In the project I was tasked as the castle exterior creator, rather then having one main modeler, one animator etc, we ended up sharing the work load between the group. I believe this did not work because members were not having to rely on each other or have the pressure of someone needing their piece, this meant a lot of the work was left for the last week or 2. Personally I believe we should have had specific roles as it would have been more like a production team in the industry.
With this project I felt that it started well, everyone was enthusiastic, everyone was bouncing ideas of each other. We had a rough production plan which gave us roughly a week or 2 for everything and in theory it would all time nicely and slot together, although nothing was solid. I had modeled and texture my section of the project by the third week (not including the 3 weeks of bad weather) and felt that I ended up waiting for the majority of other group members to catch up.
In this project the ideas had changed so much it felt like we were going in circles, when someone would suggest an idea and the group would say "yeah I like that." This happened too regularly for another 2 weeks until we ended up with the same idea that we started with. As for bringing the idea to life we never even had finished concepts or storyboards from our chosen artist (who I felt sorry for because he never asked to do it he was nominated, I asked but I was ignored because our group was a democracy and they had voted) this was another reason I felt our project wasn't as good as it should have been.
Overall I feel that this project was a failure, its not a piece of footage I will be putting in my showreel. The final camera moves were rigid and dull, showed no creativity and didn't convey the story at all, not to mention being full of continuity errors. I also felt that the textures and models were inconsistent. Personally it felt like some of other members of the group weren't very passionate about what we were doing and I don't think I would work with them again.
What should have happened
First of all I shouldn't have been nervous about attempting to take control or make bold suggestion because I joined the group late. We definitely needed a director/leader just to give the group a more professional feel, definitive idea and more accurate schedule. The whole project should have been handled differently.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Working Process 5 - Last week
Unfortunately this was our last week in which we had to put all our files together, create our camera moves, animate, render, composite and edit. This was extremely tight but doable as we agreed to come in everyday of the week, also I like to think very competent when it comes to compositing and editing.
Monday
As members of the group didn't turn up everything was put back by a day. so the rest of us had started to looked up some tutorials online to create what we were missing as we were getting desperate and it need to be done. I also continued with my other project as there was little else to do.
Tuesday
Some members didn't turn up again and some were still working on they're models so we couldn't combine them. Although our replacement animation was looking good so I incorporated it with our files and we started doing some test renders
Although this renders were looking pretty cool when I got back home something had happen to the file and it had become corrupt and i lost the file with fire
Wednesday
Due to a fire near London Bridge I was unable to get into uni which set the group back another day and I felt like kicking my self.
Thursday
For the first time in weeks the whole group was in Uni. The first thing we needed to do was combine the files and start making camera moves then all render out a couple of camera moves that night. In the end the the group decided to just make they're own camera moves individually and render out what they feel, personally i disagreed and belived it should have been done together as a group.
Friday - hand in day
With the editing of the second section I was told that change it so that someones section was included although i felt this did not work and my edit flowed better i could not change a group decision or risk starting a arguement. Below you can see the 2 edits just so it can be seen how i think it should look. once i gave the second half of the edit to my group as i had to get the train home and i trusted them to create the other half in time.
Changed edit
My Preferred edit
Monday
As members of the group didn't turn up everything was put back by a day. so the rest of us had started to looked up some tutorials online to create what we were missing as we were getting desperate and it need to be done. I also continued with my other project as there was little else to do.
Tuesday
Some members didn't turn up again and some were still working on they're models so we couldn't combine them. Although our replacement animation was looking good so I incorporated it with our files and we started doing some test renders
Wednesday
Due to a fire near London Bridge I was unable to get into uni which set the group back another day and I felt like kicking my self.
Thursday
For the first time in weeks the whole group was in Uni. The first thing we needed to do was combine the files and start making camera moves then all render out a couple of camera moves that night. In the end the the group decided to just make they're own camera moves individually and render out what they feel, personally i disagreed and belived it should have been done together as a group.
Friday - hand in day
With the editing of the second section I was told that change it so that someones section was included although i felt this did not work and my edit flowed better i could not change a group decision or risk starting a arguement. Below you can see the 2 edits just so it can be seen how i think it should look. once i gave the second half of the edit to my group as i had to get the train home and i trusted them to create the other half in time.
Changed edit
My Preferred edit
Working Process 4 - 2 weeks left
This week I wasn't able to do much as hayley had a weeks work placement and we were waiting for the animation she had done so that we could create the camera moves, unfortunately the files were too big to email. When we were discussing ideas early on in the project, one of our possible animation sequences was a collapsing wall so i decided to have a play with the Maya dynamics, i did this by using a tutorial involving lego on the internet.
http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/autodesk-maya/create-a-spectacular-crash-animation-with-maya-dynamics-day-1/
Here is my end result from playing with dynamics
Maya Dynamics Test from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.
This week gave me a chance to do some more work on my industry exercise
http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/autodesk-maya/create-a-spectacular-crash-animation-with-maya-dynamics-day-1/
Here is my end result from playing with dynamics
Maya Dynamics Test from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.
This week gave me a chance to do some more work on my industry exercise
Working Process 3 - 3 Weeks Left
At this point we had about 3 weeks left and should have been compiling all the work so we can animate the cameras and get ready to render. but only Lydia and I had turned up to all lesson, Andi hadn't modeled anything, Hayley had done a fair bit of animation but but just never seemed to turn up although i do know that the second to last week she had a placement at the Mill which wasn't her fault. We were also waiting for character concepts, Final Environment Concepts and a storyboards from Matt as he had been nominated as the Artist/2D Animate and didn't have to touch Maya. I'm not saying that I was perfect in this project but I cant think off any major mistake I made ,I mean I'm perfectly open to criticism in fact I love it because I can improve myself. Personally I was feeling like I would only ever work with Lydia from this group again.
At this point I started playing with the lights while I waited for the others to prepare/make their models for combining. I spent a good a day or 2 just experimenting with different lights for the castle exterior. The lights are based on highlights from the moon which is why they don't light up the whole castle.
At this point I started playing with the lights while I waited for the others to prepare/make their models for combining. I spent a good a day or 2 just experimenting with different lights for the castle exterior. The lights are based on highlights from the moon which is why they don't light up the whole castle.
UV Mapping and Texturing
UV Mapping
For castle I had quite a bit of work to do because it was the most complex model had built so far. My usual method with simpler models is use automatic mapping and shift about items in the UV Editor but i could thell that wasn't going to work with this model.
For this I decided to ask our technical tutor Alex he told me the best way to create the UVs was to select the main wall Faces for one side and use the planar UV projection tool then move the UV out the way and repeat for the other side. I then did this for the remain faces in turn till I had a neat looking UV Layout
Next I had to create the UV Map for stairs which was relatively quick as I used a similar technique to the one which I used for the castle wall the only difference was that I used automatic mapping then planar mapped the sides of the stair
With the UV Mapping for the Island I didn't have to worry about anything as all the UVs and textures carried over from Mudbox
Texturing
With textures I personally prefer to create my own as it gives it a slightly more personal look and also has a more artistic feel about it. also with our project we wanted to go with a simpler artist look so the textures weren't overly complex. My textures were fairly simple I used a brick texture Photoshop brush that I have. otherwise the rest of the textures were grey with a dirt brush applied to give a slight hint of detail. I have to admit at this point I would of liked to done more texturing and modeling as we were only 3 weeks into the porject and still had about 3 or 4 weeks left. But seeing as only Lydia and I had turned up to most lesson and actually started modeling on this project when I offered to help people seemed reluctant to admit what little they had done.
For castle I had quite a bit of work to do because it was the most complex model had built so far. My usual method with simpler models is use automatic mapping and shift about items in the UV Editor but i could thell that wasn't going to work with this model.
Texturing
With textures I personally prefer to create my own as it gives it a slightly more personal look and also has a more artistic feel about it. also with our project we wanted to go with a simpler artist look so the textures weren't overly complex. My textures were fairly simple I used a brick texture Photoshop brush that I have. otherwise the rest of the textures were grey with a dirt brush applied to give a slight hint of detail. I have to admit at this point I would of liked to done more texturing and modeling as we were only 3 weeks into the porject and still had about 3 or 4 weeks left. But seeing as only Lydia and I had turned up to most lesson and actually started modeling on this project when I offered to help people seemed reluctant to admit what little they had done.
Mudbox
At this stage in the project i started work on the island for this i decided to use Mudbox as i had recently purchased it in a software package and wanted to experiment with it. Admittedly towards the end this wasnt practical as it made the scenes take longer to render, Although this wouldn't have been a problem had the majority of my group turned up or done the work by when we planned to.
As for using Mudbox it was great fun its extremely flexible as the level of detail is unbelievable, although this can also create problems as it can get very hard to limit yourself at a sensible level of detail. Once i had made my island at a sensible level of detail I exported it too a .ma file then imported it into Maya along with its texture. Once in Maya all the polygons edges had sharpened and I didn't have a clue how to fix it. When it came to fixing this issue i struggled to find a solution on the internet but it happened that one of my class mates had the same issue and it ended up being something as simple as softening the edges.
Below you can see some screen shots of the model in Mudbox as well as the import version into maya with the hard edges
As for using Mudbox it was great fun its extremely flexible as the level of detail is unbelievable, although this can also create problems as it can get very hard to limit yourself at a sensible level of detail. Once i had made my island at a sensible level of detail I exported it too a .ma file then imported it into Maya along with its texture. Once in Maya all the polygons edges had sharpened and I didn't have a clue how to fix it. When it came to fixing this issue i struggled to find a solution on the internet but it happened that one of my class mates had the same issue and it ended up being something as simple as softening the edges.
Below you can see some screen shots of the model in Mudbox as well as the import version into maya with the hard edges
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Working Process 2
After some group discussion we decided we wanted a specific arch style put into the castle luckily this didnt require to much remodeling. Although now that i had worked out a system for creating the wall it had become much easier. all i had to was create a plane in the shape off the open wall the extrude it out to the thickness needed then add the bend deformer.
Working Process 1
With this project the basic design of the castle changed quite a bit yet still being round the whole time. the reason it changed so much was to for Practicality, Purpose and Reason, to start off with i had a part of the castle wall free standing so as to add to the ruined look but after i had my bend deformer had been added it didn't look physically correct.
Here you can see screen shots of the castle with the deformer added, personally i just found it didn't look right.so the wall went through a remodel.
Here you can see screen shots of the castle with the deformer added, personally i just found it didn't look right.so the wall went through a remodel.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Idea Development over Facebook
The following conversation is shows the development of ideas which have been discussed on facebook. As we had issues meeting up earlier in the project due to snow.
The project
Between Sam Mcguire, You, Andi Bennett, Matt Vadis and Lydia Fabian
http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 22 at 11:05am Reply
heyy everyone.. hope you guys enjoyed exhibition yesterday and it was inspiring..just thought if you take a look at the group blog there are the rochester pics on there and i for some reason instead of drawing ruins on a mound .. went for a cliff coast kinda thing. check out my blog theres pics which show EXACTLY what i mean on therewhat do you guys think we should have done by monday? shall we all have our concepts together.. spend monday just going through making sure every ones happy and then matt can draw the final concept.. ?then i was thinking to run a quick maya mock up of placements for the floor plan so matt can get on with some boards of our camera movement around the environment.. does that sound cool? lyds
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:07am Reply
im down with that. http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 22 at 11:09am Reply
ange shall we sort a little mock of what should be done by when.. http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 22 at 11:19am Reply
oh and matt i have sent you a link to be on the group blog, should be on your inbox for vadis95hayley iv re sent your invite so that should be on your inbox..
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=802495696
Sam Mcguire January 22 at 11:22am Reply
im confused does this mean the ideas changed to a cliff now cos it means all my concepts are wasted
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:27am Reply
of course it doesn't. they are just concepts, we get together and discuss them and move on from there. everyone needs some concepts so we all know what we want to see and can can take ideas from each other.
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:28am Reply
and your concepts wouldn't be wasted anyways, you post them on your blog and it shows development of ideas.
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen January 22 at 11:32am
I dont think we should do it on a cliff, karens group are doing a cave coastline kind of thing.
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Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:56am Reply
okay, well its just an idea, i dont think we should stray away from it just because another group are doing something similar.I hate to be the bad guy here, but we are running out of time and i want to get started so we have plenty of time to make this project as professional looking as possible. So far we havn't made much progress at all, and im getting worried.
http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 22 at 12:01pm Reply
um.. guys.. does anyone feel that we're kind of fighting eachother about things.. i was just basically saying 'check out wht iv done tell me wt u think' cz i wanted your opinion.. i didnt mean for everyone to go off and change their ideas.also i'm under the impression that you and sam may think me and andi are being a bit gay about ideas, if as though we're taking control.. we don't want to take control as we want to be constructive as a group and your opinions count and are important. i first got this feeling when me n andi went off to rochester and you two stayed in class, which was the plan and then hayley wouldv liked us to stay.. which she wasn't very clear about.. as she said it was fine.please if there's any thing wrong or you're annoyed about just say. i don't think im the only one thinking like this..i want us to have a good time and just crack on .. also are you in on monday?xx
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503758955
Matt Vadis January 22 at 12:14pm Reply
Okay read the thread. I agree with Andi we should stick to the idea, if another group is doing something similar then we'll have to dominate them with our righteous badassness. Also it's not finalized yet so, if we can get all our ideas ready for mon (maybe with some variations on the theme) so we can pick one and have the final concept ready for wednesday then i think we should be good to go with the maya. reckon?
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen January 22 at 2:06pm
i said that about the first day coz all the other groups were together n got alot done n me n sam were like so..? we got alot done weds n had a clear idea n it now feels you are changing it when we arent around. im starting to do tutorials 4 animation and modelling at the same time, will try and get concept for mon altho i wanted mon to do them really.
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Lydia Fabian January 22 at 2:30pm Reply
shall we see what we can do over weekend and spend as long as we need on monday doing concepts? even if we just assign the modelling sections that are needed to one another then we can get on that. i think we'll be alright. just need to make a deadline chart thing cool with the getting on with tutorials.. found anything helpful? i've just been playing in photoshop with different textures and brushes for concept stuff.
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett January 22 at 4:49pm Reply
well im glad thats sorted, i dont think we have changed anything, well not intentionally, its gunna be alright guys, we just need to pull together monday with the designs and work our asses off.
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen January 25 at 10:44am
Hey guys sorry im nt in today, im going to scan in my concepts and add them to my blog in a sec so you can have a look. hope that was the kinda thing you wanted x x
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Andi Bennett January 25 at 10:49am Reply
thats cool hayley, we are all on our way in now, we will try and move towards the final concept, and incorporate ideas from everyones concepts.
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen January 29 at 6:28pm
Hey guys i was just wondering who is modelling the tree? i was thinking rather than the orbs flying round it could they be hanging from the tree a bit like forbidden fruit? the character could pull 1 off the tree or something? x x
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Lydia Fabian January 29 at 6:40pm Reply
hey.. since me matt n sam spoke to jared about our project he said we needed more of a purpose.. i made a messy blog post on the team blog if you want to see ways of giving it purpose. any questions shout me.xx
http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 29 at 6:41pm Reply
andi was meant to be doing tree.. and alex said it'd be asier to do a dead tree.. blaaahhh sam can fill you guys in
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen January 29 at 6:49pm
Im jst asking about the orbs coz was guna start that 2night. the tree could still be dead with the orbs hanging from it. and what do you mean by purpose?x x
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Lydia Fabian January 29 at 8:23pm Reply
iv been trying to think of what i mean by purpose.. jared said we need a purpose.something educational - something linking us with a potential client - advertisement promotion of an existing castle.. we could get floor plans and stuff n half the works done for us. not just a little story we've made up to lead us around the environment.one thing jared did like was that we start with looking at a 2d picture of the castle.. (character holds it up) then when we pull it down we see the ruined castle.. that was andis idea.. nice way to get us into the story.. i was tlaking to sam about ..you know that map thats in harry potter which shows where a character is walkig about.. liek we could have a map of this place?i wrote in the blog.. soemthing about maybe our character has something of a symbol (necklace, item, tattoo) which links with the castle.. and starts a reaction.im just trying to think of more of a purpose to our film.pfff i dont know.
http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 29 at 8:24pm Reply
*but do what you liek with the orbs.. need matt t talk to as he's doing the drawing.. id prefer them maybe sat on the tree or something.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=802495696
Sam Mcguire January 29 at 9:12pm Reply
hey just thought I would input something i like the idea of doing it for a client in some kinda informative manner. when I mentioned to jared that I'm doing a talk at my bros school he said use them for research and if they have an awesome idea we can use it, and have a way of justifying it. also by purpose jared means a reasoning behind our work not just creating something for no reason. I know what me and Lydia are saying sounds like we have to change a fair bit but it's from jareds feedback that we are saying it
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Andi Bennett January 29 at 9:57pm Reply
im down with it... we just need to get going as soon as.i have a horrible feeling that if we don't finalise now we will fall behind. Meanwhile, im terribly confused as to what im supposed to be modeling as everyone has kinda moved off of their own bits and i know the tree n fountain may not happen now. so lemme know what im supposed to be modeling and ill get on with it.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503758955
Matt Vadis January 30 at 1:24pm Reply
I'm listening and will be thinking of ways to add narrative over the weekend. Sam if possible could you email Andi and Hayley what's been modelled so far, maybe they can get a rough idea of the shape it's taking. Also like Lydia said check out her team blog post to think more about purpose ideas and my picture of the layout; should give you a rough idea of the structure. Of course you can change the bits you don't like.We might have to change stuff, but i don't think that's important. Once we're clear about the narrative it'll all come together even if we do have less time cos it'll be a better idea, which is better than spending more time on a pants idea. Can't polish a turd.Also about the orbs, another idea was having them as glowing butterflies or fireflies but again, what they are depends on what the purpose of whole thing is so if you think of more ideas post em. I'm curious to hear what the kids have to say at Sam's thing, could give us what we need.
http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 30 at 3:29pm Reply
im putting confidence in sams talk too. im sure once we've got an idea we will easily crack on :)should be tlkn like this on the blog u know..
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen January 30 at 10:07pm
When is sams talk? What about the fountain being the fountain of youth, and the tree has part of its roots in the water so thats why its massive. The character could not be alone, s/he could having a dying friend in the boat, so they need the water to save them. if they are knights or something the one in the boat could have a stab wound in their side maybe? i dont know lol. and i think at the end of the project our chats could be copied to the blog. btw matt ive printed your concept i really liked it x x
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Sam Mcguire February 1 at 8:58am Reply
hey guys sorry but my talk has been delayed till next monday i dont know what you want to do but im still gunna do the talk also im gunna email what ive done so far out. so can i please have andi and hayleys email addresses.
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett February 1 at 9:30am Reply
andrew.robert.bennett@googlemail.com
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen February 1 at 10:31am
h.allen@rave.ac.uk
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 10:43am Reply
check the team blog i put up something which might help to tell a story in a cool way. tell me what you think
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=802495696
Sam Mcguire February 1 at 10:58am Reply
ive done some bloggy stuff as well
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:09am Reply
okay i read through the team blog, and i hate to be the party pooper here, but i think we are running out of time. The less time we have, the more dangerous it becomes to try anything ambitious. I love matts concept, and i think that will look stunning if we stick to it. As for a purpose, how about a little kid that turns up at the island with a picture of it in its glory days, he makes his way through the castle as discussed and maybe touches a statue or crypt of the lady in the lake and the whole place transforms into how it was in its glory days, we could even do some internal animation of rubble kinda rewinding back into place. i dunno just an idea.Ive looked at the models and they look pretty cool, are we all in on thursday or is anyone heading to barcelona?
http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian February 1 at 11:14am Reply
like the idea of the kid and then the whole castle transforms into its glory. i don't know how to model my part for this entrance.. i need matts or anyone's help?
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:14am Reply
what part are you doing?
http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian February 1 at 11:17am Reply
the dock entrance part.. shall everyone just say what they're modelling again.. as things have changed a little.xxx
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:20am Reply
well i'll take the archway stairs things, and whatever is decided for inside the castle, if its going to be a statue i think we should decide now as i really don't mind modeling a human, but its gunna take time.
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Sam Mcguire February 1 at 11:32am Reply
i can give you a hand if you want lydia. i am modelling the castle structure i can also look at the animation of bricks falling of you want seeing as its to do with the structure even if i just research it
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:33am Reply
yeah sounds good to me...it way be a case of filling in the holes modeled in the ruined model and animating them?
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen February 1 at 11:36am
Im modelling the boat and additional items, maybe skeletons, wall hangings etc. i wondered if someone could make a logo or crest i could use as a texture on my models? i was using a tree but if its changing thats fine. erm also on my blog i drew a concept of a statue holding a glowing orb or light i dont know if you want to use it x
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:39am Reply
yeah i like that idea.
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 11:43am Reply
okay so we're all sticking to the original plan. I'll be going Barcelona on thurs, so i'll make sure i put some images up on the blog maybe some mood pics, colour variations and stuff before i go. I'll be in on wednesday so we can finalize exactly what's gonna happen regarding the poxy narrative.Also i'd like to say you shouldn't feel like it has to be 2d characters in a 3d world cos that's what i'm interested in, see it more as an option that we have. I'm fine with doing it but if there's a better way of showing what we want to show then we should do that. I'll be staying online in case we need to talk about anything. Peace crackers
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:46am Reply
haha crackers... it's true.sounds good matt, im still pretty stoked about the 2d character. I think it will have a really nice contrast against the environment. I just want to make sure we get a move on so we all have a comfortable time getting this done.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503758955
Matt Vadis February 1 at 11:47am Reply
oh yeah, Hayley whenever i try to watch your vids it says, the video is currently unavailable?
http://www.facebook.com/andi.robert.bennett
Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:47am Reply
same for me
http://www.facebook.com/dollybird9
Hayley Allen February 1 at 11:53am
Oh ok il have a look later see whats wrong. They are of water and a flag blowing
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 11:53am Reply
okay, i'm gonna Wiki lady in the lake
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 1:56pm Reply
I was looking at the some of the myths of the lady in the lake, i didn't know much about it, but apparently she's the person/thing/spirit who gave king arthur his legendary blade excalibur, sorry if you knew that. The stories about it seem a bit vague and open to interpretation.If that's the case why don't we have the main character as king arthur, who's come to this island in search of the sword. As he arrives on the island we could have Andi's idea of the comparison of how it looked according to rumour (which is why he has travelled there) and it's actual ruined image.In pictures of the myth it often shows the lady of the lake presenting the sword to Arthur from the water like in the link. Why don't we have a similar image of that but instead of the lake it's presented from water in the fountain at the top of castle.Alternatively it might be quite cool (and if you don't want to deal with water effects) to have Hayley's statue idea, but of the lady, embedded in the epic tree holding the sword out for Arthur to take.As far as the castle's purpose is concerned, it doesn't look well fortified in the way that other castles are because it was never intended to fend off invaders, which explains why it looks more decorative - it's purpose is to house the legendary sword so it's not conventional in that sense and we can get away with our uncastle-like-castle.On his way up to the top arthur could see a load of references to the King arthur legend, i'm not sure exactly what they are but, we could do some research into it. I like the idea of using sound to lure the person around the grounds, calling him up to the sword. I remember Andi saying Lydia created some cool ghost like voices using some music software? That might be an idea.I realise these are all the things that you guys were all thinking about anyway, like sword in the stone and stuff i'm just trying to bring it together. It's a bit cheesy but solid and would be happy to do it.However i am still having trouble thinking of a potential client for the project - is it a level for a game, educational, maybe we're designing an area/ride for a theme park? Get back to me.Man i just wrote an essay. Sorry.
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 2:01pm Reply
i like the idea... i like it alot, why are we thinking of potential clients?people don't make movies to please a client... they do it to entertain people, i think we should do it to tell this little king arthur extract.
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 2:09pm Reply
I understand what your saying but if we're telling a story just for it's own sake (or, you know, just to pass a unit) then nobody is going to care. The best way to entertain people is to know our audience and have an idea what we want to say to them.
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Sam Mcguire February 1 at 3:06pm Reply
how bout a client of say a museum but its to inform kids about englands most famous legend that way it doesn't have to be to serious we can also relate it to my talk thing next week. i like this direction as i originally wanted to use a myth anyway
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 3:08pm Reply
sounds good to me.
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 4:15pm Reply
im with that.. that was a lot of reading i just did. cool so everyones happy doing this idea of showing a myth/legends of the past about king arthur? The audience would know this becuase of all the tell signs of the environement..maybe in the sky (like jason and the argonaughts) we have a blink of a face of him being watched.um. What did people think to the idea of illustrating little 2d scenes? maybe when king arthur is looking around the castle to get to the sword ?(btw love the idea of the lady being a statue holding out the sword)I'm feeling enthusiastic now because we're all talking about it and getting hyped which is awesome.im ready for some serious crack down onto this unit.I want to make something that looks pretty awesome,and sam yes totally right about making it liek a museum event to attract young audiences.i wasnt meaning to look for a client i just was trying to think up anything for a purpose as to why this environemtn exists and whats it all about..we have our story now..i like itmakes more sense than the tree and orbs.. though that was pretty cool.i checked out castles on my blog..if we're not fortified then we are like the Tudors who built coastal castle's more for intimidation against invaders but more so for comfort and wealth. Should this statue be the centre of the castle ruin.. or maybe as the environment is a ruin.. she's sort of tucked away where our character looks for her.or not lolGood work today though guys.. everyone has put up what they're thinking.I'm fine with the modelling of the dock area just haven't got any designs for it.. so i guess i'll crack on with looking to existing stuff.. if you guys see anything throw it my way through the blog
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 4:21pm Reply
actually. from the drawing mat did.. i'm not thinking to include a little room. there's no purpose? unless any one can think of one.. how about just the stone plinths coming from the water (where the wooden dock platforms would've been) and then the stone steps winding up through the cliff edge (like a cave feel) then we start going up from there on the drawing.?
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 4:22pm
Im happy with this, it kinda feels like we have come full circle, as we said about that before. i thought drawn sections would be good from the point of view of arthur, as if he stil sees it in 2d, altho i dont wana give matt too much or if he would want help i will. shall i use a symbol of a sword on the flags etc? oh and ive modelled a basic sword, i can fancy it up tho to make it the one the statue is holding? x
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 4:29pm Reply
go team GO!everything sounds wonderful... im a little confused with the 2d scene idea...but im sure you'll explain at some point!sword sounds lovely hayley can't wait to see it!
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 4:31pm Reply
how about instead of a fountain, maybe a little pond or something. quite liking this image.https://www.brent.gov.uk/icimres.nsf/images/img-356/$file/8%20lady%20in%20the%20lake.jpg
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 5:10pm Reply
Sam, yeah i like the whole educate the kids about the myth in a museum thing too.Cool Hayley make the sword the stuff of legendLydia maybe we should get rid of the bit at the bottom. If we do we should make sure that there's something at the bottom that introduces us to the place, so it sort of hints at what's to come and establishes where we are.Andi yeah the fountain ideas are all yours, whatever your comfortable with modelling. If your going to put a statue in it it make sure it doesn't clash with the statue holding the sword if that's what we're doing.And I'll work on some overdue concept work.Sounds like we're all on the same page now and we can sort out the details on Wed so if you'll excuse me i'm gonna go froth at the mouth from brain damage.
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 5:45pm
Could we start with a storybook and the pictures come to life? a bit like they did in the old disney films and shrek? or would that be too obvious x
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 6:09pm Reply
like the ice age link i posted?matt i was thinking of some stuff thats just easthetically pleasing :) .. so now i shall get on with thinking of how to introduce us to this place.. to set the scene a little.. even though thats already done with this little 2d intro idea if we go there
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 6:10pm Reply
oh so are we all wanting to go in weds? how about thurs for the rest of us? or do we just need the one day?im thinking of what ticket i can get home you see :)xx
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 6:25pm Reply
Lydia yeah as long as it looks nice then we should be okay, don't worry about thinking of how to introduce the place, cos you're right that's what the 2d intro is for.What I was getting at was so that it's not just a path all the way to the top we should have something at the dock to spice up the boats entrance into the place. So the first thing you see are not stairs followed by more stairs. I don't know what to put there but you know what i mean right? or not. I need to think about it.
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 7:33pm Reply
yes i need to think about it too..again.. is the group only meeting weds? http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=802495696
Sam Mcguire February 1 at 7:42pm Reply
im in weds, thurs and are we in fri??
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 7:50pm
Ill be in thurs as well as weds, n sam no we arent x x
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 9:12pm Reply
yes we have no lessons friday. *self directed study*
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Lydia Fabian February 2 at 1:59pm Reply
check the blog
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Matt Vadis February 2 at 2:33pm Reply
That panoramic thing in the link is awesome, like a better version of of google street view and a really good reference for us. Nice one for sending them the email by the wayPersonally my vote would be to carry on with the lady in the lake idea as we seem to be making progress with it now, but i shall follow the majority.
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Lydia Fabian January 22 at 11:05am Reply
heyy everyone.. hope you guys enjoyed exhibition yesterday and it was inspiring..just thought if you take a look at the group blog there are the rochester pics on there and i for some reason instead of drawing ruins on a mound .. went for a cliff coast kinda thing. check out my blog theres pics which show EXACTLY what i mean on therewhat do you guys think we should have done by monday? shall we all have our concepts together.. spend monday just going through making sure every ones happy and then matt can draw the final concept.. ?then i was thinking to run a quick maya mock up of placements for the floor plan so matt can get on with some boards of our camera movement around the environment.. does that sound cool? lyds
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Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:07am Reply
im down with that. http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 22 at 11:09am Reply
ange shall we sort a little mock of what should be done by when.. http://www.facebook.com/lydia.fabian
Lydia Fabian January 22 at 11:19am Reply
oh and matt i have sent you a link to be on the group blog, should be on your inbox for vadis95hayley iv re sent your invite so that should be on your inbox..
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Sam Mcguire January 22 at 11:22am Reply
im confused does this mean the ideas changed to a cliff now cos it means all my concepts are wasted
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Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:27am Reply
of course it doesn't. they are just concepts, we get together and discuss them and move on from there. everyone needs some concepts so we all know what we want to see and can can take ideas from each other.
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Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:28am Reply
and your concepts wouldn't be wasted anyways, you post them on your blog and it shows development of ideas.
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Hayley Allen January 22 at 11:32am
I dont think we should do it on a cliff, karens group are doing a cave coastline kind of thing.
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Andi Bennett January 22 at 11:56am Reply
okay, well its just an idea, i dont think we should stray away from it just because another group are doing something similar.I hate to be the bad guy here, but we are running out of time and i want to get started so we have plenty of time to make this project as professional looking as possible. So far we havn't made much progress at all, and im getting worried.
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Lydia Fabian January 22 at 12:01pm Reply
um.. guys.. does anyone feel that we're kind of fighting eachother about things.. i was just basically saying 'check out wht iv done tell me wt u think' cz i wanted your opinion.. i didnt mean for everyone to go off and change their ideas.also i'm under the impression that you and sam may think me and andi are being a bit gay about ideas, if as though we're taking control.. we don't want to take control as we want to be constructive as a group and your opinions count and are important. i first got this feeling when me n andi went off to rochester and you two stayed in class, which was the plan and then hayley wouldv liked us to stay.. which she wasn't very clear about.. as she said it was fine.please if there's any thing wrong or you're annoyed about just say. i don't think im the only one thinking like this..i want us to have a good time and just crack on .. also are you in on monday?xx
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Matt Vadis January 22 at 12:14pm Reply
Okay read the thread. I agree with Andi we should stick to the idea, if another group is doing something similar then we'll have to dominate them with our righteous badassness. Also it's not finalized yet so, if we can get all our ideas ready for mon (maybe with some variations on the theme) so we can pick one and have the final concept ready for wednesday then i think we should be good to go with the maya. reckon?
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Hayley Allen January 22 at 2:06pm
i said that about the first day coz all the other groups were together n got alot done n me n sam were like so..? we got alot done weds n had a clear idea n it now feels you are changing it when we arent around. im starting to do tutorials 4 animation and modelling at the same time, will try and get concept for mon altho i wanted mon to do them really.
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Lydia Fabian January 22 at 2:30pm Reply
shall we see what we can do over weekend and spend as long as we need on monday doing concepts? even if we just assign the modelling sections that are needed to one another then we can get on that. i think we'll be alright. just need to make a deadline chart thing cool with the getting on with tutorials.. found anything helpful? i've just been playing in photoshop with different textures and brushes for concept stuff.
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Andi Bennett January 22 at 4:49pm Reply
well im glad thats sorted, i dont think we have changed anything, well not intentionally, its gunna be alright guys, we just need to pull together monday with the designs and work our asses off.
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Hayley Allen January 25 at 10:44am
Hey guys sorry im nt in today, im going to scan in my concepts and add them to my blog in a sec so you can have a look. hope that was the kinda thing you wanted x x
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Andi Bennett January 25 at 10:49am Reply
thats cool hayley, we are all on our way in now, we will try and move towards the final concept, and incorporate ideas from everyones concepts.
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Hayley Allen January 29 at 6:28pm
Hey guys i was just wondering who is modelling the tree? i was thinking rather than the orbs flying round it could they be hanging from the tree a bit like forbidden fruit? the character could pull 1 off the tree or something? x x
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Lydia Fabian January 29 at 6:40pm Reply
hey.. since me matt n sam spoke to jared about our project he said we needed more of a purpose.. i made a messy blog post on the team blog if you want to see ways of giving it purpose. any questions shout me.xx
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Lydia Fabian January 29 at 6:41pm Reply
andi was meant to be doing tree.. and alex said it'd be asier to do a dead tree.. blaaahhh sam can fill you guys in
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Hayley Allen January 29 at 6:49pm
Im jst asking about the orbs coz was guna start that 2night. the tree could still be dead with the orbs hanging from it. and what do you mean by purpose?x x
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Lydia Fabian January 29 at 8:23pm Reply
iv been trying to think of what i mean by purpose.. jared said we need a purpose.something educational - something linking us with a potential client - advertisement promotion of an existing castle.. we could get floor plans and stuff n half the works done for us. not just a little story we've made up to lead us around the environment.one thing jared did like was that we start with looking at a 2d picture of the castle.. (character holds it up) then when we pull it down we see the ruined castle.. that was andis idea.. nice way to get us into the story.. i was tlaking to sam about ..you know that map thats in harry potter which shows where a character is walkig about.. liek we could have a map of this place?i wrote in the blog.. soemthing about maybe our character has something of a symbol (necklace, item, tattoo) which links with the castle.. and starts a reaction.im just trying to think of more of a purpose to our film.pfff i dont know.
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Lydia Fabian January 29 at 8:24pm Reply
*but do what you liek with the orbs.. need matt t talk to as he's doing the drawing.. id prefer them maybe sat on the tree or something.
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Sam Mcguire January 29 at 9:12pm Reply
hey just thought I would input something i like the idea of doing it for a client in some kinda informative manner. when I mentioned to jared that I'm doing a talk at my bros school he said use them for research and if they have an awesome idea we can use it, and have a way of justifying it. also by purpose jared means a reasoning behind our work not just creating something for no reason. I know what me and Lydia are saying sounds like we have to change a fair bit but it's from jareds feedback that we are saying it
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Andi Bennett January 29 at 9:57pm Reply
im down with it... we just need to get going as soon as.i have a horrible feeling that if we don't finalise now we will fall behind. Meanwhile, im terribly confused as to what im supposed to be modeling as everyone has kinda moved off of their own bits and i know the tree n fountain may not happen now. so lemme know what im supposed to be modeling and ill get on with it.
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Matt Vadis January 30 at 1:24pm Reply
I'm listening and will be thinking of ways to add narrative over the weekend. Sam if possible could you email Andi and Hayley what's been modelled so far, maybe they can get a rough idea of the shape it's taking. Also like Lydia said check out her team blog post to think more about purpose ideas and my picture of the layout; should give you a rough idea of the structure. Of course you can change the bits you don't like.We might have to change stuff, but i don't think that's important. Once we're clear about the narrative it'll all come together even if we do have less time cos it'll be a better idea, which is better than spending more time on a pants idea. Can't polish a turd.Also about the orbs, another idea was having them as glowing butterflies or fireflies but again, what they are depends on what the purpose of whole thing is so if you think of more ideas post em. I'm curious to hear what the kids have to say at Sam's thing, could give us what we need.
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Lydia Fabian January 30 at 3:29pm Reply
im putting confidence in sams talk too. im sure once we've got an idea we will easily crack on :)should be tlkn like this on the blog u know..
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Hayley Allen January 30 at 10:07pm
When is sams talk? What about the fountain being the fountain of youth, and the tree has part of its roots in the water so thats why its massive. The character could not be alone, s/he could having a dying friend in the boat, so they need the water to save them. if they are knights or something the one in the boat could have a stab wound in their side maybe? i dont know lol. and i think at the end of the project our chats could be copied to the blog. btw matt ive printed your concept i really liked it x x
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Sam Mcguire February 1 at 8:58am Reply
hey guys sorry but my talk has been delayed till next monday i dont know what you want to do but im still gunna do the talk also im gunna email what ive done so far out. so can i please have andi and hayleys email addresses.
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 9:30am Reply
andrew.robert.bennett@googlemail.com
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 10:31am
h.allen@rave.ac.uk
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 10:43am Reply
check the team blog i put up something which might help to tell a story in a cool way. tell me what you think
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Sam Mcguire February 1 at 10:58am Reply
ive done some bloggy stuff as well
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:09am Reply
okay i read through the team blog, and i hate to be the party pooper here, but i think we are running out of time. The less time we have, the more dangerous it becomes to try anything ambitious. I love matts concept, and i think that will look stunning if we stick to it. As for a purpose, how about a little kid that turns up at the island with a picture of it in its glory days, he makes his way through the castle as discussed and maybe touches a statue or crypt of the lady in the lake and the whole place transforms into how it was in its glory days, we could even do some internal animation of rubble kinda rewinding back into place. i dunno just an idea.Ive looked at the models and they look pretty cool, are we all in on thursday or is anyone heading to barcelona?
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 11:14am Reply
like the idea of the kid and then the whole castle transforms into its glory. i don't know how to model my part for this entrance.. i need matts or anyone's help?
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:14am Reply
what part are you doing?
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 11:17am Reply
the dock entrance part.. shall everyone just say what they're modelling again.. as things have changed a little.xxx
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:20am Reply
well i'll take the archway stairs things, and whatever is decided for inside the castle, if its going to be a statue i think we should decide now as i really don't mind modeling a human, but its gunna take time.
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Sam Mcguire February 1 at 11:32am Reply
i can give you a hand if you want lydia. i am modelling the castle structure i can also look at the animation of bricks falling of you want seeing as its to do with the structure even if i just research it
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:33am Reply
yeah sounds good to me...it way be a case of filling in the holes modeled in the ruined model and animating them?
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 11:36am
Im modelling the boat and additional items, maybe skeletons, wall hangings etc. i wondered if someone could make a logo or crest i could use as a texture on my models? i was using a tree but if its changing thats fine. erm also on my blog i drew a concept of a statue holding a glowing orb or light i dont know if you want to use it x
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:39am Reply
yeah i like that idea.
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 11:43am Reply
okay so we're all sticking to the original plan. I'll be going Barcelona on thurs, so i'll make sure i put some images up on the blog maybe some mood pics, colour variations and stuff before i go. I'll be in on wednesday so we can finalize exactly what's gonna happen regarding the poxy narrative.Also i'd like to say you shouldn't feel like it has to be 2d characters in a 3d world cos that's what i'm interested in, see it more as an option that we have. I'm fine with doing it but if there's a better way of showing what we want to show then we should do that. I'll be staying online in case we need to talk about anything. Peace crackers
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:46am Reply
haha crackers... it's true.sounds good matt, im still pretty stoked about the 2d character. I think it will have a really nice contrast against the environment. I just want to make sure we get a move on so we all have a comfortable time getting this done.
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 11:47am Reply
oh yeah, Hayley whenever i try to watch your vids it says, the video is currently unavailable?
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 11:47am Reply
same for me
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 11:53am
Oh ok il have a look later see whats wrong. They are of water and a flag blowing
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 11:53am Reply
okay, i'm gonna Wiki lady in the lake
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 1:56pm Reply
I was looking at the some of the myths of the lady in the lake, i didn't know much about it, but apparently she's the person/thing/spirit who gave king arthur his legendary blade excalibur, sorry if you knew that. The stories about it seem a bit vague and open to interpretation.If that's the case why don't we have the main character as king arthur, who's come to this island in search of the sword. As he arrives on the island we could have Andi's idea of the comparison of how it looked according to rumour (which is why he has travelled there) and it's actual ruined image.In pictures of the myth it often shows the lady of the lake presenting the sword to Arthur from the water like in the link. Why don't we have a similar image of that but instead of the lake it's presented from water in the fountain at the top of castle.Alternatively it might be quite cool (and if you don't want to deal with water effects) to have Hayley's statue idea, but of the lady, embedded in the epic tree holding the sword out for Arthur to take.As far as the castle's purpose is concerned, it doesn't look well fortified in the way that other castles are because it was never intended to fend off invaders, which explains why it looks more decorative - it's purpose is to house the legendary sword so it's not conventional in that sense and we can get away with our uncastle-like-castle.On his way up to the top arthur could see a load of references to the King arthur legend, i'm not sure exactly what they are but, we could do some research into it. I like the idea of using sound to lure the person around the grounds, calling him up to the sword. I remember Andi saying Lydia created some cool ghost like voices using some music software? That might be an idea.I realise these are all the things that you guys were all thinking about anyway, like sword in the stone and stuff i'm just trying to bring it together. It's a bit cheesy but solid and would be happy to do it.However i am still having trouble thinking of a potential client for the project - is it a level for a game, educational, maybe we're designing an area/ride for a theme park? Get back to me.Man i just wrote an essay. Sorry.
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 2:01pm Reply
i like the idea... i like it alot, why are we thinking of potential clients?people don't make movies to please a client... they do it to entertain people, i think we should do it to tell this little king arthur extract.
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 2:09pm Reply
I understand what your saying but if we're telling a story just for it's own sake (or, you know, just to pass a unit) then nobody is going to care. The best way to entertain people is to know our audience and have an idea what we want to say to them.
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Sam Mcguire February 1 at 3:06pm Reply
how bout a client of say a museum but its to inform kids about englands most famous legend that way it doesn't have to be to serious we can also relate it to my talk thing next week. i like this direction as i originally wanted to use a myth anyway
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 3:08pm Reply
sounds good to me.
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 4:15pm Reply
im with that.. that was a lot of reading i just did. cool so everyones happy doing this idea of showing a myth/legends of the past about king arthur? The audience would know this becuase of all the tell signs of the environement..maybe in the sky (like jason and the argonaughts) we have a blink of a face of him being watched.um. What did people think to the idea of illustrating little 2d scenes? maybe when king arthur is looking around the castle to get to the sword ?(btw love the idea of the lady being a statue holding out the sword)I'm feeling enthusiastic now because we're all talking about it and getting hyped which is awesome.im ready for some serious crack down onto this unit.I want to make something that looks pretty awesome,and sam yes totally right about making it liek a museum event to attract young audiences.i wasnt meaning to look for a client i just was trying to think up anything for a purpose as to why this environemtn exists and whats it all about..we have our story now..i like itmakes more sense than the tree and orbs.. though that was pretty cool.i checked out castles on my blog..if we're not fortified then we are like the Tudors who built coastal castle's more for intimidation against invaders but more so for comfort and wealth. Should this statue be the centre of the castle ruin.. or maybe as the environment is a ruin.. she's sort of tucked away where our character looks for her.or not lolGood work today though guys.. everyone has put up what they're thinking.I'm fine with the modelling of the dock area just haven't got any designs for it.. so i guess i'll crack on with looking to existing stuff.. if you guys see anything throw it my way through the blog
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 4:21pm Reply
actually. from the drawing mat did.. i'm not thinking to include a little room. there's no purpose? unless any one can think of one.. how about just the stone plinths coming from the water (where the wooden dock platforms would've been) and then the stone steps winding up through the cliff edge (like a cave feel) then we start going up from there on the drawing.?
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 4:22pm
Im happy with this, it kinda feels like we have come full circle, as we said about that before. i thought drawn sections would be good from the point of view of arthur, as if he stil sees it in 2d, altho i dont wana give matt too much or if he would want help i will. shall i use a symbol of a sword on the flags etc? oh and ive modelled a basic sword, i can fancy it up tho to make it the one the statue is holding? x
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 4:29pm Reply
go team GO!everything sounds wonderful... im a little confused with the 2d scene idea...but im sure you'll explain at some point!sword sounds lovely hayley can't wait to see it!
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Andi Bennett February 1 at 4:31pm Reply
how about instead of a fountain, maybe a little pond or something. quite liking this image.https://www.brent.gov.uk/icimres.nsf/images/img-356/$file/8%20lady%20in%20the%20lake.jpg
www.brent.gov.uk
www.brent.gov.uk
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 5:10pm Reply
Sam, yeah i like the whole educate the kids about the myth in a museum thing too.Cool Hayley make the sword the stuff of legendLydia maybe we should get rid of the bit at the bottom. If we do we should make sure that there's something at the bottom that introduces us to the place, so it sort of hints at what's to come and establishes where we are.Andi yeah the fountain ideas are all yours, whatever your comfortable with modelling. If your going to put a statue in it it make sure it doesn't clash with the statue holding the sword if that's what we're doing.And I'll work on some overdue concept work.Sounds like we're all on the same page now and we can sort out the details on Wed so if you'll excuse me i'm gonna go froth at the mouth from brain damage.
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 5:45pm
Could we start with a storybook and the pictures come to life? a bit like they did in the old disney films and shrek? or would that be too obvious x
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 6:09pm Reply
like the ice age link i posted?matt i was thinking of some stuff thats just easthetically pleasing :) .. so now i shall get on with thinking of how to introduce us to this place.. to set the scene a little.. even though thats already done with this little 2d intro idea if we go there
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 6:10pm Reply
oh so are we all wanting to go in weds? how about thurs for the rest of us? or do we just need the one day?im thinking of what ticket i can get home you see :)xx
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Matt Vadis February 1 at 6:25pm Reply
Lydia yeah as long as it looks nice then we should be okay, don't worry about thinking of how to introduce the place, cos you're right that's what the 2d intro is for.What I was getting at was so that it's not just a path all the way to the top we should have something at the dock to spice up the boats entrance into the place. So the first thing you see are not stairs followed by more stairs. I don't know what to put there but you know what i mean right? or not. I need to think about it.
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 7:33pm Reply
yes i need to think about it too..again.. is the group only meeting weds? http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=802495696
Sam Mcguire February 1 at 7:42pm Reply
im in weds, thurs and are we in fri??
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Hayley Allen February 1 at 7:50pm
Ill be in thurs as well as weds, n sam no we arent x x
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Lydia Fabian February 1 at 9:12pm Reply
yes we have no lessons friday. *self directed study*
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Lydia Fabian February 2 at 1:59pm Reply
check the blog
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Matt Vadis February 2 at 2:33pm Reply
That panoramic thing in the link is awesome, like a better version of of google street view and a really good reference for us. Nice one for sending them the email by the wayPersonally my vote would be to carry on with the lady in the lake idea as we seem to be making progress with it now, but i shall follow the majority.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Arch Research
Here you can see a selection of research images of arches. I have chosen these images because they contain a variation of different of pitched arches as will be using them in our project. looking at these images you can see that the pitched arches are generally used as support around a door or just a decorative wall arch.
I took this image from the book I brought, another reason I decided to use this image other then the fact its a pitch arch was that the engravings around the door where designed to help those who couldn't read. I thought this was relevant as our narative is based around king Arthur and he was going to find some engraved images.
Here you can see an image that explains how the theory behind and arch i thought i would add this as i found it interesting while doing some research.
Here is a image of some decoative wall arches which one of my group members took. I thought this was a relevant image as one of our concepts spawned from this image i also had to model a set of arches in the same style as these. below you can see the arches in the process of being modelled.
Here you can see a pitched arch where is has been used to reinforce a doorway. from my research into arches i can see that there is no real difference between normal and pitched arches except for the ascetic reason.
As a group we decided to use the pitched arches for decorative reason for example on windows etc and the normal arches for the doors.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Maya Tests
Maya Dynamics Test from Samuel McGuire on Vimeo.
Just playing with mayas dynamics to create a falling Wall, although im not sure if we will still be able to include it i had fun creating the effect
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Mockup/ layout model
Final Personal Concepts
Once our group met up we managed to decide on our final idea being ruins on a small island. Here you can see the concepts I developed once we had our final idea.throughout the concepts you will notice a circular theme appearing this is because we are basing our project around king arthur and so we decided to carry over the knights of the round table theme
Concepts Sketches
Some concept sketches when the idea was still undefined.
These ideas revolved around a market place as it contained aspects of what everyone wanted and also gave me a specification to design to until we had set our final idea which we would be doing the following Monday when the group met up.
These ideas revolved around a market place as it contained aspects of what everyone wanted and also gave me a specification to design to until we had set our final idea which we would be doing the following Monday when the group met up.
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Research: Books
Research: Other concept art
Being a fan of concept art a have many books for games and films.
Most relevant to this project would be my fable 2 art book
I think one of the things i choose this as one of my images to use in research was because of its use of scratchy lines yet this was one of the finalized concepts for the game, i think it also appealed to me as quite a lot of my concepts have a scratchy look about them. When looked at closely you can also see simplistic the detail is in the image yet is still gives the impression of detail by letting your brain filling the gap.
Obviously in my own concepts i wont try and copy the style but these are a few examples of similar concept art
Past Art
In my free time i have been developing my painting skills and here is one i did before the project was set
initial ideas
As a Group we were initially unable to meet up and discuss ideas due to the heavy snow fall, so through emails we manged to narrow down our ideas and set a 13th century/ medieval theme, from there we managed to narrow one of the environment ideas down to a market square which can contain a variety of ideas and elements making everyone happy but also not being to broad at the same time.
Here this was a drawing too set a scene give myself a rough location
Here i was just experimenting with a couple of perspectives that could work with a castle environment
Here is a another perspective I found that this one gave a good impression of scale
This is another sketch i did to try and give the concepts a bit more of a setting to work from. i also tried to show some scale with the castle in the background but was unhappy sketch.
This was the last sketch i did before doing research and narrowing down the groups ideas
Below you can see a couple of quick sketches before narrowing on the idea of a market square
Here this was a drawing too set a scene give myself a rough location
Introduction and Brief
As before this is my creative which allows me to post my work for current project, although this time I will be working in a Group for which there is another blog http://tdenvironment.blogspot.com/
on my personal blog I will be post my individual work and group work as well as the final piece, the personal blog will just give me a chance to review over the work on a individual level.
The project is am working on is to create an interactive environment which allows for dynamic interaction with a character. Although the goal is to create an environment, the project involves the whole process of going from concept too finished product which gives the work a more specific goal then other projects so far. personally I cant wait to start designing.
The brief
Unit Introduction
This unit focuses on the development of students’ skills in environmental computer visualisation. Students begin to exploit the possibilities of animation within an environment to create a virtual setting to support dynamic character interaction.
Working in teams to simulate conventional animation industry workflow, students are introduced to the visualisation and creation of an environment in 3D using modelling, texturing and lighting techniques. They learn how to create and populate this environment with contextually appropriate assets, in a consistently defined and implemented visual aesthetic that is derived from their drawing and research into environments both actual and virtual.
The Unit aims:
To introduce industrial, team based, animation workflows;
To develop personal reflection upon individual contribution to group endeavour;
To develop UV mapping and texturing skills;
To develop the ability to generate considered and analytical visual responses to research.
Project Brief
For this project you will be working in teams of four or five students. You will all be working towards a final collaborative short film but will have the opportunity to fulfil clear and separate roles within the team.
You will be working to create an animated environment.
You will be collaborating not only with the other animators in your team, but also with designers from the environment design course.
Their designs will form the starting point for your work.
This environment will be modelled in 3D, UV mapped, textured and lit based upon the research of materials and environments as initially designed or propsed by IDEAS students. This research will consist of practical site visits (such as the trip to Barcelona and alternative London based venues) and associated drawing and photography, as well as academic research via the web and the LRC.
This environment must demonstrate integral animation, it could be mechanical such as machinery, doors, windows, windmills etc, or it could be more organic, and atmospheric, such as the effects of wind on plants, weather conditions etc. It could be a much more long term animation to show the effect of years passing, rather than minutes. For those of you who feel that you are more character animators than computer visualisers you can focus upon contextualising the designed environment by populating it with characters using that environment, it may be that the environment is being used in an unintended or unexpected way that has evolved through public interaction with the space. (Was the South Bank designed for skateboarding or parkour?).
It may be easier for you to think about defining the way in which you will approach this project by choosing one of the themes listed below.
a) Changes over time (historic).
b) Changes in weather or lighting (climatic).
c) Changes in use of the environment (contextual).
Although you will be working as part of a team towards your final animation, you will also be required to provide evidence of your individual contribution to the project via a blogged design journal where you will document your personal research, experimentation, and acquiring of new skills.
Unit Introduction
This unit focuses on the development of students’ skills in environmental computer visualisation. Students begin to exploit the possibilities of animation within an environment to create a virtual setting to support dynamic character interaction.
Working in teams to simulate conventional animation industry workflow, students are introduced to the visualisation and creation of an environment in 3D using modelling, texturing and lighting techniques. They learn how to create and populate this environment with contextually appropriate assets, in a consistently defined and implemented visual aesthetic that is derived from their drawing and research into environments both actual and virtual.
The Unit aims:
To introduce industrial, team based, animation workflows;
To develop personal reflection upon individual contribution to group endeavour;
To develop UV mapping and texturing skills;
To develop the ability to generate considered and analytical visual responses to research.
Project Brief
For this project you will be working in teams of four or five students. You will all be working towards a final collaborative short film but will have the opportunity to fulfil clear and separate roles within the team.
You will be working to create an animated environment.
You will be collaborating not only with the other animators in your team, but also with designers from the environment design course.
Their designs will form the starting point for your work.
This environment will be modelled in 3D, UV mapped, textured and lit based upon the research of materials and environments as initially designed or propsed by IDEAS students. This research will consist of practical site visits (such as the trip to Barcelona and alternative London based venues) and associated drawing and photography, as well as academic research via the web and the LRC.
This environment must demonstrate integral animation, it could be mechanical such as machinery, doors, windows, windmills etc, or it could be more organic, and atmospheric, such as the effects of wind on plants, weather conditions etc. It could be a much more long term animation to show the effect of years passing, rather than minutes. For those of you who feel that you are more character animators than computer visualisers you can focus upon contextualising the designed environment by populating it with characters using that environment, it may be that the environment is being used in an unintended or unexpected way that has evolved through public interaction with the space. (Was the South Bank designed for skateboarding or parkour?).
It may be easier for you to think about defining the way in which you will approach this project by choosing one of the themes listed below.
a) Changes over time (historic).
b) Changes in weather or lighting (climatic).
c) Changes in use of the environment (contextual).
Although you will be working as part of a team towards your final animation, you will also be required to provide evidence of your individual contribution to the project via a blogged design journal where you will document your personal research, experimentation, and acquiring of new skills.
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