A new year has started for me and new challenges have approached. This is my Blog for 3D for Visuals Work, it's meant to tell how daily work at the project we will be developing.
The brief given to us is pretty simple to understand but lots of time spent perfecting our work. The brief is to track the plate, match move, create and model a mechanical object or building, texture, light and render, and composite using Nuke.
We are meant to make the video have lots of dynamic movement by choosing one of the plates given to us, and we are only allowed to use are 3DEqualizer for tracking, Maya to build, light and render and Substance Painter and Designer for texturing, We must make the best workflow so we can transfer all the assets for the Compositing team.
You might ask, why do we need to track a plate or what is tracking in general? Why do you only need to use this software and not others?
Tracking a plate is extremely essential for any project, and should be one of the first tasks to be performed before sending it to the 3D department and Composting.
It helps both departments by being able to add effects, CGI and many others realistically in a scene and adapt it to the set.
This step is essential but is one of the most time-consuming tasks when starting a project, a good reason why it's performed at the beginning. Not completing this task will slower the workflow for the other departments generating delays in the release of the product. If mistakes are done tracking the plate it will also be crucial for its delivery.
As mentioned, the software that we going to be using is called 3DEqualizer, made by the German Company, pretty much we can say it's not a laughing software. It helps track patterns or markers placed on the set. In each set you will find a VFX Supervisor, placing tracking points or markers in the scenery, it's their job to make the shot easier for the two departments. The software will need data from the camera, such as camera sensor, lens used (focal length and angle), shutter speed and frame rate. To get a good track we are required to track at least 6 points to create an accurate system to solve the scene. One of the biggest reasons to have a VFX Supervisor in the set comes in handy for our jobs.
Not to mention we also required to have still images from the set, props used, their measurements, lighting conditions and much more in which the camera can't collect on its sensor. They are helpful for the software to understand the depth of the set shot, some cameras already are using the technology to detect the amount of time the light travels to the sensor and it can help the software to understand the depth of the shot.
Before sending your tracked plate, it's needed to check if the tracking points match correctly to the shot. There is a method called Solve Assessment and it's when we add cones to the scene, basically viewing if the cones are correctly placed on the tracks, see if the perspective and sizer are proportionated to the objects in the scene and if there is tracks which aren't sticking then it needs to be fixed.