3D Animation

Interdepartmental Play at CDIA

November 26, 2008 November 26, 2008 I mentioned last time that our class had been asked to create the opening credits for a film being done by a CDIA Filmmaking student. Jean Michel is chronicling the incredible story of his nearly four years in a Haitian prison and needed a title sequence that involved handcuffs and animated blood. Liquid can be handled a number of different ways in Maya, but the most obvious solution would be to use the Fluid Effects option in the Dynamics menu set. Dynamics are technically outside the scope of CDIA’s 3D Animation course, but our instructor was kind enough to help us do the research necessary to make them work for this project. That makes perfect sense at a time when we’re all working on our demo reels – another addition to our portfolios before Practicum. We took a two-pronged approach and began working on concept art and storyboards while looking into Dynamics solutions. Drawing by John Corbett While we researched the blood, one member of our class modeled the handcuffs. By the time he’d applied mental ray’s physics-based lighting and DGS (Diffuse, Glossy, and Specular) metal textures, they looked like the real thing. Handcuffs modeled and rendered by 3D student Trevor Green. Jean Michel liked the proposals we sent him, but wanted to add one twist: The blood would flow down the screen and form one of the titles, superimposed over a photograph of himself behind bars. We evaluated the possibilities and decided we could do this without much difficulty. But due to a limitation with the photography, there was one small problem: No bars. Original photograph by CDIA photography student Kathy Castro. Never a group to be deterred, our team created some 3D bars, lit them in accordance with the original print and added them to the photograph. Composite artwork by Trevor Green And just as those assets came together, we finally solved most of the issues surrounding how to make the blood flow, so we have a viable proof of concept that we will present to our “client” this week. Not bad for a crew that’s still a month away from graduating.