This week we have been learning about 3D tracking, which is very different from 2D tracking. We need to know the parameters of the shooting equipment in 3D tracking. This is how we can ensure that we don’t make mistakes when tracking.

3D tracking first we need to create a CameraTracker. then adjust the original camera data. Set the number of tracking points and track them afterwards. After the tracking is done, we resolve the tracking points and create a scene. 3D tracking is automatic so it is easy to track. After tracking we can determine the ground, walls and other things by determining the tracking points, so that we can better add 3D models to the scene later on.

For this assignment I tracked the scenes of my Crypt project. And added my marker points to the video as well as the Card on the floor and walls.

Home work

For this assignment I tracked the scenes of my Crypt project. And added my marker points to the video as well as the Card on the floor and walls.

This week I have finished most of my entire model. Most of the frames of the model are also finished.

This week the teacher taught us how to make a conveyor and piston device for the tracks in class.

This week was the first week that our group started production. This week I was mainly responsible for building a scene of a telephone in a house.

I also looked for very many references before making it. As this is an old-fashioned telephone. So I ended up referring to an antique telephone for the production

After finding a reference, I started modelling

I also created the environment for the whole scene when I was done

After the whole scene was made, I also shared my model with my friends and let them make suggestions. I have since modified the model again.

After meeting with students from the other courses, I have decided to do CG Animation.

Two students from my class, Yu Hao and Li Xinran, teamed up and we wanted to collaborate with animation students to produce a CG animation short film of about 1 minute.

The following picture is my rough storyboard

For this group work I should be working mainly on the models, and some of the character animations. I will also be assisting the rest of the group with post-production effects and editing work.

This is the text storyboard developed by our group

In terms of models, we have these main elements. A spaceship, a landline, red and blue pills, octopus men, a room and underground scene, and buildings.

For the above model I also found references to

I had two main initial ideas for this semester’s COLLABORATIVE UNIT. One was to create a simple 3D game. The other was to create a small CG animation.

About the game. Since I have used UE4 to create animations. So I want to use the engine to create a horizontal escape game similar to “the Little Nightmare”。

This is my story design

For the animation, Yu Hao and I are more in agreement and want to make a simple CG animation.

We then wanted to create a short, CG animation, similar to a promotional video, using the Matrix as the IP. The overall style and effect were also a reference to the 3D op of “Arkia”.

My plan for this week is to start building my model. I have divided the whole machine into three parts. During this week I hope to build the entire left half of the model.

This model is rather square overall, so I used polygons for it. For the top left part of the oval. I first created a cylindrical polygon. Then I split it in two. Afterward, I created the whole shape by extrusion, etc.

For the lower part I have also used polygons for this work. I also used Booleans to create the decoration I wanted. However, the Booleans command requires more faces. So I had to try it several times.

The following week I finished the basic shape of the whole model.

For Crypt’s project, our teacher wanted us to find something similar to a steam engine style device as a reference. So I went on pinterest and found some references.

As I prefer the movie Mr. Chaplin Modern Times. So I used the classic machine from Modern Times as a reference for my model. The shape of the machine also fits the scene given by the teacher.

In the end I chose this steam engine as my model. And I have made some changes to this one as well.

This week Mr. Gonzalo gave us three ways to remove tracking points. Overall the methods of removing tracking points all involve creating new patches that have been cleared and then overwritten onto the original video.

The first method is to use RotoPaint for erasing. This approach is suitable for videos that are relatively short and have fewer dots. This method is similar to the imitation stamp in PS. Select a piece that has no tracking points. Then overlay the area with tracking points.

The second method is PREMULT & UNPREMULT FOR PAINT, which overwrites the original video by making one small patch after another. This method is suitable for good tracking as well as more obvious tracking points. I think this method is better to use.

The third method is Markers removal – advanced – CLONE AND VECTORS. this method analyzes the pixel information around the tracking point. The raw data of the vector is then transferred to other nodes for use through the VectorDistort node. Although this method can track and eliminate the pixel points quickly. But I found that when I used this method for my homework. Some of the video dots can be eliminated. Some dots are not cleared in the second half of the video. And the video has distortion in the second half. I think this may be due to the fact that the face movement in the video is relatively large, resulting in a calculation error.

Home work

I tried three approaches for this assignment. But for the first method this video is too long. For the third method, the shape of the video was distorted. Finally I used the second method to make it. This video is still hard to track no matter how I change the contrast or color. So the tracking is basically frame by frame. But the final overall result is still very good.

For the Crypt project, I found a lot of pictures of steam engines on pinterest. Then I suddenly thought of the movie “Modern Times” by the comedian Chaplin, and I chose a steam engine from the movie as my model for this project.

This steam engine relies mainly on the shaft to drive each gear. They also have inter-gear transmission between them.

Currently done with these elements. I will finish building the whole model this week.

This semester Nuke’s first class, Mr. Gonzalo, taught us how to remove excess items from our videos.

The first step in removing excess items from a video is to denoise the original video. This will save the resources of the video better

Then use the RotoPaint and Roto tools to erase and frame the parts that need to be removed to create an alpha layer.

Afterwards, the created layers are blurred as well as tracked, and finally a frame hold is applied. Let the newly created layer overlay the original video.

After that, the teacher gave us how to remove the tracking points on the faces of the characters in the movie. The teacher taught three main methods. But the principle is all by eliminating tracking points from one video. After that, this clear and clean original video is superimposed on the existing video.

The main thing I learned in this lesson is the basic method for video clearing elements. In some cases, I found that simple fusion does not work very well. It is still necessary to make the right choice for the elimination method according to different environments and different video elements