Bumblebee
The challenge is to create our own bumblebee model and turn it into a movie shot.
Â
Introduction
The desire to build a big robot has always been very strong, so we set ourselves the challenge of creating two shots of our own bumblebee. Doing everything from A to Z. A big challenge and lots to learn and discover on this very ambitious project. We will show you from pre-production to post-production how we proceeded to achieve these two shots, from the initial mesh to the final compositing !
Pre Production
References
We started by taking a lot of references from existing Bumblebee products by ILM and interesting fan art. We quickly decided to create two shots. The first one focused more on emotion, playing with a close-up, and the second more on action, featuring the hand transforming into a cannon. There were many technical challenges, which motivated us for this project.
There wasn't a formal concept art stage in this project, it involved a lot of 3D research for the design and placement of the pieces in Maya.
Production
Modeling
The modeling part was one of the longest, we spent two full months during our summer vacation on it. We were able to create over 4500 meshes. Placing the pieces took a long time as well, for the rig to function properly, the pieces had to be positioned carefully to avoid creating collisions visible on screen. However, this part was a lot of fun. Creating our own model with its unique piece designs was very enjoyable !Â
Here are some renderings of the final modeling :
For the second shot's environment, we modeled and recreated an environment to integrate our transformers. We opted for an industrial environment.
Rig
To rig Bumblebee, we had to create a rig that could be easily controlled but had complex deformations to avoid any possible collisions with the pieces. With over 4500 meshes, we had to act accordingly to create a complete rig, requiring more than 2500 joints for control. Additionally, over 150 controllers were needed for movement in all directions and situations.
Many controllers are solely there to facilitate the driven key system, allowing control over multiple joints simultaneously and creating more visually pleasing, mechanical deformations.
For instance, as seen in the leg example, this controller can be rotated to manage the three main pieces of the leg, enabling it to rotate around itself.
Canon transformation :
We used the same system to achieve the cannon transformation, all done through a drivenkey system.
With a vast number of pieces, we needed to create proxies to animate Bumblebee as smoothly and easily as possible. Animating the character without proxy would have been simply impossible, so we had to create a proxy with significantly reduced topology to make the rig usable.
Rig Full modeling                                              Proxy Rig for Anime
Lookdev
For texturing/shading, we stuck with a classic Transformers style: the yellow car paint and predominantly metal pieces. We worked extensively between Mari and Substance Painter for the Lookdev. The look development and rigging were done together over a period of two months. We rendered using RenderMan to achieve the most realistic output. We also had to optimize the scenes with the character as much as possible, otherwise, we would have encountered issues.
Of course, we gave Bumblebee a very rugged appearance, he's covered in dust and heavily damaged because our shots take place towards the end of a battle. Hence, the character and its look development need to tell its experience and story. Here, Bumblebee is a warrior fighting at the risk of his life. We aimed for that epic quality in our images.
Here's the turntable and a few images of the texturing (Cave Academy Set Up):
The longest part was figuring out the texture setup and creating all the mesh groups for importing into the texturing software. Ensuring no piece was forgotten, etc. For shading, we created materials in physical mode to apply the correct IOR and values specific to each material. The lighting part was more artistic and enjoyable from the creative side !
Seen from the Hypershade and Maya's viewport, we had 1493 textures.
Modeling, Occlusion + Vizu Render
Indirect Diffuse
Directe Diffuse
Directe Specular
Result in Renderman
Above, you can see the render of the different pass for Shot 1 and how the various layers of look development were managed independently.
Lighting
We work extensively with references. For the first shot, we had to create several off-screen fires. We needed to generate a number of lights that would resemble fire and animate them like real physical flames. We chose to give them an orange color to counterbalance the blue hue of the moon (American night, Hollywood).
Â
References
The combination of orange and blue became conventions in grading and lighting. The human eye appreciates this mix a lot (orange resembling human skin, evoking a sense of naturalness), and blue is almost its complementary color. This well-explains their effective interaction; it's a sure value.
The combination of orange and blue became conventions in grading and lighting. The human eye appreciates this mix a lot (orange resembling human skin, evoking a sense of naturalness), and blue is almost its complementary color. This well-explains their effective interaction; it's a sure value.
Before lighting a shot, it's important to ask ourselves what story we want to tell (similar approach to the look development). Here, Bumblebee undergoes a violent mood change. We want to convey what he feels. The warm lighting on the left side of the image, contrasted by the cold blue of the night, adds a violent aspect to the image and complements the storytelling. This shows the duality of the character in this important moment.
What was a bit challenging, especially with the close-up, was bringing out the character's volume: achieving lighting that illuminated the right pieces and gave a good shape to his face. With so many pieces, it was quite complicated.
For Shot 2, it was a bit simpler, there was a lot of smoke that would diffuse the light and give a cool aspect to the image. The hardest part was timing the animation of the spark light correctly. We ran many renders to get a lighting spark that worked properly. The sparks were going to be done in FX and stockshots afterward. We were working on something less narrative.Â
Timing was crucial: the spark, background fire, off-screen fire, cannon fire, and explosion. Everything had to be timed correctly.
Animation
To animate Bumblebee, we used the proxy rig, which allowed us to animate Bumblebee quickly and far more efficiently than if we had used the character with its complete modeling. Later, we simply replaced the proxy rig with the rig containing the final model.
During rendering and to create certain playblasts, this process was crucial to achieve the result for both the first short and second shots.
Post Production
Nuke
For compositing, we played a lot with the glow to give it more life. We added 3 layers of very important glow to achieve a beautiful diffusion effect. Out of habit, we create pre-comp because we export the maximum number of passes to have total control in compositing (light color, intensity, exposure, etc.). Once the parameters are managed, we compile all of that into the pre-comp, and then we can start the compositing work (keying, flare, background, etc.).
Glow setting
We created the VFX, developed the background, added stock shots for the smoke in Shot 1, incorporated the FX for Shot 2, and gave the overall image an epic feel in the grading.
Compositing wasn't extremely heavy or time-consuming to produce. The RenderMan outputs were clean.
Node Graph for the Shot 1
Node Graph for the Shot 2
Pass and Workflow for Shot 2 :
FX ATMOPHERE :
We extensively played with stockshots and FX created in Houdini to craft the atmosphere of this shot, which was the most challenging technically.
Final Result :
Credits
Margot BRUN and Frederic Dewit.
Â
Sotfwares : Maya, Photoshop, Substance Painter, Mari Foundry, Houdini, Renderman, Nuke
Special thanks at Dennis Muller and Perceval Shoop.