Week 4

Team Members

Mia Esparragoza (3D/Look Development)

Zane Kidwell (Lighting/MP)

Yilin Zhao (FX)

Soi Park (FX)

Veronica Ramirez (Compositing)

Feedback From Mentors

1. Camera Movements, Composition, and Narrative

- Camera movements feel a bit too static 

- Composition of Shot 3 feels too close on the right margin

- Finalize shot movements and visual flow

- Diamond is confusing? The ring should be the main focus

2. Look Development and Ring Model

- Gold shader reflections are not clean enough, roughness is too high

- Ring Model needs to be beveled, have smoother edges to match Bvlgari look and luxuriousness

- Make sure gold on the branch does not take away from the ring's gold

3. Transformation Effects

- Change the snake skin effect to happen on the dragon statue instead of the branch

- The dragon turns to gold and that can be the subject of the rack focus in Shot 1-1

- The particles from the statue could form the ring using a morphing effect

4. Lighting

- Edit HDRI to have painted in reflections for some more interesting highlights on the ring

Shot Changes Made

1. Shot 1-1

- Dragon statue is reverting back to original model holding sphere, but will be all the same Jade material

- Rack focus will accentuate the snake skin transformation that turns the Jade into Gold

2. Shot 1-2

- Wider shot that shows end of snake skin effect, and beginning of the disintegration of the statue

- Particles take the viewer into the next shot/environment

3. Shot 1-3 OR Shot 2-1

- Shows morphing effect creating the ring in the beginning, then the ring's diamonds can be inset

- Then ring rolls on branch

Week 4 Tasks

1. Work on feedback for shaders and apply on teammate's files for continuity

2. Fix camera movement and composition of Shot 3

3. Redo the topology ring model to be able to bevel edges for a smoother look

1. Shaders

I improved the Gold shader by adjusting the roughness value to increase the quality and clarity of the reflections in the frame of the ring. I also slightly adjusted the color of the ring based on reference from the Bvlgari Website shown below, I still aim to get the color closer to the references I collected. In the right section of the snake head the reflections are much clearer than before. 

New Reference for Ring Look Development from Bvlgari Website

I also edited the Jade shader quite a bit and increased it's subsurface quality. This week Professor Gaynor invited me to sit in on a Technical Compositing class and I learned a lot observing, I plan to work together with Veronica Ramirez in Compositing to push the Jade to the highest quality using render layers and AOV's. 

I also slightly edited the Wood shader for the tree branch to be a bit darker for some more contrast from the Ring. 

More Reference Images for Jade and Wood Shaders

2. Fix Camera and Composition for Shot 3

I adjusted the camera position so the ring was closer to the center of the frame, and I also adjusted the speed and starting position of the ring's animation.

Updated render of the Ring's Shaders + Animation + Framing

3. Redo the topology of the Ring

This task I did not fully complete for this week, but it is my priority for this coming week to complete the re-topology of the ring model to be able to bevel and soften it's edges. Since the model we purchased is meant for 3D printing, its topology is very messy and difficult to work with. At first, I spent time researching and attempting to use free auto re-topology tools to save time, but none of these methods gave a decent result. After lot's of attempting an automated method, I have decided the best method to achieve the best result would be to do it manually with the Quad Draw tool in Maya 2024. I have made some progress on one side of the snake ring's head, but my goal for nest week is to have the ring topology remade and beveled to match the original Bvlgari ring's smooth edges.