Update 11/9/2000 - Well they say the secret of good work is knowing when it's done. I'm now going to move onto the compositing of the people tomorrow.

I'm quite pleased with how it's looking now. You can't see the movement so I'll describe it to you - the little van scoots around, birds flutter by, the smoke billows in the distance and the camera drifts slightly to bind it.

Update 11/9/2000 - I decided to shift the camera position to give more of a sense of scale, now that portions of the tanks are cropped there is more mystery about their size.

I'm adding foreground elements bit by bit to draw the viewer into the frame, as well as fleshing out the background to add depth. You can't see them here but there are a few birds flying around the sky which really help bring the image to life.

(click the image to see a high resolution version)

Update 6/9/2000 - As you can see from the image below I've done a lot of work on the textures, adding many layers of gloss and bump maps. 

The next major addition is to fix up the van (it looks very square right now) and to add some smoke and birds in the distance.

(click the image to see a high resolution version)

Update 30/8/2000 - Just been messing around considering changing the time of day to dusk. I like the atmosphere of these repair guys called out at dusk when it's cold and they're about to go home.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to make those hazard lights on the van flash on and off.



Update 27/8/2000 - Well it doesn't seem that I've achieved very much recently. As well as shooting an actor against green screen ready for compositing, I've begun to replace objects with the full resolution versions.

I've also placed in the van and started to think about the sky and ground texture. I'm not happy with the new pipe on the left as it changed the composition of the image. If you compare it to the other images below the tank seems longer than it is tall.

The blurred background doesn't work, making the image look like a small scale model. So that will go with the next rendering.



Update 22/8/2000 - This project grew from my desire to shoot people against a green screen and then composite them into a CG background. I may use this project as the basis for a new compositing tutorial.

Right now I'm at the pre-visualisation stage, just blocking out composition, colour and testing some effects.

I'm still planning the overall look of the shot but it's likely to be an overcast afternoon with repairmen and their van sat underneath one of these vast tanks. Right now that's all I've decided.