Here is an update from the “Galiwango, Obulamu Bw’ekisodde” Film Production diary. I finally achieved a hair solution that looks nice on the mountain gorilla characters. Here is a scene of the jungle setting with one of the mountain gorilla characters, using Motion Capture Data from the session I did at the Mixamo Studios in San Francisco.
Still Render in 3DS Max before compositing in the Jungle Environment which was created using Vue xStream.
And here is a compressed Video of the animation after compositing in After Effects.
This is a composition I created using Vue xStream as a light and nature study. The scene was rendered in Vue and post edited in Adobe After Effects and photoshop.
Here is a wireframe of the nature scene in the 3D environment. The scene is made up of 19 objects totalling 179,772 polygons. Average render time was a minute and a half.
Animated Car rendered in 3DS Max, using a Custom X-Ray multi material for the textures of the vehicle. This animation was rendered using the Native Scanline renderer in 3DS Max.
This is a test I rendered in 3DS Max using FinalRender (I also did a test with Mental Ray) with no lights in the scene, using an Ambient Occlusion Map as a mix map for the textures of this race car from Daz3d. I also applied the Occlusion map to the ground plane. Average render times were about 10 to 15 seconds. This is a life saver when rendering preview animations and architectural simulations. The advantage is that you get renders that look like they are ray traced and with details that pop.
Rendering the same scene using lights and final gather, and then applying an occlusion map as an override, and then heading to your compositing program to put everything together, can result in multiple steps and relatively long renders. But with this approach, I have been able to create nice demos that look nice without sacrificing on the lighting quality.
Dear friends, here is a sample of the Galiwango Comic book for you to preview before purchasing. Kindly support this wildlife conservation effort by purchasing a copy of the “Kasobeza” Comic book. For every copy ordered, I donate $5 dollars to the Dr. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, which sponsors food rations and foot patrols by the Park Rangers so they can disable traps and protect the mountain gorillas and other endangered wildlife in the Virunga Valley and Bwindi from Poachers and rebel remnants. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Here is a recent animation I did in 3DS Max, rendered using Final Render. I am still working on the composition. The scene will eventually have some Characters and and a military convoy ~ the story line is that of a recovery mission in an abandoned city, with the mysterious disappearance of the occupants. Is it An epidemic or genocide?
A rescue team arrives aboard a black hawk
glaring upwards towards the grey sky is a gaping hole with jagged edges …
something terrible must have happened here, but what could have caused such destruction? and where did all the occupants disappear to? ….
Last year I traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, for the first time to present the Galiwango film to the Rwandese Wildlife and Conservation team, the IGCP and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Secretariat.
The meetings were awesome and I met women and men who are totally dedicated to the conservation of the last remaining mountain gorillas. It was a great experience and I was blessed from listening to them share their wealth of knowledge and years of experience from the conservation effort.
Here are some memories from my 4 day trip to Kigali, November of Last year, 2010. I was graciously welcomed by Rica Rwigamba, the head of Tourism and Wildlife in Rwanda.
It was great meeting another young person so passionate about the conservation of endangered wildlife and the hard work done by the game rangers.
I was introduced to her by my good friend and former classmate from the days of Budo, Frank Twagira. His wife welcomed us into their home with love. I made the trip with Hazel Collett, a family friend and a JJ Uganda Ministry Leader (JJ Nsumi is a school for Orphans in Bushyenyi, she heads the ministry).
Kigali is rapidly expanding and the skyline is beautiful. I was really impressed by the cleanliness of the city and the efficiency of the work at the RDB. Everything that you could possibly need to register a business, is located in that one building.
I met with several team members of the IGCP in Kigali at their office not too far from the RDB (Rwanda Development Board) building. Rwanda is doing a great job of sensitizing the youth to the work of conserving the endangered wildlife. It was really cool to hear the stories of students participating in mountain gorilla tracking trips. We definitely need to reach out to the younger generation, we are the consumers and leaders of tomorrow afterall.
I have lived through some really powerful storms back in Uganda but nothing prepared me for the harrowing experience of the power of a tornado. Altogether, 45 five people died in the storms that swept through North Carolina all the way to Virginia. The memories are imprinted on my mind, and I will forever be grateful to God that my family and I were spared the brunt of the storm.
This is the path of the Tornado as it swept in from Fayetteville, heading North East Towards Virginia.
We survived a tornado and I will never forget the experience. I have lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina since the beginning of 2006, but I had never experienced anything like the storm that swept through our neighborhood. It was one incredible and very scary experience.
I looked up at the sky and the clouds were this dark greenish color and things were spinning. We ran back into the house just in time. The sound of the shrieking wind was horrifying, almost like a freight train bearing down on you.
Neighbors picking up the pieces after the storm hit
At first there was this calmness, and then out of nowhere the funnel touched down almost like a finger – a line of damage from the elementary school behind us through our neighbors yards 2 houses down from us. I was too stunned to switch on my video camera. But after the storm passed I ventured out and took some snapshots, doing my best to be sensitive to neighbors who didn’t want their homes photographed.
Our kids swing was no match for the strong winds. I watched as this was literally being shredded before my eyes, like a weak sail against a powerful storm. Now I know why so many people got injured, I was watching it like a deer caught in headlights, almost too numb to move, when I should have been taking refuge in a bathtub, since we do not have basements here in Fayetteville. We just don’t get these kinds of storms. This one took us by surprise.
Neighbours working hard to fix their roofs after the storm. Whats amazing is the precision of the Tornado, and how on either side there was no damage; seemed to have been focused on the path the funnel took. I am so grateful that it didn’t linger too long, I think our whole neighborhood would have been destroyed.
Please keep the victims families in your prayers.
NORTH CAROLINA TORNADO AFTERMATH UPDATE: Here is a more complete Gallery from the photos I took of the Tornado devastation in the Dunn Neighborhood of North Carolina. This is off of Exit 72, 95N – Pope Road.
My Recent animation done for Mixamo seen here being used at their Booth at the Game Developers Conference in Carlifornia. A friend at the Conference took this with their phone. It sure feels great to see one’s work travel thousands of miles, and actually serve a purpose. All the hard work and sleepless nights were so worth it. woot! lol
CinemAfrica ~ African Film Festival | Sweden | I am excited and a little overwhelmed at the same time. I am desperately trying to clean my plate of all the pending projects so I can have a full 2 months worth of work and rendering in preparation for the Festival.
Looking back at 2010, I have to say thank you!! Thank you to my family and friends who supported me and stuck by me even with all my outlandish dreams. I want to thank all those that have made this journey of making the Galiwango Film, such an incredible experience. My heart and gratitude goes out to all the UWA family, the IGCP team and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Secretariat. I look forward to a better tomorrow. Happy New Year to you all.
Specializing in Art and Visual Technology | 3D Modeling, Character & Vehicle Animation, Oil & Acrylic Painting, Concept Art and Illustration
