multimedia

back to artefact 5

2010-05-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Just realised I did't put pictures of my 5th artefact up so here they are......

little late though because I had to re-do it after losing my usb key ( serves me right for not backing it up!)

Artefact 6 cont....

2010-05-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

I carried out this artefact by looking into three main sectors (games, architectural visuals and TV/movies). I believed that these main sectors would be the most likely to want to replicate realistic environments through the use of 3D modelling. I gathered images that I felt worked successfully at creating realistic environment or that were able to demonstrate the common issue throughout different sector. I also looked at how from my findings I could further enhance these pieces of work to add to the realism of it.

My analysis of these pieces showed that game environments were the least realistic in terms of texturing, there was less emphasis on details and more focus on the actual game play and the movement of characters, there were many ways in which I suggested to improve the overall realism of the games as I felt that it would better engage the players. With TV/movie and architectural visuals there was a higher focus on modelling, lighting and texturing. However I felt that texturing was usually a common factor that needed to be more realistic in architectural design as the details in materials were not always convincing enough to be realistic.

Artefact 6...idea

2010-05-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

I was quite stuck on what to do for my 6th artefact until Jools suggested that I look at existing pieces of work that used virtual environments and see how they tried to make them photo-realistic and possible have suggestions that could further enhance them.

So I decided to analyse how the knowledge acquired from my previous artefacts would help further enhance some of the existing work created by multimedia practitioners. Also it was to go on to look at common factors that seemed to be the main focus within each sector and whether my key findings correlated with the methods used in existing pieces of work by industry professionals.

I felt that this worked well as my final artefact due to the fact that it helped me come up with a overall conclusion and see if the knowledge I gained from the artefacts was put into practice already. It also helped me identify other aspects that I had not considered while doing my actual research document and showed how the research question should have been different.

Artefact 5

2010-04-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

In my fifth artefact I decided to look at familiarity of structure and surroundings. This was a key aspect that appeared in research document. It was based on the theory that people believe something to be real by cross referencing it with prior knowledge from media and personal experience.

To test the idea of how familiarity of structures and surrounding effects people’s perception on reality, I created a level in Unreal Editor. I made a level of a derelict building and added five objects at random which included architectural features as well. The reasoning behind me choosing this environment was due to the fact that most people already have a preconception of how a derelict building should appear based on prior knowledge and therefore would be able to pick out features that do not fit in with their ideal of the place.

Artefact 4 cont....

2010-04-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

The plan for my forth artefact was originally to learn how motion captured worked and hopefully be able to produced one of my own, however this was not possible as after seeing the process I realised that I didn't have the skills or the time frame to do it in.

I did however learn how it was wall done and the process and software packages needed in order to created a character.

After I carried out all the research into it I found out that this was not as substantial to answering my overall question, and therefore decided not to carry on with this. So for my next artefact I referred back to my research document to seek guidance on where to take this next.

Artefact 4

2010-02-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

For my 4th artefact I have decided to look into motion catching. I wanted to look at the aspect of how this can make the experience within a environment more realistic and how interaction helps with peoples perception of the virtual world. I was told Dan Norbury was using this technique for his artefacts and he has kindly said I can go and see how the basics of it works and video the process.

Artefact 3

2010-02-25T15:51:00.000-08:00

Following my 2nd artefact I decided to use what I found out about how to incorporate 3D object into a video footage and add sound to it. The idea behind this artefact was to test if adding sound to a clip made any difference to the views perception. The test was to be carried out by the having two groups of 4s and few individuals to either view the clips with or without sound. There was only one out of the 5 clips that had a 3D object and the aim was to see if they could pick out which one it was. By seeing the difference in their response times and answers I would be able to see if sound helps add to peoples perception on reality.

Artefact 2

2010-02-25T15:28:00.000-08:00

I decided to change my 2nd artefact and instead chose to see how I could incorporate 3D model into a video clip.

I started of by making the model in 3Ds max and textured it. The next stage was to go into Photoshop and add other textural and tonal details onto the rendered image. I also added blur to help it fade in more with the video. However when I put it into Premier Pro I realised that the objects position didn't match up after the 1st frame as the footage was unstable.

I realised that I would have to use a program like After Effects to help track the object according to the footage.

This artefact was experimental and it was to see ways in which the footage and object could be incorporated to make it appear more realistic.

Artefact 2 (idea)

2010-02-07T14:27:00.000-08:00

For the second artefact I want to look into how sound can make something made in a 3D program seem more realistic. Especially when texture is considered as this is what many people in my 1st artefact mentioned helped them judge wither something was real or not. Im hoping that by adding sound to the image it will somehow influence peoples views.

Artefact 1

2010-02-07T14:06:00.000-08:00

My first artefact was to see what particular factors help people to differentiate between CG objects and real life objects. I found this site ( http://area.autodesk.com/fakeorfoto/challenge ) so I saved some time in making the objects myself. I got the results by making a few people carry out this quiz as individuals with no help and noting down what factors they picked out to help them decide on the answer. I also made a group of people carry out the quiz because I wanted to see how much other peoples views affected the final outcome, and therefore this would show that if you can convince the majority then the minority will believe CGs to be real aswell.

Storyboard 3

2010-02-07T14:04:00.001-08:00

•Almost like a virtual popup book.

•Engaging due to its 2D and 3D element.

•London Underground system as a style.

•Informative as well as visually unique.

Storyboard 2

2010-02-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

•Based on the “IKEA” scene from the movie “Fight Club”.

•Satisfies clients who are interested in the general studio space as well as those more focused on particulars within the studio.

Storyboard 1

2010-02-07T13:59:00.001-08:00

•Showcase the equipment in a database format.

•Then show the rest of the studio space.

•Helps show clients if the equipment meets their requirements.

Schedule

2010-02-07T13:56:00.001-08:00

This is the schedule I plan to stick to when working on my live client project. Through out the production stage I will email my client so that they can tell me of any adjustments that need to be made throughout this stage.

Inspiration

2010-02-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

This is a website that Simon Wallet found and I really liked the way it's interface is designed. Its clear and visually appealing as well as being informative. You can have a look at the whole thing on http://cargocollective.com/peiterhergert#206120/Clear-Channel-Prototype-09

Inspiration

2010-02-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

This is a scene from the movie Fight Club. I like how the objects appear with their labels as the character moves throughout the scene. I felt that this could be a good way to help clients see equipment specification as they view the studios walk through.

Brief

2010-02-07T13:32:00.000-08:00

My live client is Notorious Soundz, they own a recording studio based in west London. The are looking for an promotional tool to help advertise their studio space. This is a brief set by my client.

Final Screen shots

2010-02-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

Storyboard

2010-02-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

This is my final storyboard that I drew up for the project. I felt that this helped clearly put the message across. However the environments may change to help demonstrate the extent of where and how people can file share.

Schedule

2010-02-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

This is a schedule that I aimed to work to in order to complete the project.

Ideas

2010-02-07T13:10:00.001-08:00

These are a few ideas of ways in which I can represent the illegality of peer-2-peer file sharing in a visual way. The idea of prison cell speaks for itself as well as the skull logo. The use of colours such as red can also represent the danger aspect.

Inspiration

2010-02-07T13:04:00.001-08:00

I found this Youtube video that I found quite inspiring. I thought this could be a good way to represent peer-2-peer file sharing in a virtual world and help link the different environments.

Concept ideas

2009-04-02T03:55:00.000-07:00

These are few sketches that I did to show few ideas that I could use and develop as I go along. I wanted to mix make the final piece out of objects that are easily recognisable by people but transform them into surreal objects for my environment.

Architecture

2009-04-02T03:48:00.000-07:00

I feel that its important for me to look at Gothic Architecture in order to create an environment that looks realistic, evan tho its based on fantasy. I want to keep the classic features but add a twist to them so they look surreal.

Influences

2009-04-02T03:36:00.000-07:00

There are many movies and artists that influenced my ideas. Some of them are: Chronicles of Narnia, Jumanji and artists such as Giuseppe Acrimboldo and Salvador Dali. I think that all these show a good merge of fantasy and real world.

Initial ideas

2009-04-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

After looking at my mind map I decided that I wanted my visual environment to be based on a horror/ surreal/ gloomy/ dark atmosphere. I also wanted it based on my own imagination because I thought it would give me more freedome to be creative.

Visualisation- mind map

2009-04-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

I thought that this would be a good starting point to explore possible ideas that I could develop further into my final idea.

Kick ass not so very board game

2008-12-18T13:48:00.000-08:00

Influences

Crazy Town- Butterfly

My main inspiration for this game board environment was the video for Crazy town’s song Butterfly. The video has a very mystical/fantasy feel to it. I wanted to recreate something similar as I thought it would give the game board a whole new perspective, and the possibility to be creative with this theme is endless.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UculXjdcSYs

Antoni Gaudi

These are buildings designed by the architecture Antoni Gaudi. They have a very organic form and most of his work uses a lot of texture. I like the way they function well but can also stand as an art piece. His work will definitely influence the outcome of my environment.

Charlie and the chocolate factory

This movie defiantly has a fantasy feel to it and the environment looks playful. I want to create this type of atmosphere for my game. I also like the use of bright colours and I think the layout of the 1st picture works really well.

Crooked house- Poland

While looking for inspiration on the internet I came across this building in Poland. At first glance I thought it was an image created on Photoshop, but when I looked at it properly it was an actual functioning art gallery. I like the way it has a surrealist feel. The style reminds me of Salvador Dali work as its lines and the building its self look quite fluid.

Hansel and Gretel

Whilst looking at fantasy buildings I remembered one of my favourite books as a child. I thought the idea of the house in Hansel and Gretel would be a good reference point as the building I’m going to make will be at the finish position on my board and it’s a bit like the story as the kids get draw towards it in the end.

"Board game 101"

2008-12-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

Research of existing board games

Cluedo

Aim: To use a strategy in which you eliminate players and murder weapons one at a time. This strategy works by asking question to the other player in a form of a scenario. The player on you right would have the choice to show you one of their cards if they have it. You would use the process of elimination and the person to guess the room, weapon and murderer first wins the game. I feel this game is good at building up suspense and excitement and no two game outcomes the same.

Snakes and ladders

Aim: To race to the top by rolling the dice before the other players get there. There are obstacles such as the snakes which make you go back spaces and the ladders add to your advantage by taking you closer to the finish point. This game is based more on luck and does not really require much strategy.

Monopoly

Aim: to have the most assets at the end of the game. You go around the board buying areas and building a property empire. There is some use of strategy in this as you have to buy the most valuable areas and get the whole set in order to build up your monopoly.

Joseph Cornell

2008-04-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

This work by Joseph Cornell is a good starting point for my interactive box as it shows how I could possibly do the layout. I like the way all his objects link to create the full purpose of the piece and the way his linked them by keep the same type of tones throughout. I would like my interactive box to have the same simplicity as this to make it easier for the user to navigate and not confuse the eye.

Project 2

2008-04-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

This project seems intresting and has got me thinking of loads of ideas I can use for it. I wanted to make the two projects link so I was thinking of using bright colours that are used in pop art, or maybe use black and white tones with the important and bits in red to make them stand out.

Another thing iv been thinking about is the logo which I want to repersent me. Im not sure yet what i want it to incoporate but I would like it to be in 3D or have some type of animation feature to it so it has intrest.

The objects I have thought about to represent me are

a globe because I like to travel
possibly a ipod or something that shows I like music
my culture and background, I dont know how Im going to show this yet but I feel its important as its who I am.
a short animation as it has to have one audio/visual object in there. I am goin to do few story boards to show this as I have not yet decided what to do or what its going to show.
3D object would be a phone because it shows I like to communicate with others and people say Im a very chatty person.

Im going to link these by having the theme of colour and they all show my intrests and background. I will have to make sure there is some narrative behind it which I think will show well through the animation.

Final

2008-03-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

Final character

Final Environment

Evaluation

2008-03-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Identities projects aim was to create an avatar and environment which represented yourself. At first I was a little confused by this whole concept as I was not sure how I would put my personality across through an avatar. I was advised to join Second Life which is a bit like MSN but with an avatar, which you can dress and change to look like anything you want it to look like. I kept a diary of this for around 3 weeks. Joining this helped me realise how people’s perception of you can change depending on your surroundings, the way your character looks and is dressed.
I did a lot of research to start off with including mood boards to get me started on what I might what my avatar to be like and what I could possibly make my surroundings look like. I also did research on existing characters and environments to get me started and see ideas for what I could possibly make myself. Next I researched artists that I like and find influential. After that I did few ideas and chose one to develop. I chose my character to look like a human but thought that might be a bit boring so i made it out of doughnut shapes so it looked more abstract. It also looked simple and that showed characteristics of me as I like to live an uncomplicated life as possible. I also added butterfly wings because I like to go out and it represents me as a social butterfly. For the environment I wanted to create something eye catching, so came up with the idea of making a building similar to the Taj Mahal as it shows my background and culture. I then chose bright coloured sky and this was influenced by Pop Art because that style of work was usually bright and it also shows my bright outlook on life. The island is in the shape of a star because I like anything to do with stars. Inside the building I chose to add objects that represent a part of me. I did a iPod because I love music and to emphasize the importance of it in my life I made it bigger then my avatar. I also did 3 different sized spheres each with a different photo of things I like and myself. The last thing I put in was to images of Pop Art because I really like the style of them and my works influenced by it.
We were taught to use 3D Max, however I found Cinema 4D easier to use as I have used it a little before. I found that it was quite hard to work things out at first ad it took a while to get the hang of the functions but I got there in the end. I used simple shapes to model the whole things and i Felt that it was quite effective and worked well.
Overall I didn’t have that much difficulty generally apart from the fact that I couldn’t get it to render properly, I played around with the settings and everything but in the end I had to settle with a preview view which appears rather small. If I had to change anything I think I would probably make my avatar move as I didn’t feel that confident with the idea much this time so I just moved the camera angles. I was happy however with my building and avatar and feel it generally showed my personality well through it.

Artist Research

2008-03-09T03:26:00.000-07:00

Claes Oldenburg

I like the idea of making the objects larger then life, it shows the importance of them and this idea could work well with my own work as it will help me demonstrate important aspects of myself.

Pop Art

This is my favourite type of art. I like it because its vibrant and eye catching. I would like to incorporate this into my work some how and show my interest in it. I think it demonstrates my personality well as its colourful and you get a good vibe from it.

Barbara Kruger

I'm really inspired by this because her works very bold and the colours she uses are my favorite colours. I would like to use these colours in my environment because it would give a Sin City type of feel and i like the way that movie was done.

Existing 3D Enviroments and Objects

2008-03-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

This collage shows diffrent environments and objects. I wanted to get a idea of what I could possible make. I like the buildings and the city skyline because it relates to me more. Im more of a city girl rather then a country side girl.

Existing 3D Character

2008-03-02T06:25:00.000-08:00

This is a collage of existing 3D characters and animals. I wanted did this to get inspiration for my own character and this helped me see the difference between how life like or unreal i could make my own and still show character through it. I personally like the potato heads because they are very simple yet effective and you can see their personality.

What do you think of me?

2008-02-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

I asked my friends to give me words and items that they think describes me best. I thought this could help me to decided what my character could look like.

words:
fun loving, loyal, crazy, double minded, sweet, short, intresting, understanding, honest, lazy

objects:
butterflies, bed, perfume, fizzy drinks, JD, roller skates, rose, sweets, junk food

these are few words and now all I have to do is to visually show some of them through my Avatar.

mood boards

2008-02-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

I created few mood boards on photoshop to show possible themes for my own Avatar. I did a couple because I feel theres alot of sides to me and it would be hard to represent every aspect of me in one Avatar.

Second Life environments

2008-02-26T17:46:00.000-08:00

There are loads of insprational places on SL that I thought would help me with my research and help me develop my own ideas. Here are few of the intrestings ones I liked and inspired me:

Second Life 5

2008-02-25T09:12:00.000-08:00

I have been on SL for about 4 weeks now and to be honest I'm getting a little bored of it, its good if you have money to spend on it but i refuse to do surveys because they send you posts and emails in RL. I did however make a friend whos got a house in SL and I helped him decorate it which was quite fun. I have also started to explore new places to get ideas for settings fot my avatar I have to make. some of them are very pretty and intresting, its amazing what you can bulid on SL. I got chatting to this 22 year old from New Jersey which makes a change from the 35 year olds that seem to have taken over SL. He was very helpful ad filled me in about being married in SL and how getting a baby on it works, which was intresting to see how realistic you can make a virtual world. He also said he might be starting a t-shirt business and I could work with him on that.

Second Life 4

2008-02-05T02:25:00.000-08:00

And here I am again on SL its a new day and I think I shall allow finding a job in the virtual world. So I'm walking and teleporting all over the place, lol and this guy startes up a conversation. I find out that his from the States from a place I have never heard of and we have a standard convo about weather and genral stuff and then I decided to ask his age. Now his chracter looked about 20, but I should have known better because my avater don't look anything like me ( I don't have winge in RL ) so yh I asked him his age and nearly fell of my chair when he told me he was 50! like I'm all for older people using technology and that but I did'nt expect someone of his age to be on there. It just shows thats theres a major diffrence on what people look like in real life and what they would want to be like.

Second Life 3

2008-02-05T01:59:00.000-08:00

I have to say that this can get a little addictive. lol, but that don't mean I'm on there 24 hours. I decided to go try find a job today, I'm trying to lead a "normal life" in the virtual world. I asked few people about how I would get one. There was this one person who was helpful and informed me that the only avaliable jobs are either as a escort, stripper or something along those lines. Now thats something I would never consider but I thought my avater can be a bit of a wild child so I went to this club, where the manager ( or the more correct term would be a pimp) said I would have to be on the site atleast a month before anyone hires me and I should convert real money to the currency in SL. She said this would allow me to get better hair, skin and cloths. I can't actully believe that people would actully do that. I rather spend my money in RL :-D

Second Life 2

2008-02-05T01:51:00.000-08:00

OMG! this sites a little weird, I was not quite expecting this. Someone decided to teleport me to a club so I thought that would be fun and accepted it. When I got there I started to chat to some who said they were from Mexico aged 22. That was fine until we decided to explor the place upstairs and realised they had adult material stuff there. I found it weird that people would actully be intrested in looking at thier avaters having sexual contact :-s

I realised that people let go of thier morals in the virtual world as there are no consiquences for thier actions and its also a place where ordinary people obviously feel they can let there fantasies run wild without anyone judging them.

Second Life

2008-02-05T01:27:00.000-08:00

AFTER

BEFORE

I decided to start the new peice of coursework nice and early. :-D I signed up to Second Life which was easy to do and installed what ever I had to, to use the program. I called my character Italia and chose the second name from a list. First time I singed in I thought that it looked really cool and was quite impressed. I started of on the island where you can try tutorials which teaches you the basics such as how to chat, drive, fly and make changes to you character. I also started to read little notes that get sent but soon found out that its easier to ignor them as I learn better when I explor the things myself.

I started to change my chracters apperance. Its cool how you can change every aspect of it. I first thought about making it look similar to myself but then thought I got a chance to be anyone I want so i want for it giving her long dark hair, green eyes and I made her taller because I feel short in real life.lol

Once I had compleated my character and dressed her I decided to go and get talking to peopel. I found this was the best way to learn about this place and most people are more then willing to help out. I also added someone as a friend as she said I could ask her for help in the future.

New Year, New Start

2008-02-04T14:41:00.001-08:00

So 2008 finaly here and I'v decided to work much harder this term and give it my full attention. I have to admit evan tho I did try my best in my last coursework I could have done better. I think it was all a bit weird trying to adjust to a new place and there are'nt as many boundries so you have to be responsable of how you spend your time. I'm much more settled now and feel that I can concentrate better on my work.

Interactive Narrative

2007-12-10T05:55:00.000-08:00

For this we were given a preset template with action script into which we had to add our own images to create narrative. I decided to do a fun quiz that you come across many website. My one was based on a love test as many people take part in these for fun and to see the outcome. My idea was mainly aimed at female teenagers. I have used this program before but the action script was much more complex then I the ones I have used in the past. I did struggle a little to come up with the idea but once I got the idea of how the frames worked it was quite straightforward. I also tried to add music into it, however i could not get it to stop overlapping once it went back to the start again stage so there fore decided to leave it out. Next time i would like to add music and see what action script i could use to overcome this problem.

One Shot Movie

2007-12-09T14:06:00.000-08:00

The one shot movie was a group project. We had five people in our group and each of us contributed towards the ideas of the final movie. We came up with many ideas which, included filming the whole movie backwards and then playing it the right way to make the whole thing interesting, as we would have been able to make objects appear as if they were bouncing up the stairs or rolling up the hill. However we didn’t do this idea as we realised that we would have to move the camera and the brief stated that the camera must not be moved.
After reviewing all our options as a group we settled on the idea of using a lift and each of us holding a sign up when the doors opened to reveal a word that formed a sentence as it moved through different floors. We thought that this idea was unique and it would work well and the outcome would be effective. Each of us created out own signs to add a personal touch and to keep interest of the viewer, as if they were all in the same type font it would make the overall movie mundane.
Overall I think that this movie was a success as I felt we worked well as a team and everyone took part init. In general the idea worked well and when the edits were done we were all happy with the outcome. The music we chose was from a website Rhyn found which featured unsigned artists that we could download and use. I also felt that the use of our own sign added character to the overall movie and it also meant that we all had a part in the movie.
We did come across some problems such as the fact that we had 5 signs and only 4 people to hold up the sign, so I had to run up 3 floors to hold the sign up in time for the camera. Another problem we came across was people walking into our shots as we were trying to film. To deal with this we had to work fast and pick a time when there wasn’t many people around.
If I had a chance to do this again I think I would take into account the type of shot used as the signs are quite small and some of them could have been bolder. I would also like to try and do more of the editing to get used to the programs. Another thing I would experiment with is the use of different types of music in the background or I could even try to make my own to see if it changes the narrative of the overall piece.

Pixillation

2007-11-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

We were set the task of producing a short clip made out of a set of still images that were put into Premiere Pro to create movie. As a group we first decided to follow a ticket warden around to demonstrate what they do and it was a bit like a day in the life of the ticket warden. After we were done we realised that we didn't have enough images left so we had to change the idea because we could not fine the same guy. Our next idea was to take images of monuments around Nottingham town center and the local park. We all had to do individual edits of it, I decided to make my piece look old fashioned by adding a sepia type of filter to it on Photoshop. I did consider adding grain to it but thought it would not work out if i had to compress the movie at any point. After i did all the filters and all I imported it into Premiere Pro which I have to admit took me a while, I actually hated the program as I have never used it before and personally found it hard to use. I think its because I forgot how to do half of the settings. Thankfully I managed to finish it successfully and added a classical song to it to set the mood of the whole thing.

Example of reflective practice

2007-11-15T05:06:00.000-08:00

During our lecture we were told to give a example of reflective practice. My one is quite common as its to do with a test we had in class and I didnt revise for it thinking i could get away with it. Most people might ave predicted this and I didnt do so well in it. From then on I learnt from my mistakes and when I got a chance to retake it I made sure I revised and I did sooo much better. This taught me never to underestimate anything and always be prepared.

White board animation

2007-11-15T04:50:00.000-08:00

During induction week we did a short animation on white board, it kind of reminded me of a music vedio for one of Lemon Jelly songs. We didnt really decided what we were going to draw as a groupe instead we just went with the flow and made it up as we went along. The end product we ended up with was a stick man getting wings, abit like the redbull advert and some random worm taking the box away from the man. I enjoyed this kind of animation as you could really use your imagination and just go along with mad ideas.

https://elearn.ntu.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7ugv-ZZ2jCU

pin hole cameras

2007-11-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

This is the first time Iv tried using a pin hole cam and I have to say I was quite impressed with it, who knew a beer can could be more useful then I thought. I think the bast part of it is when you develop your images as you never know what they are going end up like. I tried diffrent exposer times and realised that the longer I exposed it to light the better the contrast appeared on the final photo. Another thing I learnt was that its best to keep it on a flat surface as this stops the image form blurring.