Animations

My animation brief is now finished below are two simple animations i created while undertaking the brief






I feel i have really benefited from learning how to model and animate in Maya. In my own time I am hoping i will have chance to go on and improve myself as a 3d designer and animator.

The Guardian Guide to Making Video

At the weekend (Saturday, 26 January 2008) I bought The Guardian for a supplement about making video.



I was please to find this supplement easy to read and very informative

Included in the supplement was

• Gear Guide
  
• Basic Techniques
  
• Film Workshops
  
• Editing
  
• Sound Advice
  
• Making a Film
  
• Getting it seen
  

Ever since I first saw Wallace and Gromit I have enjoyed setting up a camera and creating stop animations with simple objects laying around my house (toy cars, action figures etc)

In the future I hope to improve on my post production techniques to give my work a more professional and slick appeal.

High Defintion Is Dead Long Live Super-Hi Vision

The Japanese government has announced plans to bring Super Hi-Vision (a.k.a. Ultra High Definition) to life as a broadcast standard by 2015. With its 33 megapixel (7,680 x 4,320) resolution and 22.2 channel surround sound, challenges so far have included building a camera that can record it, and equipment to transfer the 24Gbps uncompressed stream.

Click Here to learn more about Super-Hi Vision

It also does this!

That last post got me looking around on Youtube

It turns out it also does this



It looks a lot less like Guitar Hero and more like DDR for your finger when on the iphone

I think my finger would hurt, if i spent all day smashing it in to an iphone screen like that :(

Is There Any It Can't Do?

Moving City

While watch television last night i saw an advert that i thought had the most amazing 3d rendering i have ever seen



I am staggered at how how flawless this looks, I have watched it many times over on Youtube and there is nothing that makes me think, "this is a computer animation" when i watch it. I am totally fascinated by how realistic the graphics in this advert are

Animation Storyboard

This is the storyboard for the animation I am creating

Self Directed Evening Maya Session

Yesterday I missed the animation lesson but came into the studio at 5pm to do some work for our animation brief.

After trying to follow various Maya tutorials (and failing miserably)I found a Youtube tutorial for creating a 'spaceship' (ironically the lesson is taught by a seven year old)

Here are the sucessful results of my spaceship model





I think the model is remanisante of the R-Type spaceships

I am proud of this piece of work, 3D design is my weakness as a digital designer.

I am sure an accomplished 3D designer could put this model together in a matter of minutes, but for me this is the most comprehensive model i have ever built in 3d

Following this tutorial has helped me feel more comfortable with the Maya interface, i am gradually starting to enjoy 3d design more.

Having followed this tutorial and having an end product that is visually recognizable as a spaceship is helping to inspire me to want to go on and improve as a 3D designer


Youtube Maya Spaceship Tutorial

Milk Matters?

Everyone loves an advert that gets them talking. At the weekend i saw this

I have no idea how this communicates to people that Cravendale milk is superior to other milk and that therefore they should buy it, in fact i have no idea what it is trying to communicate at all, other than "Cravendale isn't just any milk its filtered to make it purer" but i already knew that!

All though i don't think the communication of the advert is clear, i really like the "wackiness" the piece and i think the stop motion animation some how compliments this very well, and it is the sound effects that have been added to the video that make the animation believable.  

Car of the Future

While browsing one of my favourite daily tech sites, I came across this

It is a concept design for what may be on your windscreen when driving a car of the future

To me it seems like there is far to much additional information on the screen for the user to be concentrating on actually driving. Maybe that steering wheel is just there so the person in the driving seat has somewhere to rest their hand (everyone knows cars of the future drive them selfs!!!)

Concept iphone function/app

It would seem a lot of people love their iphone/touches

It also seems that the device is constantly gaining practical functionality

While browsing online i found a mock up of an app would allow you to quick order you drink from Starbucks

I have been reading about the possibility of this app for some time, in theory you could be walking up to a Starbucks store, connect to their WiFi while still outside, order your drink on your mobile device (iphone or itouch) 

Then when you enter the store your drink should be ready and waiting for you

Although there are often many Apple rumors flying about, i could really see this becoming a possibility.

 You can already buy the music that is played in Startbucks through your iphone/itouch, so Starbucks would be the perfect testing ground for this app for two reasons

1. Apple already has the relationship with Starbucks that would allow them to be able test this product in their stores

2. I would imagine that now apple have the experience of being able to sell music "over the air" it would be easy and achievable to adapt it to be able to pre-order/sell coffee within that environment 

Click Here to read about Apples "click and go" patent

Click Here to see the mock ups of the app

Living The Brand

Before Christmas for Critical Studies we had to present on a topic related to digital media, I choose to present on; the branding industry

I had never really considered branding before this lesson, it wasn't something that i thought would interest me (maybe i just wasn't aware of branding as i thought i was)

After researching for my presentation I quickly discovered that branding was a complexed but very interesting subject.

The exercise of researching branding has giving me an interest in the industry and i now realize

1. Branding is a very powerful tool and as a designer it is something i should do with myself as well as the work that i produce
2. I have an interest in the branding industry and wish to learn more about it
   

Over the Christmas holidays i was in my local Libary and just by chance i came across the book 

Living The Brand by Nicholas Ind ISBN 978-0-7494-5083-0

By reading this book i hope i will be able to learn more about branding and how the industry works