…and one VFX supervisor is actually 3D printing it.
Today, Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Andrew Whitehurst posted a very fun project on his Twitter account – a dice inspired by http://pocketartdirector.com that would be a quick way to give some of the hilariously common feedback in VFX dailies.
So, I quickly asked him all about it, including how he built it in Houdini and is getting it 3D printed.
Update: Whitehurst has received the 3D print from Shapeways, where you can buy a copy or download an STL model file to print at home. He says he may do a paint job on the final product, so keep staying tuned!
The final 3D print.
The inspiration
Andrew Whitehurst: There is a brilliant “Pocket Art Director” D20 designed by Fuzzco, and I thought it was funny and pricked a bit of the pomposity of the Art Director ego. And VFX Supes are not so dissimilar (takes one to know one), so I thought I could design one for us.
What’s on each face
-APPROVED
-split the difference
-revert to v001
-make it more organic
-needs more weight
-make it faster
-make it slower
-soften the edges
-match the black levels
-add a rim light
-make it more magical
-make it bigger
-add camera shake
-add saturation
-reduce the weathering
-blah blah blah
-is that finished?
-match the grain
-check the defocus
-check the motion blur
How it was designed
I designed the whole thing in Houdini, as making the model procedurally is faster than trying to do it by hand (shudders), and exported the geometry as a 77670 polygon OBJ file which I uploaded to Shapeways for printing.
Houdini’s Boolean tools are really good so the mesh was clean and hole free, which is a requirement for printing. I like the reflexive nature of an object gently poking fun at VFX supes being made by a VFX supe in a piece of VFX software. It’s the Circle of Liiiiife! I’ve had quite a bit of interest from other supes who want one so I hope the print comes out well. [Editor’s note: Andrew has said ‘if my print comes out OK, I’ll post the STL file so anyone can order a print.’]
We will keep you informed on how Andrew’s 3D print goes!
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Where can I get one? 🙂
I think Andrew has said “if my print comes out OK, I’ll post the STL file so anyone can order a print.”
Its pretty easy to make. The choice of material will matter and the size will have to be pretty big if you want the text as a Boolean to actually come out in the 3d print.
Surly there should be ‘gamma down 0.9’
Hi. Any place to find the STL?
I’m avoiding Shapeways because of bad quality parts for a very expensive price.