3/5/2009 Notes

CSE 459:

Set Referencing:

- For your production you will be referencing all sets/rigs so people can update stuff (e.g. rigger can add control and animator doesn't have to re-import and copy over animation)

- Don't every reference a reference! Don't reference other things in your main set files or rig files - things will break.

- Rigging: discuss with animators before big rig change (pivot point changes, control location/functionality change, etc).

- One top file for each set, one for each rig, etc.

- Tip: When animating a particular prop, it might be before to duplicate the referenced one or import another instance

- Put smooth node on top level set, but don't add divisions - do it in the referencing file

Lighting Reel:

- Too many colors, many of the same colors

- Keep swatches inside a bound (like a square), divide colors up depending on how much they'll be used (e.g. QW landscape might use a lot of green, so put a lot of green relative to the other colors)

- Use primary and secondary colors, not necessarily all shades of a color

- Check out "The Last Emporer" in Visions of Light

Mei Head:

- Smooth out hair (braid transition)

- Bring hair down in front of ear somehow (instead of wisps)

- Scale up ear maybe

Oyon Head:

- Bring hair down in front of ear somehow (same fix as Mei's head)

- Fix up misc. geometry issues: hair, ear, back of head, corner of mouth (talk to Jason for the mouth corner)

- Nose needs extra nostril padding

- Insert "dent" above upper lip

- Bring cheeks down to nasal labial fold

- Eyes still need skull to the side

Yurt:

- Too many polys: model solid, drape cloth over, then delete solid

- need walls, floor

- top circle is perfect compared to rest of yurt, skew that too

- top flap for light?

QW Oyon:

- Smooth nose out

- Face broader (pull cheeks out)

- Bag on back of head overly big

- Make eyebrows and mouth

- Mouth should be closed but with a bump where the lips are

QW Mei:

- Mouth should be closed but with a bump where the lips are

- Test what hair shape would be best

Sig Shot Animatics:

DEATH 100 - take out translate, just tilt down

AGE 700 - work with the angle (you can hide the foreground)

AGE 700

- Get input from Beree on felt vs. canvas

- Medicine needs to be colorful, noticeable

- Use lighting from yurt still with candles

DEATH 100

- Fire pit model: sticks good, more believable than huge logs

- throw Mei in -> use animatic model for now

- need rocks sitting on top of dirt, more angular look

- work on sky dome

- dead horse picture ground pretty good

- put fire in shot, experiment with flame height

- try several flame types/colors, consider flame color transition within sequence

Maya Camera Overview

- Hide heads up display information, especially when playblasting

- Camera -> Display Options -> Resolution Gate

- Camera -> Display Options -> Overscan (affects how much you see around edge of resolution gate)

- Do rough framing with resolution gate, when camera is fully setup lock its attributes

- Try to use manipulators to move camera, as it is more precise than moving it around in the camera view

- Hide stuff that gets in the way (e.g. foreground elements)

- Yurt is small, reduce focal length to give more of a sense of space

- Camera -> Display Options -> Field Chart (approximately 6-7 is the third)

- Most cases subject's eyeball should be on third line

- Focal length changes from shot to shot run a very fine line... you want the shots to be dynamic but not completely random

- You can cheat the object placement and distance, focal length, and motion for the correct framing, but use discretion. If the cheat is too dramatic then it becomes really difficult to change/iterate later, so make sure you what you get is close to final.

Stitches Story Reel Meeting

- Smaller hand, bigger scissors in Oyon's death

- In mourning shot, mountain shouldn't be snowcapped and it should be lower. The camera is also too far away.

- Medicine bottle needs to be in the shot before dropping (should be holding it to the chest)

- After death sequence is awfully fast: Medicine drop should be slow motion maybe? Medicine bottle break, camera sees dead Oyon's arm through crack, rest of body obscured?

- Transition to RW from QW after mourning sequence: follow birds from mountain/burial scene to unfinished stitching with Mei's hands in the foreground -> birds continue past camera or disappear into Mei's hand

- Ending shots: Mei hugging quilt, magic combo still happening on yurt's wall... fade to wide shot outside the yurt with yurt glowing warm

- TODO: time of day in beginning

Lighting/Shading Meeting

- For now spend a lot of time shading set, not characters

- Put all reference in one folder for each object

- Need revised prop list

- When greenlit -> unwrap first

- need Mei proportions from Brian soon, new concept for tapestries inside yurt

- need yurt compilation from Dan

- abstract textures enough to not look realistic -> model design can't support 100% realism