My homework thread for the October 2018 Class.
Week 1 Submission: Page 2
Week 2 Submission: Page 5
Week 3 Submission: Page 8
Week 4 Submission: Page 9
Day 4 done!
I'll be honest I probably won't get this fully done by the deadline, which pains me because I've been working on this a lot, but I'll upload what I can, and push on forward!
Spent most of the day retopologizing the pumpkin and the body because SURPRISE I'm still not that great at it. However I did manage to get all quads and edge loops in mostly all the important spots! So that's a step in the right direction methinks.
I also spent a great chunk of time learning about smoke and fire physics 'cause this is the first time I've properly utilized them. Jeez this week's been a lot of firsts...
This is what I have in mind for the pumpkin, still got some tweaking with the fire and smoke to do, the emission objects are still there, but I think I'm on the right track:
I dunno what it is but I can't shake the feeling that something feels... off... about this, but I can't for the life of me put my finger on it. If any of yous have some insight I'd love to hear it, but for now I'm off to bed, so have a good day and happy Blending!
thecabbagedetective nice work , i think that the edges r too perfect ! so u feel Something off
thecabbagedetective Wow, how the heck did you make those wickedly cool flames??! Those are masively awesome! 🤘🏻😬
thecabbagedetective wow Aaron. That is so cool. I have no idea how you got those flames but damn that is a nice effect. Indeed the other lines indeed might be a bit too perfect but I like what I see.
mmalhomsi Yeah you're definitely right. Any idea how I'd go about fixing that? Merging the two materials together via texture painting perhaps? Thanks btw!
ssmurfmier1985 Why thank you! Definitely start with this tutorial which goes over the basics of setting up and rendering smoke and fire.
yyukinoh1989 Ah thank ya, too kind! I linked a tutorial to Miranda, that'll be a great place to start if you want to do similar stuff.
thecabbagedetective maybe by beveling the edges more ,and Moving the vertices randomely , can u post a wireframe ?
thecabbagedetective sure gonna check it out. Since I wanted to make it look like the long pumpkin gives of smell and then the little one like sparkling stars around him and one a fire look anf another one a bloody look
mmalhomsi Here ya go! Apologies about the dense geometry, topology is still very much an untold art for me.
The selected edge loop is essentially the divider between the two materials.
Just a little PSA that I might be a bit late. Need to get my hair cut soon so I might just cut (hehehe) out the middle man and just pull all my hair out, that'll work right?
I swear to God Blender is so slow whenever I click on something it can literally take up to a minute to register, I wanna throw my PC out the window with me attached to it.
Oh boy automatic weights don't work with my mesh so I gotta weight paint by hand this is gonna be FUUUUUUUUUUN. But I guess it's a good thing in the grand scheme of things, rigging is one of the most boring parts of any workflow so learning how to do it is best to get over and done with.
Ugh...
So because I haven't had the time to retopologise the entire model I can't properly rig it, so it's just going to be awkwardly A-posing in the render... great...
Well this is what I have for the character render. So much more I wanted to get done, like the posing, the materials not looking right, the lack of small details, the lack of wrinkles in the shirt, the lack of detailed skin, lack of an interesting background etc etc. I'm just fortunate that this is part of the competition which, if I'm allowed to continue taking part in, I can iterate on it. I'll write the story dialogue thing I do when it's fully done. Lighting, fire and pumpkin look alright for the most part though, I think.
Well that's it from me for now. This week has been little more than stress and disappointment and I'm tired, so I'll do the light match in the morning. I have to admit though that this week consisted of me trying so many new things I think my ambition just got the best of me. Sorry for being so late on both of these but I'll make a proper homework post when I wake up, hopefully it'll be in time for grading and the showreel. With that all being said and done I wish you all the best and to have a good day!
Homework Submission Week 3
"He pondered over his last memories. The smell of freshly cut grass. The touch of the gentle breeze brushing against his cheek. The taste of his own blood as his consciousness painfully faded from him.
He did not know where he was, or more importantly, when he was. As he looked afar he saw bright lights, hinting at civilization. A civilization much more advanced than he could have ever possibly heard about, be it from a novel, a stage play or the mad ramblings of an elderly hermit.
He was taken aback, due to the lack of pain from violently yanking out the blood-stained axe from his deteriorated - yet somehow functioning - body. This confusion quickly evolved into gratitude, as he now knew he'd have no blockades stopping his age old mission.
He thought about his past, about what he had done, and whether the cycle should continue. He almost audibly scoffed at the idea of stopping now, and made haste to his next target..."
Well that was fun to type. I do feel the render doesn't quite do it justice yet though, due to the derpy A-posing. I did improve it a little via compositing though.
I definitely feel better about this than I did yesterday, 'cause yeah it still doesn't look great but on the other hand at the beginning of this week I had no idea how to make characters, so it has its plus sides as well. I wish I coulda put more light on the axe though.
EDIT: Here's a version that's composited differently, not sure which one is better:
Now onto the light match, with the goal being provided by 
jokayo00, by all means check it out and show 'em some love. So here was the goal:
And here was my result:
Don't think I did too bad, though it could be a bit more contrasted. Also for the LIFE of me I couldn't figure out how he got such a strong rim light yet has very little shadow. The closest I got was putting an area lamp almost directly above our little goblin friend here but that'd end up making the entire thing bright. Also, fun fact, this is using SRGB, 'cause Filmic honestly looked kinda horrible. Guess I'll be sticking to SRGB if I wanna do stylized stuff from now on.
Well, that's me done for the week, apologies again for taking so long but I wish you all the best of luck and happy blending!
thecabbagedetective this is a really nice render!! (the pumpkin)
With your Light Match I feel like the fill light is a bit too strong, but overall good job :)
thecabbagedetective Yeah, I feel you on not getting to your goal, but you did learn a lot to get to the goal, so a pat on the back there. I always enjoy your ideas and scenes.
That's a tricky lighting match. It is a ridiculous rim light, so I'm guessing this is a composited image; body and tail separated. Good effort.
rostzwiebel Thanks! You certainly have a point with the light match, plus my composited scene I feel is too contrasted. Oh well, time to fix that!