Pipeline Resources

 Information about the F55 and some of the options we will have for shooting on it. 

This site has heaps of information which looks like it could be useful.  The site has information on the supported file types for import and export from a lot of the software we are looking at including Nuke, Premiere, Avid and Resolve.  There are also some sample work flow suggestions and basic crash course information for each software. 

At this point I am still testing different Resolutions and Codecs to see what is going to work best with the software we have chosen. 

This is still up in the air as our editor wants to use Avid, but isn't confident with the software. 

Workflows to test:
Footage => Premiere => Nuke => Resolve => Premiere
Footage => Avid => Nuke => Resolve => Avid

First look at ncloth

The work in this clip is from the 19th Feb.  After our first class on ncloth simulations I wanted to experiment with fabric and how it would react with different objects.  I used just the default cloth except for the final simulation where I turned the dress-form from my previous animation into fabric.

Learning to Fly: SIT n' Spit

SIT n' Spit: City Lights

Not feeling it today... And definitely not liking this painting very much.  Oh well 

Scheduling 1

I drew up a basic schedule last night.  I wasn't focusing on dates so much as time periods and figuring out what tasks will need to be done.  I'm sure there is plenty that I have forgotten to add...
Anyway once we have a script it will be easier to make a call on what steps we actually need to take, as well as how long to allocate for them. 

A scrappy bit of paper isn't the most forgiving medium for this kind of thing but it is a starting point. 

Heheh ^ good thing we won't be having to read off this mess

Assassin's Creed Cinematics

zGot side tracked with my other posts: This one has been waiting to be written for a couple of weeks now!

Another franchise I looked at while researching cinematics is Assassin's Creed.  Not only are the animated cinematics amazingly beautiful and almost photo realistic, the Assassin's Creed Franchise has also made use of live-action promotion.  In the animated cinematics the character animation is really well done, with all movements appearing very natural and life-like.  The development of this can be clearly seen across the years.

I could keep writing, but really I think that these cinematics speak well enough for themselves.     

Assassin's Creed:

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Assassin's Creed II:

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The promotion of Assassin's Creed II was the franchises first step into Live Action, with three short films being made to promote and expand the game. 

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Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood:


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Assassin's Creed: Revelations:


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Assassin's Creed III:


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Assassins Creed IV Black Flag:

I feel that the live action-trailer adds more depth to the portrayal of the characters and world seen in these cinematics.  The CG E3 cinematic, while beautiful, doesn't feel like it has the same punch narrative-wise as the earlier cinematics. 

SIT n' Spit: Red Dawn

Today's spit painting.  Really wanted to push the lights and darks more but ran out of time.  Maybe I'll work on it more later.

VFX Pipelines and Scheduling

Reading up on the VFX pipeline to refresh my memory for tomorrows scheduling meeting.

A basic overview for planning a pipeline can be found here on Creative Blog, which has some useful things to think about.

More useful is probably this post from Andrew Whitehurst . While some things won't be relevant (such as scanning film) it has a lot of information about the VFX side of the pipeline.

Fable III Cinematic

Just came across this cinematic.  The storytelling is great in that the larger themes are applied to a character that is insignificant in the game.   Once again a beautiful cinematic from Blur Studio. 

Interesting Cinematics

Whoops had a couple of posts sitting in my drafts- my bad.  Here's the first.

While doing some research I came across these cinematics which I thought were pretty neat.

Dead Island
This cinematic is a few years old now but I thought it was really well done.  The narrative is very strong and the use of reverse footage to tell the story is well integrated so not to feel gimmicky.  The way past and present meet and the constant switching between the two helps the audience to connect to the characters right from the offset.

This cinematic also benefits a lot from the music used, as it helps the audience connect to the emotional side of the story rather then just the violent scenes.





Bioshock 2:
Another older one.   I really like the first half of this cinematic, but feel that when it switches to first person view it focuses too much on showing the gameplay style.  While this is still high quality I think this could be better incorporated to make the whole trailer more cinematic, rather then having a distinctive split. 

As with most of the work from Blur Studio this cinematic is very beautiful, in particular the environment and and textures or the characters.




Bioshock: Infinite
Really amazing world and textures, but not so clear in storytelling. More abstract.




The Last of Us:
These cinematics have a really strong sense of story and character but don't skimp out on the visuals either.  Also the voice acting is brilliant.

SIT n' Spit daily paintings

Today's paintings: Puppies in disguise

 

And I forgot to post this one up on the 7th- Underwater volcano.  Not happy with this one at all though I did get to test out my custom bubble brush.

SIT n' Spit painting: Apocalypse

Casting Call

Just finished entering the Casting Call data from last year, which got me thinking that if we are holding another one this year it would pay to get thinking about it sooner rather than later!

Digital Painting

Just a quick digital painting I did for some practise.  Used a photo I took while visiting the Catlins as reference.

Concept development:1

I was asked to do some development today on one of the concepts our group came up with during our brainstorming sessions.  I wanted to mostly focus on developing the character and her motivations.  The original concept was proposed by Jade.  One of the main ideas in this concept is that as a player you do not know the full story.  You may get a sense that something isn't quite right, but and it is only during the game that the truth is slowly revealed.  On the surface the story follows the main character who is trying to protect herself and her son from monsters controlled by a revenge-driven mother.