Next Gen year 1 week 6

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On Monday we again were learning more about the various tools in MAYA. This time we learnt more about different types of materials. Specifically, the Blinn. This is a material which is reflective towards light and gives a metallic look towards objects. I then created a a cube and textured it to make it look like a die. However afterwards didn't go to plan. What i was meant to do was create another layer of the texture using just the die spots and lower its transparency to make the spots see-through. However i fell behind due to my first die having a bad texture thus creating this as my final product.

Afterwards I was then given the task of creating a building to give reflective windows. For this I needed to get a texture of a building and add it to the net using Photoshop. I then had to fix its UV map to stop distortion in the UV editor. Whilst I encountered it I struggled at first but managed to make sense of its purpose. Next I then made a different layer for the windows and added it to my building making the windows a Blinn material.




On the Tuesday i brought up my previous work of my castle to texture it. Whilst doing it my only issue of this was the UV map for this. Overall i am very proud of this because of the catapult I created to go with it and how it looks like a replica of the one I base it upon.













On Fridays lesson we continued using the unity engine to create games. This time we had to create a survival shooter game. Overall i am rather displeased with creating it as all the assets I used were just imported from the website making it feel unoriginal. Furthermore with the tutorials I am being told essentially to break down the game only to rebuild it which overall displeases me.  Anyway doing it seems like it can help me so i have started it and i'm just in need to finish it.

art fundamentals week 3

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For the third week of art fundamentals i was given the assignment of picking 3 objects and drawing them each at 5 different angles. This is because we had learnt about using the perspective lines as well as the angles of the objects in the lesson following up to the task. The objects i chose at hand were a can of soda, a Funko POP box and a play station controller.

Overall i got on well with the task at hand and whilst doing it found minimal issues with the assignment. On the other hand i believe i still need to improve my use of the sighting method as well as smudging. Furthermore. In addition to this i need to put my perceptive lines to better use.

Next Gen year 1 week 5

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On Monday of this week we continued to develop our skills in MAYA. The skill that we were taught was texturing. This is the skill where you add colours and pictures to objects in the program. Using this tool was quite easy to understand. However if the image you used comes out distorted you will then have to UV map it. this was something which took me a while to wrap my head around but if the image is distorted you need to assign and co ordinate the shape net to Aline it up properly. At the end of the day we were set our weekly assignment. For this we had to design and texture a crate.
 
As you can see the image to my left is my final product. For this i needed to take a picture of the net of the cube so that i could go on Photoshop
to place the image six times across all six faces. From there i went on to MAYA to extrude the edges to stand out as well as creating a 3D version of the diagonal piece of wood and finally adding many black spheres in to represent the bolts in the create.

Overall i am quite pleased with how it came out as to me it looks quite realistic. Next time to improve my work i would use a Blinn material to absorb and reflect light as well as other add other minor extra features to upgrade the quality of the work.

During Fridays lesson we had to design a basic game called "roll a ball" using the Unity engine to design it. To my surprise i ended up at a disadvantage which shocked me as, I spent Thursday designing it. I had encountered an error resulting in the program being unable to load up various parts of the game. This then meant i had to redo a large majority of the game for it to fully function.


This is how the game turned out. The white walls and blue floor are the games environment  with the walls in place to prevent the ball leaving the environment. The white ball is the player. The last part are the rotating yellow cubes. These are pick up items with the objective being to collect them all to win.

Whilst creating it i had to use code to make scripts instructing the player, the pick ups and the camera to different things. this included attaching the main camera to follow the player around. In addition to this scripts were also required to make the picks rotate and vanish when collided with as well as a script of code being needed to make the player move.

In summary i am satisfied by my game. I'd say for my first time at making a came it has came out dandy.  The main issue is the tutorials required to create these as they don't always include ever detail in order to create it as well as the tutorials are rather quick. I believe the only way to improve a project like this is through time and experience on the unity engine.

art fundamentals week 2

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During my second week in class i was taught more techniques of drawing like crosshatching and smudging. Furthermore i also learnt about the various types of graphite pencils and their jobs. In addition to this i also learnt about using the pencil head for size and proportion.

For my second assignment i was given the task of drawing 5 objects using a 2b pencil. The objects i chose were; a mouse, a USB, a key, a SAMSUNG galaxy s7 and a copy of FIFA 18.

On the whole i am quite pleased with the final product. This is because i used a lot of smudging to create shadow effects and the shading of the object. In addition to this i also used crosshatching in some places to add various effects to the picture.

I believe my weaknesses for this task are that i failed to use the technique to accurately use an objects size and proportions. In addition to this i am not fond of how the crosshatching came out. Therefore if i was to repeat this task i'd focus more on making the crosshatching realistic as well as making the objects accurately sized.

Next Gen year 1 week 4

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This week on Monday we continued using tools in MAYA to develop our 3D sculpting skills. We learnt to use the skills of extruding and and how to bevel shapes. In addition to this I also learnt how to add images to the program to use as blueprint whilst sculpting. The final tool we learnt that week was inserting edge loops. this tool i struggled with at first but have gotten to grips with.

After getting to know the tools we were then given the task of creating Mjornir. to those unfamiliar it is the hammer wielded by the god of thunder. 

As you can see this is my final product. whilst making it i used all the tools i learnt like extruding the sides of the head to get the shape. I then beveled the head after that to give it its round feel.

Overall i am proud of my assignment and really enjoyed myself creating this. I enjoyed it because it wasn't the most frustrating and i am a fan of the film this hammer model is based on. as well as this really like the lightning background i added.

Despite this if it were to be done again i believe i would get involved in edge looping more as i tried to avoid it. Furthermore i would spend more time on creating the hilt and attempt to use special patterns to make the leather handle and overall cut procrastination to a minimum.

On Friday we did coding. During this lesson we were given the task of making a grade ordering system.

Creating this code would overall result in allowing you to enter 4 numbers which will be ordered from lowest to highest.

Ultimately this code worked to an extent, which confuses me. I believe it may be down to the illegal statement being wrong. The problem is that some numbers would cause an error whilst sorting.

If this was to be done again i would try to be less dependent on my fellow colleagues and try to have a better grasp at the subject as i currently feel i'm behind in comparison to where the teacher feels the class is at.

Next Gen Year 1 week 3

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This week on the course throughout Monday & Tuesday we learn how to do 3D sculpting on Maya. On Maya we learnt the basics of creating 3D objects and the basics of editing them. As well as this we learnt how to rotate and move the objects properly.  I was then set the task of creating a simple chair. in an attempt to impress i created 3 simple chair.

The first chair is probably the one i'm most proud of and it is a rocking chair. i found it easy up until the chair legs as i was unaware of the appropriate tools and therefore required assistance in order to create. The second chair is a sofa which again was very easy to produce. the hardest thing in making it was changing the vertices to make it look dented as if it had been used. The final chair is a cinema/ barber shop chair. this one is mostly a result of my first time on Maya being a weird custom chair i just made.

On Friday of that week  we received a visit from people who were from Next Gen. they were there to talk to us about the course we are taking and at the end whether or not to go to university or to take an apprenticeship. i enjoyed this a lot because it gave me more confidence that  what i am doing is right  and that university isn't always the best choice.

As well as this we did coding on Friday. we had to create a calculator  .I found this very difficult progressing only from the assistance of my peers. As a result of the difficulty i ultimately failed in creating a calculator with the product just being a hunk of un-usable code.

art fundamentals week 1

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For my first week on art fundamentals we were given the assignment of drawing a object with 4 different perspectives. The object which i chose was a POP funko vinyl Wolverine.I chose this because of the patterns and overall shape of the object.

Whilst drawing this i lacked in using various techniques however did shade it in. when visualizing it i certainly struggled as i was shaping it to how i think it should be perceived rather than what i can see resulting in weirdly proportioned limbs.

Overall i do not intend to be critical with ,myself as this was my first attempt. However next time i would use various techniques as well as use accurate proportions.

As well as this I also was required to draw a A4 sized drawing. This is from the same perspective as one of the four which was because at the time I struggled with perspective. I also would like to get a more realistic drawing of it in the future as it looks rather bare so I would grey scale the next drawing.

Next gen year 1 week 1&2

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For my first week on the next gen i was told that for the first 2 weeks that our class would be split into groups. this was to do an induction project named 'Game over'. The premise of the project is that it is the year 2037 and all forms of gaming have become illegal and we were required to create a news segment showcasing the events with a field reporter a news studio segment and a image of havoc which would make up to 3 shots.

Before we jumped into it the group we begun the pre-production phase of the project for this we needed to create; a storyboard, a mood board, a mind-map and a script. For the pre-production i had the responsibilities of creating basic versions of the mind map and the script.

After this was achieved we went  to the production phase. for this we had create the first shot of a news reporter announcing the events. for this we went to the green room studio to shoot the shot. For this i was the cameraman which i found quite easy to pick up the basics of how to film and endured no problems with. Then i went on to edit the footage filmed. For this i needed to place a new background over the green screen as well as having to use Photoshop to create a new logo.

In the second shot we were missing a member of the team. Despite  this we proceeded to make the second shot. I was originally going to reprise my role as the cameraman yet i changed role because our group thought it was best that as i wrote the script it would be easier for me to play the field reporter.


The last shot required was to depict a dull chaotic world which was needed to be done through Photoshop. I decided to step up for this and created my own image to showcase it. For this i used Photoshop to change the colours and add extra images.       

Overall i believe i had many strengths such as getting to learn the basics of after effects as well as developing my Photoshop skills. in addition to this i also believe towards the end of the project i had developed more confidence as a result of me getting more into the project and the many tasks. However in this project i do believe i also  had many weaknesses. Firstly in the begin i could have been more confident as it was the case of breaking the ice with my group mates and getting into the project. another weakness  would be due to a trip which resulted in my absence on the deadline day. If given the opportunity to re-do the task the difference is that i would take more control as well as be more confident in myself to contribute ideas to the group.