Showing posts with label presentation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presentation. Show all posts

Friday, 24 April 2015

I'm now 99.1% done with this project. Up until now, I've been enjoying myself and the work I've been producing. However this week was just horrific. I feel as if I'm doing more things and not moving forwards at all, it's so frustrating. It doesn't help that the deadline is two weeks away and we're nowhere near finished.

We've been speculating over the last few weeks that our level should probably be cut down, however, this is now seeming like something necessary. We're unsure of what areas need cutting as of yet, as they all seem pretty vital.

My group had a presentation with some lecturers one Tuesday, and we came out rather happy with the result! They liked our level, and gave us some suggestions on what areas need to be cut. So, drum roll please...the study, the area you fall into from the rabbit hole and the first corridor are being cut! One of the puzzle areas containing two rooms is also being cut down into one. Phew. This means less work to produce, but more time to polish! Which is exactly what we need to be doing at this stage.


So, the room above is the first puzzle area - containing the anamorphic puzzle - the door on the right hand side now leads to nowhere! This is the first room that was to be cut down. Initially, you'd have to answer a riddle in order to unlock the door which would lead to an anamorphic puzzle. However now, its all been merged into one room.

One of my team members. James, has been playing around with something in engine called diffuse boost. It essentially lightens the value  of the materials before baking the lighting which means softer lighting! Although, in the last project (container city) we had this awful yellowy/purple haze going on. Which seems to have appeared again, it must be something to do with the bloom. Either way, it's going to need fixing before the hand in.


We've also encountered a few issues too. I reimported the White Rabbit early on in the week and it completely broke. Firstly, there was no animation attached to it, even though it was showing up in the editor. Secondly, the pivot was way off, even though it was centred in max and finally, when you played the level, the rabbit would flicker on and off. However, I managed to fix all of these in a short space of time after having a little cry. The flickering was due to a lighting problem in the map - I figured this out by testing it within another engine file. He works again now, and I'm a happy egg again.


Also, the essay and character resubmissions are finally done! It's almost as if a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Although, it does seem a bit odd knowing that tomorrow is the *sort-of* last day at term, but we're still working on Off The Map. I'm looking forward to be able to focusing on a single project for the next 2 weeks though. Hardcore propulation!

Week 30: IT'S DONE, IT'S ALL OVER.
03:42

Week 30: IT'S DONE, IT'S ALL OVER.

Sunday, 19 April 2015

It actually feels pretty good to be back in the swing of things! Minus the fact we've all got to do presentations on Friday (welp), I'm feeling pretty optimistic about this week. Which is worrying.

I've been modelling and unwrapping random assets this week so you could say its been pretty chilled out. We're all focusing on the essay, presentation and character re-submission. There's so much going on at once it actually hurts. I've almost finished my essay, which is one less thing to worry about, however I've yet to write the conclusion. I'll get there eventually. The character re-submission is going quite well too! I haven't done too much on it yet as I've been focusing on other projects, but I've started to act on the feedback given to me in the last assessment. She already looks so much better!


door_corridor.JPG



I modelled a couple of different iron variations for the door between the lobby and the first corridor, however the one above was deemed the most suitable for the level. I'd tried to keep it similar to the railings we've got on the staircase in the lobby so nothing seems too random and out of place.

HighresScreenshot00000.png

You know when you've got what looks like a lot of stuff in a Max file? Then it looks like hardly anything in engine? Yep. We're going through that right now. In the group meeting we had this week, a couple of us are swapping assets and taking more on board in order to get our level looking as awesome as possible for the deadline. I mean, it's not the end of the world if it's not 100% perfect, it's never going to be, it'll just be nice to have something to be proud of. 


On the topic of presentations, I chose to do mine on one of my favourite games, Road Not Taken! I was thinking about doing it on Uncharted, but I was a little worried about fangirling my way through the whole thing. Woo. It actually went much better than what I thought it would! I was bricking it before-hand, but the feeling after you've done it is so good, I wanted to do it again!

Week 29: Can it please just be over?
16:40

Week 29: Can it please just be over?

Sunday, 12 April 2015

So I'm surrounded by Easter eggs and life couldn't get much better right now. So much chocolate. Anyway, it's the last week of the holidays and I'm super bored now. I just want to be back at uni. I mean, I've been in the labs the majority of the time but it's just not the same.


As well as writing essays, sorting out presentations and continuing with OTM, I've actually been trying to set aside an hour or two a day to do some paintings. I'm soooo happy I've done this, as I seem to feel a lot more positive about everything! God knows why. Today I've done two animal studies from the game 'Road Not Taken' - if you haven't played it, you should. Cutest game ever!

"I'm scared of her...she's like the big bad woof" 
On Thursday the 9th, I had the opportunity to go to a Q&A session with Nolan North - hosted by Sony - in London. Best. Day. Ever. The event was amazing in itself and I still feel so overwhelmed by the whole experience, but it was just SO nice to just be able to get out and explore such a big city. We also visited a few museums throughout the course the day - the Natural History Museum, The Wallace Collection and finally the Science Museum! However, we only spent around half an hour in the science due to timing. Wah. Also, being on the tube at rush hour is so not cool. 


I've got too many ideas on what I want to do my presentation on, and I can guarantee that I'll only decide around 3-4 days before *sigh*. I used to love being given free reign when it comes to choice, but this was just a big lump of no. However, I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with my essay now too, I've finally realised what it is that I want to do with my life and what I need to do in order to achieve it. In a way, writing this essay has helped me to sort my life out. Two birds with one stone hey. 

But apart from that, my Easter has been pretty uneventful. I ate way too much chocolate and got a bit fat. That's what Easter's all about though, right?


Week 26, 27 & 28: Have I eaten too much chocolate? Probably.
16:30

Week 26, 27 & 28: Have I eaten too much chocolate? Probably.

Sunday, 18 January 2015

So I don't really have too much to say for this week as I've been busy screaming at Cascade and worrying about internships.

However, I did manage to make some pretty cool stuff! In my group, I've been assigned lighting, particle effects and the organic assets. SUPER FUN.

Onto the particles. Or 'particools' as we've all been calling them as they make everything look awesome! We'd decided we wanted fog/mist, sparks, dripping water and some form of dust and/or spores.
I managed to get the sparks and the floor fog working perfectly, however I had a few issues with the spores and they required a lot of changing. Arghhhh.


For a start, they looked like snow. Not really the look we were going for but hey ho. This was a quick fix though and after some feedback, it finally started to look more spore like.


The presentation actually went pretty well too. For once. Mike wasn't sure on the idea as he felt it needed to be more container like so as soon as it was all over, we all rushed into the labs to devise a new 'plan of action'. We decided to change the colour scheme ever so slightly and have assets within the level itself made out of containers. For example, in the habitation area, we've chosen to have container lockers, container chairs....you get the idea.


Week 16: Particools
08:09

Week 16: Particools

Sunday, 21 December 2014

For this project, I was required to design two characters that were total opposites of one another. I got to choose what my tri and texture budgets were – providing they were sensible. The only other major requirement was that the characters had to look as if they were from the same world.

Now, normally Pinterest provides me with a huge amount of inspiration however, for some reason, I really struggled to gain any whatsoever. I’m not sure if it was the thought of having to design two characters that spun me off course or the fact I had to have the majority of my concepts and the final idea done within 3 days. I initially thought about doing a kind of cowgirl/something duo but after going home one weekend and finding an old history book, I decided to delve further into researching women during the Second World War. This led me to the idea of a WAC Colonel and a young evacuee. After doing a massive moodboard full of random ideas, the finalisation of my idea meant I could produce a more specific one.


On the first Thursday of the project, I had to present my work so far to the critical studies team in order to receive feedback and inform them of how I’m getting on so far. This went better than I thought it would and I received some really helpful feedback - which did mean I had to change my idea slightly, but definitely for the better. Mike said that he wasn’t too sure what the relationship between the two characters was and that it was something I really needed to push in order to successfully convey my idea. It was also suggested that I look at WW2 propaganda posters and how they’ve inspired films such as The Incredibles.

After speaking to Jack about my idea, he suggested I read a book called ‘Put Out More Flags’ by Evelyn Waugh as he felt it’d aid me in my research. This actually really helped me with developing the relationship between my two characters more. Books are awesome.


I've spoken about modelling in previous posts, so onto the unwrapping...or more commonly known as the part where I broke down and did the most stupid thing ever. I was trying to work out where would be the best places to put seams on the face and for some reason, my brain thought “smack one down and across the middle of the forehead!” I definitely wasn’t thinking of the consequences at the time to say the least. I normally make my normals first to get some similar details in the albedo, but this time around, I did the albedo first so I didn’t notice the horrific seams right until the last minute. I applied them in 3DS Max, and this happened.



So not cool. Luckily, it only shows up in the viewport and it’s totally invisible in UE4 and Marmoset so I’m trying not to kick myself too much over it.

Now, the brief says that we only have to model one of the characters, but for a stretch goal we’re allowed to make the second character, or rig the one we’ve already modelled. I knew from the start that I probably wasn’t going to have enough time to model both, who needs optimism? So I planned my time accordingly and left a day towards the end for rigging purposes.

Luckily, I’d had some practice throughout the summer project which did really help me out but the hands are another story altogether. Instead of rigging every single joint etc, I decided I was just going to rig her into a pose. So, going about the usual business, I started moving the biped around into suitable positions and everything was actually going really well! Right up until the hands. I knew the success wouldn’t last.


Fingers are 100% the most VILE things to rig. Luckily, Steve came to the rescue and advised me on where to place more edge loops to prevent seriously shoddy deformation! It was like being back in first year again drawing loops all over my hands.

As you can see, the briefcase also wasn't too happy. 
Overall, this project has been an absolute blast/nightmare for me! On one hand, I enjoyed trying out a new style and working in a different way but on the other, I'm definitely not planning on making a stylised character any time soon. I decided to create my character in this style as I thought it would be easier to manage with the set timescale, however looking back, it would've been 1000 times easier to stick to what I know and produce a realistic character. I can happily say I left the dreaded comfort zone over the past few weeks, but I feel if I'd have stayed there I probably could've produced something I was much happier with.
If I were to change anything, I'd definitely spend more time focusing on making my idea stronger and possibly allowing myself enough time to create the same character in a different style. I feel that's what's bugging me the most, not how strong the idea is, but the actual style itself. Ugh.

I'm staying in Leicester until the 23rd so I'm planning on doing a couple of paintovers and improvements on the textures and rigging to make me feel slightly happier about the whole thing!


Week 11: A Dichotomous Post Mortem
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Week 11: A Dichotomous Post Mortem