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    ② Week 8


            Bulgari Serpenti Ring      

    Feedback from Mentors (Class 15 )

    Shot 1-2
    Balance key and fill lighting.
    Increase pscale variation for particles (small, medium, large).

    Shot 2-2
    Make some particles glow in comp.
    Try a large area light on the side of the tree.
    Ensure particles have more lighting variation; avoid a flat look.
    Adjust motion blur to feel more natural.
    Address flickering on the ring.
    Vary the mountain log’s color to avoid uniformity.

    Shot 3-1
    Increase lighting variation in matte paintings.
    Add glints on diamonds, but keep them photographic, not exaggerated.

    General Adjustments
    Maintain range in lighting for particles.
    Consider slowing down particles for better control.
    Add more shape in lighting to particles.
    Ease into the ring drop smoothly.
    Scale elements back by 10-15% to avoid being too close to the frame edge.




    Week 8 Task
    - shot1 : scale fx timing adjustment
    -shot2: adjust point scale of snake trail fx
    - shot2 rendering


    1. Shot 1 : scale fx timing adjustment

    about shot1 is that the scale fx (the beginning part) has been slowed down a bit to match the updated camera this week 

    Week7 shot 1 (scale transformation fx by Yilin Zhao; shader&camera by Mia Esparragoza; lighting by Zane Kidwell, particle fx by Soi Park,  Compositing by Veronica Ramirez)
    Week8 shot 1 with new timing (scale transformation fx by Yilin Zhao;particle fx by Soi Park; Camera by  Mia Esparragoza )



    2. Shot2: adding random pscale value to snake particle trail

    I've split the main part of the snake trail into 3 layers, making it easier to adjust the emission and alpha part of the trail, also added random's pscale value for each layer’s particles


    week8: Snake Trail fx layer 1
    week8: Snake Trail fx layer 2
    week8: Snake Trail fx layer 3


    wip inside houdini
    wip: particle sperate into 3 layers
    random pscale setting


    for shot2‘s particles (Test 1), because I forgot that the background color is bright, and then I kept viewing the particle effect against a black background, I found that shot2’s particles were a bit too small (or too light in color) with the background, resulting in a bit of a lack of visibility of the particles

    Test1 for particle trail (shader&camera by Mia Esparragoza; lighting by Zane Kidwell, ring anim& snake shape particle trail by Yilin Zhao)
    Test1 in comp  (shader&camera by Mia Esparragoza; lighting by Zane Kidwell, ring anim& snake shape particle trail by Yilin Zhao,Compositing by Veronica Ramirez)



    Then I tested three different random pscale, emissio and alpha values, the main reason for choosing the test2 as the footage for this week's comp is that the test2, where the snake particle meets the tree branch, has a very obvious shadow change, while the other two don't see much interaction between the light and the particle trail.


    Test 2
    Test 3
    Test 4




    Yilin Zhao / SANM560 / SCAD x Harbor