Learning Dark Arts

Come learn the art of 3D computer generated art and animation. This blog deals with the lessons learned and the art created by Robert G. Male using DazStudio from Daz3D. Also covered are the ancillary software, tools, techniques, and processes needed both before and after rending in the 3D software.

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July 26, 2010

The Ghost In the Render Engine

I set about a while ago to make a new ghost video. More precisely, I wanted a video of some poltergeist activity. Something nice and subtle. To that end I decided on making a time-lapse video. I had the idea a while back further than when I started laying out the scene and running the animation rendering. Back then it was to occur in a photographic kitchen with a rendered cell phone creeping its way across the counter. In between I had seen a ghost hunting video at some abandoned building. There was a long shot of a hallway and squares of light against one wall that moved as the sun outside set. I decided I wanted to try something similar. I do not have the moving light this time, but I further decided to combine my sun setting "in" a room with the poltergeist moving the phone video. You can see it on my YouTube page under "Haunted Time Lapse Video (CGI)".

What I did to make the sun set in the room was take a distant light and rotate it down until the room went dark over the desired number of animation cells. Simple stuff. What I'm here to talk about though it not the sunset, not the intended haunting bit of the animation, but instead an unintended haunting effect... or something to that effect. As the sun lowers a light, or glare, or reflection appears on the bed, spreads, changes shape, and then disappears. Other lights appearing and moving on the bed follow this. I do not know why they appear or why they vary the way that they do. There aren't exactly windows in the animation just transparent sections. There is nothing to reflect the light, not that I've even seen anything in the render ever cast a light reflection before. Is this some kind of mystery? Something spooky going? I don't know, but it adds cool realism.

Music: One Way by Vince Neil.

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July 12, 2010

Evoking a Horror Movie Series

One of the items included in the first year's issues of my magazine is the Horror Movie Franchise Discussion. This is a series of articles about horror movies with lots of sequels, especially the ones where the story continues from one film to the next. These articles have a half-page art piece included with them, that I have rendered, that are evocative of some part of the setting in the movies. It might be prevalent in all of the movies or something integral to the first movie that is key to the overall plot throughout. Rather than focus on copyrighted characters or scenes directly from the movie I have tried to capture the mood with location shots. Following another possible route I have made scenes based on the movie, like based on a true story types of images revolving around the movies.

The first of these discussions was about the Friday the 13th movie franchise. I have the full image in The Grotesquerie as "His Woods" because the woods around the camp are where most of the action takes place--at least since I have do not have an appropriate lake to make use of without creating one. A scene with cabins was likewise out, though more because of the space constraints within the article. It is a pretty simple shot. What is interesting about it is the black plants, though that has nothing to do with the movies it does give the image a certain feel. The viewer is left to wonder why are these plants dead and black? The honest answer is that is they way they turned out in the render. I do not know the cause. I just went with it rather than alter them in postproduction.

Music: The Gates of Urizen by Bruce Dickinson.

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Robert G. Male

Name: Robert G. Male
Location: Ontario, Canada

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Suggested Reading:

This scary book

available at Battered Spleen Productions™.


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This free scary audio book

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