Journal
Apr 22 2020
The film gets 2 minor voice script changes to finish the film to a manageable 5 minutes. After 2.5 years of work, the project is finished.
Mar 7 2020
The film gets a short re-edit by adding text to the end of the film to tie in visual experience with the loose narrative. This AR film experiments with a future augmented world of various types of characters, from robot guides, humans, animals and spirits. The soundtrack is added which adds a different element that the active viewer does not receive.
Feb 26 2020
The film has all the B roll shots cut, leaving only the AR footage from the Hololens. This is a much more interesting and engaging film for the passive viewer.
Jan 22 2020
The film is 8 minutes long. It looks great but realizing that some of the AR footage is slow, and doesn't aid in the 'offline' film version. The experience for the passive viewer (the one watching it at home), and the active viewer (the person wearing the Hololens) is a very different experience. This is not surprising.
Nov 4 2019
Saying our goodbyes, it was a great project, but still not done. Editing all that footage is next ....
Nov 3 2019
Figuring out some of the ground plane issues with the 3D characters and the physical world.
Nov 2 2019
Some of the shooting equipment.
Shooting in the forest...it got a bit cold when it wasn't sunny but luckily, it wasn't busy with tourists.
Some last minute edits after the Day 1 shoot.
Nov 1 2019
Off to Kawaguchiko and scout the area before the weekend shoot.
Oct 31 2019
Off to shoot in Tokyo, 4am at the airport in Bangkok.
Some last minute tests with the Hololens and some of the 3D character animations @ the hotel in Tokyo. Then a little R&R, it's Halloween.
Oct 29 2019
Beauty tests of the skin under Unity. The final touches
Aug 29 2019
Human IK rig test is working well except for the fingers which are very problematic.
Oct 2 2019
Mocap animation under Unity is working ok, but has limited animation. Some problems in the elbows.
Aug 17 2019
Normal mapping and AO for the tree. Low poly count to maintain realtime animation in the Hololens.
April 20 2019
Mocap range of the actor. Some problems with overlapping joints but generally ok with minor cleanup.
April 13 2019
Input problems with blendshapes and with paint weights. Luckily easy fix with orientations.
April 13 2019
Rig for the bird. Minimal precision for a model which is seen only from far away.
March 12 2019
Hair test in Maya gives good results but integration in Unity is questionable.
March 9 2019
Unity shader tests for skin.
March 3 2019
Girl and boy textures taking form based on children school uniforms in Japan.
March 3 2019
The model of the business man, early tests now are creating a rig, for the head and body. Since most business men in Japan wear black, the change to a dark gray will be necessary.
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Feb 24 2019
Hololens test with the 40k low polygon model gives good framerates of 30 but 60 would be ideal. Time to dessimate the model further.
Feb 20 2019
The business man textured, to give it a realistic feeling. It will be interesting to see how believable a CG character will be in AR and the audience's threshold.
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Feb 7 2019
Model in 100k polys in Hololens is running around 20-25 frames per second. This is a problem.
Feb 4 2019
The tour guide, or park ranger redesigned to be more inviting, and realistic for a national park.
Feb 4 2019
The story has changed slightly, to be more futuristic, and allowing for more stylization. Adding a 'tour guide' to replace the business man in the script, is going to be a nice change, to add various spontaneous events to the experience.
Jan 23 2019
The crow model updated to be more organic.
Jan 16 2019
The crow model, being part robot, part organic.
The final model of the school boy.
Dec 5 2018
Bi-montly meeting with Christian to discuss technicalities with Maya/Unity/Hololens
Dec 3 2018
The model is down to 10k, with hair being 10k ....
Nov 28 2018
Guangyu tests the normals to keep the models under 20k each. Previous tests with an 200k model, gaves fps of 21, which means there are some limits to the Hololens.
Nov 12 2018
Guangyu continues to turn out impressive work, with more detail on the characters, making them more realistic. The high resolution models will be simplified with normals to run in the Hololens.
Nov 7 2018
The main characters continue to change shape, with softer features, and more detail on their outfits.
Nov 5 2018
The tree character is a mix of Disney's "Silly Symphonies" and the Japanese 'face'. Trees in the area act as the basis of its texture.
Oct 29 2018
Close up of the faces emphasis the unique characteristics of Japanese faces, with longer eyelids, higher nose bridges and narrow chins.
Oct 23 2018
Minor tweaks show more details but the characters still have generic, to Chinese faces...
Oct 15 2018
The characters start to take shape quickly, as 2 Japanese students, and mid 40s salaryman. Discussions with Guangyu help to create characters with distinct Japanese features...
Oct 8 2018
Guangyu starts his independent study to develop the main characters for the AR short. His background is in AAA games, and it shows military style, and generic adolescents.
Aug 3 2018
Christian Sandor invites me again to NAIST to collaborate on a larger AR workshop with Chulalongkorn and NAIST students. A preproduction and production schedule is plotted out.
Mar 11 2018
I invite Christian Sandor to collaborate with me on an AR workshop @ Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok Thailand. Discussions continue and topic is narrowed down ...
Feb 6 2018
Christian Sandor invites me to NAIST to present my research with 3D animation, see their research and test out some of their new gadgets. Ideas continue to brew...
Jan 7 2018
Curiousity brought me to the National Forest in Japan. It is eerily quiet and still. January was cold but there were many hikers to bring a different perspective to its infamous reputation.
Nov 28 2017
Siggraph Asia 2017 in Bangkok TH and the infamous "Wine Tastings of the World" brings me and Christian Sandor together to exchange business cards and start the discussion.
