Class 2: Disappearing Objects Fixed, Texturing Starts

I figured out the issue with my disappearing instanced objects. After trying several things, I realized that the geometry that was instanced was not packed, so I added that to my node network. Then, I added Redshift OBJ parameters to the geometry containers of the instanced geometry. I ended up sticking with using Redshift instances, but in the instancefile mode, I turned on the parameter for instancing SOP level packed primitives.

After talking with some peers, I decided that it would be better for me personally to revisit the beginning of my sequence with the still frames and the alarm clock and really polish those so I can use the finished product as a look development reference for the later parts of my short film. So, I began texturing the alarm clock in Substance Painter.

Obviously, it is still in the very early stages, but I'm confident that the process will speed up as I become more comfortable with the Maya to Substance to Houdini workflow.

Class 1: Presentation

I decided to continue with my Rube Goldberg machine from last quarter for my Studio II project. I really spent a lot of time on it and I'd like to fine tune it and bring it fully to life. For more information on what I've done previously, check out my other blog posts under the heading VSFX408 or click here.

As of Class 1, this is what I have.

Just for visualization purposes and as a last minute addition for our Studio I end of quarter showcase, I added some more lighting to the beginning, more solidified parts of this short film. I used Redshift for this, and after going through some experiments with both Houdini's Mantra and Redshift, I like the look and controls of Redshift much more. Plus, Redshift for Houdini is now on SCAD's render farm, and even in the event that the farm is down, it will be much more efficient to use a GPU rendering engine locally should the need arise.

One of the big problems I ran into when using Redshift with the current renders I have was disappearing caches. Since I'm relatively new to Redshift, this was quite shocking, but I quickly figured out that only objects that were copied to points were the ones disappearing. I have a couple of solutions I have yet to test out, but after browsing the Redshift for Houdini documentation, I found that adding Redshift OBJ parameters to the disappearing objects and using the Redshift point clouds in the instance tab is likely the solution.

The game plan for this week just to get back into the swing of things is to fix the disappearing objects first, fine tune and add details to the surrounding environments and some props (mainly the lower level needs some modeling work and general set dressing), and then get the lighting more functional and consistent across the different files I have set up. From there, I will begin texturing work. I hope to utilize procedural shading networks as much as I can since Redshift has such strong capabilities to do so, but I also plan on using Substance Painter if/when needed.