Unlike wiring a set of fans up to a volatile metal grid rig, or asking a girl on a date, there is rarely a simple “Yes or No” answer when it comes to ascertaining the success or failure of a project. The very fact that I’m writing this, less than 12 hours from when the projects in question are due in, should be an indication of the level of desperation these projects have developed, but, bizarrely, I’m the most relaxed I’ve been before a critique. EVER. Maybe it’s the fact all the heavy lifting, wiring and coding is done. Maybe it’s the beer. Maybe it’s the amphet-I MEAN *Coughs.* Regardless of whether it’s the quiet optimism of a man on the verge of success, or the gallows humour of a man accepting that he’s going to die tomorrow, this is a last ditch attempt to to explain, explore, and justify the two most challenging modules this course has thrown at me yet. So fill up your glass of wine, put on some Bach, and delve with me into the madness of Future Cinema and Performance Video.
MCM Expo October 2012!
A Selection of photos from MCM’s comic con at the ExCel centre in London.
Future Cinema and the Passive/Active Lemon Sponge.
With the step up to 2nd year/Level 5, it’s time to hit the ground running. First day back, and we get our first double brief: Future Cinema, and Building a UI. After the “freedom” of the last few projects, the lectures and frameworks of these projects have proven to be a bit of a shock, but at the same time, something of a refreshing change.
Especially with Building a UI, the world of MaxMSP and Processing coding language has opened up to us in all it’s bewildering glory. From the outset, I was pretty certain I was going to work towards the Future Cinema brief, although according to Deputy Head Lecturer Liam Birtles, the two flirt dangerously closely. An emphasis was placed on working in a pair with each person working towards both briefs, so that the UI and FC aspects could compliment each other. With that in mind, I agreed to revive the North/South Production duo with Rob Moore ( whose blog can be found here: http://rcmoore2.wordpress.com/)
Having worked with him on both the Principles of Computer Graphics AND Sound & Video Production briefs, I’ve found his working style and Artistic Vision to work well with mine, so it (hopefully) will be a good fit.
Our initial idea-generation hinged on an important issue: the Active/Passive Audience Experience divide. Much of the media we were shown focussed on the concept of varying degrees of audience interaction;
- Use of mobile phones in cinema to influence a multi-linear plot.
- Multiple-choice online videos.
- Mass-audience motion capture interaction.
However, as a consumer, I’m a fan of the passive cinema experience. While Active cinematic interaction seems to be a legitimate path that cinema could take, it will effectively shatter the idea of Auteur theory, and the idea of concise, revised writing, and in essence destroying the traditional film production technique. While I appreciate the right of people to engage in an Active Cinema, I myself do not see the appeal over traditional cinematic experiences.
With that in mind, I hoped to explore the envelope of PASSIVE entertainment. Going and sitting in a cinema/theatre and losing yourself in a piece is an experience I enjoy greatly; affecting an entire audience, leading them to experience the same/similar emotions and reactions, is a true artform.
It was at this point that Rob pointed out that his older brother Mike (who is now at Level 6/3rd Year) had worked on a 9.1 surround sound project for HIS Future Cinema one year previous. The piece proved to be highly effective (and slightly unnerving), and while limited to audio (the test subjects were blindfolded), it expanded greatly upon the fairly 1 dimensional audio that is prevalent in most cinemas: while the application of low end power and high definition is immeasurably superior to the home cinema experience, the utilisation of surround sound is fairly limited when considering the capability of technology we have at our disposal. This is the test reel of their project, which I think you’ll agree, is pretty spiffing.
The idea driving their project was a strong one, and while they explored the realms of sound to it’s fullest, they chose not to progress to the actual cinematic application of the technology. This would prove to be the core of our project.
Taking our seniors idea of immersive surround sound, we would then apply that to a physical Cinema setting, and expand upon it, using:
- Surround sound.
- Atmospheric manipulation (temperature, directional wind).
- Vibration.
While, for the sake of the time frame and the physical production of the piece, it would be best to make a mock-up for a single user, when I began designing the system, I considered how it would be incorporated into a tradition cinema setting (as I hoped to support the future of the traditional cinematic experience, rather than an interactive one).
As with our previous projects, we set our sights rather high, but as with most things, if you don’t shoot for the stars, the odds of taking off are slim. Here’s a taster of what’s to come:
I’m Back B*tches! 2ND YEAR
*Sound of shuffling papers*
I swear I left that book around here somewhere
*Drawer opens*
Good grief! A blog! I’d forgotten I had one of those!
WHAT’S UP!
Hello again to all 3 of my followers, it’s been much too long. I haven’t posted in MONTHS, so it’s high time I updated my log.
How was your summer? MIne was PACKED! Placement work was….long, is really all I can say. Design on the site progressed fairly well, until it fizzled out at the end when our client lost his hosting rights, which led to our project being mothballed. A great pity, but that’s life.
So, what to talk about. I made a Sailing Ship in Maya2013 to try and enhance my skills with vertex manipulation and curved surfaces; most of my work has been with straight lines and industrial, factory-stamped looking machines, and while that’s great, ignoring objects with natural/hand-tooled curvature would leave a gaping hole in my skill set…
As it is, the (not yet) finished result is far from perfect, but through use of Mirrored objects, it was possible to produce a symmetrical, nearly smooth hull and decking features. Have a gander:
I’ve also got my first paid freelance filming project coming up….tomorrow, as it happens; filming a series of interviews for a wedding DVD, courtesy of .5 Lecturer Elliot Trent. Perhaps not the most creatively open brief, but everything’s got to start somewhere, and being paid to do something course related is a big morale booster.
That’s all for now, plenty to be getting on with, as we’ve received our new Briefs for Level 5 (2nd year), so I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about that soon!
See you around and about!
Placement! Hurray!
From iPods to MechWarrior…
After seeing Pixar’s “Junior” animation, I was struck by how effective a simple animation could be. Without any humanoid, or organic components, the animators had imbued their characters (for that is what they are) with humanoid characteristics that belie their form
Mechanical Madness
The centre-piece for my animation module, I decided, was going to be a Mechanised Walker. I always love science fiction about robots and such, and have recently gotten into alot of Japanese “Mecha” themed animated series.
The main challenges of designing, modelling and animating a Mech are believability, practicality and functionality: naturalistic, organic looking movements aren’t really acceptable; every move must be carefully calculated and repeated to create a walking motion. Additionally, when it comes to modelling, each party you make should have a high degree of functionality, otherwise things starts to look a bit cumbersome and overcomplicated; which isn’t a problem for normal models, but with a machine designed specifically for War; it is good to be functional and well protected.
I also decided (in retrospect, foolishly) to give it 2 joints-in additon to the ankle and hip; this added a whole extra dimension when it came to animating, and also meant I wouldn’t be able to copy the movement of a typical single-knee human leg.
Animation Update!
Aaaah Animation! The domain of people with imagination, technical know-how and a good eye for detail, or a mix of all three! Two days (or shall I say, one) til the deadline, it’s all been getting pretty hairy. However, it’s been an exciting time! 😀 With tutelage form Messrs Brewer, Doobery and Wright of the 3rd Team Maya Maestro’s, my technical knowledge has developed as a ridiculous rate; mainly because I’m LOVING IT!
Durign this module, I have learned how to:
Rig, Texture, Planar Map, Boolean, Parent, Command line render, Skin, Adjust transparency and glow, tell between material types, the list goes on! 😀
That’s the great thign about MAYA 2012: There’s so much to do and learn ,if you’re willing to; and being able to make guns, tanks, walkers, castles – I was DEFINITELY up for the challenge 😀
MAYA has been a real joy to work with; not only in the program itself, but the atmosphere it creates; it represents at its heart Pure Creativity, where anything is possible if you have the drive to try. The on-line community is also incredibly strong; there probably isn’t a single problem that can’;t be fixed by Google-ing and searching through websites like CGSociety or YouTube tutorials. Unlike the comparatively fickle, protective and sometimes overtly hostile realms of Programming forums, 3D forums and their members seem more than willing to lend a helping hand to newcomers trying to navigate through the endless hot-keys, sub-menus and different settings. And you don’t find that kind of attitude everywhere.
Well, following this first update, the final film should be up soon, as well as the long-time-in the making Episode 2 of the VODCAST! 😀 Expect more graphics, some tutorials and plenty of rambling! but in the meantime, have a gander at the test renders and little things I’ve worked on over the months! 😀
Test for a scene from the final animation:
Lighthouse Beacon:
Anti-Aircraft Gun:
Well It’s About Time!…
…you know what? Why read when you can watch!
First episode of the regular Vodcast 😀 If youtube brought you here, welcome!
A Slight Change of Plans….
To coin a phrse commonly used by Top Gear Presenter Jeremy Clarkson to describe the weekly challenges on his show, my work can often be described as “Ambitious, but Rubbish!” The key part of that being AMBITIOUS.
From the very start of the Xcode project, Pegg ran it like every good production team should be: team members were divided up into pairs, assigned different areas to focus on, and different code to implement. We were excited at the chance to try something new, and while I was absolutely terrified of code, as I would discover later, it actually can be rather fun 😀
After 3 full production meetings [that’s 2 more than either of the previous modules had 😦 ], we all had *fairly* clear idea of what we all had to do. In my little team, partner Jen Ryan would be in charge of visuals and photoshop work, while I would be tasked with implementing the content into Xcode. As it panned out, I would also produce some short After Effects renders, and take care othe voice overs, as well as a few hidden extras to give the app a personal flavour.
Under guidance from Pegg, we all planned to work our individual areas as part of a complete app; aiming towards creating a complete product for Harper Collins. However, as time slowly rolled on, our inexperience with Objective C began to show. With progress falling behind, each team gradually began to work on their project as individual applications, rather than parts of a whole.
pneumatictuna 