My Cinema 4d stuff :)

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there,

Well im a total noob and ive got Cinema 4d and im DESPERATE to learn as fast as i can. Im working on a job where I am going to -recreate how my home village looked hundreds of years ago (from 600 AD to the 1950s...)

Fun...

This is a street called 'Weavers Row' (only one house now stands) circa 1870s.

Anyway i am new to Cinema 4d, and I will be posting pics and progress reports in here and (of course secretly i hope folks er with bigger brains than me can comment and give ideas on how to improve stuff!)

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9388/weaversrowzd7.jpg

Its closing time for the workers of Normand Mill, home they go, i intend to add further objects in the screen, and smoke from the stacks etc. And yep they did march out in big groups! After all its Scotland!

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there Mr Mod can i be moved to the 3d Section please :)

[Postmaster]

Replicating things won´t do the trick.

The houses are all the same - get some variety.
Also nature isn´t straight. Get more organic (bumps in the street, aslant roofs and thelike)
Bring some life in those workers - they look all the same.
Change size, texture, pose... they look like a clone army now.

Otherwise nice mood, light and colors. Love that Dutch Painters look.

Hang on, you got some real talent.

Frank

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there Postmaster cheers for comments!

Yep I'm gonna have to do a bit more on the workers! Vary the colour a bit though ironically enough they almost to a tee seemed to dress in basically sack suits, and cap! lol But definately more varied shading, poses etc.

The houses are precisely like that (i mean i can make them look even more organic eh!) but model for model all the buildings and stuff in this thread, are just replicating the photos. Im not 'creating' the architecture of the scenes in my head etc.

Yeah i think that duch painty look really kinda works (i mean im still experimenting wtih grading etc) but id love to stick with that kinda look.

So really appreciate comments, and ill try and see if i can push things further, any tips for finding simple models (im using poser4 low poly models for these background guys)

[lawriejaffa]

Yey im in the 3d topic
;)

[Gord.T]

Can we see a mesh? I love the look of it. How much was PS'd? Or did you project images onto the models? The artistic style is terriffc.

Exapnd on what Postmaster said and bring out the little nuances and you'll be on your way.

[lawriejaffa]

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/4161/01hm0.jpg

Hey there ill post my mesh (get ready to laugh guys *ahem* - no PS, just magic bullet - yep its the style im going for!

I was having some trouble when i made a polygon and then stuck a avi green screen clip of smoke (its for the stacks) however much i key'd (black or green background) the square of the polygone while mostly transparent still held a tinge? Why oh why hehe!

[Gord.T]

Your probably getting the tinge due to the blurring of the alpha at its edges.
In C4D, in the materials Alpha channel, try toggling the 'Invert', 'Soft', 'Image Alpha' and 'Premultiplied' check boxes. One of the combinations should fix it.

If not, then once you avi is loaded, click on the thumbnail image in the materials alpha channel to open the properties. In there you can try adjusting the black and white points.

// If that does not work can you post a picture of the problem?

//oh, don't worry about the mesh then. I was just wondering.

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there Raptor thanx for any help man :) !

Here is a crude combo of 2 pics! The mesh which you can all laugh at now for its simplicity hehe and in the corner the prob im talking about.

The little muddy thing in the middle is fine, but if you can see faintly around it - a grey tinge (in the shape of the polygon ive attached the avi vid too.)

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/7092/noobda4.jpg

I was playing with the screen colour, and delta colour and other options, but no matter what i do i get the faint grey of the almost opaque / polygon that ive attached the key/video too.

[Gord.T]

The mesh looks good. Always wise to keep the poly count as low as possible so that looks good.

To remove the gray haze on the polygon, try turning up the Black Point a bit in the alpha channel-Shaders properties. That should clip it out.

Also, make sure your specular channel is unchecked. Dont want to get any glares.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w289/TheRaptor365/misc/Mat.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

*falls on knees*

Whaaaaa.... its weird and terrifying, for some reason whatever i change in the materials options, the alpha channel, or the options above lol, im still getting the exact same tone of semi-opaque grey! I didnt have this issue when importing vids exported from cinema 4d, but no love from these vids im importing (that are pre-keyed *.movs.) I have converted them into avi's etc but to no avail - any idea Raptor ol' boy :(

[Gord.T]

Is the material in the color channel or luminance? Try the luminance.

If that doesn't work, can you upload one of the avi's or sequence in a zip somewhere, like FreeDrive.com?

And I'll have a play with it here and let you know.

//maybe also it's your lights affecting them. You can check that by selecting each light in your scene and in the 'Scene' tab, make sure the mode = Exclude, then drag your avi poly/plane object into the list.
That way that light wont affect your avi object.

But I think I'm going to need to look at the avi if nothing mentioned is working.

[lawriejaffa]

Cheers mate pm'd you, tried the luminance, - no luck, will try the lights :) - yep excluded the lights still no luck! Is it cursed my good man? Aieee

[lawriejaffa]

Well issue was resolved crudely by extending the environment size, though this probably affected how GI rays were bouncing off my polygon and surely isnt the 'right' solution! (Trial and error!) Special thanks to Raptor who really took time to help me out :) :)

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there guys, here is the scene with smoke, ive also added misfire grain to the scene.

Although its quite obviously CG, im wanting it to look 'rough' as it will intercut with other scenes of life from the 1800s (from the old town this film is recreating the appearance of.)

I will post a vimeo clip of the 5 sec shot (it is a brief cutaway during a montage of industry scenes.)

Heres a pic for now!

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/fact.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

Hey guys, can't seem to upload the vid on vimeo - its being a pain in the er bum...

So anyone interested can download it from here,
www.newagemedia.co.uk/Factory.zip

[triplej96]

Your project is coming along nicely :). Good to see another C4Der.

[lawriejaffa]

Cheers mate much appreciated! Heres the wee clip up on vimeo now,

http://www.vimeo.com/2371777

[lawriejaffa]

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/kirkcaldy/ravenscraigcastle/images/fromsouth.jpg

Next is a wide FX shot of this old castle ruin!

[lawriejaffa]

Hope im not spamming here! Just posting wip stuff on the subsequent FX shots ill be doing for this doc.

I mean all fairly basic, - heres a pic wip on the castle, no bumps, shading fancy stuff going on yet. (Er when i learn fancy stuff ill let you know!)

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/ravens.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/Castle.jpg

Er im thinking if i copy patches of my 'land' then i can make a seperate land layer that i can put some 'hair' on ie. grass? As for the blue i intend to make that animated sea. Erm sky isnt final choice obviously, will ad some flying penants on the castle too (so get to try out the cloth parameters) gulp!

Updated Pic - now added grass (using fur from the hair module)

[triplej96]

Castle itself looks very nice :). Your not spamming at all.

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there bud, you got any good suggestions for animated sea? Theres a dreamscape plugin (oh thats for 3d max) hrmph? The photo of this castle on the other page, (its a ruin now not like the pic here) i used to play in when i was a kid!

The castle isnt huge, but it was a late design 'anti-artillery' type fortress built on the coast. After pages and pages of pics i'll be amazed if anyone can guess where my docu is set!

[triplej96]

If you are looking for plugin seas "Add the Sea" is great by Motion Gimmick and of course Real Flow. You can probably create a calm ocean with some deformers and animated noise depending on what you want.

[Gord.T]

Hey Lawrie. You seem to have a knack for texturing. Something I still struggle with.
How are you doing that? Projection mapping? Or are you unwrapping the UV's and using PS cause that's always a pain I find.

Looks good though. Keep it up. :thumbup:

[lawriejaffa]

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/Ravenscraig.jpg

There you go Rapt, this is what it looks like now, the finished shot just features a 6 sec very slight track, with slight pan.

Yep Raptor, well i did textures and stuff waaaay before modelling, ive only just started trying to model (the street is the first, castle the 2nd) and im a very uncomfortable 3d modeller! lol

Texturing im entirely using bodypaint its like painting little er miniatures (that i used to do in my um nerdy wargaming hobby haha!) Just to add that yep thats with projection mapping.

[Gord.T]

Ahhh, I knew it haha. So you have some background in 3D then? Once I saw the character animation I knew something was up. Well in that case you'll adopt C4D in no time by the looks of it.

I'm not too fussy on the fur grass though. I find hair is the same thing but allows many more options and does tend, I think, to look better. You can even use textures for the grass and get a little more variation in the look. But, whatever your comfortable with.

I'm impressed with your artistic sense and texturing ability if anything so far. Yeah, keep it up.

[lawriejaffa]

Well to be honest my background in 3d was just in texturing - i used to ages ago, help out with a mod team for an old pc game called Operation Flashpoint - so id just make textures on demand haha.

Yeah i hope to learn Cinema 4d 'soon' likes, its the 3d modelling im left 'agape' with awe at what other folk can do, and especially all the clever techniques that triple has shown in his thread!

Next is the next one - a major ruined church!

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/398089.jpg

Oh just to add regarding character animation - those are poser 4 anims, im using interposer to import their animations. Though ive played with anims before in cinema 4d (but no where near rigging things aieee but id love to learn that for 3d monsters and stuff)

[lawriejaffa]

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/serf.jpg

So this is the next model, of a totally ruined church. Er as you can tell its a very simple model (its not finished yet of course) but it will overall be low poly! :(

[triplej96]

The church model looks like it should be a lot fun.

As Raptor said your textures are very nice!

Thanks for the compliment as well :).

[lawriejaffa]

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/stserf.jpg
Just another update etc not graded yet etc...

[Gord.T]

Nice texturing. Something looks a little weird though with the structure on the right along the floor line. The door looks pushed in. Not sure what's going on there.
Did you accidentlaly move a few points maybe? The untextured model looked fine structure wise so that's odd.

[lawriejaffa]

Hmm yeah your right doh! What the heck did i do to my door lol! Time to get that fixed! Oh the floor line is just a landscape model (terrain) ill be texturing a bit etc

[triplej96]

textures look great. I know you said you are using camera projecting but what are you projecting?

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there Triple well mate im glad to help in any way i can lol cos i just know id love to pester you with questions haha!

Basically, all i do is, i put each object through the paint wizard seperately, then i load in textures from the open texture menu, and use the clone brush to paint each material obejct, sometimes i might copy and paste blocks from the texture (using transform) to copy and paste in windows etc.) Finally I go through it all with the brightness and darkness tool, and the saturation sponge, painting in little details.

Oh er i bet this is obvious eh? I mean you meant paint projection eh? If your using bodypaint then you def want to use projection (it harmonises the brushes properties across your model regardless of differing UV's etc) :)

[triplej96]

Oh lol I thought before you were using "camera projection" for texturing :).

Projection Painting yeah its pretty great I've used it some. Sorry for the confusion. Nice work anyways!

[lawriejaffa]

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/church.jpg

Righto so this is where we're at with this...

Next will be...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/361824431_044401dbac.jpg?v=0

This tower was rebuilt in the 1690s after a drunk solider accidentally lit a pile of gunpowder being stored in it, so that features in the doc. So the building (as it looked then - more or less as it does there) and appropriate adjoining buildings will be featured for that er scene... joy oh joy

[Anhar Miah]

Lawriejaffa thats pretty good,

only crit would be to watch the size of the grass, the scale looks a little off to my eyes,

Anhar

[lawriejaffa]

Yeah Anhar cheers mate and thats a nice portrait btw far less terrifying than mine! Yep i'll make the grass shorter, it looks a bit like crops atm lol. Funnily enough the proportions of the building are bizarre too in making parts look larger than they are. Primarily the sizes of the doors are so small - its another point entirely but the round entrance makes the building look so much bigger lol.

[lawriejaffa]

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/cross01.jpg

Very simple I know :) Will be updating with more refinements :) These are the buildings around it back in ol' 1670s

[Gord.T]

Looks good though. That's about all the detail you need I would think. The rest you can do with bump and/or displacement if needed.

The crow is a nice touch.

[lawriejaffa]

Hi mate - in fact the bump maps are a god send really in 3d modelling eh?

Yep the crow (its a chicken raptor!!!) is part of the weather vane for the building lol - i have no idea what the significance of it is but that tower used to be a Customs House (and prison) well its a Tollbooth. My version is slightly different as its er the pre-exploded version! (In the 1690s a drunk guy dropped his pipe in a barrel of gunpowder - oops...)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2014/1579783449_f63e24dbcc.jpg?v=0

[lawriejaffa]

Here is a cell from under the building - first interior and like a wimp ive gone for a very very simple er interior room. The finished scene, ill insert a prisoner or two to sit on the floor moaning :( Poor things

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/cell01.jpg

This is how it looks presently (mines when its finished will be as it should look in the late 1690s.)

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/335736.jpg

[Gord.T]

Looks good. I hope you post the final doc when it's done. I liked the reel on your site too.

I think what your doing is right on par for documentaries. Jeez, I'd like to sit down and watch you do some texturing some day. Maybe you'll do a video tutorial or something? Are you using a tablet? I 'have' to get one someday.
Anyways, how many more shots to do yet? I'm intersted in seeing this. Any detalis on the due out date?

[bmxbud4130]

This is a pretty sweet thread. And inspirational, as I too am just starting to teach myself C4D. This thread has given me hope! haha

[lawriejaffa]

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4996/dysartat1.jpg

Work on progress for the street scene, still a bit to go - got to add more natural deformations to things like the roof - not graded yet either.

I just use photoshop for textures/mouse - no tablet or anything and cheers glad its inspirational - i mean im a total noob still, theres so many work arounds i keep having to use ;) but im getting there :)

Now the scene is far from finished, ive got to add props and other goodies in the street, and finally er people! Oh and you flatter me Raptor, i just wish i could er do modelling better! Im using a lot of splines and extrub nubs now but there never as er fun to manipulate afterwards as normal primitives etc.

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there, just updating, now ive still got loads to do on that town cross scene, and theres some buildings ill change in it (the tower looke neat) but some of the houses look a bit rubbish really so ill have to change that.

In the meantime im also working on one for the harbour, in this case i will also be using a background matte.

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/harbour.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

Yep updating as we go along and along - still very basic

http://www.newagemedia.co.uk/wip.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/6761/harbour01nb5.jpg

Well i had to rush this one off a good bit faster than i meant too (ive hardly had time to work on it hrmph but ill come back to it) This like so many of the other scenes are yet to have the footage of people milling about / etc added to the scenes yet. I intend to do more work on my er rather crude background matte for this - and the lighting is messy too.

Next i'll be going back to that unfinished town cross scene with the Tollbooth Tower :)

[lawriejaffa]

Hmm or is this better?

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2474/harb2wi1.jpg

[Gord.T]

The first one looks better. The background in the second one is a little too out of focus. If it was meant as a DOF to focus on the ship for example, I think the rolloff should be smoother. It seems too abrupt of a change from focused to unfocused.

Also, if it's for NTSC or PAL then some blurring like in the first would be normal. If your target is TV I think you'll be fine with the first although there is no point of interest in the scene which comes back to DOF. Depends on what you have planned for the shot, dolly maybe? But the first one I like better.

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there mate - yep there will be a slight dolly and then folks milling about in the scene - yah your right the background in shot 2 is a little too out of focus. Though to be honest they both seem a bit hmm.... well of course ive not done their lighting properly but hrmph.

Its just not 'right' whaaa lol so ill keep at it and post some more pics today!

[ChipG]

Hey there Gimp! Ha! It sounds funny from across the pond.

Just wanted to say I have been following this thread and really like it. Can't wait to see the finnished product!

Happy Holidays or Festivus from the people that celebrate them year around!

[lawriejaffa]

haha! Cheers mate - yep we do take our New Years really seriously in Scotland - though not to get too depressing but i tend to find myself more reflective on new years than (drunk and merry on xmas!)

So this New Years i'll be taking extra effort to relax though i'll be working hard around it doing these FX and others!

Welcome to the thread ChipG! Its astonishing how much you can learn with Cinema 4d quite quickly but also - it is infuriating just how difficult it can be... so easily to do some tasks that say in premiere or aftereffects (like opacity) that are simple.

Of course there completely different software and its a learning curve that is somwhat inevitable - but eager to learn quicker!

Im also looking forward to making a character - but theres a lot more buildings to be done first!

[Gord.T]

Any more updates Lawrie?

[lawriejaffa]

Yep still alive Raptor! Been doing a bit more video shooting - if anyones interested i can post some shots here as well with the 3d footage (I think the user films section would bring a bit too much attention) and i still want to focus really on the 3d element overall here.

So nothing too new. I reworked the harbour a bit - the actual shot will be a slow 6 - 7 rotational pan (er crab) and ive still to add all my little green screen people (who i'll thrust onto 3d squares) to fill up the scene with extras.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5161/harbzc7.jpg

As you can see we're still going with a kind of romantic sepia / paintish based idea.

[triplej96]

Looks quite good Lawrie! I would love to see some shots posted :).


-Josh

[lawriejaffa]

Cheers mate - I certainly will post some bits and bops of the footage eventually - the film has to be finished for the start of April (it will be part of a community history education programme for kiddies and there will be a more adult version possibly for adults ie. scenes of violence!!)

[triplej96]

Very cool and educational!

[Mark7807]

I'm amazed by all of this. Keep it up! I'm 18 years old and I'd like to get into this, if you don't mind, could you message me or reply to this post with ideas on how I can get into modeling and texturing like this :D

Thanks and again keep up the great work.

[Gord.T]

That's going to be good. I'm also intersted in the history part. It'd be great to see the finished version if you'll be allowed to post it when it's done.

[lawriejaffa]

More work in progress on the 'Tollbooth' scene. Now this when its done will be set in the very early 1600s) and we only know that the tower existed and the 'town hall' which just looks like a stone house next to the tower.

The other buildings well, thats the challenge. I'm going with the tudor style of architecture, though with consultation i will change the paint work on the buildings if they think the way they look atm is inappropriate.

Theres some sheds and shacks - a number of these buildings are models from the net (the shed and some tudor buildings) i did the tower, town hall and other buildings.

I will be populating it with a scene where an english nobleman is reading some kind of proclamation (the limey's conquered my home village hehe but we got it back haha eventually) ;)

Oh i mean the local tourist trust place will have stacks of these dvds when this docu is done - im sure you can get full res copies - ill post contact details when the docu is done (and details of its premiere etc!

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/2676/peekfl2.jpg

The street does look very bare without people hehe, but ill also be adding more objects, barrels and planks and all kinds of bits and bops and gear. Sorry for the slightly blurry pic (captured it from a low res window in A/E)

[lawriejaffa]

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9016/peek2wa3.jpg

Okay now ive added little people now they are folks i shot on Green Screen, the flag on the banner is clothified. The finished shot will turn about 20 degrees with a modest pan, (8 secs) something like that.

Any suggestions gents on producing shadows for my little people (AVI's stuck on polys with alphas)

[Gord.T]

...
Any suggestions gents on producing shadows for my little people (AVI's stuck on polys with alphas)

I'm sure I saw an AE technique a few weeks ago for something like that. If I remember right you could try using the same people footage with the chroma keying and apply it to a plane aligned with the floor. For the material use the alpha channel of the footage and change your color for the Color or Luminance channel. Something like that might be worth a try.

//You could also twist the plane a bit to give some angle to the shadows if needed as well as scaling along one of the axis to lengthen or shorten the shadows.

[lawriejaffa]

Ooh well i didnt add my people in AE (I added them in Cinema 4d) but the same thing could apply. In fact mate yeah that seems the most simple way really, is to create a kind of slanted opaque layer of course. So i shall do that for the final one.

Here's our next one - this in a way is fairly simple, a matte (created from 3d)

This the shot as it stands straight out the p2 card.

In the end it will be quite a grim little scene for a brief section of the script touching on the devastation wrought by the plaaague!

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9159/peek3zq0.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

Annnd heres more and moooore and mooore

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7766/peek3hg7.jpg

I think definately im going with this kind of a combination between oil paintings/ and slight comic book look. Its a little more forgiving (than me attempting photo-realism) especially in the time i have for the post production. So anyway next scene er will be a surprise (um to me too)

[lawriejaffa]

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7800/minejw1.jpg

Righto now onto a Mine, the trucks i didn't do :) Looks fairly simple, bot detail to add though!

[lawriejaffa]

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3528/minehq4.jpg

Will keep posting its progress :)

[lawriejaffa]

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6147/mine02ta2.jpg

Okay guys hope you don't think im er (oh i cant remember the expression) er repeatedly posting! I'll go back to this to add a few more props and animate the trucks etc (when i get to the touching up phase for all my scenes!)

Onto the next!!

[triplej96]

Looks great lawrie don't stop posting ;)!

[Gord.T]

Hey Lawrie. I was thinking about that shadow question and decided to try a couple of things. I've included a zip with 2 scene files.

The first one uses a single plane that has an image representing an alpha in the Color Channel and the Alpha Channel of the material. A light with 'cast shadows' turned on is used. The image alpha is able to cast the proper shadow.

The second one has 2 planes. One with an image in the color channel, the second with the same image in the color channel but also in the alpha channel and is layed flat on the floor with a couple points twisted.
Both materials have Display tags so that they don't recieve or cast shadows themselves. The result is a fake shadow.

In both cases you may have a minor problem as the green screen characters walk towards and away from the camera, which would place the alpha at different heights on the plane. One solution would be to animate the plane so that the feet are always lined up with the floor and with the characters feet. A little tedious but would work.

Using rigged character shadow casters would also require animating and a lot more work so I'd skip that. That's all I can think of right now.

Anyways, here's the zip of both scenes, hope that helps...

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/19604/1232598263.zip

[lawriejaffa]

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/8981/wide03fs7.jpg

Here it is - the next one, the one *drumroll* Ive dreaded lol. Arghhhh I can't model landscapes omg aieee okay, this will be the most comical no doubt of my scenes.

Oh and Raptor mate - cheers thanks sooo much for that upload - that looks like the way to go - much appreciated mate!

Thanks to you too Josh, yeah i dont mean to spam the thread eh lol but its so cathartic!

[Matt Grunau]

I'm sure I saw an AE technique a few weeks ago for something like that. If I remember right you could try using the same people footage with the chroma keying and apply it to a plane aligned with the floor. For the material use the alpha channel of the footage and change your color for the Color or Luminance channel. Something like that might be worth a try.

//You could also twist the plane a bit to give some angle to the shadows if needed as well as scaling along one of the axis to lengthen or shorten the shadows.

Hi Rap.

You could also (in AE) create the shadows in program, using the part of the method you suggested. Luckily for the scene, I saw signifigant cloud cover, which means diffuse light. Shadows there can be much less presice and can even be blurred to a signifigant degree. Gotta love cloud cover.

Here is an example of what I mean:

http://library.creativecow.net/articles/stern_eran/Invisible_Cape/video-tutorial.php

There is no time indicator, but it happens at approximately 2/3 of the video. He works with a filter, Distort>CC Slant.

It is very helpful, and gives some surprisingly good results. But, as Rap mentioned, using a 3D floor will allow for much more accurate deformations of the texture.

But this will do in a pinch, and the ground looks pretty flat anyway.


Hope that helps. :)



Oh, and lawrie, very inspiring work. I'm amazed how far you have come as quickly as you have. Please keep sharing your work.

[lawriejaffa]

Cheers Matt thanks for the advice and compliments - i mean im certainly not getting dellusions of grandeur hehe because youl earning something and then you can rocket ahead with it until....

BANG - oh god how the hell do i um do this or that?

Then half your days gone... and after a million tutorials that only confuse you more haha you get it!

Thats what my progress is like - im crapping my pants about destructables as ill have an fx shot requiring some of that for this doc.

Erm heres a pretty boring update pic. Im taking minor artistic license here and there.

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7847/mehey1.jpg

I'll add some mile deformation to the straight roofs of the tenement houses situated on the actual coast/beach. Still got a few more buildings and then all the props and details to add - the damned gardens of these houses for one haha. My um landscape model probably leaves a bit to be desired!

[Gord.T]

You could try putting this material on your landscape.
It's in the content browser in C4DR10. I've used it a few times.
Depending on how many poly's it has, play with the displacement channels
number of subdivisions and the strength.

Also in the material layer of the displacement try toggling the first
gradient if you want the height rolloff at the edges or not.

Here's a before & after sample with the displacement channel off/on...

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w289/TheRaptor365/misc/sample.jpg


...and the material...

[lawriejaffa]

Ah Raptor again you are proving yourself beautiful and utterly helpful beyond belief (im not woooorthy!)

[lawriejaffa]

*stumbles about*

Whaaaaaaa

WHHHAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa

Well, anyway im still working on this FX Shot - and woe is me as for the life of me i can't figure out how to make a decent fog.

Now heres a wip pic

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/5306/desbm0.jpg

As you can see its plainly unfinished obviously - what im trying to achieve is a great victorian style smog. Atm im looking at the lights configured with dust to produce fog but im not having great results (on my scene file) it may be getting cancelled out by the enviornment or sky settings who knows! I just cant seem to make it thick enough!

Of course what i would really love is some other fog thing using the er pyro... um... cluster... thingy!

Er anyone got links to tutorials or a chopstick for me to snap and ram into mine eyeballs!

[Sad Max]

I've got a tutorial for modeling a chopstick suitable for ramming into one's eyeballs...

If you're using a linear-type fog, try substituting non-linear instead. If C4D handles fog that way.

[Gord.T]

BTW, did you have a look at my posted mountain material? It has zero views. It was desinged by Eric Smit and it (pun->) rocks. Anyways...

If you just want a depth fog I have a tute for that. Basically DOF but using a depth map and doing post work on it. Otherwise...

Pyrocluster can be pretty CPU intensive. You could maybe use several deformed lights in the shape of squished spheres.

-Create a light,

'General' Tab-> set 'Visible Light' = 'Volumetric'

'Noise' Tab, set 'Noise' = 'Visibility'

'Visibility' tab to deform the sphere, use the 'Relative Scale' parameters to shape it.

Then play with the 'Wind' and 'Wind Velocity' in the 'Noise' Tab and the other parameters.

It won't look photo real but might fit in with your current style to convey the idea. Probably the quickest way other than keyed fog on layered planes.
I'd avoid pyrocluster unless a last resort. You'd lose days just messing around and testing.

[lawriejaffa]

Oh god your right there Raptor - quite honestly when you hit a roadblock of knowledge your screwed!

I tried the technique you suggest and it seems to work on every scene but this one bah humbug! I'll check your tuts as your a C4d god to me atm and thanks for all the advice through the duration of this thread - i owe you mate! So PM if you need some help ok!

So anyway then i recall i have a kind of myst alpha channel video that i could layer on top.

So opinions gents does this work - fit with the er style hehe

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/5449/progresslv9.jpg

I'll be adding a few more chimney smoke (video alphas on top too) - sorry for the slightly low res pic - its also missing a DoF layer in AE that ill probably add.

Sad Max - damn right i could probably use that tutorial now - ive got a stack more CG shots to do! Bah lol

Again this is all for a community aimed documentary about my local home village - how it looked (when it was once a town in fact) and will be for school kids, locals to enjoy in a wee museum and stuff like that! I'll aim to get this on their website when its done and they might sell copies of it in some museum gift shops etc.

[Gord.T]

The foreground smoke is too, well, the scale seems too small for being that close to the camera. http://www.detonationfilms.com/ has a free file called SmokeWisps or something that may look okay. Just looks too spotty at the moment. (Sorry about the constant posts, I live here, haha.)

[lawriejaffa]

Hey don't worry i love the posts and jeez this is my 2nd home while im producing these scenes! Its keeping me sane!

Well the smoke ive got is HD (i scaled it down from 1080 to 720 for the film) however, i can scale it up to correct the dimensions as it were)

Oh whats in store for me next!

[lawriejaffa]

Now this is surprisingly tricky for my noobish brain as this interior in theory should be simple - its a medium sized room, all it needs is a table and some props.

But im struggling (even with some free 3d models to add as props etc) to get this scene right.

Definately im stuck with the lighting - im thinking of going for an atmospheric low key light, produced from the fireplace.

Erm but any suggestions on the parameters for lights that can produce a decent /random variable flickering fireplace!

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9404/roomlx4.jpg

I'm still working on this scene to add more details based on one of the rooms (that would have existed within the castle i feature earlier in the thread.)

//edit i trully have created the most boring ceiling known to mankind - thats getting er reinvented lol

[lawriejaffa]

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5899/roomoo2.jpg

Here's the update - still trying to figure out this fire flickering lighting idea :) Any ideas darlings?

[Richard J. Johnson]

Even though you speaking are Klingon this is a very cool thread. Keep posting.

[lawriejaffa]

How the heck am i sounding like a Klingon! I thought I was Romulan at least!

[Matt Grunau]

The second indoor scene is effin great! What a difference good interior lighting makes. Wow.

Here's a small thing that struck me: Try adding something to the outside window, stars, a sliver of the moon, mountainside, anything really that will establish what is going on outside. I think that will backup and give some credence to why the interior looks the way it does. You could also maybe add a few candles set up on the table or oil lamps with those brass reflection thingys on the walls. I think that would give new points of light for added variation, and also allow you to place them where you want them for the best mix of lit and unlit portions of the room.

Throw in some additional knick-knacks and other odds and ends (the shield and weapons are an awesome addition!) and you are stylin! (Maybe a rug on the floor in front of the fireplace?)

Great work.

[sks]

For flickering light you can render a pass without the fireplace light. Then a pass with just the fireplace lighting. In Shake or fusion or AE or whatever just animate the merge on and off (in fusion select the merge, right click, modify with shake)

[lawriejaffa]

Hey thanks there Sks, it seems obvious but i didnt think of simply key framing the lights magnitutde as well etc - doh.

Or your suggestion sks haha brilliant! Also... what a difference displacement maps make - yep in my room i modelled each brick!!! hahahahhaha

*falls on knees sobbing* whaa

*ahem*

Anyway, heres an update pic, i will post it again with actors green screen - included in the scene.

For now however im onto yet another CG interior this time for a ship no less!

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/3073/roomlo3.jpg

Hey Matt thanks for the kind words, im still learning obviously and your right lighting can make a huge difference, and learning the bumps, and displacements etc too for materials. I know some C4d users might be laughing at that but coming into c4d (from simply texturing at a fairly average level in photoshop) means that so much perhaps taken as a given is utterly alien and new to me lol.

I am exciting myself a bit with the possibilities C4d has to offer though, as i would love to utilise these effects for historical drama's, fantasy etc for actual movies made after this documentary.

[triplej96]

Hey lawrie that room looks quite nice!

Here is something you can do in C4D. You can make a xpresso tag on the light then attach a noise operator to the intensity. The noise will make the light flicker.

I'm still trying to get the hang of xpresso it seems very cool.

I attached a simple setup for example. Hope it helps.

[lawriejaffa]

Oh my goodness thanks so much mate i really appreciate that - that helps loads ;)

Pls mind you dudes, if theres anything i can help with to pm me etc, i appreciate again all this help.

[triplej96]

Your welcome :).

[lawriejaffa]

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/9454/harjh4.jpg

It's not much atm, but ive got a great low res model of a Schooner, unfortunately its the only ship that represents something suitable for the era im representing (im happy and grateful enough that the owner allows this ship to be downloaded full stop.)

But as im using it for some close ups on deck, im going to remodel areas of the ship, add details and so on, so basically what im hoping to do is get her spruced up for the high seas. There i will be cutting together a scene that takes place on teh ship using actors from green screen also - added to the 3d scene :)

The pic shows what we've got so far (nothing much!) with some mild texturing :)

[lawriejaffa]

Update - will keep updating etc remodelling sails to go with this ship so i can maker simpler clothify versions

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5963/shupcl4.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

The endless updates continue.

The ship is more or less done, quite a few bumps and displacements there as ive got some close ups to do with dudes on the deck. The sails are clothified (flags too etc)

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5901/scoonyb8.jpg

Like all the CG i wonder what the heck it looks like once its graded - it really comes to life for me then, but can't do that with this till i get some sea and characters for the deck!

[lawriejaffa]

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/849/shipay1.jpg

Im spamming I know I know lol

So i was wondering guys ive got Sea Reloaded plugin for Cinema 4d, and its delightfully confusing tuts on the site make the mysteries of the davinco code seem simple by comparison - anyone know where there are decent scene files and or other sea plugins one would recommend for C4d? I am wondering if its possible to have water particles interact with the ship for as presently the water just does its own thing with the ship on top.

To further add to my hilarity (and my nuisance questions) my clothified sails refuse to move - they are locked into position! My god how does one move them - do you have to make them into another object type or? Aieee lol Aieeeee

Yeah you guys helping me out (thank you) will def get free copies! Kisses! And all kinds of perverse pleasures!

[triplej96]

Hello lawrie your ship and ocean are coming along nicely! I to have the add the sea plugin but honestly I only used it once so I can't help you much there sadly :(. Although I believe their is some kind of swim tag option thing that will let your boat 'swim' on the ocean.

As for the cloth problem it sounds like you need to set up a belt tag. Did you do that?

[lawriejaffa]

BEEEEeeeeelt Tags! *falls on knees* AH! lol er no - theres something im gonna have to look up!

[triplej96]

I'll try and throw a simple scene together for ya with belt tags.

[triplej96]

Here is a simple belt tag scene for you to dissect.

[lawriejaffa]

Oh excellent! Right now that makes complete sense now cheers mate! I feel like im developing a list of favours i'll be owing you guys for this help!

So for the ship ive got a couple of fairly abstract clever shots to 'summarise' as it were a scene that one would normally should conventionally on the deck of a real ship but with my CGI i think would be just a bit too scary. So im cutting the range of shots in this little scene that is featured on the ship deck - and thinking of clever ways to do it differently etc.

Right so - now the next shot will be the interior of a medieval church thats now a ruin - you can see the exterior of it earlier in the thread (which with the wonder of displacement mapping will now probably look a little different!.

[triplej96]

Glad the file made sense to you Lawrie! If you ever need any matchmove work you know who to call ;).

[lawriejaffa]

Yeah for sure Josh your like the uber matchmoving man! Im too terrified to even say the words 'maaaatch moooviii aRGH'

*ahem* anyway heres a work in progress pic for the next thing. You remember the exterior of a church (that had grass that was too straight... and too long) well forget that - but anyway the church - well this is my wip on its interior.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5187/workinprogresshw8.jpg

I'ts really a very barren building (as we now know) so im going for some kind of uber enigmatic lighting set up to add some grooviness.

[lawriejaffa]

This is pretty much it i think, i'll be cutting between another angle or 2 for the doc.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/1864/churchqm7.jpg

[lawriejaffa]

Arrrgh can't stop got more to do lol - Here is a matte for another scene :P

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/125/panhare6.jpg

[Nektonic]

Hey there lawriejaffa. I am no 3D expert (this stuff might as well advanced quantum physics if I'm looking at it), but I thought I'd say that last pic there looks pretty sweet. A nice matte shot indeed.

[triplej96]

Last two renders are really nice!

[lawriejaffa]

Thanks guys, yeah i mean the geometries are fairly simple Triple but then so was the building. I was really figuring how to make it more interesting.

I had originally thought of sticking a congregation in via green screen onto polys but thing is - there was no pews!! They all had to bring their own stools! My god it must have been a scene of chaos.

So im playing with light etc to make a more enigmatic scene. The matte is simple and photoshop is where im really comfortable so thats not so bad.

The next scene will be a little boring - an interior of a warehouse (barrels and boxes, that won't take very long.) However after that it will be er... the roof blowing off the tollbooth tower.

Destructables - so scary a concept that even the thought of it - even the thought of doing your wall of tumbling bricks Josh - makes me produce in purest terror... a tiny amount of wee.

[Matt Grunau]

The second church interior is KILLER! Talk about setting the mood. I'm in front of my computer and it's sunny outside, and I'm Still creeped out.

Holy sh!t!


Great work mate!

[Sad Max]

Yes, very tasty. Nice use of volumetrics.