Phillies Diner

[R Reynolds]

Even though my previous thread for this model is gone, the model itself still progresses. I've added all the male actors and tweaked the light levels. The only thing that's left is charcoal suited guy's red-headed companion. For the sake of finishing and moving on, I may just have her off-camera while leaving behind some props to imply she'll soon return.

[robcat2075]

As always, it looks fab!

[itsjustme]

Looks fantastic, Rodger!

[Tom]

Edward Hopper would be impressed:

 

http://www.allmodern.com/iCanvas-Nighthawks-1942-by-Edward-Hopper-Painting-Print-on-Canvas-13378-L1318-K~ICAN7811.html?refid=GX46109958796-ICAN7811_10857178&device=c&ptid=104326425916&PiID[]=10857178&gclid=CLqBtJ-D-8MCFRBafgodOLUAUg

 

Tom

[Simon Edmondson]

Very impressive indeed Rodger

[John Bigboote]

Would love to see a camera move on that scene- even a minimal one... very impressive... NEEDS the DAME!

[R Reynolds]

 

Would love to see a camera move on that scene- even a minimal one

I agree Matt, I'd like to see that too. Currently at frame 155 (427 x 240) of a 300 frame shot. Should be finished sometime on Sunday.

 

 

NEEDS the DAME!

While I may agree with you in principle Matt, she's going to be in the powder room for the foreseeable future. I've been constructing Phillies since Nov. 2013. I've been focused purely on the male actors since Nov. 2014 and I shortcutted them by using the head and hands of Jim Sherwood's barbarian since that was the only male model I could find that had what I consider acceptable realism. At this point, I'd only include the "dame" if Sherwood had left behind a "long haired, red-headed female in a sleeveless red dress contemplating her cigarette while sitting on a bar stool". You may think the shot needs the dame but I really need to move on to the rest of the set. Which is my plan once I've finished a red clutch and ash tray with a cigarette to imply the lady in red will return shortly.

[R Reynolds]

Here's a 10 sec pull-back shot. I need to play with the ease so the camera dwells a bit at the start and finish. I was really worried that the ray-traced shadows on the ground would scintillate but I seem to have enough rays, lights and frame passes.Phillies_shot_A.mpg

[Zaryin]

That is looking amazing! What happened to the old thread?

[John Bigboote]

Very cool... I just watched it about 20 times- love it in motion!

[Rodney]

Here's a 10 sec pull-back shot.

 

 

 

Very nice!

[R Reynolds]

 

I just watched it about 20 times

Glad you enjoyed it Matt. You started this with your suggestion, now I'm hooked on tweaking camera moves...will have a refined shot sometime next week.

 

What happened to the old thread?

It disappeared last month for reasons unknown. At that time I let Hash Support know about both the missing thread and the fact that the links to my tutorials are broken but Support (I assume Jason) hasn't got around to them yet. No big deal, the fact that nobody has complained to me about the broken links since the server change-over means demand is low.

[Fuchur]

 

 

I just watched it about 20 times

Glad you enjoyed it Matt. You started this with your suggestion, now I'm hooked on tweaking camera moves...will have a refined shot sometime next week.

 

What happened to the old thread?

It disappeared last month for reasons unknown. At that time I let Hash Support know about both the missing thread and the fact that the links to my tutorials are broken but Support (I assume Jason) hasn't got around to them yet. No big deal, the fact that nobody has complained to me about the broken links since the server change-over means demand is low.

do you still have the old link to your tutorials? i could have a look if i can find them.

 

see you

*Fuchur*

[John Bigboote]

GREAT! I remember when Jim Talbot did his amazing 'Tiger Princess' image- I begged him to do a 'Mickey Rooney' camera move on it (Mickey Rooney= 'little creep') and he did and it too was wonderful. I am always stunned when someone puts so much time into a 3D creation and then just generates a few images from it, don't get me wrong- stills are great, I love em... but your model and software is capable of so much more.

[Dpendleton77]

That is looking really good. Wow.

[R Reynolds]

 

but your model and software is capable of so much more

I'm coming around to the idea that if you're not sitting at your computer modeling, the least you can do is have it cranking out frames. While you're at your day job, it's nice to know that you're still making progress on your hobby.

 

do you still have the old link to your tutorials? i could have a look if i can find them.

The link is at the bottom of this post, just below my name. On Feb. 8, at Hash Support's request, I uploaded backups of all the tutorial files to Hash's FTP site. All those files have links to the old Hash directories. He said he could "fix the links" once they were sent.

[R Reynolds]

Although the lady in red has stepped out temporarily, she's left behind her red leather clutch under the watchful eye of charcoal suit guy. This material test render has a checkered box to give something to reflect in the clutch's black phenolic frame so I can fine tune its surface texture.

[R Reynolds]

New animation; same start and end framing as previous but better resolution (640 x 360), a more natural camera move and a backing sound track. It's not long enough (I had to butcher the original music to make it come even close to fit 390 frames) but it's good enough to make me want to keep trying.

Phillies_shot_B.mp4

[Fuchur]

 

 

but your model and software is capable of so much more

I'm coming around to the idea that if you're not sitting at your computer modeling, the least you can do is have it cranking out frames. While you're at your day job, it's nice to know that you're still making progress on your hobby.

 

do you still have the old link to your tutorials? i could have a look if i can find them.

The link is at the bottom of this post, just below my name. On Feb. 8, at Hash Support's request, I uploaded backups of all the tutorial files to Hash's FTP site. All those files have links to the old Hash directories. He said he could "fix the links" once they were sent.

 

 

Hi Rodger,

 

just wanted to let you know, that your tutorials are still on the server and I asked Jason if he could create a new subdomain for your tutorials. (that is more tidy and easier to work with than having it in the main directory.

I'll tell you when the subdomain is ready .

See you

*Fuchur*

[R Reynolds]

 

I'll tell you when the subdomain is ready

 

Thanks, Gerald.

[R Reynolds]

The lady in red is also going to leave behind her smouldering cigarette, so the diner needs ash trays.

[itsjustme]

Looks great, Rodger!

[John Bigboote]

Perfect ashtray for Phillies... LOVE the refraction... reminds me of one I did awhile ago complete with cigarette and smoke...

 

https://youtu.be/t0GT3tDGvAE

[R Reynolds]

Now that I've come up with an excuse for the lady in red to be absent while leaving some tell tale items behind, I think I can move on to detailing the surrounding street.

[R Reynolds]

My back lot is taking shape. Here's the diner on the intersection with the Hopper Building across the street..

[robcat2075]

As always, it looks wonderful, Rodger!

[Shelton]

That is a wonderful shot!! I love the lighting and of course all the modeling. Excellent

 

Steve

[Rodney]

Impressive work Rodger.

I couldn't resist rendering out sequence of a camera moving through the scene (with your last image as a roto).

Obviously not as nice as an actual camera moving through the scene but its fun to feel like moving through that set never-the-less.

 

Edit: With apologies to Rodger, I replaced the first attachment with a more stylized rendering (with some post effect color work) because I like the painterly look.

The style reminded me of some of Hopper's work you posted when you first started the project.

style.mov

[R Reynolds]

Thanks for the encouraging words, everyone.

 

 

I couldn't resist rendering out sequence of a camera moving through the scene

 

It's funny, as soon as I see this technique, my first impression is "Look! I'm in a Ken Burns documentary".

 

 

I love the lighting...

 

Thanks Steve. If you like full daylight, how about the middle of the night?

 

 

I'm going back and forth on how much light the street lights should cast. Currently I'm leaning towards maybe too dark but I like the look of isolated pools of light on the road.

[R Reynolds]

And here's the closest thing I have to the composition of the original painting (shown on the right).

 

 

Clearly I've made way too many compromises to claim I've made a convincing copy. The lady in red is elsewhere for reasons previously discussed. The facade across the street is wrong and too far away. But I want to use Hopper's "Early Sunday Morning" facade and I want the street wide enough to accommodate rails for a locomotive or street car (my next modelling project). The street light has to be in the shot to both support the street car's high voltage feed wire and to cast enough light across the street. And don't ask me to explain how I can be fairly close on the perspective of objects within the diner and then have the angle of the background street be so "off".

 

At any rate, if I do say so myself, I think my lighting has better "middle of the night" atmosphere. Let's just call it an homage to the original.

[Rodney]

I'm really liking this angle:

 

 

There's something about it that just pulls me in.

[itsjustme]

I think it's fantastic! Great stuff, Rodger!

[R Reynolds]

 

I'm really liking this angle...

Two funny things about that angle;

 

First, you're looking at all the buildings I have that are close to being presentable, so the composition is more driven by the desire to not see the "ends" of my back lot rather than my skill at composition. Secondly, I realize now that you can see the back of the Phillies sign with the decal showing through the single layer of patches. If this was a daylight shot you'd also notice that there is no support frame to hold those signs up. Time for more detailing.

 

Meanwhile with Nancy's help I got the headlights of the taxi to shine on the diner. Now I'm putting the taxi in various locations to figure out the best looking intensity and dispersion angle Right now I'm gauging intensity by how washed out the interior is. I think this is the best so far.

[ypoissant]

Fantastic result. Your attention to details, both for geometries, materials and lighting, is admirable.

[Rodney]

Nerdwriter has a piece on 'Nighthawks' that was just released.

And of course it immediately made me think of Rodger's work here.

 

xhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?t=5&v=7j5pUtRcNX4