I have been working on how everything will fit together. Below you can see the basic layout of the environment:
This sketch on note paper shows an environment layout that appears deceptively small. In the world this area is quite vast. Section 1 will, as labeled, be the entry and introduction to this world. It has characteristics of a valley with mountainous regions on either side. These boundaries become significantly steeper and higher progressing into area 2, where the environment will begin to change. Area 2 acts as an intermediary zone between the basic research area, 1, and the final area, 3. Area 2, largely defined by a thin corridor between very high cliffs, will do two things:
1. Provide a contrast to the open nature of the introductory area, and
2. Provide subtle clues as to what lies beyond, for the sake of increasing curiosity.
I painted a grayscale image to shape the landscape. In black and white, the darker areas are the lower elevations while the lighter areas are higher in elevation. The cliffs in the center are the highest point and create a narrow canyon leading to Area 3. On the left is the image I made, and on the right a top-down view of the landscape from within the engine:
Looking towards the cliffs:
It’s a long way down!
This is looking back from Area 3:
As discussed, there will be a progression of the environment based on the idea of the discovery of a new dimension. What we find at 3, in the circle area, will be the final section of the research station. Beyond, marked Final View, will be the actual threshold between our world and what lies beyond.
The basis for the introduction to this new world, Cirrus Architecture, is something I have been working on for quite a long time now, and you can find examples here:
https://ericchamberlainifdm.wordpress.com/cirrus-architecture/
While the examples above were created with Illustrator, I have begun constructing similar shapes in Maya:
These essentially are early versions of some of the shapes. I have been experimenting with different techniques of replicating what I did with vector graphics in rendered CG.
I used a lattice to create animation modifiers, but rather than animate (at this point) I deleted the history to lock the geometry in place after shaping it.
Once again, it is difficult to sense the scale without any environmental context, but these are vast in scope. Going along with the concept of “Cirrus” Architecture, ideally these will gently sway and morph. This is no aesthetically pleasing gimmick, rather the combination of structural form with motion in wind reveals the blurred boundaries between the physical universe and the ethereal world beyond. The research station has grown in this area because this area is essentially the gateway known to humanity. Below are some of the research structures associated with Area 3:
I recently acquired an older tablet PC, namely a Lenovo X61, 12.1″ screen, 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. However the unit was defective and after running a diagnostic on the hard drive via BIOS and also checking the RAM it had to be returned due to a bad motherboard. Supposedly I will having a functioning device again next week. The point of having this device is to use it with ZBrush in order to create some of the more organic forms associated with combining our physical universe with the new dimension. The X61 provides an affordable alternative to a Wacom Cintiq. Wacom recently announced new devices, one running Android, the other running Windows, capable of acting as both a Cintinq drawing tablet and a tablet PC, with a 13.3″ screen. $2000 frogskins for this, but can you imagine how great that would be, to have that ability with 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity on the go? Cintiq Companion:
http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanion/en/
One thing that will come up towards the tail end of this project will be sound. I think the sound will take some considerable work, as the importance of sound in establishing this environment is critical and can’t just be an afterthought in production. I am going to experiment with an application called Paul-Stretch. This enables the extreme stretching of waveforms without the noisy, digital artifacts usually associated with such procedures. I have used it before and I think it will add perfectly to the otherworldly, dreamlike quality I am going for in the Final View area.
One thing I would really like to do is recreate the look of desaturated infrared images, across the entire environment. Below is a 30-second exposure I took a few years ago with an infrared lens:
Photoshop has a black and white adjustment layer preset that more or less recreates this effect, and I wonder if enough control is available within CryEngine to create something similar. I’ll look into it. As of right now I have not found a solution short of altering the code within the engine.
More to come …
Eric Chamberlain 