As a rather vocal proponent of detailed project planning (just ask any of my students), I've got a production plan and asset list in progress, but here are a few of the things I'm considering as I whittle down what will eventually make it to the final cut.
First is environments, since an environmental modeler is what I bill myself as. I'm also pretty fond (obvious to those who read this blog) of traditional Medieval and Science Fiction settings. However, like anime, when it comes to portfolio work, if it doesn't cure cancer, it probably shouldn't be in there. Everyone and their brother is modeling spaceships and castles, so while those things do need to be represented among my work, there are a number of other genres that interest me and absolutely must be included.
The current lineup for environments that are on my slate for inclusion are:
- Space environments
- Alien solar system
- Interstellar space/nebulas/galaxies
- Space ship interior
- Corridor
- Engine room
- Medieval environments
- Castle armory
- Castle throne room
- Castle Exterior/courtyard
- Old West environments
- Saloon interior
- Main Street exterior
- Contemporary environments
- Skyscraper exterior
- Residential home interior
- Living room
- Morph from "clean" to "abandoned/haunted"
Each of these environments would have individual prop objects as part of the scenery, as well as "hero" objects with 360 degree turnarounds or other animations, that will use the matching environment as a backdrop. For example, the Templar Crusader gear which uses the Castle armory as a backdrop.
I expect to render out 15 or so 20 second clips of animation to cut into a final demo reel of around 5 minutes, so not everything rendered will make the cut. Some objects/environments may also exist in the print version only.
I've already written about the scope of the demo, rendering two versions in 1080, standard as well as anaglyph 3d. Additionally, I will downscale those to 720p and 480p for use in various different situations.
Major "hero" items that are on the shortlist for inclusion in the demo include three pieces of Templar Crusader gear: helm, shield, and sword; possibly my version of Excalibur as well, of which I've already posted early screenshots. Old West hero items will certainly include the Steampunk style time travel watch I recently blogged about, as well as renderings of the Colt Army model 1860 and the Winchester model 1873 rifle (commonly known as the gun that won the west). I don't have any definitive plans for particular science fiction themed "hero" pieces, but I'm leaning heavily towards using at least one of my Star Trek inspired models, either the classic Enterprise or the ship of my own design, the USS Constitution. It's possible the Romulans might make an appearance. I'm also pretty partial to an alien laser rifle I designed and modeled a few years back, and which was actually used anachronistically in my Old West scene.
I don't have a firm timetable yet on the duration of the project, but work is ongoing daily. Due to extremely long render times, I'm farming most of the HD video rendering out to a contractor, and doing the stills and untextured video renders in-house. I expect to have the demo cut and the portfolio printed by the end of the summer. Of course, there will be fairly regular updates as particular segments are completed and ready to be cut into the final project.
And just in case anyone is still wondering, the Flash gallery page is still under development, although I've yet to settle on a specific platform or resolution for the images. Likely the images for the gallery will have to be in an entirely different aspect ratio from the demo reel and the printed portfolio, adding yet another set of rendering tasks. Work is ongoing, and I'll post updates as they happen.
Signing off for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment