Animation Project.

So, I was given the brief for my new project in DP1 today - 3D animation.

My main task is to produce a television ident for a channel/station based on myself and my social networking sites. (e.g. Facebook, Twitter...)

Here are examples of existing televsion idents using 3D animation that I quite like...






In my first seminar yesterday, I learned the basics of 3Ds max (the software I must use in this pathway) to make a simple animation of the word "JELLY" jumping and bouncing on the floor (in a jelly-like fashion - clever much?

I couldn't figure out how to put my rendered stills together an animation on Premiere Pro yesterday, and do not have this software at home (maybe I shall find a way at some point haha), so here are a few of the 100 rendered stills from the animated sequence...

My Interactive Space (online!)

Here is the URL for the start of my interactive space on Making New Maps. (http://www.makingnewmaps.com/ is the homepage for my peers' work)

http://www.makingnewmaps.com/maps/Samantha_Freeman/index.html

Hope you like it! I may change this further to make it more interactive before my final presentation in week 20 :)

Thankss.

Interactive Space Rationale

My main idea in this project was for my images to act like a first person activity where they can walk around a house. I also wanted to bring a sense of mystery through using cut outs (doorways) to hide what was coming next, as well as giving the images a dark mood and including quite interesting uses of typography. I am quite interested in this darker style of design and film, particularly animation by Tim Burton. For instance, his dark, gothic style of typography in his work inspires me, as well as a dominant use of black and dull colour tone throughout some of his imagery.



In my first idea/attempt at linking pages, I gave the user total choice of which part of the house to go to. For instance, they would go through the front door, then get a choice of 3 pathways and then 2-4 choices beyond these. I also included links back to the original hallway to carry on the exploration.

I showed this version in my seminar group presentation with Simon, and it was brought up that this was quite confusing and frustrating as a strategy of getting around the pages. It was also mentioned in other presentations that it would be a good idea to give the user a reward for progressing correctly (e.g give my sequence an actual end, rather than just linking in random orders).

I did this by only giving each image a maximum of 2 choice hotspots, so my sequence wasn't too complex or confusing for the user. Although this meant, after the first few pages, my interactive space is quite linear in structure (not many choices for the user to make), I think this was more successful than my previous attempt, as it is more obvious what is needed to progress to the end. I also made sure the end page didn't give a link back to the hallway, but only to "play again" in the corner. I think this was a good way of rewarding the user - by suggesting they have completed the "game", as it were.

Last Seminar...

So today I have my last seminar for this part of the Design Practice 1 module (Interactive Space). I have just about finished my interactive sequence using HTML and am almost ready to submit my folders to be uploaded onto the Making New Maps site. I think its been quite successful, and have recently added typography to my images as well as desaturating them slightly, which I think has added more effect. I also think the use of hidden hot spots (links) in my images is more effective than my previous versions with borders on the "hover" style instruction.

Here is a preview of the first 3 images before the choices kick in!

Interactive Narrative in "Heavy Rain - Move Edition"

I recently posted here for my Context 1 module about the new Playstation Move feature on the Playstation 3. Yesterday after uni, I purchased the "move edition" of the well known game "Heavy Rain".

This game is based on interactive narratives and choice making, which I have grown an interest in since starting my current Interactive Space project in Design Practice 1. Having seen my boyfriend play the regular version of the game on Sunday, I really liked the idea of its interactivity and thought the move edition would add to this player involvement.

Although I have only just started this game, I am finding it really interesting and a great inspiration for this current topic. It's also much less typical in style and artwork than other popular games I have come across (First person shooters, motor racing, mafia, etc.) I think this could be also be influential when I go onto my next project - 3D animation.

My Multimedia.

This week, for my Context 1 module, I have been given the task to write about a recent piece of multimedia that interests me. So, seeing as I use my Playstation 3 practically everyday, I have chosen to focus on the new "Playstation Move" feature.

I have owned my Nintendo Wii for approximately 2 years (since whenever it was first released) and was really excited at the time about the interactivity of the Wii remote. However, after finishing my college course I decided to purchase a Playstation 3 for the higher quality of game graphics (Blu-ray powered HD) and to play online games such as Modern Warfare 2 (Call of Duty), LittleBigPlanet, and Modnation Racers. Although these games aren't as interactive as some on the Wii, I thought they were much more realistic and visually pleasing.

When I heard about the Playstation Move I couldn't wait to get it, as it brought together my favourite aspects of both consoles. Unlike the Wii's sensor bar strategy, the Playstation Move controller is tracked using a USB camera. The end of the "remote", as it were, lights up a certain colour, and this is picked up on the camera, as well as the user themselves. This is much more accurate than the previous option chose by Nintendo, and gives much more realistic gameplay. (See video above!)

I am really pleased with the product so far and can't wait for them to bring out new compatible games. I think this shows where gaming is heading, and soon we could all be moving around our living rooms to control a variety of games. Could this be the end of the original, gamer-style controllers, though? I should think not!

Interactive Space Latest - HTML!

So, this week I have learned the basics of HTML coding and CSS styling stuff. To be honest, I remember not liking it at school (so long ago though!) so wasn't expecting to like this subject area, but actually quite enjoyed it. :o

I am liking how this project is not boring typical web design like I was expecting this specialism to involve. The interactive aspect and the use of photography/Photoshop has made me quite enjoy what I have produced so far, despite really wanting to do animation.

Anyway... HTML.. What do I know?

<html>
<head>
<body>
<br> <b> <i> <u>
<a href="...">
<img src="...">

That's all I can think of, but the site http://www.w3schools.com/ is a great help when making my pages.  I have also learned how all these tags must be nested within each other to work, as well as about hexidecimal colour codes (#FF0000).

I found HTML a lot easier on Dreamweaver as it was more visual and the colour coded parts did make it easier to figure out!

Looking forward to completing the interactive site next week!

Sayonara.