Here/Now & Production Skills Overall

These two units together worked well. My aim for here/now was to create a new study space for degree students studying art and the final outcome of this would then be a virtual tour around the building. I used blender to make the 3d model because it is free software that I could download onto my own laptop. I feel like I picked up the program really quickly as the video tutorials were clear and informative and short enough that if I had to go back through them to find out specific information or hot keys then it was fairly simple to find out. The only other software at the time that I could have tried to use was Maya, which is another type of 3d modelling software. I didn't choose this option because I wanted to use a program that other tutors or friends knew how to use too as I predicted that I would need help for some of it. Other software that I could have used to create the 3d model includes programs such as sketchup, archicad and unreal engine.

Issues throughout the project using blender mostly included losing textures and not applying them correctly, because I would move then save files between my laptop and the desktop computer at the market hall which resulted in me using specific textures that my laptop might not have saved to it. Any glass that I had created in blender also wouldn't get drawn properly, the glass would be rendered before the object meshes behind it as blender draws meshes in order of distance.

Near the end of the project I realised that my plan to work on my model while we had a week off wouldn't be as simple as I thought as my final blender model was saved to the market hall computers and I would have to redo all the textures on blender again on my own laptop. I decided to bite the bullet and change software. I chose to use unreal engine 4 because I was informed it's slightly easier to use than blender, its easier to apply textures and while I was being shown a demo, it has default glass textures as well as other props such as doors and door frames.

When I was using unreal engine 4 my greatest issue I found was that my laptop struggled to run the software properly when I had to carry out actions such as 'undo' by using ctrl z. I timed it at one point, I had to wait a little over 20minutes which is a ridiculous amount of time to wait, luckily I didn't need to use that often. I managed to get through and complete the model although I had to leave out details such as laptops and paper in the study pods as well as the kitchen sink and microwave that I had tried to make in Blender. When I was walking through I had to try and get used to using the wasd and the arrow keys together at the same time. I struggled with that but overall I am pleased with my video as I have finally completed it, although I am sure there could be a list of a 100 things that I would want to include or alter. My biggest gripe would be the lighting. This needed to be worked on some more as I wasted time adding in tables and chairs in a classroom only to find that any lighting I tried to include wouldn't work so the room was too dark to even attempt to go inside. The lighting in the entrance was also influenced by the daylight through the windows and the point lights that I used. I think I needed to use more point lights but I was conscious of the amount of processing time that it would take to build the lighting as well as what would happening regards of lag whilst walking through the model.

Sorting out a written time plan to try and follow to, or at least creating to do check lists would be more helpful for me as I would often get distracted in perfecting something that was minor in comparison to the whole project. I feel that my poster could do with more work done to it. I think if I had had more time between completing my video and making the poster then I may have come up with more creative ways to display the model. I used screenshots of the model as I did not feel I had time to create hand drawn/digital images or create a paper cut in the shape of the building. I do however like my poster as it is simple, to the point and very clearly shows what my model is about. I am also pleased with the fact that I have managed to use unreal engine straight away with very little help along the way, it is definitely favored more when compared to blender.

Final Outcomes

Above is the poster designed for my virtual walk through. I've also managed to upload my final video too, although this version is a lower quality as there is an upload limit on blogger... and the upload speeds aren't very quick this week either.

The Poster

After brainstorming a few ideas in my log book I decided to go with "Take a Virtual Tour Around the Future Hive of Creativity". Hive and Hub of creativity have been words I have used a lot to describe to people what it is that I am making and the virtual tour is what it is anyway. If it was going to be a dvd cover I would have a short description on what the place as a whole is, although this would more than likely be a duplicate of the descriptions used in the model anyway.

Out of the four posters I prefer the first and the last. I think I will use the last poster layout but swap the bottom and the top images with each other to align the text slightly higher up on the page as right now it is just below the middle and is uncomfortable to look at/read.

I used screenshots of my model instead of trying to capture the whole building because it has been the interior that I have spent so much time building. I took the birds eye view screenshots before I had applied a roof to the building. I had hoped when I made the model I might not need to apply a ceiling/roof but whilst I was walking around the model you could see above where the ceiling should be so I had to include. This then meant that I had to apply lighting to my model. I don't know the ins and outs of how the lighting works, I had hoped it would be easily added and it would all just work easily, it did not. To be able to see how the lighting was working in Unreal Engine there is a build function, this allowed me to see how the lighting was working but it also took up a lot of time. I think at points I was waiting at least 10 minutes for the build process to complete. Shorter than waiting for ctrl z to work though. Every time I had to use ctrl z I had to wait over 10 minutes for unreal engine to work as it would come up on task manager as not responding. I couldn't even save anything when it did that. Frustrating would be an understatement but I manged to get through it all.

Research and Formal Values in Art

Here is the link to the site that gave me a brief understanding of the formal elements/values in art.

Ilija Todorovic

Co-founder, architect and 3D Visualizer at Architectural ID.

The use of the vertical lines on the first floor give the impression that the house is taller but the horizontal slats on the second floor prevent the vertical lines from making the house seem too tall, as well as making the top of the house follow the line of the roof, it makes it look more smooth and natural where as I think if vertical lines were to have been used on both floors the ending of the roof would be abrupt and unsettling.

Alex York

'The House' by Alex York includes still images and a fly around the 3D model of the building. It is a private home and despite watching the video on silent I found the level of detail in the decoration of the interior of the house gave me enough of a visual stimulus that my attention was kept for the length of the animation.

http://www.atelieryork.co.uk/The-Studio

In regards to my own model of which I am yet to complete, I do not think  will even be able to include details such as furnishings and decorative items other than photographs placed on walls to make the space appear more interesting.

Marie-Laure Cruschi

'Cabin Illustrations' by Marie-Laure Cruschi

 Although the colours used appear slightly muted or dulled down, overall they are bright and give off a positive feeling about the subject matter. All the space is utilized with detail, such as the plain section of ground on the right of the cabin, it could have been left empty but applying the shadows has meant that what may have been a bare area is busy and does not distract you from the main focus of the image. I think that if the ground was bare then it would grab your attention more.
I need to start making my own poster or dvd cover for my video and looking at this, if I had made a video about this cabin and this was an image I had, then I would use the grass at the bottom of the image as it has few colours and is not the main focus of the image. I could then apply a title or short description of what the video/artwork is about.

David Jones

gbhj

Marlindo D. Pontes

What caught my attention with Marlindo D. Pontes work is that he has created architectural stills of artist studio set ups. Although I don't think I will be able to make easels or apply painterly artworks into my own model, it is interesting to see how he has taken his stills. Here the focus is on the painting sat on top of the green stool. There is limited colours, light browns and whites/greys used for the floors, walls and canvas. Colour appearing on a paint pot and the stool that has the paint palette/paint box sat on top.