Southbank Centre Skatepark Photoshoot
A gallery of the shots taken has been created. See the links on the right or click : http://gdma.wordpress.com/london-embankment-photoshoot/
Petrol Stations
Petrol Stations are the queens of non-places. Second only to the Airport that wins because part of its land (between the plane and the immigration desk) is technically neither in the country nor out.
I went out this evening and I was gratefully amazed how easy it was to get permission to take photographs of petrol stations. The staff didn’t mind at all (as long as they weren’t in the shots).
I managed to get several shots that will allow me to fake the interior of my shop. I also found that there are many items occupying the space, not just the shop and the pumps. Many of the shots are for texturing purposes.
Sun Fuels
As I have read a lot about non-places, modeling a petrol station seems appropriate. I am having difficulty with lighting, specifically the lighting in the petrol station shop. I want it to flow through the glass illuminating the vinyl advertising upon it. Its kind of working. Getting a working sky seems to be hit and miss too. Using a skydome stops the HDRI working and getting a cyclorama to self-illuminate seems to be hard going to. I have gradually increased the brightness of the HDR Image to brighten things up. I’m currently adding materials to the scene; there’s much to do with this yet, but this is what it currently looks like.
I have just changed the car wash brushes to VrayFur and they aren’t looking so translucent now. I think my problem with lighting is to do with the lack of lights rather than the lights themselves. I need road lighting and floodlighting to light up the branding of the station. I’m going to go and investigate and take some shots of the lighting that’s used at petrol stations this evening.
Shadows on Flats
This morning I used a High Dynamic Range image to light a scene, it was just simple coloured primitives on a plane but it looked really nice. The HDR image was providing luminance information to the scene through Global Illumination.
After this I altered two of my old materials in PS using a simple Drop Shadow effect on a selection to create the effect that some of the bricks were further forward than others. I then painted a shadow line using the Luminosity blending mode on the material used here as the floor. I have observed this technique used in game engines where poly counts need to be kept low but without sacrificing effect. I think it works well. I can imagine using this technique to provide depth to building features that aren’t the main focus of the scene but still need shadows to give them believability in the scene such as drainpipe detail, shutters, fencing etc.
The Image above are the HDR image (7/Feb/2010, Paul Debevec Home Page, http://www.debevec.org) that I plan to use in my street scene and an example of the materials with shading (rather too quickly) applied to them. Rendered with VRay.
I have the Demo of VRay installed and I am going to use it throughout this last project. The quality of the output that it creates is high and this will aid believabilty in my scenes. With the techniques I have learnt and the promise of high quality output I am really excited.
Trope Relationships Venn Diagram
Earlier in this study I identified a set of tropes that could be used to categorise affluence in architecture. During that time I realised that the tropes related to one another and this relationship and how strongly each trope applied indicated whether the architecture was indicating poverty or affluence or indeed somewhere in between. I have created a Venn diagram to draw out (pun not intended) these relationships. I’m not entirely convinced that its correct at the moment so it might get updated; I am dealing with the exceptions to every rule!
Presently…
I am
- carrying out adjustments to the models previously created and finalising the Flats/hotel building models.
- Finishing off my write up of Bachelards Poetics of Space.
- Shaping the powerpoint for the PgDip Assessment that’s coming up.
- (When the books arrive) Taking a look at Baudrillard, Debord and Jung to see if I can weave them into my work.
From Amazon I have ordered:
- Introducing Baudrillard by Chris Horrocks (Author), Zoran Jevtic (Illustrator)
- Simulacra and Simulation (The Body in Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism) by Jean Baudrillard (Author), Sheila Glaser (Translator)
- Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
- Jung: A Graphic Guide (Introducing…) by Maggie Hyde (Author), Michael McGuiness (Author) (His red book is expensive I want to know if its likely to be worth the money.)
Updated image:
Latest new image:
Whilst I was in the University library I got talking to one of the librarians because of the Calcutta book that I have been renewing since I started my MA. He told me stories about his time in India. He told me one particular story of how one afternoon he was reading the paper drowsily on the balcony of the place where he was staying when he became aware that he felt like he was being watched. As he lowered his paper to take a look around he realised that on the edge of his balcony looking at him… waiting… was a Vulture!
Renders for current project (updated)
I started using Layers to organise the main model, the second row of buildings and then the background flats and the occupation signifiers in the scene. It made it much easier to manage the scene and considering that I use layers in all the other apps I know I’m not sure why I didn’t think to look for them earlier. I think my attention got diverted by the way you can spin a model around in max. Layers fundamentally is the same but feels more like a way to hide things you don’t need right now in order to simplify what you’re looking at rather than the central core of object management like in Photoshop. I really need to get another monitor the layers palette is a pain in the rear. You need it fat more often than you think and its not just like the Materials and Render dialogs that you can open up as and when you need them because of the function they provide.
This render took two days to organise but now thats done the next ones are coming along far quicker (see further down the post.)
This last one ^^^^ has an Ambient Occlusion pass applied to it in Overlay mode, but the Fill level has been reduced in order to balance the result correctly.
Pop-up book city
I have loaded last nights renders & opacity maps onto planes and uses the Orientation Constraint to get the planes to follow the camera as it turns. This is really useful as the planes don’t actually move position, but rotate on the spot to face the camera as it moves.
These are the results from this evenings investigation into using this technique in my scene composition.
I have realised that using entire rows of buildings isn’t going to cut it, so I have rendered a set of individual buildings to use instead (see above gallery). I have found that while the Orientation Constraint is great, my opacity maps aren’t and need to hide everything but the building itself. I initially thought that I should leave the ground in view (not sure why, it just felt right) and leaving the buildings shadow in view seemed the right decision too.
Tonight’s work has shown me that the opacity sillhouette of the buildings cast good shadows – even from a plane. I have also learnt that having the ground in view on the background buildings just doesn’t work. I’m going to have to change that.
Shanty scene now ready for composition.
I have managed to get the corrugated roofing completed now and it looks just as good as the first high poly version. I have also created a set of backgrounds that I am going to mount on planes in the background to create the illusion of extra buildings without the polygon costs of actually putting them into the scene directly.
These are the backgrounds from tonights work. The last image is an example of the opacity map I am using with each of these so that I can show the scenes “real” sky and so I can cast reasonably realistic shadows:
Replacement corrugated panels
I have tested two low poly methods of making corrugated panels. The two are reasonable in their appearance. I have chosen to use the single plane (left) as it looks more convincing than having a visable join of the other method (right). The only thing that I will have to remember with this is that the other side of this panel is transparent. This won’t be too much of a bother – wherever this issue arises I will clone a duplicate and spin it around 180degrees and use it as the reverse side.
Preparing scenes
The position of the camera in a scene can create opportunities to involve the viewer in the work or to seperate them from the work to reduce personal involvment in the scene and create a more objective viewpoint.
In all cases the positioning of the camera needs to be done with purpose and intent.
In Narrative & Media there is a list of signifiers that give meaning to the position of a camera in a scene. All of them make good sense when you consider examples from movies, TV and photographs you have taken or have looked at.
Four of my favourites are:
- Medium Shot: Involvement, Internal Focalisation.
- Long Shot: Distance, Context, External Focalisation.
- Close Up: Intimacy, Internal Focalisation.
- Big Close Up: Emotion, Internal Focalisation.
The Focalisation indicates whether you as the viewer are likely to feel that you are involved in the scene (internal) or not involved in the scene (external).
The book goes into further detail about Focalisation, but I am still reading up on that. This small amount of information is making a big difference on my choice of camera angles. I think I need more practice, but its interesting all the same.
Current renders:
The Room scene shows how the individual is protected from the outside world by the corners that surround them. The window becomes a vantage point from which to safely observe the surrounding world from the safety of your nest.
Occupational Signals : Models
These are the models that I will use to indicate occupation in the scenes. Some of these items I have created, some I have used (under a free licence for use) from the websites artist-3d.com and turbosquid.com. If I have used your model, please accept my gratitude. 
Memory issue solved
After going through all the materials used in the most recent file that I thought was corrupt and altering them to either 1024² or 2048² as appropriate; the scene renders like a dream. It looks like buying the additional RAM was still a good idea, but at least the file actually renders instead of crashing out.
Lesson learnt.
Occupancy & believability test.
A few months ago I went to the NTU Architecture final year degree show in London “Nott to scale” with a colleague of mine. The one thing that I brought back with me is the way that they superimpose people into their scenery. Initially I thought that hardly any of the students had put any time into this particular part and in some cases it actually took away the effect of some of their amazing work, which obviously is a shame. However I have just spent the last hour and a half or so superimposing and here are the results.
Blimey! not bad at this size, if I do say so myself !
The memory chips have arrived…
… but they haven’t made too much difference as it seems that my files are as corrupt as the mafia!
Mental Ray is not able to allocate enough storage to render the scene. Max is moaning about not being able to allocate memory to random materials that have been used.
I’m going to composite different scenes together, but even that seems a long way off when I can’t seem to get a basic scene to render.
This is all after installing 4gb ! Thats what annoys me the most. It seems like installing more memory has just given the computer more rope to string itself up by. <foul language> Is this Vista? </foul language>
9/9/9 Tutorial
Points discussed during the tutorial include:
- Camera placement for scene composition should aim to include Tertiary, Secondary and the Primary object of focus.
- I should grid my scene by the square inch (roughly) and ensure that there is valuable content of interest in each square. I need to aim for 5% sky too !
- I should refrain from overworking the structure and use a simpler and quicker method of creating the shell of the buildings that I want in the scene (see Gallery images).
- I should use the repetition model of the hotel with some kind of separation device (eg a pathway and fence) in front of it to create the perception of the perimeter of the hotel grounds.
- In the scene the left will focus predominately on the structure the right can focus predominately on occupation.
- To fin the mr Rendering error (see previous post) I can either remake the electric lines and use the Generate Mapping Coordinates tick box or use the Normals modifier to unify the normals in the loft.
- Ideas for occupation: Trellis, plants, motorcycle etc. Each flat has a different person in it! Make it look that way!
- Remember to make an ambient occlusion composite of the scene just before adding the people in PS.
- When making windows, delete the polys to create the gap and then use the Border poly editing tool to select the edges of the window and then use Bridge to create the window cill rather than extruding the inside through the gap and then usiing Vertex Snap to align the verts in to place.
- Realism is for documentary images where accuracy is important.
- Believeability is for pushing the boundary of what people will consider to be Dramatic and impressive.
- “That must have taken YOU ages” vs “Thats fantastic! Look at how the ….” The image has presence and demands to be noticed in its own right. (eg without reference to the artist.)
- I should bring my Balchelard work together with my Modelling. (Its currently miles apart!!!) (damn!)
- Remember to use “Interpolation steps ” when creating bezier wall lines for extruding. This prevents blocky ambient occlusion too.
I was set an exercise to create “crazy spaces” these are the results. I have found it more fun to create exterior spaces rather than interior as you can see.
During the tutorial we briefly discussed the issue that I am modelling exterior sspace yet reading Balchelard who wrote about interior space. I need to write, justify and illustrate what I understand about Interior vs Exterior (good title) prior to the presentation for this section.
These are the spaces I created during the exercise. Each one shows the shape first and then a couple of views from the inside. All with AO as the overiding material so that I can see the corners more dramatically / effectively.
Number 13 is the best composition in terms of the camera angle and interest available in the scene. Ambient Occusion creates a fantastic effect!
Mock up for tutorial
With the mr Ambient Occlusion light shader applied (just to see what it does).
and without it.
With the AO light shader applied the scene looks like it belongs in a computer game and is far less realistic. Although I can imagine that Ambient Occlusion is very useful for evening scenes.
Things I have down to do but are not yet done:
Write up my research on Balchelard.
Write up how it applies to my work by linking it to the current piece in progress.
Make a Cyclorama for the background.
Add dirt and more detail (several rounds of this).
Write up the list of occupancy signals and check that they are all applied to the scene.
Write up the lists of common building materials found in India.
Write up the analysis of my research images.
Write up the analysis of proximity of the different buildings in the images I have.
Use photoshop to place people into the scene in appropriate places to bring the scene to life and suggest occupancy in the strongest way possible.
Find an appropriate HDR image to get the very best out of the scene once complete.
Also I need to adjust my proposal hopefully to get more time to complete this as I think the end of September is pushing it now.
Questioning & Considering…
Looking at the picture in the previous post, I have had to ask myself: would there be walls of a different shade/type of concrete in the structure of a hotel?
When I look at the images of the shanty buildings I see different shades of concrete all over the place as the building has been modified and built upon or maintained with what is currently available rather than a duplicate of the original material that might be too difficult or costly to source.
When making a new building like a hotel the concrete will probably be mixed either on site and poured into plywood mouldings or created elsewhere and shipped in, in either case the mixture and type of materials should remain reasonably consistant.
Therefore, I think that to create a realistic looking building, I will need to use a wide variety of textures, BUT have them colour matched to a single image so that they all look like they belong to the same set. This will give the image the consistant look and feel that I want yet retain the natural randomness of the texture of the concrete that would be found in the real world.
Having looked into just using a variety of bump materials, this creates the finish that I want. Painted uniformly, but with a different concrete texture to create a real world effect. The other textures are good and look good, but are too dirty for use with the hotel.
The wall moved forward shows the style of bump texture that I intend to use. I will use a range of different textures to minimise the perception of pattern repetition in the final render.
