OUDF603: Maya Plugins for RigidBody Simulation

The focus of my research is on Dynamics, Fluid simulation, Particle destruction and Rigid Body simulation.  

There are a handful Maya and 3Ds Max Plug ins for creating 3D dynamics and seamless simulations, most of these come at a high price upon purchasing. I've researched and found quite a few recommended plug-ins, these being: 

• Pixelux Entertainment: DMM (Digital Molecular Matter) Plug in, it creates highly realistic destruction and deformation animations as well as keyed kinematic movements
• Bullet Physics
• Fracture FX
• Blast-code demolition software
• PullDownIt 
• Ray Fire (Only for 3Ds Max)
• nCloth

Pros.

Ray Fire is by far the most impressive plug in so far as it provides the most realistic simulations.
Ray Fire is affordable as the company provides a discounted licence for students.

Problems.

Ray Fire is only available on Auto desk 3Ds Max. I'm an Auto desk Maya trained 3D artist.
3Ds Max is only available on Windows PCs, I use an Apple Mac. 

Possible Resolutions.

Do a crash-course on 3Ds Max in order to learn, navigate and manipulate the tools and use the plug-in
Purchase a Windows boot camp for use with Apple Mac. 

The aim of this project is to test out how rigid body simulation behaves along with digitally generated fluids, then apply this into the final VFX project. 

OUDF603: Elements & Materials of Architecture

Upon researching buildings, it's elements and materials at a civil engineering and architectural point of view, there are many structures that seem manageable to digitally model and texture without a great deal of difficulty, some are however challenging. There are several common materials that are used on most buildings, high-end contemporary buildings are commonly made of sandblasted glass and steel as supporting structures, while the predecessors are mainly concrete. 

The main materials paid attention to are of the following:

• Wood: wood can soften the hard surface edges of steel and glass, it is sensible to model wood on Auto-desk Maya and texture it on Z-brush. While researching building's interiors and looking closely to them it is evident that they soften hard edges. Wood is oiled to enhance it's natural grain and fragrance, maple woodwork compliments kitchens and it unifies the surrounding spaces with built in cabinetry, dining tables and chairs. Wood is used as other assets such as barrels and crates. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being the weakest and 10 being the strongest, the architectural destruction of wood is 3 as it is easily damaged by fire and weight from the standing structure. 

• Concrete: It is a staple for industrial buildings as it improves strength, concrete can handle the compression stresses 10 times more than the tension and the most of loads, it is a brittle material which gives the advantage to make a rigid structure. It is however weak in handling tension, thus needing another material to reinforce it against excessive shear and tension. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being the weakest and 10 being the strongest, the architectural destruction of Concrete is 10 as it is a fire resistant material, the only way to cause major damage is by a blast.

• Stone: Materials include, granite, limestone, slate, marble, Arria limestone, ironstone, clay. This materials are usually used for resilient hard flooring and staircases. Many different natural stones are cut into a variety of sizes, shapes, and thicknesses for use as flooring. The architectural destruction for these are rated at 9 as they are fire resistant. 

• Metal: "Steel and other architectural metals form the backbone of modern architect's capabilities to build even higher, more daring and expressive structures, it enables architecture to become sculpture"
The advantages of steel is that it has a high strength/weight ratio, thus, the dead weight of steel structures is relatively small. This makes steel a very attractive structural material for
a. High-rise buildings
b. Long-span bridges
c. Structures located on soft ground
d. Structures located in earthquake prone areas where forces acting on the structure due to an earthquake are in general proportional to the weight of the structure.

Other types of metals are Zinc, anodised aluminium, polished stainless steel, nickel silver.

The architectural destruction rating of steel is 10, as it is very durable, the most efficient way of destroying steel would be  high temperatures from an open flame which would eventually melt the flame.

• Plaster: It is useful for interior and exterior surface, it can take on a rich texture. On the exterior, it can turn a building into a multiple medley of surfaces, light and shadow, it may also be used to create complex detailing for use in room interiors. These may be geometric (simulating wood or stone) or naturalistic (simulating leaves, vines, and flowers). Charles Moore called it "the material with memory" the late architect added "the very texture of time becomes part of it's enrichment". Plaster is a material that will react perfectly to a Auto desk Maya demolition software as it will provide varied pieces as it destructs. 

• Fabric: As an indoor and outdoor aerial, fabric is soft, pliable and usable in innumerable ways. Depending on how fabric is placed, it can redefine an entire space, but do so gently it can be subtly translucent without being transparent. Fabric is mainly used for curtains, bedding, carpet, sofas and more. There are many different types of fabrics, the most used in homes being, linen, cashmere, cotton, fleece and more. Fabric is a highly combustible material, the architectural destruction rating of fabric is 1.

• Glass: 'Large expanses of glazing render a building open and transparent, while at the same time mystical and otherworldly'.
  Westin Bonadventure Hotel in USA, has an extensive use of glass as a building material in the 20th-21st centuries, it has more glass than concrete or steel. There are plenty of different type of glass used for many buildings, the most popular being: 
• Cast glass, began to appear in most important buildings mainly in Rome and the most luxurious villas, Crown glass, Cylinder Glass, Polished Glass, Laminated glass, Insulated double glazing this type of glazing has functions of thermal insulation and noise reduction it's used for conserving energy on buildings. The architectural destruction of glass is 1, it is a very weak material and is can say shatter, this rating is excluding toughened glass and or bullet proof glass.  

Westin Bonadventure Hotel in USA

I'm planning on using all of the materials mentioned above while modelling my 'architectural destruction' building. I will continue to study on how all these materials react to stress. 

Fortunately the materials mentioned above are provided by various rigid body simulators. In my case, I'm will be using Maya 2012's Plug-in called Digital Molecular Matter. DMM provides a number of materials that you can assign to your mesh, enabling the user to replicate real world materials. These materials consist of:

• Asphalt
• Carbon graphite
• Carbonite
• Cardboard
• Ceramic
• Clay
• Concrete
• Drywall
• Flesh
• Granite
• Rubber
• Iron
• Lead
• Stone
• Plant
• Plaster
• Plywood
• Rebar
• Plastic
• Safety Glass
• Sheet metal
• Tree wood
• Diamond
• Wire
• Bricks
• Crystal

OUDF603: Finalized Idea

After taking and reviewing my criticism and realising that my idea could be broadened, I took action by extending my brief while revising my statement of intent.

I Initially begun by brainstorming some more ideas, the main ones being:

• 'Advertising' using 3D assets and Visual Effects. 
• 3D Architectural destruction with live action (Compositing 3D into video).
• Interior visualization with Visual Effects.
• Digital Storytelling using After Effects.

As a finalized idea, I chose to go with 3D architectural destruction synthesized with live action footage, purely for the fact that I'm interested in exploring the topic of visual effects for film, this is the field I wish to specialise in. I'm also doing so in order to broaden my skills further in this subject of study, this project will widely test the techniques that I've learnt over the past two years as an academic student. 

Intent on working on a single brief that will mainly focus on architectural destruction. I will investigate intensely and study how different materials react to stress and destruction. The focus of my research will be based on Particle destruction of debris; I will need to investigate various software plug ins such as DMM destruction, nCloth dynamics, Bullet Physics Engine, Blast code demolition software etc, these will be used through Maya.

This project will synthesize the skills that I have learnt over the past 2 years, particularly from the OUDF504 Visual FX & Animation for film production and the OUDF406 Game Environment Unity module. The two modules offered me abundant skills that I will use to my advantage and apply to this current project. These skills are hard surface modelling, texturing, rendering with mental ray, working with green screen, filming with equipment attached to dolly tracks & cranes and also composting live action footage to CG using after effects. The software that will be used to make sure this project is a success are Auto desk Maya, Adobe After Effects, The Foundry Nuke, Adobe Photo shop, as well as equipment such as the Canon 5D MK III, XD Cam, Tripods, Green screen, Lighting, Actors.

The narrative behind the project is simple as that isn't the main focus to this project, it’s a story of an Alien invading a place on earth and it has total disregard to human life, therefore it destroys anything in its path. The focus is to show the property that was supposedly destroyed by the blast from the Alien’s ship, thus bringing this subject matter of this to architectural destruction.

There is a lot of source material that I can use to develop my understanding, I will study the basics in construction and architecture, on how and why buildings are structured the way they are. How different building materials would respond to stress such as wood, concrete, steel, glass, copper pipes, I will also research explosions and implosions and also the dynamics of controlled detonations. I will demonstrate progress on my blogger account through a series of written blogs, illustrations, 2D drawings, Schematics, Blueprints, mood boards and mathematical calculations of scales of the building, as well as play blasts.

It will also involve primary and secondary research, contextual research that includes attending film and animation festivals.

The format of the final project will be delivered in video format (H.264 & Apple Pro Res). The audience is for Filmmakers and Animators.

OUDF603: Interim Presentation

On Thursday 6th February, we had an interim presentation to detail what our projects are all about. The presentation was to help us receive feedback from our peers and tutors.

After presenting my project, I received positive feedback from the peers and some were suggesting ways I could enhance, play around and have fun with project. I was recommended to research and test other rendering software such as AutoCAD, an application for 2D and 3D computer-aided design and drafting. Maxwell Render, a software package that aids in the production of photo realistic images from computer 3D model data and a 3D renderer and also Arnold Render, a path tracing 3D rendering application. These were all valuable recommendations and I took them in account. Another useful recommendation was to create my architectural visualisation practically, a miniature house created from materials such as cardboard then recreate it digitally. I found this useful & I took it to consideration. The final recommendation I was given was to go out and survey a building's interior, take it's measurements and correlate the measurements into my digital design.

However there were also issues discussed at the tutorial with Matt, he wasn't fond of my idea as he mentioned the following 

• The idea needed more inspiration
• The idea is very generic as it just features shiny surfaces, it is too simple
• It is too stereotypical, it can be easily done by watching a tutorial
• It need to be original, make it my own 
• I need to do a project that will test the techniques that I've learnt
• The idea needs to be a bit more abstract
• Build more on the idea, augment it with computer generated visual effects

Action to take.

I have taken Matt's suggestions to consideration, however, I don't feel this new idea will motivate me. Therefore I have chosen to brainstorm further into more Ideas and work on a new and fresh project.                                                                                                                               

OUDF603: Extended Practice Proposal

The subject I am interested in exploring is computer aided design particularly in Interior Architectural Visualisation for animation and Film Production. The reason being, because I enjoy 3D modelling, texturing and rendering. It would be a great way to show off and broaden my skills in this area as these skills can apply in the industries of digital film, games and animation.


I Intend on working on a single self-initiated brief consisting of various digital and practical designs. I’m interested in exploring the design of interior architecture for animation and film, therefore I intend on building fully functional interior space. My development will consist of concept work in a form of miniature designs developed practically, 2D drawings, Schematics, Blueprints, mood boards and mathematical measurements of the space gathered from real buildings. It will also involve blogging as the development process is outgoing, primary and secondary research, contextual research that includes workshops, attending film and animation festivals and also surveying property. The format of the project will be delivered in video format (H.264 & Apple ProRes). 

Areas of research/theories to be investigated are 

• Colour Theory 
•  Interior Design 
•  Fend Shui (Balancing the flow of energy of any given space i.e House Interior) 
• Architecture 
• Mise en scène

My intentions are to build up geometry of the Interior from scratch using Maya's unique modelling tools. With the modelling complete, I intend to go through the process of adding materials and textures to the geometry then take the necessary steps for adding appropriate lighting and setting up renders. In the end, I'll have a final rendered interior with animated cameras for visualisation. 

Throughout this module, I have a lot to take to consideration,

• Cost of all the materials and travel that I will need to cover is taken into consideration.
• Time that I have to develop the research up until the first hand in of the blogs and interim presentation, also the time I will have for producing the final product.
• Scale of the work due
• Difficulty, I have to make sure that I'm familiar with all the tools to get the work completed, if not, time will be allocated for a crash course.
• Effectiveness to Portfolio, this work has to be portfolio worthy and I have to be confident enough to exhibit it.
• Production Value, the challenge is to create high production value on a low budget. 

What I hope to accomplish with this module is to increase my 

• Modelling skills
• Compositional Art Skills
• Rendering Skills, learn other rendering software such as Arnold and Maxwell Render
• Lighting a Scene Efficiently
• Portfolio Worthy Work