Nakajima's Project

A port review (9)

2010-10-21T07:38:00.004+09:00

In cut#94 Chopper#5 breaks piles of containers but 40ft containers are too large to be broken by Choppers, so I newly made 20ft containers.

Basically this is the last object for the port.

The next I will start re-reviewing the Rider. It seems like an endless process...

A port review (8)

2010-10-18T23:07:00.002+09:00

This is the final straight road for cut#92.

A port review (7)

2010-10-16T00:40:00.003+09:00

It's done.

This crack needs shatters and smokes. I'll make them when I make animations.

A port review (6)

2010-10-03T16:55:00.005+09:00

I'm still working on making the port's details.

This is a crack in the floor for cut#37.

A port review (5)

2010-08-29T18:45:00.002+09:00

I made a building of the roof.

MEL script

2010-08-22T18:13:00.004+09:00

I've made a MEL script for UV editing. This aligns UV shells.

http://nkj.lib.net/artworks/scripts/AlignUVShells.txt

A port review (4)

2010-08-22T02:33:00.005+09:00

I've been dividing the port scene into several parts so that I can save rendering times.

This part is for cut#22 to #25.

A port review (3)

2010-08-01T00:55:00.002+09:00

I've finished making the roof.

A port review (2)

2010-07-25T20:24:00.003+09:00

I'm still working on making the roof.

A port review (1)

2010-07-17T22:19:00.007+09:00

In the last posting I finished a living room. It was the last background and basically I've finished making all models for this project.

But before move to the next phase( it will be about animation and honestly I somewhat afraid of that), I have to review and update those models.

First I started reviewing a port scene . (I was surprised that it was made over 2 years ago!)

It needs more details and I've started making a building. This is its roof. It will be in place of a gantry crane in cut#30.

A living room (4)

2010-07-04T21:37:00.003+09:00

I've finished making the living room.

A living room (3)

2010-06-21T07:09:00.002+09:00

I've finished modeling the items in the living room.

A living room (2)

2010-04-29T22:29:00.002+09:00

I've been working on making items...

A living room (1)

2010-03-27T23:53:00.004+09:00

I've started making a living room.
And I designed items in it.

A bathroom (2)

2010-03-22T23:43:00.005+09:00

I've finished making the bathroom.
The next I'll start making a living room.

A bathroom (1)

2010-03-16T13:13:00.002+09:00

I've started making a bathroom.

Fake light bounces (3)

2010-03-01T21:19:00.005+09:00

Two times ago I explained about making fake light bounces with light maps. It's effective for fixed objects, but for movable objects you should use different ways. Using many lights around the object is one of them.

In an image below only few lights illuminate a character object. There is no light bounces from walls, a ceiling or a floor.
First you make an object which is almost the same size and position as the character object. I used a smoothed cube for this. Then you bake its vertex colors with global illuminations by using Batch Bake command.
Then you make directional lights on the object with using a MEL script which I posted in the previous article. Each light's emitSpecular attribute is unchecked automatically by the script so the character object's specular is still sharp. At the last you unlink the lights and the background.
This is a result.

Fake light bounces (2)

2010-03-01T17:27:00.003+09:00

This is a MEL script which makes directional lights on each vertex of a mesh object. The lights' colors are made by the vertices' colors and the light intensities are made by the vertices' color's value.
http://nkj.lib.net/artworks/scripts/makeColorLightsOnMesh.txt
I'll explain this script's purpose next posting.

Fake light bounces (1)

2010-02-28T20:16:00.005+09:00

Before going next, I improved the shader. I added fake light bounces to objects in the scene. It's subtle but you can see that the tool box's red color is bleeding around it in the lower image.

Of course you can render a scene with using Final Gathering for making light bounces, but this time I made light maps with Final Gathering before rendering and rendered objects with those maps without Final Gathering. The method is like this.
1)Make each object's light map. "Color mode" in their bake set attributes is "Only global illumination". Make sure "Final Gathering" has been checked in Render Settings.
note: Using Command line renderer for making a lot of light maps is much faster than using Batch Bake command.
2)Tone up the light maps' saturation with Photoshop.
3)Connect the light maps to materials' Incandescence. Actually I've set up some nodes between a light map's file node and Incandescence like this:
file>>rgbToHsv>>multiplyDivide>>hsvToRgb>>contrast>>incandescence
Values of multiplyDivede nodes and contrast nodes of all shaders are connected to a controller object in order to change them at the same time.

MEL script

2010-02-12T00:03:00.003+09:00

I've made a MEL script which can manage lightlinks in Maya easily.
http://nkj.lib.net/artworks/scripts/lightLinker.txt

A garage (16)

2010-02-07T23:57:00.002+09:00

I've finished making the garage.
The next I'll make a bathroom.

A garage (15)

2010-02-01T21:52:00.006+09:00

I've made a car.
The body's shader tree is like this. I used a cube map for the reflection. Images for that were rendered by a camera which was located in the garage. The camera's "Angle of View" attribute made 90 degree in order to make seamless images.
OK, I've finished making all objects in the garage!

A garage (14)

2010-01-11T19:52:00.003+09:00

I've made a heater.
In this movie's universe the earth is extremely cold but the world has enough energy resource to prevent the entire earth freezing. This garage is in an electric power plant's site and has many sockets inside it.

A garage (13)

2010-01-08T08:53:00.000+09:00

I've made garbage carts.

A garage (12)

2010-01-05T02:17:00.000+09:00

These are the rest of the objects.

A garage (11)

2010-01-05T02:05:00.001+09:00

I've made a plugboard.

A garage (10)

2010-01-02T01:35:00.004+09:00

I've made a shelf and some objects on it.
I used environment textures for metal instead of using ray trace reflection so that I can reduce time for rendering. The environment textures 50% overpaint a color texture with a layered texture.

A garage (9)

2009-12-09T23:45:00.001+09:00

I've made cardboard boxes.

A garage (8)

2009-12-05T00:24:00.010+09:00

I've made pallets.
Carvings on the surface are generated with using a normal map.

Usually those kind of normal maps are baked from high poly models. Making a high poly model with carvings is a hassle.
Actually you have to make only carvings like a image below.
Then you bake it to a low poly model like this.
This is a result.

A garage (7)

2009-12-02T02:10:00.001+09:00

I've made a tool-strage box and some tools on it.

A garage (6)

2009-11-28T23:10:00.001+09:00

I've made a winch.

A garage (5)

2009-11-26T00:30:00.003+09:00

I've made a "wheel setter" which is a tool for setting Uni's wheel to its swing arm. This is going to be used in cut #4.

The clips are movable so that this can grab and release a wheel.

Actually only this and the desk are necessary equipments for this scene. However, I'm making some other objects to fill empty spaces.

A garage (4)

2009-11-15T02:01:00.003+09:00

I've started making equipments in the garage.
This is a desk for cut #8.

A garage (3)

2009-11-11T23:51:00.003+09:00

I've finished making the garage.
I'm making equipments.

A garage (2)

2009-11-08T00:24:00.002+09:00

I've finished modeling the garage and making its occlusion maps.

A garage (1)

2009-11-02T00:20:00.003+09:00

I've started making a garage.

I'm making this with Maya, and going to make equipments with modo.

Additions to the storyboard (4)

2009-10-14T01:05:00.003+09:00

The storyboard is now version 1.1.
The next I'll start modeling a garage.

Additions to the storyboard (3)

2009-09-16T20:04:00.002+09:00

I've finished drawing and will start painting.

Additions to the storyboard (2)

2009-09-12T01:58:00.003+09:00

I'm still working on drawing the additional scenes.

Additions to the storyboard (1)

2009-09-07T19:53:00.003+09:00

I've been working on drawing additional scenes for the storyboard.

Rider Review (10)

2009-08-24T23:25:00.004+09:00

I've made the rider's nightwear.

The current version of the storyboard has no scenes for the nightwear or the sweat suit. I'll draw those scenes for the storyboard and the storyboard will be version 1.1.

Rider Review (9)

2009-08-17T03:11:00.003+09:00

I've finished making the new Rider's protector suit.

Rider Review (8)

2009-08-13T12:40:00.005+09:00

I've finished sculpting the new Rider's protector suit.
I setup a rig before sculpting so that I can sculpt easily.

Rider Review (7)

2009-08-01T13:10:00.002+09:00

I've finished modeling the new Rider's protector suit's base.

The helmet has a lot of polygons compared to other parts because it's rounded and it'll be closed up.

break

2009-07-26T14:22:00.004+09:00

Rider Review (6)

2009-07-21T20:47:00.009+09:00

I've set-up the face.

This face was controlled by joints on it. The joints are parts of the face skeleton.

This model has a lot of vertices on its face. It would be hard to assign weights to each vertex. Of course you can use Paint Skin Weights Tool, but there is an easier way.

First you make a simple head model from your high-poly head model, then bind the simple head model to the face skeleton and assign weights. It would be good that each joint is on a vertex which is assigned 100% weight of the joint.

Then you bind the high-poly head model to the face skeleton, and copy weights from the simple head model to the high-poly head model. (Use "Copy Skin Weights" tool.)

Rider Review (5)

2009-07-21T20:39:00.006+09:00

I've done skinning and set-up the model.

The rig is basically the same as the old version of Rider's model. (I made a MEL script which can automatically set-up arms or legs' rigs from a simple guide.)

The old version of Rider's model was made as SDS( and applied Maya's smooth). Making its shoulders was easy because it had few points. But this time I made this as a high-polygon model and the shoulder wolud be troublesome. This model's shoulders don't look perfect, but it's enough for this project, I think.

Rider Review (4)

2009-07-15T02:24:00.005+09:00

I've been working on making the color maps.

I made the skin texture from photographs of an apple.

Rider Review (3)

2009-07-09T10:10:00.002+09:00

I've finished modeling, sculpting and making normal maps for Rider's sweat suit.

Rider Review (2)

2009-07-04T22:20:00.002+09:00

I've finished modeling Rider's new base.
This time I made this model as a simple polygon model, not SDS. Details will be added by Mudbox.

A simple shoulder rig

2009-06-30T12:46:00.003+09:00

I have made an explanation movie about making shoulder rig. In this movie I make very simple shoulder rig. I used expanded version of that for Rider's shoulder or wrist.

Part1 of 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5hPOsefqYE
Part2 of 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkbS-rCSwCk

Speaking English is fun for me, but if you cannot get it, you can download a sample file from this page
http://nkj.lib.net/sculpland/htmls/english/modeling/08modelinfos.html
The file is "19HowToMakeShoulderRig.zip".

Rider Review (1)

2009-06-28T23:26:00.004+09:00

I've made additional designs for Rider.
These are rough but enough for modeling.

Modeling Chopper (5)

2009-06-25T00:28:00.002+09:00

I've finished rigging Chopper.

The next I'll start reviewing Rider. I'll also make some equipments for the model (helmet, armors, etc.)

Modeling Chopper (4)

2009-06-15T10:12:00.004+09:00

I've finished sculpting and painting Chopper.

I took photographs of my frying pan or a chicken's skin then made pictures from them with Photoshop. I used those pictures for modo's "Image Ink" to paint the model.

The next I'll start rigging Chopper.

Modeling Chopper (3)

2009-06-12T11:08:00.002+09:00

I got Mudbox and have started sculpting Chopper.

Modeling Chopper (2)

2009-05-22T22:13:00.002+09:00

I'm still working on making Chopper.
I've ordered Mudbox and I'll use it for making details on this model.

Modeling Chopper (1)

2009-05-11T09:40:00.002+09:00

I've started modeling Chopper.

Texturing Uni (5)

2009-05-06T12:02:00.005+09:00

I've finished making textures for Uni.I've finished modeling Uni. This model has no setups for animation yet, but I'll make them afterward. It'll be slightly complicated and I have to consider about it more.

The next I'll start modeling Chopper.

Texturing Uni (4)

2009-04-29T00:35:00.003+09:00

I've add stains to textures.

The result became slightly dark... I have to adjust values or saturations of base colors, but before that I make some details with using normal maps. (I should have made them first though.)

Texturing Uni (3)

2009-04-20T02:21:00.003+09:00

I'm working on making tarnishes.
This is a captured image of modo. Shading is "Advanced OpenGL."

Texturing Uni (2)

2009-04-13T09:03:00.003+09:00

I've been making textures.
I filled textures with simple colors, then applied to the model with ambient occlusion maps I've already made. Tetures were painted with modo. This image was rendered with Maya.

Texturing Uni (1)

2009-04-05T15:47:00.002+09:00

I've finished making UVs and started making textures.

This is a captured image of Maya's view (with no lights). Occlusion maps for this were made with modo.

MEL script for UV editing

2009-02-14T21:14:00.006+09:00

I've made 2 MEL scripts for UV editing in Maya 2008.

(Images below are from Maya 2008's UV Texture Editor.)

If you use Maya 2008's command "Move and Sew UV Edges" with individually scaled UV shells, a sewn edge would be resized like this. Sometimes it could be a prolbem.

I've made a script to avoid it. This script scales one of the UV shells then executes "Move and Sew UV Edges".
Go to the MEL script's page

And another script I've made rotates a UV shell of selected 2 UV vertices to snap V like this.
In this script I used "atan" command to get an arc tangent value but I couldn't find any explanations about it in Maya 2008's Help. (If you use "whatIs" command to get an information about "atan", the result will be "Command" though.) I hope there isn't any problem about it.

Go to the MEL script's page

Uni (9)

2009-01-25T22:30:00.005+09:00

I've finished modeling Uni.

The next I will start making UVs for this model.

Uni (8)

2009-01-18T20:21:00.002+09:00

I've made Uni's handle.

Uni (7)

2009-01-04T00:39:00.000+09:00

I've made guns and some details.

Uni (6)

2008-12-28T21:38:00.002+09:00

I've made a wheel and a swing arm.

Uni (5)

2008-12-21T23:36:00.001+09:00

I've made a seat and a sensor.

Uni (4)

2008-12-14T23:29:00.002+09:00

I've made Uni's arm.

Uni (3)

2008-12-01T23:32:00.002+09:00

I've made a generator.

Uni (2)

2008-11-23T02:24:00.003+09:00

I've made Uni's frame.
I'm making Uni with SDS because I'm used to use it. I may be going to make a detailed model after freezing and make normal maps.

Uni (1)

2008-11-15T14:59:00.003+09:00

I started making Uni.
I've already made a rough model for making designs/storybords.

I'll use this as a guide.

Skinning (2)

2008-11-09T14:25:00.004+09:00

I've finished skinning.

I also set up highlights on eyes with using an environment texture. I think it is faster than using selective lights.
Still facial expression setups remain but I will make them after review the model. The next I will start making Uni.

Skinning (1)

2008-11-03T21:54:00.004+09:00

I've started skinning.
It's almost done but some areas still need adjustments. For example, knee outer covers have to be moved along with inner covers. In the right image they intersect (in the right knee.) I'll add extra joints which is moved by driven keys or expressions for them.

rest

2008-10-05T20:06:00.002+09:00

An arm rig

2008-10-05T00:02:00.003+09:00

I've made a test model for an arm rig.
This is a movie of those.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdsckDkTMPs

And you can download sample data from this page:http://nkj.lib.net/sculpland/htmls/english/modeling/08modelinfos.html

A rider (11)

2008-09-25T23:24:00.003+09:00

Now I can use Maya 2008. I've imported the rider's model and textures to it.

Maya's "smooth" has 2 methods: "Exponentially" and "Linearly". I used "Linearly" for head and its parts, and used "Exponentially" for body parts.

I made the rider's hairs. They have skeletons so that I can animate them.

MEL script (2)

2008-09-23T14:36:00.004+09:00

I made MEL procedures for making hairs for the rider. This can duplicate an object and set the generated objects on each point on an object radially.

Go to the MEL script(procedures)'s text page

MEL script

2008-09-15T03:21:00.007+09:00

I've been going forward this project mainly with modo, Zbrush, XSI and Photoshop, and I decided to use Maya Complete 2008 too. I found a reseller giving a discount on Maya Complete 2008 for LightWave 3D's registered user, so I could purchase it at a low price.

Until I receive it I make some MEL scripts with my Maya Complete 4.0. This is a MEL script I made. You may be able to add an ik with control locators to an arm or leg skeleton with this. (You can use this with your own risk.)

Go to the MEL script's text page

This script can do a simple task but this will help me because doing a task like this is annoying.

A rider (10)

2008-08-31T20:20:00.002+09:00

I've finished painting except for hair. (I'll remake it at the same time of skinning.)
Basically the textures were painted or baked by modo and synthesized by Photoshop.

I used modo's Image Ink to paint fabrics. You can make a fablic like texture from a gray texture with using Photoshop's "waterpaper" filter. (I'm not sure about that filter's name in English version of Photoshop because I'm using a Japanese version of that.)

I made color textures which consist of ambient occlusion maps and displacement maps to emphasize suits' wrinkles. Those maps were baked by modo and then synthesized by Photoshop.

I took a look at web sites about cosmetics for making a face's textures because I had no knowledge about cosmetics. It was interesting.

The next I'll make a skeleton and its rigs. First I'll make an XSI script for making them.

A rider (9)

2008-08-24T03:30:00.002+09:00

I've started making textures with modo and Photoshop.
modo's paint tools are excellent.

A rider (8)

2008-08-19T08:20:00.002+09:00

After all, I sculpted the model with ZBrush then made normal maps and ambient occlusion maps with mode.
The pipeline is like this.
1)Freeze a part of the model in modo, then export.
2)Sculpt it in ZBrush, then export.
3)Bake normal maps in modo.
4)Bake an ambient occlusion map with a model with a normal map in modo.

A rider (7)

2008-08-03T17:44:00.009+09:00

I've finished making UVs and started sculpting.
I'm sculpting with modo's sculpt tools.

A rider (6)

2008-07-26T20:53:00.004+09:00

I've finished making a base model of the rider.
The next I'll start sculpting. I'll use modo for that, or I may use ZBrush. Also I'll use modo, ZBrush or XSI for baking normal maps. In either case, I'll make UVs first for normal maps.

A rider (5)

2008-07-13T02:49:00.004+09:00

I've updated the model a little bit.
Since this model will have a skeleton I have to consider skinning. On each detail I decide if the detail should be baked to a normal map or not. Because a detail made by a normal map doesn't need points on an object, and it's obvious that skinning with few points is easier than with many points.

A rider (4)

2008-06-30T08:37:00.002+09:00

I've started making clothes.
I'll make details with sculpt tools so the surface of these pants are almost flat so far. Now the legs are inside pants but they will be deleted.

Subdivision surface test

2008-06-23T00:13:00.009+09:00

I've compared subdivision surface in modo and XSI.

The original model is at the top of the image. A model in the right is applyed SDS in modo and then freezed. "Linear UVs" was checked before freezing. A model in the left is applyed Catmull-Clark subdivision surface in XSI. In UV, "Smooth when subdividing" is unchecked.

In the result, the UVs look similar. I think there will be no problem( or few problems) in UVs. In the mesh there is a problem that XSI's result is slightly larger than modo's. As far as I know, this kind of difference could be small if the mesh has enough of edges. In the rider's model there are enough edges except for the top of the head and teeth. I'll add edges to them to avoid the problem.

By the way, I improved the rider's model a little bit. I've adjusted the rider's upper body and added some details around the belly.

A rider (3)

2008-06-21T19:27:00.002+09:00

I've finished making the rider's base model.
I put all details on this without sculpting tools in modo, but I'll use sculpting tools to add details on clothes. There are lots of details (stitches, wrinkles and so on) on the rider's suit and it might be very hard for me making them without sculpting tools.
I'll make the rider's suit next but before that I have to test subdivision surfaces and UVs with it both in modo and XSI and make sure differences between them.

A rider (2)

2008-06-07T05:00:00.002+09:00

I`m still working on making the rider...

a rider (1)

2008-05-31T01:05:00.003+09:00

I've started making a rider.

This base model will be naked. I'll make clothings and equipments afterward.

Though it will not have to be detailed, I'll make it slightly detailed because I may also use it for other projects.

This model is being made with modo. I'm not sure if modo's subdivision surface is similar to XSI's or not. If they are very different, I'll freeze the model with subdivision level 1 then bring it to XSI, or just adjust the model in XSI. Both UV maps won't be smoothed as I did in making barrels at the foot of light poles.

A port

2008-05-26T00:34:00.008+09:00

I've made a floor, sea, sky and so on for the port.
The floor consists of polygon models and their instances. The sky was made from a polygon sphere.

In the image above I've rendered lights on light poles by a different pass from background's. The lights' pass has 2 partitions to fill lights or background with different colors (black and white). Then I put background's pass's pictures into Photoshop and added a new layer, then filled the lights area by using lights'pass's picture as a layer mask, then added an effect to the layer.

Though this scene is still lacking some elements, I'll make them and adjust this scene afterward. The next I'll make a rider.

A gantry crane (3)

2008-04-06T20:26:00.004+09:00

I've finished making the gantry crane.
In this image the upper part of the crane is lit up by some point lights. I'll add glows on the same positions of point lights.
Now I have containers, a top lifter, a gantry crane. I'll start to make a port with them. I may have to make some items to fill spaces.

A gantry crane (2)

2008-03-18T08:21:00.002+09:00

I've made the lower part of the gantry crane.
This image was rendered by XSI.I've made its render tree up in XSI. When I render this for animation, I'll make the render tree up again because I'll render this model with color texture and with ambient occlusion texture separately.

A gantry crane

2008-03-02T22:33:00.004+09:00

I've made the base of a gantry crane.
This time I made its ambient occlusion map by modo.
The gantry crane will have four of this base part. The height of the base is about 3.6 meter. The height of the gantry crane will be about 50 meter, but upper part of the crane does not have to be detailed because there will be just 1 closeup and backlight shot of its beam (cut number 12).

A top lifter (4)

2008-02-17T23:15:00.004+09:00

I've finished making the top lifter.
These images were rendered by modo. This model will be rendered by XSI, so I'll have to make render trees up in XSI. I already have texture maps for that.

I'll start making a gantry crane next.

A top lifter (3)

2008-02-12T00:59:00.001+09:00

I've made ambient occlusion maps with XSI (modo also can make ambient occlusion maps).

I'll use those maps to save rendering times.

A top lifter (2)

2008-02-04T00:17:00.000+09:00

I've finished modeling a top lifter.

I may have to bevel some edges, but it may not be a hard work. I'm making UVmaps next.

A top lifter

2008-01-26T04:32:00.000+09:00

I'm making a top lifter. I'm making this instead of making a forklift in the storyboard.

There will be 2 shots for the top lifter in the movie. In one of the shots the camera shoots Uni(uni-motorcycle) runs beneath a container hanged by this, so I have to make details in the forepart of this. On the other hand, I don't have to make its cockpit be detailed because the lighting will be dark and camera will move fast.

A 40 feet container (2)

2008-01-19T03:31:00.000+09:00

I've made varied textures for the container. I painted stain by modo, and coating by Photoshop Elements. An occlusion map generated by modo was also used for the textures.

The models near by the camera are high-poly objects and the distant models are low-poly objects. Actually the low-poly objects are cubes. The low-poly object's textures were baked by modo.
A high-poly object has 3 2048*2048 textures for diffuse and specular. A low-poly object has a 512*512 texture for diffuse. I think textures for high-poly objects could be optimized and reduced its size. The left containers are low-poly and the right containers are high-poly.

a 40 feet container

2008-01-12T00:28:00.000+09:00

First I'm making a 40 feet container. The containers will be the most seen object in the movie. It looks like just a box. Do you think it would be slightly boring to make this? I thought so, but references showed me some interesting features on it. It was fun to make them even they almost cannot be recognized from a distance. (Actually I'll bake the detailed model to a simple box model to make distant objects.)
This model was made and rendered by modo 301.

I'll make variety of textures to make variations.