Raising the bar?

[Sachiel7]

Ok, so this is the first year we're actually putting in an entry for the vizualization award. We are trying to get under way as best we can pre season, by experimenting with tools, and coming up with generic ideas for our "animation".
The thing is, we wanted to create something that has the following properties:
-Something for everyone. We've got people who draw, live action, and video editors just to name a few. How can we all get involved? (This was our target question, we've got it solved )
-A Fun Project, conveying the message creatively while remaining a fun challenge for everyone involved. I think we've done that too.
-A bit of our team theme involved
-Raising the bar a bit. Hopefully.
So, with that said, here's a small list of a few of the technical effects included in our project:
-Photorealistic rendering (that deserves it's own listing!)
-Pre-Renders
-Live Action
-Full size sets
-Scale model sets
-Green-Screen Live action/3D combo
-Reference-based camera movement (see the making of Jurrassic Park, where the pan-handled shot is transferred into 3D camera motion with the golfballs layed in the ground (btw, JP is another hint...) )
-3D Object step-ins (ie, turning a live stick into a sword by reference movement)
And the list could go on.
Anyway, we have had quite alot of experience with visual effects, 3D animation, and live action "production", so I'm sure we're not pushing past our abilities for our first year. In fact I'm suprised we havent entered anything for the past 2 years, time just ran out.
Anyway, we hope to do some pre-shots, to test our abilities. We hope to set up a small Green Screen set with one live actor and a referenced object, like a stick, and do some stuff. Perhaps a swordfight with a skeleton? Who knows. But I hope to post our progress up here on CD.
My question is, how far has anyone pushed the bar?
And, what do you think of our efforts?

[Joe Matt]

The farthest the bar has been pushed, IMHO, was by a team in the 2002 season, when they filmed a real location, and added computer effects to it. They even added things floating in water that wern't there. I can't remeber the team number.

[Sachiel7]

I think I saw that one. What was the location?
Were doing that as well as having human interaction with things that arent there, and replacing objects with 3D rendered objects. In our credits, we hope to have a progressional reel of one of our coolest shots on the left side of the screen.

[Salik Syed]

okay...so have you actually done any of this or is it a list of goals?? not sure wut ur saying

i mean listing phot real rendering in a list is very easy but pulling it off is another thing especially with complex ... i would be impressed if u can show a photorealistic rendering ...of anything...even a book on a table or something. well maybe not at that but you know what i mean.

[Matt Hallock]

Rendering things inside a film or a picture aren't so hard, just make note of the lighting, and mind your shadows.

[Trashed20]

Originally Posted by Sachiel7

I think I saw that one. What was the location?
Were doing that as well as having human interaction with things that arent there, and replacing objects with 3D rendered objects. In our credits, we hope to have a progressional reel of one of our coolest shots on the left side of the screen.

It was some kids backyard in California. Some robo-mothers were talking about the robo boy shooting baskets in a goal that was floating in the pool. It was quality, but i don't think it was that revolutionary. The backgrounds were pretty static, although realistic as they were video. No advanced camera matching of any sort which seems to be what you guys are trying. Have fun with that, its a pain in the rear.

[Sachiel7]

Yeah, It'll be tricky getting the hang of it, but it's not as hard as some may think. Just set up your stage and put reference points (golf balls, or the equivalent) in the corners of your stage. Then model out a to-scale version of it in your software with the reference points. Next, you'll go through the camera footage and move your software camera so that the reference points line up. It may be somewhat time consuming, but it's worth it.
We're also exploring other options. But so far, so good.
As for the rendering techniques, I totally agree. High quality textures, good use of ligthing, and some minor effects can do alot.
(No one's tapped into my other hint yet...)

[LBK Rules]

http://www.digilab.uni-hannover.de/docs/manual.html

Take a look there. Free camera tracking software. It works great with max. It exports as maxscript. (Anim8or Convertor?!!)

I can think that it will be a teaser for JP4. Something like the raptors have reached the mainland, and only robots can save the world. Or it could have something to do with Dodgson and Biotech, (I think that's the company's name.) Or it might involve DX. (Did I guess right with one of them?)

EDIT:

You should see this USS Defiant I am rendering now. It's been running for over 24 Hours, and it says it'll take at least 10 more hours. (151 Frames.)

[djcapelis]

... what renderer are you using and on what hardware? That seems slow...

[LBK Rules]

I am using this mesh, one omni light, rendering on a Celeron 2.0 GHz with 256 MB of RAM ( I know. )(It's a Toshiba Sat A15), with mental ray renderer.

320x180. 151 Frames. With VP Starfield. (For some reason, VP is making it render each frame twice. )

[Ryan Dognaux]

Cyber Blue will also try to use some new techniques this year Maybe some live-action stuff incorporated into real video.

I just installed Max 6 today, but haven't got a chance to play around with it yet... looks like Max5+ though

[Soukup]

the one with live action would be the barinchild of sunny thaper. he was very helpful on this forum 2 years ago. his team was number 64. it was truly amazing.

[LBK Rules]

Here is a video of a test I created using Voodoo Camera Tracker and 3ds max 6. Just a plain sphere animated in a strait line. I threw it together in several minutes.

http://davidrinaldi.com/hsro/Downloads/Voodoo_Test.exe

[Sachiel7]

Hmm... I've been tinkering w/ the tracker a bit...
How did you get the video in? Did you convert it to an uncompressed AVI? I'm about to try that...

[LBK Rules]

I used a digital camera. I then used RAD Video Tools to convert it from MOV to BMP. In 3ds max I just applyed the BMP sequence to the background and rendered it.