Julian Frank - LookDev Rookies 2024

Hey there!

I'm Julian Frank, a student at PIXLVISN in Cologne. I'm knee-deep in my studies and have already completed a few project assignments that I'm pretty proud of. So, I figured, why not throw my hat in the ring for this year's Rookie Award and see what happens?

While working on these projects, I have developed a great interest in texturing and lookdev.

Project 01:  KAIBUTSU - Environment with Character Animation

How did I come up with the initial idea?

For this project, the theme was Fantasy. The task was to develop an environment with character animation. When I recently watched the series "Shogun," some shots stood out to me. They stayed in my mind for weeks afterward and became one of the main inspirations for my project.

I quickly realized how I needed to approach the project to achieve a similar result with my own artistic touch.

How important was the use of reference material overall?

For me, references are an absolute must for any 3D project. They form the foundation for the accuracy, authenticity, and detail of the work. Using reference material ensures that models, textures, and the Lookdev appear realistic and convincing.

References serve as a visual guide for me. Specifically, for lighting, I analyzed several shots from films to understand better how light behaves, how colors interact, and what color contrasts are created. The same applies to the behavior of materials and textures, allowing me to replicate them as accurately as possible.

In my opinion, you learn a lot by examining your own references closely. You develop a better sense of color, contrast, light, composition, and textures. This process gradually shaped the look and feel for my Midterm 300 project.

In summary, references are indispensable!

how did I approach the project?

From the beginning, I knew that this time I wanted to create a single shot. This approach allows me to focus on more details and dedicate more attention to them.

Step 1:  Pencil and Paper

Since I also enjoy working analog, I collect my initial ideas on paper. It usually looks very chaotic and incomprehensible to outsiders, but it helps me organize my thoughts. From this process, a rough concept was created.


Step 2:  Gathering References & Look and Feel

As previously mentioned, references play a crucial role in my work. I often watch "beautiful shots of movies" videos to find more inspiration for color contrasts, lighting, composition, and so on, to enhance my idea.

Step  3:  Shot Planning & Time Management

I already had a rough idea of my camera movement, composition, and characters in mind.

Now the questions arise:

How do I plan my 3D file? Is it realistic to complete in a week? How large should the scene/environment be?

I quickly created this very bad and abstract drawing of my scene planning.

Once the next step is clear, it should be more understandable.

Time management plays a crucial role in my project. It was important for me to dedicate at least one day to the breakdown, as it is also very important. It's always a shame when you can't allocate enough time for compositing and the breakdown at the end.


Step 4:  Shot Planing

Now it's time to jump into the program and create a rough layout. After my research, two aspects were certain. First, I knew which characters I would use, and second, that it would be a slow-motion shot.

Therefore, it was clear that I needed to time remap my mocap/self-animated data. This was quite straightforward using the Time Editor. After I was initially satisfied with the rough draft, I rendered several playblasts to check the timing of the animation.

Step 5:  Set Dressing & Render Layers

Next, I filled the scene with scattered vegetation and objects to enhance the look and feel. I created the vegetation using Megascans and trees made in Speedtree.

To be as efficient and flexible as possible in post-production, I always work with render layers. Each layer contains vegetation and animations.


Step 6:  TEXTURES & SHADING

Next, I set up all the textures. The foreground ground needed to look as detailed as possible. Therefore, I blended two ground materials and their displacement maps to achieve a more interesting texture.

The setup is very basic, but also very efficient. Essentially, I adopted the motto "keep it simple" for my midterm to achieve the result as quickly as possible.

The texture served its purpose, although I could have improved it further. Given my strict time management, I had to focus on the next step to complete the project.

Mutant texture


I retextured the mutants in Substance Painter. It was important to me that they appeared distinct and not monotonous. Therefore, I designed two different textures for them.



Step 7:  LIGHTING & AOVs PER LIGHT


To create atmosphere, we need lights. I already knew in the back of my mind that I couldn't go overboard with light sources because each additional light source adds to the render time.

It was very important for me to have full control in Nuke.

So, I rendered not only the light groups as AOVs but also the AOVs PER LIGHT.

Disadvantage: Limited use of number of lights in Maya

Advantage: Full control over lights in Nuke :)

Light list in the scene:

1 Directional Light

2 Area Lights

1 Spot Light

Gobos:

On the left and right sides of the scene, there is a red area light each, which has an animated flame gobo assigned with color in the shader. This allows me to fake simulate a flame in the light simply and effectively.

Step 8:  RENDERING

The look and feel slowly came together, allowing me to start rendering the individual render layers. My goal was to start as early as possible.

A challenge for me was optimizing the scene, working with instances, LOD distances, and LOD texture sets. The "Sprite Node" in Redshift also helped me significantly reduce the render times of scattered elements.

I used Redshift as the preferred render engine because it renders via GPU. While the scene was rendering, I could seamlessly script in Nuke and continue working on the breakdown. Once again, a very effective workflow. At this point, I was shocked myself that nothing had gone wrong yet. I was surprised that my PC hasn't exploded yet.


Step 9:  STYLIZED LOOK

For this project, I wanted to try something new, unsure if it would work or not. If it didn't work, I had an alternative solution in mind.

The Plan:

The shot was intended to end with a transition into an abstract 
look, resembling a painting or etching

Train of Thought:

I asked myself how it would look if I assigned all materials in a new file a 
stylized shader and composited it over the rendered footage in Nuke.

Testing Phase:

Before changing all materials in the scene, I conducted rendering 
tests on a single object first.

First Image: Raw Render

Second Image: Stylized Shader

Third Image: both combined

After the experiments, it became clear to me that the results were not satisfactory. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to have tried it out. However, I didn't want to give up on the idea of the stylized look.

Alternative solution:

I chose a simpler, more traditional solution by creating several matte paintings in Photoshop and matching them in Nuke using Cards and the Position AOV. These matte paintings will then be blended in at the end with an animated mask. It was also very interesting to work with the silhouettes of the characters.

From the beginning, I was aware of this alternative solution, so I also decided to create at least 5 render layers to integrate the matte paintings on different levels.

Step 10:  Nuke 

The Nuke script is structured top to bottom. Naturally, everything 
 must be very tidy and follow to a naming convention for easy navigation.

each render layer had positional AOVs, allowing me to accurately 
place the cards based on the point cloud.

Step 11:  ANIMATIC/SOUND Design

I like to prepare everything while it's rendering, not just the Nuke script but also my Premiere Pro file. Inside, there's usually a playblast or a test render, where I work on the sound design. This part was also very experimental as I considered which musical direction to take.

I asked myself whether I wanted it to be completely epic or if I should incorporate an oriental touch. I ultimately decided on a blend of both.

Step 12: Breakdown concept

Since I was working on many things simultaneously, I wanted to visualize this in my breakdown. I built a 3D space with flying monitors there. In the Breakdown I reused the fire as an element to improve the connection between shot and breakdown phase. My PC was also on fire at the time.

Additionally, I wanted to create transitions so that I didn't have to show my references, etc., with a harsh cut. Everything should flow smoothly, maintaining a coherent narrative.

Final Shot Compositing:


I also like to draw lines through my image for compositing to consciously guide the viewer's eye. I've chosen the golden ratio, which often appears in Renaissance and Baroque paintings (see reference).

Conclusion

I'm pleased that this project didn't involve any major troubleshooting. I had a clear plan of action, and if something didn't work out as expected, I had alternatives to work with, which was fortunate. However, achieving the stylized look posed a challenge because I wasn't sure if it would be effective or not. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the experimental aspect of the work.

Project 02: Echoes of calm -Environment with high-detailed assets

How did I come up with the initial idea?

I came up with the initial idea for this project because I have always been fascinated by the serene landscapes of Asia. My goal was to create a project that would allow viewers to forget their worries and immerse themselves in an idyllic, large-scale environment. I wanted to replicate the natural beauty as realistically as possible to give viewers the feeling of being there in person.

A crucial aspect of this project was the sound design and look development. By focusing on these elements, I aimed to enhance the immersive experience and convey the tranquility of nature. 

How important was the use of reference material overall?

The use of reference material was absolutely essential for this project. It was crucial to study the vegetation in detail: understanding which plants grow at the summit and which ones thrive near the water. Additionally, knowing the colors of the rocks, their degree of weathering, and how much they are covered in foliage was important. The more references I gathered, the more confident I felt in accurately recreating the vegetation. This thorough research ensured that the natural environment in my project was as realistic and immersive as possible.

How did I approach the project?

Step 1:  Creating Cliffs in Houdini

The first major focus was to realistically recreate the massive cliffs and rocks, ensuring they were highly detailed with plenty of breakup and variation. To challenge myself, I decided to create these using heightmaps and masks in Houdini. At that time, I was relatively inexperienced with Houdini, so it was a perfect opportunity to learn more. By the end, I could draw masks flexibly to determine the shape of the cliffs and rocks.

Step 2:  Modeling the Fishing Village

The high-detail assets in this project were the various fishing huts. I began by modeling and UV unwrapping these huts, then texturing them in Substance Painter.

Step 3:  Blocking Out in UE5

The next step was to form a scenario and layout with the created cliffs and fishing huts. To achieve realism, I constantly referred to my references while working. Gradually, the landscape took shape. I decided on four camera paths, aiming for them to appear calm and handheld. I wanted to avoid hectic camera movements since the project is about the tranquility of nature.

Step 4:  Texturing the Fishing Huts and Cliffs

I looked forward to this process because it allowed me to bring the 3D models to life with more story and detail through textures. I textured the fishing huts and boats in Substance Painter. One challenge was finding the right color tone for the dried wood and the correct roughness for the wet wood by the sea. I textured the cliffs in UE5 using three different PBR textures from Quixel Bridge, layering and painting them to determine where it should be sandy, rocky, or covered in greenery. I enjoyed this process, as I like drawing textures and masks traditionally.

Step 5:  Foliage and Vegetation

One of UE5’s many strengths is foliage. For the vegetation, I sourced various models from the UE marketplace. Key considerations included variation, color breakup, and the layout of the vegetation. This process took some time, as finding the right breakup for the vegetation was challenging. It also needed to harmonize with the cliff textures.

Step 6:  Bringing the Environment to Life

To enhance the realism of the environment and its scale, I added birds, a waterfall, mosquitos and characters using mocap data. At this point, Wall-E was also fully animated and textured in the scene. The goal was to avoid a completely deserted look and instead create an idyllic atmosphere.

Step 7:  Lighting

One of the most critical aspects was the mood conveyed through lighting. I decided on a soft evening ambiance with minimal fog. It was important to realistically depict the brightness of the sun and its reflection on the water.

Step 8:  Post-Production

After rendering the project, I added color corrections, grain, lens distortion, and other effects to enhance the look development. Then came the sound design. I had previously created an animatic and experimented with SFX sounds. Now, I sorted the sound files, adjusted them to fit the clip, and completed the project. I particularly enjoyed this part, as sound design plays a crucial role in the impact of any project, and it worked out very well, which made me very happy.

Conclusion

In this project, I learned a lot and faced numerous challenges, which I was able to overcome with flexible solutions. Furthermore, I had some issues with the LOD of the ocean and the shadows on the first shot, unfortunately, I couldn't fix them due to time constraints.The project took seven days to complete, making it a very stressful endeavor, but the hard work paid off as I am satisfied with the final outcome. 

Project 03: Launching the Boeing-Vertol CH-47 - High detailed Asset

How did I come up with the initial idea?

For this project, the task was to develop a high-detail asset in seven days and set it in a scene. I decided to make the challenge a bit harder for myself by choosing to model an entire helicopter. I was particularly excited about texturing the helicopter in Mari. However, the real challenge was modeling it first.

How important was the use of reference material overall?

Before starting the modeling process, I needed to familiarize myself with the object. I began with thorough research. This involved finding blueprints, researching the exact dimensions to replicate the helicopter accurately, and collecting close-ups and images from every angle to gain a better understanding and feel for the vehicle. While gathering reference images, I also started considering the textures and collected several images for that purpose as well.

How did I approach the project?

Step 1: Blockout and Detail Phase

First, I began the blockout phase. Using imported blueprints in Maya, I modeled the helicopter to real-world scale. Once I was satisfied with the blockout, I moved on to the detail phase, adding features like holes and general details to the model.

Step 2: UV Unwrapping

After about three days, the model was complete. Next, I needed to decide on the number of UDIMs. I chose to use 29 UDIMs, each at 4K resolution, to ensure high detail in the texture.

Step 3: Texturing in Mari

Given the seven-day timeline for this project, I textured the hull of the helicopter—the largest component—in Mari, adding as much detail as possible. I textured the smaller parts, such as the rotors, tires, and windows, in Substance Painter.

Step 4: Helicopter Environment

To present the helicopter, I decided to show it taking off from a hangar (which, although unrealistic, served the purpose well). I liked the idea of opening a door for the reveal. Since the focus was on the helicopter, I kept the environment's texture minimalistic with little breakup, ensuring it wouldn't draw too much attention.

Step 5: Camera Layout and Breakdown

For this project, I wanted to inject some energy, opting for faster camera movements guided by dubstep music, encouraging viewers to nod along. To test this concept, I created an animatic and experimented with different music styles and tracks. It was important to see if my vision would work as intended.

Satisfied with the animatic results, I fine-tuned the camera movements, setting the start and end frames. This project followed the "Echoes of Calm" project, where I noticed that the breakdown was lengthy and somewhat dull. I aimed to make this project's breakdown more engaging. I planned for a one-take shot with a transition to a turntable, followed by showcasing the lighting setups used.

Step 6: Lighting & Lightgroups

For this project, I worked with 8-10 light sources. I created light groups for each of these lights to animate them freely in Nuke during post-production. I aimed for maximum flexibility in post-production.

Working with gobos significantly enhanced my look development. Additionally, I ensured that each light source had a color value that matched the environment, rather than being purely white.

Step 7: Post-Production

While the rendering was underway, I built my Nuke script and completed the sound design to ensure that the project would be ready for official submission as quickly as possible.

Conclusion

This project presented a challenge for me, particularly in modeling the helicopter. It was difficult to estimate when I would finish modeling the helicopter, and it actually took longer than expected. However, it was important to persevere and complete it by the deadline. I believe I could have saved myself a lot of stress by choosing a smaller model, but my motivation to texture a helicopter drove me to see it through to the end

Thanks for making it to the end of my submission!  I truly appreciate your time. If you have any questions or want to connect, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.

Have a nice one!