BUILD UP
Build Up was a personal project Stephanie worked on in 2017 in her spare time.
She wanted to create a scene that was visually pleasing to look at, rather than focusing on complex animation or simulation FX.
The project was split into 3 iterations, each documented below.
ITERATION 3 - FINAL
Iteration 3 is where Stephanie stopped working on the project.
In retrospect, she would have liked to dedicate more time to rendering,
but found it unfeasible at the time - due to the expense of clound rendering and her budget for personal work.
Final rendered still frame.
SHOT INFO
On the mannequin, the blend between the swirling patterns on the torso into the wireframe mesh of the lower body & arm was achieved by using a combination of MASH and masking within a material.
The example on the right shows what the MASH mesh looks like, sitting on top of the original mannequin mesh beneath, which is masked out by its assigned material.
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To achieve the swirling patterns on the mannequins surface, Stephanie created a material that used a series of ramps and layered noise masks integrated into 2 aiMix nodes, along with other nodes that attribute to the surface colour and specularity.
This material graph is pictured below.
ITERATION 2
Iteration 2 was when Stephanie started to piece together a nicer lighting setup to highlight the mannequin and experiment with morphing patterns over its surface.
It was also during this iteration when she decided to source a custom mannequin mesh, as the one used for Iteration 1 & 2 did not deform as needed. She commissioned another artist [Eric Fear] to sculpt a new character model with the topology required for the mannequins kneeling deformation.
More information on the rig Stephanie created for this mannequin is below.
SHOT INFO
This iteration was where Stephanie decided to change some key factors about the project:
Camera angle + focal length
Mannequin model
Colour range
Scene depth
She identified at this point that the camera angle wasn’t properly capturing the level of detail she was planning to go with the new mannequins final material, which prompted the angle and focal length shift.
Most importantly, she decided on using a custom model with her own rig to properly achieve the bend position she desired for the mannequin. The image on the right highlights the deformation problems on the old mannequin model, which was opensource.
This image shows the deformation problems identified at this stage, prompting the need for a custom model to be created to achieve the extreme pose.
RIG INFO - New Mannequin
The new mannequin was sculpted by Eric Fear, then retopologised and rigged by Stephanie.
Below is a comparison image of each model in their final bend pose for comparison.
Old mannequin model used in Iteration 1 & 2.
New mannequin model used in Iteration 3.
ITERATION 1
Iteration 1 was all about establishing the ‘Build Up’ idea and discovering what Stephanie wanted this shot to convey.
Early on she knew she wanted to show a deep sense of emotion, tied with her favourite combination of colours in a short, neat clip.
Over the course of development the emotion changed from a negative visual of stress and sadness, to a more euphoric & contemplative state.
Stephanie felt that this better reflected the colour scheme she had chosen to go with in Iteration 3.