Inside Factory Scene

Plan

This is the scene where the Can is taken to the Factory and it is recycled, and re filled with the soda and taken away again back to the shop. Even though the models are basic, I really liked the feel of this scene and wanted to preserve that. I liked the way it was almost like a one of those “Satisfying Loop Animations” and how it was a bit abstract in the way the Can was recycled. I had it go into a van and then in to a mold, where it quickly reappeared as a Can. This is obviously not what happens in a real factory but I liked the way it was quite playful and helped the story stay stylised.

References

For this scene I used PureRef again to collect loads of pics of inside factory buildings and the equipment. I wanted it to be stylised but I needed to add things in the background so people knew it was a factory.

Modelling

After collecting the reference images, I started modelling my scene. Everything in the scene, apart from the van, has been modelled my myself.

From collecting the reference images, I started modelling the staircase, which was created from extruded verts that I later make a solid, I modelled the vats and pipes which started life as a cylinder. But the more complicated models were the Main Vat and the Conveyor Belt.

Below is a screen recording of myself modelling the vat and the Conveyor Belt.

The conveyor belt looked different at first but I eventually wanted to make it look futuristic. The actually belt itself started off looking like the image below, with was a rectangle shape with an array modifier and a Curve modifier which made the rectangles stretch around that curve. The curve was also a plane with the edge bevelled so it was smooth and rounded.

That plane was used to model the outer rim of the conveyor belt and I used a mirror modifier so I only needed to do one half

The end result below

The vat took quite a bit of experimentation to get to the end result. I also had reference images of futuristic looking vats and equipment like that to help me. I wanted a barrel thing for where the metal is heated and then a weird bit and the bottom for the metal to be shaped and pushed through, similar to the original thing I modelled.

Blender has that cool mesh called Metaballs that meld together when they touch, which I thought would be perfect for the bubbles

Constraints

I felt a bit more prepared for the constraints in the fmp because of the previs. I understood the concept more and what was best for certain situations. However, because I was in Blender it was obvious different to Maya, but the constraint functionality was not as intuitive as Maya.

I used Follow Path object constraint in the images below. I found it easier to use an Empty as the object that was actually following the path and then an additional Child Of Constraint to make it a bit more flexible.

Here the Can has a Child Of Constraint to the empty, then I switch that Constraint off and then another Constraint is switched on so that the Can then follows the turntable around.

Spray

One of the last things I did to sell this scene was the kind of “magic” spray to make the can go from just aluminium to having the label on it

I found this tutorial which was very helpful

I used a particle system made out of tiny cubes and made the cubes my emitter object. Inside the hoses, I put a tiny sphere which I made the object that the spray came out of or the Emitter Object.

I changed the frame start from 1 to the frame the hoses were close up to the can which was frame 724. Then it was a case of changing the velocity and the making the value Object Aligned on the x axis higher, which made it spray in a stream rather that a cloud.

Animations

The animation for this scene was quite robotic so was not complex. For the machines like the Conveyor Belt, the crusher thing and the turntable, I added a Cycles Modifier so that there motion would repeat.

I added shape keys to the funnel thing at the bottom of the vat and used the proportional editing function whilst in edit mode manipulated the verts.

Final Renders and Final Thoughts

I really love the way the final renders came out. I think it unintentionally is giving Wes Anderson vibe with the colour and the lighting.

However, for reasons unknown, there were quite a few glitches in this render. Sometimes the light would come out really weird…

The Hoses used to spray the the can where moving all over the place in the render. When I went to check the original scene, they moved fine, So I had to do some editing in After Effects to correct this.

I also wanted to include a robot that picked up the cans and put them into the box, but again, I didn’t have enough time. Also the liquid sim wasn’t quite how I wanted it but is something that I think I will re-render for the future.