Sunday 27 May 2018

Major Project | Reflective Statement

Throughout the entirety of my major project, I was very aware of the individuality that my work was carrying with it, something that excited me greatly but was simultaneously crafting a bubble of anxiety that I needed to free myself from. As my project stood separately from my minor project (although remained related theoretically), I was very conscious of the fact that I needed to craft a foundation of reasoning for my work to stand on that differed from that of my previous project, something I am incredibly proud of achieving. Over the course of my major project, my workflow remained steady, never dulling at any moment and consistently maintaining a pace that challenged me. In reflection, I am immensely proud of using my final University project to create an original idea, and finally a film, that stood steadily on a theoretical base and tested my abilities as a designer.
   

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Major Project | Sound Design


After completing the majority of post production work on my raw footage, sound design has begun! the software I'm using to craft the sonic personality of my project is Adobe Audition, a programme that is is allowing me to create sounds that accurately reflect the nature of my materials whilst keeping a cinematic tone. 

Creating the sounds that encompass my five materials has involved working with a number of real world objects, including a saucepan filled with water, a bag of marbles, a wine glass whistling and even an old Pop Vinyl box. By creating these sounds in the real world and then editing them in post I am able to keep full control of the pace of my film.

The post production work on these sounds has included adding reverb, delay, echo, pitching controls and phasers, all tools that give my sounds personality and a uniqueness that mirrors that of the footage itself.







To ensure a full soundscape is created, as well as to tie in this major project with its close relative minor project, I have used the same notes that defined the sonic atmosphere of the previous project to create an underlying atmosphere for the film before adding the materials corresponding sounds.


Tuesday 1 May 2018

Major Project | Post Production


Now that all the renders concerning the various sections of my final film, currently titled 'Material', I can begin post production. During this section of my project I will be compositing the various pieces of my film, editing them down/extending them and color correcting, not to mention building a soundscape for the entire running time, currently sitting at 6 minutes.






The most complex area of my renders so far exists within the glass section, as the edit requires these clips to occasionally run backwards and be split into various quick cuts...










Sunday 29 April 2018

Major Project | Plastic Renders. 03

The last of my plastic based renders, now on to post production...

      

Tuesday 24 April 2018

Major Project | Plastic Renders. 02

Coming to the end of my rendering process, ending on the plastic section...

           

Sunday 22 April 2018

Major Project | Plastic Renders

Moving on to the final stage of my rendering process, the plastic section...

              

Monday 16 April 2018

Thursday 12 April 2018

Major Project | Glass Renders. 03


Continuing on with my glass renders, working with deformers...

             

Wednesday 11 April 2018

Sunday 8 April 2018

Major Project | Glass Renders

After completing the first 3 materials corresponding renders I've now moved onto the glass section of my project...

             

Thursday 5 April 2018

Major Project | Steel Renders. 03


Well over the halfway mark in terms of rendering now! here's the third set of steel based renders...

              

Tuesday 3 April 2018

Major Project | Steel Renders. 02



Continuing on with my rendering process, the next set of steel renders...

            

Friday 30 March 2018

Major Project | Steel Renders

The next stage of my rendering process, the steel section...

           

Monday 26 March 2018

Personal Work | Breeze

Rendering shots for my major project has left me infamous moments of having to be patient, leaving me a little doodle time...

Major Project | Marble Renders. 02


Continuing on with my marble based renders see's some interesting deformations...


       

Saturday 24 March 2018

Major Project | Marble Renders

After concluding the majority of the rock based renders I have begun to focus on the next material, marble...

        

Thursday 22 March 2018

Major Project | Rock Renders. 03


Continuing on with my rendering process, here are the next two shots that will focus on the rock material...

           

Tuesday 20 March 2018

Major Project | Rock Renders. 02


Continuing on with the renders that will make up the rock section of my film, here are the next couple of shots, still yet to be edited in post...

          

Sunday 18 March 2018

Major Project | Rock Renders


Here are a couple of shots from the rock section of my film rendered, yet to be edited in post and composited...

           

Tuesday 13 March 2018

Major Project | Rendering Begins


Today marks the beginning of my rendering process, with all the decisions around my fx made I've begun rendering the first shot...



Sunday 11 March 2018

Major Project | Ethan Shilling Guidance + Experiments


Moving forward with the advice Ethan has generously given me over the past week or so, I've further into his suggestions around bullet physics and the shatter fx tool, a tool that is allowing a level of realism in terms of physics to my project, something I was keen on achieving.

In the experiment below I am again following the guidelines provided by Ethan and shattering objects with applied gravity and bullet physics, allowing another layer of contributions for Maya to make in terms of the placement of the shattered pieces and their patterns...

         

Angles such as that show in that experiment will be used sparingly throughout my final film, however I do feel they will help add a weight of realism to the more abstract deformations. 

Thursday 8 March 2018

Major Project | Ethan Shilling Guidance + Experiments


After a very detailed and helpful conversation around Maya and its fx complexities with Ethan Shilling, I have taken a guidelines provided by him and have begun working in more detailed with the shatter fx tool, defining some of the more complex animations within my end product. Ethan has given some really helpful advice that would of been incredibly difficult to find elsewhere and has pointed me in a direction that could very well inform the final renders of my project, namely the shatter fx. The below renders were taken after applying the shatter fx tool to a glass textured model, allowing me to simulate the chipping and shattering of my structure...








The above experiments were conducted with guidelines and suggestions provided by Ethan and have delivered some really interest renders that are now going to be implemented into a test animation with some more refined results.




Wednesday 7 March 2018

Major Project | Rock Experimentation

After some successful renders showcasing the realism I can achieve in my rock texture, I've performed a couple of short fx and ncloth experiments to see what kind of depiction the material could have on screen...

           

Tuesday 6 March 2018

Major Project | Rock Experimentation

Before completing my final steel experimentation I've decided to begin looking some of the opportunities available to me surrounding the rock texture and that segment of my final film. Despite stating in the above diagram that I plan to show carving through particle dynamics, after some research it seems that the shatter tool in the fx menu may prove to be more useful to me.

To create the set below I followed a simple tutorial (link at the bottom of post) that highlighted the shatter tool and the effect it can have a model, seemingly something that could benefit the rock portion of my project massively...

  







To create these models I applied a texture that I photographed and then worked in an original bump map to enhance the material and add a level of realism that is going to help bring this project to a higher standard.

I'm incredibly happy with the results of this experiment and its level of reality as I feel it looks a step above some of my other experiments in terms of realism, I now plan to create a number of experiments around the types of movement and collisions these rocks could have on each other.



(Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WqeUddTIcE)

Saturday 3 March 2018

Major Project | Steel Experimentation


After this shot I have only one left to render before I can compile the footage into a more cinematic example of my what my final product will look like, shot 4...



Friday 2 March 2018

Major Project | Steel Experimentation


Continuing on with my steel experiment renders, I have made some adjustments to the lighting and post work being applied to this render in order to achieve a slightly more realistic outcome, shot 3...



Thursday 1 March 2018

Freelance Work | Hive Mind


For the past couple of weeks I have been working freelance for a Kent based band named Hive Mind, they're a new band who were in need of an aesthetic and a number of different branding elements for their various social media platforms. I was contacted initially to create a promotional motion graphics video to be used across social media, with the brief stating a need for an 80's aesthetic reminiscent of Tron and Miami Vice. Through talking to the client I discovered that the band were also going to be looking for an artist to design a logo for them as well, after some discussion I was asked to create that also, and with the clients permission I'm able to share that work here...

(Logo to be used across social media)

            

It was such a valuable experience to work with a client on a project like this for a number of reasons, as outside of my internship with Butch Auntie this is my first taste of "working for" someone. The project went through a number of phases and was reworked many times, everything from typography to color schemes was decided between both me and the client and has shown me the kind of relationship you can have when working freelance. Here are a selection of some of the stages the project went through before arriving at a conclusion...







After a number of different versions being created the client settled on the below image, deciding that it best suit what they were aiming for in terms of aesthetics...

After creating these initial branding elements for Hive Mind I have been asked to work on more products for them including some merchandising that I'm extremely to share in the future.

Working with this client has been such a valuable experience and has shown me that I can communicate professionally and organize deadlines with another party, as well as being able to stick to my own current major project. From creating this work I have discovered that branding and aesthetics for outside parties is definitely something I plan on pursuing in the near future. Along side this, I have also been recommended to a live music venue and have been asked to create a promotional video for an event they are running, a project I will be able to share very soon!