The art of Gyro

Here it is :)

What If? Metropolis crit presentation 11/12/15

Artist's Toolkit

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Lighting Gyro!

The lighting of Gyro was relatively challenging to portray convincingly as it is so stylised in my concept painting. 

For Instance, I'm still working out a way of getting the rays of light to bounce around and off of my buildings. I've looked at volumetric lighting, but am not too sure on its implementation within a daylight scene; there's another part of me that is half tempted to physically model the beams of light and texture them accordingly. 

I am enjoying the way in which I am forced to think on my feet when encountering problems like this. And I feel wholeheartedly that I will have settled my conundrum by tomorrow. 

I'll have Gyro textured by tonight. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing all of the cars textured. 

(I'm probably going to model the light rays)

With matte painting

Breakdown

Ambient Occlusion - Gyro

I woke up groggy, knocked back a few coffees and contemplated watching Only God Forgives and
La belle et la bête to get the final two reviews done. 

I ended up watching Lost River (Ryan Gosling's second directing attempt) and focusing on finishing this shot. I feel great surge of enthusiasm at this sight. Before, I hadn't had that moment where the penny drops and held a full appreciation for the skills I've gained over the last couple of months. But strangely, within this image, my penny finally dropped. 

(I'm going to muck around with the placement of the docks in the midground, as well as entertaining the possibility of including more cars on the road, which I might add, was more challenging to model than I had anticipated). 

I'll finish the lighting today, before nipping off to watch an old Dana Andrews film. 

Modelling/UV progress.

So, Here's where I am right now. (More or less, the more being I'm currently making speedy progress in setting my scene up).

I've found the UV'ing a challenge at times, but I also do feel like some form of understanding is forming around the practice.

I'm focusing on the lighting next, then I'll move on to texturing.

Ciao!

Gyro - Final Composition with breakdown.

It is finally posted, after a week of living within my memory stick waiting for me to stop wrestling with rogue Uv's. I am both pleased and a little dumbfounded that I've created this. And I'm looking forward to the final composite.

Back to those now :)

Gyro - Blocking stuff out in Maya.

Breakdown

Planning the shot.

So I've made a couple of the buildings require for the final composition and I think I've got the UV's working nicely at this point, however, I'm in two minds as whether to keep these structures low poly so as to reinforce their shard-like appearance and also to be in-keeping with the style set out in my concept painting. I asked Simon the same question he recommended I try it that way and see how it comes out, which I intend to do.

Tonight, I'll be experimenting with different lighting and how it affects my buildings, As in parts of the concept painting there is quite a soft light, so I'm hoping achieving that won't muck anything up with my UV's or anything.

I was a little unsure with the process, but I've resolved to use planars on each surface without stitching them together. I think this will probably produce anomalies along the edges of the buildings so I shall see how it goes. Maybe I'm overcomplicating the process in my head, maybe I'm not.

Anyway, More stuff soon :)

Gyro, the final composition?

Cool!

So, here's another updated version of the concept art for Gyro, taking into full consideration the direction from Phil and Jordan.

It'd be lovely to hear some thoughts on this, I've gone a bit snowblind, so to speak.

I'll be posting the breakdown soon :)

Gyro, post OGR composition update.

So I've got a tad more to do, but I thought I'd share my progress, as it's getting close to 12, I should be asleep.

Anyway, on reflection on the advice given on the OGR from Phil, and further advice from Jordan, I'm now trying to instill a sense of depth within my scene.

This definitely works better than my last go at things! and I know what I need to do to further improve the shot. Now I must do it!

(Fear not, the car will be dealt with! :) )

I've also made use of the colour lookup feature which Jordan demonstrated to me today. I'm quite pleased with how it can subtly affect the colours without changing them too much, in comparison with the gradient fill tool which I feel to be a tad more dramatic in it's use and parameters.

Sketchbook perspective tool practice.

This program is fantastic! I can definitely see it helping when developing compositions.

In relation to the feedback I received from the last OGR in terms of making my work busier and more dynamic, I can definitely see this tool playing a role in helping me achieve these goals.

Very cool!

Gyro composition breakdown.

I am both tired and pleased at the same time. There's probably an obscure Norwegian word for that feeling.

What if? Metropolis - OGR part 2 18/11/15

Phew!

That was a hard day's work, But I'm happy and hopeful this time around!

(Also I have no idea why it's cutting the bottom off in some slides as the PDF is fine)

Artist's Toolkit links

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http://tromacorp.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=review

http://tromacorp.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=flash

Gyro composition progress.

I've scrapped the "painterly" qualities in favour of a minimalist style to further reflect Balla's style. I feel as though It helps form the dynamism of Gyro to a fuller extent.

I've also scrapped the original spiral track in favour of a more freeform shape. I'll now spend my time illuminating it, placing a car and driver in view, and finalising the left side of the composition, as it doesn't quite work yet.

Gyro composition experimentation, feedback needed.

So I've chosen a thumbnail to pursue development on as I was quite taken with the framing, and the ability to showcase all that Gyro had to offer. 

I'm a little unsure on setting the shot in daylight, though It seems as though to set it at night would be at odds with the colour choices Balla uses, as he works mainly in very bright settings. But I definitely feel as though this shot would be better and showcase the danger/beauty aspects of Gyro a little more if set at night.

So, yeah, it's still in progress more or less.

Gyro, Shard experimentation thumbnails + colour comps 122 - 153

Now I have begun to think about the skyline of Gyro, and further to the point I made last post re - modular landscapes/buildings, I have postulated that these buildings or "Shards" would effectively plug into uniform shaped cradles so as to maximise the difference in buildings at any given time.

I will be experimenting further with this as to me, it is an idea too silly and big, not to explore.

The first set of buildings will serve as housing structures, whereas I intend the second batch to serve as boutiques and "vertical bazaars". Later on I will incorporate further things to signify this distinction. 

Anyway, back to it! 

Gyro Thumbnails, 101 - 121

I am particularly happy with thumbnail #102 and am continuing to develop it to further realise the city of Gyro. To this end I have tried to focus on the modular nature of Gyro, as seen in #103. 

I do feel as though I am closer in capturing the energy and excitement of Gyro, though there is indeed more work needed, In particular I would like to focus on the non-euclidean nature of the space, as well as showing the bustle and spectacle as described in my travelogue. 

I'm also trying to incorporate Giacomo Balla's trademark sense of movement that he incorporates in his pieces, sometimes positioning chunks of a rotated view on to the front view of something, sometimes breaking down the movements of something so as to view it almost frame by frame, in a single frame. 

I'm getting there though. I'm really digging the idea of the speedways being the main source of spectacle, I think that if Gyro is to be remembered for anything it is for it's racing, and therefore I need to do something bloody great to realise this.

Although there are definitely some weak structures here, I do enjoy #107, #114, #115, #118 and #121. And feel as though they are certainly not strong enough to be main buildings within Gyro, but could definitely serve as part of a modular system of buildings seen around the city. 

More to come!

Gyro Thumbnails, 74-100

New stuff inbound!

It's an exciting time to be around on a monday night folks!

I'll have a couple more of these posted tonight, as well as some shot development, building ideation and definitely no Dinosaurs!

Feedback and comments are encouraged and appreciated as always :)

Travelogue, the second!

It is done, again. 

I'm confident that this is more reflective of Giacomo Balla's vision. Also I'm wary of sounding as cheerful as I do in this travelogue, indeed Gyro is a marvel, one that fills it's citizens with wonder, and I just needed to get over the notion that I can't write majestically. (That's H.P Lovecraft's fault, I will eternally blame him.)

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If one finds themselves awakened by a sound, a hum of electric; faint and crackling with a hair raising closeness, or even if waking in an unnaturally darkened room, wondering at the oddity of being in shadow when the sun should be warming the edges of the room, they need only leave their abode and look up and see the reason, in all its majesty. A mirage, an impossibility made real in violent glory.

There in the sky you will not miss it, a mass of land and metal; skyscrapers of curves, supplanted with grid-like scaffolding, repeating until the eye is weary, floating there, a non-euclidean mass, as if it were not such a rare sight to see a city amongst the clouds. Inconspicuous and unaware of the panic caused by such a sheer sight of the weird, such mastery of the natural law. But to gaze upon such sights is to gaze upon a painting, an object that we can only view and never interact with. Unbeknownst to most is the knowledge of how to arrive on the great city, as it is not at once obvious on how to ascend to the heavens and has kept many people confused for years.

The simple fact is that you arrive by invitation. Hoisted high via closely guarded docks, making a rather turbulent ascent, and as you are received via the receiving deck you pass through the high vaulted foyer, distinct with flourishes of red and gold in the form of fabrics, placed upon a shell of metal. As you take in the sheer magnificence of this space a soft wailing becomes apparent, calmly crescendoing from beyond a series of shutters and finally a oddly placed cyclopean door.  Men and women sheathed within clothing of such splendid dalliance of colour greet you with warm smiles as they open the large doors barring your way into the city of Gyro. There you are greeted with your first sight of Gyro, whatever that may be.

For it is said of Gyro - the city that spins - that it is easy to lose oneself if traveling without care, that no sight will ever be shared between fellow travellers, for nothing in Gyro is ever the same on any given day. In constant motion, the city redefines itself anew like a puzzle waiting to be solved. To those who have shared in the luck required to be invited to Gyro, many have said that they have entered into the city via the gardens of Gyro, thick and lush with plump and ever ripe vegetation, whereas others remember their first sight being filled with that of walking down the main street where performers of all creeds and disciplines ply their craft for crowds of happy viewers, some even mentioning emerging through the speedways and bearing witness to the latest season of motor racing, which relies on such breakneck speeds and impossible odds; the young of Gyro competing and postulating for pole position and the glory of Gyro! The salient fact shared amongst each description is the scale and abundance of everything; electronic boutiques set up to resemble places of holy significance, motorcar showrooms featuring tuned transportation to instill a speed thrill amongst the masses, shops stacked upon shops, vertical bazaars that seem as impermanent as the city of Gyro itself.

The sound heard earlier now magnified and placeable in view; three super-rings, slowly spinning above and below the ground of Gyro. In amongst these lie a network of tubes, otherwise invisible save for the slight glint of light caught from the sun. Smarter men than I take pleasure in explaining in slavish detail the why’s of how it keeps Gyro aloft, but the very fact that it is still aloft is a mystery to most and within that lies the secret which keeps the myth of Gyro alive.

The secret to navigating Gyro is it’s system of transport, widely purported to be the most efficient and happily, accident free for 16 months. Under the command of the chief Prognosticator, appropriately named because she’s a chief and a prognosticator, meaning she’s the best at what she does, which is to say, she is the best at anticipating the movements of Gyro in such a way as to avoid pileups in the gunnery tubes. The main transportation between a and b, through to z in the muddle of Gyro. This system unifies the large sectors of housing sometimes located on the outskirts, the rain generator - a marvel of technology that fuses hydrogen and oxygen to supply Gyro with water despite its status as being aloft - and the causeways sometimes leading to the kinetic electric generators or possibly towards the solar sivs, drinking in the sunlight and providing Gyro with it’s warmth. All of these wonders accessible by way of a separate system of tubes and the iron vestibules dubbed “bullets” that plummet within them.

At night, if one finds themselves at all bored or flushed by exuberance with all the activity daytime brings, then perhaps visit the amusement sector; a neonscape illuminating Gyro in unfamiliar hues, where one can spend their time as a socialite mingling with other travellers as equally lost and equally as enthralled in the game of Gyro. Or perhaps placing wagers on the speedways, hedging what bets you can, for are the stakes ever that high in the pursuit of something? The city that cannot be cracked, that entices, plays and ultimately tricks, for just as the traveller feels as though they have found their footing, Gyro is quick to remind them of its multi-faceted ways and as quick as the notion of familiarity is raised, so to is it cast aside.

If you find yourself at all lost in the maze of Gyro, it can be said with much certainty that you will never be found, but amongst the bustle of the endless streets, the flaneur of Gyro cannot be blamed for not caring. In the infinitesimal design of the ever-changing city it is easy to find a distraction.

Thumbnails 66-73, Balla style building experimentation

Tonight I shall be rewriting my travelogue to best interpret a vision of Balla's city, focusing on movement, time and speed. In laying the groundwork for this, I am generating some possibilities for building designs based on a few pieces of his works.

I'm noticing that in overlaying his often complicated geometric shapes, strange things are happening. Things that are partially reflected in my past thumbnails, but with much more depth and a sense of the odd.

Anyway, I'm going for a much lighter city this time around. In terms of tone, and actual light.

Belial thumbnails 1-65

At last, it no longer looks as though I have been resting on my laurels :)