D I G I TA L VISUALISATIONS JEREMY BONWICK MODULE 01 THE DIGITAL STILL LIFE
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CABIN IN THE
The wind blows. The roof creaks. The wine warms. With a crash the glass crashes in, the curtains billow, the table cloth stirs. Was that a hand? The wine spills, its blood red contents seeps into the cotton. Red stains mixed with the rain. And now, the knife is slammed into the table. It twitches as it comes to rest, moonlight glinting off its blade. The onion is halved.
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OBJECT DETAIL RENDERS
MODELING The first task of the model was modeling objects inside of 3Ds Max to be used in the scene composition. These objects were created from reference images and
dimensions from real life examples. The objects presented different challenges, from linear things like a table and chopping board to spherical and irregular like the fruits, bowl and cloth materials.
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THE BOWL
THE APPLE
THE WINE BOTTLE
The bowl is the simplest of the modeled forms, a simple trace of the profile, smoothing the control points and using the ‘lathe’ modifier to create the cylindrical shape. To speed the render the ‘optimize’ modifier was used to reduced the complexity of this and other objects in the scene.
The natural form of the apple was modeled from a base sphere which, using ‘editpoly’ was melded into its final form by extending, indenting at the top and adding irregularity. The ‘soft selection’ tool was used to create smooth alterations by affecting points around that which was selected.
Details of the wine bottle include the hollow area in the base which would alter the way light interacted with the object once a refractive texture was applied. The top is detailed with a lid and screw grooves which marry up and little indentations for gripping the cap when undoing.
8 Objects are modeled through a variety of techniques, one being to start with a base geometry, such as this 5 sided cylinder, then transform to an ‘editable poly’ which allows faces or edges to be selected to modify. The desired face is extruded, repositioned, scaled as needed with this process repeated to form the basic shape of the object.
Another method is to trace the object and then use the ‘lathe’ command which rotates the line around an axis to create a circular object with the desired profile. The plate, bowl, wine glass and wine bottle were all modeled through this method. Small details such as the lip of the bowl and its base area critical to give variance to the surface as well as realism.
The chamfer command is used to soften the harsh edges, along with the ‘turbosmooth’ modifier which subdivides faces and smooth the whole object’s surface. The wall mounted sconces, added for background detail, combine a number of these techniques to create the bulb (lathe) and mount (extrude).
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THE KNIFE The original method used to create the knife was tracing it and then shelling the resulting plane, this left a messy subdivision of the surface with was hard to work with in creating the sharp edge to the blade and rounded corner to the handle. The object was remodeled using a method more similar to the banana, taking a rectangle and extruding along the length. This resulted in an even division of horizontal control points. Using the ‘swift loop’ tool horizontal divisions were created to allow scaling of the bottom of the blade to create the sharp edge and at the other end. A similar technique allowed for the ergonomic handle, using ‘turbosmooth’ to smooth the edges independent from the faces to mimic the sharp side edges of the knife.
TEXTURING The texturing of the objects involved creating materials inside of 3Ds max, creating texture maps from reference images which act as the base for the
diffuse layer (a base image) as well as generating reflections, bumps in the surface, roughness and refraction.
THE DIGITAL STILL LIFE
11 LEAVES The leaves in the background were created with a crumpled plane (using ‘cloth’ to deform the flat plane) with the image of a leaf applied with an opacity map to key out the surrounds leaving just the leaf without the difficulty of modeling the intricacy of the shape.
THE WINE BOTTLE
THE WINE STAIN
LIQUIDS
The texture for the wine bottle is a simple v-ray material with a high refraction and a dark red fog to give the glass its colour. The labels are detached as separate objects with their texture applied through the flattening of the source photos in Photoshop. A reflectance map from the black and white image was used for the embossed areas of the text.
Like the leaves, the wine stain on the table was achieved by the use of a diffuse texture created in Photoshop which was keyed out with a masking alpha channel layer in the form of a black and white bitmap image dropped into the opacity map of the material. The final table texture uses a v-ray blended material which take the base, a woven cotton texture to resemble the fabric of the cloth, overlaid with the stain — the latter repositioned and scaled inside of the material ‘slate’ editor, with tiling turned off, to align with the bottle.
The refractive materials in the scene, those which appear transparent, such as liquids and glass were created with the v-ray material’s refraction value. The IOR (Index of Refraction) is different for different materials, such as water which is 1.3 versus glass which is 1.6. These values were used to create realistic materials which interacted with the scene lights in a natural way. The wine in the wine glass was detailed with a lip at the top to mimic the concave meniscus where it comes into contact with the glass container.
12 THE UNROLLING
THE TEXTURE
Applying the texture to the modeled object began with unrolling the surface to create the flat plane for the texture to be applied to. For the spherical fruits this was a process of creating seams which segmented the skin and then for the central element using the ‘pelt‘ feature to stretch out onto a close-as-to flat surface. The knife and other planar object were easier as the surfaces were separated into their different faces. The knife edge was flattened and compressed and the longer elements of the handle left as one segment to be textured.
The unrolled surface was exported as a template to be used in Photoshop to locate the different elements of the object and apply the required texture. The knife handle was given the details of the metallic circles, the apple texture encompass the change in colour towards the top and bottom of the fruit whilst maintaining a constant colour around its centre. The orange texture is quite simple, with a constant colour created by taking an image of its skin and blurring to reduce the details. The dimple colour change was then added as a layer with blend mode multiply over the top. The blurred colour layer was duplicated over the top and set to blend mode ‘colour’ to complete the consistent effect which would wrap without visible seams.
THE DIGITAL STILL LIFE
13 THE DETAILS
THE RESULTS
A blended material was used to add detail to the apple in the final render including the addition of a glassy layer to simulate the wax on the outside of the fruit as well as another texture with the label, using an alpha channel to determine where it would show through. The knife handle details included a bump and reflection map applied to the texture, the reflection to add to the metallic feel of the steel circles and the bump to simulate the imperfections in the surface, including a little chip taken out of the material in the real life reference. The orange’s dimpels were added by using a displacement map along with a normal bump map, the former actually translates pixels in the final render for a more realistic result (a similar technique was used to create the seams in the wallpaper).
The problems with the seams of the apple presented themselves once the texture was applied, where a change in tone was very discernible. This was firstly made better by altering the edges of the original Photoshop diffuse map. In 3Ds the ‘viewport canvas’ feature was used to paint with the ‘clone stamp’ around the seams to complete the effect. The knife handle with the reflection map applied reacts correctly to the light in the scene, bouncing off the metallic circles in the handle. The orange also begins to pick-up the light on the displaced pixels which create the raised areas, which also coincide with its own reflection map.
INSPIRATION The follow examples come from Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). Shot on a Panavision anamorphic lens — the qualities of which were replicated in 3Ds Max to capture the feel of a cinematic aspect ratio shot on celluloid with the artifacts of the squished anamorphic lens. The narrative and scene design for the shot was inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) with its shadowy practical lighting and grungy old wallpaper as backdrop.
Alien (1979)
THE CAMERA The camera has been used to convey the storyline of the image. The use of techniques to mimic filmic anamorphic lenses suggests the drama of the scene,
like a shot from a 1980s movie. The genre of horror or thriller is suggested through the canted angle which gives the whole shot an uneasy, off balance feel. The placement of the knife, embedded in the table, in a prominent position in the frame, in sharp focus, suggests a tale of home invasion, of a violent act, of disruption and of drama.
Alien (1979)
The Shining (1980)
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15 7 CAMERA AND LIGHTING SET-UP
6 LIGHT TARGET
5 4
P
O DR
CK
BA
LL
WA
1 2
The scene is set with the V-Ray physical camera in close proximity to the table in the foreground, the background is occupied with the room’s wall and a backdrop is positioned outside through the window. The distance between objects creates a depth to the scene, with the camera set to a f-stop of 3.2 to blur the objects behind the focal length. The ISO is set at 100 which will reduce noise, and the shutter speed at 100 to have a little motion blur in the curtains and rain outside the window.
FOCAL LENGTH
TA
BL
E
8
3 LIGHT
CAMERA
ATMOSPHERE Drama is created in the scene through the use of low key lighting. The Key light (1) for the scene is positioned at 90° to the camera, with a fill light (3) directly opposite. The fill has a blue hue to create a colour contrast with the white key, which is also supplemented with a second thin light (2) with a red colour which cuts through the scene. Two lights in the background (6,8) glint at different angles off the smashes glass. The drama is heightened by the 45mm FOV and the canted camera angle.
16 THE ANAMORPHIC Projected at the correct ratio of 2.35:1
Compressed to a 4:3 35mm sensor size
2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
The techniques used to give the impression that the shot is taken with the use of an anamorphic cinema lens is developed through a number of techniques. Firstly, the aspect ratio; anamorphic lenses compress the captured image onto elongated image resulting is stretched horizontally in post to a wider aspect ratio — usually somewhere between 1.8:1 and 2.35:1. The artifacts of this are the out-of-focus areas which form into bokeh appear stretched vertically. At wider angles also the image takes on a distortion at the fridges. The V-Ray camera inside of 3Ds Max can mimic the bokeh by changing the Anisotropic setting to -0.5. The distortion of the lens is harder to achieve but a cubic distortion was added with an amount of 0.03 to subtly warp the image at the edges (see grid of distortion in bottom left image). The distortion of the background also occurs in a more subtle manner in out-of-focus areas due to the stretching of the bokeh. Another artifact of an anamorphic lens is the telltale horizontal lens flares, which were not replicated in the final render. The final A3 is presented with letterbox bars to replicate the 2.35:1 aspect ratio of panavision lenses.
THE DIGITAL STILL LIFE
17 LIGHTING COLOUR As with the inspiration of Alien (see screen shot, previous page), the use of colour is used to heighten the drama of the scene. The warmer inside tones are set in contrast to the moonlight outside which stream in through the window, the light which wraps around the objects changes from the warm yellows and orange to blue. This complementary colour scheme is supplemented by the practical lights which hang on the back wall of the shot, these send a yellow glow radiating outwards and spilling down the wall. The lighting creates a distinction between the chaos outside in the storm, lit with the blue toned moonlight, and the internal space which is an apparent refuge in its warmth (literally) and yet also a little unforgettable in its glow. The moonlight spills into the internal space, visually supporting the sense that something has infiltrated into the internal space with vicious intent.
18 REFLECTION
Module One was a steep and exciting learning curve into the world of 3D Max, which has some very real advantages over Rhino from other subjects. There is a wealth of knowledge and tutorials on modeling in Max online which the surface of which has well and truly only been scratched. There was a great deal of trail and error as well during this assignment, a few hours playing with the ‘cloth’ modifier early on, finding the physics generators such as wind and mixing materials and different texture maps. Perhaps the most satisfying element of this task was the onions, added in the last few days to beef up the scene. These were modeled, unwrapped and textured in two hours which felt like a massive achievement — and the results turned out far better than expected, especially the glinting reflection off the freshly cut face of the onion; the detail which really sell the
whole model. The task gave a creative outlet for a cinematic tenancy — instantly sparking ideas of challenging the static nature of the painterly still life, injecting a dynamic and filmic nature — both in the composition and the materiality of the image. The allure of Peter Jackson, the New Zealand director, was a real influence, with his tendency for sweeping camera moves and slightly off axis framing — the canted or dutch angle. Then there’s the feel of film, the filmic quality, the way things look when they’re shot on celluloid with anamorphic lenses. The image definitely works hard to push this intention, with the oval anamorphic bokeh, edge distortions and aspect ratio. The combination of these allude to the classics of the mid-tolate-20th century and distinctly filmic quality
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The rendering process itself was a chaw, after all was textured and done, the final render was slow and cumbersome. Every time an effort was made to reduce the ploy count, or de-intensify a texture the render estimate only seemed to increase. The choice of shallow-depth-of-field and somewhat distant framing meant that a lot of imperfections were not visible in the finished render, a lot was hidden with the drama of the overall scene — ideally more detail could have been added to the objects in the scene, smudges on the wine bottle and glass, to really sell the realism. But it was decided that given the composition it was not needed to aid in the story. The material creation has been the most enjoyable part of the project — creating normal, bump and specular maps is an important skill going forward.
20 THE ONION
The onion stands as a culmination of the skills from this model, the last to be added to the scene and the best completed. The first step was to trace the internal shape of the onion and lathe the result, welding the cores and capping. The object was then duplicated and scaled to form the outer skin.
Using the ‘EditPoly’ modifier the outer skin was given its distinctive ends and then both object cut in half by ‘detaching’ the top surfaces. The edges of the skin were roughed up using ‘EditPoly’.
One half of the onion would sit cut-side down so only the skin would need to be textured. The map splits the surface in two, the seams being the reverse side to where the camera will see. This material will include a displacement map to create the fraying effect at the top of the onion, the Photoshop effect ‘3D>MakeBumpMap’ was used for the base of this texture map.
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The inside and skin of the other half of the onion would be visible in the render. The unwrapping of the surface followed suit from the previous segment, with the face contained as a whole and the rest of the skin left in a pelt to wrap around. The lines on the skin of the onion were lined up with the subdivisions of the object using the ‘warp’ transform tool in Photoshop.
The face of the onion was given a texture map for its rings on its bump map. Another map was used for the reflections to give a glint off the freshly cut vegetable as the juices begin to seep out. The layers of the onion behind the skin become visible as the top surface peels away, giving a roughness to the cut.
22 THE PROCESS
FRACTURE: The broken window was created through an public domain script which fractures solids via a voronoid pattern. The shape is progressively subdivided, with larger shards at the perimeter and smaller fragments at the point of impact. The object is then broken by the use of a keyframed sphere acting as a collision object — the glass set using MassFX as an active body — to break through the fractured shards.
WALLPAPER: To create the seams in the wallpapered wall a tile map was used as the generate the bump and reflections as well as used as a displacement, using the ‘VRayDisplacementMod’ to control the amount of change in the pixels height. The results were exaggerated to be visible in the out-of-focus shallow depth of field used for the final render.
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CLOTH AND WIND: The cloth modifier was used for two objects in the scene, the table cloth and curtains. The former was dropped with the table top set as a collision object with the material set to cotton. The result is a messily draped table-cloth. The window drapes are simulated with a ‘wind’ force in the scene. Corners were pinned down so that the movement would be controlled on the left side and left to run free on the right. RAIN: the intensity of the outside environment’s blizzard is conveyed partly through the addition of rain particles outside, splattering onto and passing through the window. These were created both through a texture map on the window material to catch the light and the addition of particle emitters in the scene to generate rain drops. The ‘blizzard’ and ‘spray’ particle generators were used to create the rain.