Ben Jones 11/10/24 Ben Jones 11/10/24

Week 9 - Color Grade

This week, I received all of the EXR versions of our shots. I focused on continuity between shots and finalizing the look of our ad.

I was having difficulties with the Unreal Engine EXR color management.

However, I was able to find the correct Color Transform.

Ben Jones 11/6/24 Ben Jones 11/6/24

Week 9 - Shot 8 Feedback

To address the feedback about Shot 8 taking too long to pull focus, I sped up the clip after the subject left the frame.

Ben Jones 11/3/24 Ben Jones 11/3/24

Week 8 -Troubleshooting Shot 7

This week, I attempted to figure out how to use FBX camera tracking data from our LED Volume shoot to remove moire in shot 7.

I imported said camera data into Unreal Engine

My main problem was not being able to start tracking data at the correct starting point. I would import the transform data into the camera and then it moved to a different point in space.

After troubleshooting, I realized you could add an absolute transform to your timeline, which you can then change where your tracked transform takes place.

Ben Jones 10/27/24 Ben Jones 10/27/24

Week 7 - LED Volume Shoot

We were able to reshoot the LED Volume footage to address feedback given by the mentors.

Ben Jones 10/27/24 Ben Jones 10/27/24

Week 7 - Revising Shot 1

A problem I ran into with keying was the green on the product. So I used rotoscoping to bring the color back.

After
There is a lot of green spill on the side of the box.
I used Change to Color in After Effects

Ben Jones 10/21/24 Ben Jones 10/21/24

Week 6 - Shot 1 Environment Composite

I used Nuke and the Unreal Reader node to match our Real-Time Env. and the Live-Action Footage.

Most Recent Comparison
Things to Fix:
Render Settings
Perspective
Key

Ben Jones 10/16/24 Ben Jones 10/16/24

Week 6-Color Corrections

Software: DaVinci Resolve

This week I spent time working on the continuity of shots, and the color correction/grading.

Left: Simple sRGB Conversion from RAW Right: Color Corrected

I attempted to bring back the blue sky and brighten both the subject and the product.

Problem:

The subject’s face would turn orange when turning up the gamma, gain, and red levels.

The subject’s face is oversaturated and discolored.

Solution:

I tracked the mask to the subject’s face and manually turned down the red/orange saturation of his face, which resulted in the most recent look.

There was feedback that Shot 8 was dark so I brightened the image.

Ben Jones 10/13/24 Ben Jones 10/13/24

Week 5

Accomplished:

LED Volume Shoot

Bottle Splash Timing Variations

LED Volume Shoot

Our team conducted our load test today, during which we tested our Real-Time environment on the screen and shot test footage.

I was the cinematographer on set.

Issues:

No control of focus.

There are not enough trees on screen left.

Moiré

Example of Moiré above the subjects head.

Fixes:

Next time, we’ll have access to a remote focus controller. We’ll also add trees to screen left, giving more wiggle room for our camera movement.

Increased Fill Light

Shallower DOF to decrease Moire

LED Volume BTS:

Bottle Splash Timing Variations

Variation 1: Cut on the Climax of Splash

Variation 2: Cut when the Splash Hits Screen

Ben Jones 10/3/24 Ben Jones 10/3/24

Week 4

Filmed Live-Action for Shot 1

We are troubleshooting with Unreal Engine Skies to find more customization.

Screenshot of Horizon Color Gradient I found within the Sky Sphere's blueprint.

Ben Jones 10/3/24 Ben Jones 10/3/24

Week 3 Pre-Viz

This week didn’t go as planned because Hurricane Helene hit Thursday night, leaving most of us without power. However, we’re still able to make progress.

Accomplished:

Our updated storyboard for Shot 4 is due to mentor feedback. Drawing by Chris.

My Rough Key of our Shot 1 Pre-Viz

To Do:

Shot 1 Live-Action Shoot on 10/2/24
Lockdown Camera Movement for Real-Time Shots

Ben Jones 9/22/24 Ben Jones 9/22/24

Pre-Viz

This week we began advancing our Pre-Viz with the feedback given to us by THE MILL mentors.

Feedback

Product Enjoyment

Incorporating Feedback

The biggest feedback we received was showing and enjoying the product more. To achieve this we’ve changed Shot 1 and 7. Shot 1 will now have someone opening the can showing off the refreshing nature of the beverage. Shot 7 will now stay in the Orchard and have a man pouring Angry Orchard beer into a glass. This now utilizes the LED Volume more while improving the enjoyment shown on the screen.

Below are each team member’s jobs for the week.

Ben

Unreal Engine to Nuke Pipeline R&D
Look-Dev Materials
LED Volume R&D

Chris

Real-Time Environment Block-Outs
Asset Collection
Look-Dev Materials

Donnie

Real-Time Environment Block-Outs
Asset Collection

Raghav

Fluid Simulation R&D

We scheduled a Pre-Viz shoot on Montgomery Hall’s Green Screen for Shots 1 and 7. However, on arrival the door was locked so we went to a nearby classroom and filmed. Even though it didn’t go as planned I had brought my Canon 90D and Tripod so we were able to get a great idea for camera movement and composition.

Based on our shots we realized this

Things to Change

Lower Camera Angle
Green Screen Key with rough Real-Time Environment background
Changing Shot 1 to a Green screenshot

**Composition for Shot 7**

Pre-Viz for LED Volume Shoot

LED Volume Inquiries:

Depth of Field
Aquiring Tracking Data

As of now, we need to ask for an in-depth explanation of how the live-action camera’s DOF works with the Real-Time Camera. Also if we’re able to get the tracking data form the live-action camera to use with our Unreal Engine to Nuke pipeline.

Ben Jones 9/15/24 Ben Jones 9/15/24

Ideation

Working with people I’ve never met before has been an incredible experience. As I’m the only Junior in my group I’ve already learned so much from my teammates and can’t wait for the rest of this process. As for Ideation, we’ve allocated lots of time to meet outside of class and create a detailed plan for what we want and how to achieve it. We’ve juggled a couple of different products but in the end, we ended up with Angry Orchard Beer. The opportunities we have using Real-Time software give us wiggle room for creating detailed environments quickly. Therefore we decided creating the beautiful orchard that is shown on the bottle’s label was perfect. After a few productive meetings we’ve come to a concrete pitch we’ll be sharing on Sept. 17th in class. We’re all working on each shot however we each are a leader for a shot depending on their expertise. I’ve been allocated Shot 1 and 6 which include the LED Volume stage. My responsibilities include researching the best practices for the stage, and how to seamlessly perform a push-in transition through the label into a Real-Time environment. I’m also leading the research for the Unreal Engine to Nuke Workflow which will save us time while improving quality when combining assets from Houdini and Unreal Engine.