Brian Cassil Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 The firm I work for has recently been making a push to market our design capabilities. To support that cause I have been asked to do several things, one of which is to create an animation that will "knock peoples socks off". I've done animations before of course, but they have always been on very limited budgets and with very short time lines and therefore have fallen short of what they could have been. I have been given the go ahead to spend up to 300 hours (much longer than I've had for previous animations) to do this and there is no real deadline. This will be for a project that we have under contract, but the time we spend on it will not be billed to the project but will be tallied as a marketing expense. Therefore we will need to work on this in-between other projects and their deadlines, so this could take several months to complete. Beside myself, there will be two others working on this with their in-between time as well. To help keep myself motivated to do this I'm creating this thread at the very onset and will post progress thoughout the entire process. Feedback from those who are more experienced in animation than I am will be most appreciated. The project is a mixed use residential, office and retail development that happens to be about one block away from our office. There is some contoversy surrounding the project as well as some open oppostition to it happening at all. There are some historic landmarks adjacent to the property and some prominent local shopps and restaurants nearby. My hope is that the animation will address this project fitting cohesively within the local vernacular. Here is the basic process I have outlined: - Build a massing model of the project, featured interior spaces and it's surroundings. - Using the massing model and some simple camera paths, create an outline or "video storyboard" timed to selected music. - Once all the shots are mapped out start modelling, texturing, lighting, filling in entourage, and add "thematic elements" for each shot. - Render low res test scenes and refine. - Render final scenes with separate elements for compositing (resolution to be determined). - Composite shots in After Effects. - Compile completed shots together in Premier for final output. I think that should about do it. I'll post some of the early progress shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 21, 2007 Author Share Posted November 21, 2007 So here's where we are now. I stitched an image together from live local (much better quality than google earth imo) and scanned a site plan that one of the architects did, and layed those on top of each other to create a template in Max for modeling the massing of the project buildings and the adjacent existing architecture. Scott Buckner and I also went and took a bunch of photos of the adjacent buildings so I can get the heights close to accurate. There will be almost no CAD data to work from here on this. Mostly sketches and some watercolor renderings that this guy named Dave Cassil did (he's my Dad... long story). Also attached is one of the photos we took. It's one of the adjacent buildings and happens to be Buckners favorite local bakery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Warner Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Have you been to flashearth.com? It allows you to switch between different providers (including google and live local) to find the best quality available for your specific location. This should make for an interesting thread. I like to see how other people work their processes, and hopefully learn a thing or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfa2 Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 I'll be embarking on similar task soon (unfortunately I'll be doing it by myself). This will be an interesting thread to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Its going to be interesting keeping the inspiration going on such a long term project. Something I have great difficulty with. Are you going cineragraphic or traditional architctural walkthrough? By the way what does an erotic bakery bake? just watchout for the bun in the oven:rolleyes: JHV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Its going to be interesting keeping the inspiration going on such a long term project. Something I have great difficulty with. Are you going cineragraphic or traditional architctural walkthrough? By the way what does an erotic bakery bake? just watchout for the bun in the oven:rolleyes: JHV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 21, 2007 Author Share Posted November 21, 2007 Have you been to flashearth.com? It allows you to switch between different providers (including google and live local) to find the best quality available for your specific location. I had never heard of flashearth before. I checked it out and seems like a pretty good thing especially for looking at stuff in more remote areas where the coverage is spotty at times. Thanks! Are you going cineragraphic or traditional architctural walkthrough? I want this to be more than a typical Architectural walkthrough but there will not be any major "plot devices" that carries the viewer through the animation. My hope is to play up the community aspect of this project. The neighborhood has a very unique feel to it. There are a few places to hang out that are popular with artists and musicians nearby and I hope to emphasize the community aspect and unique local culture with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kippu Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 good thread... marked for future reading ...good luck brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Have you been to flashearth.com? It allows you to switch between different providers (including google and live local) to find the best quality available for your specific location. This should make for an interesting thread. I like to see how other people work their processes, and hopefully learn a thing or two. that is a nice site. i wish they had a save function for the image. that would be super cool. i found another little app last night after reading this thread called Stitch Maps 2.5. it works with Google Earth, and automatically downloads and stitches maps together to make a larger map. pretty sweet, especially since i spent about 3 hours stitching my own together a couple of days ago. after trying it out, i definetly think it is worth adding to my toolbox. http://www.stitchmaps.com/ after looking at the flashearth website, i have to agree that microsoft maps look nicer than googles. i wonder if microsoft is as liberal as google with sharing their content. probably not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 21, 2007 Author Share Posted November 21, 2007 Here are the watercolor renderings that my old man did. They are almost the only reference for the architecture that we'll have to work from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Tizard Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Best of luck Brian..............I have a feeling you're gonna need it if that's all the reference you'll have! Trev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 An eviable task Brian. My concern is that you may be biting off a rather large lump with that building when you could showcase your 3d talents on something much smaller. The impressive work that sticks in my mind tends to be on a very human scale. The buildings are usually small and/or simple with the emphasis of the movie being on several of these: Theme Composition Storytelling Materials Scale Wonder Maybe you can use this site and building to put the real money shot into context. Then you could elaborate on a smaller area of the building. I think its important to analyse your subject material here. Its not often we're let off the reigns to this degree, make sure you chose a suitable subject (building) as your starting point. I was once told: "you cant polish a turd". Im not saying the building you have chosen is a turd, but what I am saying is; how many of your 300 hours do you want to spend on modelling? How many poly's in your total count do you want to go on mullions etc? Good luck, Keep us informed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blowback Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Wow this is a great thread. I have little experience in this type of animation and lots of experience in editing, so I am very interested in seeing how this progresses. There is so much to consider and it is nice to hear other peoples workflow's and ideas. For me the real magic happens when you start editing, and from my personal experience. It's all about the SOUNDTRACK. You can have sub-par renderings/footage/graphics/annimation, but if it is timed right with a good soundtrack. It rocks. Just my 2... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 Best of luck Brian..............I have a feeling you're gonna need it if that's all the reference you'll have! Trev Actually, we have worked from reference material much looser than this many times before. Worth mentioning is that we sit in the same room as the designers and have immediate access to them for any questions we run across. An eviable task Brian. My concern is that you may be biting off a rather large lump with that building when you could showcase your 3d talents on something much smaller. The impressive work that sticks in my mind tends to be on a very human scale. The buildings are usually small and/or simple with the emphasis of the movie being on several of these: Theme Composition Storytelling Materials Scale Wonder Maybe you can use this site and building to put the real money shot into context. Then you could elaborate on a smaller area of the building. I think its important to analyse your subject material here. Its not often we're let off the reigns to this degree, make sure you chose a suitable subject (building) as your starting point. I was once told: "you cant polish a turd". Im not saying the building you have chosen is a turd, but what I am saying is; how many of your 300 hours do you want to spend on modelling? How many poly's in your total count do you want to go on mullions etc? Good luck, Keep us informed! Great input. Originally we were considering other smaller projects that had more high end design emphasis, but those were all projects that are either already built or have very little chance of ever being built. This is a project that could genuinly benifit from having an animation done for it because it could help move the project forward. Also, there is an interesting community theme to this that I would like to play up that goes a little beyond the simple form of the building. Those are all things that went into selecting this project to be showcased. Your advice on including close, intimate shots is something I will keep very much in mind as I plan this out. In fact the interior space that we will be doing is of a restaurant so there is some potential there. Wow this is a great thread. I have little experience in this type of animation and lots of experience in editing, so I am very interested in seeing how this progresses. There is so much to consider and it is nice to hear other peoples workflow's and ideas. For me the real magic happens when you start editing, and from my personal experience. It's all about the SOUNDTRACK. You can have sub-par renderings/footage/graphics/annimation, but if it is timed right with a good soundtrack. It rocks. Just my 2... Great comment about the sound. I completely agree, which is why I will probably pick the sound track right as I start planning the shots. In other words the shots will match the sound rather than the other way around. I can't think of a way that I could 'create' my own sound to match the shots anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 So what are some good (aka: legal) resources for aquiring some music for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Here's an update. I think this is about as far as I will take it for massing, at least initially. I really need to find some music now and start planning the shots. While I'm doing that Scott and Sunny (my two henchmen) will be working a little on modeling the project buildings and a couple of the surrounding buildings that I know will be included for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blowback Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 So what are some good (aka: legal) resources for acquiring some music for this? You got 2 options, Royalty free which usually = suck;) or You can make your own. I don't know how good you are with some of the music programs that are available......but it's nice and easy to make some simple beats with some sound samples. You don't have to be a master in achieving the a simple sound that gives a mood. I have also contacted local or Indy bands and worked with them....a case of beer (lol) record a guitar track, put it to a beat......and so on. Do you have any BAND friends? Record it into your laptop and be a producer. I found this to be the best way in achieving the mood you want. Sampling riffs and beats is something you have to be careful with. I don't know if this helps but this is the way I have pulled off soundtracks before. Legally;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 We have just gone through the music situation. The royalty free music we had just wasn't right for the animation. Luckily we have someone in the office who is able to mix music very well. She found a whole bunch of samples and loops on the web and stitched them together in Acid Base, and Sound Booth. It worked a treat and was better than anything we could have downloaded. So I would suggest finding some to compose a piece of music for you. Two main benefits of this is that the music will fit the animation and you wont have any copyright/ royalty issues. JHV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 I don't know how good you are with some of the music programs that are available I don't know either, since I've never used any. Any suggestions on programs? Cheap (free?) and easy would be good. She found a whole bunch of samples and loops on the web and stitched them together in Acid Base, and Sound Booth. It worked a treat and was better than anything we could have downloaded. Great suggestions. I'll look into those programs. I don't currently have any band friends but I have a friend who does. If I can pull it off I'll the "make my own" route. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Warner Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Definitely go the composer route. But I would find a piece of music you like and use that as a reference. The local art school here has a sound design department, and we just spoke with the chair about working with them. If you like I could find out if he knows of any students who would be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 I'm getting back into this and will be hitting it hard-core now since we will actually be getting some money from the client to do it. We'll be modeling for a while and developing some still images as a first priority but I'll be keeping the animation in mind as I do all this. Thanks for the suggestions on the sound. I'll be getting someone to do it proffesionally. Here's another question. A prominent feature is a historic monument (see attached). What do I do about modeling this? I'm considering looking into scanning it in some-way. There's a school here locally that has been bugging me about using someting they have developed for scanning large areas in 3D. I'll check with them for sure, but I thought I would throw this out there for you guys to comment on as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 It looks quite simple to model except for the person. Id use something figurative for the person and model the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 It looks quite simple to model except for the person. Id use something figurative for the person and model the rest. Yes, of course the people are the part I'm reffering to (actually 3 different ones, a male on one side, female on the other, and don't forget the indian chief near the top of the pillar) Are you suggesting something like poser? I briefly considered doing something like that but these need to be pretty spot on with appropriate attire, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy L Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 No, when I said figurative I meant something thats not a realistic representation of whats there. In other words, a statue model I could download. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 No, when I said figurative I meant something thats not a realistic representation of whats there. In other words, a statue model I could download. That would be nice but the monument it's far too recognizable by the viewing audience for that to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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