This year in Digital Design and Animation II was an awesome but tiresome year. I learned new and useful material, improved upon my 3DS Max and Photoshop skills, and even made some new friends. My main takeaways from this course are probably learning advanced modeling techniques, working with the material editor, lightning, and working with cameras. Since I got behind towards the end of the year, I didn't get much more experience with rigging, which I think is a really important and useful skill in the entertainment industry. I really enjoyed learning how to make my scenes more realistic by adding detailed materials to objects and adding special effects to affect and compliment my work.
The most rewarding experience I had in this class were getting animations to work, even if I was following a tutorial. I remember spending a whole week struggling to get the cloth modifier to work on two flags and a tablecloth. The flags with get dragged down by the gravity too much, get blown off the pole by the wind, or both. The tablecloth also had trouble staying connected to the table, sometimes blowing away or falling through the table. In addition, sometimes the cloth would freeze halfway through rendering, and I think it crashed 3DS max once or twice. I followed the tutorial the best i could, but I must have done something wrong somewhere. After getting help from the teacher and my classmates, the scene worked better, but not exactly the way it was supposed to. I also felt proud getting my bouncing ball animation to work, as I had no assistance from the teacher getting it to work. it went really well setting up the scene, but I had trouble with the curve editor, and the ball's path would shrink whenever I added a new keyframe. The ball would also squash and stretch in the wrong direction. From a distance, the animation looked fine, but up close there were some issues. The skills I learned in this class that I may use in the future are presenting myself in a professional manner and working with cameras. I have actually put some of these skills in use already. When I applied for a job at Chick-fil-A, I looked over what we had learned in presenting ourselves in a professional manner. I remember modifying the resume I made in this class, by adding my actual information, and updating my skills, experience, and achievements,. and I emailed it to the interviewer. I also believe I sent a cover letter as well. A few days later, I learned I got the job. In the future, I am thinking about going into the film industry. What I have learned about camera movements and angles could help me and my company produce better films. Camera shots are very important as they can set up a scene and mood of that scene. - I took pride in getting animations to work. -3D modeling takes caution and patience -I used a skill from this class to get a job. -I might go into film as a career.
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I game I recently started playing with friends is Rising Storm Red Orchestra 2. The game was released in 2013 and was created by Tripwire Interactive. The game takes place in WWII in the Pacific Theater and the Eastern Front. The games is a first person shooter, with the ability to drive tanks as well.
Pros: -Lots of weapons -Detailed maps with lots of places to hide and fight -Many characters you can play as -Game is easy to pick up -Realistic weapon physics Cons: -Maps are smaller than I expected -Only one vehicle type you can drive (tanks) -Not all heavy weapons on the maps are usable Overall, I think this game is good game for people who are into history and first person shooters. But if you want a more versatile WWII first person shooter, like a game with a lot of vehicles, then this is not the game for you. In the past two weeks, I have been learning about lights and cameras in 3DS Max again. Now I am learning more about these two things. I am learning more ways to modify the camera, such as the field of view, depth of field, f-stop, and focus, which isn't too hard since I am also in a photography class. In addition, I am learning about new ways to modify lights. before, I already knew how to change the lights color. Now I have learned how to change the intensity, shadows, and shadow color, and how the different types of lights are different based on their behavior and what real world light they imitate. In the future I hope to learn more about lights and cameras in 3DS max to make cooler scenes and maybe help me in a future career.
-There are many different types of lights in 3DS Max -There are many different types of cameras in 3DS Max -There are many different ways to modify the lights and cameras. -The lights in 3DS Max emulate real world lighting. This past week, I started learning more about lighting in 3DS Max. There are many different lights in 3DS Max including: omni, directional, skylight, spot, area, and sun positioner. There are also different ways to customize your lights, such as the color and opacity. This allows more ways to use the lights to make your scene more detailed. In addition, different materials applied to primitives react with light differently. A metal material will reflect light, the paint material will absorb it, and the glass material will have the light go right through it. -Different types of lights -Can be customized -Light reacts differently with every material Tutorial: Introduction To 3ds Max Standard Lights
Learn Viz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTF3pUpa__Y When most people think of a gamer, they probably think of a nerdy, male teen sitting for hours in a chair or on a couch staring at a screen, mashing wildly at their controller. What most people don't know, is that 44% of gamers are women, and only 22% of game designers are women. The gaming industry needs to find ways to attract more women and not by making games more girly, for example not adding tons of pink and ponies. The gaming industry needs to make games unisex. A great example of a unisex game is Minecraft. It has different components> It does just revolve around action and explosions, you can experiment with blocks and building your dream house, or work with redstone and build a working computer. This game does just appeal to the stereotypical male or female.
-Games need to be more unisex. -The gaming community needs more females. -The gaming industry needs more female game designers. This year in game design, I have learned a lot of new techniques and tools in 3DS Max. I have also gotten more experience in tools I learned last year, such as working with lights. I think my class will use these new tools and techniques to make more realistic scenes and animations in 3DS Max, involving light, and forces such as gravity and wind. I have also learned about new objects you can use such as premade trees, doors, and windows. With the trees, you can choose from many types of trees to use in your scene. In addition with the doors and windows, you can change many variables on the doors besides width, length, and height such as the frame size of the window, how many panes it has, and same with the door. You can also alter how the door opens, it can be hinged, sliding, or a double door. My favorite tool this year is the forces tool. You can use it to add effects like gravity and wind to a scene, which can alter how objects act in the scene, such as how a ball drops, water flows, or which direction and intensity a flag waves. You can change how strong these tools are by changing the strength, and with the wind, how turbulent it is. By the end of the year, I hope to learn more about these tools and maybe learn some new ones too.
-3DS Max has a lot of cool tools and techniques to explore. -3DS Max has forces and premade objects to make your project more realistic. -My favorite tool is forces. In the previous week I have started to use simulations in 3DS Max. Simulations imitate real world processes, and in 3DS Max, the two most common forms of these are cloth and daylight systems. With simulations, you also work with things like particles, atmospheres, and cameras. The most difficult thing in working with simulations has been getting shapes to interact properly, such as when putting a tablecloth on a table, getting the tablecloth to properly land on the table and not rip and go through it. To do this correctly, I have to give the cloth cloth properties and set the table as the interaction object. I also have to make sure the cloth has a lot of segments so the cloth doesn't tear or go through the table. I enjoy the fact that you can put a cloth over anything in 3DS Max, such as a table cloth on a table, a flag, or even a robe on a knight, as long as you can get the two objects to interact properly.
-Simulations can help make a design more realistic. -You have to be careful with measurements when using the cloth modifier. -Simulations can be difficult to use have really unique properties. There are two different types of 3D modeling: surface modeling and parametric modeling. I prefer surface modeling because it is what I am the most used to, and that when I change a measurement, another part is not changed, because that could mess up the shape of the model. Surface modeling is the basic type of modeling, it allows you to directly edit the faces of a model, rather than indirectly. The modeler can easily push and pull on their model to change it, you can change one small thing without changing another part of the model. Parametric modeling involves more precise measurements, and when you alter one part of an object, other parts are automatically updated. A good time to use surface modeling would be making a simple house, and a good time to use parametric modeling would be making the face of a person.
-The two types of 3D modeling are surface and parametric. -Surface modeling involves just changing a small value. -Parametric modeling involves changing multiple values. -Both have advantages and disadvantages, and you should choose your modeling technique based on what you are creating. Some video games have had movies made based off of them. One such video game is Angry Birds, which started as a mobile game back in 2009, which I remember playing back in 2nd grade on my iPad Touch. This weekend, I watched The Angry Birds Movie, and decided to compare it to the original game.
In the game, the player is given a set amount of birds of different types for each level. Each bird has its own name and its own ability. Some abilities are speed, bomb, or weight. The player must figure out how to use these bird's abilities to effectively destroy the pig's structure, who are the enemies. The structures are built out of different materials, such as wood, stone and glass. These materials have different strengths and the player must decide how to slingshot the birds at the structure to get it to collapse and kill all the pigs. The birds are attacking the pigs due to the fact the that the pigs have stolen the birds eggs to eat them. In the movie, the birds live on a utopian island where happiness is emphasized in society and everyone worships the mythical Mighty Eagle. The main character of the movie, Red, who is also the most famous bird from the game, has anger management issues and is an outcast from society. He is always grumpy and lives on the beach away from the bird's village. One day, he screws up by cracking a family's egg, and is punished my getting sent to an anger management class. All of his classmates are the birds from the Angry Birds game. Eventually, the pigs show up to the island one evening and are very kind to the birds, and throw a large party. All of the birds are very excited about this, except Red, who senses something is off. He and Chuck, also known as the yellow bird, and Bomb, explore the pig's ship and find a lot more pigs inside. Eventually over time, the pigs integrate themselves with the bird community, and the pigs start to show a creepy interest in the eggs, which they steal in the game, and that's exactly what happens next. While the birds are at a massive rave party the pigs built for them, the pigs steal all the eggs and blow up the bird's village. When the birds realize what happened, they abandon their happy, peaceful ways and become angry and warlike. They build a raft from what the pigs left behind and head to the pigs island. When they get to the pigs island, they launch themselves at the pig's city with a slingshot the pigs gave them earlier in the movie, and the birds use their powers from the game to start destroying the city, which is built out of wood, stone and glass just like in the game. the birds raid the castle and fight with the pigs for the stolen eggs, when the Mighty Eagle shows up and helps turn the tide of the battle in the bird's favor. The pigs launch a counter attack with aircraft built out of scrap which resemble aircraft from the game Bad Piggies, which is another game in the Angry Birds series, except where you play as the pigs. Eventually, Red fights with the king pig, and blows up the entire city. The pigs are defeated and the eggs are safe. The birds return to their island and treat Red as a hero, and build him a new house in the center of town. Overall, the movie was very entertaining, and the plot was very easy to understand, even for those who have never played the game. The movie was very brightly and colorfully animated, and there were a lot of innuendos in the dialogue, a few too many for a children's movie in my opinion. I wish the movie was longer, but based off the ending, I believe there will be another one. Some other movies that are based off of video games are Assassin's Creed, Warcraft, Mortal Kombat, Rachet and Clank, and Tomb Raider. I plan to check out Ratchet and Clank and Tomb Raider, as those games are more of my style, so I think those movies will interest me more. The game and the movie are similar in many ways: -The birds each have special powers to help them attack the pigs. -The pigs main goal is to steal and eat the eggs. -The pigs build their buildings and equipment in ways it can easily be destroyed by the birds. -The Mighty Eagle comes in when the birds are in deep trouble. -The game and movie were very similar, but had many differences too. -Overall the movie was very entertaining. -There are many movies based off of video games. This year in class, we have been working exclusively in 3DS Max. In my free time outside of class, I have been looking at the portfolios of professional 3D modelers and getting inspiration from them. One creator I have taken particular notice of is Franco Singh-Vigilante. He mainly uses Maya and has worked in 3DS Max to create his projects. This is a scene they made of some sort of industrial complex. I hope in the future to make models more like this. The last time I attempted to create a highly detailed building in 3DS Max was in Scientific Visualization class two years ago. I like how the buildings smoothly fit into the landscape, and how they included details on the building like the spaces in between the wooden boards and the bumpy surface of the tin roof. They also included stones in the wall and complex supports under the buildings. There is also a ramshackle fence and grass leading away from the buildings. The trees also have cool detailing where the leaves are square, but the tree still looks very detailed. I am really into architecture and city planning, so I think it would be cool to build a really detailed town or city in 3DS Max, even for a game. To improve my skills to be more like their work, I will try to retain the techniques I learn in class and download modeling software such as 3DS Max or Blender and practice at home. Specifically, I want to get better at lighting and cameras, because I barely know how to use these tools. I will try to experiment with them on my own time and make sure to do my best on my lighting and camera assignments when the time comes. Franco used lighting to give the scene detailed shadows and a camera to get a close up of the scene. I know he probably used the indent or chamfer tool to make the crevices in the wood, and the scatter tool to make the stones in the wall. I would really like to know how he made those trees. -3D Modeling programs have a lot of tools. -Working in 3D requires a lot of practice. -I should practice more outside of class. Here is a house I made in 3DS Max to mimic Franco's work. It is a gray building just like in his image, although in the future I hope to add textures to my buildings. To make this house, I used the extrude, bevel, and inset tools on a cube. The Image: Franco Singh-Vigilante's Blog:
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AuthorMy name is Adam Servas, Categories
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The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools.
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