Saturday 19 March 2011

What I need to do Next!

After looking at the companies I would want to work at that have vacanies at the moment I have a clearer understanding in what I need to do to show I am confident for the job role!


  • Showreel: Most important thing that has to contain very well modeled objects or characters with good clean topology as well as showing good understanding of texturing and shaders which seems to be a big plus in the industry.
  • Show off my Zbrush skills! knowing zbrush and mudbox seems to be a good advantage in the industry show in my showreel, as well as showing I can model I should try show that I can take my models further into sculpting packages to develop and improve on the final look.

Sunday 13 March 2011

ShotGun Scheduling

Below are screenshots showing my shotgun project where I organized my project. 

First image shows the shot section to my project. Here I can add each shot so we can see what has been done and what still needs to be done. I was able to quickly see where we were with everything and keep track on how many shots there was to work on and what each needed to be done before ready for editing stage.

Below shows the assets screen. This is great to break down things needed for a project. So for me I added the asset called Creature model. Here again we could see exactly what was finished and what we needed and I could assign this to tasks as well as assigning shots to each task so people can see who else is working on each shot and what is completed. 


Below is the main part of the shotgun software. Here is where I assign all my shots, assets and sequences to different people in their different tasks. You can see how I have assigned tasks to different people and each shot has its own set of task such as Tracking, Animation, lighting and Comp. Each shot has this as all have to have those elements in them. Once you click on these the asset should the creature assigned to each shot. But not all needed as the model was completed so didn't need to show that it was completed every shot. To the right you can see the dashboard where it shows the time given to each task in bars and you can also see where they overlap. Also the person which the task is set to can change the status to what stage it is at, such as working on or completed etc. This gives people an idea in whether things are behind schedule or infront.

Below is the shot section of shotgun, here again you can see all the shots allocated to the project and get information in what each shot is about and what needs to be done.

Final image shows the main Dashboard screen. This is when your given a over view of the project and you can see how many tasks still need work, how many finished and how many that still need to be started. Also breaks down different task as in animation, matchmover etc tasks and how many of those are ongoing and finished. Final shows you how many shots and assets are assigned to the project.

What industry Wants

Below are a list of companies to compare what they expect to see from someone applying for the role of a modeler.

Framestore:



- Candidates should be creative, resourceful, and have a strong spatial awareness
- A good working knowledge of Maya
- Very strong polygonal subdivision modelling skills
- Efficiency with layout of UVs, and awareness of texture requirements
- Ability to interpret and follow reference material to create clean, highly detailed, and accurate models
- Strong interpersonal and communicative skills
- Ability to organise workflow in a meticulous manner
- Able to work very well within a team, and with other departments and supervisors
- Experience with Mudbox and zBrush an advantage


As a modeller you will be responsible for producing highly accurate, efficient models for high-end VFX feature films. References may include photographs, scan data, blueprints or concept designs. Modellers will work closely with texture artists, riggers and layout artists to produce models and UVs that meet the specific requirements of a VFX pipeline. 

Cinesite:

-Excellent Maya polygon and subdivision surface modelling skills and the ability to apply and manage UV’s is essential.
-Previous experience creating photorealistic organic and hard surface models is essential.
-Thorough understanding of the modelling process and the ability to both interpret designs and accurately match photographic reference material.
-You must be able to work well within a team environment and take direction from Supervisors as appropriate.
-Texturing skills are advantageous.
-A familiarity with Mudbox and CySlice are a plus.
-Previous film industry experience is preferred.

The main focus of the position will be creating photorealistic organic and hard surface models within Cinesite’s pipeline using commercial and proprietary software and tools.

Double Negative:


Key Purpose of the Job

To create highly detailed models suitable for use in visual effects work for film, that cover a wide range of organic and non-organic objects.

Needs To Do

  • The modeller will need to work very closely with the texture painters, shader writers, look development artists and the riggers to generate models that are suitable for feature film work. The models may be organic in nature, such as various creatures or characters, or they may be models of rigid objects such as cars, buildings, props or sets. They will need to make use of a wide range of reference materials. Models may need to be created from scratch or from scans, reference photography, maquettes, miniatures or other set models. They will also have to work closely with their leads to determine an appropriate level of detail for any given model. It will also be important to work closely with the riggers to produce models that meet their work flow requirements, and with texture painters to determine the optimal UV layout for a model.

Needs To Know

  • Strong spatial awareness and a good sense of form, scale and proportion
  • A very keen eye for detail
  • A full working knowledge of modelling in any one or more of these packages: Maya, XSI and Cyslice
  • Ability to work with packages such as Mudbox or Z-brush are an advantage
  • Polygon and sub-division surface modelling. Knowledge of NURBS modelling is not generally required, but a plus
  • How to deliver a "clean" model with tidy polygon/sub-d placement and good basic UV layout for texturing
  • A good knowledge of Linux would be an advantage. Familiarity with Windows useful but not essential
  • When to model detail or have the the detail added through the shading, by liasing with the shader writers and look development artists
  • At least 1 years experience in feature films would be beneficial. Experience in other areas of visual effects (TV, Games) will also be taken into account

Needs To Be

  • Meticulous
  • Team oriented
  • Able to learn in house work flows and methodologies
  • Able to adapt to changing requirements or briefs
  • Resourceful

Measures of Performance

  • On time delivery
  • Show continuous improvement
  • Ability to deliver any required model at an appropriate level of detail and realism, which fits smoothly into the pipeline of a show

My Current Skills

I have known what I want to get into for a while now as when I was 17-18 years old I got a chance to work at a 2D animation company as a inbetweener for a couple of months. Whilst I was there I was also able to see the 3D side of the industry and got chance to work on a little 3D piece. From then on I knew I wanted to get into modeling!

Here I will evaluate and discuss all my skills as overall set of skills or knowledge of the entire 3D pipeline is proven to be greatly beneficial within the virtual effects industry.


I am comfortable with range of skills within in the VFX industry, Modeling, Texturing, UV mapping, Lighting and at a basic level animation. I also know some post production programs such as Final Cut pro, All the Adobe suite to a high standard as I used to work as a Graphic designer. I have started to learn Nuke as the software is the best compositing software in the industry. In nuke I would be able to take my models and work and really refine the final image using my knowledge with render layers and passes.


Modeling is where I want to head into. I have been modeling to a confident level for over a year now. I want to mainly specialize in Character/Creature creation where I used use programs such as Maya to create base meshes and hard surface models, Zbrush to sculpt and texture my models, UV layout to uv my models and topogun/3Dcoat to retopologise my models if needed. I am confident and have a good knowledge of sculpting a high level of detail within zbrush. I completed Scott Eaton's Anatomy Course during the summer where I learnt the muscular system which gives me great advantage when working with riggers and sculpting muscles and bones on my models.


During this last year I have been able to improve on many things other than modeling/Sculpting. Rendering and lighting has been some of the thing I really had to improve on to get the better final image. I know now how to create all the render passes needed to take into Nuke or compositing stages as well as knowing how to light my scene with a number of different techniques.


My texturing is something I have been and plan to keep working on as it really brings out my models and show that my Uving doesn't stretch or have bad resolution on some areas. Also these is a key thing to know for the industry as you need to be able to work with texture artists to break down models so you don't model to much and make to hard on yourself.


Rigging is something I have basic knowledge on but over the summer I plan to rig my own characters so I know what topology works best when with certain models. This again is good for industry as again my anatomy knowledge is great for this as I will known where the rig joints placement would work best or more likely where they should be. In the industry this is general practice to be able to work with riggers so you can fix models to suite their needs.