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Another productive couple of weeks. Everything going more or less fine with only minor hiccups. For example, my batch render software would randomly freeze up overnight and I woke up to the office being 20 degrees hotter than the rest of the flat. This seems to be fixed now.
I purchased a 24mm wide lens and a classic 65mm portrait one for my camera on my birthday last month. With it, I've taken my first step into trying to learn the basics of photography, composition and working with contrasts in colors and lighting to take interesting photos. I'm still an absolute beginner but it's a fun hobby that still directly ties back into work as a game dev.
What I've noticed is that since I don't have the luxury of zooming to find a good shot, I have to walk around to get a good frame. I was curious to see how this translates to the digital world. From my experiments over the last couple of weeks, I've noticed that these limitations force me to think more about the framing and composition of the shot than I have before. I've began limiting the renders to use only 24mm and 65mm camera lenses.
This may all be placebo effect as some way to justify spending the money on the camera gear, but I think I'm already seeing improvements in renders. The shots seem more cohesive as the renders are no longer some random focal length across a wide range. On top of the cohesion, when the framing changes, it seems to now have more of a purpose rather than
"eh, looks good like this I guess". This also provides the benefit of spending less time on framing and constantly adjusting everything for every single render. I hope to continue developing my understanding and abilities and pray this translates to better and faster renders.
I've also began focusing more on the shot than the environment. Previously, I would try to setup elements of the environment, including lighting and props, in a way that would make sense in real life. However, real life is boring so that's probably not the best way to go. I now find myself rearranging props and changing lighting just for the shot. I hope none of you actually start comparing renders trying to find inconsistencies lol.
Chapter 5 actually has a scene that was rewritten to include MC moving his office desk from up against the wall to a more visually pleasing location. A secretary desk right next to the bosses door may make sense in real life but Christ those renders came out so flat and boring. Don't worry, I've made the scene ridiculous and entertaining so you won't be forced to just watch some guy moving his desk around.
Till next time,
Dom
