Paying The Bills

This week's class started off and ended very well. I learned about planning my business model. The class was presented with a sheet where we would try to write our own business model, after we were taught how to of course. I found it very tricky to go about, I was unsure of what I was asked to write at times but I managed with some help. I found it very interesting how effective the business model was. As I was writing I was really forced to think and I gave it my best effort. I feel as though it was a great significance to the field I'm working towards, as well as many other fields. Next time when presented with an in class worksheet to have done by the end of class I'll be sure to ask my professor for more help rather than trying to go about the sheet alone and only asking my friends for assistance.

Another thing we were provided to do for this week was read a blog, Dena, C. (2015) Your Income & Your Art, Retrieved from https://medium.com/self-directed-practitioners/week-3-your-income-your-art-133fe7b09488. In summary it talks about the different jobs in the creative field and how income is. I understood it clearly and after reading it I felt much more "in the loop" in the sense that I had a better understanding of how the industry worked, to an extent. Like the previous blog we had to read, I really enjoyed reading this one and I found it to be very insightful. I'm looking forward to next week's blog read, and writing another blog. I feel like I'm getting to know more and more about the industry I'm studying to work in.

Week 2 - Current Trends for 3D Modelling in Games and Films

In last week's 3D Modelling class we discussed 3D modelling, we went slightly in depth, and also discussed the 3D modelling pipeline in games and film.

Currently in the gaming and filming industry 3D modelling is becoming more and more demanded due to the fact that they provide a more realistic result. In games 3D modelling is used for the characters and the environment surrounding the character, whereas in film, 3D modelling is used for special effects. Technology is developing rapidly, and has been in the past few years. The amounts of realism we can now achieve with these developed technologies were unimaginable in the past. The 3D modelling business has been growing and becoming more popular in film and games. Softwares such as Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3D Studio Max have had a great impact and have provided us with a simple way to achieve wonders.

Current 3D pipelines for games are structured together, with 8 aspects. "Concept Drawings", "Low Polygon Base Mesh", "High Polygon Sculpt", "Polygon Cruncher", "Unwrap", "Render to Texture", "Texture Paint", and "Engine Import". Those are all 8 aspects in order.

Here are some example images of what these aspects look like;

Concept Drawings:

Laurinavicius, T. (2009). 50 Stunning Video Game Concept Art, Retrieved from http://sixrevisions.com/digital-art/50-stunning-video-game-concept-art/

Low Polygon Base Mesh: 

Themelios, D. (2009). Game Character Creation, Retrieved from http://blogs.gscept.com/2008/ip6/

High Polygon Sculpt: 

Wilkinson, L. Vor, Guardian of Fern-0, Retrieved from http://lancewilkinson.weebly.com/vor.html

Week 1 - 3D Pipeline?

In my 3D class we took a little insight to 3D Studio Max as well, we learned basic skills and applied them, we also discussed and learned about the 3D Production Pipeline. There are several aspects to 3D Production Pipeline. The first being "Pre-Production and Blocking". What that is, is the pre-production, meaning where you discuss ideas and share opinions on how you want the production to be, pre-planning. The second is "3D Modelling of Required Assets". This is where you begin modelling the characters and the setting. After that comes "UV Mapping". UV Mapping is pretty much where you draw your models in 2D as a representation of the 3D model. Next is "Texturing". It is a straightforward concept, and speaks for itself. It is the process of applying texturing to your models, such as cloth, or concrete, marble, glass, etc... "Rigging" is next in line. Rigging is when you apply bones or joints to your model so it is able to move and bend, in order to preform simple body movements. After rigging comes "Animation", the process in which you begin to animate your models to make your short film or movie. "Scene Assembly" come after that. It speaks for itself, it is the process where you make up the background, setting up the scene around the model/character. After that is "Lighting". Applying a light source, like the sun if outdoors, or a light bulb if indoors, maybe even several lightbulbs. "Rendering", nearing the end, is where a 3D scene is transferred or translated into a 2D image. Second last is "Compositing". Compositing is where you add different images to a single picture to form the entire scene. Last, but certainly not least, comes "Video Editing". Video editing is a straightforward term, it is where you edit all the images you have managed to get to make your short film or movie. You edit them in the order you prefer, and you may cut scenes or feel as though another shot is needed. Those are all the steps you need to make a 3D animation.

3D Animation Over 2D Animation?

Recently, at University, I have been taking a course about 3D modelling. It has been around two weeks, meaning two classes of this course and I am loving the class so far. 3D modelling is hard, in class we covered the basics of a 3D modelling software and it is complicated but after our professor assigned the class to construct a room, and also after getting to know the software a bit better, I really have enjoyed myself. The software itself looks highly intimidating and at first I was a bit worried that I would be horrible at it, but when our professor helped us learn the basics it was like a walk in the park. There is still a lot I need to learn about 3D modelling. There are a lot of aspects to 3D modelling that we discussed in class, such as rigging, lighting, rendering and more. They are still a bit confusing to me and I think I would need to research a bit more on all the aspects so I can understand it better.
I feel like I would really enjoy rigging. After the lesson on the aspects I went home and I got on YouTube and searched for videos on 3D modelling on the software that we are being taught on, 3D Studio Max. I looked up on rigging and simple tutorials, and rigging is something I can see myself getting into. I'm really excited to learn more about 3D modelling. I always thought that I would go straight for 2D animation, but this class is making me reconsider. I love drawing on paper, but 3D modelling is a lot of fun. What I am most looking forward to is learning how to create a character on 3D Studio Max, as well as learning how to animate it. It will be a ton of hard work and long hours but the end result will be worth it.

First Lecture, My Future?

In the past 2 weeks, I have taken two classes of Overview of the Industry. The class was told that this course is extremely beneficial and very important. We, as a class, have been told that this course will help our future. It will prepare us for life after University. We were assigned to read a blog, Dena, C.(2015). How Are We The Same. Retrieved from https://medium.com/self-directed-practitioners/week-2-how-are-we-the-same-d12edb71b5e8, that our professor gave us. After reading the blog I saw things differently. The blog was about the work life of an artist. By artist I mean anyone who works in the creative field. It told us about how we had to view ourselves in the industry. What inspired me most about the blog was a video that was linked at the end of it. The video had animators talk about the industry and themselves in it. My favorite part was how we had to trust in ourselves and to not fear ourselves. From that I understood that we had to trust in our work. We had to not be afraid of presenting our work. This was beneficial to me because I often am afraid of what others will think of my work and also that I don't trust my skills, but I have to learn to not fear the judgment of others because their critiques are only to help push me to my full potential, as well as that I have to trust in my work. This is clear to me because to be successful I must be confident in my work, I must trust that my work is the best I could do and I should be proud of that.

Aside from the blog, we also had a talk in class. We talked mostly about what we saw ourselves doing in the near future, 2 years later, 5 years later and, 10 years later. Our professor told us that it is okay if we didn't know what we wanted to be, I think it's because people tend to change their minds and gain new interests, so that made a lot of sense to me. Overall I really enjoyed this week's class and I am looking forward to the classes to come and all the things I will be learning in the course.