Proposal Update

One's mind has been muddling back and forth conceiving a 100% concrete idea I can put down on paper so after talking with a number of people over the past week here it goes.




The aim is to create a short satirical animation demonstrating current products within a future environment, approximately 1-1:30 minutes long and similar to present-day's QVC shopping channel, Bid-Up TV, etc. The client base will be directed towards a comedic audience within the genre of satire but the main aim is to create and demonstrate various future product designs based on current research.




The products will be fictional but based of current technological advances the world is making today. Current technologies that I've researched include Google's Project Glass, Microsoft's Surface 2.0, Google's Driverless Cars, Nokia's Humanform, IBM's smartphone traffic prediction, Proof-of-Concept android application PlaiceRaider, and leaps motion gesture technology. As well as old iPhone 5 concept videos.




Regarding the style of product or UI designs I am looking at the designs as they are now, as well as implimenting two further people who also worked on Tron Legacy. Jake Sargeant, and Bradley "GMUNK" Munkowitz due to their roles as Graphic Compositors and Animators. As well as also checking out Syd Mead, a visual futurist and concept artist. Perhaps best known for his work in Blade Runner. It's likely I'll dedicate a post towards research of the style of the products may at a later date.



References:

Type: Portfolio
Title: .work | GMUNK
Author: Bradley "GMUNK" Munkowitz
Link: GMUNK

Type: Portfolio
Title: mn8
Author: Jake Sargeant
Link: mn8

Type: Article
Title: Test Driving Google's New Glasses
Author: The Wall Street Journal
Link: Google's Project Glass

Type: Article
Title: How hackers could hijack your camera to spy on you (and even read your chequebook
Author: The Daily Mail
Link: PlaiceRaider - Proof of Concept

Type: Article
Title: Holy Crap, Self-Driving Cars Are Now Legal in California
Author: Gizmodo
Link: Google's Driverless cars legalised in California, USA

Type: Article
Title: IBM app predicts traffic on your commute
Author: Wired Magazine UK
Link: IBM's Smartphone Traffic Prediction

Type: Article
Title: Leap Motion gesture control technology hands-on
Author: Engadget
Link: Leaps motion gesture technology

Type: Video
Title: Nokia Research Center: HumanForm
Author: Nokia
Link: Nokia Humanform

Type: Video
Title: Microsoft Surface 2
Author: Giiks
Link: Microsoft's Surface 2.0

Type: Video
Title: Productivity Future Vision (2011)
Author: Microsoft
Link: Microsoft's Future Vision

Type: Video
Title: iPhone 5 Concept Features
Author: Various
Link: Old iPhone 5 Concepts

Minor: Narrative Evolved

Title: Pending
Type: Trailer

“Personal data is the new oil of the Internet and the new currency of the digital world.” Meglena Kuneva, European Consumer Commissioner, March 2009



Today, smartphones can track and potentially predict where you are going, through mobility patterns and past history, as well as exploiting the correlation between movements of friends and acquaintances. With the current technology used with GPS systems, or the use of mapping software such as Google Maps, in the future, tracking could be further evolved for the use of law enforcement, to aid searching and detaining of criminals, such as creating possible routes of suspects making a getaway.



Branching off from a similar world I created collaborating with Alex and Paul for The Skeleton Key on Broadway (or a new world altogether?), the trailer tells of a chase through the streets of a future metropolis, with the camera taking a seat through the eyes of a police officer, using tracking hardware/software to find and detain a fleeing suspect.




The world technology or SFX used in for The Skeleton Key on Broadway will not be recycled, but will be recreated and evolved further. For this purpose I’ve checked out the makings behind the interfaces and effects of Tron Legacy, by Joshua Nimoy of Digital Domain. I won’t be using exactly the same tools (like C++) but using it as further inspiration for the technology. I'll also still be using the Source Engine from a technical standpoint.

The moral of the short trailer is to show how we are all inter-connected through the web, how personal data we may not know about is being used or exploited, as well as show that the world is gravitating more and more towards technology at the same time technology continues to evolve.


References:

Type: Website
Title: Tron Legacy
Author: Joshua Nimoy
Link: http://jtnimoy.net/?q=178

Type: Article
Title: A Phone that Knows Where You're Going
Author:  David Talbot
Link: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428441/a-phone-that-knows-where-youre-going/

Title: Data
Title: Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers
Author: ACLU
Link: http://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/freespeech/retention_periods_of_major_cellular_service_providers.pdf

Type: Research Paper
Title: Interdependence and Predictability of Human Mobility and Social Interactions
Author: Nokia
Link: http://research.nokia.com/files/public/mdc-final306_dedomenico.pdf

Minor Project Proposal

The type of project I will aim to create is an Animated Short/Digital Set. The area of study I wish to explore involves a story for the narration told in the first-person; for technical research I will be exploring the pipeline from Maya to a game engine entitled ‘Source’.

Some initial inspiration






I've played about with the source engine for a bit earlier in the year. Trying to see how easy it was to import a simple cube with texturing and normal map from Maya into the Engine. Source was a challenge to play with, which means it will be the most fun. :D



The narrative is still in early form but involves a transcription of an already true story. Some ideas I am considering transcribing into a short story are Dieter Dengler’s escape from a POW Camp during the Vietnam War, Frank Morris’ escape from the federal prison Alcatraz Penitentiary, or the escape of British POW’s from Colditz Castle during WW2 using a glider.




There are a number of tools in order to create the short within this engine. Specifically ‘Valve Hammer Editor’ (www.tiny.cc/valvehammer ), and ‘Source Filmmaker’. (See: www.tiny.cc/sourcefm) Both free tools, and both which are used by Valve as in-house tools to create Environments as well as Animated Shorts. As I’d like to seek potential employment at Valve, I would like to use the tools and engine encompassed with my current skillset to create something exceptional.

Some potential starting points in regard to Narrative are looking at stories from the internet as well as books or autobiographies of persons who were involved or were the protagonist in these stories. From a technical perspective the Valve Developer Wiki (www.developer.valvesoftware.com ) is a good place to start on a whole.

The outcome I’d like to have for the project is an animated short, shot from a first-person perspective, showcasing a digital set and a narrative. All rendered within a game engine.

The timetable of how I may complete this project will encompass Research into the narrative, pre-production, research into the technical. The time involved in familiarising myself with the new tools, the time involved creating as well as converting models/animations from Maya into Source. The time involved in creating the environment using the in-house tools as well as texturing, rendering and Soundscape.

Summer 2012 Depository

The last three months have been packed with full of tedious stressful creative work outside of CG Arts so I'm anxious to get back and start my third and final year. Naively believing it will feel like a holiday compared to this summer's workload.
Aside from the usual hush-hush work I've been doing some on-the-side personal work to keep my sanity, expand my skill-set and fulfil my technical curiosity.

I've been engaging more into After Effects coupled with Photoshop as part of VFX, due in part to the post-production work from The Skeleton Key on Broadway. More on that later after I can get it rendered :)




Working further on the transcription project, slowly adding to the scene and fixing the camera shots a la Spielberg. As well as fixing the particle effects for the fountains and torches. and hoping for it to not corrupt again be ready to render any time soon.







I've also been working on environment concept art for Nanomation's 'Hansel and Gretel' Animation- Being in charge of imagining the gritty side of our world.












Having a keen interest in other methods of rendering and the extra added element of interactivity within a scene, I've touched into UDK, ID Tech 4, Source and Cryengine 3-Exploring the pipeline of transitioning models from Maya into other Game Development Kits, some being harder then others to transfer. I may do a write up on each pipeline in the future.

















Finally, the overhaul of the Blog design was because the last one was so depressing. The change to a more creative design also comes with a more direct approach to showcasing past projects and social plugins (portfolio/email/facebook/etc).