Category Archives: News and Updates

Head Mounted Camera Rig Upgrade ~ Facial Motion Capture

So I have been tinkering with this home made head mounted camera rig, that I have been using to capture the Facial Performance for the Characters both in the Galiwango film (http://www.galiwango.com/) and the Nkoza and Nankya TV series (http://www.nkozaandnankya.com/episode-1-nkoza-nankya )

I wasn’t too happy with the durability and ease of use of the first build (you can see that here: http://www.galiwango.com/2012/11/05/custom-head-mounted-camera-rig-for-facial-performance-capture/), so I made some adjustments. I went to the Dollar store and purchased 4 lights, each $1 Dollar, I also visited Staples and purchase a $24 dollar Smart Phone Car holder (total expenditure $28 Dollars.)

IMG_9321b

Below are the steps I took to upgrade the part that holds the Camera that points towards the Face.

Step 1.

step_00

Step 2.

step_01

Step 3.

step_02

Step 4.

step_03

Step 5.

step_04

Step 6.

step_05

Step 7.

step_06

Step 8.

step_07

Step 9.

step_08

Step 10.

step_09

Step 11.

step_10

Step 12.

step_11

Step 13.

step_12

Step 14.

step_13

Step 15.

step_14

Step 16.

step_15

Step 17.

step_16

Photo Panoramas ~ National Air & Space Museum, VA

This is a collection of Panoramic Photos I took during a field trip with my kids to learn about the history of flight, and to check out the famous Black Bird featured in Transformers 3, as a Decepticon. They totally loved the experience. The Smithsonian Institution did an awesome job of blending the Transformers Movie theme with the real spy plane. I have also added some still photos that I found rather fascinating.

NOTE: To view the Panorama, simply place your mouse over the photo and move the Cursor either left or right to see the rest of the wide angle image. Click on the Image to View a Larger Version

Space Shuttle Discovery ~ Panorama (Please Credit me if you wish to use this photo)

[photonav url=’/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/shuttle_Panorama_solomon_w_jagwe_02.jpg’ popup=colorbox]
 

Space Shuttle Discovery (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States,[4] and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011. Discovery has flown more than any other spacecraft having completed 39 successful missions in over 27 years of service.

 

Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” ~ Panorama (Please Credit me if you wish to use this photo)

[photonav url=’/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/black_bird_spy_plane_solomon_w_jagwe_00.jpg’ popup=colorbox]

 

The Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft.[1] It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by Lockheed and its Skunk Works division. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson was responsible for many of the design’s innovative concepts. During reconnaissance missions the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats.

Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” ~ Still Photo, Non-Panorama (Please Credit me if you wish to use this photo)

lockheed_black_bird_solomon_w_jagwe_00

BMW Demo, 3D ~ Rendered in 3DS Max

Here is another Octane test of a BMW I did using 3DS Max. I used Octane’s built in Daylight system for the lighting. The average render for each frame set at 1280×720 at 30fps, was 1:29 minutes (I minute and 29 Seconds) I am using a Geforce GT 640 graphics card for the real-time render ~ the Card has 2GB of graphics Ram.

 

Here is another Octane test I did using 3DS Max. This scene has no lights, all the lighting information is gathered from the Environment Map, which is set as a Texture Environment in the Octane Render settings. All the maps have also been converted from standard Mental Ray Maps to Octane maps. I used a combination of Specular and Diffuse maps. The reflections are captured nicely, I am so loving these Shaders and the built in Ambient Occlusion mode.

This is the finished Render

solomon_W_jagwe_octane_car_render_01

 

Here is the Wireframe of the Scene inside of 3DS Max.

solomon_W_jagwe_octane_car_render_00

Jungle Scene ~ Rendered with Octane for 3DS Max

This is a scene I set up in 3DS Max 2013, and rendered with the Octane 1.0 realtime renderer from OTOY. I am amazed at how much real time render engines are improving.  I used one single daylight, light, and made some edits to the maps; Octane offers a button to convert all the textures in a scene to Octane compatible shaders, but some slots are not taken into consideration so I had to add the texture maps for the Specular slot and normal map slot.  I am impressed by the results.

Here is the real time render from Octane:

solomon_jagwe_octane_render_00
This is another shot from a different camera:

solomon_jagwe_octane_render_02
Here is the wireframe of the scene in 3DS Max 2013.

solomon_jagwe_octane_render_03

Crysis 3 features full-performance motion capture which is a first for Crytek.

A shout to my friends at Faceware Technologies and Image Metrics for their contribution to the Facial Performance capture for the soldier characters in Crysis 3.

crysis_3_facial_Motioncapture

Check out this video interview, you can see the head mounted cams being used, which are products made by Faceware Technologies (http://www.facewaretech.com), powered by Image Metrics.  Clearly the whole process is a challenge for the Actors to adapt to but seeing the results, the effort is well worth it, just as Avatar proved in terms of facial performance capture.

 

 

Film and TV actor David Kennedy who currently plays the character Michael ‘Psycho’ Sykes in Crysis 3 speaks to Matt Cuttle about acting in the ‘volume’ — the space in which the motion capture is recorded.

Unique to acting in a first-person game is that the actor playing the main character Prophet acts as the camera as he interacts with fellow actors. The actors perform around markers and scaffold poles and use storyboards and mock-ups for reference and speak to the director to help them understand the environment.

crysis_3_facial_Motioncapture_headware

David quotes Crysis 3 director Steven Bender when he says that actors will still be integral to movies and video games as they raise the bar when performances are captured for animation in films such as Avatar.

This particular session was recorded at Teddington Studios.

Did you ‘Like’ this?

Suit Up: The Crysis 3 Multiplayer Open Beta begins January 29, 2013 for PC, Xbox360 and PS3!

The Crysis 3 Multiplayer Beta will give you just a taste of the full multiplayer experience by offering a preview of the Hunter Mode and Crash Site game modes. Become the Hunter and choose your load-out, tactics, and Nanosuit upgrades carefully — or else you may become the hunted! Crysis 3 Multiplayer supports up to 16 players on PC and 12 on consoles. Crysis 3 is available February 19, 2013 on X360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

http://www.crysis.com/uk/crysis-3/beta

F-22 Close Air Support ~ Vray 3D Render

I created this 900 frame concept animation render using 3DS Max 2013. I rendered the different scenes using the VRAY renderer. Average render time per frame was about 1 minute and 30 seconds. I used Global Illumination with a spherical map that I created in Vue xStream, to provide the bulk of the lighting. I also added one single VRAY light for the sun direction.

Solomon_vray_test_render_a01

Here are some wire frame renders of the scene, including one with a convoy.

Solomon_vray_test_render_w01

 

Solomon_vray_test_render_w02

I hope to render the final animation sequence and see how long VRAY takes to complete the 900 frames.

This is the Spherical sky I created in Vue, that served as the ambient light source and sky dome. If you need to download a copy of the sky texture, do let me know in the comments.

Solomon_vray_test_render_w03

Crysis 3: OPEN BETA ~ Download and Play!!

crysis_3_beta_open

Man, the wait is finally over.  We finally get a chance to sink our teeth into this much anticipated FPS. The Crysis 3 Beta is now available to play on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Power up your Nanosuit and test your hunting skills across the Museum and Airport maps in a lush and eerily familiar New York City. Survive the attack or stalk your enemies in the brand new “Hunter Mode” or battle for dominance in the “Volatile Crash Site mode”

To play the Beta: Visit the Crysis Website (Link) ~ DOWNLOAD BETA

Check out this awesome Trailer: The game play looks amazing.

 

The graphics from the Crytek Engine which powers Crysis, are simply stunning. So if you have a souped up machine, get ready for some insane special effects.

crysis_3_beta_open2

Scary Mountain Gorilla Encounter, I Shot in Bwindi, Uganda

I experienced first hand what it feels like when a mountain gorilla bears down on you. I almost passed out as this black back got up and started walking directly towards me, there was no where to quickly turn in the thick undergrowth and I almost fell backwards, as he brushed by me. I still remember my knees feeling weak and could hardly hold the camera steady afterwords. I shot the video during my visit to Bwindi Impenetrable forest in Uganda.

 
It was taken on my trekking trip to gather reference footage for the Galiwango 3D Animated Mountain Gorilla Conservation Film (http://www.galiwango.com) ~ A special thanks to Steven (UWA Driver), who drove me all the way to Bwindi and joined me on the trek, and our main tracker, Sgt. Major Benjamin B. Thanks to UWA for sponsoring the unforgettable experience.

This is a photo of my Mountain Gorilla tracking Certificate (Nshongi Group): http://www.galiwango.com/2010/02/25/my-mountain-gorilla-tracking-certificate/

You can see more photos from my Mountain Gorilla Trekking trip here: http://www.galiwango.com/2010/02/08/solomon-jagwes-gorilla-tracking-in-bwindi/

Zbrush Modeling Tutorial Using Dynamesh

This is a quick time lapse video showing how I created this 3D Concept Sculpt using Dynamesh in Zbrush 4R5. I have always enjoyed modeling in previous versions of zbrush, but I must say that this recent update has really made the process even more exciting.

 

Dynamesh, in my opinion, gets me closer to the feeling of freedom I get when working with real clay. I use the quick shortcut of holding down the SHIFT key and Dragging in an empty space away from the model, to polish up the mesh when it gets stretched from all the clay additions.

My tools of choice include the following brushes: Clay, ClayBuildup, MaskPen, Move, Polish, TrimAdaptive, and TrimDynamic. I mix the brushes as I work, but using Claybuildup as the primary tool, and the smooth brush to refine areas that get a little gnarly.

 

I really love the TrimAdaptive and the TrimDynamic brushes. Those two make it so easy to add nice edges, especially for hard surface modeling.