Verticality

This project shows an example of image compositing. In order to render the shot in a high definition image format (HD 1920 by 1080) in a timely manner it was decided to break the shot into separate elements, render each element, then combine the separate elements using Adobe After Effects.

The background image was a panoramic image that was created by taking twenty pictures of an area from a central point, and stitching them together in a seamless image that can be projected onto a hemisphere in the 3D rendering software. Each building was modelled, textured, then "x-ref'ed" into the main render scene. The same method was used for the flying cars, and other elements. Once the elements were added to the main scene, anything that needed to move was animated using key frame animation. All texture assets were created from photosource material obtained over years of picture taking. The smoke effects were created using particles effects in the 3D rendering software, with significant work being done in After Effects. A physics simulation was used to deform the path of the jet blast seen in the screen right side of the landing vehicle. The completed scene has over 772,000 faces (1.455 million tris), small by modern feature standards, yet somewhat large for a small production. The shot will render fine if one only needs to create a still image, although render times range from two to four hours per frame on a high to mid-line system. Yet, rendering proves more problematic when animation is applied. At 344 frames in length, and with a four hour render time per frame, the shot would have taken 1376 hours (57 days) to render on a single machine, thus, the need for the scene to be composited. With render times reduced to 20 to 30 minutes per frame, the extra hours needed to composite the elements was far less than if the shot had been rendered without being composited.

Verticality shot

Verticality shot breakdown

CONCEPT SKETCHES

Below are some of the concept sketches that were created to help visualize the overall project, as well as some inspirational sketches used to help solidify the look and feel of the final sequence.