3/3/2009 Notes

CSE 459:

Family Tree:

- Take out table, stool, use chest (but lower height)

- stove shortened, grate cross pattern instead of three

- yurt scaled up

- use updated models

Mei Head:

- Merge teeth together, shouldn't be so big individually

- close the lips for rigging

- face is squareish -> side of cheeks are too flat, make more gradual transition

- weird line between cheek and ear (lower cheek)

- pull out lower cheek a bit - needs more skull in the back of the head -> hair should form to this

- weird lines at the bottom of the neck

- jaw line too sharp, jaw might be too far back in the neck

Oyon Head:

- more definition in upper lip

- lower eyes, needs more skull to the side of the eyes

- upper face/eye area is too narrow in general (temples caved in), widen skull -> make sure to work on the skull separately from the hair, as the hair should form from the skull

- triangles by corner of the lip

- edges missing from inside the mouth

- do teeth

- work on nostrils (look at reference, maybe?)

- give us options to look at (nose style, head shape, etc.)

Sig Shot Animatic Reviews:

AGE 700 (Robert will fix) - pull up Anton's boards, draw third lines -> match composition

DEATH 100 (Happy will fix) - pull camera up, angle down

MAGIC 700 (Daren will fix) - missing: Mei

MAGIC 800 (Daren will fix) - match storyboards, Mei off to side but should be centered

MAGIC 900 (Daren will fix) - need to be further away

Sig Shot Point People:

AGE 700 - Elizabeth

DEATH 100 - Ryan

MAGIC 700 - Nick

Sig Shot Group Meeting Times:

AGE 700 - Wed and Fri 11:30

DEATH 100 - Tu 2:30, Th 4:00

MAGIC 700 - Wed 6:00, Fri 3:00

Lighting/Shading Overview:

- Outside should be uninhabitable and bleak, inside should be warm and inviting. When the mother dies, coldness from the exterior creeps into the interior. The end will show that even though the mother is dead, there is still warmth.

- QW not just a dreamworld, it represents the warmth of the relationship between mother and daughter.

Shading Meeting:

- Shaders should work for both hot and cold environments. In general, make sure shaders work independently with red light and independently with blue light.

- Environment textures should be simple, characters can be a little more detailed -> you don't want the eye drawn to what is not important.

- Keep in mind the look of objects: for example an old rusted stove will have different specular values than a new clean stove (also depends on the type of metal).

- Match Mongolian textures; what materials are quilts, jars, stoves, clothing, etc made out of? This will affect the look and bump of the shader.

- Detail of textures should be consistent. No very abstract vs highly detailed objects.

- Workflow: Have set in one scene, reference for animation and lighting so shaders update automatically.

- When models get finished (and approved), immediately UV unwrap. Unwrapping should also be done before skinning/weight painting. Unwrapping for objects/characters featured prominently should be unwrapped by hand, while smaller stuff can be done procedurally.

- Before shading we need swatches, material references, and UV-unwrapping.

- Send shading reference/swatches to Caroline for 3/5 session: Brian and Marianne on QW; Caroline, Dan, Happy, and Jesse on RW

Lighting Meeting:

- Sig Shots: AGE 700 should be warm and happy, MAGIC 700 should transition from lonely to warm, and DEATH 100 should be cold, bleak, and lonely.

- Right now you want to find reference for the lighting in your shot and make color swatches

Things to think about:

- Purpose of lighting is to A) support the story and B) support the shot -> what should we be paying attention to? Don't make the background bright and the characters dim if we want to focus on the characters.

- Think about light sources: bounce light, fire, hole in the center of the yurt, starry sky, etc.

- High contrast = edgier, low contrast = softer

- Ideally you want a general lighting setup (best case sceneario) -> may have to adjust light per shot, but the idea is to have a base line

- Try to avoid ray tracing unless you really need it: 1) Ray tracing can be too realistic and 2) result in longer renders

Tracey color swatches:

- Add swatches for the very beginning shot (outside)

- Inside yurt intro should be a bit lighter -> note: time of day is dawn at the beginning

EFX Meeting:

EFX, by effect type    


-Fire  	
	In Yurt: Test shader when stove is closed.
	In Yurt when stove is open: fluid
	Candles?: animated shader on wax, particles for flame if we have to show 
	Outdoor-campsite: Fluids, shaders on logs.  	
	-Fog?  	
	Lighting


-Steam
	Off of tea and medicine: particles preferred


-Wind
	Magic: Moving cloth could be NCloth or we could rig certain moving fabrics  (joints or clusters)
	Death seq. scarf blown: Scarf will have to be NCloth
	on Fire: fields and forces    


Sig Shots:  	
	Age 700:  		Candles?, Fire shader on stove, steam on cup
   	Death 100:  		Campfire, smoke (particles)
	Magic 700 800 900:  	Wind, Candles?

A note about the candles:
Apparently Beree mentioned the common presence of candles in a Yurt, to add light. I think this would be a good idea and I think we can make it happen with very little effects. The candles, if we make them burnt down into the wax won't even need a flame, so an animated shader is all that would be needed. The candles could help show the presence of wind in the yurt and symbolize Oyon's death as they are blown out.