Waiting room completed

After fixing the waiting room, and then heading downtown and walking through some buildings (If you were a well enough suit and walk with purpose, no one asks why you're there), I believe I reached an end point for the waiting room with two additions. One, a directional plaque at the end of the hall which can only be seen at certain angles but I added it in case that angle shows up in the film, and a water cooler.  Read a magazine and get some water while waiting.  now to make the view outside and then it's on to the next set!

waiting room with new lighting

Tried to redo the lighting in the waiting room and add some depth to hopefully fix the scene.  I believe it's starting to get there.

testing lights and textures in the waiting room

I'm trying to get the lighting right in the waiting room.  The opening takes place on a cloudy day (I'd love to make it rainy, but I don't think I'm ready for rain).  The scene still looks very digital to me.  I'll need to go over it until I reach a look I like.

set creation

Now that the characters have been modeled I'm moving on to sets.  At this time I no longer have the moment to create sets so I'm using the miniatures I already made fro textures.  These are the first images of work for the waiting room, part of the opening scene in the film.  this set had been built before but I'm updating things. Adding magazines on the table, adding new furniture, changing the plants to look more realistic, new light fixtures, and more.

last detail on the cabin

The last detail of the Cabin has been added (at least the last until I find something I need to add).  A series of trinkets decorate the fence, small animal skulls, crosses and teeth.  These items become important later on in the story.  Now to create the interior.

foggy cabin

Here's the cabin with the fog and depth layer.  Now I just need to add something to the fence (Hanging trinkets that become very important in the storyline).  Otherwise, I believe this is a fair look at how the second short of the Grim will look.  I want the environment to feel cold as winter is coming.  I believe this set has achieved that look.  Also makes me think of Return to Oz (a very good film that i highly recommend), and the color scheme reminds me of Lemony Snicket A series of Unfortunate Events (another good film I highly recommend).

Cabin with background

I rendered out the cabin with the grass and painted a quick background.  this may be a very close look at what the final model will look like.  the background in the final model will most likely be a painted dome as my current computer setup would probably freak out if I attempted to model a huge grassy field and a distant forest.

Grim Cabin, with grass

Using layers and a mask for the grass, I can work on and render the grass without causing too much of a strain on my computer.  I really want to see how far I can take this set.

Cabin test depth and fog

After spending a whole day reviewing rendering and compositing videos, I decided to do more test renders of the cabin.  As I don't have the space to build miniatures this time around, I want to get the digital sets as close to the first shorts miniature as I can.  For this I tried some depth passes and also added fog to simulate the fogged room we used to film the sets for the first film.  There's still more to be built like ground debris and trees, and other render layers will be added to bring the set to life, but I like the results so far.

set building continues

The set for the second short of the Grim continues and the exterior is close to being done. Grass is still needed, but the computer I'm working on is starting to slow from the detail.  I plan to get some upgrades for my computer to create the quality film I'm imagining.  Once the music for the first short is completed, I can add that to the finished short, get all the rewards out with the dvd, and create a campaign to get the upgrades to continue on this set.  I'd use my own money but at this time I'm currently looking for work (preferably full time).  My last contract job ended last month and after trying to catch up with student loans and paying taxes I'm now just bleeding money.  Hopefully I'll find something new soon or I'll get the music for the first short and I can start a new campaign.  The life of a starving artist is something that needs great patience.