Storyboards, Models, Videos: it's all interesting

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Well I'll say! That story board video is taking its time! The reason is that I have to fix each image so that it looks well on the video (yeah, yeah, I know people may say that I suck at drawing but that's really not the point here). So that's coming slowly.

But, I did start my work on the models of the three stupas I'm using on the video. I've already uploaded on Flickr two images of the first stupa I started working on.



This is the first render I made of the model of the Tibetan stupa. The reason it looks black and white is because it doesn't have any texture (or colored light for that matter). I find this image useful because it lets me see the lighting on it more easily. The lighting scheme is a three point lighting scene, with a main light on the front left (your left), a spot light on the back for highlights, and a filler light on the right.



This is the second render of the model. This one has a simple bump map texture with some color added. Even though you can see most of the shadows and highlights the previous one, it just doesn't feel right without some sort of texture on the model. I'm not planning on leaving the texture as it looks right now, though truth be told I don't know what approach I'll go with it. I think I can go either with a more cell shaded look or a more realistic texture for the model... ah options.

Actually there are several things I have to fix in the model itself to make it look more authentic. For example the spire needs a lot more work to get the curves and details in order (the curved pointy thing at the top is supposed to be a crescent moon... yeah I know... not there yet). But overall it looks pretty well for just two days of work. Actually I threw out the model I started yesterday and I started this one at 6:00 am today.

Right now I'm waiting for a flyby video of this model to render. For those of you who don't know, rendering is a lot like watching grass grow, only the grass is a video. So this post has been a welcome relief from the potential mental breakdown I might have from watching the render of my video.

So lets see what do I owe you? The storyboard video, the flyby and I think a post about computer modeling seems in order (specially after my "render" rant). If anyone out there has any doubts, questions, inquiries, or are just plain interested in anything about the project, the process of making a video or how I stay sane in a computer lab just leave a comment and I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.