Hotel Room of the future initial design ideas... questionable

New Research Question and Client Descision

with all the essays i have been doing this tearm it has left me little time to update you on what i have been up to...

I finally got my research question sorted and i have now nearly finished my research document. Here is my new research question:
-What elements in 3D visualisation help to define the aesthetics and character of an
interior designed space?

This is much more aimed at my future industry and i am going to thoroughly enjoy creating my artefacts for this research.

I have also decided on doing a competition for my client project. I have chosen the environment brief for the D&AD student award competition. I have to design and create a hotel room of the future. I am really enjoying this so far and i will keep you posted on my work. I have already drafted up some initial sketches however they need a lot of work.

Gantt Chart for My Client Project

Research Question Dilema

I am having a meltdown!

I have recently handed in my proposed research question topic form with my question being: How realistic can simulating states of natural forces be in computer generated objects and environments?

I really want to change my question. I have until the 6th December to write my research document which will be 3000-4000 words so to change my question now is rather a dilema however i am really struggling with my question as it stands and am not happy with it. I am extremly interested in visualisation and the question above is moving away from my specified area of interest.

I am really interested in photo-realism and i quite like the idea of writing a question about maybe, the fine line between images that look fake to photo realistic. I need to do alot more research on this topic before i decide on a question. I have found a good article in 3D Artist that might help me... I will keep you posted...

My Proposal and Evaluation for Simulated Client Project

Proposal
I have been set a brief to create a multimedia product for the alumni association. We have been given a few examples of what the Alumni are looking for and one of them is a promotional video to encourage people to donate. I want to carry out this brief as I can see a lot of potential and immediately ideas came flowing to my head when I saw this brief. I want to make a stop-motion video to promote the alumni and at the same times encourage people to donate. I intend to hand draw all my images rather than use photos as I prefer the effect hand drawn images have compared to photos; it gives that edgy effect that’s not so clean and crisp. My target audience is between the ages 20- 40 however I would want to advertise it to all ages and I want to make it suitable to any age.

Evaluation
My brief for this project was to create a multimedia product for the alumni association. I feel I completed this brief with through research and within the time given. I carried out my research by looking at ‘Susannah Shaws’ "Stop-Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation" for ideas and techniques on stop-motion; I also experimented with different methods for my animation. I tried making models to animate with, I tried experimenting with photos, drawings and also dived into 3DS MAX. I found hand drawing and using Photoshop to aid my drawings was going to be the best way forward for my ideas and for the time frame I had been given. A friend of mine works for the alumni association, so he managed to get me some leaflets and information on the alumni association which helped develop and further my research.

I feel my time management was reasonably good, considering I usually have a severe lack of organisation when it comes to my time management. I made a great conscious effort to plan my time wisely for this project and it paid off. If anything I spent too much time researching which could have gone towards final touches on my final animation. The actual stop motion I feel started well however it goes extremely fast and it gets faster and faster as the video goes on. If I had the extra time I spent on researching, I could have gone back and tweaked my stop motion video but I was running out of time so had no other choice than to leave it, which was really disappointing however it is a lesson learnt, and a lesson I don’t want to learn again in my LIVE client project.

I originally had trouble with deciding on a final idea, I knew I wanted to create a promotional video to encourage people to donate but it was deciding what method to use to create the video. I chose the stop motion as I think they’re fun to watch and they normally get people interested straight away as their eye catching. I know that every time I see a stop motion I am immediately interested.

Overall I think I executed this project thoroughly and although my final product was not to my entire satisfaction, I was pleased with the outcome and I was very happy with how I progressed with my time management skills.

Animatic and Final Video for Alumni Stop Motion

FINAL VIDEO - ALUMNI STOP MOTION

ANIMATIC - ALUMNI STOP MOTION

My Storyboard for Simulated Client Project

Charity Pot Movement Test

I made this through my own drawings which I imported into Photoshop and edited. The Photoshoped images were then imported into Adobe Premier where I completed the movie. I done this to see if my anagles of the pot were right and to see if the movement was flowing properly or wether I need to go back and edit my drawings before I use them for my final project.

Sketches

Here are some sketch ideas for my stop motion. I was going to hand draw it all but after testing out ideas in photoshop with my drawn images i have decided to create my images in photoshop and then import those stills into premier pro and after effects to finsh my stop motion off. I think if i handraw all my images i will run out of time...


Below is a scene i created in 3DS MAX using the ink outline mapping...

Susannah Shaw: My Research into stop-motion

So i went to the libary and photocopied some infomation out of Susannah Shaws "Stop-Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation". She writes and explores the mechanics of movement, filming, creating a scene, creating your models and much more. I have found her book very useful and has already helped me a great deal with my stop motion.

The illusion of speed is something i think is really hard to show in a stop motion. Here she explains ways of creating that illusion.


Movement is another tricky element to animation that takes alot of practice to perfect. Here Susannah talks about flexability, action and reaction and the best ways of creating these motions with models.



I tested out working with plasterscene to model characters for my stop motion, a large part of Shaw's book is about modelling your own characters, after reading this i started to make my own taking into consideration some of the elements she talks about.

Lip Syncing...

My Plasterscene Models for my Alumni Stop Motion...


I was also researching camera angles, perspectives when creating my scene and lighting. Although her book is very basic, it has helped me widen my attention to detail in my scenes.



I also looked up some information about cameras, how to use them for what i want to do etc, and briefly steped into green screen. It proposed a great idea for my stop motion however within the time frame i have for this project, i have chosen not to look into it any further but it is definatley something i am interested in doing further down the line.

Brainstorm for Alumni Project

I like the idea of doing a video to encourage people to give to the alumni. I have had a faor few ideas, but the one that has captured my mind is my money idea. I want to have coins and notes sneaking and jumping out of peoples purses, hands, pockets etc and the money will follow a charity pot (idea from the pied piper) to the university. The money will have to makes its way around obstacles such as cars, cross motorways, roll down stairs etc. then at then end i would have a slogan about giving to the alumni, something along the lines of 'your money works hard to help, please help your money get to the alumni'. That's just a rough idea of what I'm thinking, and maybe through-out the video i will have some sort of voice over about what the alumni does. I want to hand draw the images and maybe combine them with some 3d or edit them in Photoshop.

More video research...

Finally found something worthwhile...

I quite like the idea of doing a stop motion using hand drawn images a bit like a flip book



I really loved working with lego stop motion in first year and i really like this video... I am thinking of doing a lego stop motion about donating to the amumni.

You would think id be able to find a good video!

This video is AWFUL...


This one gets a little better...

You would think id be able to find a GOOD VIDEO

This is an AWFUL video!

what a video... :|

I saw this video whilst researching for the simulated project. I could'n help but laugh its really cringy!

Simulated Project: Brief

OK, so were half way through the first week back and already the pressure is on. The top of my list consists of the simulated client project. The brief asks us to make a multimedia product for the alumni association, I am really unsure of what i want to do for this project, which is really worrying me as i have less than 4 weeks to complete it.We have to put across what the alumni do for the university and it would be good to talk about the projects and charities that are ongoing within the alumni.

After the lecture yesterday my understanding is a bit clearer but i still have no idea what i actually want to do. i quite like the idea of the mascot but I'm not really a fan of character animation. i also like the idea of a video either to remind people to give a donation or a thank you video for donating. but as i am on the animation pathway i think making a video will be extremely time consuming. As i love graphic design creating a logo also appeals to me. Whatever project i decide to take on, i don't fancy working with characters but i cant think of another way of putting across my point without using character animation. I'm really interested in visualisation especially with architecture but i have a feeling i am going to have to step out my comfort zone completely with this brief.

Brainstorming

OK, so while i have been on my summer holidays apart from being in sunny Barcelona where i was taking a lot of pictures of textures and buildings for external work and visiting a few art galleries including Picasso's, i have been working on my projects for the up and coming year.

I first of all had to decide on my PRP topic and start researching clients for my client project. After a long winded research process i finally decided on a PRP topic.

PRP Brainstorm:


I want to study the physics of 3d animation, for example, the way gravity affects objects, how when a wave occurs in the sea how it assembles and falls, i want to study how objects move. another example; when a building falls, i want to question how it falls? how does gravity affect the falling rubble? how does wind affect it and when it finally hits the ground, how does it disperse? what course do the particles of rubble take? I want to do this because i have always been interested in physics and as the modules this year are long drawn i want to study something that is going to keep me engaged and get my brain ticking. To do this i am going to look at the particle systems and space warps within 3ds Max and i am also going to do external research, so watch clips of buildings falling, waves forming etc and create my own tests with materials such as wood, plastic, cardboard, foam, and i will film these experiments before recreating them in 3ds Max. I still need to get this checked off with my course leader but hopefully i will be able to carry it out if not this then along similar lines.

OK, so my client project, as of yet i still have not got a client lined up, I am actually quite interested in doing a competition, but i am finding it difficult to find one that is ending after our deadline. There are a lot of competitions ending this month so hopefully there will be new entries for 2012 opening up soon which i can partake in. I feel with entering a competition, if i do well it will give me more opportunities in the future as not only does it build my portfolio other companies and future clients are more likely to see my work whereas working with a client, OK, it could possibly guarantee me a job after uni but its only that one client that sees my work. However at the moment I am looking for anything its not easy enough to be picky but i think if a competition becomes available i will take that as my "client".

I am looking for clients in the 3d visualisation industry, I am very interested in architecture and especially interior visualisation. My perfect client would be a company who produces stills or fly-through's of interiors for residential or commercial builds. I ideally would like a company in London as it is not far from my hometown and if i manage to get a job out of it then i can easily travel there. If i get offered a job in Nottingham it won't be much help to me after i graduate.

I am not looking forward to this year as i know it is going to be a lot of pressure and hard work, My time management is also very poor and it is something I'm going to have to work very hard towards improving this year! I feel if i manage my time well this year i will be able to crack it and it will greatly benefit my future in this industry.

Here are some clients i have been looking at:
www.wonder-vision.com
www.thepixelworkshop.com
www.visual-eyes-media.co.uk
www.foundationcgi.com
www.3dworldmag.com

Year 2 Stills from my final hand in

Animatic and Final Animation

My Animatic


My Animation
It is not completly finished but this is what i have so far... i have added in stills to show roughly what would have happened... i ran out of time to render as i had trouble with my max file and camera set ups.

Evaluation

What a long project this has been! I must admit when I got given the brief after Christmas I was fairly disappointed, however when I started to think about it, I thought I could do something really great with this... that thought didn’t last for long as I really started to struggle with inspiration.

I watched film after film and looked through magazines, books, internet and couldn’t find anything that inspired me. I eventually chose Edward Scissorhands because it is... was, one of my favourite films and I love the innocence of Edward but how he is portrayed as evil. My original idea was to create it in a doll world similar to toy story as you can see on my blog. I wanted to create a house made out of doll parts and have the inventor and Edward as dolls and everything looking like plastic. A bit like a Ken and Barbie animation but with a creepy side to it as I’m easily creeped out by dolls. I wanted it to have a Frankenstein twist to it!

So I started planning however after a conversation with a tutor we decided I didn’t have enough time to make the whole house and that for a few seconds animation it wouldn’t be worth it and to concentrate on the inside of the house. After going home and trying to redesign my ideas I sort of got fed up with it and it didn’t seem the same so AGAIN decided to change my idea except this time I didn’t have one so I started to create my environment hoping I would get inspiration as I was going along. I created basic things like stairs, tables, furniture to go in my environment that I knew I needed.

It’s a really inappropriate way to start a project but time was ticking and I was running out of ideas, so. I started with an attic room, thought it didn’t look good so made a basement and added all my furniture then when it came to animating I thought it was too much like the original film so went back to the attic idea! Silly I know. Anyways I love modelling so I didn’t mind; it was when I came to adding lighting and cameras I got stuck.

I found modelling and rigging my characters fairly easy I didn’t really have a problem, only with the envelopes however that was only minor. I also found animating my machine fairly easy however when I merged it into my scene it didn’t animate properly and I can’t figure out why. But the original file works fine! Most of my problems came when I had to add the cameras and render! Cameras and rendering have always been a problem for me and I think always will be. When I was doing my modelling I was trying hard to keep face counts down the whole way through however when I rendered after a certain point it would say not enough memory to allocate mesh or something along those lines but it would render it fine as a still and as a sequence up to 166 stills then it would always come up with that message. I ended up having to delete my fire effect for my machine which was one of my focal points. I did not use after effects in the end for a couple of reasons; I didn’t have the time, and I don’t really understand it properly... still! It’s something I am keen to learn over summer when I have no deadlines or projects to concentrate on.

That aside I am happy with my modelling anyways. I think my modelling has really improved since last year, in fact even from the beginning of this year! It took me a long while to get the hang of simple modelling I used to make a mess out of it but it has really improved and I am really happy with it! I am also really happy with my portfolio project. I spent a lot of time on that because I was just model making there was not a lot of animation and rigging ect. I spent too much time on it really. I really need to allow myself more time next year in my work; it’s the main thing that lets me down every time. And I’m really disappointed in myself for allowing it to happen again in this project.

It's been a while

It's been a while since iv been on here... iv been very busy trying to complete my project. Iv been working on my finished models which i have changed over and over! I have also been working on my environment which is what i have been concentrating on most until recently when i have given up with it and finished off my character models! Im not normally a fan of character animation but i have really enjoyed making my inventor... ok i may have made a few rough models which i wasn't happy with but it has all led to my final ideas for both my characters! I got the idea for the final inventor of a picture of an old man i saw on the internet. I roughly changed the shape of his head and i made his body a bit different but i am really pleased with it so here he is uncomplete at this stage as i will put the final version up in my evaluation...









More will be up shortly of my other character but for now its time to hit the hay

Some more photo editing :)... a bit of graphics

Texturing

Once i have rendered all my stills from max i am thinking about filtering it in photoshop to give it a hand drawn... sort of doll look. I want it to look really sketchy... like the old films. I got this idea from frankenstien and from a halloween picture i edited. Here are a few ways i can do it.

Ink Outlines


Poster Edges


Rough Pastels


Paint Daubs


Angled Strokes

starting to texture my basement

stairway to basement

Film Strip

To get an idea of the inventors room i have taken stills from the film. The camera circles around the room so i have matched the stills together to create a strip. Its flattened the room but now i can see the whole span of it.

This is my new script it is still from Edward Scissorhands however is a different part of the script.... I know its late to change the script but I havent started animating yet and the characters and scenery are still the same so it isnt really making much dfference to my timing. I have chosen this scene as the enviroment is more detailed and I feel I can work better with it, the script is also longer. It's a flash back of when the inventor was teaching Edward. He's reading to edward in the room where the inventor created Edward. There is not alot of movement of charactrs which is what I like as I do not like character anumation very much and am more inerested in the environment, so overall this scene works much better.

(On hearing that, Edward looks
back the time the inventor taught
him the etiquette.)

INVENTOR
Let us pretend we're in the drawing room, and
the hostess is serving tea "Now, many numerous
little questions confront us" "Should the man
rise" "When he accepts his cup of tea?" "May
lump sugar be taken with the things?"

EDWARD
Hmm, no.

INVENTOR
Is it good form to accept a second cup? "Now,
should the napkin be entirely unfolded." Oh
should the center crease. Be allowed to remain?
It is so easy to commit embarrassing
blunders. "But etiquette humiliation and
discomfort. Mmm yes, boring. Let us switch to,
Um... To some poetry, Hmm?" "There was an old
man from the cape." "Who made himself there,
but they keep such a beautiful shape." That's
right. Go ahead, smile. It's funny. That's
right.

Here is the video clip of the scene. It starts at about 7 minuites in...

Anyone want to see tim burton, and Johnny Dep 20 years ago. This is a tv show about the backstage of Edward Scossorhands

Some videos that have helped me to capture the feel of the film.

Photo manipulation with photoshop.... i got bored whilst babysitting