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The
monthly "CG Meetup @ R&H India" once again got
an overwhelming response from the Mumbai CG Industry. February's
session was one that was conducted as full modeling workshop,
and registrations for the event reached capacity very soon
after the announcement of the event.
"We had to limit attendees to around 130 individuals
and unfortunately we had to turn away the rest of the over
200 people that wrote to us to register the for the event",
said Prashant Buyyala of Rhythm & Hues India. The success
of this event once again demonstrated the significant thirst
for knowledge and information sharing that exists within the
Indian CG Industry and has further energized organizations
like ASIFA India, CGTantra and Animation Xpress and Rhythm
& Hues India who organized the modeling workshop to rise
to meet this demand.
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The
modeling workshop, was conducted by industry professionals,
Vivek Ram (R&H India), Madhu Nair (UTV Toons), Carl Castellino
(Future Thought), and Dileep Varma (R&H India). The five
hour workshop was very well organized and it covered a variety
of topics that delved into the intricacies of 3D modeling.
After the initial introductions, Vivek Ram started the workshop
with its first session that dealt with the various types of
modeling used in studios in India and abroad. A brief overview
was given about techniques such as Polygon Modeling, NURBS
Modeling, SubDivision, MetaBall and Zbrush modeling. Technicalities
concerned with 3d Scanning and Photomodeling techniques, which
as still fairly new in India, were also mentioned during this
session.
Dileep's
session was up next where he gave an overview of the entire
journey of a model from a concept on paper to the screen.
He emphasised on the importance of preproduction for a modeler
in the form of drawings and maquettes. To explain the procedures
in a better fashion, he took the audience through a case study
of "Chacko", a character designed and modeled by
himself. He explained how the character was developed through
various rounds of sketches and how before modeling, a clay
maquette was also created for a better understanding of form.
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Chacko
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He then showed the creation of the 3D model in its various
stages. He spoke about how the modeling department was connected
to all the other departments in production and therefore had
to be really efficient in planning their work. He also touched
the topic of UV mapping as a parallel process while modeling.
His session finally ended with a small animation of Chacko.
 This
session laid the ground for the sessions to come and generated
a lot of questions from the audience which were jotted down
to be answered as the sessions proceeded.
Carl took over for the next session with dealt with the technicalities
of modeling. He started with basic introduction to the various
terms used in everyday modeling, such as Tris, Quads, Ngons
and Edge Loops. With the help of examples, he explained how
these were used in various parts of the model and how they
affected smoothened surfaces. This session dealt with the
various technical problems that came with placing Tris and
Ngons in various areas of the model such as joints and round
surfaces and how each of them had a different affect on the
final output. He also answered questions related to how smoothing
worked on a mesh and the necessity of optimised geometry.
This session ended with Vivek giving a list of bad geometry
and Dos and Don'ts in a production pipeline.
After
this, there was a brief interval during which the attendees
had a great opportunity to walk around R&H India's facility,
meet colleagues from the industry, and in general network
with several other passionate individuals.
The
post interval session kicked off with Madhu introducing Hard
Surface modeling to the audience. He dived right in with his
case study of a Mercedes car. He spoke about general methods
used for hard surface modeling in the industry and the pros
and cons of each method used. He highlighted the mistakes
made by amateur modelers and how certain work flows helped
improve the efficiency and the output of a modeler. Madhu
elaborated on the differences between the workflow for an
organic modeler and a hard surface modeler. He also spoke
on how various types of geometry affected the texture on a
surface and how it was necessary to model only those parts
that were visible in the camera and not to go beyond a certain
amount of detail. He concluded his session by again talking
about optimization in hard surface modeling.
Vivek took over from here with his session that dealt with
the aesthetics of modeling. He opened his session by asking
the students various questions about what they knew about
modeling. He then explained how 3D modeling was to be seen
more as an art than a technique. He stated that modeling wasn't
a software specific process and hence limited tools could
help one be a modeler if he approached it like a sculptor.
The importance of pre-production and research was emphasised
over and over in this session. He spoke about how modeling
in passes and using a large bank of references to study can
help one be a very efficient and good modeler. Using a few
models done by 2 volunteers, Prachi and Anisha, he elaborated
on the use of proxy models for a good understanding of form.
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He
then went into an in depth study of form and volume using
a Warrior model, designed and modeled by himself. During this
session he explained how the technicalities that were discussed
earlier were complimentary to aesthetics and not a different
faculty. He summed up this session by answering questions
that were left on the board. These questions were again answered
with a repetitive emphasis on study of anatomy and the use
of references.
Carl came back in after this hour long session, with case
studies of modeling body parts such as the hand, the leg,
the face and the ear. These were common problem areas for
a lot of modelers, students and professionals alike and hence
was covered extensively with examples of various stages with
frequent doses of humor. His session was a perfect finale
as it touched on the points discussed in all the earlier sessions.
He also mentioned the necessity for constant reviews and critics
given by colleagues or fellow artists both online and offline.
The topic of modeling for technicalities such as dynamics,
fur and cloth was kept as an open discussion and hence information
was freely shared by all the presenters and the seniors in
the crowd. Akash from Prana was significantly helpful here
by sharing his experience on modeling for fur, in a lot of
projects.
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Demo
reel dos and don'ts were then discussed which proved very
helpful for the students. The conductors mentioned common
flaws in modeling demo reels that they came across in their
careers and how wireframes were a must for a modeling show
reel. Prashant and Prasad from Rhythm & Hues India chipped
in here with their experiences on reviewing demo reels and
shared some helpful guidelines on how to make the best impressions
with a demo reel.
The evening ended with an open mic session, as is customary
for all the CG Meetups at Rhythm & Hues India. A few people
used the opportunity to show their work to a live audience
and various announcements concerning upcoming workshops and
events were made.
All
in all, the workshop strived to give people an overview of
the various aspects of modeling and laid the ground for more
in depth workshops on each session. Prashant Buyyala of Rhythm
& Hues India summarized to the audience that "this
workshop was truly wonderful and has raised the bar for all
future CG meetups at Rhythm & Hues". Months of preparation
went into this workshop to provide just the necessary amount
of information in the given time, so as to cater to an audience
of different skill levels and to maintain the flow of a workshop
that was to span over hours. In the end, both the audience
and the organizers seemed happy with how things turned out
at the end of the day.
The "CG Meetup @ R&H India" team is busily working
on the details of the next monthly session which will be conducted
on Saturday, March 25th 2006. The announcement with the details
of the event will be made within the next week so stay tuned.
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