"Two-Sided Sun" BLOG 2
"Soleil à Deux Faces"
SCAD: VSFX 448 | Studio 2
“To romanticize the world is to make us aware of the magic, mystery and wonder of the world; it is to educate the senses to see the ordinary as extraordinary, the familiar as strange, the mundane as sacred, the finite as infinite."
-Novalis
PROJECT BRIEF
Create a 2-4 minute visual narrative combining both visual and auditory elements showcasing Unreal Engine game environment skills.
AUDIO
VOICEOVER WORK BY ELOÏSE KIMBERLEY
(HEADPHONES RECOMMENDED)
Sunsets. In alluring beauty they are the amber of the sky waning goodnight. The rays between shadows so brilliant and calm, a pale golden as my sunset’s flaxen hair. Her smile so bright as sunflower fields in the hearth of July. And from that smile a laugh so sweet as honeysuckle blooms. Within the jewel of her azure eyes, she carries the vast sky enchanting admirers and passersby. My sunset.
With a spirit wilder than wildflowers, she went to see the world such as those golden rays peaking to corners of the earth. One of those rays shines on a scholar’s tower. A perennial visitor, she frequents the scholar locked in her lonely tower.
With a cordial trust, the scholar invites her in. They speak of the sun’s favorites, of warm spirits and cool wines.
But as each sun setting delivers a new sunrise, the scholar’s sunset finds herself lingering outside at the door longer than in. She watches as the flowers cease to wither and fade or how the fruit stays ripe like the grapes on vines never to grey.
The scholar senses a change in her sunset’s once humorous heart and after the passing of many moons began to master the art of those cool wines. With intense fervor she worked under the cover of night. Each careful drop produced the eau de vie as pure as her cerulean gaze. She gifted her sunset the prized liqueur; a pure reflection accompanied a sly smile in the red mirror.
With such delight from intoxicating aromas, her setting sun accepted the wine. And from the last touch of her lips...
She drew her last breath.
"Two-Sided Sun" | "Soleil à Deux Faces"
WRITER: EURI CHU
CO-WRITER: ALEXA PFEIFFER
VSFX 408 RECAP (FALL 2021)
WINTER BREAK PROGRESS
SPEEDTREE
REFERENCE
SUBSTANCE PAINTER
Completed the Interior Atrium of the conservatory set dressing and fixed import issues of the building causing missing shadows. Interior Atrium foliage by Quixel. Sunflower foliage field painted in UE4 (3D models by Speedtree). Finished the pomegranate tree center piece in Speedtree for the Atrium but needs subsurface and leaf color adjustments.
Next steps:
-Terrain modeling
-Outdoor set dressing
-Lighting and post-process settings for shots will come last for the sunset shots. Priority is to finish all the model placements.
I plan to finish the set dressing of the exterior that is seen from the inside and then I will be able to render the camera shots.
CLASS 2 | JANUARY 9, 2022
FOLIAGE
SPEEDTREE OAK TREES
This project has now turned towards finishing shots for a film rather a playable 360 game environment as it was intended to be, hence the sparse foliage from the top view. Exterior foliage for the shots from the interior are done with 3 types of trees dressed for VSFX purposes. Will need 3 separate Unreal level scenes in order to achieve to each particular shot because the foliage is causing lag reading all of the actors. Working on the sunset sky next in order to achieve dynamic lighting. These screenshots have missing shadows hence evidence that I have been baking lightmaps due to sake of time getting shots done.
Next steps:
-Sky and clouds
-Lighting
CLASS 3 | JANUARY 11, 2022
LIGHTING
FOLIAGE
The entire scene now has dynamic lighting with no baked shadow maps. The sun has been repositioned and settings adjusted with bloom and post-processing. The challenge is to have it still glow, but without detracting from the scene. Although a still frame, I will render the dolly scene to see how the sun interacts with the environment. It is hard to tell if there is too much post-processing. Working off of 2 different monitors, the colors seem to change between the two so I will have to compare with other monitors to see the "true colors" of the lighting.
Even if the lighting is not close to realism, it is suppose to emit the feeling of dreamy or a dream-like state.
Next steps:
-Duplicate lighting settings to other scenes
-Set dressing for other shots
CLASS 4 | JANUARY 19, 2022
RENDERED PASS VERS. 3
Despite the listed amount is 15 shots, it isn't a lot of work. I need to finish dressing 2 separate levels due to lag for foliage letters A and B. Level A is the main exterior which most shots will rely on. I need to gather materials to send to a Houdini artist for the cup.
Alternative Plan: If I'm not able to find a Houdini artist, I will create a new scene quickly of a simple camera move showing the cup ideally with dark background (Unreal Engine camera do not have compositing tools/functions).
Next steps:
-Set dressing for Level A
-Render out Shots using Level A
-Send materials to potential Houdini Artist
CLASS 6 | JANUARY 24, 2022
RENDERED PASS VERS. 4
More shots rendered. The main component, the statue of Persephone, needs to be modeled with photogrammetry as soon as I get the backdrop to start photographing. Without, Scene A, shots cannot be rendered. Continuing to prepare Scene A once statue is ready.
Moving on to working with Chalice and Chardin Composition scenes that should be easy.
Next steps:
-Photogrammetry
-Prep Scene A
-Chalice and Chardin scene
CLASS 7 | JANUARY 26, 2022
PHOTOGRAMMETRY
I used the Polycam App with my iPhone to take photos of a miniature Persephone statue I had. The scan turned out great based on geometry detail and having a hole in the arm area. The app does not require Lidar Camera technology and has the option to do photo-based construction. Very intuitive app with different export functions that can go directly into a Google Drive directory. To continue using, it has a very costly monthly subscription so it was fun while it lasted.
Need to clean up model to be less polygons and edit the texturing which didn't translate over very well.
Next steps:
-Prep Scene A
-Chalice and Chardin scene
CLASS 8 | JANUARY 31, 2022
RENDERED PASS VERS. 5
The final is slowly coming together. Next is to finish the last outdoor separate scene (1) and then work on the new levels for the wine.
CLASS 9 | FEBRUARY 1, 2022
RENDERED PASS SHOTS V.6
Same goals as before. Re-rendered the night table scene due to feedback about motion blur. Finished the Chardin composition setting up the composition as best as I could.
CLASS 10 | FEBRUARY 7, 2022
MIDTERM UPDATE
Two shots left, then I will need to adjust the audio and make any final adjustments and credits.
CLASS 12 | FEBRUARY 14, 2022
MIDTERM UPDATE
The time-lapse scene I had to settled with stock video from Pexels. Creating a sky time-lapse in Unreal Engine is a whole project in itself with complexity that I could not quite figure out.
Last step is to add and create credits for respective assets and textures.