Lookdev/Lighting/Compositing Demo Reel - Jonas Schier

DEMOREEL

Greetings to all! 

I am pleased to present my student demo reel, which I produced during my 18-month tenure at PIXL VISN media arts academy.

I will endeavor to provide you with a more comprehensive understanding of the inner workings of my endeavors and a thorough analysis of my undertakings.

Feel welcome to visit my homepage if you desire to explore additional projects.

Neocity

In the past half-year, I have dedicated myself to the refinement of my demoreel. The process has been arduous and condensed, particularly in the last few weeks, with one project in particular demanding significant attention.

The primary objective of this project was to produce an aesthetically pleasing shot through the utilization of compositing and lookdev techniques. However, the endeavor proved to be more time-consuming than initially anticipated due to a multitude of issues encountered during the process. These issues included difficulties in achieving the desired scene and frequent occurrences of Maya crashing due to memory constraints. The project consumed a significant amount of memory, rendering it impossible to complete the final output in a single layer. Consequently, the scene had to be partitioned into multiple segments and subsequently assembled in Nuke.

This marks my third demoreel endeavor, however, my primary emphasis was directed towards optimizing my second demoreel project, Spaceship, by situating it within an appropriate context and refining its overall quality.

The initial sequence depicts the vessel traversing through a dense layer of clouds, subsequently leading to complications with the alpha channel in Nuke, resulting in a significant loss of time.

How to start?!

The primary objective of the project centered on establishing the contextual framework for designing a city that is appropriately situated within its surroundings, while also ensuring that the camera angle is congruent with the overall aesthetic.

Regrettably, the initial attempts proved unsuccessful, thereby rendering the commencement of the project arduous. It took me several attempts to get the perspective I wanted. In the end there were six different cityscapes and cameras that were discarded

Fortunately, KitBash3D provided its KitBash3D Neocity collection without charge during that period, thereby significantly reducing my workload.

Notwithstanding the availability of a collection, constructing a city is a challenging task.

How can a city be constructed without physically constructing it?

The viewer is deceived as they are only presented with the final outcome, thus implying a trick has been played.

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the Arnold render engine was not compatible with all of the textures present in the urban landscape, necessitating the need to revise the shaders. It is common for geometry and UVs to present challenges in such comprehensive compilations.

The utilization of UVs was of great significance to me as I aimed to imbue the urban window panes with a distinct technique, akin to that employed in the cinematic masterpiece, Spider-Man: A New Universe.

Regrettably, due to the heightened time constraints, it proved to be an insurmountable task to effectively extract all windows UV´s or to adequately unwrap them.

Overall, I am content with both the composition and the ultimate outcome. However, given additional time, I would have made revisions to the textures of the urban landscape and rendered them at a higher resolution.

The simulation of contrails, turbine flames, and heat waves was incorporated into the overall composition. However, the colors of the flames were incongruous with the overall color scheme. Therefore, I decided to replace the combination of orange and red tones with a more modern and futuristic blue tone.

Spaceship

I have a profound appreciation for Star Wars and its intricate spacecraft designs, particularly the art of hard surface modeling which has always captivated my interest.

During my perusal of various art forums, such as Art Station, Pexel, and Instagram, I repeatedly encountered the concept art of Eric Geusz. Notably, Geusz adeptly incorporates commonplace objects into his depictions of spacecraft.

The genesis of inspiration occurred.

I selected multiple concepts and commenced the task.

Reference, Eric Geusz concept artist

The task was repeatedly initiated numerous times, with a persistent effort to achieve the desired outcome.

I have expended a significant amount of effort in attempting to align the blackout with the reference, including implementing a rotation. Despite these endeavors, it has come to my attention that the alignment is ultimately incorrect.

It would have been more advantageous to incorporate an animation for the blockout to transition between the reference and model.

After the initial modeling of one side, the replication of the other side was accomplished with ease.

The process of texturing proved to be considerably more labor-intensive than the task of UV mapping.

In order to facilitate the utilization of Substance Painter, the mesh was partitioned into three distinct layers.

In the long term, the act of transitioning between disparate components proved to be a fatiguing endeavor.

The initial outcome of the textures was evidently excessively pristine and necessitated an excessive amount of rendering time.

Upon receiving feedback from the lecturer and reviewing the rendered output, it became apparent that my initial approach was hasty and required significant reworking of the textures.

Initially, a significant level of frustration was experienced, however, it dissipated promptly upon the emergence of the initial outcomes of the revised version.

The primary emphasis of the project was centered around my challenges with texturing, stemming from a minor red-green color vision deficiency, resulting in a subtle reddish tint in the final output.

In order to resolve the issue at hand, it was imperative for me to meticulously consider the values pertaining to each individual channel, as well as the mask and grade involved.

Nonetheless, the task of discerning a hue that is imperceptible to the human eye presents a significant challenge.

The heat waves were generated within Nuke through the utilization of NukeX's point cloud system. These waves were subsequently employed as a mask within the distortion node.

To create the illusion of turbine flames, I incorporated images smoke/wind into my work.

Based on the progress achieved in this project, it has become evident that prior to initiating the final rendering process, careful consideration must be given to its suitability. Furthermore, it is imperative to seek feedback at an earlier stage to avoid the need for a complete redo of the rendering or an unnecessarily prolonged rendering time.

I am exceedingly content with my inaugural spacecraft and intend to promptly render it accessible to the wider public.

In future applications, I intend to implement specific modelling techniques acquired through my academic pursuits, with a clear and concise approach that avoids superfluous steps.

Fantasy House

For our final end-of-term4 project, we were tasked with designing a fantasy house and utilizing our various skills, including compositing, modeling, and animation, to bring the house to life. This project spanned a period of three months in addition to our regular weekly assignments.

The objective of this project is to equip us with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively concentrate on our application projects over the next three months, with the ultimate goal of securing a desirable employment opportunity upon completion.

The primary emphasis of my project centered around the art of compositing. Specifically, I honed my skills in matte painting to construct a highly realistic and immersive environment for my house.

Simplicity was a crucial consideration in the development of my project, as I aimed to avoid excessive detail and minimize time expenditure while ensuring timely completion of the project.

I selected a particular art style for the house and endeavored to replicate it with utmost accuracy. However, I soon discovered that achieving the precise perspective depicted in the reference image was unattainable. My primary objective in the process of compositing was to achieve a harmonious coalescence between the house and the moon.

The idiosyncrasy of this dwelling lies in its exaggerated cartoonish features, deviating from realistic proportions.

I added an additional lantern, as well as furniture and decorations inside the house, which also improved the lighting of the house.

I encountered difficulties towards the conclusion of the project, as the deadline approached, due to the malfunctioning of the 3D camera in the NukeX.

The rationale behind the issue at hand pertains to the utilization of the camera in conjunction with the fspy program to align with the reference. As a result of this approach, the camera's orientation in Autodesk Maya became peculiar, thereby necessitating a significant amount of time to rectify.

Upon completion, as the pressure and stress of the delivery mounted, I regrettably made certain errors that resulted in the omission of certain components of the project, including the 360 degree turntable and the fireflys. The latter of which, due to the depth of field and noise, did not meet the desired aesthetic standards.

Furthermore, the extended duration of rendering in Nuke is attributed to the substantial amount of 21 gigabytes of RAM allocated upon opening the project.

Regrettably, I also encountered unpredictable errors resulting in the deactivation of a node.

This project has reaffirmed my interests and strengths while highlighting areas that warrant further attention and investment of my time.

Towards the conclusion of my experience, I derived immense pleasure from my successful initiation into the intricacies of nuke, which proved to be an enlightening learning experience. However, in retrospect, I was somewhat vexed by my tardiness in commencing the rendering process, as it would have enabled me to devote a greater amount of time to the art of compositing.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I encountered a challenging situation which required me to think on my feet and adapt accordingly. The stringent deadline imposed significant pressure and stress, necessitating additional effort and overtime work.

For my forthcoming endeavor, I intend to allocate a greater amount of time towards the planning phase and commence the rendering process at an earlier juncture.

Furthermore, it is imperative that I maintain a heightened level of awareness regarding the Nuketree and its optimization.

Sci-Fi station 

This project, in fact, constituted one of my initial demoreel endeavors. However, certain aspects proved incongruous and necessitated revision.

As the demoreel editing phase had just commenced at the PIXL VISN, I made the decision to relinquish the aforementioned project and redirect my efforts towards alternative endeavors.

Remarkably, upon discovering that the allotted duration for my demoreel was insufficient for my desired length, I resolved to persist with the project and utilize the existingRemark content I had generated.ably, upon discovering that the allotted duration for my demoreel was insufficient to my desired length, I resolved to persist with the undertaking and utilize the pre-existing material.

As a point of reference, I drew upon the experiences of a fellow student at PIXL who has since become a proficient lighting and look development artist at Trixter.

Reference, Thomas Eckstein lighting and lookdev artist

The majority of the project was executed in Nuke, with the exception of the exposure and texturing elements which were accomplished in Maya utilizing the available UV.

The model is readily accessible at no cost on Sketchfab.

Regrettably, the temporal constraints were of such magnitude that the allocation of adequate time towards the refinement of the UVs was unattainable. Regrettably, the temporal constraints were of such magnitude that the allocation of sufficient time towards the refinement of the UVs was unfeasible.

The creation of the flare, atmosphere, and corresponding mood proved to be the most time-consuming aspects of the project. In retrospect, allocating additional time towards texture development and further refining the atmosphere would have been advantageous.

During the editorial phase, I repeatedly altered the camera equipment due to its inadequate performance.

However, I am content with the outcome and intend to allocate a significant amount of time towards mastering Nuke in order to optimize project results.

In my assessment, the objective of achieving a realistic appearance was not met due to time constraints.

It is advisable to retain an old project, despite the reasons for its abandonment and the amount of time invested in it, as its potential future utility cannot be discounted.

In my particular circumstance, the investment of time in the initial project proved to be a worthwhile endeavor.

Main Referenz of all projekts

The software utilized for all projects included Autodesk Maya, Photoshop, Zbrush, Substance Painter, Nuke, and Premiere Pro.

Thank you for your attention to my submission. I trust that the insights shared regarding the development of my reel have been informative. Should you require any further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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Jonasschier.com

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