The Gnomon Workshop releases ARCHETYPE VFX Breakdown
Posted by Torgeir Holm on 21.6.2012 | Category: V-Ray Tutorials
Lighting and Rendering Pipeline with Rob Nederhorst, a well known name to many V-Ray users.
In this title, available as a DVD or a Digital Download priced at $69, Rob dissects a production shot from the short film Archetype by Aaron Sims, discussing his role as Visual Effects Supervisor and the lighting, rendering, and compositing pipeline he designed for the film.
Starting from the beginning, Rob breaks down every element that was used in the shot starting with the creation of the HDRI used in the GI pass of the shot. He then focuses on the shading task, walking you through the process of setting up the character model for rendering in VRay. Rob illustrates various methods for working with high resolution geometry in Maya and VRay through basic smooth operations, render-time subdivisions and VRay proxies. Shader development then follows. Rob discusses the VRay material and tweaks the shaders and textures into place for the RL7 character.
In the lighting phase, Rob shows you how he set up the lighting rig for the shot and discusses the various controls in VRay that are used to produce the highest quality renders with the fastest render times. He then demonstrates how the render passes were generated in VRay before assembling them in Nuke. Once in Nuke, the 3D character is added over the live action background where some roto and plate cleanup is the first order. Color grading is then implemented to integrate the character into the shot and a Nuke control group or "gizmo" is created. At this stage, Rob begins to add his famous "Mojo" to the shot, adding realism to the shot via film grain, flicker, and atmospheric effects, finishing things up with real-world camera shake, a few lens flares and finally, accurate lens distortion.
Anyone looking to learn more about integrating VRay and Nuke into their pipeline, as well as how a production shot is assembled, is guaranteed to come away with a solid understanding.
