#peep the new rendering technique

[clownomics]

Click Image For Better Quality plain background + references below

[degeneratedeviant]

Bird Shield Victory (Akazukin Chacha)

Man, used to love this show. I had my papa record this show using an old Nokia phone a while back when I had the morning schedule in elementary school when the Filipino dub version was airing on TV. I really loved the voice acting work by the dubbers and rewatching it (in Youtube) made me appreciate the score. I especially love the score that accompanies Daimao and the score that played when Chacha and friends sacrificed their respective accessories. Despite of some things that... definitely did not age well (mostly the thing with Doris), it was still good and I really love it. The soundtrack and score (especially Youkoso Magical School he and Egao Ga Sukidakara), the plot, the anime original magical girl outfit (that is reminiscent of the tunic that heroes like Link and Robin Hood wears and the tunics Greek heroes are depicted in), and EEEEEEEEEE!!! I just love it

More yappings with Watercolor Pad review as well as the process and reference, and the alternate versions below:

This was supposed to be a test run for a new watercolor sketchpad that I bought in Pandayan. It was supposed to be a practice doing more poses than just standing still or the face portraits i usually draw in my sketchbooks. So, I went to my laptop and used one of the screenshots from the show as reference — the pose she strikes when she wins the fight using the Bird Shield, specifically. Then I used my watercolor pencils (Faber Castell, the classic red ones) to do the sketch. Then I did the lineart using a normal pencil (or my graphite pencil that is a bit lighter). Then I used my watercolor set to color my work.

I really wanted to give this fiery effect for Chacha's hair. So I added some reds in her blond hair and I used my pearlized watercolors for the gems and some of her magical gears (and as usual, they didn't show up as iridescent as I liked it to be :c ). And I wanted to do a glowing effect where light is emanating from her through the darkness but eeeeehh uhhhh...

This was supposed to be a test run and I was going to just be using my watercolor set and markers, and just leaving it at that. But I got carried away and threw every shit I have at it even after I signed it 😅. Like the white areas in the wing thingies and the highlights.

I used the Yalong Watercolor Pad A4 200gsm — which, for Filipino peeps, can be bought in Pandayan stores. It's ok. It was quite inexpensive. Iirc between 100-200 php. It's probably ok if you're still starting out but it's kind of... euh.

Pigment doesn't immediately sit on top of it but if you do many layers of watercolor, it tends to lift off instead. I use a lot of water for my work so it probably contributed to that, but still. The colors don't really show up as nice as compared to the other cheap watercolor papers I used and they bleed easily even if the paper is dry before adding another layer. Which isn't that bad cuz it was the same as the watecolor paper I used in the Studying the Masters art I did last year in terms of how colors go into it and a part of how the colors appear on the paper is definitely part skill issue. That alone didn't make it kinda bad. You can just modify your techniques and use less water and layers but it was so flimsy after adding the colors. I had to be very light-handed when I used my 0.01 felt tip pen because it would tear a little and even then, I had to stop lining using the pen. And if you looked at the area below the scarf, you could see those black lines that is kind of the way the paper is textured underneath.

Overall, despite it's flaws, it was a nice watercolor pad to start with. It's just flimsy after adding watercolor on it. It's great if you're using it to practice, just starting out, if you're doing a test run on where your colors and shadows are going in your lined drawings before using your real good papers to render your lined works for the final version, for watercolor doodles, or just for a look that this specific watercolor paper can give you.

Alt versions:

Reference pic:

[digitalblade]

Carrying on..

yes!! hello!! been a while! Here's some of the art i've done throughout the summer and winter vacation + everything in between!

drew this on Paint! I really liked how i did the hair here, damn shame i still don't know how to shade skin + the fact that you can't save on paint to continue where you left off. You can distinctly see my artstyle taking place.

finally found THE first drawing of Radi (now changed to Callum.. yes, yes, i know. Drastic change. I changed him from persona to OC with a story, so i thought it would be weird to have a character with the same name as me!), look how ugly his ass used to be LMAOOOO. You'll see that i change a lot of stuff about him, namely adding a goatee, making his hair shorter, and changing his normal red shirt into a football jersey with a 69 on it. (I know, childish, but he's a childish character.)

Don't know chainsaw man, but i saw this "Draw this in your style" on pinterest (had no intentions on joining the dtiy lol). I like how she looks here! Unfortunately, all of my OCs are men, so this artstyle didn't really stick. + peep the shamelessly traced hand LMFAO.

Loveee this one, but yet again, didn't stick with the artstyle for some reason. I was attempting to use all the preset colors of ibis haha. WIll definitely come back to the style, though. It looks really nice

More old Callum. He genuinely looked like a different OC back then lolol. I absolutely HATED how hard it was to keep his hair consistent.

Sooo proud of her! She's unfinished, but frankly i won't really go back to finish it. I don't know how to render yet, and i don't want to ruin anything. Her colors look super soft, i used a new pen!

More Cal, damn i really like that dude.. yk what he could use?

Oh hohoh, a friend! New OC! Remember how i mentioned Callum is now in a story? Well, Sebastian here is his partner in an agency! What kind? Don't know! But what i do know is that they go on cool missions together as the best of friends hehehe. He's like Cal's antithesis: Mature, polite.. very demure. Also, used a new lineart technique

Used the same lineart technique on Cal. Finally gave him that fuckass mustache + goatee. Also added a mole. He looks more like the dude from my first post. But as you see, i still haven't changed the way his hair looks. This will be covered in my next post, because i started shifting more into physical art. I just find it simpler to doodle with a pencil, idk. + peep the slight artstyle change : stopped drawing the sclera. Or should i say comeback, considering i changed, then changed back? Whatev!

Sebbyyyyyy my goatt. Just felt like drawing him more haha

Hell yeah, luhv this dude. This is the first time i actually sit down and SPEND TIME drawing something. Saur proud of him. Don't have a name or a story, unfortunately, so he's just there to sit and look pretty for me

Okayyyzz done! I'll be posting my physical art another time, maybe when i adapt them into digital, considering that this is a digital art journey lols. Bye!

[milescreamy]

Toy Story 1 to 4 has made a big impact on the history of animation. It unfolds the evolution of a traditional to advance form of animation.

 Based on the images, you can see how much animation has improved. In Toy Story 1, creators hadn't quite yet figured out how to make human characters, there are limitations and complexity. While in Toy story 4, the graphic animation was more advanced. Every color, shading, and lighting were emphasized. Woody and Buzz look the same as they always have but in Toy Story 4, it is more developed and 3D looking. The creators also enhanced Bo Peep’s costume by making it convertible. According to Ashton (2019), in making Toy Story (1995), animators stuck to the limits of live-action animation to make it feel more grounded and realistic. Moreover, Ashton (2019) stated that in Toy Story 4, there were astounding developments that make the film reach success.

 Similarly, in Toy Story 1 to Toy Story 4, Pixar animation does not leave any detail no matter how small it is. Different methods and techniques were used, such as storyboard, which gives us an idea of each scene. Concept art, an idea of how the story will unfold and hone the sequences. Modeling, toys, and the environment began to take form in 3D space. Rigging, where controls are placed around character’s face, and rest of the body. Shading, to furnish the 3D models. Render, a digital data that makes the motion picture gets translated into actual frames of film. And other techniques that enhance the animation.

 A lot of changes have been made to computer graphic animation since 1995. With animation developments and technological innovation, Pixar creators would continue to provide excellent movies for the people. An animation experience that you can never forget.

 Reference:

Ashton (2019).  Toy Story Vs. Toy Story 4: How Pixar's Animation Has Changed Over The Last 24 Years . https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2475686/toy-story-vs-toy-story-4-how-pixars-animation-has-changed-over-the-last-24-years

  Link to Making of Toy Story 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VdERcRJ3jI&t=226s

 Link to Making of Toy Story 4 : https://youtu.be/fT_LdcWFHkA

   Teschia Lian D. Tugonon

MS202

[virgoos-world]

Toy Story: A Tale of Pixar’s Technological Evolution

A Short Analysis on the Evolution of Animation

Computer animation has gradually progressed from being primitive to being more lifelike with the help of more computers that aid in animation processes as technology has advanced. The evolution of computer animation is best portrayed by the Pixar Animation Studios' Toy Story films. The Toy Story franchise is based around the idea that all toys, unknown to humans, are secretly alive, and it centers on a diverse group of toys, including Woody, a classic cowboy doll, and Buzz Lightyear, a futuristic spaceman action figure, who go on different adventures. Toy Story, the first film in the Toy Story franchise, was released on November 22, 1995 and is widely considered as the first feature-length computer-animated film. It was followed by Toy Story 2 in 1999 and Toy Story 3 in 2010 after it became a box-office success. Toy Story 4's announcement came as a surprise, as Toy Story 3 appeared to be the perfect ending to the trilogy. Toy Story 4, in which Woody, Buzz, and the other toys are Bonnie's, features many notable changes and enhancements and is considered the biggest leap in modern software and technology.

The strong return and makeover of Bo Peep is one of the many highlights of Toy Story 4 after being absent in Toy Story 3. The porcelain figurine has now been changed from a pristine shepherdess to a battered, battle-ready adventurer. There was also more detailed study not only on the features of the toy, such as the material it is made of, but also on the toy's personality to highlight the characters. Bo Peep's porcelain figure, for example, was emphasized, similar to her personality, which was studied from ballroom dancing, gymnastics, and Olympic javelin throwing to make her adventure-loving attitude reflect in her behavior.

Moreover, the inclusion of new characters in the film, such as Gabby Gabby, Ducky, and Bunny, shows Pixar's evolution in terms of animation. One of the improvements made to the film to make the characters more realistic was the advancement in hair technology, which allowed for the animation of each strand of hair on Gabby Gabby's head, similar to the fur texture given to Ducky and Bunny and the cat in the antique shop. 

Apart from making the characters more realistic, the animators paid close attention to the film's setting, including the weather. Due to limited resources, the rain scene at the beginning of the film, which was added in Toy Story 4, was technologically impossible in Toy Story 1. New effects tools were used to make the water look and feel real; cobwebs can now be added, and the movement of dust particles, as well as the interaction of dirt with the toys, can be seen in the film.

[Picture]

In addition to the improvements made to the film's setting, there were details seen in the main characters that indicate signs of aging. Details include the loose strands on Woody’s clothing, Buzz’s slightly peeled off stickers, and Bo Peep’s crazing. The scenes in the film were more visually appealing and believable as a result of these enhancements. Furthermore, the scenes became more complex and detailed as a result of the new shading and lighting technologies, as well as new rendering techniques, which were implemented to simulate the physics of light and how it interacts with objects in a scene.

All of these were made possible by the advancement of animation technologies. Back then, human characters were less exposed since animators found it difficult to animate humans. In fact, the children at Andy's party were clones of the same character. Even then, the creators wanted accuracy in the movement of toys, which led to them strapping themselves in planks, for example, to mimic the movements of green toy soldiers. Both the creators and animators were determined from the start to make the characters and settings believable.

Overall, the most important takeaway from Toy Story and Toy Story 4 is that Pixar currently has 24 years of experience, increased creativity, and significantly increased resources. Pixar continues to prioritize the story ahead of any other resources. The resources were just there to help with the story, but the story is what Pixar highly values in making high-quality films.

[gdgoenka24]

Check Why GD Goenka International School Best School In Haryana

GD Goenka International School, Sonepat, Haryana has bagged to be the Best school in Haryana. The amenities that help the school to rank this high include, technology-infused learning, teaching with a holistic approach, high on safety, and upgraded transportation facilities. Altogether these have made GDGID, Sonepat to be the Best school in Haryana. Peep down to learn about the teaching methodologies of the school and why is the school so hyped when it comes to rendering education.

1. Upgraded teaching techniques

The school uses advanced innovation to aid students to excel in their research, this is the reason that the school ranks to be the Best school in Haryana. Smart classes aid in developing the understanding ability of a kid. Even the tales can be made via the use of these smart boards.

2. Excellent Facilities At Boarding Facility

GDGIS is the Best school in Haryana. Youngsters stand up to a fresh and simultaneously energised beginning. The numerous programs, sporting tasks, jobs will certainly maintain them populated constructively, attractively, and likewise appropriately. They will certainly find out to be independent in executing their daily work well. Nights are spent fraternizing peers, discovering brand-new abilities, playing video games, watching TELEVISION, as well as delighting in sporting tasks. The children in the therapy of institution personnel certainly find to adjust to brand-new situations, individuals, in addition to environments gladly, rapidly, as well as efficiently. The children in the institution's boarding premises are under the treatment and also surveillance of the Administrator, Warden/ Matron, Team, dormitory young boys, as well as additionally a few of the housekeeping team under the able support of the Principal.

3. High up on Safety And Security

All the school buses are outfitted with GPS which permits 24/7 live tracking. Presence, existing location, distance, and also speed can be watched that addon a point to the additional safety rendered by the school administration keeping the security of children in mind. To assure safety and security along with safety of our children the college management has actually established a system which maintains guardians and parents updates regarding entryway as well as departure timings of their kids from organization facilities.

4. Institution Clubs And Societies

The College has organizations/Clubs/Societies that arrange different jobs to enhance the abilities along with extracting the most effective out of every kid. These scholastic as well as Co-scholastic clubs are an outstanding method to check out the interest of any sort of student and even develop new ones. These clubs help the students to group together and enhance their social circle. Such a grouping especially helps the introvert section to come forth and be more friendly and improve their characteristic feature that might be a hindrance in showcasing the hidden talents the pupil resides within.

To Sum Up

So completely with such high centers and academic excellence GDGIS places itself to be the Best school in Haryana. Rendering education with such accuracy concentrating on the making of a child to the best of his capabilities.

[christophergloss-blog]

Top 5 secret takeaways of launching IEO to raise capital funds!

Crypto world has great requirements for kick-starting a project idea. A booming crowdfunding technique raised in early 2013, which is ICO(Initial Coin Offering)!

Later due to the flaws in processes and increased scammers, the ICO fundraising technique started to wreck on the crypto sea. By now, emerged the popular IEO of this digital era!

Potential investors wanted to trust and gain regular updates on the investing project whereas project owners seek potential investors. A better solution crawled up as an exchange platform with regulatory norms.

The exchange platforms take up the hassle of investors by analyzing the trade potential of the IEO project, whereas relaxes the shoulders of the project team in terms of IEO marketing to the target audience! As the entire trading of crypto-tokens complies with exchange platforms, it’s known as Initial Exchange Offering(IEO)!

Now let’s glance in brief about the take-aways of investing in the IEO project!

Dedicated analysis The exchange platforms at which IEO is launched or listed performs entire analysis on the project base idea, management, developer’s team, success stories and much more. The ICO’s big hole was due to the scammers who entered and they are seamless for the investors. But, exchange platforms peep out in the case of IEO’s which makes us relaxing in the aspects of scam.

Complies with jurisdictions Exchange platforms take care of the rules and regulations of the federations to launch an IEO. If an individual is hired for financial advice, the cost of launching IEO increases abruptly as they charge for each and every aspect!

IEO project does not need to go through the entire set of rules & regulations as the exchange platform takes care of it, thereby saving time and money.

Free marketing team Crypto exchange platforms render their whitelist investors with the new launch IEO listing. Exchanges reach the target audience much easier than project teams.

Project owners may feel that ICO costs lesser than IEO in terms of exchange listing, but it actually cuts-off the entire marketing cost!

Managing smart contracts IEO smart contracts are created and managed by the exchanges, hence, there are no requirements to hire a smart contract development team.

The exchanges take care of the sales and distribution of IEO’s hence there is no hassle of popping your eyes into the aspects of the project.

Trusted & secure trading platform Crypto exchange platforms maintain high levels of security and protech them from hackers to retain their reputations. Hence, IEO’s are safe & secure enough to be launched!

Investors, as well as project owners, must possess valid accounts on exchange platforms to enhance trading. Hence, no possibility of scammers trading!

If you are with the quest of launching IEO for your start-up digital agency, then pick one of the best IEO development company to ensure the quality standards which may help you list IEO’s much easier in exchange platforms!

Live chat: https://lc.chat/now/10480532/ Telegram link: https://t.me/blockchainfirm

[jamaelucas-blog]

PROCESS JOURNAL: EVALUATION

Reflect on the methods and techniques that are most appropriate for evaluating the performance of your groups implementation and summarize those thoughts in a new post in your process journal. How do you assess the outcome of the various phases of the creative problem-solving process that your project has gone through?

This week Pet Peps entered into the Evaluation phase of the 7-step creative process. (It’s almost over! YIPPEE!!)

Ultimately, my group just worked on fine tuning everything from the implementation phase. After class Pet Peeps further discussed “proposed improvements” to our product, as well as starting to frame our final presentation. Aharon ever so graciously used the “iterative design” technique when further developing the renderings and prototype of our product ensuring we were meeting our “measurable goals” we set previously. He also incorporated universal design by testing the prototype on different people and using that information to improve the product. This past Monday we met to do a bit of an informal check in using the “formative evaluation” technique to make sure we were checking the boxes we had set for ourselves in each stage. Lastly, we finally came up with a name!! BUT my group decided we were only going to show the “trailer” this week, you’ll have to wait until the final week to see the feature presentation!!

Until then…

[msclaritea]

~Doctor Watson~

Doctor Watson : Prolegomena to the study of biographical problem, with a bibliography of Sherlock Holmes is a study written by S. C. Roberts first published in 1931 by Faber & Faber Ltd. (Criterion Miscellany No. 28).

Part I 'As in every phenomenon the Beginning remains always the most notable moment; so with regard to any great man, we rest not till, for our scientific profit or not, the whole circumstances of his first appearance in this Planet, and what manner of Public Entry he made, are with utmost completeness rendered manifest.' So wrote Carlyle, an author from whose voluminous works quotations would readily fall from the lips of Dr. Watson himself. But to render manifest the whole circumstances of Watson's first appearance in this planet is a task before which Boswell himself might well have quailed. Certainly Boswell might have run half over London and fifty times up and down Baker Street with very little reward for his trouble. Where were the friends or relatives who could have given him the information about Watson's early life? 'Tadpole' Phelps might have given a few schoolboy anecdotes; young Stamford might have been traced to Harley Street or some provincial surgery, and have talked a little about Watson at Bart.'s; his brother had been a skeleton in the family cupboard; his first wife, as seems probable, died some five or six years after marriage; Holmes himself might have deduced much but, except in the famous instance of the fifty-guinea watch, seldom concerned himself with Watson's private affairs. The young Watson, in short, is an elusive figure. 'Data, data, give us data,' as Holmes might have said. Since he took his doctor's degree at the University of London in 1878, Watson's birth may with a fair measure of confidence be assigned to the year 1852. [1] The place of his birth is wrapped in deeper mystery. At first sight the balance of evidence seems to point to his being a Londoner; much of his written work, at any rate, conveys the suggestion that he was most fully at home in the sheltering arms of the great metropolis: Baker Street, the Underground, hansom cabs, Turkish baths, November fogs — these, it would seem, are of the very stuff of Watson's life. On the other hand, when, broken in health and fortune, Watson stepped off the Orontes on to the Portsmouth jetty, he 'naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.' It is difficult to believe that Watson, in whose veins there flowed a current of honest sentiment, could thus have described his native city. On the whole, we incline to the view that he was born either in Hampshire or Berkshire; it was as he travelled to Winchester [2] ('the old English capital', as he nobly calls it) that he was moved by the beauty of the English countryside: 'the little white fleecy clouds... the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeping out from amidst the light green of the new foliage'. 'Are they not fresh and beautiful?' he cried out to Holmes... Again, Watson chafed at an August spent in London. It was not the heat that worried him (for an old Indian campaigner, as he said, a thermometer at 90° had no terrors); it was homesickness: he 'yearned for the glades of the New Forest or the shingle of Southsea...' [3] Concerning his parents Watson preserves a curious silence. That his father (H. Watson) was or had been, in comfortable circumstances may fairly be inferred from his possession of a fifty-guinea watch, and from his ability to leave his elder son with good prospects and to send his younger son to a school whence young gentlemen proceeded to Cambridge and the Foreign Office. Watson's reticence about his elder brother is hardly surprising: squandering the legacy bequeathed to him by his father he lived in poverty, 'with occasional short intervals of prosperity'. Possibly he was an artist who occasionally sold a picture; more probably he was a gambler. In any event, he died of drink round about the year 1886. [4] Concerning Watson's boyhood two facts stand out clearly: he spent a portion of it in Australia, and he was sent to school in England. The reference to Australia is categorical. As he stood hand-in-hand with Miss Morstan in the grounds of Pondicherry Lodge, 'like two children', as he significantly says, the scenes of his own childhood came back to him: 'I have seen something of the sort on the side of a hill near Ballarat, where the prospectors had been at work'. In all probability, then, the period of Watson's Australian residence was before he reached the age of 13. [5] No reader of Watson's narrative can have failed to notice his curious treatment of his mother. [6] The explanation must surely lie in Mrs. Watson's early decease — probably very soon after her second son's birth. It is, perhaps, a little more fanciful — though not, surely, fantastic — to surmise that she was a devout woman with Tractarian leanings, and that before her death she breathed a last wish into her husband's ear that the child should be called John Henry, after the great Newman himself. Unable to face life in the old home, Watson père set out to make a new life in Australia, taking his two young children with him. Whether he had good luck in the gold-fields round Ballarat or in other spheres of speculative adventure, it is evident that he prospered. Of the influence of this Australian upbringing on the character of Doctor Watson we have abundant evidence: his sturdy common sense, his coolness, his adaptability to rough conditions on Dartmoor or elsewhere are marks of that tightening of moral and physical fibre which comes from the hard schooling of colonial life. Londoner as he afterwards became, Watson was always ready to doff the bowler hat, to slip his revolver into his coat pocket, and to face a mystery or a murder-gang with a courage which was as steady as it was unostentatious. But to return to Watson's boyhood: that he was sent to one of the public schools of England can hardly be doubted, since one of his intimate friends was Percy Phelps, 'a very brilliant boy' who, after a triumphant career at Cambridge, obtained a Foreign Office appointment. He was 'extremely well connected'. 'Even when we were all little boys together,' writes Watson, 'we knew that his mother's brother was Lord Holdhurst, the great Conservative politician.' But Watson's sturdy colonialism was proof against the insidious poison of schoolboy snobbery, and took little account of Phelps's 'gaudy relationship'. The boy was designated by no more dignified name than 'Tadpole', and his fellows found it 'rather a piquant thing' to 'chevy him about the playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket' — a sentence which suggests that Watson's school, like many others, preserved certain peculiarities of vocabulary, keeping the old term 'play-ground' for 'playing-field' and using 'wicket' in the sense of 'stump'. That it was a 'rugger' school there can be little doubt. How else would Watson have played three-quarter for Blackheath in later years? Characteristically, Watson never alludes to his prowess on the football field, until he is reminded of it by 'big Bob Ferguson', who once 'threw him over the ropes into the crowd at the Old Deer Park'. [7] In class-work we may conclude that Watson was able, rather than brilliant; he was two forms below 'Tadpole' Phelps, though of the same age; his school number was thirty-one. [8] Of Watson's student days we have but scanty record. At St. Bartholomew's Hospital he found himself in an atmosphere that has always been steeped in the tradition of the literary physician, [9] and it is clear that Watson was not of those who are content with the broad highway of the ordinary text-book. The learned and highly specialized monograph of Percy Trevelyan upon certain obscure nervous lesions, though something of a burden to its publishers, had not escaped the eye of the careful Watson; [10] nor was he unfamiliar with the researches of French psychologists. [11] With such interests in the finer points of neurological technique, it may at first sight seem strange that Watson should have chosen the career of an army surgeon, but after what has already been said of Watson's colonial background, it is clear that in the full vigour of early manhood he could not face the humdrum life of the general practitioner. The appeal of a full, pulsing life of action, coupled with the camaraderie of a regimental mess, was irresistible. Accordingly, we find him proceeding to the army surgeon's course at Netley. Whether he played 'rugger' for the United Services is uncertain; his qualification as a 'Club' three-quarter was a high one, but it is probable that at this period his passion for horses was developed. His summer quarters were near Shoscombe in Berkshire, and the turf never lost its attraction for him. Half of his wound pension, as he once, confessed to Holmes, was spent on racing. [12] But the scene was soon to be changed. At the end of his course Watson was duly posted to the Northumberland Fusiliers as Assistant Surgeon. With what zest may we picture him opening his account with Cox & Co. at Charing Cross, [13] and purchasing his tin trunk, pith helmet, and all the equipment necessary for Eastern service; with what quiet satisfaction must he have supervised the painting of the legend JOHN H. WATSON, M.D., upon his tin dispatch-box! But events were moving quickly; before Watson could join his regiment, the Second Afghan War had broken out. It was in the spring of 1880 that Watson embarked, in company with other officers, for service of our Indian dominion. At Bombay he received intelligence that his corps 'had advanced through the passes and was already deep in the enemy's country.' At Kandahar, which had been occupied by the British in July, [14] Watson joined his regiment, but it was not with his own regiment that he was destined to go into action: 'The Fifth marched back to Peshawar, and from there to Lawrencepore; and... in September they received orders for home... So they turned their backs on the tragedy of Maiwand.' [15] To Watson, however, the battle of Maiwand, fought on 27th July, 1880, was to become only too vivid a memory. He was removed from his own brigade and attached to the Berkshires (the 66th Foot), the story of whose heroic resistance at Maiwand has passed into military history. [16] Early in the course of the engagement, but not before he had, without loss of nerve, seen his comrades hacked to pieces, [17] Watson had been struck on the left shoulder by a Jezail bullet. The bone was shattered and the bullet grazed the subclavian artery; but, thanks to his orderly, Murray, to whose courage and devotion Watson pays a marked tribute, he was saved from falling into the hands of 'the murderous Ghazis', and after a pack-horse journey which must have aggravated the pain of the wounded limb, reached the British lines in safety. Of Watson's comrades-in-arms we know little; but seven years later we find his referring to his 'old friend Colonel Hayter' as having come under his professional care in Afghanistan. [18] Hayter is described as 'a fine old soldier who had seen much of the world', and it would seem fairly safe to identify him with the Major Charles Hayter who was director of Kabul Transport in the Second Afghan War. [19] The story of Watson's experiences in the base hospital at Peshawar, of his gradual convalescence, of his severe attack of enteric fever ('that curse', in his own graphic phrasing, 'of our Indian possessions'), of his final discharge, and of his return to England either late in 1880 or early in 1881, may be read in the pages of his own narrative. [20] With no kith or kin in England, with a broken constitution and a pension of 11s. 6d. a day, a man of weaker fibre than John H. Watson might well have sunk into dejection or worse. But Watson quickly realized the dangers of his comfortless and meaningless existence: even the modest hotel in the Strand he found to be beyond his means. Standing one day in the Criterion bar, 'as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut', he was tapped on the shoulder by young Stamford, who had been a dresser under him at Bart.'s. Overjoyed to see a friendly face, Watson immediately carried him off to lunch at the Holborn, where he explained his most pressing need — cheap lodgings. Young Stamford looked 'rather strangely' over his wine-glass. Had he some kind of intuition that he was to be one of the great liaison-officers of literary history, that he was shortly to bring about meeting comparable in its far-reaching influences with hat other meeting arranged by Tom Davies in Russell Street, Covent Garden, more than a hundred years before? Taking Watson with him to the chemical laboratory at St. Bartholomew's, young Stamford fulfilled his mission: 'Dr. Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes...' 'How are you?... You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.' 'How on earth did you know that?...' Such was the initiatory dialogue. Holmes and Watson quickly agreed to share rooms [21], and the load of depression was lifted from Watson's mind. Life had a new interest for him; the element of mystery about his prospective fellow-lodger struck him as 'very piquant'; as he aptly quoted to young Stamford: 'the proper study of mankind is man...' The walls of No. 221B Baker Street [22] bear no commemorative tablet. It is doubtful indeed whether the house has survived the latter-day onslaught of steel and concrete. Yet Baker Street remains for ever permeated with the Watsonian aura. The dim figures of the Baker Street irregulars scuttle through the November gloom, the ghostly hansom drives away, bearing Holmes and Watson on an errand of mystery. For some time Holmes himself remained a mystery to his companion. But on the 4th March, 1881, he revealed him-self as a consulting detective ('probably the only one in the world'), and on the same day there came Inspector Gregson's letter relating to the Lauriston Gardens Mystery. After much hesitation Holmes decided to take up the case. 'Get your hat,' he called to Watson; and though Watson accompanied his friend to the Brixton Road with little enthusiasm, Holmes's brusque summons was in fact a trumpet-call to a new life for Watson. In the course of the adventure which is known to history as A Study in Scarlet, Watson's alertness as a medical man is immediately evident. His deduction of the solubility in water of the famous pill was quick and accurate; nor did he fail to diagnose an aortic aneurism in Jefferson Hope. 'The walls of his chest', he recorded in his graphic way, 'seemed to thrill and quiver as a frail building would do inside when some powerful engine was at work. In the silence of the room I could hear a dull humming and buzzing noise which proceeded from the same source.' At this stage the friendship between Watson and Holmes was only in the making: Holmes still addressed his companion as 'Doctor'. But it was in his first adventure that Watson found his true métier. 'I have all the facts in my journal and the public shall know them.' Between 1881 and 1883 (the year of The Speckled Band) we have little record of Watson's doings. Possibly he divided his time quietly between Baker Street and his club. More probably he spent a portion of this period abroad. His health and spirits were improving; he had no family ties in England; Holmes was at times a trying companion. Now in later years Watson refers to 'an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents.' [23] The three continents are clearly Europe, India, and Australia. In Australia he had been but a boy; in India he can have seen few women except the staff-nurses at Peshawar. It is conceivable, though not likely, that he revisited Australia at this time. It is much more probable that Watson spent some time on the Continent and that, in particular, he visited such resorts as contained the additional attraction of a casino. Gambling was the ruling passion of the Watson family. Watson père had gambled on his luck as an Australian prospector — and won; his elder son gambled on life — and lost; the younger son (a keen racing man' [24] and a dabbler in stocks and shares [25]) no doubt won, and lost, at rouge et noir. By the time of The Speckled Band it is noteworthy that the intimacy between Watson and Holmes has very considerably developed. Watson is no longer 'Doctor' but 'My dear Watson'; Holmes's clients are bidden to speak freely in front of his 'intimate friend and associate'; if there is danger afoot, Watson has but one thought: Can he be of help? 'Your presence', Holmes told him in the case of the Speckled Band, 'might be invaluable."Then', comes the quick reply, 'I shall certainly come.' It is the old campaigner who speaks. The years 1884 and 1885 are again barren of detailed Watsonian record; and here again it is possible that Watson spent part of his time on the Continent. But with the year 1886 we approach one of the major biographical problems of Watson's career — the date of his first marriage. For a proper consideration of the problem it is necessary, first, to clear one's mind of sentiment. We may remember Holmes's own criticism of Watson's first narrative: 'Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science, and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism... The biographer, when he reaches the story of Watson's courtship, must necessarily endeavour to do justice to its idyllic quality, but, primarily, he is concerned with a problem. Let us review our data: (1) In The Sign of Four, Miss Morstan, according to Watson's narrative, used the phrase: 'About six years ago — to be exact, upon the 4th May, 1882...' This would appear to date the adventure between April and June, 1888. (2) A Scandal in Bohemia is specifically dated loth March, 1888, and evidently occurred a considerable time after Watson's marriage. Watson had drifted away from Baker Street, and Holmes had been far afield — in Holland and Odessa. (3) At the time of The Reigate Squires, April, 1887, Holmes and Watson were still together in Baker Street. (4) The adventure of The Five Orange Pips is dated September, 1887, and occurred after Watson's marriage (his wife was visiting her aunt and he had taken the opportunity to occupy his old quarters at Baker Street). A brief summary of this kind does not, of course, pretend to include all the available data, but is at least sufficient to indicate certain contradictions which Holmes himself would have found difficult to reconcile. Suppose, for instance, that we accept the traditional date for Watson's engagement to Miss Morstan — the year 1888. In that case the marriage cannot have taken place until the late summer or autumn of that year. What, then, becomes of the extremely precise dating of A Scandal in Bohemia and The Five Orange Pips? One thing is clear: Watson, careful chronicler as he is, cannot have been consistently accurate in his dates. The traditional assignment of The Sign of Four to the year 1888 rests upon Watson's report of Miss Morstan's conversation; the dates of The Reigate Squires and of The Five Orange Pips are first-hand statements of Watson himself. Now Watson, when he wrote the journal of The Sign of Four, cannot be said to have been writing in his normal, business-like condition. From the moment that Miss Morstan entered the sitting-room of No. 221B Baker Street, he was carried away by what he picturesquely calls 'mere will-o'-the wisps of the imagination'. He tried to read Winwood Reade's Martyrdom of Man, but in vain; his mind ran upon Miss Morstan — 'her smiles, the deep, rich tones of her voice, the strange mystery which overhung her life'. Further, the Beaune he had taken for lunch had, on his own confession, affected him, and he had been brought to a pitch of exasperation by Holmes's extreme deliberation of manner. On the whole, then, was this a state of mind calculated to produce chronological accuracy? On the other hand, there are no such reasons to make us doubt the accuracy of The Reigate Squires and The Five Orange Pips; and if we accept the dates of these, the marriage must be fixed between April and September, 1887. Now, assuming that Miss Morstan shared the common prejudice against the unlucky month, it is not likely that the ceremony took place in May. June, on the other hand, seems extremely probable, since The Naval Treaty (July, 1887) is described as 'immediately succeeding the marriage'. Accordingly, we are driven to conclude that The Sign of Four belongs to the year 1886, in the autumn of which Watson became engaged. In the early part of 1887 Watson would be busy buying a practice, furnishing a house and dealing with a hundred other details. This would explain why, of the v ery large number of cases with which Holmes had to deal in this year, Watson has preserved full accounts of only a few. He had made rough notes, but had no time to elaborate them. 'All these', he writes in a significant phrase, 'I may sketch out at some future date.' Again, if June, 1887 be accepted as the date of the marriage, the opening of A Scandal in Bohemia becomes for the first time intelligible. Between June, 1887 and March, 1888 there was plenty of time for Watson to put on seven pounds in weight as the result of married happiness and for Holmes to attend to separate summonses from Odessa and The Hague. To claim definite certainty for such a solution would be extravagant; but as a working hypothesis it has claims which cannot be lightly dismissed. X

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News ‘Vile and disturbing’: Army unit marks Battle of the Bulge with picture of Nazi war criminal who massacred Americans - The Washington Post

News

On the 75th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s final predominant push in World Battle II, a U.S. Military unit shared a tribute to the “most attention-grabbing battle in American history” — an huge portrait of a panicked militia commander fretting over the thought that would possibly per chance in the raze accurate an Allied victory over the Nazis.

“The destiny of his loved nation rested on his ability to handbook his men,” the XVIII Airborne Corps wrote on a Monday Fb put up that contains the inserting checklist.

Nevertheless the outline wasn’t detailing the heroics of an American traditional poised to execute fascist German forces. As one more, it seemingly notorious the strategic frame of thoughts of Nazi battle criminal Joachim Peiper, an unsuitable German commander who ordered the bloodbath of 84 U.S. prisoners of battle all the draw in which through the Battle of the Bulge.

The Military unit posted a glamorous, colorized checklist of Peiper alongside an intimate yarn depicting the Nazi writing in his diary. The checklist used to be also shared on the Fb pages for the Protection Department and the Military’s 10th Mountain Division.

The backlash used to be swift. Critics in the Fb feedback accused the put up of “glorifying a Nazi battle criminal,” called it a “‘fanboy’ flavored share,” and described the checklist as “vile and demanding.”

Quickly after a public affairs officer for the Military criticized the posts on Twitter, the photos disappeared. The Protection Department and 10th Mountain Division deleted their posts, and the XVIII Airborne Corps eradicated the checklist of Peiper from its prolonged yarn.

“I'm dumbfounded by the decision to prominently present a Nazi on militia social media on the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge,” Lt. Col. Brian Fickel wrote on Twitter.

An Military spokesman didn't straight return a question for observation. Pentagon officers also didn't return messages about the posts gradual Monday.

Nevertheless the XVIII Airborne Corps, basically basically based in Citadel Bragg, N.C., did reply to some critics in Fb feedback, some of that are serene visible on its edited put up about Peiper.

“In most cases in movies, the movie will develop one draw of stress by introducing a scandalous man,” the Military unit wrote in preserving with somebody who rapid the checklist looked as if it can probably per chance lionize the Waffen-SS, the militia arm of Hitler’s Nazi occasion. “It is some distance a technique of efficient storytelling.”

One other particular person mentioned he didn't “model the fascination with” Peiper, who in the raze didn't decide the battle and used to be later tried for horrific battle crimes. Peiper led hundreds of German troops who descended on unsuspecting American squaddies in the slow of winter. On Dec. 17, 1944, he ordered his squaddies to slaughter 84 American prisoners of battle who had surrendered after the shock attack in what's now is valuable as the Malmedy bloodbath.

“He had a appropriate first day,” the XVIII Airborne Corps answered. “Now not truly his fault that the preliminary push failed in the North and center (as we’ll peep the next day to come).”

In a now-deleted tweet, the unit called Peiper a “awful particular person” but an “efficient wrestle leader” who “rocketed through the ranks all the draw in which through the battle, racking up medals, & promotions.”

Officials for the Military and Pentagon salvage yet to level to why the checklist used to be chosen, or how it used to be vetted for e-newsletter. Nevertheless the origins of the image raise more questions on the pondering in the attend of the controversial Fb put up.

In the decrease appropriate form-hand corner of the checklist, a historical image rendered standard through digital enhancing, a watermark reads, “Colored by Tobias Kurtz.” The same watermark is visible on an the same image uploaded to the Deviant Art gallery of a particular individual that goes by “kapo-neu” and identifies himself on his “about” page as Tobias Kurtz. The connection used to be smartly-known by journalist Corey Pein, who tweeted a link to the image posted by Kurtz on Sept. 21, 2014. Kurtz didn't straight return a question for observation.

Kurtz’s Deviant Art and Flickr accounts relate he is a Slovakia-basically basically based gamer who likes photography and graphic salvage. He has also shared an image of Hitler laughing as a community of German squaddies prepare to lift out a kneeling man and ‘favorited’ an illustration Hitler punching an American soldier whereas Nazis cheer. “This checklist salvage my 👍,” Kurtz wrote in the feedback of the drawing.

It remains unclear how Pentagon and Military officers cleared an image apparently created by an artist who celebrates Nazi propaganda on-line to be printed alongside a tribute to the American squaddies who fought and died to defeat a fascist regime 75 years previously. Nevertheless the misstep is fair the most modern in a month of embarrassing incidents for the U.S. Military, which has been recently slammed with a few allegations of white supremacist project.

On Saturday, all the draw in which through the Military-Navy soccer recreation in Philadelphia, two U.S. Militia Academy cadets and a Naval Academy midshipman allegedly flashed the “k” hand signal that has been feeble, in some instances, as a abominate signal affiliated with white supremacy and the some distance-appropriate form. The Military and Navy both advised The Post on Monday that investigators were having a peek into the incident. Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, the Military’s superintendent, mentioned in an announcement the Militia Academy is “fully committed to developing leaders of personality who embody the Military values.”

Earlier this year, a health care provider serving in the Military Reserve turned the topic of yet one other interior investigation after HuffPost printed his alleged connection to the white nationalist abominate community Identity Evropa. Lt. Col. Christopher Cummins allegedly shared a username, home say and lived in the the same metropolis as an anonymous particular individual that posted on the community’s now-defunct Discord server, boasting about spreading white nationalist fliers in Mississippi and Jackson, Tenn.

An Military spokesman advised The Post on Dec. 6 its investigation into Cummins’s alleged connections to Identity Evropa concluded earlier this year. Cummins is serene a lieutenant colonel in the Military Reserve. The spokesman declined to part the outcomes of the investigation.

“Motion taken to handle the findings of an administrative motion is discipline to the Privacy Act,” Military spokesman John Bradley advised The Post in an electronic mail. “The Military Reserve takes allegations of involvement in extremist project severely and is committed to promoting appropriate declare and discipline within its ranks.”

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Nestled amongst themany indistinguishable structures of Microsoft’s Redmond campus, a multi-disciplinary personnel sharing an attention to detail that borders on fanatical is designing a keyboard… over and over and but again. And one more time for ultimate measure. Their dogged and ever-evolving dedication to “human components” reveals the amount of work that goes into making any share of hardware surely ergonomic.

Microsoftwould be identified primarily for its utility and services, nonetheless solid your mind back reasonably and you’ll acquire a collection of hardware advances which contain redefine their respective categories:

The genuine Pure Keyboard became once the first split-key, ergonomic keyboard, the fundamentals of which contain simplest ever been reasonably improved upon.

The Intellimouse Optical no longer simplest made the first surely in style leap away from ball-primarily based totally mostly mice, nonetheless did so in this kind of technique that its shape and buttons soundless manufacture its descendants amongst the most effective all-cause mice on the market on the market.

Endure in mind me?

Although the Zune is remembered more for being a colossal boondoggle than a mountainous song participant, it became once very worthy the latter, and I soundless bid and surprise on the usability of my Zune HD. Jog, critically. (Microsoft, begin offer the utility!)

More just no longer too long within the past, the Floor collection of convertible notebooks contain made courageous and welcome adjustments to a personal factor that had stagnated within the wake of Apple’s influential mid-2000s MacBook Legitimate designs.

Microsoft continues to be making hardware, after all, and in actuality it has doubled down on its capacity to present so with a revamped hardware lab stuffed with dedicated, extraordinarily detail-oriented folk which are given the tools they must rep as habitual as they desire — so long because it makes one thing greater.

You don’t rep one thing like this by aping the competition.

First, a disclosure: I would possibly likely perhaps well as smartly relate on the outset that this share became once performed surely on the invitation (nonetheless no longer direction) of Microsoft, which offered the different to consult with their hardware labs in Building 87 and meet the personnel. I’d in actuality been there sooner than once or twice, nonetheless it surely had constantly been off-document and rather sanitized.

Shining how attention-grabbing I’d discovered the set sooner than, I optimistic I wished to recall section and piece it on the possibility of seeming promotional. They name this personal of factor “access journalism,” nonetheless the 2d section is form of a stretch. I surely ultimate think these things is absolutely cool, and firms seldom expose their produce processes within the begin like this. Microsoft clearly isn’t the most effective company to contain hardware labs and services like this, nonetheless they’ve been within the game for a really long time and contain a charming and nearly too detailed process they’ve made up our minds to be begin about.

Although I spoke with in all likelihood a dozen Microsoft Devices folk one day of the tour (which became once soundless rigidly structured), simplest two contain been permitted to be on document: Edie Adams, Chief Ergonomist, and Yi-Min Huang, Famous Assassinate and Skills Lead. However the diversified folk within the labs contain been very obliging in answering questions and joyful to discuss their work. I became once in actuality taken aback and overjoyed to acquire folk occupying niches so suited to their specialities and inclinations.

Usually talking the work I got to peep fell into three customary areas: the Human Factors Lab, centered on very exacting measurements of oldsters themselves and the draw in which they work along with a share of hardware; the anechoic chamber, where the sound of units is obsessively analyzed and adjusted; and the Developed Prototype Heart, where units and materials can lunge from belief to reality in minutes or hours.

The science of anthropometry

At some stage within the Human Factors lab, human thumbs litter the desk. No, it isn’t a torture chamber — no longer for people, anyway. Here the corporate places its hardware to the test by measuring how human beings bid it, recording no longer ultimate straightforward metrics like phrases per minute on a keyboard, nonetheless high-speed stereo photos that analyzes how the pores and skin of the hand stretches when it reaches for a mouse button down to a bit of a millimeter.

The pattern right here, as in other places within the produce process and labs, is that it is probably going you will almost definitely perhaps well’t depend anything out as an element that can enhance or decreases comfort; the miniature things surely produce manufacture a incompatibility, and each so assuredly the cramped ones.

“Feats of engineering heroics are mountainous,” said Adams, “nonetheless they must satisfy a human need. We are attempting to quilt the bodily, cognitive, and emotional interactions with our merchandise.”

(Perhaps you recall this, as I did, as — apart from a assertion of cause — a veiled reference to a optimistic diversified company whose keyboards contain been within the news for diversified reasons. Of this later.)

The lab is a space in all likelihood comparable to a medium-sized restaurant, with sufficient room for a dozen or so folk to work within the somewhat about a sub-areas space aside for diversified highly particular measurements. Varied units of body components contain been space out on work surfaces, I suspect for my profit.

Among them are that space of thumbs, in miniature circumstances looking out like oversized lipsticks, each with a demanding surprise inside. These are all solid from staunch folk, starting from the small thumb of reasonably one to a monster that, must it contain began a battle with mine, I would renounce unconditionally.

Next door is a collection of ears, no longer simplest rendered in crude detail nonetheless with diversified materials simulating a vary of rigidities. Some folk contain relaxed ears, . And next door to those is a vary of noses, eyes, and temples, each representing a uncommon facial building or interpupillary distance.

This menagerie of components represents no longer ultimate a continuum of sizes nonetheless a vary of backgrounds and ages. All of them attain into play when creating and attempting out a singular share of hardware.

“We are attempting to make optimistic that that we contain now a various inhabitants we will have the option to blueprint on after we manufacture our merchandise,” said Adams. For many who distribute globally it is embarrassing to acquire that some community or one more, with wider-space eyes or smaller fingers, finds your product complex to bid. Inclusivity is a many-faceted gem, indeed it has as many sides as you are piquant to diminish. (TheXbox Adaptive Controller, for instance, is a singular and welcome one.)

In one nook stands an huge pod that seems like Darth Vader must emerge from it. This chamber, equipped with 36 DSLR cameras, produces an unforgivingly right reproduction of 1’s head. I didn’t produce it myself, nonetheless many on the personnel had; in actual fact, one eyes-and-nose combo belonged to Adams. The person you peep pictured there moreover works within the lab; that became once the first such 3D portrait they took with the rig.

With this they are able to snappily and with out grief scan in dozens or a full bunch of heads, amassing metrics on all approach to physiognomical aspects and creating an enviable database of both average and outlier heads. My head is mountainous, in screech for you to know, and my hand became once on the upper vary too. But smartly within a pair customary deviations.

So worthy for static look — getting reads on the panorama of humanity, because it contain been. Anthropometry, they name it. But there are dynamic components as smartly, about a of which they acquire within the lab, some in other places.

“When we’re evaluating keyboards, we contain now folk attain into the lab. We are attempting to position them within the most honest set doable,” defined Adams.

It’ll be defined that by honest, she method namely on the field of the honest positions of the joints within the body, which contain optimistic minima and maxima it is smartly to acquire. How will you rep a ultimate read on how easy it is to form on a given keyboard if the chair and desk the tester is sitting at are miserable?

Here as in other places the personnel strives to acquire both just data and subjective data; folk will relate they think a keyboard, or mouse, or headset is just too this or too that, nonetheless no longer sparkling the jargon they are able to’t rep more particular. By paying attention to subjective reviews and simultaneously just measurements, it is probably going you will almost definitely perhaps well align the 2 and see ultimate measures to recall.

One such just measure enthusiastic motion engage beads attached to the hand whereas an electromyographic bracelet tracks the activation of muscle mass within the arm. Imagine within the event you’la particular person whose typing appears customary and of uniform speed — nonetheless in actual fact they’re putting more pressure on their heart fingers than the others thanks to the shape of the keys or relaxation. They would possibly perchance likely perhaps well no longer have the option to relate you they’re doing so, despite the reality that this would likely perhaps consequence in uneven hand fatigue, nonetheless this combo of tools would possibly likely perhaps well repeat the reality.

“We moreover take a examine a unfold of locations,” added Huang. “Typing on a couch is terribly diversified from typing on a desk.”

One case, equivalent to a wireless Floor keyboard, would possibly likely perhaps well require more of what Huang known as “lapability,” (sp?) whereas the diversified in all likelihood desires to accommodate a uncommon posture and would possibly likely perhaps well abandon lapability altogether.

A closing size methodology that is somewhat unique to my data involves a pair of high-decision, high-speed gloomy and white cameras that can likely perhaps well even be centered narrowly on a space of the body. They’re on the right, under, with colours and arrows representing motion vectors.

A display cowl exhibiting somewhat about a anthropometric measurements.

These rep a extraordinarily detailed depth map by closely tracking the aspects of the pores and skin; one miniature patch would possibly likely perhaps well pass additional than the diversified when an particular person places on a headset, suggesting it’s stretching the pores and skin on the temple more than it is on the brow. The personnel said they are able to peep movements as small as ten microns, or micrometers (due to this truth you peep that my headline became once simplestlighthyperbole).

You would possibly likely perhaps be taking into consideration that right here is overkill. And in a technique it most indubitably is. But it is moreover ultimate that by looking out closer they are able to manufacture the small adjustments that space off a keyboard to be delighted for five hours rather then four, or to diminish error rates or wrist effort by noticeable amounts — aspects it is probably going you will almost definitely perhaps well’t surely even positioned on the field, nonetheless which manufacture a incompatibility in due direction. The returns would possibly likely perhaps well diminish, nonetheless we’re no longer to this point along the asymptote drawing come perfection that there’s no expose making additional enhancements.

The quietest set within the world

Down the hall from the Human Factors lab is the quietest set within the world. That’s no longer a colloquial exaggeration — the foremost anechoic chamber in Building 87 at Microsoft is within the document books because the quietest set on Earth, with an official ambient noise ranking of damaging 20.3 decibels.

You enter the room through a collection of heavy doors and the quietness, despite the reality that a void, sounds like a bodily medium that you just lunge into. And so it is, in actual fact — a shut to-total lack of vibrations within the air that feels as right because the nested concrete boxes inside which the chamber rests.

I’ve been in right here a pair times sooner than, and Hundraj Gopal, the jovial and highly expert proprietor of quietude right here, skips the same old tales of Guinness coming to test it etc. As a replace we talk relating to the value of sound to the person, despite the reality that they would possibly likely perhaps well no longer even imprint they produce mark it.

Naturally within the event you’re going to manufacture a keyboard, you’re going to are attempting to manipulate the draw in which it sounds. But right here’s an extremely complex process, particularly if, just like the personnel at Microsoft, you’re surely going to city on the dear aspects.

The sounds of person merchandise are very deliberately designed, they defined. The sound your car door makes when it shuts offers a technique of security — being sealed in whereas you occur to’re entering, and being securely shut out whereas you occur to’re leaving it. It’s the identical for a notebook computer — you don’t are attempting to listen to a clank whereas you occur to pack up it, or a scraping noise whereas you occur to begin it. These are the styles of things that space apart “top rate” units (and automobiles, and controllers, and furnishings, etc) they assuredly produce no longer attain about unintentionally.

Keyboards are no longer any exception. And section of designing the sound is thought that there’s more to it than loudness or even tone. Some sounds ultimate sound louder, despite the reality that they would possibly likely perhaps well no longer register as high in decibels. And some sounds are ultimate more stressful, despite the reality that they would be aloof. The look and regarded right here is what’s identified as psychoacoustics.

There are identified patterns to pursue, optimistic combinations of sounds which are shut to-universally loved or disliked, nonetheless it is probably going you will almost definitely perhaps well’t depend on that form of factor whereas you occur to’re, relate, building a singular keyboard from the bottom up. And clearly whereas you occur to rep a singular machine just like the Floor and its family they need unique keyboards, no longer one thing off the shelf. So right here’s a process that needs to be performed from scratch over and over.

As section of designing the keyboard — and take be conscious of, right here is in tandem with the human components mentioned above and the rapid prototyping we’ll contact on under — the instrument has to attain back into the anechoic chamber and contain a vary of checks performed.

A frail head mannequin extinct to simulate how people would possibly likely perhaps well hear optimistic sounds. The personnel gave it reasonably of a makeover.

These checks would possibly likely perhaps well even be painstakingly just, like a robotic arm pressing each key one after the opposite whereas a high-dwell microphone data the sound in supreme constancy and analysts pore over the spectrogram. But they are able to moreover be highly subjective: They elevate in trained listeners — “golden ears” — to offer their expert opinions, nonetheless moreover contain the “gen pop” everyday customers are attempting the keyboards whereas experiencing calibrated ambient noise recorded in coffee outlets and areas of work. One click on sound would be lost within the gargantuan-spectrum hubbub in a crowded cafe nonetheless stressful when it’s across the desk from you.

This suggestions goes both directions, to human components and prototyping, they assuredly iterate and elevate it back for more. This progresses every so assuredly through a lot of phases of hardware, such because the keyswitch meeting alone; the keys built into their steel enclosure; the keys within the closing shut to-birth product sooner than they finalize the keytop materials, etc.

Certainly, it sounds just like the process surely would possibly likely perhaps well lunge on with no spoil in sight if somebody didn’t stop them from refining the produce additional.

“It’s extra special that we ever ship a product,” quipped Adams. They’ll likely thank the Developed Prototype Heart for that.

Fast turnaround is beautiful play

Whereas you occur to’re going to be obsessive relating to the dear aspects of the units you’re designing, it doesn’t manufacture heaps of sense to must send off a CAD file to about a manufacturing facility someplace, wait about a days for it to attain back back, then peep for quality, send a revised file, etc. So Microsoft (and after all diversified hardware makers of any size) now bid rapid prototyping to turn designs around in hours rather then days or even weeks.

This wasn’t constantly doable even with the most effective equipment. 3D printing has attain a protracted method over the final decade, and continues to come, nonetheless no longer long within the past there became once a huge incompatibility between a printed prototype and the hardware that a user would in actuality withhold.

Multi-axis CNC mills contain been around for longer, nonetheless they’re slower and more complex to operate. And subtractive manufacturing (i.e. taking a block and whittling it down to a mouse) is inefficient and has optimistic barriers as a ways because the structures it must rep.

After all it is probably going you will almost definitely perhaps well likely sever it yourself out of wooden or cleaning soap, nonetheless that’s reasonably veteran-customary.

So when Building 87 became once redesigned from the bottom up some years back, it became once loaded with the most contemporary and best of both additive and subtractive rapid manufacturing suggestions, and the boom of the art has been constantly rolling through ever since. Even as I passed through they contain been putting in some unique machines (desk-sized things that had slots for both extrusion materials and weird and wonderful printer ink cartridges, a truth that for some cause I discovered hilarious).

The additive machines are in constant bid as designers and engineers propose unique instrument shapes and styles that sound mountainous in belief nonetheless must be examined in person. Having a bunch of these items, each able to rep a lot of objects per print, allows you to for instance test out a thumb scoop on a mouse with 16 reasonably diversified widths. Per chance you recall those over to Human Factors and peep which can likely perhaps well even be eliminated for over-stressing a joint, then compare comfort on the surviving 6 and pass on to a singular iteration. That will likely perhaps well all occur over a day or two.

Ever surprise what an Xbox controller feels desire to reasonably one? Factual print a huge one within the lab.

Softer materials became more and more valuable as designers contain discovered that they would possibly likely perhaps well even be built-in into merchandise from the open. For occasion, a wrist wrest for a singular keyboard can contain foam padding built in.

But how worthy foam is just too worthy, or too miniature? As with the 3D printers, flat materials like foam and materials would possibly likely perhaps well even be personalized and systematically examined as smartly. The utilization of a machine known as a skiver, foam would possibly likely perhaps well even be split into thicknesses simplest half a millimeter apart. It doesn’t sound like worthy — and it isn’t — nonetheless whereas you occur to’re creating an object that will likely be dealt with for hours at a time by the soundless fingers of people, the adaptation would possibly likely perhaps well even be subtle nonetheless gargantuan.

For more heavy-duty prototyping of things which contain to be made from steel — hinges, notebook computer frames, etc — there is bank after bank of 5-axis CNC machines, lathes, and more uncommon tools, like a tool that performs extraordinarily actual cuts the utilization of a charged wire.

The engineers working these items work collaboratively the designers and researchers, and it became once valuable to the people I talked to that this wasn’t a “right here, print this” situation. A ultimate collaboration has input from each facet, and that’s what appears to be going down right here. Any individual inspecting a 3D mannequin for printability sooner than popping it into the 5-axis would possibly likely perhaps well relate to the clothier, , these objects would possibly likely perhaps well fit collectively more closely if we did so-and-so, and it will in actuality add strength to the meeting. (Can you relate I’m no longer an engineer?) Making stuff, and making stuff greater, is a ardour amongst the crew and that’s a primarily artistic drive.

Making novel hells for keyboards

If any keyboard has dominated the headlines for the final twelve months or so, it’s been Apple’s ill-fated butterfly switch keyboard on the most contemporary MacBook Mavens. Whereas being in my see somewhat dreadful to form on, they perceived to fail at an improbable rate judging by the percentage of customers I noticed for my piece reporting concerns, and are somewhat expensive to interchange. How, I puzzled, did an organization with Apple’s produce resources rep this kind of canine?

Here’s a share of hardware you won’t wreck any time rapidly.

I mentioned the field to the community in direction of the dwell of the tour nonetheless, predictably and understandably, it wasn’t surely one thing they wished to discuss. But a brief whereas later I spoke with one in every of the people accountable for Microsoft’s reliability managers. They too demurred shut to Apple’s screw ups, opting as a replace to describe at size the measures Microsoft takes to make optimistic that their have keyboards don’t endure a identical destiny.

The philosophy is surely to simulate everything relating to the anticipated 3-5 twelve months life of the keyboard. I’ve seen the “torture chambers” where units are overwhelmed on by robots (I’ve seen these for my piece, years within the past — they’re brutal), nonetheless there’s more to it than that. Keyboards are everyday objects, they assuredly face everyday threats; so that’s what the personnel checks, with things falling into three customary categories:

Environmental: This involves biking the temperature from very low to very high, exposing the keyboard to mud and UV. This differs for each product, since some will clearly be extinct begin air more than others. Does it wreck? Does it discolor? Where does the mud lunge?

Mechanical: Every keyboard undergoes key checks to make optimistic that that keys can face up to on the opposite hand many million presses with out failing. But that’s no longer the most effective factor that keyboards endure. They rep dropped and things rep dropped on them, after all, or left upside-down, or contain their keys pressed and held at habitual angles. All these items are examined, and when a keyboard fails thanks to a test they don’t contain, they add it.

Chemical. I discovered this very attention-grabbing. The personnel now has more than 30 chemicals that it exposes its hardware to, in conjunction with: lotion, Coke, coffee, chips, mustard, ketchup, and Clorox. The personnel is constantly adding to the list as unique chemicals enter frequent utilization or unique markets begin up. Hospitals, for instance, must test a vary of harsh disinfectants that a customary residence wouldn’t contain. (Show: Burt’s Bees is it sounds as if depraved news for keyboards.)

Testing is ongoing, with unique batches being evaluated constantly as time enables.

To be beautiful it’s laborious to take into accout that Apple’s disappointing keyboard in actuality underwent this form of attempting out, or if it did, that it became once modified to outlive it. The number and severity of concerns I’ve heard of with them imply the “feats of engineering heroics” of which Adams spoke, nonetheless directed singlemindedly within the direction of compactness. Perhaps more torture chambers are required at Apple HQ.

7 components and the unfactorable

Your entire above are more tools for executing a produce and no longer or creating one to begin with. That’s a full diversified kettle of fish, and one no longer so with out grief described.

Adams told me: “When computers contain been on every desk the identical method, it became once k to simplest contain one or two styles of keyboard. But now that there are such heaps of styles of computing, it’s k to contain a decision. What form of work produce you produce? Where produce you produce it? I mean, what’s going to we all form on now? Telephones. So it’s totally context dependent.”

Is that this the right curve? Or must it is six millimeters better? Let’s are attempting both.

Yet even within the mountainous selection of all doable keyboards there are metrics that must be regarded as if that keyboard is to attain its role. The personnel boiled it down to seven extreme aspects:

Key whisk: How a ways a key goes till it bottoms out. Neither shallow nor deep is basically ultimate, nonetheless aid diversified functions.

Key spacing: Distance between the center of 1 key and the subsequent. How a ways can you fluctuate from “plump-size” sooner than it turns into miserable?

Key pitch: On many keyboards the keys produce no longer all “face” the identical direction, nonetheless are subtly pointed in direction of the residence row, on yarn of that’s the direction your fingers hit them from. How worthy is just too worthy? How miniature is just too miniature?

Key dish: The form of the keytop limits your fingers’ motion, captures them after they whisk or return, and offers a delighted residence — if it’s performed right.

Key texture: Too slick and fingers will perambulate off. Too tough and it’ll be miserable. Can it is fabric? Textured plastic? Metal?

Key Sound: As described above the sound indicates a vary of things and needs to be sparsely engineered.

Power to fireplace: How worthy actual pressure does it recall to drive a given key to its actuation point? Take below consideration this would likely perhaps and in all likelihood must fluctuate from key to key.

To boot to these core ideas there are heaps of secondary ones that pop up for consideration: Prance, or the amount a key strikes laterally (optimistic, right here is deliberate), snap ratio, engaging the suggestions from actuation. Tumble attitude, off-axis actuation, key gap for chiclet boards… and after all the inevitable switch debate.

Keyboard switches, the real mechanism under the important thing, became a significant sub-change as many firms began making their have on the expiration of some valuable patents. Therefore there’s been a proliferation of unique key switches with a vary of aspects, particularly on the mechanical facet. Microsoft does manufacture mechanical keyboards, and scissor-switch keyboards, and membrane as smartly, and in all likelihood even some more uncommon ones (despite the reality that the genuine contact-soundless Floor quilt keyboard became once reasonably of a flop).

“When we take a examine switches, whether it’s for a mouse, QWERTY, or diversified keys, we take into yarn what they’re for,” said Adams. “We’re no longer going to negate we’re scissor switch assuredly or one thing — we contain now all kinds. It’s about sturdiness, reliability, fee, offer, etc. And the sound and tactile skills is so valuable.”

As for the shape itself, there is in overall the divided Pure style, the flat plump style, and the flat chiclet style. But with produce trends, unique materials, unique units, and adjustments to folk and desk styles (you greater think a standing desk desires a uncommon keyboard than a sitting one), it’s a singular bid at any time when.

They composed a menagerie of keyboards and prototypes in somewhat about a phases of experimentation. Some contain been clearly by no method supposed for staunch bid — one had the keys pitched to this point that it became once like reasonably cave for the residence row. One more became once an experiment in how worthy a produce would be diminished in size till it became once now no longer usable. A handful showed diversified curves a la Pure — which is the right one? Although it is probably going you will almost definitely perhaps well theorize, the most effective approach to make optimistic is to lay fingers on it. So relate rapid prototyping to manufacture variants 1-10, then send them over to Human Factors and textual philosophize material the stress and posture ensuing from each.

“Jog, we know the gable slope must be between 10-15 levels and blah blah blah,” said Adams, who’s absolutely on the patent for the genuine Pure Keyboard, and so is set as familiar because it is probably going you will almost definitely perhaps well rep with the produce. “But what else? What is it we’re attempting to present, and the draw in which are we reaching that through engineering? It’s large enjoyable bringing all we know relating to the human body and bringing that into the commercial produce.”

Although the comparability is very grandiose, I became once reminded of an orchestra — nonetheless no longer in plump swing. Rather, within the minutes sooner than a symphony begins, and all of the players are tuning their instruments. It’s a cacophony in a technique, nonetheless they’re all tuning in direction of a optimistic key, and the din incessantly makes its approach to a nice personal of hum. So it is that a community of consultants all tending their sciences and creeping in direction of better precision appear to cohere a product out of the ether that is human-centric in all its components.

[NEWS] How Microsoft turns an obsession with detail into micron-optimized keyboards – Loganspace Nestled amongst themany indistinguishable structures of Microsoft’s Redmond campus, a multi-disciplinary personnel sharing an attention to detail that borders on fanatical is designing a keyboard… over and over and but again.

[milescreamy]

It cannot be denied that the technology between 1995 up to 2019 has advanced exponentially. There is, then, no doubt that there would be a lot of differences between Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 4 (2019). Aside from the story arc and the character development, the main focus of this post is to highlight the major differences in production in this highly-recognized animated film. I have broken it down into 2 main parts, rendering, or the process of taking 2D and 3D models and turning them into photorealistic animations into one frame, and animation, or the method of putting successive photos and models to create an illusion of movement.

Rendering in Toy Story (1995)

As this was the first animated feature film, there was no foundations for it whatsoever, which only follows that the production for it was new for them. This applies to one of the most important parts of animated films until today, rendering. At that time, Toy Story was rendered in 117 computers, with 45 minutes to 30 hours render time per frame. Imagine 117 computers all working just to produce 1 frame in a film. As mentioned earlier, the production for the film was new, so Pixar had to create RenderMan, a new software for rendering that could fully support hours of rendering for a film. The aspect ratio for the film is 1.85:1.

Rendering in Toy Story 4 (2019)

There were drastic changes in production in terms of rendering. With 24 years of animation experience, Pixar now renders with 1 supercomputer that has 2000 machines with 24000 cores, making it 1000x better than what they had in Toy Story in terms of computing power. But, as the tech got better, the render time got longer, with 60 - 160 hours per frame, since there are more elements in each frame that allows for a more realistic feel to the film. In terms of rendering software, a more advanced RenderMan was used, while the aspect ratio for the film is 2.39:1.

Animation in Toy Story (1995)

For an animated film, Toy Story was truly revolutionary in terms of the animating foundation. Given the limited resources and technology by their time, Pixar still did a great job of animating the film. Although, the animators admit of their incapacities. When it comes to human animations, the studio admits to their inability to animate full human models and the time-consuming task of animating clothes, so it is seen in the entirety of the film that the arms and feet were the animations to represent a human, or the use of the nighttime or dark lighting for full-body human models so that the missing details are not that visible. It is also seen in the film that the models have a smoother feel and without texture, which separates the movie from realism.

Animation in Toy Story 4 (2019)

This movie showed Pixar's experience in their animating prowess. All the techniques from the preceding movies were incorporated into creating a better sense of realism for the film. As technology advanced, so did the character models for the Toy Story franchise. They all inclined to realism with better textures and rendering, as well as a better focus on the lighting, like Bo Peep shining, enhancing the "porcelain doll" feel to her. Movements are a lot smoother due to the creation of points of movement for each body part per frame. For textures, Pixar used motion simulators for things that are difficult to animate like fur, strings, or cotton. As for the interaction of clothes to the body model, Pixar also created a continuous collision detection system to detect if clothes were colliding with the model, creating a flowier feel of the clothes in the models.

The animation done by Pixar in their films is truly impressive. The comparison has shown that the future for animated films will only progress better with time. Although the focus of the post is to show the evolution of the animation of the current animated films, it should still be recognized that Toy Story and the animated films of the past paved the way and allowed for these advancements. The film still portrayed the story of the toys really well even with the technology given in their time, so credit should be taken away from the original. To date, the animated film industry is starting to maximize its potential and everyone is excited to see it unravel in front of their eyes.

Ryan Gabriel D. Cadiz - IS205

[nipra3drendering]

Why 3D Animation Walkthrough Services for your Property?

Since the real estate industry has boomed, there are many technologies and tools that have been introduced to help the architects and interior designers in the most convenient way. The 3d animation walkthrough service is one of such services that help both the designers as well as property owners in various ways.

What is 3d animation walkthrough service?

3D rendering is one of most latest and advanced tools that help in pre-visualizing the interior and exterior images of the home before it is constructed. It is one of the best techniques to identify all the minor and major aspects of your new property ahead of construction. With the help of photo-realistic images and 3D animation, the 3d animation walkthrough services bring out property designs into reality.

Nipra3DStudio is one of the famous 3D Animation Walkthrough companies for helping your property designing projects with an ease in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Noida, Chandigarh, Chennai, India, UK, USA, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. If you are planning to buy a new property or if you are looking for some renovation then you must contact us for getting the most realistic photo images and videos of your property before construction. We have an experienced and brilliant team of interior designers, who help your property in getting a complete makeover. Our 3d animation walkthrough services are a way to peep inside your future project by saving both time and money. Using the services, you can help your architect or designer to plan the project conveniently without any confusion. Moreover, your entire family members can have a realistic future view of your property and can discuss amongst each other before the construction takes place.

Why Nipra3DStudio for 3d animation walkthrough services of your property?

We completely understand our client’s needs and requirements concerning his property and likewise, we allocate a team for you. Our designers are not just creative but are enough knowledgeable with the science and technology of the particular stream. Once you help us know with your dream plans, we successfully convert into best realistic 3D images and animations using the best of our knowledge and technology. Our 3d animation walkthrough services are meant to design world-class 3d interior walkthrough and 3d exterior walkthrough of your properties.

If you are looking for quality and timely interior designing services across UK and USA then you can reach us at http://www.nipra3dstudio.comWe available 24*7 for solving your queries.

[brendagilliam2]

13 tips for making a VR gaming world

Tethered is a critically acclaimed third-person strategy game, designed for VR. It launched on PlayStation VR in October last year and was later released on PC with support for all major VR platforms.

Most recently, the game has been adapted to support an ultra-glossy non-VR mode boasting a dazzlingly beautiful 4K 60Hz native presentation.

Inspiring examples of 3D art

You play the role of a Spirit Guardian, a protector of the world. Your quest is to rid the lands of a nocturnal evil, free the other imprisoned Spirit Guardians and restore balance and nature to your sky-borne world. You do this through your population of industrious and adorable ‘Peeps’.

Tethered was developed and published by Secret Sorcery, an indie studio formed in 2015 by a group of senior developers formerly of Sony Evolution Studios (Driveclub, MotorStorm and Wipeout). With an established background in VR prototyping, the team set out to explore new avenues for their creativity.

With rapid prototyping firmly ingrained in the founder’s dev ethos, the team chose Unreal Engine as their weapon of choice, which offers an unparalleled toolset out of the box for video game development. 

For this project, the world that the colourful little Peeps inhabited, with surrounding vistas, were crafted in a hand-painted style using Unreal Engine 4, ZBrush and Substance Painter.

The following steps outline various techniques we used to create this breathtaking and enchanting world.

01. Research the purpose

Creating game worlds that are both fun but serve the needs of the game means a lot of thought and planning are needed

With the initial concept art and style setting the general tone of these idyllic lands, provided by Alan McDermott, creative director of the project, we set out to research the nuts and bolts of this world, from flora to technical necessities.

With the gameplay mechanics of Wild and Tame, the landscape for Tethered had to have multiple states, trying to push the contrast where possible to provide the visual feedback that was necessary for the players’ experience, which is of course of utmost importance.

02. Find the design

Levels were built so they could be tested and iterated easily

Levels are designed in block-out form by the level designer. The key here is the ability to test and iterate designs effectively. Using Maya, a single polygonal mesh is created and imported into Unreal Engine 4. 

The aim was to get into VR quickly to get the godly feel just right. If the scale isn’t quite working, the team can quickly iterate, tweak layouts, move cameras and get back in VR fast.

03. Refine the design

Rigorous play-testing is vital to make sure the levels are up to scratch

Once the proxy layouts are approved and meet the game level’s core-design criteria, it’s time for some rigorous play-testing.

All navigation paths are optimised with blocking volumes as much as possible to prevent the characters from wandering aimlessly. The mantra for VR is test, test and test! Working in this manner allows the team to evaluate level designs, the VR experience and quickly make improvements if required.

04. Balance frame rates with visuals

Maintaining frame rate is essential in VR

The prototype goes through several stages of iteration before it’s finally ready for a detail pass. With a library of pre-made rocks available on an Insert Multi Mesh brush, these could be placed efficiently but also made to blend harmoniously within the landscape – an exercise in efficiency without compromising quality.

With agreed technical budgets for the in-game geometry, rock materials are kept in one draw-call, with just one 4K texture with a simple material to help us to achieve that all important frame rate.

05. Batch texture rocks

A Substance Painter template is perfect for texturing a load of rocks

Once sculpted, a template file is created using Substance Painter. By layering up tones using MG mask builders, the goal here was to highlight the rock edges, with tints of green within the occluded areas to help push the forms of the bold rock surfaces.

With this template file setup, all rocks for subsequent levels can then be batch processed for efficiency and continuity by simply changing the project mesh, high mesh and re-baking.

06. Generate the custom landscape

Unreal Engine’s landscape system is full of navigational benefits

With the landscape layout locked down, we can now use Unreal Engine’s landscape system for the raft of navigational benefits that it can offer. The proxy terrain is imported into ZBrush and with the level that’s been viewed top-down, the document is ZGrabbed to create a heightmap.

The heightmap is then imported straight into the Unreal Engine 4 landscape system and, with a bit of tweaking, it creates an almost identical layout as the proxy mesh that was provided. From here the sculpting tools within the landscape system can be used to refine any areas that didn’t quite transfer correctly.

07. Trim the perimeter

After compiling, the landscape perimeter needs to be trimmed back

With each of the island’s key components ready, it’s time to compile them into Unreal Engine 4 to ensure that they all fit well within the geology, and any issues are addressed and any unnecessary landscape patches are deleted. In fact, due to the nature of these islands, the perimeter had to be trimmed. 

In order to do this, the landscape shader is placed into the “landscape hole material” slot found within the landscape shader. This also allows any entrances to caves to be opened up.

08. Create a landscape and foliage system

Foliage can be computationally intensive but plays an important supporting role as part of the environment

With the rocks and landscape in place, focus is set upon dressing the play area with a catalogue of foliage applied, and we can do this by using the foliage brush system and the new in-VR editor.

First of all a foundation is laid, where small shrubs and pebbles will help bed in the occluded areas and placed in the terrain.

Foliage is then subsequently built up in layers with a rhythmic flow and compositional balance in mind in order to create a simple and bold asset that ready to supplement for a VR scene. 

09. Design unique buildings

Tethered’s buildings play an important role in the game

The buildings play a major role in Tethered, each with their own distinguishing features. By tethering your Peeps to the various structures, you can activate that building’s unique function.

Initially, buildings could change states to support the Wild/Tame game-play mechanic, but with the benefits of VR it became apparent that the experience could be enhanced by pushing depth in other ways.

10. Design a voxelisation process

Tethered uses a voxel system to create large-scale effects

Ian Moran, technical director at Secret Sorcery, explains how he captured scene assets so that they materialised in front of the player.

“We have multiple states for objects and environment, initially we had buildings that morph from one state to another, something that looked great when the player was closely observing the transition, but in VR, large-scale effects are what catch viewers’ attention. 

“We wanted an effect that was much more spectacular and far less subtle, so we thought ‘What if we were able to move objects into the domain of particle systems?’ – then we could form objects particle by particle and have objects exploding into dust.

“For this we engineered a process that would capture polygonal and sculpted models into a point cloud in a way that’s similar to a 3D laser-scanned real world object. We could even choose the number of particles/voxels, which would allow for levels of detail and performance to be rationalised too.

“Models were ‘scanned’ from several cameras using the results of a deferred buffer capture. With this we could fuse a positional point cloud with colour and normal data enough to suitably represent an object. 

“Point cloud was then rendered using a custom shader that would form at each point along mathematically calculated paths. 

“With additional voxels joining with pre-existing buildings as performance allowed, voxels overlay the existing structure for a dramatic result. Buildings could then form from thousands of particles, falling in patterned, mathematically defined paths from the sky.”

11. Make sure there’s no waste

If a scene’s not hitting frame rate, it needs to be tweaked until it is

In the land of VR, optimisation is key, and profiling tools are essential to ensure your scene is as efficient as it can be, checking for areas of complex overdraw and so on.

Performance in VR is a requirement rather than a flexible ambition, to hit target frame rates is paramount. The statistical reports make this something that artists can tune their work to directly, rather than leaving content to be culled by programmers. 

12. Make VR-friendly water

Unreal uses nodes for many tasks, which makes for an adaptable and powerful workflow

Moran explains how the water was approached for Tethered: “With welcomed additional performance courtesy of PlayStation4 Pro, we could develop refractive and reflective water. 

“The refraction of the riverbed through water flowing over it was initially implemented using screen-space techniques. This looked impressive, but it actually suffered from artefacts that broke immersion in VR.

“By using a simple parallax-like shader technique to address the riverbed texture, this didn’t require direct sampling of the scene and didn’t have the artefacts. This created significantly higher performance, which is always welcome for a VR title.”

13. Play with parallax

Tethered uses parallax effects to add atmospheric depth

With the archipelago of floating islands surrounding the player, much time was spent structuring their rhythmic formations, with foreground structures purposely overlapping within the planes of depth contained within the vista, using parallax techniques.

VR allows for a visual voyage of discovery and the production of the environments for Tethered were developed to take advantage of this and exploit the medium to its fullest.

This required some old-school ingenuity that may not be all that obvious, but with a significant jump beyond the flat gaming platforms that we have all grown up with, the VR rule book is still very much being written. 

This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 225. Buy it here.

Related articles:

20 tutorials to help you use VR in your design work

37 brilliant Blender tutorials

5 ways to create more immersive VR experiences

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from Brenda Gilliam https://brendagilliam.com/13-tips-for-making-a-vr-gaming-world/

[jamaelucas-blog]

PROCESS JOURNAL: IMPLEMENTATION

Reflect on the methods and techniques that your group plans to use to communicate the ways that your project should be implemented and summarize those thoughts in a new post in your process journal. How do you most effectively pitch your idea to various stakeholders? How do you visually communicate the objects, environments, systems, processes, and interactions involved in your project implementation?

This week Pet Peeps moved into the 6th stage of the 7 step creative solving process called, yup you guessed it, Implementation!

In this stage, our group only used a few methods and techniques to work through the best way to potentially implement our concept. (Not going to lie, this proved to be a bit more challenging than expected because we had to force ourselves to stay in this stage and not jump to the next.) 

After meeting to fill in our business canvas model, the group was able to wireframe pieces of our implementation ideas to see how all of the various components will fit and work together. We also made use of the resources in the course toolbox such as the persona poster to delve deeper into our customer segments to truly understand who our potential buyers were and what they valued most. On top of that, Aharon was able to flex his amazing design skills to develop (what he considers to be “rough”) renderings of the mechanisms used in our product that make the leash retract and release.

We used the business and project planning technique to discuss how we would want our project to flow (patents, crowdsourcing, partnerships, manufacturing, and final product). Here we briefly discussed how to get buy in from stakeholders (highlight the gap in the market and the pain point it creates then used proof of concept from our crowdsourcing to rope them in).

Lastly, our group did discuss what methods we wanted to utilize when communicating our implementation ideas visually; however, we did not delve too deep into their development in fear would would cross over into the next phase of the creative process. Hopefully next week when we take you through this story (showing visuals of panicked pet owners who have lost their furry friend, renderings of our product and its simple use, how the applications interface with your existing systems and devices, branding, customization, and how to purchase) you’ll have the reaction below.

Until then, I’ll leave you with this cutie:

Peace out Pet Peeps!