Cgtuts+ Workshop #15 – Short Film (WA)
tuts workshop

Cgtuts+ Workshop #15 – Short Film (WA)

on Jun 20th 2012 with 9 comments

We’re back with another entry in our weekly community project, where we post a render or animation created by a member of the Cgtuts+ community, and ask you to provide feedback and constructive criticism on their work. It’s a great way to learn more about the intricacies of computer graphics, express your viewpoint, and have your own content critiqued by your fellow artists!

Quick Ground Rules

  • Be nice! We’ve deliberately chosen work that isn’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  • Feel free to offer any type of advice – Scott would particularly like feedback on the Animation, Lighting and overall Realism.
  • You can also link to another video or render that you feel offers a great example of this type of content done exceptionally well.

So let’s get to it, here’s this week’s entry created by Scott Misku!

Short Film (WA)

A Little Background

A one minute film with special effects created with 3ds Max and AE. It was created as a learning experience, I like the reflection of the spaceship in the skyscraper’s windows at the end, and I would like to get some feedback on the 3d animation, lighting and realism.

Thanks!

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached this project or done things differently? Any thoughts on how it could be improved or taken to the next level. Chime in below!

The most constructive and helpful comments will be featured on the site. Interested in submitting your own video or 3D render? You can do so here! and have your work featured in a future Cgtuts+ Workshop!

 
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By

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Ben is one half (literally) of the editor duo here at Cgtuts+. Ben has over eight years of experience in the computer graphics field and although he's primarily a hard surface modeler, he's also experienced in the fields of uvmapping, texturing, lighting and rendering. He has authored many tutorials and training materials focused on 3d Studio Max and hard surface modeling. You can check out Ben's website at bentateonline.com to see more of his work.  

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  • Max

    I think the design and grade is pretty good and the SFX are pretty okay as well. But I think my main issue is the speed of the animation. In the shot where the guy dematerialises and then reforms in the next shot takes forever. It either needs to be sped up or happening in during the dematerialisation and reforming.

    Also the grade is very dark, could do with some lightening up or have some of the holograms and special effects brighten the shots up.

    One last thing, the edit is a bit odd and disjointed. One example is the man running along a train line, then next shot he’s in the middle of the city.

    • Max

      *or MORE happening during the dematerialisation and reforming – more particles, more movement.

  • http://create3dgames.wordpress.com Elijah

    Very nice. Sound would be great. I like the reflection of the space ship on the building. I saw some lightning in there somewhere that didn’t look very realistic.

  • l3adatlife

    The beginning phone thing – The particle generator coming out of the phone itself looks dumb and completely fake to me. I think it would look better if you just took that completely out.

    Binoculars – This shot was good but the annoying grid moving all over the place took away from it. It just felt unnecessary and distracting. Also the numbers and lines on the sides should mean something. Possibly take the random lines floating around and make a simple wireframe of the bridge?

    Teleporter – Wayyyy too long and using that cheesy disintegrate/fracture effect does not help with realism. I’d look for a better way to have the guy teleport that does not involve that effect. Definitely speed up both sides of the teleport. The lightning hitting the building at the other side of the teleport is a good concept but it is again very slow and the glass that falls looks unrealistic because of that. The teleporter itself is pretty well modeled and animated. I’d like to see a bit of a wider base on it besides that tiny triangle though. I felt like it was a little flimsy for a moving thing like that.

    The ship – Definitely the best part of this piece. The ship itself is well modeled and animated. It looks relatively realistic. The reflections on the building really add to the realism. I do feel like you’re missing some reflections on buildings in the background as it flies farther out. There were some graphical glitches on the back of the ship that I noticed, a little bit of flickering, as it went out.

    Overall a good “learning experience” piece. Doing something like this is definitely one of the best ways to learn and improve. I hope I helped and that you continue to improve your skills.

    Cheers.

  • Eric

    Sound would be a big help. The running along the train tracks and then end up in the city is an oops that we all do.I have a helicopter scene that has it flying in the desert and then finds the airfield all of the sudden. It also has the flickering that your ship has that I still can’t fix. For the transport maybe speed that up a bit and maybe add some more particles to it. And for the lighting well that’s everyone’s biggest learning speed bump. But for learning piece good job. If you do fix some the parts that people on here have pointed out I would like to see it again.

    Nice Job.

  • color

    First of all the lack of sound and the colours of the film was something not so nice to look at. your shots didnt mix together at all! and if you look at your end fadeing its not even edning in a black frame, those little big things makes it look like very un finished and so on… the space ship was nice but the other effets didint really sit in the scene at all… but there was some good things allso for example good tracking i think

  • http://silverillustration.com Chris Johnson

    Well, it’s better than anything I have ever done! It’s a great piece for sure. I do have a few suggestions that may help. More like ideas to improve your projects. It may not coincide with what you were trying to accomplish, but here goes.

    Some practical effects to go with your cg. I know this was an exercise for cg, but a red light hitting the mans face when he stands near the portal might increase the drama and blend well with the cg effect. Also, some wind blowing against the man on the street as the ship turns and takes off. Practical effects to tickle our senses in believing the cg has presence and some realism. And dont forget to be cheap, lol. I wouldnt spend much of anything to try and get these effects. If the wind happened to be blowing my way, i would be like ‘cool’ but maybe the weather wasnt on your side.

    Momentum. It can be tricky at times when considering distance and scale. When the man appeared on the tracks, the glass appeared to fall flat and was too predictable in its movement. If the glass particles had a some what fast spin and good reflection. The power line was a nice touch too. Just needed more drama in the effects for the time it took this segment to happen.

    I thought the lighting was good overall. From beginning to end the tone never changed and the cg looked as though it belonged in this film. And I do like the reflection of the ship. Nice. Although I can sit here and critique your work, its still a lot better than what I can do currently. Thank you for sharing your work. I look forward to seeing what you can do next.

  • http://digitalvandal.us Timothy Williams

    Overall great job mate. Especially for a personal project. The hardest part of doing vfx is getting past the initial tests and putting multiple shots together. As they have said above the shots feel consistent. The grade is a bit dark but it brings things together, maybe just lighten up a bit on the contrast. Ill try to list them out so this isnt one long paragraph but please be aware this is only my opinion from what I have personally accomplished

    1. You are taking on the job of TEAMS of people. I filmed with a group, until a couple months ago (https://vimeo.com/thirdidentity/videos), with very low budgets, and even then there were still 2 directors, a DOP, a Lighting technician, boom bitch and then if there is a budget the producers(not very helpful but they can go to the store and buy things that break). Since you are doing it all you need to inhabit the responsibilities step by step. When you set up the camera think, what would Scott the Director do here, or Scott the DOP do with this shot. Dont ever fix things in post you can get right on location.

    2. Telling a story, even a learning experiment, should be ENHANCED by post. Not gimmicks or trends or what bob thinks is cool but to make something better, and if you can do it with props(ie smoke, flares) then use the real thing. Editing is a HUGE part of the story. People above mentioned the pace and you can control that with quick shots. Stop thinking 300 frames and start thinking 90 frames or even faster. Cut to the music, if there is any, and realize that in order to build tension and excitement speed up your shots. You only have two close shots, of the handheld and the feet, I can think of at least 10 more close ups I would have done, and not just on the character but the scene. Do a zoom on the object you spent weeks building in 3d. If there are issues with the details when you get close use motion blur, smoke, rack focus etc to hide these things.

    3. Incorporate your 3d into the scene in ways that aren’t as visible. You did the reflection and some shadows but that is expected by today’s audience. For instance in the last show you could have paper on the ground moving because of the ships jets. You could add air turbulence as it speeds off as well as more motion blur with RSMB. Add grain, very very very subtle flares, and environmental dust too make compositing easier. The shot with the teleporter should have red light on the front of the talent and on the ground. Add camera shake in post to emphasize things happening. We did that constantly in the MMA videos we made and its barely noticeable but it sells the action even more. We added more dust when punches land, made sweat in particular and added that, spent 100s of hours collectively after we filmed to sell the shots and we didn’t have any cg. Sorry for going on so long but a great example is in the still shot of the tracks. When the talent appears you can have the snow blow up like dust, have the bushes move(AE puppet tool) and even do a sky replace(really easy) and have the clouds time lapse during those 30 frames. Anything to make the viewer believe it. If your 3d affects 10 things in each scene people will have to believe it.

    4. Great job and you are doing everything well just keep doing it and keep doing it. Just set a goal of someone whos a level or two above you and keep working until you are better, and then pick someone even better and out work them and before you know it you own Industrial Light and Magic

  • Ilyas

    He took it down?