I just realized I haven't posted my demo reel yet, after all those months. Anyway, it's mostly stuff I've already posted on the blog, but with a cool music.
9/27/12
4/24/12
It's raining today, let's create some sunny landscapes
In a past article (Realflow related) I talked about the project I was working on with Ben Bays, Space Station Caveman. For this project, I have to create two shots: a tower falling from the sky and splashing into the ocean, and a spaceship under water taking off.
I soon realized that modeling and animating wouldn't be enough: I needed a landscape. That's how I started to train myself to the software Eon Vue. A really cool software. In a few hours, I was able to create awesome landscapes. Here come some of my creations:
The past two models are for the spaceship taking off. The next one is for the tower falling.
And finally, this one was created watching a tutorial, minus the 3D Island part.
I soon realized that modeling and animating wouldn't be enough: I needed a landscape. That's how I started to train myself to the software Eon Vue. A really cool software. In a few hours, I was able to create awesome landscapes. Here come some of my creations:
The past two models are for the spaceship taking off. The next one is for the tower falling.
And finally, this one was created watching a tutorial, minus the 3D Island part.
I made fire!
Like Robinson Crusoe or Tom Hanks in their respective islands, I've decided to create fire (and it fits to my work, with the whole 3D Island thing: one day or another, every Island needs a fire .)
Anyway, following tutorials I came up with two results.
The first is just a flame. I didn't use mental ray to render it, but it looks cool anyway.
The second one is much more awesome, and more oily like fire. I particularly enjoy the smoke.
I've used the same process to create the smoke coming out of the canons in the Pirate video, except that the lighting isn't the same.
The second one is much more awesome, and more oily like fire. I particularly enjoy the smoke.
I've used the same process to create the smoke coming out of the canons in the Pirate video, except that the lighting isn't the same.
Realflow, or how to get closer to my Boat
Yesterday, my dad bought a boat. A tiny one, to go fishing on the river next to our house, the Seine (in France). I was happy for him, and then he told me: "Just saying, but it seems I got my boat before you."
Enjoy it, father, enjoy it... because one day, I'll get a Battleship! By the way, have you seen the movie? I did, and I loved it. I'm pretty sure they used Realflow in it (see how I'm coming back to the subject? subtle and all...)
Anyway, for a few months I've tried to learn the software Realflow. My friend and former Professor Ben Bays gave me the opportunity to make a few VFX shots in his soon to come fake trailer Space Station Caveman. The trailer is just an excuse to throw a bunch of awesome VFX ideas in one minute. Plus he gets to play a caveman, which is pretty cool considering his awesome beard and hairs.
In some of the trailer shots, there is supposed to be water involved, and I was given those shots. I've never made anything with water before (the sea in the pirate project is just Maya ocean), so it was a good opportunities to learn about it. After a few tries with Maya, I realized it wouldn't work. I needed a software dedicated to water simulations. That's how I discovered Realflow. My first try with it was a liquid title splashing to the ground. I was pretty happy with the result, even if the render time sucked (everything with a watery shader takes forever to render...).
Then, following a tutorial, I covered a title with cream.
After that, I tried a more viscous version of the same effect. However, my substeps were not high enough, and unfortunately some particles are flying in the scene. But I like the viscous part.
It was time to come back to water, with the classic "water poured into a glass" video. Again, something went wrong, and the water doesn't fill as fast as it should. Probably an internal or external pressure issue.
And finally, the even more classic glass of wine falling to the ground. I've used DMM for breaking the glass, and I think it's slowed down the simulation. It took several days to simulate, mesh and render it, all that to realize that there was a problem with the liquid simulation, which was meshed into too tiny pieces. But I like the video anyway.
The next Realflow videos I'll be posting will be the ones from Space Station Caveman project. It should be a tower falling from the sky and splashing into the ocean, and a spaceship under water taking off. I really hope they will look cool enough, because I'm running into so many problems right now that I can't be sure of anything anymore.
Anyway, for a few months I've tried to learn the software Realflow. My friend and former Professor Ben Bays gave me the opportunity to make a few VFX shots in his soon to come fake trailer Space Station Caveman. The trailer is just an excuse to throw a bunch of awesome VFX ideas in one minute. Plus he gets to play a caveman, which is pretty cool considering his awesome beard and hairs.
In some of the trailer shots, there is supposed to be water involved, and I was given those shots. I've never made anything with water before (the sea in the pirate project is just Maya ocean), so it was a good opportunities to learn about it. After a few tries with Maya, I realized it wouldn't work. I needed a software dedicated to water simulations. That's how I discovered Realflow. My first try with it was a liquid title splashing to the ground. I was pretty happy with the result, even if the render time sucked (everything with a watery shader takes forever to render...).
Then, following a tutorial, I covered a title with cream.
After that, I tried a more viscous version of the same effect. However, my substeps were not high enough, and unfortunately some particles are flying in the scene. But I like the viscous part.
It was time to come back to water, with the classic "water poured into a glass" video. Again, something went wrong, and the water doesn't fill as fast as it should. Probably an internal or external pressure issue.
And finally, the even more classic glass of wine falling to the ground. I've used DMM for breaking the glass, and I think it's slowed down the simulation. It took several days to simulate, mesh and render it, all that to realize that there was a problem with the liquid simulation, which was meshed into too tiny pieces. But I like the video anyway.
The next Realflow videos I'll be posting will be the ones from Space Station Caveman project. It should be a tower falling from the sky and splashing into the ocean, and a spaceship under water taking off. I really hope they will look cool enough, because I'm running into so many problems right now that I can't be sure of anything anymore.
DMM, the plugin of happiness
Since I started to model stuff in Maya, there was always this little dream in the corner of my mind, this crazy hope that, one day, I'll be good enough to model awesome stuff, and the next minute shatter it all to pieces!
It took me a few months to get there, but today I can proudly say that I know how to destroy things in Maya.
My first try at it was with the DMM plugin of Maya created by Pixelux, in the Pirate project (see previous post), but the plugin limit didn't allowed me to make my destruction look as awesome as I wanted to. However, the render at 300fps of the mast breaking gave me a nice slow motion which created some coolness in the scene anyway.
Then, after watching a tutorial online, I learned how to destroy a piece of glass thanks to nCloth (by using some rigid settings). Unfortunately, lots of bugs into the scene prevented me to render a good final version. All I can present now is the second half of a bullet shattering a wall of glass.
After that, and after seeing lots of awesome videos made with the purchased version of DMM, I decided to save some money and buy it. And then, my life became as awesome as I expected. I was able to break things into tiny tiny pieces, and I loved it. My first video was just a test of how tiny those pieces could be, and as you can see... well, the result was tiny tiny.
However, pretty long render time (light and glass and tiny pieces aren't very good friends). Then I finally made the video that I wanted to make for months: a bullet hitting a glass. But with a slight change in the result.
I had a hard time making the bullet hit the glass in a correct way (strange, I know), so I decided to change the gravity and set it left to right, so technically, the bullet is "falling" on the glass. Really simplified things there. After that I tried to think about some of the best way to shatter a wooden crate, and came up with some interesting results. I played with the Glue setting of DMM, which worked perfectly.
I'm now thinking about destroying a title for my next project. Titles destroyed are always cool
My first try at it was with the DMM plugin of Maya created by Pixelux, in the Pirate project (see previous post), but the plugin limit didn't allowed me to make my destruction look as awesome as I wanted to. However, the render at 300fps of the mast breaking gave me a nice slow motion which created some coolness in the scene anyway.
Then, after watching a tutorial online, I learned how to destroy a piece of glass thanks to nCloth (by using some rigid settings). Unfortunately, lots of bugs into the scene prevented me to render a good final version. All I can present now is the second half of a bullet shattering a wall of glass.
After that, and after seeing lots of awesome videos made with the purchased version of DMM, I decided to save some money and buy it. And then, my life became as awesome as I expected. I was able to break things into tiny tiny pieces, and I loved it. My first video was just a test of how tiny those pieces could be, and as you can see... well, the result was tiny tiny.
However, pretty long render time (light and glass and tiny pieces aren't very good friends). Then I finally made the video that I wanted to make for months: a bullet hitting a glass. But with a slight change in the result.
I had a hard time making the bullet hit the glass in a correct way (strange, I know), so I decided to change the gravity and set it left to right, so technically, the bullet is "falling" on the glass. Really simplified things there. After that I tried to think about some of the best way to shatter a wooden crate, and came up with some interesting results. I played with the Glue setting of DMM, which worked perfectly.
I'm now thinking about destroying a title for my next project. Titles destroyed are always cool
12/8/11
Pirate Final Project Post 3 - Rendering
No surprise: rendering took forever. But less than it could have. We decided to use the preset of physical sun and sky instead of looking for a very realistic render, and that way save some render time. This render is enough for a class project, and all that we could do in the amount of time we were given.
But some shots took way longer than others to render. The firing cannons for example, because of the smoke. Or just the breaking mast using DMM, that I exported at 300 frames per second for having a nice slow motion.
And the ocean is just the preset offered by Maya, which looks good enough for what we were aiming for.
Pirate Final Project Post 2 - More Modeling
Here comes some assets I have created for the project. The renders are made with mental ray.
Pirate Final Project Post 1 - Modeling
The semester, my final project is going to be a fake trailer for a pirate movie (pirate of the Caribbean style). This is a group project, so with my two classmates, we plan to shoot some footage on green screen and place it in a 3D model, use some Ncloth animations for the sails and flag, some 3D Fluid for a burning boat and canons firing, and the DMM plugin for a cracking mast.
But first, I had to model the boat. Here comes the evolution of that assignment (it took a week to model).
10/27/11
Projection Mapping
This month assignment was pretty cool.
We've learned the basic of projection mapping, and had to choose a picture and make our own. When we watched our instructor doing it, it looked so easy. Of course, the reality of it is very different...
I choose a picture i've taken from downtown austin, because there wasn't much people or cars. I cleaned it a bit on photoshop, taking out stop lights and passer-by.
Ok, now basically the idea was to recreate that scene in 3D. Now here is a good tip: you want to do a good projection mapping? CHOOSE A PICTURE WITH CUBIC BUILDINGS, DAMN YOU! Seriously, do you see those two buildings in the back? I was thinking "meh, it's gonna be fine, I'll just have to recreate them", well, I'll tell you what: this was one of my stupidest moment in 3D.
I don't know what smoked the architect who built that building, but it's not cubic, it's not piramidal, it's not triangular or rectangular, but it's everything at the same time! Aaaah! Every time I passed in front of it in the bus during the month, I tried to figure out it's logic, but no! Too complex! DO NOT DO A PROJECTION MAPPING IN A BUILDING LIKE THIS! Or if you do, take pictures of it under every angle, and recreate it as close as possible.
Anyway, moving on. After modeling the scene, I projected the picture onto the 3d elements, and with a camera was then able to move into the scene. Ok, it's the very short version, it's actually more complexe.
Because I had issues with the horizon line, I decided to hide it with some fog created thanks to maya fluid. There is still some issues, but overall for a first try, I'm pretty happy. Now I want to try again, but this time with cubes. Gosh, it's gonna be so easy...
We've learned the basic of projection mapping, and had to choose a picture and make our own. When we watched our instructor doing it, it looked so easy. Of course, the reality of it is very different...
I choose a picture i've taken from downtown austin, because there wasn't much people or cars. I cleaned it a bit on photoshop, taking out stop lights and passer-by.
 |
| Downtown Austin |
I don't know what smoked the architect who built that building, but it's not cubic, it's not piramidal, it's not triangular or rectangular, but it's everything at the same time! Aaaah! Every time I passed in front of it in the bus during the month, I tried to figure out it's logic, but no! Too complex! DO NOT DO A PROJECTION MAPPING IN A BUILDING LIKE THIS! Or if you do, take pictures of it under every angle, and recreate it as close as possible.
Anyway, moving on. After modeling the scene, I projected the picture onto the 3d elements, and with a camera was then able to move into the scene. Ok, it's the very short version, it's actually more complexe.
Because I had issues with the horizon line, I decided to hide it with some fog created thanks to maya fluid. There is still some issues, but overall for a first try, I'm pretty happy. Now I want to try again, but this time with cubes. Gosh, it's gonna be so easy...
10/4/11
UT Flag with NCloth
It's been a while I wanted to try NCloth in Maya, so as a true Longhorn fan I decided to create a little flag. But a war flag, you know. Because they are cooler.
UT flag Maya from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
10/3/11
DMM breaking table in Maya
I was playing around in Maya with the DMM plug-in and came up with that result. Just frustrated the plug-in's limit is that low, and that we need to spend 300 dollars to be able to fully use that wonderful tool of destruction.
9/21/11
Medieval UT Tower
I just wanted to use some new tools learned in class, and so I decided to create a composition about UT. My idea was: what if UT had a Medieval era?
Here is the original picture:
And here is the result:
The Draghorn is made of a mix from a Longhorn, a Velociraptor and an Eagle.
Here is the original picture:
And here is the result:
The Draghorn is made of a mix from a Longhorn, a Velociraptor and an Eagle.
9/19/11
A Nazi man receives a Raptor in-between giant flowers
That's not every day that I get to draw something fun. Firstly because I never draw. Secondly because I really never draw. My handwriting is awful enough to remind me to stay away from pencils and anything close to painting creation.
Which is why, when we get that assignment to create a photoshop painting from an idea generator, I freaked out.
But then, I have to admit, the fun of creating a nazi man receiving a velociraptor in-between giant flowers helped me a bit to reconsider my skills. So after finding references online, I started painting. And man, I really, really sucked. So much that if my computer was a sheet of paper, I would have throw it away angrily (instead I was only able to wave angrily my arms with sounds of frustration.)
But I knew we were allowed to do anything we needed to achieve the painting, so I found some nice pictures of a mountain, and I just draw on it. Yes, that's cheating, but seriously, I can't draw.
But after a while I realized that this method wasn't that bad. I was only using 3 colors, and it gave a style to the image, and at the end I was even a little bit proud of it.
Then I created a tree and made it a brush, which allowed me to create the forest. The grass brush already existed.
And finally, the two characters and the flower. I used the same technique as for the mountain, and it worked pretty well. I can't draw, but at the end, I created a composition.
Now it's definitely not perfect. I don't know how to make it look nicer, and not like an element on another. That will be for next time....
Which is why, when we get that assignment to create a photoshop painting from an idea generator, I freaked out.
But then, I have to admit, the fun of creating a nazi man receiving a velociraptor in-between giant flowers helped me a bit to reconsider my skills. So after finding references online, I started painting. And man, I really, really sucked. So much that if my computer was a sheet of paper, I would have throw it away angrily (instead I was only able to wave angrily my arms with sounds of frustration.)
But I knew we were allowed to do anything we needed to achieve the painting, so I found some nice pictures of a mountain, and I just draw on it. Yes, that's cheating, but seriously, I can't draw.
But after a while I realized that this method wasn't that bad. I was only using 3 colors, and it gave a style to the image, and at the end I was even a little bit proud of it.
Then I created a tree and made it a brush, which allowed me to create the forest. The grass brush already existed.
And finally, the two characters and the flower. I used the same technique as for the mountain, and it worked pretty well. I can't draw, but at the end, I created a composition.
Now it's definitely not perfect. I don't know how to make it look nicer, and not like an element on another. That will be for next time....
5/31/11
Share Their Voices Editing Contest
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to participate in my first editing contest. The subject was easy: The Latinos in the war. They provided us 50 interviews of veterans, of 2 hours each, with the mission to create a 5 minute editing out of it, about the topic of our choice. We were also free to find footages free of right on internet.
When I read the transcript of Julian Gonzalez' interview, I knew I would chose him. That guy went to France, in Normandy, during the landing, and tells about it with lots of emotions. Plus he wrote a great poem, that I immediately knew how to use.
But that wasn't enough, so I found pictures and video footages illustrating his words, and created some tiny visuel effects for the titles (that you may have already seen on this blog) and for the pictures.
At the end I was happy of my editing (except for the sound of the interview, I didn't have the time to learn how to make it better), and it happens that the jury of professionals which came from Los Angeles for the occasion liked it too, for they gave me the first price.
I am now the proud owner of my firstlegal version of Final Cut Pro! Hourra!
Now, please, Meet Julian Gonzalez:
Meet Julian Gonzalez from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
When I read the transcript of Julian Gonzalez' interview, I knew I would chose him. That guy went to France, in Normandy, during the landing, and tells about it with lots of emotions. Plus he wrote a great poem, that I immediately knew how to use.
But that wasn't enough, so I found pictures and video footages illustrating his words, and created some tiny visuel effects for the titles (that you may have already seen on this blog) and for the pictures.
At the end I was happy of my editing (except for the sound of the interview, I didn't have the time to learn how to make it better), and it happens that the jury of professionals which came from Los Angeles for the occasion liked it too, for they gave me the first price.
I am now the proud owner of my first
Now, please, Meet Julian Gonzalez:
Meet Julian Gonzalez from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
5/8/11
Volleyball Final Project - Post 4 - DONE!
It's always a great moment when you finally decide "Ok, I'm done" on a big project like that. Of course, before that decision you spent hours and hours dealing with minor details that no-one would have noticed, but you want it to be perfect. And now it is, finally, it is time to export.
So you do export, and it takes hours. But when you watch it after, you realize that something doesn't work quite well, so you change it, and re-export, for hours. And when it's done, you realize you forgot to turn the particles on, because you turned them off to be able to work without slowing the machine, so you have to export again, and it takes hours. And you still find stupid reasons to have to re-export it 3 or 4 times until it is completely done.
And then you watch it, and like it. But the day after, while watching it, you realize that this sound effect could have been placed one or two frames after, but for the first time you're thinking "ah, f**k it.", and you are able to watch it without being annoyed by a thing that no-one on earth would ever notice. That's the moment I like the most. Because every project could always be better, could always have a last change of one or two frames, which of course wouldn't be the last, but you have to find the courage to say "no more."
No more. Working on that project was awesome, and watching it is awesome. It is going to be a good video to show my still very new skill, and at the same time an awesome souvenir from my time here; the special effect class and time spent playing volleyball with friends.
I am really glad because I have been able to do everything I planed to for that final project, and even more. I was afraid it might be hard, and it definitely was at some moments, but with hours of work every problem is solvable (and some of them with the help of Ben Bays).
It was very interesting to work on something step by step, in a way it was different from the big editing projects I was used to, because those are generally divided in very different steps, while here almost every steps needs creation, and every time something is created, you feel great, because you are able to think "I created this from nothing, I am a God", and add it to the rest. And while by itself it can be a cool little effect, when it is included to the whole project, it makes that last one look awesome.
But enough talking, here it comes:
Volleyball - The Duel from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
So you do export, and it takes hours. But when you watch it after, you realize that something doesn't work quite well, so you change it, and re-export, for hours. And when it's done, you realize you forgot to turn the particles on, because you turned them off to be able to work without slowing the machine, so you have to export again, and it takes hours. And you still find stupid reasons to have to re-export it 3 or 4 times until it is completely done.
And then you watch it, and like it. But the day after, while watching it, you realize that this sound effect could have been placed one or two frames after, but for the first time you're thinking "ah, f**k it.", and you are able to watch it without being annoyed by a thing that no-one on earth would ever notice. That's the moment I like the most. Because every project could always be better, could always have a last change of one or two frames, which of course wouldn't be the last, but you have to find the courage to say "no more."
No more. Working on that project was awesome, and watching it is awesome. It is going to be a good video to show my still very new skill, and at the same time an awesome souvenir from my time here; the special effect class and time spent playing volleyball with friends.
I am really glad because I have been able to do everything I planed to for that final project, and even more. I was afraid it might be hard, and it definitely was at some moments, but with hours of work every problem is solvable (and some of them with the help of Ben Bays).
It was very interesting to work on something step by step, in a way it was different from the big editing projects I was used to, because those are generally divided in very different steps, while here almost every steps needs creation, and every time something is created, you feel great, because you are able to think "I created this from nothing, I am a God", and add it to the rest. And while by itself it can be a cool little effect, when it is included to the whole project, it makes that last one look awesome.
But enough talking, here it comes:
Volleyball - The Duel from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
5/4/11
Volleyball Final Project - Post 3 - Alpha (whatever that means)
A ball into space? Dude, that was the greatest idea! Never had a project that fun!
Of course I had a lot of new problems, but overcame them all, just like that: PAF! (actually it was a bit longer than that).
On my last post I was just finishing to create a nice smoke trail, that I had to turn off to be able to work on the other effects without slowing the machine.
I think my next step was my favorite, and one of my worse at the same time: I applied the face of Wilson, from the movie Cast Away, into a side of the volleyball, so we would see it during the camera rotation.
I first tried to parent my Wilson mask on the ball, but of course it wouldn’t be that simple, and it became completely wild. But the one thing it got right was the rotation: I wouldn’t have to worry to much about that. Just about the position, the scale, and the orientation. Haha.
So I did what every visual effects composer has to eventually do on a project or another: I spent hours adding keyframes on every single frame. Hours. Because the more I would work on it, the more I would find new ways to make it look cooler, like the Corner Pin effect. And sometimes I would realize (after keyfraying the whole move) that Wilson looked much smaller at the end than at the beginning, so I would have to start over. Again. And again. Until I was finally satisfied, and not upset anymore at the idea of that stupid ball getting lost in sea.
But when I watched it again the day after, it looked awesome, and worth of every effort. I loved Wilson again.
On the other side of the ball, during the rotation, I added a lens flare, just for having something cool to see. Might have been one of the easiest thing on the all project.
And between two sessions of work on After Effects, I took my camera, two volleyball friends, and we spent a few hours shooting a small movie. That was very fun too. There was a lot of ball in the face involved.
Back to After Effects, I used a 3D earth I created on another project and made the ball dive into it, and with a white flash brought us back into the volleyball court (I used the same flash for leaving the court and going into space).
Then I had to bring the 3D volleyball into two shots, where the girl is taking it in the face (front and back). Tracking didn’t really worked, but the shots are so fast that I realized I didn’t really need it. After that I just used masks for putting the ball behind the head of the girl, and that’s all.
However, color correcting the ball for making it look real into the video is a bit harder, but I’m sure I’ll end up with something close enough.
Next post, all will be done, and volleyball will finally be back as one of the best sport in the world. All that thanks to a ball in the face. That is the power of volleyball.
Of course I had a lot of new problems, but overcame them all, just like that: PAF! (actually it was a bit longer than that).
On my last post I was just finishing to create a nice smoke trail, that I had to turn off to be able to work on the other effects without slowing the machine.
I think my next step was my favorite, and one of my worse at the same time: I applied the face of Wilson, from the movie Cast Away, into a side of the volleyball, so we would see it during the camera rotation.
I first tried to parent my Wilson mask on the ball, but of course it wouldn’t be that simple, and it became completely wild. But the one thing it got right was the rotation: I wouldn’t have to worry to much about that. Just about the position, the scale, and the orientation. Haha.
So I did what every visual effects composer has to eventually do on a project or another: I spent hours adding keyframes on every single frame. Hours. Because the more I would work on it, the more I would find new ways to make it look cooler, like the Corner Pin effect. And sometimes I would realize (after keyfraying the whole move) that Wilson looked much smaller at the end than at the beginning, so I would have to start over. Again. And again. Until I was finally satisfied, and not upset anymore at the idea of that stupid ball getting lost in sea.
 |
| Wilsooooooooon! |
But when I watched it again the day after, it looked awesome, and worth of every effort. I loved Wilson again.
On the other side of the ball, during the rotation, I added a lens flare, just for having something cool to see. Might have been one of the easiest thing on the all project.
And between two sessions of work on After Effects, I took my camera, two volleyball friends, and we spent a few hours shooting a small movie. That was very fun too. There was a lot of ball in the face involved.
Back to After Effects, I used a 3D earth I created on another project and made the ball dive into it, and with a white flash brought us back into the volleyball court (I used the same flash for leaving the court and going into space).
Then I had to bring the 3D volleyball into two shots, where the girl is taking it in the face (front and back). Tracking didn’t really worked, but the shots are so fast that I realized I didn’t really need it. After that I just used masks for putting the ball behind the head of the girl, and that’s all.
However, color correcting the ball for making it look real into the video is a bit harder, but I’m sure I’ll end up with something close enough.
Next post, all will be done, and volleyball will finally be back as one of the best sport in the world. All that thanks to a ball in the face. That is the power of volleyball.
Animation
A few weeks ago, Robots were invading the Campus, and we got some nice shot of them. However, my export is having some terrible problems, and the best I can do right now is a video ponctuated by a lot of black frames, which sucks a lot. I don't have time to deal with it now (and it's already been too long, and too many problems on that project) but I'll try to fix that later. For now, enjoy:
Robot on UT Tower's stairs from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
Now a quick animation with an hand made character and skeleton. I admit that I spent most of my time on my final project (the volleyball into space) so it is a very basic animation, just to show that I can deal with it.
Meet the Headking!
Headking from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
Robot on UT Tower's stairs from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
Now a quick animation with an hand made character and skeleton. I admit that I spent most of my time on my final project (the volleyball into space) so it is a very basic animation, just to show that I can deal with it.
Meet the Headking!
Headking from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
4/26/11
Volleyball Final Project - Post 2 (The Return!) - Progress
A ball into space, uh? What a stupid idea! Why didn’t I chose something a bit less complicated, like… I dunno… a text into space? Oh, no, wait, I’ve already done this one… But still, this ball is killing me.
Because, first of all, I have to create that ball, that dear and sweet ball. At first I thought that I could use a texture I found on internet, and apply it to a sphere.
Fail.
Then I tried to modify it, and worked harder to apply it on a sphere.
Fail.
Then I tried to follow a very non explicit tutorial to create a volleyball under Maya.
Fail. After 6 hours of work.
Then I attempted to kill myself.
Fail.
And the next day, I tried to restart to work on that ball from the beginning, knowing where I failed.
Success.
Wait… success? Really? Oh my God yes! Yes it IS a success! And look at that, if I apply a white leather texture on it, it’s just perfect! That’s crazy! I created a Volleyball! I feel like a God!
I’m really proud of that ball especially because of all the lines, who aren’t textured, but real little line on which I used the tool Bevel to create deepness (when it didn’t completely screwed it up, like the day before).
Then I tried to import the ball into Photoshop and then After Effect and had a lot of issues with light, which Photoshop recreated. I had to create an environment of light all around the ball to erase all shadow. It worked out at the end.
Now I could start to create an environment for that ball into After Effect. Using particles, I created stars that would move toward the ball, giving an impression of speed. The ball is constantly rotating on itself, like if it was moving forward. This part worked out (with the help of Ben to master those undisciplined stars).
I then added the Death Star from Star Wars, which the ball would pass very quickly. The effect worked well, so I know I’m going to use it later on with other ships.
My next step was to create a camera, and to rotate around the ball. Success.
But when I created the smoke trail, I started to have some issues.
First of all, one of Andrew Kramer’s tutorial inspired me to create the smoke (see the tutorial on http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/smoke_trails/ ). But I had a hard time putting the smoke right in front of the camera and behind the ball. Once again, Ben rescued me.
Once my smoke was in position, I duplicated it, and used it to create the fire and sparkles effect. Then the main problem was that I had way too many particles, and it slowed down the project. But it looked awesome.
Here is a little preview of the effect of the smoke, fire, and the rotation.
Preview final project FX from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
Just to let you know, it took one hour to render... that tiny little piece of footage, one hour. I don't want to think about the final export...
I realize that time passes super quickly, and that I’ll have to shoot the footage that will held the special effect. Just have to find a girl who will agree to take a fake ball on the face. Easy…
Then I’ll finish to add the few effects I have in mind, add the sound FX, and put everything inside a small editing.
But it's alright, because now I love this project.
Because, first of all, I have to create that ball, that dear and sweet ball. At first I thought that I could use a texture I found on internet, and apply it to a sphere.
Fail.
 |
| The volleyball texture I found on internet. I don't want to think about what they did to that poor ball... |
Then I tried to modify it, and worked harder to apply it on a sphere.
Fail.
Then I tried to follow a very non explicit tutorial to create a volleyball under Maya.
Fail. After 6 hours of work.
Then I attempted to kill myself.
Fail.
And the next day, I tried to restart to work on that ball from the beginning, knowing where I failed.
Success.
Wait… success? Really? Oh my God yes! Yes it IS a success! And look at that, if I apply a white leather texture on it, it’s just perfect! That’s crazy! I created a Volleyball! I feel like a God!
I’m really proud of that ball especially because of all the lines, who aren’t textured, but real little line on which I used the tool Bevel to create deepness (when it didn’t completely screwed it up, like the day before).
 |
| The white leather texture I applied on the ball. |
 |
| The Masterpiece! Seriously, how cool is that ball? |
Then I tried to import the ball into Photoshop and then After Effect and had a lot of issues with light, which Photoshop recreated. I had to create an environment of light all around the ball to erase all shadow. It worked out at the end.
Now I could start to create an environment for that ball into After Effect. Using particles, I created stars that would move toward the ball, giving an impression of speed. The ball is constantly rotating on itself, like if it was moving forward. This part worked out (with the help of Ben to master those undisciplined stars).
I then added the Death Star from Star Wars, which the ball would pass very quickly. The effect worked well, so I know I’m going to use it later on with other ships.
My next step was to create a camera, and to rotate around the ball. Success.
But when I created the smoke trail, I started to have some issues.
First of all, one of Andrew Kramer’s tutorial inspired me to create the smoke (see the tutorial on http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/smoke_trails/ ). But I had a hard time putting the smoke right in front of the camera and behind the ball. Once again, Ben rescued me.
 |
| The cloud I used to create the smoke. |
Once my smoke was in position, I duplicated it, and used it to create the fire and sparkles effect. Then the main problem was that I had way too many particles, and it slowed down the project. But it looked awesome.
 |
| With the same idea, I used that footage of fire in order to create it. |
Preview final project FX from Vincent Desgrippes on Vimeo.
Just to let you know, it took one hour to render... that tiny little piece of footage, one hour. I don't want to think about the final export...
I realize that time passes super quickly, and that I’ll have to shoot the footage that will held the special effect. Just have to find a girl who will agree to take a fake ball on the face. Easy…
Then I’ll finish to add the few effects I have in mind, add the sound FX, and put everything inside a small editing.
But it's alright, because now I love this project.
4/12/11
Volleyball Final Project - Post 1 - Preproduction
Pitch:
A guy hits a volleyball so hard that it goes into another dimension, than comes back and smash a girl in the face.
Description :
I have to admit that, at first, I had no idea what to do for my final project. When I realized that it wouldn’t help to keep cursing Ben Bays in English or in French for not giving us something more specific than “do anything you want”, I started to put my ideas on the table:
I wanted to do something cool.
I wanted to do something funny.
I wanted to play volleyball.
Of course that last line was being a problem, because I really needed to find an idea. Then I thought “why not including volleyball in my project?”. Yes. That would be awesome. For me. Probably lame for others tho. Because how could I mix volleyball and special effects, with my still poor skills, and make it look cool?
But I had absolutely no other idea, so I started to seriously think about it.
Ok, it has to be funny. What is funny in volleyball? There is only one true answer: Someone taking a ball on the face.
That’s a beginning. Or, more precisely, an end. Now, what would come first?
Me (because I have to be part of it, as every good French narcissist), probably serving. After would come some cool shoots of the ball hit, with funny faces. The effect would start here.
I would use Maya for making a ball in 3D, and import it into after effects where I'll create all the other effects. We would then follow the ball through space (because it would go so fast that it would leave our dimension), now would be the time for a series of cool effects, like light speed, rotating around the ball and letting us discover for one rotation the face of Wilson from Cast away, stuffs like that.
It would also cross the way of some famous spaceships, like a Star Wars Stardestroyer, the Star Trek Enterprise, the MIR station, Tintin rocket, the ship of toy story. The ball would go so fast that it would start to burn, as in coming into the atmosphere, and create smoke. It would start to have the look of a meteorite.
It would then ends its course in the face of my opponent (a girl, because I’m a jerk) in an explosion of pain (I’m pretty sure After Effects has a lot of tools allowing us to create pain).
A final joke for ending it, a fast credit involving volleyballs, and that’s it. Also, because I still kind of feel bad to hit a girl in the face (even if it's my specialty in volleyball), the short movie will end with me taking a ball into the face, without effects. because it's always fun.
It’s maybe a bit ambitious, I don’t really now yet how I’m going to do some of those effects. I also hope that the 3D ball won’t slow after effect too much. But I think I can have a lot of fun doing it. Plus I get to look cool while hitting a ball, and that’s priceless.
A guy hits a volleyball so hard that it goes into another dimension, than comes back and smash a girl in the face.
Description :
I have to admit that, at first, I had no idea what to do for my final project. When I realized that it wouldn’t help to keep cursing Ben Bays in English or in French for not giving us something more specific than “do anything you want”, I started to put my ideas on the table:
I wanted to do something cool.
I wanted to do something funny.
I wanted to play volleyball.
Of course that last line was being a problem, because I really needed to find an idea. Then I thought “why not including volleyball in my project?”. Yes. That would be awesome. For me. Probably lame for others tho. Because how could I mix volleyball and special effects, with my still poor skills, and make it look cool?
But I had absolutely no other idea, so I started to seriously think about it.
Ok, it has to be funny. What is funny in volleyball? There is only one true answer: Someone taking a ball on the face.
That’s a beginning. Or, more precisely, an end. Now, what would come first?
Me (because I have to be part of it, as every good French narcissist), probably serving. After would come some cool shoots of the ball hit, with funny faces. The effect would start here.
I would use Maya for making a ball in 3D, and import it into after effects where I'll create all the other effects. We would then follow the ball through space (because it would go so fast that it would leave our dimension), now would be the time for a series of cool effects, like light speed, rotating around the ball and letting us discover for one rotation the face of Wilson from Cast away, stuffs like that.
It would also cross the way of some famous spaceships, like a Star Wars Stardestroyer, the Star Trek Enterprise, the MIR station, Tintin rocket, the ship of toy story. The ball would go so fast that it would start to burn, as in coming into the atmosphere, and create smoke. It would start to have the look of a meteorite.
It would then ends its course in the face of my opponent (a girl, because I’m a jerk) in an explosion of pain (I’m pretty sure After Effects has a lot of tools allowing us to create pain).
A final joke for ending it, a fast credit involving volleyballs, and that’s it. Also, because I still kind of feel bad to hit a girl in the face (even if it's my specialty in volleyball), the short movie will end with me taking a ball into the face, without effects. because it's always fun.
It’s maybe a bit ambitious, I don’t really now yet how I’m going to do some of those effects. I also hope that the 3D ball won’t slow after effect too much. But I think I can have a lot of fun doing it. Plus I get to look cool while hitting a ball, and that’s priceless.
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