What If Metropolis? OGR Part 2
OGR 2 by Rhia Crouch on Scribd
Minor: Pre-viz and notes
This is the per-viz for my Minor project that I have been working on over the summer. I set about doing this to get a better idea of now some of the shots would play out and to test out now some of the pops be shown. I am happy with some of the shot, such as the way that the Sun and Moon are introduceed, close ups that I have used for both characters, the way that Moon swings round with the crown along with the way the image fades out on the Sun at the end. I'm not too happy with some of the shots that have the characters moving around but this might be because I was focused on the walk cycle and I might not need it in my finished animation. I also think that the shot of the sun and moon spining round might have been done abit better.
OGR 24/11/2016
ReplyDeleteHI Rhia,
Okay - You need to do something in order to make the most of what you've achieved so far on this project. Right now, your concept art is keeping us outside of your city, and the view you're giving encourages us too see your structures as a collection of shapes on a table top, as opposed to big, architectural space. I suspect the challenge of thinking about this complex, jazzy city as a perspectival drawing is encouraging you to keep us 'outside' and 'looking on' as opposed to 'inside' and 'looking up'. I want you to use the techniques Jordan showed you whereby you create block-model set in Maya derived from your basic shapes, and then experiment with camera placement, until you create a more 'inside' feeling. I want to know what it's like to be on the pavement surrounded by this city, looking up at the balloons above. The way to do this is to work in Maya and create some 'paint-overs'. It's the only way you're going to break this 'outside-ness' and actually get to grips with this set as representative of being 'in' a city.
You're to be congratulated on attempting to visualise a complex structure as orthographs; you're missing top views for both, which might make modelling more tricky. I do think, however, in just design terms, that you've assembled shapes as opposed to 'designed' buildings. What, for example, are these forms made from? What materials are in use? How exactly do the windows and entrances sit against their surfaces; what is the rationale behind the scale of the windows - indeed, what scale are these buildings? If we look at the balloons as reference points, it appears that your buildings are actually rather small.
It's really important Rhia that you now look at additional 'real world' references in terms of figuring out your structures as actual models - figuring out the details of the likely geometry and the qualities of the materials in terms of how you might texture them. How are those big surfaces of colour fabricated on structures of this size? For example:
http://www.vincenttimber.co.uk/images/picturegallery/secondaryschoolputtennetherlandslarge.jpg
http://www.sketchuptextureclub.com/public/texture_d/0116-wall-cladding-stone-modern-architecture-texture-seamless-hr.jpg
https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/Yardhouse-by-Assemble_dezeen_sqa.jpg
I also want you to look at actual architectural details: how separate components are joined up to create complete structures:
http://radialwindows.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Round_windows.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7318/10060548345_d45b562c5c_b.jpg
http://www.deceuninck.com/media/img/reference-Russia.jpg (notice all the bolts and rivets for example).
I think you need to change your methods a bit: use Maya and basic models to think much more creatively and dynamically about putting your viewer 'inside' this structure; use the paint-over technique you've been shown. You likewise need to give MUCH more thought to actual design - to the logic of your buildings and how they're actually constructed, because only then will you understand the next stage in terms of modelling all the necessary details and texturing your assets accurately.
You've imagined a wonderfully chaotic, busy and surreal space - but right now you've assembled some Kandinsky-inspired shapes into a sort of 3D collage or sculpture. Your next job is to understand this place in a much more 'nuts and bolts' way and design it more purposefully. I'd suggest too, that you 'unpack' that very complex shape you've given yourself, and instead think more of its elements as being separate buildings that are brought together to create a more complex effect. I think you'll find this approach much easier in terms of production art, orthographs and modelling.