Day 1 done - 800 bits - the challenge is officially on!

Well, day one has ended.  However I broke my own number one rule - not to be too ambitious and try to keep things simple and achievable.  It started out great, but then it managed to slide down into my usual 'perfectionism' trap, followed by a mind that keeps coming up with more ideas and going off track very quickly.

Thankfully I put the first image up - however with so many ideas I want to create, I let the first one become a huge daunting task that went haywire at the start.  So as day one finishes, its time to self-reflect and enforce some rules for myself so I don't get caught out again.  Essentially - its time to start breaking some habits when it comes to my own personal projects...

Reference and planning

I did actually do a lot of initial brainstorming and research...  I felt I was fully prepared, had everything I needed at least churning away in my cranium...

I did a handful of thumbnails - I even have an overall plan for some structured shot layouts when it comes to a few.  I finished the 3D model - great, so it should have just spun off from there and been done in just a couple of hours...

BUT...

I went and started to refine details, after which I modelled a few other items in for the next few images.  I had an idea in my head for the composition, but of course next thing I know, I'm deciding that I want to make something else because my brain is seeing possibilities - a dangerous way to work.

Generally, here's what happened...

What I did with the first image was to  

(a) decide to start with my first computer (that was the hardest part - truthfully!).

Then...

(b) I did a quick grab of reference images I've been collating and built a 3D model.

This was actually the easy (and quick) part of the project

That was actually real easy (heres a timelapse video showing the modeling process).  I then...

(c) collated a lot of items from other projects (my ZX Spectrum projects - Tapes, cables, cassette cases)

and built new textures for them based on classic ZX81 games I had back then.  Where time started to get wasted was when I...

(d) started to fumble about with my composition.

I moved cassette models, I tweaked the camera, I placed lights, I tested a few things...  It just became a case of fiddling way too much.  However I opted on two camera angles...  I rendered them out.

Finally...

(e) I did some post grading on them

... with a little lens distortion, abboration, vignette and grain - plus a dash of subtle sepiatone and compiled the images into my bubblegum card template.  Upload - and I was done...

until I...

(f) discovered I'd not paid attention to a few cable details

...which I wouldn't have had to worry about if I'd just done the machine on its own like I'd originally planned, and quickly adjusted my 3D scene, re-render and update the one online.

KISS

One of the challenges with CG is of course to meet deadlines, often under a lot of pressure.  Time pressure will be my daily job during the week, which in itself can take up almost 12 hours of my day when I include travel to and from home.  That's going to put a lot of stress on meeting that daily deadline.

Part of the plan is to definitely "keep it simple, stupid".  Composition will play a big part in this, and I've decided that I can definitely focus on key details that don't require me to model a vastly complex mesh.  As much as I'd love to build a fully detailed 3D object that I can render from any and all angles (such as this ZX Spectrum) I know just how long a project like that takes.

Keeping my compositions focused on the key subject matter using effects like Depth of field and building a themed layout will let me lower the complexity and hopefully retain the visual appearance I'm after.  That's just going to have to be how it is from now on - come up with some pre-prod at the start of the day just to clarify an idea and then stick to it.  There's no more first-day headache of changing direction as I go...

It doesn't actually take THAT long

I built my first new asset for day 1 - my very first home computer, the Sinclair ZX81. It was less then 40 minutes from start to end.  I limited the details down on the model - based on the composition not seeing them.  That shaved a lot of time down.

Textures are also mostly colours and bumps.  That in itself shaved plenty of time not having to manually paint up image maps.  (Here's that timelapse link again, as well as this lovely 22 second timelapse of the little work it took to surface the model (its so short, but it indicates just how easy and quick the process was))

Round, eh, I mean day 2 and onwards...

Day 2 I'm going to continue with this initial history.  I'll make use of models I've already built in the past rather then reinvent the wheel as it were.  Its going to be a test and a half, but there's 99 days to get good at it.

My process from here on...

I figured its worth noting a little about the process I've decided to go with here. 
Obviously I can't muck around like this every time I make an image.  So the general process from this day on will be

(a) Make sure once I'd done my pre-production thumbnails... I STICK with the one I plan to do and do not deviate.
(b) Reuse what I can from my own personal library (ie. my work, I'm not one to use free 'stock' off the net)
(c) Model anything new based on composition
(d) Render, grade and slap it together.
(e) Upload, and then prep up for the next one...

Its part (a) that's the clincher really.  We'll see how we go for tomorrows challenge...

Continue

800 Bits...

I've signed up for the 100 Days project, a challenge that pushes people to do something creative every day for 100 days (starts 11th July 2014).  Not surprisingly, being a somewhat over-grown nerd from the 80's and with my passion for CG, I've entitled my entry 800 Bits - 100 computer generated images inspired by the 80's computer and video game era - an era and culture that was my childhood.

This blog entry is really just to get the jumble in my head down onto 'paper' as it were and try sort things through...  So its a little bit of a verbal waffle, but please do feel free to read it nonetheless... lol!

Prepping up

The 100 day challenge is not a competition.  It states on the sites FAQ that its important to keep it simple and not to become to complex or technical.  If course you'd quite rightly assume 3D probably isn't quite as simple as it sounds...  I can imagine not only the pre-production (thumbnailing ideas, etc) but the production process will easily consume at least 3-4 hours of my time to achieve a final image (once its textured, composed, lit and rendered).  Obviously this means I must make sure I'm at least partially prepped up so I don't fizzle out after just a week or two.

It sounds easy enough...

The real challenge I've run into after deciding on this concept was whether I would be able to actually come up with 100 things to create images of, let alone worry about the artistic part of the project...  To help motivate ideas, I've made a creative decision to try and visualise each image in the style of collectable bubble gum cards.

And here I thought I'd thrown out all these cards...

Each card should contain not only a nice piece of rendered 3D artwork but also a short factoid about the content of the artwork itself - which at this stage I'm thinking may be nicer as a personal statement from a memory or feeling related to the artwork.  Essentially a short sentence about why I chose to create it and what does it mean to me.

Make a memory list

To get me ready for the 100 days ahead (starting end of this week) I'm making a list - a long list - of things I recall from my childhood.  My aim is to not to simply create a variety of 3D retro items one by one, its to create imagery based on memories - I want this to have some personal connection other then just an obsession to recreate old computing history...

100 days of 100 whats?

I had a home computer and fondly recall the hours after school that I'd spend programming it - what I did, I learnt from, the equipment I used...  Its all fond memories (and still hoarded away in boxes some 30 years later) just aching to be visualised.

I remember when I was a kid going into the department stores and playing games on the home computers that were on display, hanging out at David Reid Electronics (what was the major electronics retail chain here in New Zealand, before they sold it to the Dick Smith franchise) drooling over the latest cassette games and new home computer goodies.

At school there were always kids with LCD games on wristwatches and calculators, and the visits to skating rinks and ten pin bowling that often ended up being video game playing sessions.

Obviously the project is not just 100 individual items, and mixing in ideas and thoughts to that list is just as important as the items that I recall.  Where these ideas will take me, I'll discover over the 100 days...

Should there be a style?

A good question I asked myself was should I stick to a format and style? I could go for a specific artistic rendering style and look.  I could create the images based on a set layout.  However the more I think about 100 images all looking like the same style, the more uninteresting things become in my head.

I want the artwork to be interesting enough to keep people wanting to see what the next image will look like, and more importantly to not limit my creativity by enforcing rules.  I'm still tossing this idea around - I like the idea of a style/theme across all the designs (say, images in a classic pixel-art style or flat illustrative style) - but I also like the idea of variety and variation, like 100 small pieces of artwork from different artists...

It may be that I do a mix - different artwork, in small groups of specific styles. Pixel art style, isometric illustration style, etc.  The starting date is closing in - and while this may seem like a hard decision, I am also thinking of just letting my creativity decide for me based on what I feel will best represent the content.

Ready to roll...

I'd say I've got most of what I need thought through, but where the real creative side of the process comes is in the execution and production of each days piece of work.  Each day I am going to assume will be a mix of morning bus ride pre-production, and the rest of the time production.  I'll have to control my urges to be over-ambitious and keep things real - simple, clean and pretty.

Its going to be a good challenge to see how well I manage with this... But in the end, it will be worth the effort.  I'll post more to the blog when things are in full swing - if there's time obviously! lol!

Continue