Making of new penguoen

making of - New penguoen
By Enrico Valenza.
introduction.

The goal of new penguoen 2.38 was todo try todo reconstruct with Blender the wonderful 2005 Citroen c4 spot (the dancing Transformers one, made by embassy VFX).

I loved that spot as i saw it, so i had the idea: wouldnt have ben funny todo replace the giant robotcar with a giant silly penguin? In the meantime, the Suzanne Awards deadline came out, so i thought todo submit it, if only it could be finished in time. The gag of the roasted penguin at the end of the animation came out in progress, so, as the headline of the original spot was new Citroen c4 - Alive with technology, the headline for my parody became new penguoen 2.38 - Coked with Blender 3d. 2.38 was the versión number of Blender i used, with all those new Marvelous animation features.

From a few researches i did, it came out that the c4 spot was located in Vancouver, Canadá, on the rof of a mensaje Office. Actually, embassy Crew shot high resolution photos of the environment and then re-mapped the images on 3d geometry. Thats exactly what i did inside Blender: the only diference was i hadnt the hires photos of Vancouver, so i had todo Paint in the Gimp detailed textures of the buildings and of the far mortal kombat. But first, y had todo set the environment.
the environment
There are a few Python scripts that can be used todo have Camera-tracking in Blender, i preferred todo do all the work by hand. I didnt want a todo perfecto matching. I loaded a Low resolution avi of the original spot (found on the web) as background in a Camera window, todo use it as reference (a template, if you prefer).

Ok: first, add a plane todo your scene.
(Add>>Mesh>>plane), then assing a material (f5), go in the texture window (f6) and load the animation as image, selecting the movie option. Then put the mouse cursor on a 3d window and press numpad0 todo have the Camera window, in the window Header go todo view>>background image>>use background image>>load texture and load the texture of the material.

At this point you can deleete the plane, its only purpose was just todo have a texture todo be selected.

In this case, the background avi worked as a storyboard to, i had all the shots and discovered that the total length of the spot was 751 frames.

I started todo add a simple plane for the flor (actually the rof of the mensaje Office) and some Cube primitives for the main elements.

Looking in the Camera window, y moved the Camera (select the Camera, g) todo match the perspective. With a few tests i found that the Focal length was near todo 31.0 (Lens value, f9, i>>Insert Key>>Lens with mouse on the Camera panel todo animate).

This way, by adding Ipos keys todo the Camera position and rotation (i>>Insert Key>>locrot) and always looking for the best correspondence between the original spot elements and my CG primitives, y made all the shots and at the same time i restored an almost similar environment.

By putting a sphere in the centre of the scene and making Little renders, y matched a los the direction and the intensity of the Sunlight. A Lamp under the flor provided a faq radiosity effect.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242054585
751 frames may take a very long time todo render; Raytracing lamps casting shadows add a lot of time todo and if you have a very big setting, the Octre (bottom of render window, f10) must calculate very far objects. In the end the rendering times become huge, not the best for animations. So my priority was todo lower rendering times in every posible way.

A bien todo do this is todo let the Octre calculate only the main or the moving elements in the shot, by setting the materiales for the motionless and far elements todo Shadeless and de-selecting the Traceable option in the material window. The Octre wont calculate the untraceable materiales and, as they are Shadeless, there are no shadows todo be calculated.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242054762
But what about the penguin casting a shadow on the Shadeless flor? A small Onlyshadow plane has ben constrained (copylocation constraint, constraints panel f7) todo an Empty parented (Control + p) todo the armature, so todo follow the penguin movements. I deselected the z axis of the constraint, so the plane didnt Rise as the penguin jumped.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242054762
Of course, every shadow and light effect for the Shadeless objects had todo be Painted in the textures, or baked in some way, the casted shadows of Street-lamps and baskets have ben baked by a rendering from above, and the alpha channelled image has ben mapped on an untraceable plane todo match their location.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242054762
The main building on the left Mid Ground has Shadeless materiales as well, but has ben modelled (only for the visible sides) just todo increase the perspective effect while the Camera is moving. Then, it has ben Unwrapped with the archimap UV Unwrapper Python script and the Layout exported in Gimp by the save UV face Layout script.

Left is a Gimp screenshot of the main building textures with Painted shadows. On the bottom right, the background mattes: far buildings and Sky have ben saved as separated layers, the buildings with Alpha Channel.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242054875 https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242054875
https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242054875
the penguin
The penguin has ben modelled starting with a Cube and extruding Faces, the usual polygonal modelling (modelling bongo tutorial here). Actually i had already modelled it some time before, it was the pengzilla (modelled just todo try the new Blender Softbody feature).

Basically the body had two diferent materiales, the white skin and the dark skin.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242055014
Several procedurals have ben used todo reach the final appearance. Procedurals are really useful but the more of them you use and, again, the longer are the rendering times. Image textures render faster.

In this case, y baked the procedurals textures with the other texture baker script by blenderhead z3r0_d, the script works great but sometimes mirrors in some área the baked procedurals. Sin problema, a bit of painting in the Gimp and everything got fixed. A Damned useful script. Then, more painting todo add better details. Materials are very important to, all the penguins had oren-nayar and Blinn Shaders with ramps, the ramps colours matched the colour of the Sunlight and of the ambient shadows.

A single blend procedural mapped on the Nor Map Input (material buttons) provided a faq sub surface Scattering effect.

A Gimp screenshot of the baked penguin textures.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242055014
Next steps were the rigging and the skinning of the Mesh (i must be honest: i usually do texturing, rigging and skinning almost at the same time. It works better todo me).
With the new animation features, the rigging work flow has ben tremendously improved, now it is enough todo click on the screen todo add Bones, and by assigning the IK constraint todo one of them you can quickly build the IK chain. In just a few minutes, y remade the basic armature for the penguin and then started todo add constraints todo automate some functions.

For example, y assigned two action constraints todo the back bone, targeted todo the pelvis one: as the pelvis rotates on the left or on the right, the bak rotates on the opposite direction todo balance the position.

Or else, y added Bones for the fat, with Loocked track constraints targeted todo empties parented todo root Bones in the armature, the empties had a Slow parent (in the objects window, f7) of a few frames, todo create automated effects of follow th rouge and overlapping for the fatty áreas.

I added a los Bones with stretch constraints in the legs áreas, todo simulate a minimum of muscles stretching.

The skinning of the model by creating vertex groups (editing window, f9) tok more time, by the way, this is a todo long of an issue todo be covered here.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242055203 https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242055203
https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242055244
I didnt use the non linear animation in this case, the whole animation has ben made in a single action. Using the original spot template as reference for the key positions, y animated with the pose todo postura technique.

In short: assing keyframe positions for the character, setting all the animation Ipos todo constant (in the action editor select with a all the keys, go todo the key menú in the Header and then interpolation mode>>constant). This is todo establish the animation times. Then switch the keys todo linear and start todo add in between, creating a los arcs in the movements. Third, switch the keys todo Bézier and shift them where neded todo avoid actions happening all at the same time.

In the ipo window (ipo curve editor) select curves, go in Edit Mode and modify the curves handles, todo Slow or speed up starting and ending of single movements. Of course i had todo rearrange the acting todo Conform it todo the penguin shape, quite diferent from the dancing robo-car. I made several tests of the animation by rendering the whole in OpenGL (hold Control key and press the last icon on the Header of the 3d window, pointed by the red arrow in the image).

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242055466
Usually i render the diferent elements as separated steps and then make a composite in the Blender Sequencer (Control + left arrow todo change screens, or else in the scr: menú on the top Header), this time i made all the rendering in one shot. Alos the quik transición from the jumping penguin todo the roasted chicken versión has ben made by switching in middle animation the penguin Mesh with a shift+d copy with diferent textures, by layers keys assigned todo both the meshes (i>>Insert Key>>layer).

But the Sequencer has ben used anyway todo add the horizontal bars on the top and on the bottom of the framing, for the headline at the end and for the light darkening on the sides (just todo Mimic the c4 spot appearance).

In Blender Sequencer i loaded a los the music (made with the open source software Audacity). By selecting the Sync button in the sound panel i could watch my animation with sound in real time, and pressing the mixdown button Blender exported a perfectly synchronised wave file. I then combined sound and animation in Virtualdub.
conclusion
New penguoen 2.38 tok almost thre weks of work in my spare time, plus 40 hours for the rendering. I rendered it (at the resolution of 800 por 600) with Motion Blur enabled at 16 (middle of render window, f10), todo discover at the end that with Mb the slowparenting effect was barely visible. So i rendered it again without Mb, and except for the first and the last shots (where slowparenting werent neded) thats the footage i used.

A lot of things cant be covered here: the detailed building of the armature and the skinning of the Mesh, the atmospheric perspective effect for the 3d elements, the egg disappearing at the beginning of the animation, Many materiales tips todo increase the reality illusion, the painting of the textures and of the background mattes and so on. Hopefully, in the future all this (and other) Will be matter for a step by step book.

Have a god time blending.

https://www.foro3d.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1242055466
Enrico Valenza (aka env) is a freelance Illustrator and he lives in italy. Besides all the traditional painting techniques he used for 20 years, he started todo use CG with the Gimp and Blender almost 3 or 4 years ago. Thanks todo Blender, hes hopefully moving towards animation.
resources the embassy visual effects inc, makers of the Citroen c4 ad campaign Luxology article about the embassy Citroen c4 ad campaign, c4 spot location in Vancouver. Audacity, Virtualdub, Blender documentation Blender resources, scripts and plugins modelling bongo, polygonal modelling tutorial for Blender.

By Enrico Valenza.

Source: www.blenderart.org and Blender art magazine.