, which sets a boundary for the particles to flow around, or the use of kIsolate daemon that “kills” off any particles that are stranded too far away from the main action of simulation.

Figure 9 Particles emitted out from selected faces of object emitter to create realistic dripping effect.

Figure 12 Scene set up for multiple shape transition; particles morphing towards the targeted object- Head.

Figure 10 Scene ending off with a drop and splash look; particles affected by a global gravity in a key-framed simulation.

Once comfortable with the simulation, the maximum particles, and resolution can be increased to obtain more detailed mesh and a smoother animation. After which, it is textured and rendered in Maya. However, do keep in mind that increasing the amount of particles and resolution will also increase the overall rendering time.

Figure 13 Settings of key parameters for mesh creation: Polygon Size- 0.03, Relaxation- 0.03, Blend Factor120 and Radius- 0.03.

Figure 11 (Left to right) Final image sequence rendered using Autodesk Maya‟s Mental Rayiv.

In the next experimentation of RealFlow‟s morph effect, another animation was done using a series of 3D models with increasing complexity- sphere, cross, aeroplane, head and text. (Fig. 12 – 16) This challenges the idea of encompassing multiple transformations within an animation and how complicating it can get before being applied into a film. At the same time, it is important to determine and set the right environment to your requirements from the start, before the simulation as it will greatly affect the rate of production. This includes the containment size of the particles, as a larger working area means a longer “living” time for the unnecessary particles to roam. The area where the

Figure 14 (Left to right down) Final rendered image sequence showing various shape transitions. iv

Mental ray® renderer is a high-performance rendering engine with advanced photorealistic lighting features. usa.autodesk.com

Proceedings of the URECA@NTU 2011-12

Figure 15 3D rendition of morphed objects- Head, in different material textures to achieve a spectrum of surrealistic appearances.

Figure 17 Edited 3D model of war-plane‟s cockpit in Maya before import into RealFlow.

The crispness and details of a morphed object lies partly in the resolution of the particles as well as its maximum count. Having to reach a balance is important, which ideally can only be achieved through a series of trial and error with prior RealFlow knowledge.

Figure 18 Scene set-up in RealFlow: kVolume and kIsolate daemon used to contain overflowing particles emitted by the 3 Circle emitters directed in front of the cockpit‟s view.

Figure 16 Fictional photo-realistic imagery having surrealistic qualities.

The key parameters‟ settings used for generating the meshes are: Polygon Size (degree of resemblance to the outline of the particles) - 0.01, Relaxation (degree to which the particles mesh can be stretch or sharpen) 0.02, Blend Factor (degree to which the particles mesh are bonded to one another) - 1 to 3, Int. Pressure (allows expansion of particles) - 10, and Ext. Pressure (prevents expansion of particles) - 0.1. In the case of a small particle reaction area, a fine control over the expansion is of high importance. A negative gravitational force is also applied exclusively to the bubbles with a Density value of 6000 and a Surface Tension value of 400.

4.2 “WAR” FILM’S COCKPIT SCENE– FLUID GUSHING & SUBMERGED In an upcoming “war” film, it saw the need to utilise RealFlow for DFVx even though the application of the morphing effect was substituted with water gushing into the cockpit as the war-plane crashes into the sea. During the course of production, it poses a different level of difficulty. This mainly being the need to understand how the fluid dynamics will react to the crashing and the portrayal of a seemingly underwater feel with the air bubbles escaping in that instance. The shot‟s visual effect was broken down into 3 aspects: the gush, the bubbles coming in, and flowing out. (Fig. 17 – 21)

Figure 19 Thick heavy fluid meshes for the gushing in.

Proceedings of the URECA@NTU 2011-12

Technology in Film and Television. Retrieved May 21, 2012, from http://www.xrez.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/01/ DigiStory_program08.pdf.

[2] (November, 2008). Screen Studies- Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film. The ArtBook, 15(4), 71-72.

Retrieved May 21, 2012, from http://www.depietro.com/main/pubs /digitalstorytelling.pdf.

Figure 20 Gushing and Bubbles meshes are imported back into Maya for texturing.

[3] Bryan, A. (April 30, 2011). The New Digital Storytelling: Creating Narratives with New Media.

Westport, CT; USA, Praeger.

[4] Fusion CI Studios. Retrieved December 15, 2011, from http://fusioncis.com/.

Figure 21 (Left to right) Final image renders for cockpit scene- water gushing in to bubbles flowing out.

5 RESULTS In the core of this research project, a measurable result is not the one to be delivered across. But rather, the knowledge and skills learnt from RealFlow‟s morphing effect has opened up the scope to fluid and dynamics simulation for short featured films, and allowed greater manipulation to suit the various cinematic needs. This does not solely operate to the pleasing eyes of the audience, but most importantly it delved deeper into the analysis of the usage of DVFx, as a mean to construct and support a film in terms of its narrative, and the engagement with our perception and emotion.

6 CONCLUSION The expansion of the possibilities for contemporary filmmaking and the way style and stories can be crafted to achieve a balance, is in no doubt due to the everchanging set of techniques visual effects have laid out that marked its importance. What lies ahead in future is the conscious use of visual effects to further support and enhances powerful narrations with the ability to provide and sustain the visual continuity necessary to keep the audience more involved with the story, resulting in the interplay between narrative and DVFx.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Asst Prof Ina Conradi Chavez from School of Art, Design and Media.

We wish to acknowledge the funding support for this project from Nanyang Technological University under the Undergraduate Research Experience on Campus (URECA) programme.

REFERENCES [1] (2008). Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects- Seminar on the Creative Use of

[5] Ivan, Y.Y.X., & Conradi, I. (2010). “Project ID: ADM10029, URECA Project Category 1 Title: Stereo Painting: Towards New Aesthetic in Painting Today”.

[6] McClean, S.T. (2004). Silicon Spirit: The Impact of Digital Visual Effects on Storycraft in Filmmaking (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved May 21, 2012, from http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/scholarlyworks/bitstream/handle/2100/1034/02whole.pdf?s equence=2.

[7] McClean, S.T. (January, 2007). Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film. Cambridge, Mass.; London, MIT Press.

[8] New Media Art. (2009). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 21, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_media_art.

[9] RealFlow- The Vault. (2010). Retrieved December 15, 2011, from http://thevault. realflow.com/.

[10] Ryan, M. (2002). Beyond Myth and Metaphor: Narrative in Digital Media. Poetics Today, 23(4), 581-609. doi:10.1215/03335372-23-4-581.

[11] Standards, A. (February 12, 2007). 'Special effects and CGI'. In Observations on Film Art, Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell. Retrieved May 21, 2012, from http://www.davidbordwell.net/ blog/category/special-effects/page/3/.

[12] Trifonova, T. (2004). Special Effects: Simulation in Cinema. Kinema, A Journal for Film and Audiovisual Media. Retrieved May 21, 2012, from http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/article.php? id=94&feature.

[13] Wood, A. (2002). Timespaces in Spectacular Cinema: Crossing the Great Divide of Spectacle versus Narrative. Screen, 43(4), 370-386.

Retrieved May, 2012, from http://screen.oxfordjournals.org/.