Transition:

Since the transition from real world to 3D world is the key feature of this story, we created some transition effects and did some compositing tests to pre-visualize that moment. In order to create this shot, we took live action footage in green screen room, and made controllable particle effects in Houdini, and then layout different passes together in Nuke. This test is to show a flexible sample pipeline, the exact visual look of the transition will be finalized by next team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X33kcFjdtE4&feature=youtu.be

 

 

3D Environment Mock up:

Another big challenge will be how to recreate oil painting art style in a 3D environment. We experimented with painted texture, volume materials and particle system to create similar art style. We use this 3D environment mock up to explore possible methods of how to convert a 2D art, and build a 3D pipeline accordingly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4aWdykYzOU&feature=youtu.be

 

Expressive gesture test:

Due to the art style we chose, there are not going to be a lot facial features on the models. The majority of the story and emotions will rely heavily on gestures instead of facial expressions. Thus we did some expressive gesture tests to try to tell the story and convey emotions mainly by gestures.