3D Project: Cornell Box

For this project you will be getting more familiar with the workflow and methods in using Autdodesk's Maya to create a 3D scene with objects, lighting, a camera and textures. You will then render this scene and adjust quality, then render an animation to learn the basics of keyframing and render settings as well.

Cornell Box Project: Lights, Camera, Action!

History of the Cornell Box: The Cornell Program of Computer Graphics has become best known for its research on physically based rendering. They believe that computer graphic simulations will never become predictive of reality unless we correctly model the physics of light reflection and energy propagation within physical environments. The Cornell Box experiments have come to symbolize our approach to physically based rendering, it is a simply physical environment for which they have measured lighting, geometry and material reflectance properties. Digital, or synthetic images of this environment are created and compared to confirm accuracy of our simulations with 3D software.

A photograph of the original physical Cornell Box.

For this project you will create a scene to simulate the Cornell Box. You will create an environment, objects, textures, a light source and explore the rendering software available in Maya to try and recreate the photo we see above.

A Cornell Box created by Seth Wilson using Maya. This scene contains the famous Utah Teapot. Textures are made with blinn, lambert, phong, the light is a point light using depth map shadows, the scene was rendered with Mental Ray

Cornell Box Project Part 1: Creating The Scene

1. Open Maya and create a new scene
2. Create a cube that is perfectly square, turn on Component Selection and delete the front face of the cube so you have a box
3. Create 2 more cubes and scale/stretch and move them into position to act as your pedestals in the scene
4. Create a cylinder, sphere, triange or cone and other primitive objects and arrange them in your scene as above using the move and scale tools
5. Create a cube and flatten it with the scale tool, position it on the roof of your box to act as a "light" later on
6. Open your Hypershade window (Window Menu/Rendering Editors/Hypershade) and create 2 materials using the Lambert material, make one have a red color and one green. Double click the material to see the material settings
7. Select your box and turn on Component Selection, select the right face inside the box and apply your red Lamber material, then select the other side and apply the green Lambert material. Select the face first, then right-click on your Material and choose "Assign Material to Selection" to apply it to that face
8. Create a point light and move it to the top of the inside of your box using the move tool. Turn on "Use All Lights" in your view options to see it affect your scene
9. Render your scene and check the quality, if your light is illuminating the scene your are doing great!
10. Close your Render Window
11. Open your Hypershade window again and create different materials for each of the objects in your scene, try a blinn, a lambert, a phong and try creating a 2D texture such as a checkerboard patter
12. Select an object first, then right-click on your Material and choose "Assign Material to Selection" to apply it to that object
13. To make your roof light cube glow, create a blinn material and set it to have a white color, set the illumination to half way to make the object bright, scroll down to the Special Effects section of the blinn material and set the Glow Intensity to 0.010 and apply the blinn to your roof light cube
14. Under the Create menu, create a Camera
15. Change your view point to see through your camera, it will be called Camera1 and it is under the Perspective submenu in the Panel menu of your view window
16. Center your camera to view your scene straight on
17. Click the render button to see what you get! Compare with your classmates results

Cornell Box Project Part 2: Render Settings

1. Your scene may not look like mine yet, that is because we must change some render settings for best results. Go to the Window Menu and under Rendering Editors choose Render Settings and you will see the Render Setting Dialog Box
2. Under the "Common" tab scroll down to Image Size and set it to 1K square, this will make your render square, notice there are other settings for different resolutions, such as common HD video and film dimensions
3. On the top of the dialog box, there is a pull-down menu next to the text "Render Using", change the pull down menu to Mental Ray, now there are new tabs available to peruse
4. Under the Quality Tab choose Final Gather, open up the Raytracing section and set reflections and refractions to 10, Max Trace Depth to 20, Shadows to 2 and Blur Limits to 1
5. Under Features make sure that Global Illumination, Raytracing, Final Gathering, Shadows are all checked on, along with the other defaults
6. Under the Indirect Lighting tab make sure Global Illumination is checked on, set Accuracy to 500
7. Under the Indirect Lighting tab make sure Final Gathering is Check on, Accuracy set to 1024, Point Density to 1.00
8. Under the Indirect Lighting tab, open Final Gathering Map, set Rebuild to On
9. Its a good idea to save these render settings as a Preset so you can call them up again later for other projects
10. Now close the Render Settings, save your file
11. Click the Render button and see what kind of results you get, there should be a serious improvement over the previous render
12. Save your render as an image from the Render window to look at later so you can lean back and admire your hard work!

Part 3: How To Use Set Up a Project for Rendering in MentalRay and use Image Based Lighting: 

Step 1: Load Mental Ray

• Open up your Maya file and go to Window Menu / Settings and Preferences / Plug-in Manager
• Scroll down in the Plug-In Manager and find Mayatomray.bundle then click load/auto-load and close

Plug-In manager in maya

Load Mayatomray.bundle to enable Mental Ray

Step 2: Set Up Your Project Folder

• Go to File Menu / Project Window
• Click New and Navigate to your Project Folder (you should have this already created)
• Click Accept
• Go to your project folder through the finder and confirm that the folder structure was created

Project Window in Maya

Your project directory should show all these folders and files

Step 3: Set Up Image Based Lighting

• Search online for HDR Probe or go to this link and download an image probe that is suitable for your scene
• Place your HDR Probe or Enviroball Image into the Source Images folder of your Maya Project Directory
• In Maya open your Render Settings by going to Window Menu / Render Editors / Render Settings
• Go to the Indirect Lighting tab and click the Create button next to Image Based Lighting
• An Attributes Window will open for your Image Based Lightning node, click on the folder next to the File Name area and navigate to your Source Images folder and select your HDR Probe
• In the same Attribute Window scroll down to Render Stats and uncheck the option for Primary Visibilty, this will make your Probe lighting show up in reflections but not in the background of your rendered images
• Your should see an Envirosphere in your maya scene, create a test render to see it interacting in the reflections on your objects
• Render a large resolution image and save it to your folder for credit

HDR Probe courtesy of Paul Debevec

Maya's view window with an Image Based Lighting setup

3D Objects rendered with Image Based Lighting in Maya, no actual lights were used in this scene

Getting Oriented to the 3D World of Maya

Hello Students,
Today we begin a new project in using a 3D program to create computer generated imagery. We will be using Autodesk's Maya, a cutting edge program widely used in the entertainment industry. We will begin with the basics and move on to more complex projects such as creating 3D models, and adding lights, textures and cameras and animating them and move on to more complex tasks such as merging video and 3D together with motion tracking.

Maya Basics:
Find and launch Maya on your computer, then open each of the links below if safari. Read through each page of the 3 lessons below and try out the steps for your self in Maya. These lessons will teach you how to use the Maya interface, how to create and manipulate objects and how to control your objects and your view of your objects. Create something with the skills you develop here and save the file as "mayabasics_yourname.ma" and copy it to the external drive to turn it in.

Link: Getting Started with Maya

Link: Creating and Manipulating Objects

Link: Viewing and Controlling your 3D Scene

Parallax Effect (Aka: Ken Burns Effect) Project

Hello Students,
AE has some amazing capabilities such as the ability to animate in a 3D space using 2D objects. This method is referred to as 2.5D. This method was made popular by the famous documentarian Ken Burns. The same technique is also referred to as a Parralax effect, which is a technique that shows objects that move against each other from the foreground to the background to create an illusion of depth. This is used in cinema, cartoons, video games and can even be created using HTML5 to add an creative and eye catching feature to websites.

Parallax Project (Aka: Ken Burns Project)

• Find or take a photograph that you can animate using the 2.5D/Parallax method, this photo should be high resolution, include good amounts of detail and have a good balance of foreground and background, as a rule your photo should have at least twice the resolution of your composition
• Open your photo in photoshop and create layers for your animation, use selection tools to isolate your foreground subject from the background. If you take your own photo make sure to take a version with no subject so you have a clean background to use and you can skip the next step
• On the background layer in photoshop use the "fill with content aware" and touch up area with the clone tool where you need to cover up
• Save your photo as a Photoshop document with your layers ready and import it into After Effects
• Make sure to click "import as composition" to preserve your layers for use in AE
• Create a new composition in AE for your project
• Open your PSD composition and Copy/Paste the layers into your main composition
• Enable the 3D button for all layers
• Create a 3D camera for your scene
• Use the camera manipulator tool to zoom into your Photograph layers and frame your "shot"
• Using the move tool, select your subject layer and drag it on the Z axis towards the camera a little bit
• Move the background away and scale up if needed
• Use the camera manipulator tool to explore the range of motion that looks good, create a set of keyframes for the camera position, then move the playback head to the end of your composition and move your camera inwards and to the right or left in a subtle movement
• Preview your animation to get the camera/layer position just right
• Use Ease-In on your last set of keyframes to slow down the motion
• Add a vignette, tint, depth-of-field effect or other enhancements for full credit
• Having trouble? Try googling "parallax effect in AE" and look for a tutorial video, there are some very good and easy to follow tutorials online

Due on tuesday, have fun! - Mr.W

AE Skills Continued: Demonstrate Animation Basics

Hello Students,
To re-inforce our newly developing skills in After Effects (AE) we will revisit the effects and animation tutorial to create a short series of sample animations that demonstrate different capabilities in AE.

Tutorial Link: AE for beginners - effects and animation

Animation Basics Project:
In this project you are required to read the tutorial link above and create examples of different methods and techniques of animating with AE. Your animation should use simple solid shapes or images, the key is to simply demonstrate each technique listed below. Keep your sample animations short and to the point. Total running time for project should be kept under 2 minutes.

• Open up the link above in a web page
• Launch AE and create a new HD composition
• Create an animation sample using simple solid shapes or images for each of the following listed below
• Work with your classmates to share information and discoveries
• When complete export your sample animation movie and turn in to the external HD
• If you are unsure refer to the tutorial page, it lists all the methods to create these samples

Create a sample key framed animation that demonstrates the ability to transform:

• Position
• Opacity
• Scale
• Rotation

Create a sample animation that demonstrates the ability to alter the velocity of a keyframe:

• Easing into a keyframe, to slow down
• Easing out of a keyframe, to begin slowly and speed up

Create a sample animation that demonstrates:

• Parenting of 2 objects
• 2-3 objects that overlap each other and show blending modes applied to change how objects blend together
• A masked object
• A masked object with a feather applied to the mask
• A masked object where the mask is animated

Introduction to After Effects Tutorial / 20 Effects Filters Exercise

Hello Students,

Motion Graphics is a technique that is used to bring graphics, animation and 3D content to life. It is used in commercials, production, movies, animation and more. From the most complicated animated feature film to a simple logo animation, motion graphics makes it happen.

Tutorials - After Effects for Beginners:

Read and work through these tutorials to gain an in-depth understanding of the After Effects workflow. Don't skip any steps or skim over the material, read each and every paragraph and try out the steps yourself. Be thorough, you will be calling on these skills for the next assignment. Work through all, from intermediate to advanced.

• Getting Started 
• Effects and Animation
• Advanced Techniques

Motion Graphics can blur the line between video, art and animation

20 Different AE Effects Assignment Details:

• Find a short clip from one of your previous projects, output a 3-5 second clip of video from Final Cut. Use the Export > Quicktime function for best results.
• Launch Adobe After Effects
• Go to File > Import > Files and navigate to your clip
• Drag your clip into the timeline and set up a composition
• Explore the Effects menu, pick one while your clip is selected in the timeline to apply that effect
• You can use Command-D to duplicate a clip, you can also Option-ClickDrag to make a copy.
• Use the Text Tool to create a text object and type in the name of the Effect, shorten the Text Objects Layer in the Timeline so it only appears for that specific clip. Repeat for each clip.
• Apply 20 different Effects to 20 different clips... explore the effects palette to modify the Effect's parameters. 
• When done, set up your in/out markers and use Command-Control-M to "Make" a movie. You will see the Render Que... hit the Render button to save your movie.
• Transfer your movie to my laptop via thumbdrive to turn it in
• Files are due before end of class monday

Grading for a total of 10 points:

2.5 Points - All 20 clips created with effects

2.5 Points - Effects have labels

2.5 Points - Quicktime movie turned in and is proper video format

2.5 Points - File turned in on time

AE Effects Samples:

Have Fun!

 - Mr.W

Traditional Animation Origins: Thaumatropes and Phenakistoscopes

Hello Students,

Your next module is a physical exercise in creating examples of the earliest forms of animation. This module will create an understanding the illusion that makes animation possible, this is called "Persistence of Vision".

Animation History Project 1: Creating a Thaumatrope

• Make a thaumatrope using the materials available
• Think of an interesting 2-frame animation idea and create a handmade thaumatrope device, it can be created digitally and printed out or by drawn by hand
• You will turn in a physical example of your thaumatrope.
• Due at end of class today!

Animation History Project 2: Creating a Phenakistoscope

• Create a phenakistoscope using the materials available
• Follow the lesson details outlined in the CTEOnline curriculum for creating a "Spindle Viewer". This lesson contains a template which may be printed and used
• Think of an interesting 16 frame animation, it should be able to loop seamlessly if you are successful
• Your animation can be drawn by hand, created digitally or with photographs, your imagination and skill level is the only limit
• You will turn in a physical example if your phenakistoscope along with an animated GIF file of your phenakistoscope. We will learn how to make animated GIF's with Photoshop before you turn it in.

Links:

History of Phenakistoscope

Animated Cyclist Phenakistoscope Example

Phenakistoscope Instructions

1. Obtain or print up a copy of the phenakistoscope template
2. Sketch your animation very lightly in pencil, make sure to keep your artwork consistent and evenly spaced for best results. Make sure the scale of your characters or artwork is consistent.
3. Spin your template for a quick preview of what your animation will look like, adjust lines or artwork if needed
4. Once the artwork is complete, ink the sketched artwork with a dark pen. Felt tip pens are best but any will work. Make sure the lines are bold and easy to see for best results.
5. Scan your template with the scanner and transfer to your computer
6. Open your scanned image with adobe photoshop
7. Create a new layer and set the blending mode to darken. On this layer paint color over your artwork with a brush/pencil tool. The blending mode "darken" will allow your line art to show through the color you added
8. When the color layer is complete flatten your image to make the color and artwork into a single layer. Save a copy of this to preserve your original layered file.
9. Open your flattened image and open the animation palette in photoshop, set the palette to work in frame mode.
10. Create 16 layers of your template, rotating each layer so that it is aligned and ready for animation
11. In the animation palette sub menu, select "make frames from layers" and your layers will be cast across the timeline in the animation palette
12. Adjust your duration and delete any frames that don't belong.
13. Hit the play button to see your animation, adjust speed/duration if necassary
14. Export a GIF files to make an animated web safe file
15. Make sure the GIF looks good and is set to loop "forever"
16. Make sure you add your first and last name to the file and turn it into my external hard drive or copy to my laptop.

Due by end of class Monday

Have fun! - Mr.W

Thank You Video Production and Animation Students of 2015-16

Thank you to all of my wonderful ROP Video Production students! Good luck to you all. - Mr.W

This class will become active again in the fall semester 2016