Production - BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE DIGIPACK CUBE

Above: The finished scene in Blender

Below: The emitter cube sending out 4000 particles

Some of the Settings for the particles

Above: The emitter cube, sending out particles, with a second model cube in the distance

Below: The emitter cube, now replicating the shape of the second cube and emitting the shape 4000 times over

Below: Some basic compositing nodes to add extra visual interest to the final render

The album artwork cube was designed in Blender. One main cube was created, which would emit many smaller cubes, giving the impression that many small cubes had come together to form the shape of one, giant cube. The screenshots above illustrate this process. Three light-emission panels were also used to light the scene, and a basic metallic texture was applied to the cube to induce interesting shading patterns. 

Above: The final render

Production - NEW DIRECTION IN DIGIPACK DESIGN

After radical feedback on the digipack artwork, I have decided to completely change the digipack design. Abandoning the idea of creating something in the style of the Casino Royale opening, I have decided instead to create a much more simplistic, less 'busy' cover with one simple yet complex central image.

The cubes in the music video worked due to the camera movement and lens distortions - however in a still image, they are essentially vague cubes with no perspective and flat colour. However, as I wanted to use one of the cubes as the simplistic central image, I had to go back into Blender and make some changes.

The result was a metallic cube, made of cubes, which are arranged in such an uneven way that the shape has an curious distortion, as well as allowing for interesting lighting and shadows on the surface.

Production - FURTHER DIGIPACK DESIGNS

Above, the fourth draft of the design, and below, the second. 

After feeling as though something was simply missing from the design, I looked closely at the artwork on many albums. There appears to be a central image, often occupying the central third of the rule of thirds rule. After some deliberation I decided to insert an image of Louis, who acted as Chris Cornell in the video.

Initially I was going to use a greenscreened clip, however I figured this would feel too much like a screenshot from the video as opposed to designed artwork. After searching online, I discovered images of Casino Royale in which images of James Bond are shown as rigid silhouettes. Following up on this design, I created an image of Louis in After Effects in the same style. However where Louis occupies the frame, and where the text (which has an undecided font) sits in relation to the central image.

Production - VENTURAY FACEBOOK PAGE

Recently, for my own purposes, I created a Venturay Productions Facebook page for my own purposes - the name 'Venturay' is what I brand all my videos with. 

This can become useful later when I need to ask an audience for feedback and comments on the digipack design

Production - FIRST DIGIPACK DESIGN IDEA

Above is my first design for the digipack design. I used Blender to render a custom made image with a 1:1 aspect ratio for the digipack's front cover. In After Effects, I added compositing to the edges of the image - artificial blur, lowered brightness and increased contrast - to make the image appear more cinematic. Finally, I experimenting with the text font and layout after looking at several artist's logos, most notably Muse's, to create the text layout on the image above.

Research - DIGIPACK SCOOPIT

The link here leads to a scoopit I created on the topic of research into digipack artwork.

Research - DIGIPACK ALBUM ARTWORK

A video and screenshot from my explorations of album artwork on Google Images and iTunes

A more analytical look into digipacks

An example of a digipack layout from Dark Wizards

Research - CONSIDERING DIGIPACK ARTWORK

Below are screenshots from the Music Video's timeline, of content which I believe will be fitting for the  digipack's album artwork. The images below are simply inspiration - I am considering using only the CGI world as the artwork, however I can use Blender to render out a custom made still image for the digipack artwork.

Production - PYROTECHNIC BACK-UP PLAN

As I blogged earlier, the intended pyrotechnic shoot was cancelled as Greg (who has the pyrotechnic resources and knowledge) was unable to film that day. However I have found a solution. 

Filter settings for the sparks video asset used

I used Video Copilot's Action Essentials, which is a purchasable collection of video assets including smoke, sparks, firecrackers and fire, to composite in the various elements to add the pyrotechnic effect to one of the shots.

A screenshot of a flying embers asset from Action essentials, used in the video as sparks

Originally I intended to have the entire set go up in flames, and dissolve into the CGI world (at the time the CGI world was simply a black void full of smoke), however upon settling on a swooping jib shot for the final shot, I decided the continuity of this would not work - instead I would add small sparks and explosions to various set pieces, without causing any noticeable damage, to several shots. Since then I have also changed the shots I would add the sparks to, so now only one shot remains - as seen below. 

Production - POTENTIAL CRISIS AVERTED

The brief panic caused by yesterday's Blender issues is past. The program on the school machines was no less stubborn, however during an exam revision session Greg (a tech-savy guy) came to media and re-encoded Blender's render process for the Cycles engine. 

In the mean time, screenshot. 

Above: The rendering particle elements for a Blender shot at the start of the second verse.

Production - THAT'S VEXING

In trying to re-render Blender shots to make them more suitable for some of the Greenscreen footage, I'm experiencing some rather vexing technical difficulties.

My short-term solution to this will be to take the project files from my Macbook at home to the Macs at the media department tomorrow - and hopefully Blender won't be feeling so stubborn on the iMacs there.