Bilbo's Quest

[iGeek]

Hello all

 

I'm using this project as an excuse both to get a lot of A:M practice in and get some extra credit in my English class. I'm not on any deadline, I just thought it would be fun to make this poster. It depicts Bilbo's Journey from start to finish, with focus on the generic elements of a Hero's Journey (call to adventure, helpers, etc.). I've been working on and off on it since school started. Here it is about halfway done. I still have to put in the Eagles and/or a bear, the goblins, some background stuff, maybe Gollum, pose the Dragon, and anything else you all think of. I have a few questions about what I have so far. You can download the entire project (10MB) from my iDisk.

 

1. What's wrong with the mist around the Misty Mountains (the purple one)? It worked at one point, but now it has a hole in it.

 

2. I put smoke in the chimney using a modified smoke material I found on the CD. It shows up fine in the modeling window. I can't get it to show in the choreography though. I tried messing with camera settings, draw particles/hair, etc. Any ideas?

 

3. What will make the grass look more like grass? Is there a material with that? In conjunction with that:

 

4. What is a good way to light a scene like this? I'm most likely printing it as a poster for my English classroom, and I'm also wondering if I should just have the road and objects against a white background (there will be captions/labels)?

 

5. I accidentally did part of the shaping of the terrain in modeling mode and part in muscle mode. I know, I know, "don't do that," but is there a way to transfer the positions of all the cps from the choreography to the model itself?

 

6. How is the portrayal of scale? In the zip file there's an old render that has a different camera angle. I'm thinking maybe lower the camera and use a wider angle. You need to be able to see the thought bubble with the coins all the way to the brass doorknob. Your thoughts?

 

7. Write your own question, then answer it!

 

Thanks in advance for your brilliant and insightful comments. Here's the picture.

 

-Zev

 

UPDATE 11 November 2005: I've posted a newer version of the project again at the same link.

[Kamikaze]

Zev,

 

#3 if the grass is just set in surface properties try roughness settings you may have to play with them to get a setting you like, or as you mentioned try a material..look on the CD for one, or find a nice picture you can use as a decal and decal the ground with it.

Thats about the all Ive got for you,maybe others can give more detail,

Michael

[iGeek]

I tried messing with roughness and got some results I like. Thanks. I'll keep messing with it. Anyone have any thoughts on the other questions?

 

-Zev

[iGeek]

Here's an update. I've fixed a few problems and have a few more. I like the grass a lot better. I'm getting better at mixing up materials using combiners, learning what the different options are, etc. I originally envisioned the image as a sort of cartoon image, but it seems to be drifting more towards a model/diorama. Because of that, I'm trying to make the mountain look, if not real, more realistic and less like a cartoon. What's a good way to do that? I'm not happy with what I have now. Also, what do y'all think about the green arrow? Now it seems out of place. Should I just get rid of it? I also changed the camera angle to give more focus to the scene.

By the way, is the hat easily recognizable as Gandalf's? As always, I'd love to hear any questions/comments/crits.

 

-Zev

[drpenguin]

hmm. the smoke around the mountain there doesn't quite look like smoke. looks more like a gray semi-transparent ring.

[iGeek]

I didn't have any guidance with the smoke. It's there because that mountain represents the Misty Mountains that Bilbo and the Dwarves travel through. But aside from the hole, what's wrong with the mist/steam/smoke that it has a hole in it? I've posted the updated file here. Anyone want to download it and check it out? Thanks.

 

-Zev

[Slipin Lizard]

7).

Q: Will I write a response to this thread?

A: Seems likely.

[iGeek]

Anyone have any ideas on the "mist" around the mountain? I can't figure it out....

 

-Zev

[johnl3d]

add the smoke material to a set of patches near the tip of the mountain and you could get a nice effect

[johnl3d]

here's a quick example

 

 

[attachmentid=11727]

 

 

project file sprite is on cd data materials sprites

 

 

[attachmentid=11729]

mt.zip

[iGeek]

I tried it, but I can't get the look I'm going for. That looks more like smoke over a volcano. I'm going for clouds forming a ring around the mountain. Also, anyone have any idea why the smoke for the chimney isn't showing in the choreography at all?

 

-Zev

[iGeek]

Here's another update. I deleted the dust and started over, and it still has the same hole in it. Might I be better off painting it in later? Here's the look I'm going for: link. Any ideas? Also still working on that smoke... and I think instead of modeling a full troll, which I'm not looking forward to, I'll do a clump of trees with dark figures and a fire burning.

 

-Zev

 

the project is still up here.

 

Edit: oops, forgot the image

[iGeek]

annnnd after months and months, I'm working on it again. I decided to do the troll after all. It wasn't as hard as I thought. I learned a lot along the way, and I realized how much I need to take an anatomical drawing class.

 

render

 

Changes:

1. Troll with mutton in his hand (From the chapter "roast mutton")

2. the One Ring is inside the mouth of the Mistiy Mountains tunnel

3. The Lord of the Eagles (might add a crown) is perched outside the mountain. I learned a lot about hair by using it to do his feathers. I retrospect I should have used decals.

4. slight modifications to the lighting and angles.

 

Still unanswered:

1. that darn mist! I might go back and use johnl3d's example, now that the "dark smoke render" bug is fixed.

2. The chimney is still not smoking. I think I'll do the smoke as a separate model.

3. Is the Eagle's perch and position alright? Too busy?

 

feedback = good

 

I've posted the updated project here. It's 30MB and it decompresses to 94MB.

 

-Zev

 

PS This render took 51 minutes on a dual 2 gig G5 16 pass 1600x1200. I tried rendering in 12.0t but it kept crashing. I had to render in v13 alpha 9, and it worked like a charm. I haven't had any other issues recently with rendering the same project in v12.

[iGeek]

Update: I got the smoking chimney working. It turned out the smoke was there, it was just very very small. I messed with some scale settings and got it working. I wonder if the scale issue is causing the mist to behave weirdly?

 

I also moved the eagle down to street level. I think it looks a lot better.

 

-Zev

[trajcedrv]

Keep up the good work and keep us posted, Zev...

 

let's see some renders!

 

Drvarceto

[iGeek]

Here's a render. I've added a texture to the door so it doesn't stand out as much. The updated project is still available at the same link.

 

-Zev

[DanCBradbury]

pretty interesting set up... not really sure what's going on, but wasn't this an extra credit assignment you were doing for your lass about half a year ago?

[iGeek]

Yeah, but it was completely self-assigned. It wasn't really an assignment, per se, more me sucking up to my teacher. She seems to like me for some reason; I've been made a teacher's pet against my will. So now it's more of a personal project that I work on in my copious spare time, and that I'll bet getting credit for. So let me explain what you see:

 

This is Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey as it applies to The Hobbit. Here are the steps in this image:

1. The call to adventure: the prospect of getting the dragon-guarded treasure intrigues Bilbo. There is a refusal to the call, but I didn't show it.

2. Helper: the hat is that of the wizard Gandalf, who helps Bilbo on his quest.

3. Test: Bilbo and Thorin's company encounter three huge trolls eating mutton in the forest. Here's one of them. It is a first test for bilbo. It's also the threshold to adventure, In my opinion.

4. Another test, I think: the Misty mountains. In them, Bilbo finds The Ring, seen at the mouth of the cave. When he escapes, he loses his brass buttons on the doorstep.

5. Helper: the lord of the eagles rescues Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves from the wolves and goblins.

6. The final test (I think): Smaug the dragon. Though Bilbo doesn't kill him, facing the dragon is the bravest thing Bilbo does.

7. Return with the "elixer": Bilbo gets home to Bag End, Underhill, and his kettle is ever more musical yadda yadda yadda

 

That's the basic idea. I have to give it a bit more thought.

 

By the way, I figured out a fix for the mist: use a box instead of a cylinder.

 

One more question: what exactly is Ambient Occlusion? Is it something I should worry about on this project?

 

Thanks for the comments.

-Zev

[DanCBradbury]

Hm... i only ever saw the awesome battle sequence everyone raved about in Lord of the Rings

 

Ambient Occlusion is a lighting technique much like a sky light rig, except there are no lights and the generation of shadows is purely a mathematical procedure, and it is very fast; however, for your project you may or may not need or want Ambient Occlusion. It gives the render a much cleaner and more real look, but it is up to you.

 

Also, for your cloud, why not just use a shpere, morph its CPs until you have a cloud like shape, and then give it transparancy and a high density value? I think that would help you out, as your clouds right now look a little akward.