Friday 8 May 2009
Thursday 7 May 2009
Ident 3
I struggled to decided what to do for my 3rd ident, I went through a list of all the extreme sports that could work with my characters and ablities.
I saw an advert on tv for free running and decided that this would be a successful path to go down, as free running "parkour" is really big at the moment.
I realised the potential of the ident, as i was sketching and comming up with loads of moves that the E from the logo could perform and all the materials and camera angles i could use.
Inspiration
For my inspiration i was playing the game "mirrors edge" and realised i loved the look of seeing everything through the main characers eyes.
I wanted to incoperate this into my work, when jumps were done show the view of the E. This meant using cameras to follow the path of the jumps on a separate scene which could prove really difficult but if done correctly then would make for a dramatic sequence.
Breakdown
I wanted to create a story and not just have random free running within the time limit, i showed the e standing on a roof top and being chased by "black" e's, leading him to start running away (free running) to escape them.
If you have played mirrors edge you can probably see how i have used elements of the game, by making the main character red (which was also used to make it stand out.)
I am not going to deny that it is a semi replica of the game, but it helps to paint a story of free running but using the props and areas i created myself.
As you can see from the image I stuck with the idea to make the camera as the eyes, it gets the user more involved i think and adds a sence of danger. mainly because they see what the character is leaping over and that they are close to missing the target.
I used a camera key frame animation to replicate the movement, and the same applies to the roll as the camera hits the floor.
You may also notice that it is blurred, this is an effect that i later added in imovie, i also added a swooshing sound (to replicate wind while traveling .)
As mentioned earlier, i tried to add suttle hints that i used elements from the game, such as some sounds and i added a cheecky lil poster on the wall that may look familiar.
The overall feel to it, came out quite fast paced. Which is what i wanted, i used an array of different camera angles to make the scene as interesting to the viewer as possible
Sounds and Music
For the music in the background i used an intrumetal version of the song "still alive", i timed it so that it was very peacfull as the camera looked on at the E standing on the rooftop but then as he started being chased and jumped off the roof the music changed and became more drtamatic.
The sound effects were a mixture of sounds i had recorded myself with my voice or other media, some were taken from sound websites such as the door crash. But a fair few of the sounds were actually recorded from the mirrors edge game, such as the noise of breathing and running.
Materials
Most of the materials that you see in the ident are taken from the internet, and changed using photoshop. Eg. Collecting a fire door and making it red in photoshop.
I used allot of the same materials around the ident becuase i did not want it to be overcrowded with vibreant texture, more to focus on the main charcater.
Construction
I used the same teciques as with the other idents, everything is made up of basic squares that have been changed and the points moved to create different angles and diameters. They are then skinned with the materials, the E was made using text.
Lighting
As most of the ident is set outside i used a skylight with a combination of omni lights to light up the scene. I think it works well and shows a few shadows to give a feel of the 3d elements invovled.
Conclusion
Overall this was my favorite ident as it really shows how cameras can be used to give the viewer a much more entertaining experience. Making them feel part of what is happening on screen, there are a few bugs and things that i would change if i was to repeat this ident. Such as making more sound effects and better timed ones for that matter, creating more of the city myself instead of using images and just general little touches that could improve the overall end product.
I saw an advert on tv for free running and decided that this would be a successful path to go down, as free running "parkour" is really big at the moment.I realised the potential of the ident, as i was sketching and comming up with loads of moves that the E from the logo could perform and all the materials and camera angles i could use.
Inspiration
For my inspiration i was playing the game "mirrors edge" and realised i loved the look of seeing everything through the main characers eyes.I wanted to incoperate this into my work, when jumps were done show the view of the E. This meant using cameras to follow the path of the jumps on a separate scene which could prove really difficult but if done correctly then would make for a dramatic sequence.
Breakdown
I wanted to create a story and not just have random free running within the time limit, i showed the e standing on a roof top and being chased by "black" e's, leading him to start running away (free running) to escape them.If you have played mirrors edge you can probably see how i have used elements of the game, by making the main character red (which was also used to make it stand out.)
I am not going to deny that it is a semi replica of the game, but it helps to paint a story of free running but using the props and areas i created myself.
As you can see from the image I stuck with the idea to make the camera as the eyes, it gets the user more involved i think and adds a sence of danger. mainly because they see what the character is leaping over and that they are close to missing the target.I used a camera key frame animation to replicate the movement, and the same applies to the roll as the camera hits the floor.
You may also notice that it is blurred, this is an effect that i later added in imovie, i also added a swooshing sound (to replicate wind while traveling .)
As mentioned earlier, i tried to add suttle hints that i used elements from the game, such as some sounds and i added a cheecky lil poster on the wall that may look familiar.The overall feel to it, came out quite fast paced. Which is what i wanted, i used an array of different camera angles to make the scene as interesting to the viewer as possible
Sounds and Music
For the music in the background i used an intrumetal version of the song "still alive", i timed it so that it was very peacfull as the camera looked on at the E standing on the rooftop but then as he started being chased and jumped off the roof the music changed and became more drtamatic.
The sound effects were a mixture of sounds i had recorded myself with my voice or other media, some were taken from sound websites such as the door crash. But a fair few of the sounds were actually recorded from the mirrors edge game, such as the noise of breathing and running.
Materials
Most of the materials that you see in the ident are taken from the internet, and changed using photoshop. Eg. Collecting a fire door and making it red in photoshop.I used allot of the same materials around the ident becuase i did not want it to be overcrowded with vibreant texture, more to focus on the main charcater.
Construction
I used the same teciques as with the other idents, everything is made up of basic squares that have been changed and the points moved to create different angles and diameters. They are then skinned with the materials, the E was made using text.
Lighting
As most of the ident is set outside i used a skylight with a combination of omni lights to light up the scene. I think it works well and shows a few shadows to give a feel of the 3d elements invovled.
Conclusion
Overall this was my favorite ident as it really shows how cameras can be used to give the viewer a much more entertaining experience. Making them feel part of what is happening on screen, there are a few bugs and things that i would change if i was to repeat this ident. Such as making more sound effects and better timed ones for that matter, creating more of the city myself instead of using images and just general little touches that could improve the overall end product.
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Ident 2 - Skydive
For my Second Ident, i wanted to focus on main character of my scenes (once again being the E from the extreme Sports).
I was looking at the best sport that i could show some flare with him, because he has no arms and legs. I also wanted to show his voice and make him more believable as a real character.
Skydiving
I stared thinking about sky diving, this lead me to allot of ideas and how i can show multiple camera angles and show off speed with different sounds and actions on the characters behalf.
This meant that i would not have to make allobate scenes that would take the foucs away from the main character which is really what i wanted to avoid all together and you can get much more simple than a cloudy background.
Backgrounds
As mentioned allot of the scenees were made from clouds and fog effect (in 3DSM) which was qite handy. The plaine was just made of diffrent shapes bent and smoothed with diffrent textures added.
Materials
I used a diffrent host of materials alike with my first ident a mixture of ones collected from the internet and others that i collected and changed in photoshop. As mentioned i also used some fog effects to improve the apperance of the clouds.
Music
I knew i wanted quite dramatic music and pondered on what would fit well i started off with a mission impossible theme but then it sounded really gay so it put me right off instead I was just looking for something with a good beat that would show that the character is enjoying himself and its pumping. I settles on an instrumental versions of blurs song 2 ;)
Animation
For the animation i manily used keyframes and used the reactor for the logo falling through the sky and spalshing in the water. I also used a bomb under the water to make the splash, it does not look as smooth as i would like it but still gives the impression of a crash.
The camera was also animated to help the movment of the scenes. I also added a shake to the camera when the impact happens and without it maes the scene look rather boring.
Voice
Soon as i had decided that i wanted to give my character a voice i knew i wanted it to be quite high and squeaky, like a worms voice or a lemming. I looked for sounds over the Internet and then decided to make my own by recording my voice and my little brothers and changing the settings mainly the pitch to produce the sounds you see in the video.
Screen Shots
So have a look at the finished piece, as mentioned i had allot of issues that i had to overcome and i do prefer the first ident as i think i planned it better but i am still happy with the end result.
I was looking at the best sport that i could show some flare with him, because he has no arms and legs. I also wanted to show his voice and make him more believable as a real character.
Skydiving
I stared thinking about sky diving, this lead me to allot of ideas and how i can show multiple camera angles and show off speed with different sounds and actions on the characters behalf.This meant that i would not have to make allobate scenes that would take the foucs away from the main character which is really what i wanted to avoid all together and you can get much more simple than a cloudy background.
Backgrounds
As mentioned allot of the scenees were made from clouds and fog effect (in 3DSM) which was qite handy. The plaine was just made of diffrent shapes bent and smoothed with diffrent textures added.
Materials
I used a diffrent host of materials alike with my first ident a mixture of ones collected from the internet and others that i collected and changed in photoshop. As mentioned i also used some fog effects to improve the apperance of the clouds.
Music
I knew i wanted quite dramatic music and pondered on what would fit well i started off with a mission impossible theme but then it sounded really gay so it put me right off instead I was just looking for something with a good beat that would show that the character is enjoying himself and its pumping. I settles on an instrumental versions of blurs song 2 ;)
Animation
For the animation i manily used keyframes and used the reactor for the logo falling through the sky and spalshing in the water. I also used a bomb under the water to make the splash, it does not look as smooth as i would like it but still gives the impression of a crash.
The camera was also animated to help the movment of the scenes. I also added a shake to the camera when the impact happens and without it maes the scene look rather boring.
Voice
Soon as i had decided that i wanted to give my character a voice i knew i wanted it to be quite high and squeaky, like a worms voice or a lemming. I looked for sounds over the Internet and then decided to make my own by recording my voice and my little brothers and changing the settings mainly the pitch to produce the sounds you see in the video.
Screen Shots
So have a look at the finished piece, as mentioned i had allot of issues that i had to overcome and i do prefer the first ident as i think i planned it better but i am still happy with the end result.
Tuesday 14 April 2009
!!! Update !!
I decided to add music to my first ident and of all the songs that i could choose only one seemed fitting :D
1st Ident
I have managed to get all my ideas to come together for my first indent, as mentioned in the posts below i wanted to have the logo skateboarding (as an extreme sport.)
I added my own twist to the indent and feel it has worked pretty well.
Watch the video below and ill explain more after
There are a few tweaks that i think need to be done to make it a bit better but for the moment i am rather happy with the result.
Rundown:
The materials that i used were a combination from the web and Photoshop made images. I wanted the main focus to be on the character so i did not add too much complication to the background.
The sound effects were taken from the console game skate 2, this was really handy as I was able to control the game and make all the diffrent sounds that i required and if you have played the game you will regnoise some of the sounds in my video im sure. I also used some that i download for some previose work to just make it more dramatic.
I am thinking about adding a low level instremental song to see how that pans out if i stumble upon something that i like i will post it on the blog but dont count on it, im very picky!!!
Apart from that everything in the 3d Animation was made out of quite simple shapes and symbols.
The skateboard was the trickyest part as it was not a square and havd to be rounded i managed to accomplish this by taking a square cube and adding loads of points and slowly shaping it round and bending both edges then adding texture and wheels was very simple.
Problems that i came across:
When i initially made the skateboard i started to animate it to do a kickflip (rotation) looked pritty good for my first attempt until i realised the bottom of the desk was not there and went invisible when facing the camera. As this does not happen in real life looked as you can imagine strange and just totally wrong!!
But with a little paitence i made a new deck for the board and it managed to kicflip with ease.
So yer thats my first ident pritty much completed my ideas for the seconds 2 are both locked away in my head but they are going to show of some more skills that i have learnt such as the reactor tool and some funky ideas.
Keep you Posted....
I added my own twist to the indent and feel it has worked pretty well.
Watch the video below and ill explain more after
There are a few tweaks that i think need to be done to make it a bit better but for the moment i am rather happy with the result.
Rundown:
The materials that i used were a combination from the web and Photoshop made images. I wanted the main focus to be on the character so i did not add too much complication to the background.
The sound effects were taken from the console game skate 2, this was really handy as I was able to control the game and make all the diffrent sounds that i required and if you have played the game you will regnoise some of the sounds in my video im sure. I also used some that i download for some previose work to just make it more dramatic.
I am thinking about adding a low level instremental song to see how that pans out if i stumble upon something that i like i will post it on the blog but dont count on it, im very picky!!!
Apart from that everything in the 3d Animation was made out of quite simple shapes and symbols.
The skateboard was the trickyest part as it was not a square and havd to be rounded i managed to accomplish this by taking a square cube and adding loads of points and slowly shaping it round and bending both edges then adding texture and wheels was very simple.
Problems that i came across:
When i initially made the skateboard i started to animate it to do a kickflip (rotation) looked pritty good for my first attempt until i realised the bottom of the desk was not there and went invisible when facing the camera. As this does not happen in real life looked as you can imagine strange and just totally wrong!!
But with a little paitence i made a new deck for the board and it managed to kicflip with ease.
So yer thats my first ident pritty much completed my ideas for the seconds 2 are both locked away in my head but they are going to show of some more skills that i have learnt such as the reactor tool and some funky ideas.
Keep you Posted....
Tuesday 24 February 2009
Skateboard Modeling
I started work on the skateboard itself as i wanted to start getting a move on so it leave allot of time for the animation as i know i am going to spend ages on them making sure that they look as good as possible.
I started off by just generally looking at skateboards, we all know what a skateboard looks like but when designing it is all to easy to make wrong decisisions based on memory.
I then started to make the board with diffrent shapes, i made the deck first out of a square that i moved the points around till it looked as rounded and simmetrical as possible. I then used a combination of turbo smooths and face extrudes.
I then moved on to making the wheels and trucks (holds the wheel on) and bolts. I also gave them skins of a wooden texture and used logos from the internet to give the wheels more life like attributes.
I added some lights and little segments such as the screws i also made the wooden texture abit more ruff my adding noise in 3dSmax.
Overall it came out quite well, i did however notice that the bottom of the board was invisible which was a pain, so i will probably just make another version of the deck, as i must have deleted too much of the bottom section on this peice. But this is the look i was going for and am pleased with the result.
I started off by just generally looking at skateboards, we all know what a skateboard looks like but when designing it is all to easy to make wrong decisisions based on memory.
I then started to make the board with diffrent shapes, i made the deck first out of a square that i moved the points around till it looked as rounded and simmetrical as possible. I then used a combination of turbo smooths and face extrudes.
I then moved on to making the wheels and trucks (holds the wheel on) and bolts. I also gave them skins of a wooden texture and used logos from the internet to give the wheels more life like attributes.I added some lights and little segments such as the screws i also made the wooden texture abit more ruff my adding noise in 3dSmax.
Overall it came out quite well, i did however notice that the bottom of the board was invisible which was a pain, so i will probably just make another version of the deck, as i must have deleted too much of the bottom section on this peice. But this is the look i was going for and am pleased with the result.
StoryBoards
I have spent some time on the storyboards for my 1st animation.
I have chosen as mentioned to immerse my logo into diffrent types of sports and as it is the most popualr on the network i wanted to start off with skateboarding
I drew up some rough (emphasis on the word rough.) to jot down my ideas on what would be happening in the animation and on screen.
They are numbered but as you can see diffrent parts are on the seperate pages, mainly becuase i kept changing my mind and having new ideas.
Basically:
I want to have a skateboard look as if it has just jumped over a camera with the extreme sports logo in frame for a few seconds. (Being on the bottom of the board.) Then the camera will change to a diffrent view and the logo itself will be on top of the skateboard, it will either roll on screen or jump i have not yet decided.
It will then spin and maybe do another trick and come to a skidding hault. Face the camea it will then jump off the board and kick it to its side so its verticle and then the camera will zoom in on the logo.
As always i will probably add more and diffrent ideas as i start to play with the software but that is my overall idea so far.
I have chosen as mentioned to immerse my logo into diffrent types of sports and as it is the most popualr on the network i wanted to start off with skateboarding
I drew up some rough (emphasis on the word rough.) to jot down my ideas on what would be happening in the animation and on screen.
They are numbered but as you can see diffrent parts are on the seperate pages, mainly becuase i kept changing my mind and having new ideas.
Basically:
I want to have a skateboard look as if it has just jumped over a camera with the extreme sports logo in frame for a few seconds. (Being on the bottom of the board.) Then the camera will change to a diffrent view and the logo itself will be on top of the skateboard, it will either roll on screen or jump i have not yet decided.
It will then spin and maybe do another trick and come to a skidding hault. Face the camea it will then jump off the board and kick it to its side so its verticle and then the camera will zoom in on the logo.
As always i will probably add more and diffrent ideas as i start to play with the software but that is my overall idea so far.
Monday 16 February 2009
Mood Board
I wanted to create my own mood board for the channel as i could not really find any images that showed the type of style of the channel.
I came up with the following.
(click the image to enlarge.)
I wanted to show the different types of sports that have been classed as "Extreme Sports" and dedicate them to the show. I have used quite a grungy look because sports such as skateboarding etc are greatly frowned upon and tie in well with a somewhat graffiti feel. Also as this is the type of culture that springs to mind when you think about extreme sports i think the theme shows off the boldness and dramatic nature of the sports.
It was created in photoshop, using custom photoshop brushes and gradients to make the effects, the humans were images collected and traced with the pen tool and turned into silhouettes. the logo was collected from online and used a paint splatter affect created with a combination of brushes and blurring.
I will be looking at what type of people will in fact be watching the station that i have chosen, so i can get a feel for the target audience, allowing the actual 3D animation animated work to be aimed toward that specific group.
I came up with the following.
(click the image to enlarge.)
I wanted to show the different types of sports that have been classed as "Extreme Sports" and dedicate them to the show. I have used quite a grungy look because sports such as skateboarding etc are greatly frowned upon and tie in well with a somewhat graffiti feel. Also as this is the type of culture that springs to mind when you think about extreme sports i think the theme shows off the boldness and dramatic nature of the sports.
It was created in photoshop, using custom photoshop brushes and gradients to make the effects, the humans were images collected and traced with the pen tool and turned into silhouettes. the logo was collected from online and used a paint splatter affect created with a combination of brushes and blurring.
I will be looking at what type of people will in fact be watching the station that i have chosen, so i can get a feel for the target audience, allowing the actual 3D animation animated work to be aimed toward that specific group.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Week 3 Path Cameras
We spent time in the lesson looking at how to move cameras along a path, looking at the diffrent ways you can have the camera to view the scene and how fast it can move along the path.
It has given me some good ideas on how the camera can move around the scene to view diffrent objects.
I am also now starting to understand the frame aspect in 3D max, as it is quite similar to flash.
I will keep the blog updated as the weeks follow.
Tuesday 3 February 2009
Extreme Ident
I have been looking at different TV stations that i could base my 3 indents on.
I was channel flipping, i usually watch Extreme Sports and after taking a detailed look at the logo and thinking how I could animate it with 3D Studio max.
I am going to be using the logo to show the different types of sports on the channel, e.g. have the logo skateboarding, snowboarding etc. I think i can make a really it interesting and a good representation of the station.
I will start coming up with sketches and ideas and scan them in to be uploaded for this blog.
Above is an ident that is used at tbe moment, Showing diffrent types of extreme sports. I want to show the logo on screen comming into shot with diffrent methods, eg. Adding wheels to the logo and having it skid into shot.
I was channel flipping, i usually watch Extreme Sports and after taking a detailed look at the logo and thinking how I could animate it with 3D Studio max.I am going to be using the logo to show the different types of sports on the channel, e.g. have the logo skateboarding, snowboarding etc. I think i can make a really it interesting and a good representation of the station.
I will start coming up with sketches and ideas and scan them in to be uploaded for this blog.
Above is an ident that is used at tbe moment, Showing diffrent types of extreme sports. I want to show the logo on screen comming into shot with diffrent methods, eg. Adding wheels to the logo and having it skid into shot.
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Assignment Brief
We were given the 3D animation brief.
It was to choose a television idents, I am going to research different types of videos on youtube of different channel videos and animations that are used. Looking in detail at how they use text and speech to capture the users attention and how in some cases you remember specific logos with the channel.
I will also spent some time channel hopping on my TV, to see anything that stands out and would give me some inspiration for what i can produce.
Will update with the findings :P
It was to choose a television idents, I am going to research different types of videos on youtube of different channel videos and animations that are used. Looking in detail at how they use text and speech to capture the users attention and how in some cases you remember specific logos with the channel.
I will also spent some time channel hopping on my TV, to see anything that stands out and would give me some inspiration for what i can produce.
Will update with the findings :P
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