The difference “Denoise” makes

After doing some research into how to apply ‘denoiser’ i decided to render a few frames to see how it reacted to our scene, as you can see below it has definitely made a difference.

Before…

After…

As you can see, the top image has a lot more ‘graininess’ and harshness that gives the impression that the room is foggy or dusty. However, once ‘denoiser’ is applied like in the bottom image, it has a much more smooth and clean appearance.

Overall i think this is a success and will definitely give our final film a lovely finish.

Modelling the Apartment

Once we had decided on what we wanted visually from the apartment, Shelley and i began modelling it whilst Nathan modelled the turtle and Niamh revamped our animatic.

I modelled the majority of the living room as you can see below, there is a Television, coffee table, tv Stand, sofa, lamp, game console, dvd player, games, dvd’s, vase, books and small details like a paper cup.

I am pleased with the sofa as i find it looks like the concept i originally drew.

I tried to keep most things as low poly as possible without losing the integrity of the model. However, if needed the polycount could be upped as everything has been kept pretty basic.

Quick Apartment Sketches

I had originally said i wanted the designs to be very smooth and soft shaped, however it took me a little while to realise i went too literal in that sense, and things were looking too feminine. I then looked mens apartments within animation to get inspiration. I decided on this sofa design, it has harsher shapes that previous designs but still has soft look to it within the arms and back of the sofa.

 

 

I wanted to make sure this apartment conveyed that a man lived there, i added (perhaps in a sexist manner) things like a games console, open disc cases, cups not on coasters, a plant sitting on top of books etc. I wanted to create a cluttered but warm and lived in look.

Since the living and kitchen area are one big open area, i realised i needed to design it too, i didn’t want to over complicate it with any fancy designs, and didn’t want to look to clean or spotless. I decided it was best to visually show this by adding clutter, such as a pot on the stove, dirty dishes in the sink and on the counter tops.

I also began shading the kitchen image also.

Apartment Layout

As our film is based in an apartment for its entirety, we realised a good apartment design was needed.

I began by looking at animated films based in apartments such as ‘The Secret Life of Pets’ and also looked at films by “Illumination Entertainment’ as we really liked the smooth and contrasting shapes they use within their designs.

Then i realised that there wasn’t much point designing things to go into the apartment until we worked out the shape of the apartment, and what needs to be seen and not seen. I began by sketching out Birds Eye Views of apartment idea’s.

I originally drew this out as i like the idea of an open living/kitchen area, i drew the rest of the apartment only to realise that the film will fully take place only in the living room/kitchen area, so the rest is not needed.

In the end we decided on the design below, only we are changing the bookcase to a computer desk.

Early Apartment Concepts

In the beginning when discussing the look of the house apartment, we said we wanted something clean and glossy but also warm and lived in. Shelley and Niamh looked at some examples as you can see below…

What i like about the image above is the outline work, it reminds me very much of ‘101 Dalmatians‘. I like the cluttered look of all the crockery yet the floor is still very clear and clean.

The two images above are of the same apartment but drawn in slightly different colouring and brightness, although both are lovely i actually prefer the one directly above this text, the rougher line work is something i enjoy.

This image is closer to the style we like in the film mentioned in a previous post “June: Life is better when you share the ride” I enjoy the blunt shapes seen the picture on the wall and the half hazard style of the bring work etc. I plan to use this image as a close reference when designing the apartment.

The two images above are drawings i did earlier in the week before we decided on the stylistic approach. I do still enjoy the style in the top drawing, and plan redesign and develop it in the new style.