Friday 16 December 2011

Comic Eight Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)

Comic Seventh Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)

Comic Sixth Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)

Comic Fifth Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)

Comic Fourth Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)

Comic Third Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)

Comic Second Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)

Comic First Page

(Please refer to the front cover for details)


Comic (Front Cover)


Hi, sorry for any lack of activity. For some side work at Uni my games culture lecturer asked if we wanted to do a comic but only two people entered it (and I won). Ah yes I didn't do the images or illustrations I just wrote it.

Here's the finished result:





Thursday 20 October 2011

Soul Calibur 5 guest character

Namco Bandai have a tendency to do some crazy things but this could be the craziest:

Having Ezio as a guest character could work.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Unit 71 Game Soundtrack Finished Product

For Unit 71 we had to create a soundtrack for our game trailer. From what I have learned is that everything has to be connected and relevant. So to stay true to the trailer, I looked at every characteristic that it entailed and diverting from the genre and the aim for the trailer I went for something of a sinister soundscape. A sound which pushed the heart to its limit.

I used the program application known as Cubase to create my soundtrack. The first few lessons I was introduced to multiple systems which mainly reveloved around synthesizers. The sound produced didn't really match my intentions. For a while (along with some freedom) I found an appropiate soundscape. It was called Old child's piano, the noise it produced was amazing and it was what I was looking for. I only intended to have a few notes which lasted about ten seconds.

It wasn't enough to just have this solitary sound granted it did produce a solemn atmosphere. It needed more something to reinforce it's very aim. I found another sound that can be heard in the background. An ambiance but based around the idea of bells been heard in the background. It came from an instrument called Sun-Ra I have forgotten which extension it was.

The track needed something else nothing too major but enough to emphasise the expected atmosphere. I decided to add an effect it was called Cathedral as it was to simulate the sound as if it was inside an actual building. After adding this the end result was spectacular. It immersed a sinister atmosphere upon its listeners. In total length it is only twelve seconds long but has the potential to be looped.

When the trailer was edited we didn't have enough time to incorporate everyones sounds into the trailer so we settled another song instead called Rain by Dax Johnson.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Dog Textured + Screenshots







Dog Modeled and Textured

As you can see the first image is of the eye texture which I intended to show how abnormal and supernatural this creature is as it has been experimented on with scientific and supernatural equipment. Created, manipulated and rejected this is the mistake that humans make most.


The images below are wire frames of the dog I would have put up other blog posts which explain the dogs development. You can see some polys which have been removed by accident I assure you they have been recreated and the dog is fully operational.



I encountered a problem while developing the dog as I made the head and body seperate when I bridged them together with the symmetery modifier it tore a hole in the back and the front of the throat of the dog. The back was quite easy to repair as it was just dragging polys close enough and welding the verteces together. For the front I added a cap hole modifier which fills the gap but when seen in a render it doesn't fit in with the model. So to emphasis the demonic apperance I have giving it a dark texture which was mainly a cloud texture (this can be seen on the next blog post)



Monday 14 March 2011

Particle Effect Practice

For my part of my environment I require FIRE.


Monday 7 March 2011

Original Textures and Refrence Images

On this slideshow you will see the pictures I took to use as textures for my main environment. I applied the slideshow through Photobucket and I chose the Spiderman 3 banner.


Wednesday 16 February 2011

Industry Visit: Fox Biscuits

In the second half of the visit we were informed on the production process of the Fox Biscuit adverts of Vinnie the Panda.

Lewis mentioned that there wer emany problems in which during pre-production the whole project had to be restarted multiple times due to the mascot been a bulldog but there were faults and they decided to have a panda instead but again further complications as they went for a hybrid between panda and bulldog but this failed. In the end they decided to go with a panda.

Over the advert development there were more problems as in the advert the set is real this contributed to further funds been used so the budget increased and the staff had to be increased. Another problem which occured was that the panda had his paws ona biscuit this is was perceived as unhygienic so development of the pandas paws was done repeatedly.

Overall, with the time delays and staff and artists been relocated to this project the budget increased. The cost of the advert was £1.5 million, the core complication of this project was the contact not knowing what they wanted but in the end it was popular and more adverts were commissioned.

Also the voice actor for Vinnie is Joe Montegna who has appeared in shows such as The Simpsons as he voices Fat Tony. Biscuits.

Industry Visit: Channel 4 Dubai Advert

As the visit was taking place there was a detailed analysis on one of Double Negative past works it was an advert for Channnel 4 which was a brief indication and also an optical illusion. Channel 4 has done multiple adverts using this tactic as in each scene they use different landmarks such as New York and a location in China, I think.

Anyway this specific advert in which he is covering is the Dubai advert. Lewis explained on how this was done as going through each stage of production. Mentioning and highlighting specific problems.

In Pre-Production, problems such as getting permission to even fly around the desired location, every variable was covered such as how bright the sun is shining, the position in which the sun is in the sky. Every potential problem was dealt with. Also other areas were prblem such as legal issues as in the advert the camera is looking at a construction site which has a banner with a professional logo. Even though the logo only appears briefly for a few seconds.

He revealed that the advert only cost £250,000 to make this includes everything covered in each stage of production. Every part of the production was fluent from beginning to end.




Double Negative Visual Effects

On Monday 14th February we were visited by an effects artist who is called Lewis Guarniere from a company called Double Negative which is a popular visual effects studio in the film industry. I have never heard of them up until that day in which he informed us of their history and involvement in the movie industry.

Through out the visit the guest artist informed us on what Double Negative have worked on as he showed multiple show reels in which was informative and then a second reel which showed a scene been broken down and then been put together with different layers. For example the opening scene from the film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince it was pure CG as the only real part of the scene was the pedestrians on the Millenium Bridge.

Also on the show reels it expanded more on the films and also showed footage from advertisements which was a suprise as I have seen most of them. (I will review some of them on new posts).

It was a suprise with what films they have worked on such films as Inception and Iron Man 2 most of these films have won awards so this shows Double Negative is an award winning studio.

The main purpose of the visit was to inform us on how the industry works and how you can get into it. Lewis told us of his past how he started as a runner then worked his way up the carear ladder. Lewis was informative on how possible involvement in the movie industry. He covered all his past from his studies to further education he went to Bradford University doing the CG Special Effects. During his first years as a runner he earned £11,000 a year.

Another note in which he was very clear about was the process of productions which are involved in any media product as Pre-Production is vital as the planning is formed in which everything is covered as Lewis kept metioning how important pre-production is. He also kept repeating that their are many faults which will be stumbled upon he said the worse problem was knowing that the contact doesn't know what they want.

Iron Man 2


Inception


My Quote: "The industry visit was a positive experience as it enabled me to see what it was like to see how a film was made in post-production, it was evidently an inspiring visit as information was given and also explanations on how most of the times a plan doesn't come together, overall a plesant and informative visit from someone who works in the film industry"

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Storytelling Reflection

New Team Logo: (Static)

My Board for Storytelling:

Overall, how do you feel the presentation went?

Honestly I felt gald that the presentation was done and in more specific detail I believe that the presentation went well. The presentation was done fairly as we had respect and let everyone have thier turn and if they were stuck we would help each other out. Overall, it went well everyone spoke their part, they had a calm demeanour. Speaking in public is a frightful task at first but when I was speaking I knewI was discomforted but the section I was covering I was passionate about so that helped me overcome any stage fright.

How long did your team take?

Our team took 27 mins to speak. It was long but all the team members were there. All five of us took our time to speak.

Was everyone prepared?

Not really, as some team members did struggle to research for what they chose to do. To help them for when it was their turn to speak the team wrote notes down to help them if they got stuck. Which I noticed about every team had some guide notes. For myself I lost my train of thought for a few seconds but I recovered by looking at some notes which I wrote down. Overall I am going to say no we weren't prepared either the prospect in speaking in front of people or just down to a lame ability of memory.

How did your audience react - were they positive, encouraged or distracting? - Personal Input.

For the team, the audience was fine no one was distracting as the audience was paying attention. Honestly, some looked bored or tired which is a natural reaction for when you are sitting in a really warm room. The feedback the team recieved from the audience was positive as no one complained or moaned as most was just quiet ad posibly wanted to get this done. For when I spoke most were interested and sielnt at the same time. For my feedback, I recieved a few questions which I answered. There were some audience members which were distracting as they were on there computers. Overall, they were a positive audience.

How did you do?

I think my part went well as I was the very last speaker so there wasn't any pressure on me. I was focused on what I spoke about. I think I screwed up a bit by going off track for a few seconds but I recovered and the audience were sympathetic so I didn't feel intimidated. I took my time and I'm glad I did. I sometimes get nervous in front of a crowd but most of the audience members were my friends so it was easier to speak. I like to think that I was prepaered as I do have knowledge on my chose subject but the concept of stage fright killed off some of that knowledge. In any future cases I will try and be more prepared by revising notes frequently so I know what I'm talking about.

What did you learn?

I learnt some basic subject knowledge about what most people covered. I learnt that storytelling is important as most have them have a hidden meaning and some philisophical knowledge. Also stories have been told since the dawn of man and have been adapted to be told in different ways such as books, word of mouth or been displayed on a wall or pottery. I am personally interested in storytelling so this was an exciting subject to cover and also I do have some basic knowledge on what most people covered so I asked some questions. I was a good audience member.

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Screenshot for the environment

For our main enviroment in our game trialer we have decided to go for a winter theme as you can see that the gorund is covered in snow. We won't be doing any snow particle effects as they are too awkward to work with and they don't really work well. Anyway in this screenshot you can see that the view is between foliage that looks off into the distance where you can see the pyramid (I will do some work on it in the future) and the ice stairs.


And just above this is a screenshot to see how the turbosmooth modifier worked, I would say it has worked out quite well. God Bless Turbosmooth.

Monday 17 January 2011

Constraints

(Questions for team meeting)

What problems will there be for me: Since I am team leader I will face some amount of stress and pressure such as team members not making an appearnce, arguing amongst ourselves and also not meeting deadlines. The casual problems any leader will have.

How will the team work together: In our team we're all friends and we all get along with each other. I only have one problem some team members are known foe their lack of abscence and this causing unnecessary stress.

Appointment of roles:

Finance:

How much would a project like this cost to produce:

Legal Issues:
Copyright
IP's
Patents

Deadlines:

Resources: The resources we have available at college is the software programs such as Photoshop and StudioMax 2008 + 2010.

Faults:

Monday 10 January 2011

Unit 4 Reflection

For the final major project we were designated into teams to produce a game trialer, this is a curios operation as I really haven't worked in a team before (on such a project). I was appointed team leader and so far everything has been going well.

For my individual aspects I my skills in communication have grown as I am working with friends as we all trust each other and in our desicions. My team are determined for what they need to do and since we all know each other well there is no arguments amongst us but there are reapeated abscences which do cause stress for everyone (especially me). I can my manage my time I spend on indivdual parts of the course and as well as managing and the other team members by oftenly given them assistance and reminders for what needs to be done.

Every few weeks we have team interviews where we can gather and share ideas for future concepts we record these on word documents and they are securley saved on each team members hard drive or USB.

For our first assignment we were tasked to create a team name and logo, we had a go at what name we should have. We decide to have the name Visual Flare as this can help represent on what we are looking for, the flare as it is a bright colour often the light in the darkness and for the visual our area of work is involved in a visual manner so the name fitted perfectly. After the name we decided to individually create a logo each the majority complied but some did not. This was not a surprise as this was the consequence of repeated abscences and no interest shown. Anyway the logo was decided it was Dom's logo in what the design was an effective visual image in which there are 3D smoke effects and the title font was vibrant.


The team meetings we had did have a impact in our work as we were appointed different roles. The workload for each member shifted as we all agreed that those who had repeated abscences were appointed with the easier tasks and those who were recognised for their hard work were appointed the harder tasks.