Project Review: Southern California Honda Dealers: 3D Motion Graphics-2006

 The "Hero" Logo rendered out in the final seated position. This was combined in post with the background animation.

 The base polygon model as built by me for the job of the Honda logo "hood crest".

 For the background renders we did it with one subdivision level on....

 We did find that with 2 levels of subdivision on the crest the reflection were much smoother so we upped the resolution which doubled the render time as can be demonstrated below.

 An early frame where the particle engine has generated over 200 crests flying from behind camera in a space filed of dark blue[ Honda Blue]

 This frame shows the large 'flare' or random highlights you get with a gravity based particle system, since it is random in how it throws the crests out into space,you can get surprising results.

 The background itself had an animated noise added to it, to produce the caustic 'waves' in the fog itself, and that was modulated so we had movement with the crests, lights, and in the fog itself.

 The wave had ended and they are all now drifting back. This is where we overlaid the "Hero" crest as the space cleared up to showcase it.

 Here is the final frame of the Motion Graphics sequence Animation

Project Review

Southern California Honda Dealers

3D Motion Graphics-2006

Client: Southern California Honda Dealers via The Cimarron Group.
Art Director: Myself.
Project Date: August 2006.

After successfully getting an account with Lotus North America for the US Launch of the new Elise back in 2004, we then pursued the California Honda Dealers Association to provide advertising for them, so we did a pitch package that included some virtual cars, as well as 3D Motion Graphic as we will look at today.

I first built out a 3D model of the Honda logo for the spots, that was built as an all subdivision surface, so we could do very high resolution renders of the piece for close ups and print work. I also used this same model for the particle system base object that I set up for the creation of the Motion Graphics background for the various cards we did for the presentation.

The piece was a simple background of multiple Honda hood crest logos floating is space with a volumetric light effect to have streams of light playing on the surfaces. I rendered it out in a two pass format with a full render and a specular render so we could isolate the highlight to add post effects in Motion Graphic. I also did a Hero shot render of the final framed logo at rest as well.

I also rendered various Honda Car Models in 3D as both photo-real 3D renders, as well as a stylized cartoon shaded looks, to show the capabilities of the 3D virtual automotive solutions we were offering along with the MGFX.

I will have future posts covering those looks as well. I did eventually move ahead to work on the 2009 Accord pitch, and that can bee seen here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Honda Accord 2009 Launch

Frame 028: As the Accord flips over from underneath.

Frame 038: As the Accord flip is finishing.

Frame 050: As the Accord almost at rest with nice "hoop" reflection in door.

Frame 070: The Accord at rest for a beat.

Frame 070: As the Accord spins around showing all sides.

Project Review
Virtual Photo shoot
2009 Honda Accord Launch
PART I

Client: Goutam Mitra
Art Director: Myself
Lighting Consultant: Jerry Garns.
Project Date: Fall 2008

In Late 2008 I was tasked with helping launch the newly styled 2009 Honda Accord. Previously I had worked to pitch Honda a year earlier as well as doing 3D Illustration for the Lotus Elise account at Cimarron, so I was ready to go.
Many people do not even realize that the cars they see in print ad's and on tv are mostly 3D models rendered in a computer. 3D Virtual photo shoots are a fraction of the cost, so they are getting more and more prevalent with all agencies concurrent with a actual Photographer.
On this project the invaluable help of Jerry Garns a fellow Art Center grad, he consulted us for lighting as he is the master and expert in setting up a real shoot, and everything he does in real life we copied in the virtual stage.
I worked the front end of the project to help secure the work via tests. I did a lot of Pre-viz work, but the final rendering and animation was handed off to Dean Fowler to execute as he is an expert in setting up the car geometry for a realistic animated move as seen in the link.
Also it should be noted that Honda is the only vendor that provides the agency a perfect 3D model built correctly up front. Bear in mind this is not cheap, near $100,000 , but the 3D model is perfect, and ready to texture and render.
Also, even though I have built my own cars from scratch, by getting a perfect model from the client, you get to spend the majority of your time perfecting the materials and virtual photography aspects and really get to have an adequate amount of time to pre-light and stage the car.

Cheers, THOM

You can link to the Honda site with Deans animation by clicking the Post Title above, or paste the text below into your browser:

http://automobiles.honda.com/accord-coupe/

Project Review Virtual Photo shoot 2009 Honda Accord Launch PART II

 My lighting test of the 2009 Honda Accord Coupe done in black paint.

The Coupe is here rendered out in a lighter mist blue type of color.

A deep rich blue metallic is rendered out for this lighting shot of the Honda.

A Warm Champagne type of color was tested in the lighting model too.

A Dark Metallic Grey paint scheme in this Virtual Automotive 3D Render.

A Green-Lime metallic paint variation on the 2009 Accord Coupe.

 As a Hot Rod fan, I love candy metallics, so I did a candy tangerine color choice too.This was the base scene I used for the Mitsubishi project here.

The final was done in red and can be seen in PART I here.

 Honda had a candy root-beer color than season so I threw that on the coupe too, LOVE that color.

 A lighter grey paint scheme was done as well.

I also did a white paint job which required a lot of relighting as the white bounced the illumination quite a bit.

Project Review
Virtual Photo shoot
2009 Honda Accord Launch
PART II

Client: Goutam Mitra
Art Director: Myself
Lighting Consultant: Jerry Garns.
Project Date: Fall 2008

In Late 2008 I was tasked with helping launch the newly styled 2009 Honda Accord. Previously I had worked to pitch Honda a year earlier as well as doing 3D Illustration for the Lotus Elise account at Cimarron, and today I post the second in a series on this job.

Today I have posted some of the lighting set ups I created ahead of time for the various colors we might need for the project. Each paint color requires adjustment in lighting just as in the real world, so for example, a white car and a black one have very different lighting and intensities due to the paint color and how it reacts to the environment and lighting, and this is also true in a Virtual Photo-Shoot as well. Each scene is dialed in over a few pre-passes until a look is good to go in an acceptable time-frame for production.

I built out the various shaders and materials and rendered these out in Cebas' Final Render Product. I also used these Pre-Lit scenes for other automotive projects since once I had the set ups ready to go I simply replace the car into the scene in which the paint choice is closest in color and brightness, and render away.

You can view PART I here, and the 3D Logo work here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Virtual Photo shoot-2009 Honda Accord Launch PART III

Here is the last of the dozen colors for the Honda Accord rendered out in a darker Metallic beige with the wire frames showing thru for reference.

The base Quad Poly Mesh model provided to our production from Honda.

Once disassembled, renamed, smoothed, and grouped, I then apply textures and as seen here add on the Polygon Subdivision[ Turbo smooth] to the Mesh.

The virtual set is similar to an actual automotive set with a 3 three wall cyclorama background with the rounded corners to blend the light up from floor to wall, as well as using a panel above for the lighting.

This side view Polygon[cut-away] view shows the set and reflective panel surrounding the car with just the front open to the outside world.

Here is a screen grab of the 3DSmax scene showing the reflective panel is texture mapped so I can have greater control over the actual bright reflection on the car itself.

Project Review
Virtual Photo shoot
2009 Honda Accord Launch
PART III

Client: Goutam Mitra
Art Director: Myself
Lighting Consultant: Jerry Garns.
Project Date: Fall 2008

In Late 2008 I was tasked with helping launch the newly styled 2009 Honda Accord, and in PART III today I have some Behind-the-Art 3D Images showing the build, as well as some of the key factors in laying out a Automotive Virtual Stage set-Up.

First and foremost is that in order to get a more photo real render you must use a GI, or a Global Illumination renderer to achieve this. There are many out there and ultimately they all will allow the designer to achieve a good look, however the ease of use, and especially the speed in which it renders is a very important key for commercial productions. It is one thing to have an open ended time frame and budget, but in production there must be compromises to get the job in under budget and on time every time. I prefer Cebas' Final Render

I have built out a few cars myself, but thankfully Honda provided an excellent 3D asset when you do work for them, and this is what we were given.

During the project I had a special locked down server at work to keep the 3D scenes and 3D renders off the main network, so only I using a password could access these assets. When a new car is launched confidentiallity is a big piece of the production process and must be accounted for in pipelines and any modifications for privacy.

I had the privilege of meeting up with a fellow ACCD grad who specialized in Automotive photography Jerry Garns, and this help he gave to the team translated perfectly over into the GI virtual automotive world.


You can view PART I here,
You can view the 3D Logo work here.
You can view PART II just below in sequence to this post, or click here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review 2008 Honda pitch- 3D Shaders: Sketch and Graphic [Toon] PART IV

A sketch shader was used with an aged paper background for this 'Sketchbook" look I did in 3D using Cebas' Final Toon.

 The first pass was a bit dark and the lines were a darker value of the base color keeping the scene monochromatic.

 I adjusted the lines to a brighter color while still retaining the red in there for the next round.

 I went fully white for the lines in this Ink-n-Paint look. Note the reflections on the ground as I used a FR_Raytrace Map in the 'toon' reflection channel.

 A version with thinner black outlines for the last one.

 A small render test more realistic but styilized none the less. 

I learned better car lighting right after this stage of the project and can be seen here.

 The basic set up with the geometry from the Camera view. Harder shadows work best for toonz'.[IMAO]

 

 A Screen shot overhead showing the base scene set-up.

Project Review
2008 Honda pitch- 3D Shaders: Sketch and Graphic
[Toon]
PART IV

Client: Goutam Mitra
Art Director: Myself
Lighting Consultant: Jerry Garns.
Project Date: Fall 2008

In his fourth post for the work I did back at The Cimarron Group securing Honda as a client, today I have posted some shader experimentation work I did for the project to achieve a graphic 2D look using the 3D models.

During the project pitch I was asked to create these various looks for a Honda spot to pitch to the company and we went with a Graphic 2D look using 'Cartoon Shaders' in 3D to achieve this look. I had prior experience in 2D Animation, so I had a few things I addressed for the look including the line fill and shadow, as well as the the sketch styles.

These were eventually animated and cut into a few 30 and 15 second TV spots to sell them on the look. One big advantage is that the production time for this look is very reasonable in cost as the shader frames are one 50th the render time.

A fun shader project that though did not go to finish, I did gain valuable experience in setting up a 'toon' scene for production in a MGFX pipeline.

You can view PART I here,
You can view the 3D Logo work here.
You can view PART II just below in sequence to this post, or click here.
You can view PART III here.

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Hyundai 2009 Virtual Car Remodeling PART I

 Here is the final Hyundai Sonata Headlight assembly Model as delivered for the project.

 The base 3D Model for the headlight with subdivision removed.

 Here is the final smoothed 3D asset. I did not smooth the honeycomb reflector object as it was not needed.

 An overhead shot of the base model.

  Here is the Turbo-Smoothed Model with the setting at three subdivisions

Project Review

Hyundai Sonata 2009

Virtual Car Remodeling PART I

 

Client: Hyundai via 2HM[ Two Headed Monster]
Producer: John Busenberg.
Project Date: Summer 2009.

When I was in-house in Hollywood at The Cimarron Group, I was called down to 2HM[ Two-Headed Monster], to assist for two weeks in a Hyundai project where the virtual car models they received, were very problematic and required a good amount of full remodeling so that they could do the website configurations and the television spots with these virtual cars.

I had done a few automotive virtual car shoots for Herbie, Lotus, Honda, Mitsubishi, and for LandAirSea Designs before, as I hand built Herbie, the Lotus, and Marek Djordjevics Landairsea.com  Supercar from scratch myself, where the Honda and Mitsubishi were scanned in.

 I also worked on site for the two weeks at 2HM, which was a very nice change up since at Cimarron I was  Department of one, and work was always drenched in solitude, so I got to sit with a big group of 3DS users which was very nice!

So for the first post in this work, I have a quick model I started with, which was to remake the complex headlight assembly for the Sonata model. 

It was build all subdivision so they could Turbo smooth the object to get a perfect surface.

I will have added posts covering the body and interior work I did on various models since they did the whole 2009 Hyundai lineup I worked on over half the cars. Fun stuff!

Cheers, THOM
    

Transportation [Car Design] 3D Rendering, Design, and 3D Printing for Automotive

A Sample of my 3D rendered Car Designs and Illustrations.

Transportation [Car Design]

3D Rendering, 3D Design, and 3D Printing for Automotive

Automotive design is what I was trained in at both CCS in Detroit, and finished up at Art Center in Pasadena California with a Degree in Transportation Design Fall of 1991. My first few jobs were sketching Car commercial mood boards and storyboard frames out of school, a typical path for many aspiring Entertainment Design seeking Transportation Design majors going into work in Hollywood. I worked on a dozen or so commercials in 2D for Mitsubishi, Chrysler, Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln, Ford, and others. The directors liked to hire car majors as we were specifically trained to get the product right, the car. so we also ended up developing the futuristic set designs behind the cars as well as most of us were all Science Fiction geeks as well.

As time went on the development of 3D rendering has become photo realistic, with over 90% of the television and print work you see is actually not photography any longer, but 3D rendering of a Digital or Virtual Car.  For 3D Automotive work I have worked on Lotus, Mitsubishi[ again], Honda, Hyundai, Smart Car US, and a few others.

I have been working on virtual cars since my first full car in 3D back in 2003 for a pitch we made at The Cimarron Group to Lotus for the US launch of the Elise. At the time the cars were not in the US, though they did the show circuit and were at an LA auto show. I found a full set of pictures online as well as a blueprint for basic dimensions and proceeded to hand built the car from scratch in 3D.

As an advanced surface artist, 3D modeling a car was a virtual version of working in clay,. only the speed was much faster. A clay model was about 200 hours or work to finish, and I build out the full exterior of the Lotus in about 50 Hours. Mirroring objects that is available in 3D allows for perfect symmetry and you basically build half the car at a time and then modify each side for side specific details.

I have built my favorite car as well, a Vintage Volkswagen Bug for the rebooting of the Herbie franchise for Disney and got to build a 1963 Rag Top bug, from every part inside out and x-ray. This was used in the advertisements on TV and trailers in theaters.

Some clients like Honda wisely provide the model to you, so your time is spent dialing in the materials and lighting of the car. For this part a fellow ACCD grad and I were honored to visit a ACCD Grad Jerry Garns a master at automotive lighting, and translated his studio lighting into our 3D world.

My most recent adventure in 3D Transportation work and been to build out a full 3D asset for 3D Printing of a 1937 Sterling-J Pre War semi truck. The truck is currently being constructed out is Northern California, and I can't wait to see the final results.

 I have added a button on the right to quickly reference this in the future.

If you need a visualization or a 3D Model build or a piece of transportation design please contact me.

Cheers, THOM

NOTE: Blogger is limiting Image Size, a full size detailed image can be seen at this link.

How big is the market for 3D goods and services?

3D Conceptual Design Market Breakdown

This following list illustrates the great potential that 3D design has, and will have in the near future in a broad array of business ventures on an international level.
3D Designers will be the central player in these type of products and services.
So, "How big is the market for 3D goods and services?", HUGE!

1. 3D Model sales.
-A. Stock Model sales.
--aa. TurboSquid.com
--bb. 3D02.com [ selling on a second main site]
--cc. 3dconceptualdesigner.com [ setting up our own sales system online for 100% profit]
-B. Custom Model Sales.
--aa. For the market of Advertising.
--bb. For the market of the Medical Industry.
--cc. For the Education Market.
--dd. For the Product Design Market.
----I. IDSA. [Industrial Design Society of America]
--ee. For the Entertainment Industry Market.
----I. Cinefex Magazine.
----II. AD Week.
----III. FVX online site advertising.[CG-talk, VFX-pro, et all]

2. 3D Design Illustration.
-A. Advertising Illustration.
--aa. Traditional Corporate Agencies.
----I. In USA. [ New York, Boston, Chicago et all.]
----II. International Agencies.
--bb. Entertainment AD Agencies.
----I. Cimarron group, BLT, et. All.
----II. In-House Advertising from the Studios. [WB, Fox, DreamWorks, et. all]
-B. Medical Illustration.
--aa. Pharmaceutical Manufacturers.
--bb. Hospitals.[ County, City of Hope, Private, et all]
--cc. University.[ UCLA, USC, et all]
--dd. Private Practitioner.[ Doctors, Dentists, Chiropractic, et all]
-C. Packaging Illustration.
--aa. Toy Manufacturers.[Mattel, McFarlane Toys, Playskool, Disney, et all]
--bb. Consumer Electronic Manufacturers.[Sony, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, et all]
--cc. Cosmetics Manufacturers.[Revlon, Avon, Mary Kay et all]
--dd. Tools and Hardware.[Proto, Craftsman, Maco, et all ]
--ee. Food and Drink Companies.[ Kraft, Whole Food, Trader Joes, et all]
-D. Technical Illustration.
--aa. Industrial Manufacturing Clients.
----I. Professional and Trade[internal procedure, safety, repair].
----II. Public interaction.[manuals, help, training etc.]
--bb. Electronics Manufacturing Clients.
----I. Professional and Trade[internal procedure, safety, repair].
----II. Public interaction.[manuals, help, training etc.]
--cc. Software Creation Clients.
----I. Public interaction.[manuals, help, training etc.]

3. 3D Architectural Pre-Viz.
-A. 3D Illustration.
--aa. For City and County Permits.
--bb. For Investor Presentations.
--cc. For Marketing.
--dd. For client Design analysis.
-B. 3D Fly-thru.
--aa. For Design Presentations.
-C. 3D Sunlight, Reflection, and Line of sight studies.
--aa. For client design analysis.
--bb. For Public Relations to City and Neighbors.

4. 3D Motion Graphics Design.
-A. Animated Title Cards.
--aa. For Television Clients.
--bb. For Film Clients.
--cc. For Online Clients.
--dd. For Mobile Media Clients.
B. Animated Visual Effects.
--aa. For Television Clients.
--bb. For Film Clients.
--cc. For Online Clients.
--dd. For Mobile Media Clients.
C. Full CGI Animated Scenes.
--aa. For Television Clients.
--bb. For Film Clients.
--cc. For Online Clients.
--dd. For Mobile Media Clients.

5. 3D Animation Design.[ Character].
-A. Animation Properties.
--aa. For BIG Studios.[Pixar, Blue Sky, Disney, DreamWorks, Sony, et. All.]
--bb. For Medium studios, Blur etc.
-B. Animated Corporate Mascots.
--aa. For Internal Business use.[employee and client]
----I. For corporate intranet.
----II. For Presentations.
----III. For client relations
--bb. For external business use [public]
----I. Mascot Design. [ ala. Geiko’s Gecko]
----II. For Software [ala. The Microsoft Paperclip Helper]

6. 3D Product Design.
-A. Toy Design.
--aa. Pre-Viz Designs.
----I. For Manufacturer. [ Mattel et all.]
----II. For Independent Designer/ Design Firm.
--bb. Model to Part for Product.
-B. Consumer Product Design.
--aa. Pre-Viz Designs.
----I. For Manufacturer. [ Sony, Apple, et all.]
----II. For Independent Designer/ Design Firm.
--bb. Model to Part for Production.
-C. Transportation Design.
--aa. Automotive Clients.
----I. Smaller manufacturers.[ Smart, Tesela, et all].
----II. Larger Clients sub-contracted.[ GM, Honda, Ferrari et all]
--bb. Motorcycle Clients.
----I. Motorcycle Manufacturers. [Harley, Triumph, Honda, Ducati, et all]
----II. Parts Manufacturers.[aftermarket]
--cc. Bicycling Clients.
----I. Bike Manufacturers.[Schwinn, Trek, et all’
----II. Parts Manufacturers.[aftermarket]
--dd. Yacht Clients.
----I. Yacht and Powerboat Manufacturers.
----II. Parts Manufacturers.[aftermarket]
--ee. Aerospace Clients.
----I. Airplane Manufacturers. [Boeing et all]
----II. Space Flight and Satellite Manufacturers. [NASA, JPL, Northrop et all]
-D. Military Design.
--aa. US Government.
--bb. International Clients.

7. 3D Web Design.
-A. 3D Interface Design.
--aa. Illustrations and movies for use.
--bb. User Interface for use .[UI]
-B. Full 3D Immersive web page design.
--aa. Virtual Spaces.
--bb. Animated Movies.

8. 3D Interactive Design.
-A. Entertainment CD/DVD design.
--aa. Video Game Market.
----I. Console Games.
----II. PC Games.
----III. Online Games.
----IV. Phone Games.
-B. Edutainment CD/DVD design.
--aa. Publishing Houses.
--bb. Universities.
--cc. Foundations.
--dd. Church and Synagogue.
-C. Traditional Educational CD/DVD design.
--aa. Publishing Houses.
--bb. Universities.
--cc. Foundations.
--dd. Church and Synagogue.
-D. Medical Training CD/DVD design.
--aa. Publishing Houses.
--bb. Universities.
--cc. Hospitals.
--dd. Private Practitioners.
----I. Doctors.
----II. Dentists.
--ee. Pharmaceutical Companies.
----I. For Pharmacists.
----II. For Doctors.
----III. For Patients.
-E. Industrial and Trade CD/DVD design.
--aa. Industrial Manufacturing.
----I. Training.
----II. Safety. [O.S.H.A. et all ]

9. 3D Effects Movie Sales.
-A. Stock VFX Sales.
--aa. “Art-Beats” type of licensed stock library sales.
--bb. Online asset sales.
-B. Custom VFX frames sales.
--aa. Client specific designs bought outright.

10. 3D Training.
-A. Online 3D Training.
--aa. Schools.[ Art Center, Gnomon, Otis, Cal Arts]
--bb. Corporations.
--cc. Peers and Societies. [CG-talk, 3D Total, et all]
-B. Published 3D Training.
--aa. Schools.
--bb. Corporations.
--cc. Peers and Societies. [Walden, Doubleday, et all]
-C. Classroom 3D Training.
--aa. Schools.
--bb. Corporations.
--cc. Peers and Societies. [SIGGRAPH et all]

Cheers, THOM

Project Review: Herbie-Fully Loaded MGFX

Client: Walt Disney: via The Cimarron Group
Art Director: Eric Counter
Project Date: Fall 2004

I had down time at my prior employer and decided after hearing that a new Herbie movie was coming out to practice my quad modeling technique after I modeled my first car the Lotus Elise. Now the VW bug is one of my favorite cars, and having owned over a dozen vintage VW's myself, I was excited to build out the car.

I started with the body and built out almost every part, including the floorpan, front and rear suspension, interior, engine, and most every little piece. A typical car takes about two weeks to build, or 80 Hrs from scratch. This one was right around that time to complete.

For the Trailer, I sent out the car to be rigged and animated by Dean Fowler at Machine Films. Once the animation was done, I rendered it out using a "Cartoon" shader to look like a posterized 70's feel that the Film Producers were wanting. I used Cebas' Top line GI Renderer, Final-Render and Final-Toon.[ Permanent Linked to the Right>]

A few years went by and I met with a fellow A.C.C.D. alumni Jerry Garns and we talked about automotive lighting as we worked on a few Honda Accord spots with the virtual Photography. I implemented what I had learned and I did "Herbie Black Tie". Funny now Volkswagen has incorporated the "Max" character a 1964 VW into the current advertising campaign.

Cheers, THOM

Link to Trailer is in Post Title above or Paste in text below into your browser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SdNW3_Sh6E