30/09/24
Current trends that come to the top of my head in Visual effects:
Deep fake/face masking
great for de-aging or continue a story with a character who actor has maybe passed away. Takes away opportunities for other actors getting re-casted and maybe getting recognition.
Using LED projection panels with Unreal engine real time rendering
Help give actors and production team the visuals and guidance for how the story is progressing and how it will potentially look like in the final product. Can save money on travelling and booking out a location for the crew, equipment and actors.
Tyranny of the lens
“visual effects is a slave to the lens”
This statement tells the idea of how visual effects is designed to have the look of the audience seeing the movie through the cameras perspective and not through their own eye.
Age of the image
Harold Edgerton used strobe lights to capture incredibly fast sequences through a lens.
Creating some of the most famous pictures that wouldn’t be possible to capture on a normal camera. He started to use this idea on simple objects and movements, studying the physics of simple movement cut down to a thousandth of a second.
Harold Edgerton’s work impacting visual effects:
Some of Edgerton’s work has similarities with visual effects shots. I have put down a few below.
1)
Wolverine origins (gambit) 
2)
Oppenheimer bomb explosion
3)
Days of future past
The movement of liquid is very hard to emulate in visual effects but I think the physics is pretty identical in this shot, the fluidness looks similar and stretchy to Edgerton’s work.
Home study – Age of the image – Why is the 20th/21st century given this name. Why is it significant? The last 100 years has been full of imagery, our whole culture is based around photos.
The 20th century is given the name “Age of the image” by James Fox. He chooses this name because of the impact that imagery has had in the world since its birth in the nineteenth century. I think the name that James Fox refers to this era, (“Age of the image”) is significant because it represents so many mediums in our society. Such as selfies, paintings, videos, photos, X-rays and more.
My favourite quote from Fox proves how impactful cinema transformed society. Just cinema, not even the rest of the imagery arts such as comic books or paintings and how they effected societies.
“Creating the dominant medium of our age. Over the next century films became bigger and more immersive transporting viewers outside of time and space and in to worlds that defied the laws of physics. In the process they created a society infatuated with looking and seduced by spectacle”.
When talking about the Lumiere brothers James gives a detailed description of the effects of cinema. Stating how it absorbs the viewer, transporting them in to new worlds. Which is true. An early example of the audience being transported to a different world is “A trip to the moon” by George Melies as well as “Metrapolis” by Fritz Lang. Both made in 1902 and 1927. Both movies prove that even in the early stages of film when people did not know what to make of it there were artists who tried to break free from the rules of physics, creating stories from their imagination. If we look at later examples of these type of movies that travel in to separate worlds we can see that “Star wars a new hope” made in 1977 takes the experience to a new level with technology, techniques and cameras that were not available to Melies and Fritz Lang at the time. I think this development of film that James Fox refers to proves how cinema alone has absorbed the world with its spectacle and beauty. The global film and video market reached a value of 300 billion dollars, according to business wire. The immense value of this industry shows just how influential it is on the world.
My thoughts on the documentary:
I enjoyed watching the BBC documentary on the history of the lens. I found it very interesting how painters had almost invented the idea of creating art that would carry space and time. Also known as the the fourth dimension. This would be the beginning of the “history of the image”. Before world war 1 the first camera made for consumers would be released, named the brownie giving birth to many photographers that would try to create art using pictures. Some of these photographers cheated there work by combining images together as well as cutting out parts of an image. I like how this links to visual effects and tricking an audience by editing a photo.
The early stages of how all this would one day become cinema is very interesting to me. Seeing how paintings and the idea of creating something that would carry the weight of the fourth dimension. That would later develop in to photos and then videos. All of it is fascinating.
7/10/24 week 2
Allegory of the cave, “the Republic”
This is a story from Plato. An allegory of perception and knowledge. A story about prisoners living in a cave and seeing shadows on the wall that are mistaken to be monsters. One prisoner is set free and sees the real world. Fully understanding that the shadows weren’t anybody’s actual shadow. Representing the journey from ignorance to enlightenment.
I think a film that represents this idea of someone’s life being one big lie is the Truman show. Another is The Matrix. Both explore the idea of society being a lie told to the protagonist.
VFX can be a tool for bending our perception on reality. Visual effects can alter scenes on a screen in ways that defy physics. In a way it’s an illusion to the audience.
I think one thing that gets the audience questioning themselves is when they see a scene and think to themselves “is that practical effects or visual effects”. I know I have done this with. Especially with fight scenes. Sometimes they will get wires and actors to do stunts and other times there will be a completely CG fight scene in a set of fast sequences that I didn’t notice.
Hyperrealism: VFX are hyper-real versions of reality that seem plausible but are actually exaggerated or enhanced.
this can trick viewers into believing in alternate realities or even questioning their own perceptions.
Digital doubles: VFX-generated doubles blur the line between actors and their digital counterparts.
Fox talks about how we live in a society fully of illusions such as adverts and movies with visual effects. ” Over the last few decades images have more like reality than ever before, and reality has become more like an image than ever before.”
I think cases where this is happening where people can’t tell the difference between reality is with ai created images. I think you can tell that it’s ai but most people can’t. I think there’s a lot of fake images in the fashion world and social media.
Brief explanation of Plato’s cave
Plato’s cave is a story about prisoners that live in a cave who stay in there out of fear from shadows. The shadows are thought to be monsters but in actual fact they are of nothing. However the prisoners don’t know better since they’ve lived in this cave for so long. The moral of the story is that people can be fooled in to an illusion of what they perseeve the world to be like.
What you think is meant by the theory: The Photographic Truth-Claim
The photographic truth claim is when someone has the ability to capture something and change the way it looks without anyone telling the difference. To create an image that isn’t natural but has that realistic look about it. Tom Gunning goes on about the new technology and how it can re-create the way light moves on to a photo. How computers can replicate physics on to an image. I think this idea has forced society to look more closely at photos nowadays. With so many ways to layer images and edit them through software’s such as after effects and photoshop.
“In a digital image, however, instead of light sensitive emulsion
affected by the luminous object, the image is formed through data about light that is
encoded in a matrix of numbers.
But what problem does this change present and how does it challenge indexicality?
Clearly a digital camera records through its numerical data the same intensities of light
that a non-digital camera records: hence the similarity of their images.” (page 40 of What’s the point of an Index? or, Faking Photographs)
Tom’s point of view goes on about the similarities on cameras and digital cameras. They are getting so close to each other that they both take in the same information and produce imagery that is indistinguishable from one another. I’ve spent some time in unreal engine and personally I’ve found that the cameras are very advanced and next to the real thing from my photography class last year. In unreal engine specifically you can create your own images in your own made up settings.
Week 3 14/10/24
Faked analogue photographs (non digital)
Man in a suit
Toy submarine thought to be a monster in the lake
Lamp shade that pretended to be a UFO
two girls painted on glass and placed it over the camera
Digital faked images
Visual effects faked images/moments
Forest Gump
The walk
Task
Find two VFX shots from a movie or tv show. I identify the components, optics and perspectives, believability, rule of thirds and types of elements.
Prince Charles and Camilla’s wedding – The Crown Season 6
Fahim Faisal Mahir (2024) Prince Charles and Camilla’s wedding – The Crown Season 6, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGxgeTfcTho (Accessed: 20 October 2024).
My first example of a VFX shot that has subtle changes is from a scene in the crown. This scene follows the wedding of Charles and Camilla in the show.
I chose this scene because the visual effects in this scene seems invisible. The location is based on a real place with no spectacles in the location whatsoever. This makes it harder for people to see the work done in post composition.
I believe that this shot has been composited together with fake ceilings and wooden spirals. The reason for this is because the location they’re filming in is supposed to be St. George’s Chapel and somehow I do not think the filming crew were given access to film in such a location. I believe the scene was a stage and the production used green screens going over the red outline I placed in the picture.
Another composition I think is done is at the end of the blue carpet. I have a feeling that the room is made to look like its extending out making it look bigger than it is. The view is naturally blurry because it is how are vision works, closer objects are clearer while more distant objects and views are more blurry.
I find that the carpet does not look real after it extends out the set that they would have filmed the scene on. There is almost a line that you can see at the end of the set which is real. Everything further than the arch is fake to extend the room to the viewer.
This specific shot follows the rule of thirds. The shot is naturally space out and is in the center of the frame with the top half being fake. I am not too certain on this however the extras in the back rows also could have been composited in.
Walking Across the World Trade Center Gap | The Walk (2015) | Now Playing
NOW PLAYING (2022). Walking Across the World Trade Center Gap | The Walk (2015) | Now Playing. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaC8VdRgP0g [Accessed 17 Apr. 2023].
My second example of VFX composition is a shot from a movie called the wire. The movie takes place on top of the trade centers where a tight rope artist makes it his mission to go back and forth between the two buildings on a thin rope.
My first though when watching this was how some of the visual effects did not look as convincing as more current projects. This movie was made in 2015 and also due to the events that happened in 2001 with the two buildings audiences know for a fact that these scenes could not have taken place in this location. I think this knowledge takes away from audiences belief in the visual effects. Since I know the effect is fake it takes away from the visual perception and believability.
I think the set of this scene is green screened and taking place on one of the building’s roofs. The set which is real is taking place on building number 1 in a studio. The sky, buildings and Joseph Gordan Levitt would have been added in digitally to add more depth in the scene. The buildings would be fake and modelled. I think the tight rope walker at 28 seconds in the back ground could have been comped in through other footage or instead could have been a digital character. The character is blurry so I am not too sure.
The layout of this shot has the fake building background take up 2 thirds of the screen. The framing of the shot puts spotlight on the the building in the back, making it more of a spectacle. Since its a fake building I could see why this would want attention in a scene especially when it has a purpose in the narrative.
Week 4 trend of photo realism 21/10/24
What is photorealism?
This style would appear after the trend of abstract art that would express an artists emotion and character. This is ironic since photorealism depicts the impersonality of a photo resulting in a lack of expression from the painter/creator of the work. Capturing an artists style in photorealism is impossible since the goal of the work is to be indistinguishable from the original picture used as reference.
4 examples of pure CG photorealism:
Scenes that try to be real but involve no realism whatsoever. It’s all computer generated.
inception
Inception – Ariadne Learns How To Build Dreams
I think this shot of the two walking on to the rotated road is pure CG. It only last for about 2 seconds however the characters give it away. Just like my matrix example below I the characters are the dead give away of a shot not being real for me.
Second 1:40 to 1:44
MPC The Jungle Book VFX breakdown
Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded (2003) (4K HDR) – Advanced CGI stunt double and photogrammetry
0:01 to 0:06 uses pure CGI
Matrix Revolution is a great example of pure CGI trying to be real. I’ not entirely sure but I think the surroundings are all fake. This sequence feels like a video game with the fake characters. I think the uncanny valley effect to the eye has something to do with making me feel uneasy watching this shot. Combined with the old graphics it does not achieve total realism. However I think it is very impressive for its time and I love the film and the fight sequence. Just the sequence doesn’t achieve the realism to me anyway.
Composite examples of CG:
Avengers infinity war
Avengers: Infinity War | VFX Breakdown | Framestore
2:18
This example I chose for VFX shots that were using real footage and combined with work that tried to be real is a great example. Although this shot shows an example of Spiderman about to perform a gravity defying jump I think the core elements are here. What I mean by that is that the background and setting are trying to look photorealistic. Everything behind the bus is trying to convince viewers that the film was shot in New York or a big city. Despite this being a superhero film there is still elements of photorealism. Something that audiences are fooled by as they seamlessly focus on Spiderman instead.
The Last of Us | VFX Breakdown | DNEG
What is photorealism? My explanation
Photorealism is an art style popularized in the 1960’s, where paintings and drawings would mimic the realism of a photograph. Artists who made photorealistic work would reproduce a picture that was captured on a camera in painstaking detail. This artwork can almost create an illusion for the work to be mistaken for pictures.
As time has moved on photorealism has been adopted by visual effects. Combining the style of realism with digital effects which has been used for story telling in tv, film and even advertisement. This work is used to convince an audience that everything in a shot belongs there and that it has been shot together on camera
.
Visual effects compositors will try to match real footage that they are given and complement the shot with effects that are photorealistic. Effects that contain high detail and blend in with the real footage. They will often try to achieve realism with layers of images that combine into one shot using the help of light and physics. Blending light in to the work of a compositor is crucial for achieving photorealistic work as it can help disguise the multiple of layers of work that are combined together.
Compositors will try to achieve a shot where all layers of images look like they belong in one sequence. When photo realism is achieved in VFX it can help a story in a film or tv show tell its narrative.
(A great example I found of realism in compositing was from this website below)
https://www.facebook.com/fxguide (2020) Photorealism in Compositing with NUKE: Fundamentals | fxphd, fxphd. Available at: https://www.fxphd.com/details/616/ (Accessed: 27 October 2024).
Week 5 28/10/24 Bringing truth in to VFX using motion capture
Trends of capture in visual effects
- Motion capture (movement data)
- Mega scans 3D scanning (object data)
- lieder images
- photogrammetry
- Tracking camera movement
Motion capture is data driven. It is very different from key frame animation. Motion capture uses reference from real life movement that is then transferred digitally with the copied movement. Where keyframe is hand done by a VFX artist.
Keyframe is iconic. It represents something we can think of like a walk movement. It’s not natural movement, it’s points added on a time line trying to replicate the movement.
Motion capture is indexical. It’s already happened and is transforming a natural movement in to digital data.
Homework – Compare motion capture to key frame animation
Although motion capture and key frame animation both contain data that causes movement in a scene they both have very different ways of creating animation.
Motion capture is reference data, also known as Indexical. The information has been gathered from real life movement using trackers on a body suit that transfers movement in to data. This movement is replicated digitally in to programs such as Maya or Houdini. The results can look fluid and natural due to the data being taken from real life.
Keyframe animation on the other hand is done by hand. Instead of transferring data to cause movement in a scene the user on the software has to manually adjust the animation, this is also known as a iconic data. Just like Motion capture real Iife movement can still be used as reference in its work. VFX artists can study and watch the movement of humans/animals and try to replicate this digitally in to a program by hand. This technique has been used by Disney in the past for many of its cartoons.
Keyframe and motion capture ultimately both achieve the same goal in transforming movement in to a digital world. Both techniques have been around for a long. From pen and paper as well as photography to visual effects, however the results from the two are different. Motion capture has a more fluid outcome, using data from real movement is very effective. Keyframe animation is not as fluid. Depending on the time someone has spent using keyframe animation can change how the movement looks. The more time and keyframes the cleaner the movement. This technique can be great for cartoons but not so great for work that is trying to be more realistic.
week 6 04/11/24
Trends of capture in VFX: Reality of capture three dimension space
What types of reality capture are there?
- photogrammetry
- lidar
- 3D scanning
Find an example of 3D scanning of each type: Depth-based scanning, laser scanning and photogrammetry
Depth based scanning
Laser scanning
3D scanning
These scanning tools use lasers to measure the surroundings and replicate it in a digital format. This type of technology wasn’t invented for visual effects specifically but instead for architecture. However the use of scanning has also been used significantly on satellites for scanning locations.
Different examples of 3D scanning
- Depth based scanning – Light that is emitted in structured patterns to assess the shape of an object. This information is relayed on to a processing software where the object can be visualised in a digital format.
- Laser Scanning (LIDAR) – Light detection and ranging is the abbreviation for this name. LIDAR uses a 360 degree viewpoint for the laser to measure the surroundings and send the data to a 3D point cloud. This data can be viewed from the measurements collected.
- Photogrammetry – This technique creates 3D models from photographs. Multiple photographs are taken of the same subject from different angles and are then processed through a software which calculates the positions of the cameras in relation to the point of the object. This can be done by most cameras so it’s a viable budget option for scanning a real life object in to a digital scene in MAYA.
Why does this fit in to Visual effects?
There’s a growing demand for realism in VFX. Everything has to look like it belongs in our world as much as the world a film is based in. 3D scanning enables for real props and subjects to be transferred into data for VFX artists to use in scene. Gathering data in the real world is very effects in capturing that realistic look.
Elements of one point linear perspective
- Vanishing point
- horizon line
- orthogonal
Use of lidar (Light Direction And Range) example of work:
Homework – choose a piece of work done by a company that has involved a heavy use of reality capture and talk about it.
Reality capture is the process of taking data in the real world and choosing a location to recreate digitally. The process is also great for architecture as well as re-imagining historic events and locations. This is a safe way for copying all the buildings data while not damaging anything.
An example of reality capture being used on historical architecture is with the St. Peter’s church in Vatican city, Italy. In the article below it tells the accomplishment of Italferr, an engineering firm that usually uses reality capture on transportation projects such as railways and bridges. However the company used the use of reality capture on the St James church for a restoration project. This way they could use the technology to preserve the life of the building and maintain its look for the future.
(HARDVARD REF)
The company Italferr wanted to respect the people in the town and chose to not stop anyone from visiting the famous building. However this decision meant that they were not able to use photogrammetry for the outside. Instead they attached lasers to the drones, so at night they would scan the building accurately without the tourists getting in the way. For the inside of the building at night they made aerostatic balloons which would hover through the building and capture all the data.
(HARVARD REF)
The example of reality capture on the church showed a pretty amazing result in its digital format. However this is not the case for every piece of capture. Below is an example of a failed attempt at reality capture.
(HARVARD REF)
These results can be due to the camera settings. If the ISO and aperture are too high then the results of the capture can fail and produce gaps of broken information that fails to transfer in to a digital format. The focus, focal length, aperture, and ISO must stay consistent with each other for the best result. Below is a deep breakdown on the importance of using a camera and the effects it can have in the digital format.
(HARVARD REF)
11/11/24 Week 7
What is the digital Michelangelo project? – In 1999 a team from Stanford attempted at making a 3D fax machine. So a 3D object could be scanned and the information could be sent from the machine to a computer. This could allow for historic objects to be scanned without potentially damaging the object. Plaster casting is an old technique that copied the shape of an object, however this can harm and potentially put artifacts at risk of being damaged.
from 1998 to 1999 a team of 30 from Stanford University worked on this idea of capturing a real life object and digitalizing it so it could be viewed on a computer. The idea would be tested on the famous Michelangelo statue in Italy.
The motivation for this invention was for humanity. The group wanted to create a way that could digitalize objects and make the models accessible to everyone. To also create a long term plan where digital archives of 3D scanned real life objects and places could be saved.
The idea of being able to create a machine that could capture a real object started in 1996.
Mimesis (theory) – An imitation of a group of thing. The perfect copy of nature and reality. A mirror copy of reality. The goal is for a created image or object that closely resembles its real world reference.
Verisimilitude – Represents things as though they appear to the human eye. Uses techniques (illusions) that make paintings look real, not in a photographic sense. Convinces reality in to the work but isn’t a direct copy.
Hyperrealism – Goes beyond the visual aspects of an image. It is a form of realism that blends with different styles of art. The result of hyperrealism can be unusual and can have an an unusual look. It is seen as the nest step after photorealism. It captures reality in a weird style.
Week 8 18/11/24 Simulacra and simulation
What is simulation?
Generated copy of life. Everything is happening over and over. Simulations can be done with physics, as a way to replicate something in a calculated way. This can be done to produce smoke on a computer as a way of replicating realism. Simulation is a calculated plan that is in a cycle.
What is Simulacra?
Simulacra is something that has a distinction between the original and the copy. It is separated and can be identified which is which. It is a representation of something or someone. Simulacrum is the truth behind what is replicating an idea.
The Baudrillard’s theory
Phase 1
The original
Phase 2
A photographed version of the original
Phase 3
This is the digitally edited vision of the original. It has been masked and changed on a computer by someone else.
Phase 4
Phase 4 is the fully computer generated version of the original. Nothing about it is kept from the original except from the idea that It’s trying to capture. You can see the similarities between the two, however the changes are vast. The core of the original painting is still there.
What did Baudrillard think about The Matrix?
Baudrillard is a famous thinker that has written multiple books on his theories of society. His books inspired the creation of the Matrix films.
Plot of the Matrix – The Matrix takes place in a dystopian version of Earth in the future taken over by machines. These machines trap humans in a permanent sleeping state where they are living in an illusion. A fake world which mirrors the one we live in today. This world is known as The Matrix.
He didn’t like that it was something that could be understood. Although his philosophy was a big factor in the creation of the Matrix the idea did not match his idea of a simulation as well as society. He believed that post modern society would have an overload of information to the point where society would find it hard to store and process this information. That activities would be harder to do with immediate access to answers and data. How each person becomes a “pure screen” or a “terminal” since flashing images are constantly flashing on to us. Also that everything is always simulating something else as if life is a control loop that has no end.
VFX breakdown of the four phases (Phase of the image)
Deadpool and Wolverine reference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I74C4_w1so&list=PLQ7_GA82PpMH1JlGgJjQoCSJYm-s4uuut
Image 1 – Faithful to the real world and represents reality
Image 2 – The visual effects distorts the realism. Exaggerates physics. There is still some realism but are not true to reality. You have go the fake fire added in the post.
Image 3 – This is where the realism factor is breaking away from the image. Does not exist in reality and has maybe an uncanny valley effect. Doesn’t look true to life. Since this is a superhero film it’s only natural that physics in our world will be broken. The physics itself is untrue to reality but the way that it looks says otherwise. Looks realistic, however the action in this shot defies reality.
Image 4 – This is where complete CG elements are introduced. In this case I showed the behind the scenes from the movie Deadpool vs Wolverine. The women is carrying a fake corpse through the street with some obvious effects of her fingers going through the guy’s face. The behind the scene shots exaggerate this process in the Phase of the image.
This shot above which is rendered version of the image above it has a look about it. Since the CG is trying to simulate a human the uncanny effect can have a weird effect. The head of the body has an unnatural look that audiences can identify as not realistic. When looking at the scene the movement of the fake body looks CG.
Week 9 25/11/24
Virtual production
What is virtual production?
Virtual production is a live rendering type of production that removes some of the post work. It helps the actors to visualize what is going the happen or the look of what the final outcome might look like. A popular company that has had a major impact on this trend is Unreal Engine. Their software is mainly used for video games however it has transitioned itself into virtual production.
Virtual production has proved to be effective for multiple pieces of work such as The Mandalorian, this is probably one of the biggest project’s that have used this technology. Another example is the live action Avatar show on Netflix.
Avatar the last Airbender is a retelling of a nickelodeon animated show. This new version is made by Netflix in live action. The production was done mostly in a studio in Vancouver where they utilized some tech that was previously used in the Mandalorian
Netflix partnered with an effects studio named Pixomondo. A custom built facility that ranged from 84 feet across, 28 feet high, and features 23,000 square feet of stage and more than 3,000 LED panels. This real time rendering set was famously used in the hit Disney show Mandalorian.
This style of filmmaking has proven to be very effective, using Unreal engine game software to create a real time rendering background. It allows flexibility for Filmmakers. If there’s any changes they want to make with the background they have the option for changes to be made on set.
Virtual production is a great asset to have so it’s no surprise that this is becoming a trend is production. The company (Pixomondo) called this “One of the biggest virtual production volumes in North America”.
Assignment 2
Our second assignment will be an essay ranging from 1500 to 2500 words. The assignment will be submitted on week 14.
For the assignment we have been given 3 topic options to choose.
Option 1 – How would you describe the relationship between visual effects and the photographic image
Option 2 – New trends of capture and real time filmmaking lead us to consider if the traditional approaches to 3D modelling, animation and rendering are still needed?
Option 3 – How do Spectacular, invisible and seamless Visual effects influence Modern Filmmaking?
I will be choosing option 2. I think this question is an interesting idea that I have not thought about. The future of VFX. With new practices
becoming more popular in creating photographic looking images the idea for common job roles comes in to question.
LIDAR scanning can copy real information and produce a full 3D model. Potentially replacing the role of a modeler. There is now LED sets that can change the environment in real time, fully rendered out as well which could be argued to be better than a green screen. These are not the only examples. Motion capture also takes away the keying aspect of animation, another example of change that has advantages over normal keying. Proving to be more fluid and potentially quicker to use.
The topic itself is interesting to me and what I wish to address in my essay is that although these are new methods that are becoming more popular we will still have all the techniques being used in visual effects. We will not have one of these tools become obsolete and never used again. Green screens are cheaper to use that the LED sets. Most people cannot afford a massive LED set. Green screens still has advantages over the real time rendering sets. Such as the fact that green screens are more flexible to use in post. If there is a script change in the setting for a scene it can be changed quite easily whereas for LED sets the setting cannot be changed.
02/12/24 week 10 Brain storming for ideas and sources
Points to go into for the Essay:
Option 2 – New trends of capture and real time filmmaking lead us to consider if the traditional approaches to 3D modelling, animation and rendering are still needed?
- LIDAR(scanning in general) scanning removes a large chunk of Modeling in VFX
- LED productions takes over green screens
- Motion capture takes away animation keying
- Artificial intelligence is on the rise
My approach in this question will focus on modelling and scanning. I’ll be making a case study on some papers about the blend between scanning from the our world into a digital one.
By the end of my essay I want to make it clear that I think there will be a coexistence between modeling and scanning. That the new trend of scanning won’t necessarily take over modeling as a superior method. The two will be appreciated for its different approaches in creating a natural looking piece of 3D digital models.
Even if scanning takes over it cannot rely on something that doesn’t exist. So as much as it’s reliable and convincing it is limited to the physic and look of our world. The props team can do their best to create a big Dragon but in the end modeling can push the boundaries of the belief in the supernatural.
In the Abstract it mention the use of scanning and how it is able to replicate objects in fine detail. How the physical world becomes more involved with the digital one. The Abstract goes in detail how the textures hold the narrative. The surface of an object holds the detail. Scratches and wrinkles show the age and life on skin however, this is described to be hard to achieve.
The three levels of design in an object. “visceral, behavioural and reflective”. Visceral is the look and feel of an object. Behavioural is the context and use of the object. Reflective is the message it is trying to achieve.
How could I use this?
I think a way I could use this piece is by talking about how scanning pushes modelling further in capturing a 3 level piece of art that is naturally accepted by an audience. Trees are something that is grown over a period of time and adapts in its growth based on the conditions. It’s very hard to recreate a tree in modeling, the visceral aspect of the tree is at risk with its believability. This is where scanning can replicate the tree’s natural look in to a digital format.
In the Photogrammetry chapter of the book it describes the technique as a poor man’s 3D scanning. “Stealing 3D version of real props created by the art department”. The view from the author of photogrammetry Eran Dinur feels quite negative. The use of the word “stealing”, suggests to me that the idea is lazy. Taking other peoples work instead producing something original.
Article found on 08/12/24
This article is a study that I am thinking on including in my essay.
This study is an official post from Autodesk and their opinions on the idea of 3D scanning
The Author Trevor English, is an engineer who has made a career out of technical communications and engineering. I found his thoughts on the topic to be interesting. The work was posted in 2018 and often describes predicaments for the future. Because of this I am not sure if I want to heavily go into the article for my essay.
LED virtual production insight The Future of Visual Effects: Trends and Predictions – VFX Cookbook
The thought of where virtual production might go and its use in visual effects. This blog post is quite recent so I think it could be a great feature in my essay.
09/12/24 Bring in case studies and interviews for scanning compared to modelling in all industries doesn’t matter, don’t go in to the question with an answer. Have a balanced approach.
After the feedback from my presentation which is above in bold, I found it hard finding work in the film industry involving Lidar or Photogrammetry. I also found the topic to be hard to write about. I made the big decision during the holidays to switch up my topic for my essay. I would go on to keep the same titles for my Essay but focus on real time rendering and its impact on The Mandalorian, a show that I am a fan of. After completing the essay I can say that I do not regret choosing this option.