Matchmove
In the third week of my project, I was assigned to work on the group matchmove task. Dom explained that this task falls under the CG Generalist role, as I will be using a tracked scene in Maya to place all the models in the project. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the tracking is detailed and accurate. I plan to use my track for the project, and I am determined to avoid any major mistakes.
To simplify the process of marking the corners, I tracked the back wall points backwards. For the rest of the points, I tracked them using the green reduction and grey image interchangeably, depending on whether I was tracking taped points or distinguishable points (black and white). I focused on tracking the borders of the room, important objects, and architectural details such as stairs, door frames, and framing to achieve the most accurate 3D measurements.
The floor had a distinguishable pattern with crevices/cracks between the tiles, which helped me to lay out a more accurate plane and establish the main dimensions. However, due to poor resolution, I was unable to detail the back of the floor as much as the front. Therefore, I primarily focused on the wall/floor linking and corners in these areas. I also marked any areas that would help establish objects in perspective such as the TV, stairs, and railing.
Information for the tracking (3DEquilizer):
Start frame: 0
End frame: 450
Distortion: 0.0760 (recalculate separately)
Quartic Distortion: -0.04 (recalculate separately)
3D Equilizer: Original Footage.
Maya: Undistorted footage.
Nuke: Redistorted footage
In the end: Add cards and geometry to the scene, and place tracking cones on each tracker.
Lighting
I conducted a test to track the scene and then created a basic block of the corridor. Next, I added basic spotlights to emulate the lighting from the original footage. Initially, I placed spotlights on the floor and the ceiling to create hard and soft shadows in the room. I faced some problems with the imported tracking points from 3DEquilizer. The angles were not accurate, so I had to manually adjust and rotate each wall to match the correct dimensions. However, if I am unable to fix the scene entirely, I can always retrack it in 3DEquilizer and update the camera and plate separately to ensure it is updated in both Nuke and Maya.
After receiving feedback on Wednesday, I addressed the issue of the shaking image in Nuke by adding more points in the corner, especially on the right side behind the table. To achieve more artistic lighting, Dom suggested that direct sunlight is tricky to capture on camera, and I should aim for an artistic or concept art-like look instead. Therefore, I need to pay attention to basic penumbra cast shadows, mid-tones, and specular highlights. Ambient shadows can help with reflected light, as drawing light requires creating shadows first. Additionally, I will communicate with the Look Dev artists about their textures or adjust them myself after importing them into the scene, as the way light reflects depends on the materials.
FTrack feedback:
Matchmove:
- Looking really good. Please can you do the full range shoot until the edn(last frame).
- Slip at the end, please add more points at the end.
Steampunk Project:
- Please can you improve the light matching the original light from the plate, specially the spot light on the walls.
- Shadows need more work matching the plate, too hard.
- Please next version can we have a full video QT with a layout where the assets will be, position and size.
- You can use boxes in the mean time while you get assets.