Author: Jianqiu Zou

This week, I focused on refining the remaining parts of the character texturing process using the MASH editor to add realistic brush strokes to the character model. Let me introduce this powerful feature. It allows us to designate a plane as a special brush and apply similar planes to the target model, just like painting. Through this feature, we can add pre-made brushstroke images to the model.

When adding these images to the planes, we need to check the transparency value, hiding the black parts and displaying only the white brushstrokes. Additionally, we can change the color of these brushstrokes by adjusting the shader’s color. This integration makes the brushstrokes blend seamlessly with the model.

We can see a black outline around the character model, achieved using MAYA’s Toon feature. By selecting the target model and adding a description, we can modify the parameters to achieve the desired look—outlining the character’s backlit areas and facial contours without fully wrapping the model. However, the issue from last week remains unresolved; the model still appears blocky in color, which isn’t ideal for a stylized animation. Hopefully, this issue can be resolved in the future, or I’ll need to find alternative ways to create the character model.

In this lesson, we learned how to build an efficient portfolio and presentation strategy, covering several key aspects:

Foundation of Portfolios

First, we discussed the basics of portfolios. Portfolios can be showcased via websites or PDFs, each with its advantages. Websites are suitable for a broader audience, especially potential employers, as they can easily be found through search engines. The content should include a resume, relevant works (such as 3D animations), and creative visual designs. It’s recommended to use a simple yet professional design and to have at least a basic website ready before graduation. PDFs are more popular in certain industries as all content is concentrated in one accessible file. The PDF should have a clear hierarchy, with the most impactful or latest works at the front.

Content and Presentation Strategy

Next, we delved into guidelines for portfolio content. The content should be categorized and displayed according to the target audience or industry. Besides the final outcomes, it’s important to showcase the process, such as sketches or research work, to demonstrate the thought process. The layout should maintain a logical structure and strong alignment, avoiding overuse of images or renders, and selecting content that best represents your skills. Initially, use simple fonts (like Helvetica), and as the website concept develops, gradually build your style. We also discussed the importance of demo reels, suggesting a length of 1-3 minutes, with the best shots at the beginning. The reel should include various videos, such as gameplay recordings, modeling, or process videos, highlighting skills, and should be updated annually to reflect new projects.

Art Branding and Future Work

Finally, we learned key points of art branding. An artist’s resume should be written in the third person, highlighting career achievements, exhibitions, and technical skills. An artist’s statement can be written in the first or third person, discussing inspirations, creative processes, and future goals. It should be engaging and personal, especially when displayed in exhibitions. Practically, it’s recommended to research other artists’ websites for inspiration, consider the SEO and responsiveness of your site, and record achievements and exhibition dates to assist with future visa or job applications. For future work, it’s advised to start developing a simple website or portfolio now, focus on the basics, and further refine it after graduation. Ensure all videos or action shots are of high quality and continuously update the portfolio and demo reel to maintain relevance and reflect the latest work.

Reflecting on this, I can’t help but ponder how to balance the richness and conciseness of my story script. My script currently contains numerous metaphorical elements. Will too many details cause audience fatigue, or will they weaken the impact of the work? While I’m unsure if I’ll need to write an artist’s bio in the future, it’s foreseeable that there will be opportunities to introduce my work. How to showcase my examples and personality through these introductions is also a consideration. These answers await me to discover step by step.

In this blog, we will attempt to create a stylized texture for the Apollo character. This effect will be achieved in two parts. The first part involves repainting the character’s texture, and the second part utilizes MAYA’s MASH editor to add realistic brush strokes. This technique has appeared in numerous stylized animations, giving the scene and character models a unique painted feel, unlike ordinary rendering.

Returning to the first part, for the texture test, I need to ensure the texture’s quality can display the underlying color under lighting (a painting technique where adjacent or complementary colors are blended into the object’s true color). The main method is to connect a color channel map to the normal map of the shader. This map allows us to reflect the corresponding colors under light by adjusting the shader’s transmittance of the color channel map. This effect doesn’t require repainting the texture and can add more colorful and stylized touches to the model.

However, we can notice that the shader’s color blending isn’t quite realistic, resembling a brush-painted layer of unrelated color on the character. I haven’t found a solution for this yet, which is an aspect I need to acknowledge. Perhaps manually blurring the color tendency map might achieve the desired result.

In this lesson, we learned to set up 3D billboard effects using Unreal Engine’s nDisplay feature. However, due to my FMP animation project, I am more interested in using this display technology to control multiple screens simultaneously to play one video. My animation project design requires a face composed of computer screens, and this technology should help me achieve this. This technology mainly works by having the viewports of these display devices share the same viewpoint. By maintaining a certain correspondence between each screen’s rendering perspective and the actual position, we can create an illusion of being in a virtual world. Practically, this means selecting a screen and projecting a 3D image onto it.

Firstly, we need to create a UE project and enable nDisplay in the plugins. After installing the plugin, enable nDisplay in the project settings and create the necessary assets. Start the listener and launch the client through the switchboard, adding actions to the listener event, which requires adding interfaces (such as display interfaces). Lastly, listener events include JSON and binary data, with binary data being more efficient.

If we’re not very familiar with the nDisplay structure, it helps to know it has a configuration containing multiple nodes, each essentially a window instance, like running a program. Each window can have multiple viewports, and we can define the size and position of each viewport, allowing for one-to-many or many-to-one configurations. Currently, with one computer, I aim to have four instances running on it. The first project window has one viewport, the second has two, the third has two, and the fourth has four, enabling one computer to run four instances and approximately nine viewports. Here, we hide the remaining windows upfront, leaving only these four, mastering the basic use of nDisplay

If issues arise when opening the plugin and loading the switchboard, we need to understand that the nDisplay structure contains multiple nodes, each a window instance that can include multiple viewports. In the demo project, clicking the switchboard may not respond because only the main node receives input. To achieve multi-screen synchronization, interfaces must be called to send events and properties to other nodes. Checking “Only Main Node” ensures only the main node executes; otherwise, both the main and other nodes execute.

This week, we submitted all our third-semester assignments, so I decided to start preparing for my FMP. I weighed the option of continuing with my original animation and modifying it, but I realized that the animation scenes contain too many character models. Most purchasable models are limited to a single pair (one male and one female), which does not align with my initial story setting. Additionally, the Chinese ancient architecture featured in the story, including palaces and traditional streets, is too grand. Without a complete scene, the project cannot be easily started. Thus, I began creating a new script, hoping to continue my undergraduate focus on psychological disorders by crafting an animation that conveys the suffering experienced by individuals with depression. These pains are depicted both literally and metaphorically within the script.

I compiled some key terms: somatization, pain, fatigue, sensory anomalies, psychological disorders, mental illness, emotional disturbance. I transformed the somatic symptoms of depression into a boy’s dependence on medication and communication, a sense of falling, and sudden tinnitus, incorporating these elements into the story. The narrative follows a boy who relies on medication to manage his depression. One day, he skips his medication, causing his surroundings to become oppressive. After taking his medication, he returns to reality.

In this stage, we will attempt to create a suitable character for this story. I’ll continue using Apollo as the base model for this animation, experimenting to achieve a stylized effect. This allows us to explore different animation styles and gain more experience in stylized production. Let’s start by changing the character’s hairstyle to quickly set an appropriate age range. The initial hairstyle made the character look younger, but the thin hair on the sides lacked depth. So, I chose the third hair model for a better fit.