POPBOT: Cornell Room and Kitty

[patrick_j_clarke]

Well, 168 hours later (yes, 168), and this pops up on my screen. Radiosity Rendered in v11 on my P4 1.8 Ghz @ 2200 x 3000.

 

The characters are from an IDW comic book called Popbot by Ashley Wood. All modeled in v10.5 and 11 on my G4 Powerbook, with some modeling (the cat, door in the back, the pipes) done on my old PIII 500mhz laptop.

 

The Jpeg seems kinda washed out as I've already converted to CMYK for print, so the colors aren't as vibrant as what's on my mac, but it serves.

 

I'll be back with some wires and some more explanation of the Radiosity setup if anyone is interested.

 

 

Larger Version of the image

 

- pjc

[bentothemax]

168!!!! wow, I would have said "scew this" then clicked cancel so i could have my computer back. I think it looks really good . . . but wow 168 hours. I like the stairs and the whole setup of the scene. Really nice work!!

[HeadlessBill]

Great scene.

 

168 hours. Not too bad. I haven't broken 100 hours for a sinlge render on my Beige G3 yet, but I haven't rendered anything that large yet either. If I don't get a 1 GHz G4 for it when I start rendering my animation project, I'm gonna be looking at render times at least that long.

 

Anyone who says 168 hours is too long is a wuss.

[ZachBG]

Wow... that's niiiiice...

[martin]

Wow! Yves will be pleased to see this. The room must be lit from the top of the stairwell.

[patrick_j_clarke]

Yeah, the room is based on Yves super fine Cornell tutorial and excellent Excel document for setting up photons. I used Yves' spotlight rig to do the lighting and stuck it on the "ceiling".

 

Actually, this image owes a lot to Yves and his Radiosity section on this forum.

 

THANKS YVES!!!

 

Oh, and I rendered it with Multi-Pass (set to 9 passes). Each pass took a little over 18 hours. Since I don't have a UPS hooked up to my computer, my biggest fear was having the power go out!

 

Here's a actual size clip of the final image:

[pixelmech]

WOW - the detail is awesome. Great scene and great model! I must now go look at my own robot and feel shame

[nyahkitty]

There has got to be a faster way to pump out an image like that.

 

Excellent work. The robot looks familiar. Like a design I've seen in a comic book. Something about the robot being a disposable assassin. Yes?

[heyvern]

Wow.

 

Don't know if you were going for it but the detail image has an almost... painterly quality to it. Maybe it is the texturing but it looks almost like natural media... like a detailed oil painting. The lights and shadows have the feel of dabs of paint and subtle strokes... not a critique... it looks fantastic. What a cool effect... it looks like a beautiful painting... in my head anyway.

 

So the 30 second film resolution animation should be done... about July of... 2015 or 2018?

 

-------

 

Any chance to see a full size detail of the cat? Big robot, gun... I want to see the kitty.

 

Vernon "!" Zehr

[ypoissant]

Nice render indeed.

 

The robot is super cool of course but I particularly like the attention to little details in the scene, like the cat in this instance, that adds to the story and to the composition.

 

That you didn't use jittering in final gathering produces this painterly daubed look. In some scenes, this can look not so nice but you managed to pull it really well here and this gives your render an added artistic touch.

 

Bravo.

 

BTW You busted my record render time which was 147h two weeks ago. And I was not even using Photon Mapping, Just a skylight but with a lot of hair.

[patrick_j_clarke]

Thank you all for the nice comments. This is definately one of those pieces that made me go "wow, don't screw this one up!" when I was building it.

 

NYAHKITTY:

Yeah, Popbot is the bodyguard to this rockstar cat named Kitty. Very weird, but very cool.

 

 

I did want a painterly look to it. But at the same time I wanted the "real" to show thru. This was discoverd by accident when, like Yves pointed out, I didn't use "jittering". It was definately one of those "ooooh" moments.

 

I really wanted to tell a story with this image, not just to do a Radiosity render. I also had a goal in mind with sort of a "V" composition. One of the things that I like best is that really the focal point of the image is the cat. All this detail around the cat, all those 168 hours of pixels all around this tiny area.

 

I told myself, "Don't worry about render time" on this one. Do painters worry about how long a painting will take? Well, if it's a paying gig, I'm sure they do, but I just let the image that I wanted to be, well, be. No shortcuts.

 

That doesn't mean when I saw 18 hours per pass I didn't cringe

 

I will get a grab of the cat and post that section at 100% soon, and show you how I built him and what I learned about Multipass and big, low specular values...

 

- pjc

[Paul Forwood]

168 hours!!! That's exactly one week of continuous rendering for one frame! Ahhhh!

 

Very cool image though! I look forward to your updates on this image.

 

Anyone who says 168 hours is too long is a wuss

 

Okay. I'm a wuss.

[Zaryin]

For all that time was it worth it?... YES! Awesome image.

[patrick_j_clarke]

Whew! You had me worried there Zaryin!!

 

I try to remember that if I would have rendered this on a 3.6GHz machine or a fast Athlon 64 FX it would've only taken 80 or 90 hours

 

Also, 2200 X 3000 pixels has a lot to do with it. I don't recall the exact dimensions and time, but I think a 500 X 700 ish render took about 7 hours on my 1.6Ghz G5 iMac. Still, not the fastest render in the world for sure, but it seemed like it exponentially grew the render time by increasing the size.

 

Oh how I wish A:M took advantage of dual CPU's

 

HEYVERN:

Here's a 100% shot of the cat. It was supposed to have fur on it, heck I even have two nice fur hair systems that were working pretty good...then I threw it in the scene...CHUG...even for a small region my test times went thru the roof!

 

 

So, I took off the hair and found out something about low speculars and big spec sizes with Multipass. The more passes, the more it really softens the specular..to a point where it almost gave me a velour look.

 

There is some Photoshop work on the cat. Since I didn't have fur, the outside edge was solid in the final render...so, in Photoshop I used the smudge tool very carefully to soften the edge. The rest is texture map and a really low really wide specular and 9 passes.

 

And the model of the cat is a rework of the weird looking cat from the free model section of Hash's website. It was more cartoony and kinda looked like a Donkey more than a cat, but it had okay proportions and a skeleton already set up, so I figured what the heck!

 

Next up, the guts of the robot and metal!

 

- pjc

[agep]

I must say you have managed to create an supercool image. How would the rendertime and look of the image be if you rendered an 10 sec short with a res ~NTSC/PAL with no multipass? It would be fun to see an animation of this tincan.

 

Awesome image

[patrick_j_clarke]

I've done a quick walk cycle (not in the room) and am still working on the bone setup for his guts. I want them to sway a little with his movement, but not intersect the rest of the body.

 

I haven't thought of doing a NTSC version with Photon Mapping. Hmmm, I should see what render times that would be.

 

Here's a look at his guts close up. I'm very pleased with the look of the metal material on this area. Might even post it up for everyone if I think about it.

 

Take a look:

 

- pjc

[Newbert_Zero]

......looking forward to seeing it animated. lol just kidding. that would take 8 years

[bentothemax]

Animation wise, maybe you could turn radiosity off ( i would prefer not, but just to see . . .) and maybe render a test frame at maybe . . . 400x600 . . . see how long it takes, then possibly fake the radiosity for the animation . . . just a suggestion

 

Ben

[patrick_j_clarke]

Detail of the Gun.

 

Modified version of the .44 Magnum model from Hash. Constrained to Popbots hand for easy posing!!

 

 

I will try to get some wires up soon.

 

- pjc

[mediaho]

Magnificent image. I thought it was a CG/real life composite at first.

 

As for animation, you could use a hybrid solution like they did in "Bunny." Use radiosity to render the image maps of the room and then composite the character. You would have to fake the bounce lights and shadows. Not impossible with light lists.

[gschumsky]

Detail of the Gun.

 

Modified version of the .44 Magnum model from Hash. Constrained to Popbots hand for easy posing!!

 

Did you use decals or materials for the texture?

[patrick_j_clarke]

Did you use decals or materials for the texture?

A mixture of both. I turned down the color maps that came with the file pretty low, and used them for diffuse as well, and mixed that with my metal material.

 

I love the new reflection tools in AM v11!

 

- pjc

[zandoriastudios]

Great picture Patrick!

 

The reflection of the cat on the floor looks too bright...I'm guessing you didn't use blended reflection there?

 

Great robot--I can't wait to see some wire frames. Did you use the .ai wizard to do some of those shapes?

[KenH]

Nice nice nice! Is this a paying job or just for the heck of it? I wonder if you charged by the hour!!

[patrick_j_clarke]

Great picture Patrick!

 

The reflection of the cat on the floor looks too bright...I'm guessing you didn't use blended reflection there?

 

Great robot--I can't wait to see some wire frames. Did you use the .ai wizard to do some of those shapes?

The floor only has Blended Relfections at 5%. Not really enough to tame the cat down, but the bright reflection on the floor doesn't bother me too much, but yeah, it's definately bright.

 

No Illustrator work, just modeled in A:M by hand.

 

Here's some scene wires:

 

 

 

 

About 17,700 patches in the scene. Most of them are in the Popbot model.

 

Any other wires anyone wants to see?

 

- pjc

[patrick_j_clarke]

Just to let everyone know, I got an email from the EIC of IDW today, and they are going to use my image in August releases of IDW comic books as a pin-up!

 

I don't know how many books it will be in, but I'll let you guys know when I do!

 

 

- pjc

[Zaryin]

That is awesome! Congratulations.

[KenH]

Nice! Make sure they know it was made with AM!

[ZachBG]

Daaayumn! Congratulations, Patrick!

[patrick_j_clarke]

Nice! Make sure they know it was made with AM!

Oh yeah, I am the AM pimp-master when it comes to that! You should hear my conversations with John Byrne on the subject! I WILL CONVERT HIM!!!!

 

 

- pjc

[mediaho]

Congrats! Well deserved!

[MixePix]

Wow! Awesome work!

[patrick_j_clarke]

Thanks!

 

Now I hear IDW (the publisher of POPBOT) has just aquired the rights to Transformers! OOOoooooooh! I love robots!

 

Has anyone done TF in Hash?

 

- pjc

[Rodney]

You should hear my conversations with John Byrne on the subject! I WILL CONVERT HIM!!!!

 

That too is one of my goals so we have that in common.

 

I think he may have to see some of his characters moving in 3D before he says Okay. He also is stubbornly refusing to update to OSX from what I understand. So that right now would be problematic.

 

If you haven't done so already you should post your Popbot in the sketches area over in the Byrne Forum. If nothing else the other artists would get a kick out of it.

[Zaryin]

Hey Patrick, I know someone did Optimus Prime. I think the pic was for one of the Imagecontests.

[patrick_j_clarke]

Hey Patrick, I know someone did Optimus Prime. I think the pic was for one of the Imagecontests.

Really? I'll have to check out the gallery. I've seen some pretty good TF models out there (mostly MAX) just wondered if anyone tried it over here

 

 

Rodney I didn't think JB liked people posting their images on Byrnerobotics.com. Is it cool to do it now?

 

- pjc

[Eos]

Hey Patrick, very nice image. Congratulations for its publishing.

 

A question from a rookie: What kind of light source did you use? In the wireframe i see lots of objects and a hexagonal figure, and I can't tell what it is.

[patrick_j_clarke]

The lights are based on Yves tutorial for a Cornell box. They are Kliegs in an array and have their spread set to 180. Check out Yves Cornell tutorial in the Radiosity section for all his great knowledge of Radiosity.

 

YVES!!! He's the man!

 

 

- pjc

[Rodney]

Rodney I didn't think JB liked people posting their images on Byrnerobotics.com. Is it cool to do it now?

 

You are right about John not caring for off topics.

Still he is gracious enough that he's even allowed separate forum areas for Sports Talk, Star Trek, Star Wars and more. The Star Trek and Star Wars was are new.

 

There are specific topics for posting 'fan art'.

The one I'm thinking of is about sketchbook art but comics pages and painting etc can be seen there. The focus is on comic characters.

 

I'd think people might be interested in how they can use computers (and especially 3D) to enhance their comic work.

 

Here is the link to the sketchbook thread:

"What's in your sketchbook" on the John Byrne Forum

 

John's 3D line work in Strata was a favorite topic for me but he hasn't posted much in that area lately.

 

Rodney

[patrick_j_clarke]

Thanks Rodney!

 

I posted the image over there, hopefully JB sees it. I'd love to sit down and talk (instead of email and forum messages) with JB about 3D and comics sometime.

 

I think it would be very interesting!

 

- pjc

[dreamin3d]

Congrats! Love the storyline and composition.

 

I'm glad you gave us the background, I would have guessed him to be a high tech assasin that just stirred up the cat.

 

Your lighting is dead on. The highlights in the stair railing and POPBOT's wall shadow. WOW!

 

I am also digging that metal material on his guts. I have got to update my A:M if for no other reason, just for the soft reflections.

 

Thats great stuff.

[patrick_j_clarke]

More than soft reflections, Fresnel, Reflection Blend and Reflection Filter make the v11 version well worth the upgrade price!

 

Thanks for the comments. It will be hard to go back to regular raytracing after getting results like this!!

 

- pjc

[dreamin3d]

I agree, I spend most of my free time right now playing with radiosity.

 

Peace,

Rob

[gschumsky]

Just saw this on CGTalk. Wonder if they're from the same manufacturer?

 

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=256882

[bentothemax]

Hey,

 

 

Do you have v 12 yet?

 

Perhaps you could spend another week rendering with the new radiosity system!

 

 

I would love to see it with the new sys.

 

 

Great job!

 

 

Ben

[patrick_j_clarke]

Just saw this on CGTalk. Wonder if they're from the same manufacturer?

 

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=256882

Or it could go with this guy of mine (which I swear was created before Iron Giant came out)

 

 

I like that image tho, especially the "heart".

 

Ben,

 

I have v12, but since I've been in the middle of a project, I haven't played with it...how is the new v12 Radiosity different?

 

- pjc

[bentothemax]

Patrick,

 

It is much more realistic because the first time the light bounces is calculated, before, the light would bounce once, then start indirectly illuminating stuff.

 

 

For an example, if you shined a light at a white patch on a black floor, onto a white wall, in v 12, you would see a "sqaure of light on the wall". In v11 it would not do this, and if the light was angled just right, you might notice somtin on the ceiling.

 

 

at least that is what i understand.

 

 

I have a new render of my alley, I havn't shown it yet because its not finished (never will be) but before the inside was black, now, everything is much brighter and there are no complete blacks

 

 

 

and i like the image you posted, it does remind me alot of the Iron Giant.

 

 

Nice job,

 

Ben

[MikeSanderson]

WOW Patrick, this POPBOT image is Awesome!!

 

Don't know how I missed this, but man it kicks butt!!

 

Bet that Bazillion Hours of render was a nailbiter!

[patrick_j_clarke]

Yeah, I was worried about a power outage the whole time! I never have seen the need for a UPS until now...but I still tempt fate cuz UPS's are EXPENSIVE!!!

 

Thanks for the comments, and supposedly it's in the August IDW comics as we speak! Gotta go to the comic store to see.

 

- pjc