OFFICIAL TIMELESS COMMERICAL
In the initial months of 2020, I was fortunate to embark on a remarkable collaborative endeavor with The Mill. Guided by esteemed mentors, including Kyle Cody, the Deputy Head of 2D/VFX Supervisor, Todd Akita, the FX Supervisor, Billy Jang, the CG Lead, and Olivia Burke, the Recruitment Manager, we immersed ourselves in a journey of creativity and growth.
Throughout this transformative experience, our teams eagerly anticipated weekly dailies sessions, during which we received invaluable feedback, critique, and guidance from our mentors. These sessions served as crucial checkpoints, enabling us to assess our progress and receive direction to further refine our project.
Over a span of 10 weeks, my dedicated team exerted immense effort, diligently incorporating the mentors' feedback and implementing necessary improvements. The collective pursuit of excellence fueled our drive to create an awe-inspiring project, infusing it with meticulous attention to detail and relentless dedication.
TIMELESS
2020
Tools :
Maya | Nuke | Houdini | Arnold
About the Project:
My team and I were tasked to create a car commercial that pushed the boundaries of a "typical car commercial." After brainstorming a million ideas out the window, we all agreed to make a time travelling car commercial which features a super cool portal.
I blogged my process throughout the 10 weeks of this production simulation project. You can find my process blog here. Keeping this blog updated each week really helped me find my mistakes and troubleshoot issues to find solutions.
Meet the Team:
Mitch Harper - FX
Yanni Fong - FX
Diana Castellvi Estrada - Compositor
Lorena Da Silva - Modeler/Lighter/Compositor
Elizabeth Delos Reyes - Lighter/Lookdev/Renderer
Zachary Ates - Animator
Jeannine Mari - Motion Graphics
Antonio Cintron Rivera - Rigger
My contribution:
I wore many hats for this project including one of the lighting artists and as the project and pipeline manager. I am responsible for look development for the car, lighting shots 2-3, and rendering shots 0, 2, and 3.
Car Model is from Evermotion.org
Challenges:
Throughout the 10-week duration of this project, our team encountered numerous challenges, several of which are documented in my blog posts. Amongst these hurdles, the most significant one we faced was establishing an efficient pipeline process that optimized our time and resources. After careful consideration and experimentation, we determined that a Houdini to Maya (Arnold Renderer) to Nuke pipeline proved to be the most effective approach. Notably, the FX elements were exclusively handled in Houdini, then cached, further developed, and rendered in Maya, while all compositing tasks were executed in Nuke.
During this process, I gained valuable insights and problem-solving skills. One such example was troubleshooting issues related to rendering passes to achieve exaggerated reflections on the car and theater windows. Additionally, I tackled challenges associated with rendering unconventional reflections in the car's windows, rectifying incorrect shadows on or beneath the car, and seamlessly transitioning between shots. These experiences sharpened my ability to analyze and address technical problems, fostering growth in my skill set.
Process Blog:
I documented my process and troubleshooting in my website's blog. I will provide the links below to some of my work with Look Development and Lighting for this project.
Filming, Look Dev, Light Rig Creation Blog
Additional Look Development on the Car Paint Blog
Final Look Development on the Car Blog
LOOK DEVELOPMENT 360 TURNTABLE
References and Inspirations:
Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed my time during these 10 weeks because I got to create a project that not only looked great, but also taught me a lot. I just want to personally thank Kyle, Todd, Billy, Olivia, and Ashley for giving us feedback every week and helping us problem solve any major issue that we had. They worked tirelessly to help us create a beautiful car commercial that pushed the limits of "normal car commercials."
FERRARI -THE PROJECT
FERRARI - PERSONAL PROJECT
2020
Tools :
Maya | Nuke | Arnold
About the Project:
This was a personal project where I challenged myself to light our Ferrari from our Timeless Project in practical studio lighting.
My contribution:
I am responsible for all aspects: look development, posing, camera animation, rendering, lighting, and compositing.
Challenges:
I did a lot of research in finding how real cars are lit for car photo shoots and what aspects of the car are exaggerated in advertisements. I tired my best to achieve those specific reflections and shadows. I mimicked soft box lighting by using light maps that softened the edges of the area lights that I used in my scene. I had to make some adjustments to our car paint shader as well. I tried to address the issues we faced during the Timeless Project and attempted to fix them in this project.
Here are some references and inspiration:
