LO2: Mindmap Of Character Ideas

 

- My first idea for the character was to use a kind o f alien shape for the character which would allow mw to create a spaceship environment around the character in which it could then interact with throughout the render. I would use lots of vibrant a different colour materials to show off the alien in the scene and make it stand out more.

- My second idea for the character was to use a animal such as a stray cat walking across the scene that could be pretty much anything. Doing this would allow me to be able to practice my modelling techniques as well as being able to use a wider variety of different shot types. However the issue with this idea was that creating a cat using a 3D model was very hard to create and render because of the large amount of fur that is used on the model.

- My third and final idea was to create an humanoid type of character that would allow me to keep the base animation the same and instead allow me to create a sort of tron character to interact with the scene. As well as adding in some type of lighting to the mask of the character to really sell the idea of sci fi and cyberpunk that is present in the shot.

LO3: Feedback

 

The feedback that I received from the survey was mostly positive. With people really liking the look and the style of the render. There was one major improvement that people suggested which was to add more the character itself. I took on the feedback and suggestion and decided to model to glowing swords which I then attached to the characters rig which allowed me to transfer the animation data without having to remake the animation.

LO3: Final Render

Final Render

LO2: Learning Software

The software that I chose to use to make the scene was Blender. I have been using this software for a while and have slowly been learning and progressing through the software to allow me to create the final render. 

I have used the software's render engine called cycles to allow me to create a realistically lit scene. I can use the shader editor to create realistic materials, such as the floor grating and the buildings.

This is the default scene that shows top when blender is first opened it contains the 3D viewport for the scene.

I then leant how to switch between modes using the tab hotkey. I also used the tool insert to allow me to make more faces and add more detail to the model. This is one of the 3 basic tolls the to use the most these being inset bevel and extrude.

I then used inset to create a hole in the face which allows me to make detail in the model.

I continued this process again to create the model. I scaled the inset by using S and then moved the parts by using G.

I then switched to the render camera view so that I could frame the shot I can use the camera like a real camera. For example using aperture and exposure to simulate real lighting in the final render.

Then I switched to the rendered view which mean that I get a real time preview of the scene meaning that all of the colours will be accurate to the final render.

I added another cube to the scene to add some fog and then I also used the bevel tool to create a much more rounded model. This is a simple way to allow for much more detail in the model.

Almost final render.

Final render.

These are the final render settings for the render.

This is the material shaders for the model with 2 materials being used one being the base colour and then add introducing light into the scene.

Overall: 

I have been able to learn the software and will be able to develop the scene and use these basic principles and skills to create a much more impressive scene. I have been able to learn the basics of shaders and lighting in blender.

As well as the workflow from modelling to live preview to render.

LO3: Export File Types:

Film:

For the product to be able to be put onto the big screen on a film. I will need to export the final product as first a PNG sequence so that I can get the highest quality footage to use. I would then take the png sequence into premiere pro to turn the PNGs into a raw file format which I could then use the colour data to edit the final video to get the result that I want. For example using colour grading as well as exposure and contrast sliders to make th footage appear the way that I want. I would then export the final product as a RAW.AVI file format which keeps all of the colour and does not compress any of the footage this is the equivalent of using a lossless file format. The only issue with this method is that the file size will be massive as I am taking an image sequence and then comping the lossless images together with no compression.

Tv:

For the product to be exported and then played on Tv I will follow most of the steps from before by using a PNG sequence to render and then taking the footage into Premiere Pro to add any final adjustments to the scene. Once I have done this is will be exporting the footage as a NTSC compatible format. This will allow the video to be played on almost any Tv that uses NTSC. Increasing the range for devices that can play the video. The one disadvantage is that the file size is again very large because of the use of no compression.

Youtube/Web:

Finally for the product to be able to be exported onto the Web/Youtube I will be rendering the project as an H.264 or mk4 video format this will slightly compress the footage but I will still be able to edit the footage in any editing software changing colours etc. I will then once again export the footage straight to youtube or an Mov (movie file) I can either upload the final footage to youtube or anywhere else on the web. The only issue is that the video will lose some quality because of the compression applied but the file size will be much smaller.

LO3: Creation Of Models

Creation Of Models:

Below is a collection of all of the different models that I have used to create the scene.

This is the final model of the train that I ended up using in the final render I designed the train to look futuristic and blocky to allow the train to fit into the rest of the scene.

I made the model starting with a simple primitive cube which I then stretched and scaled to make the basic shape. I then started to add details to the model by extruding and insetting the faces into the shape. I also used the bevel tool to make more faces to allow me to be able to make much more detail in the model. I also added materials for the glass and I used an emissive texture for the light at the bottom of the train which is visible throughout the whole scene.

This is a cross section of the final model of the train I have cut it in half using the knife tool to show the geometry of the inside of the model. Doing this also allows me to be able to make final changes and check for any overlapping geometry. this allows me to be able to mitigate any errors that may occur later in the final render.

This is the modelling toolbar in blender it contains all of the tools that I will be using for making the models in blender these tools allow me to manipulate and shape the shapes into anything that I want. The tools that I have at my disposal mean that i can create pretty much anything I want.

These are some of the most common tools that I used to create the models. The first one is the loop cut toll this allows me to add more edges into the shape so that I can add more detail to the shape. The second tool allows me to manually draw the cuts onto the shape, this means that I can then create loops on any surface that I want.

This is another model that I made is this case model. I used this model throughout the scene to allow me to add some more detail to the scene. I started the model by using polygon modelling by starting with a simple hexagon shape and then repeating the process of insetting and extruding as well as bevelling edges to get the desired look.

This top down view of the model allows me to be able to check the geometry as well as checking how the product looks overall and if it fits into the rest of the scene. For this model I used a modelling technique called mirror modelling. This allows me to create a plane that I can then mirror one side of the object to the other. This speeds up all of the modelling significantly.

The last step of the modelling process for this model was to add a keypad with numbers. I decided not to animate the crate because of the time constraints I can also check that both sides are the same and the model is the right scale and size compared to the rest of scene.

This is the main foreground building in the scene it has the most amount of detail and I wanted a sort of hangar design which allows me a lot of space to add in finer detail such as people and other things. I am also able to use the models to add different details to the scene.

This is the model for the building it shows the geometry and allows me to make sure that the whole model is correct and there is no overlapping faces. This is key to make sure that the model will look good in the final render.

This is the final render of the antenna it shows the test for the final render and allows me to be able to texture the model to get the look that I want.

This is a straight on view of the model, having this view allows me to be able to check the model for any issues before I use it and texture it. For example checking the amount of faces to make sure that the model does not cause too much lag and add a lot of render time when multiple are placed in the scene. For this model I decided to use loop cuts a lot more to make sure that I could get enough detail in the model.

This final image shows the model with all of the edges and faces highlighted again allowing me to check that the model will work as intended in the final scene.

LO2: Mindmap Of Ideas

 

LO2: SWOT Analysis

 Strengths:

The strengths of the project are varied because of the style of the project. For example besue the project has been made using all custom models I can control all of the parts and the theme of the scene. I am also able to control all of the creative decisions in terms of the creation character. Also because of the use of 3d software I can very quickly prototype different look and environments (rapid prototyping). This allows me to refine as I create and refine the scene to create the best final product. I can also choose which parts of the project I want to render allowing me to test the final look without needing a lot of time to render out everything in the scene. The look and the style of the render allow me to appeal to the target audience (14 to 35). The render provides a cool looking scene with plenty of smaller details that add more realism to the render. The neon look mixed with the ray tracing for the lighting gives the render a unique look that makes it a lot more noticeable.

Weaknesses:

There are a few weaknesses with the methods that I have used to create the final models and project. One of these are that the more custom models that I create the more time that I will use to create the models. Another weakeness is the complexity and the added render times because of all of these custom models. The render time will have a direct impact on how many renders I can produce and the length of these renders. This in turns also creates another weakness in that I will need to use hardware that is effective and fast enough to be able to render out the project quickly. Once I have fixed and improved the render to stand out more it will be a lot more appealing to the target audience and look a lot more unique overall.

Opportunities:

There are many different opportunities for the project these are partly because of the media and form that the project has taken. For example I am able to quickly use the same base character and place them in a very contrasting environment (desert) this allows me to quickly create a collection of different pieces of work. I am also able to quickly iterate certain parts of the final project. Because of the way that the project has been exported I can easy publish this to Youtube or any other media streaming platform. I can also take the base project and send it to other artists to work o allowing for a much larger collaboration project. For example using the scene to create competitions that people can change and use their own creativity to create something bigger and more impressive. A final idea would be the creation of a Youtube tutorial series that would use the scene and then take the viewers through how to make basic parts of the scene. I could also extend and create new animations in the same scene to tell more of a story for example focusing on the moving elements such as the train and adding a shot that took place inside the train. Doing this would allow me to show off more of the scene as the one shot only shows a small amount of the detail in the scene. I could then add this to a film or other program. For the release of some kind of film I could use different social media platforms such as twitter and instagram to create shorts to post during the run up to the release. Doing this would allow mw to create synergy and gain much more attention for the products release making it vastly more profitable and successful. Doing this will allow me to expand the target age audience of the project.

Threats:

The only threats that I can think of is that there are already to many similar projects out there that would mean that the project would have a much harder time standing out in the oversaturated algorithms such as youtube. Also other people copying the idea and claiming it as their own this can damage and misrepresent me as the projects creator.

LO2: Filetypes