Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

goldenbrick wrote:

Why does it matter so much if you say lego?

Because, they are LEGO brand LEGO. It's spelled in ALL CAPS. It does not kill you for 4 keystrokes to use the SHIFT key.

meme
http://i.imgur.com/gMfjgiC.jpg

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Hazzat, it is only one lense flare, but at this particular angle an anamorphic lense flare does produce multiple horizonal lines like that.

http://i.imgur.com/wcmcdmf.png

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Wow, still working on this shot? mini/smile Looks fantastic, as always.

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Yeah, I've been messing with it from time to time, though it's also sort of a test for the entire film -- once I get a space lighting setup that works well, I'll reuse it extensively and just make slight tweaks to get different looks for different areas of space.  I am, for the first time, filming the entire movie without doing post-production work as I go, as I'm finally at the point where I'm confident enough to know I can get the desired effect with whatever stop-motion source footage I shoot.

http://i.imgur.com/wcmcdmf.png

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

HeAndHimStudios wrote:
goldenbrick wrote:

Why does it matter so much if you say lego?

Because, they are LEGO brand LEGO. It's spelled in ALL CAPS. It does not kill you for 4 keystrokes to use the SHIFT key.

Oh noes, he didn't spell LEGO in all caps! Let's BURN THIS HERETIC!

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Sméagol, that looks really amazing. I'm always eager to hear/see how your project's going.

- JD mini/smile

http://www.abload.de/img/cooksige238.jpg
YouTube | Flickr                                 "Bad Taste on YouTube"

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Hey, if you want to go by the official Fair Play writeup by the LEGO® Group, you're all wrong.

LEGO.com Fair Play wrote:

Proper Use of the LEGO Trademark on a Web Site
If the LEGO trademark is used at all, it should always be used as an adjective, not as a noun. For example, say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGO BRICKS". Never say "MODELS BUILT OF LEGOs".Also, the trademark should appear in the same typeface as the surrounding text and should not be isolated or set apart from the surrounding text. In other words, the trademarks should not be emphasized or highlighted. Finally, the LEGO trademark should always appear with a ® symbol each time it is used.

So really, the LEGO® term should only be used as an adjective, making it singular as LEGO doesn't make it better, that's still using it as a noun.  It's gotta be "LEGO® bricks."

mini/bigsmile

-Sméagol

http://i.imgur.com/wcmcdmf.png

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Burn!

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/robo-warrior/Cinematography/wip10-01.jpg
I started working on this shot several months ago and since then I've remade every layer of it several times, and never quite been happy with the result. In particular, I haven't been able to get the city looking how I want.

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

At first, I had a fit because it looks great. Then took a closer look. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, but I don't really like the design of most of the cars. Something else; where is the traffic going the other way?

"[It] was the theme song for the movie 2010 first contact." ~ A YouTuber on Also Sprach Zarathustra
CGI LEGO! Updated occasionally...

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Heh, reminds me of Minority Report, Nick. Nice job.

YouTube | Facebook | Twitter
Darkness cannot be destroyed. It can only be channelled.

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Yeah, I got the Minority Report vibe as well.

the stop-motion car looks good to me, I agree some of  the other cars are quite boxy and I think just using some curved slope bricks and such could make them a little sleeker.  Headlights might be nice too, particularly given it looks somewhat dark out.

Regarding the city, the main problem I see is what appears to be Carrara's depth of field effect on it.  I'd recommend rendering the background city separately and using something like a lense blur effect to create 'circles of confusion,' I think it'd give a more convincing result.

http://i.imgur.com/wcmcdmf.png

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

I am rendering the city separately, and using a lens blur effect. The circles of confusion are far more apparent in the full size image, though unless I can get another plugin or use something other than After Effects to do the blur, I don't think I can make it look any better.

I had never thought about the cars looking boxy, but I've added some new ones and moved them around to emphasize the better-looking ones.

Littlebrick, as on a real freeway, traffic is divided, though in this case cars going the other way are on another platform beneath this one. It will probably be visible at some point in the film.

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Yeah I saw the circles - there's just something about the upper left corner buildings that doesn't look right, though.  I think having less points of light but making them substantially brighter might help, when they're in a grid where every square in the grid is lit (unlike a real building) it creates a strange, synthetic looking pattern.

http://i.imgur.com/wcmcdmf.png

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

I see what Sméagol's saying, also, the view should be more focused on the freeway, the background needs to be more background-y. It's harder to make a definite opinion until I see the clip though.

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Sméagol wrote:

I think having less points of light but making them substantially brighter might help, when they're in a grid where every square in the grid is lit (unlike a real building) it creates a strange, synthetic looking pattern.

Yeah, that makes sense. I've modified the building texture so it's not just a perfect grid of windows. It doesn't seem to be making much of a visual change, though. It's hard to tell in just a still frame, but I also added dust, and changed the grading slightly. Here's a new render:

http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/robo-warrior/Cinematography/wip10-02.jpg

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

Looks better to me regarding the cars, the city too but it's a very subtle difference.  I think it looks pretty good really, you could brighten the city lights a little more if you want them to show, but it looks fine to me.

http://i.imgur.com/wcmcdmf.png

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

I do like the change of cars

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

What did you make that in
Blender?

Re: Works-in-Progress Post and Critique

you really want to do something with CGI, Mutuceba?
I really like that shot, the only thing is, I'm using that kind of color-style in my movie also, i hope you understand i'm not copying you.

''You don't have to tell him how great is coffee is man!''