Evaluation

During my time of this project, I feel I have developed professional communication as I have needed to be able to work as a small team. Throughout the project, we both made sure that we were on top of the work load and that we both knew what we needed to do to complete our intended outcome.

We both worked well together as we both aimed for a high level outcome. The project was not without trouble as we encountered problems with importing models with high poly counts and the time it would take to adjust the textures we created to be imported into UDK.

I feel we encountered this problem due to not carrying out sufficient experimentation when required to do so. Although we were not able to import our 3D city into UDK, we quickly changed path and created a fly through animation through the city at a player eye level. We wanted to give people the view of what it would be like if you were playing the environment in an animation.

The overall creations which were put together as a final piece was a good result. the models and textures we both created matched together as they had the same level of detail. I feel we created a good standard within the environment considering we had to change route mid way through production. I feel the work I produced was at a high quality for the time given of production. I would have ideally like to have created the model to a higher detail, but it would have resulted in potentially textures being over complicated and uncompleted.

The original intention of making the environment playable is something that I really wanted to do as it would mean that people could become more involved in an environment I had partly created. The key problems we encountered whilst attempting to apply our final piece into UDK was that some of our models contained too high poly counts. We also had major problems with the time it took for texture maps to be successfully added into the game engine. When we realised that this original idea was not going to be possible, it was quickly forgotten as we had to continue production to meet our schedule.

Although we encountered problems which we tried to diagnose, I feel that I was constantly aware of the time constraints. I allowed myself to the time to really be able to create what I wanted to a level which meant I was happy with the outcome. I used the schedule I had created so I was aware of the time left each week but I didn't always stick to the schedule as knew what I had to do to successfully come out with a final product.

I feel that I worked well throughout this project but I know I have areas which need developing. The main thing I have taken away from this project is that I should carry out sufficient experimentation to ensure I don't end up in a situation where I have to change my initial idea. I would also like to develop my skills further as my Photoshop and 3DS max skills would enable me to be quicker with model creation meaning my work flow would be more efficient.

The preparation for the summer show was carried out of the course of a week before the summer show was open to the public. The arrangement of the room had been changed and boards were drilled on the sides on back of the desk. I assisted with the setup of the show as I felt that the more people who helped with the creation would ultimately mean that we could produce a better show setup. I helped with the setup by bringing boards from the workshop to the classroom, I also helped paint the boards black, cover the windows and helped with the overall look of the room.

My experience of the summer show was positive as I was able to look after the show and discuss the course with those who had questions to ask. I felt that the work I displayed with Jordan Ash was successful and I am pleased with what I have created, although I would have been happier if it was a playable environment. Through the setbacks, I feel I have worked hard to achieve what I have and I have enjoyed my time throughout this project. 

Here is the slide show which goes through our models we created which is on display.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gsbvyZ5i1c
Here is the fly through animation of the city we created for our final major project which was on display for the summer show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Te6MFqeBA&noredirect=1

Visual Research

As I intend to re-create an area in London, I have used Google maps and have gone into street view to take screen shots of the environment for my final project. 

I took screen shots of the buildings as I wanted to see different angles of the buildings I would be creating for my final project. It is also quicker to come to this blog post to analyse the buildings for creation rather than looking on street view when I want to remind myself how a building looks.

Production Journal

Originally, I intended to create a 3D city made in 3DS Max. Jordan was also intending on creating a similar final piece. He approached me about creating a 3D environment and we continued the final major project as a pair as we both felt we would be able to create a larger and more professional piece of work overall.

I conducted research in the form of a survey which is in my research section of my blog. I found that mostly males between the ages of 18 - 24 played between 2 - 9 hours a week. I found that people preferred to play in third person, people enjoyed role playing games and people preferred to be playing in the present tense.

Taking this information, we decided to create a 3D environment in the present tense which will be playable in UDK as third person. 

Deciding on location

Me and Jordan discussed areas to create or re-create in 3DS max to be implemented into UDK. We discussed creating our own city and re-creating areas when we were on Google maps and saw that London is a city that is not used in a lot of games and it has iconic structures to help make it instantly recognisable.

We started by planing out who would do what in the area we decided to re-create for out final major project.

21st April week throughout

During this week we began the planning of who will create what within the environment and conducted visual research to allow use to analyse the environment we intend to create. We also made an asset list of what we will or might implement into our playable environment.

Traffic lights

Street lights

bollards

fences

cones

buses

cars/taxi's

electrical boxes

construction buildings

28th April week throughout

During this week we have been working on the images we collected and finding textures and creating a list for what kind of textures we will be creating for our models.We have also began some asset creation for our final project.

Metal texture

brick texture

road texture

pavement texture

cracked wall texture

window textures

rust textures

I created this fence in the week to be added to the environment which will be used to stop the player from advancing to areas which will not be intended as a playable section.

5th May week throughout

During this week we have been continuing to create assets and also began to test the textures for the models we had created for our playable environment.

This fence has a galvanised steel texture applied it which makes it look realistic as I have used the uv mapping to apply the metal look more professionally. 

12th May week throughout

This week we have been creating models and texturing if possible. I started work on the shell building and I was not able to begin texuring during this week as I did not meet me time schedule.

19th May week throughout

This week consisted of creating the texture map for the shell building and other models which feature within the environment. During this week we began to import models from 3DS max into UDK to see how it would cope and the models we have created so far work with UDK.

I have also created the houses of parliament which will feature in the environment.

These building will feature behind the hospital which is yet to be created for the environment.

26th May week throughout

This week we have continued to create models and texture then for our final outcome. We have also decided to create a fly through animation for our final major project due to time restraints and high poly counts on the models we have created. 

I have been creating the London eye over a period the course of a couple of weeks trying to reduce the poly counts which is now finally created.

2nd June week throughout

This week I continued to create models and texture before we began and completed the setup of the summer show.

After I had finalised the creation of the models and put them together with the models Jordan has created, I was able to then begin work on setting up the summer show the next day whilst leaving the computer on to render the animation.

The theme for our final project was a zombie attack look. I contributed by showing up everyday to assist with the creation of the summer show. I carried wooden boards from the workshops to the class room, painted the boards black and helped with the overall look and display of the room.

Here is the slide show which goes through our models we created which is on display.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gsbvyZ5i1c
Here is the fly through animation of the city we created for our final major project which was on display for the summer show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4Te6MFqeBA&noredirect=1

Here are some of the models I have created which I setup in 3DS Max and then printed off so they could be displayed in the room for the summer show.

Experimentation

Here is the link for the video I watched to create this model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUJysx_H25w

The tutorial I followed, taught me how to create a gun barrel. Not only did I learn about to create the model, but I understood details about polygons and engons for models.

Sketch book analyses

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdtc/sets/72157630388922810

This sketch book shows experimentation with the use of reference images to help develop the artists skills and to show us that they are looking to carry out correct dimensions. This sketch book features different medians to show variety throughout their work with annotations to explain the reasons for these medians. The artist has looked into other artist for inspiration and then carried out experimentation in the style of their chosen artist.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lucy-luu/with/5428475147

This sketch book shows the development of the artists work throughout with sketches and thumbnails, through to final work and more refined pieces. The artist has looked at other artists and how they work and then carried out their own attempt at the artists work. The artist has carried this out through all of the pieces of work. The artist talks about why they chose an image or location and how it works and what needs improving. This artists sketch book has a variety of work which displays that they are capable of working with different styles and analysing their own work as well as others.