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Research Report Proposal Evaluation

I think this report gives me a very good base for future work on my essay next year. I now also have some primary research to conduct over the summer. 

I am fascinated by my topic and look forward to more reading in the subject. 

I had trouble with writing the background due to not being able to articulate my thoughts into an essay format well. This being partially due to being out of practice. I also have trouble referencing sometimes and to help with that I will see the library technician and go over it in one of their open sessions. 

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Personal Branding Evaluation

This project set me up with a good basis for a site that I can use and update next year when I graduate and find a job. It’s also made me more conscious of the market and what skills are marketable. 

The CV being featured was surprising as I thought a showreel was sort of an artistic CV but it makes sense to ask for one as an employer in retrospect as it will tell the employer what programs the animater is fluent in.

This project has made me look closer at what I'm putting into the world, which social media I am using and how it can support me in the future.

Who am I and how this can be interpreted into my branding on my website was tricky, but I think eventually I got the right balance of me vs a professional looking site.

I didn't manage time effectively this term and found it hard to keep up with a lot of other projects. This is what I would change if I could go back and do it again. I would then have been able to show some of my illustrations on the site, and create a logo, both things I will do and update my site with over summer, though I am sad I couldn't do them for the deadline, although I did get a pretty good logo sketched out.

[beckykingba2a]

Weekly Summary 9

Personal Branding

Its been a lot of polishing everything up this week and in this project, I finished my showreel and added it. this website is a good base for next year as I love the layout but if I had more time I would have added my own illustrations to personalise the blog to a higher degree. I think the atmosphere/style still comes through, however.

Research Report Portfolio

I'm having trouble writing this proposal eloquently and got some advice from Peter to use a spider diagram to connect all the things I want to talk about and use bullet points then elaborate. This turned out to be very helpful and I'm getting through it faster now. 

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Weekly Summary 8

Personal Branding

My website now has a gallery, a strong colour scheme, a strong composition - based on one of my favorite studios in Margate and a CV on it.

Its lots of smaller details that need to be tweaked and addressed now. I have gathered all the videos I need for the showreel and started to edit them to only show the best parts in Premiere Pro

Research Report Proposal

I've started my essay draft and am working on the background. I find the referencing to be the hardest most time-consuming part. The good thing is that I find researching to be more interesting with this topic than my previous one. I'm really struggling with getting my thoughts onto the paper with this essay and keep distracting myself with the other projects. I need to finish this next week so I need to work through it.

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Weekly Summary 7

Personal Branding

I started on a CV for my website and found a very good template that is visual and different to help me stand out from the competition.

I’m steadily working through my website and have now added a gallery of my recent videos. The next step is to complete my showreel for the site.

Research Report Proposal

this week I pitched my new idea to Lyndsey who thought there was a lot to talk about and I even settled on a title. After talking aloud to Lyndsey I realised I had a lot more to talk about than I thought and I kept making connections that had previously alluded me. this shows me how important it is to bounce ideas off someone or even just speak aloud about your projects, it really helps you solve puzzles you didn't know you had. 

I’m pretty close to finishing the preliminary research and starting to draft my essay now.  I also am thinking of conducting some primary research over the summer by interviewing a few experts and surveying audiences for opinions on the immerging technologies I'm interested in.

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Weekly Summary 6

Personal Branding

This week we had group tutorials which was helpful to see where everyone was and what the issues were that came up.  I have a template picked out for my website and have been working on adding the social media links and thinking about what I want my online name to be. I am thinking of going with Rebby King as Rebecca King famously brings up Rebecca King-Crews Terry Crews wife.  I also needed to change my youtube channel from rebeccaanimates to Rebby Animates as there is a Rebecca animates with a space that comes up before me and whos animation I do not want to be related to mine.

Research Report Proposal

I am starting background research now and focusing on 3 immerging technologies predominantly, VR headsets, 3D dark ride rollercoasters, and interactive films/games. I have started with the internet and journals.

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Weekly Summary 5

Personal Branding

This week focused on branding and how different companies market to their target audiences. I want my website to market to potential clients or people with job opportunities. I will do what I have observed the successful websites doing but I want to stand out so I have to do something to make me look different in some way to those other successful websites, something that will identify me from them. 

I have analysed different brands marketing to the same target audience and how they both fit in with their audience’s wants and needs and at the same time stand out from other brands.

Research Report Proposal

This week I had a research report tutorial with Lyndsey in which I shared my idea for an essay based around world building. Her feedback was very helpful as she told me the topic seemed good but I didn't seem enthusiastic about the subject. I realized this was true and I needed to rethink my topic.

after thinking it over and many spider-diagrams I decided what makes me excited to research is future animation technology. I realised this as I had recently watched Bandersnatch an interactive film that sparked my interest. I have also always been interested in VR tech, how it works and its uses. I want to talk about the future of immerging technology and its link to immersion. I am way more interested in this topic and am happy Lyndsey talked to me about this.

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Weekly Summary 4

I was on an educational trip to Amsterdam this week so I did not have any workshops in either personal branding or the research report proposal. I did visit blender the animation software developer and studio however and got to see a real animation studio at work. The software seems very interesting too as it can accommodate both 2d and 3d in one project such as a 2d animation with a 3d environment like rain. The art and culture in Amsterdam are really inspiring too and one of my favorite galleries was the momo which was exhibiting Banksy works.

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Weekly Summary 3

Personal Branding

I focused on Jobs in the market this week. I found not a lot was available in stop-motion which is one of the subjects I'm looking to continue into the future. I am going to be a generalist that will be hired for help in 2d, stop-motion and motion graphics work. This gives me options and means I can continue experimenting in different media. I honestly find beauty in the making of puppetry and the craftsmanship of traditional 2d animation and want to continue to develop my art through these mediums. 

I found a lot of studios required a minimum of 2 years experience before they would take you but a couple of jobs were available to graduates. Many of the 2D animation gigs seemed to use software outside of tv paint. I saw adverts predominantly for toon boom and adobe animate. I think it could be beneficial to become more knowledgeable in one of these so I am more employable. I looked up the pros and cons of each and would like to try toonboom as it seems to be the more flexible of the 2 software.

Research Report Proposal

This week focused on researching my research report proposal, how to do it and what will go into it. We researched random topics in the library and presented them to the class. My groups subject was poetry. This session helped me as I found not a lot was in books in the library but the online resources of the journals on the library website allowed me to collect a lot of previously unknown data.

This session also was in a very short time period so skimming and finding only pertinent information was key. This is preparing me for the background research section of the essay which involves the history, theories, and evolution of the chosen topic.

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Weekly Summary 2

Personal Branding

This week we looked at some graduate websites. I find that simplicity is often key as is a good composition. My page should have not too much empty space as I saw this on one blog and it made it look childish and unprofessional. 

I am a fan of the home page having 1 large high-quality picture to greet the viewer and wish to incorporate this into my blog. 

I also realize it is important to market myself to my target market. I need my site to be easy to navigate for anyone. To do this I am thinking of using a menu you can click through to get where you want to go or alternatively scroll through to the place depending on your preference. 

This week through the analysis I have found a lot of things I don't like in other peoples sites that I will avoid and lots of ideas for things I really love.

Research Report Proposal

We had the research report proposal brief this week, which will lead to a 5000-word essay next year. For this reason, it is important I get going now and find a subject I'm interested in to then research. 

My initial idea after a brainstorming session is based around worldbuilding. What makes a good wider universe, and what makes a world seem flat or not real. My inspiration for this idea is the difference between avatar the last Airbender and Shera and the princess of power. Both go for a similar theme of a world at war, but while it is believable and well explored in avatar it falls short in Shera. 

Animators are in a unique situation where we make entire universes for characters and how we tell a story can bring them to life. I want to know how this can be achieved.

[beckykingba2a]

Weekly Summary 1

Personal Branding

I was briefed on the personal branding project.

I need to make a website that sells me, my style and my skills to employers and helps me to brand myself to others and gain a social media following.

I will use Wix to make my website as I have prior knowledge on that platform having made 2 prior websites for myself and 1 for my parents business venture.

This project seems very important as it can help me understand the industry that I am going into next year, what jobs are in demand and how to present myself. This website is something I can take into year 3 updating it as I go and is a first step to choosing my branding and finding some unique thing to sell me.

[beckykingba2a]

Branding and Colour Research

Branding

Branding will look different for different products. For instance, chocolate will look different to toothpaste. However, all commercially sold things have an appeal that entices an audience or target market. Let's look at some examples:

Chocolate

Chocolate is usually an impulse buy, which is why it's situated at checkouts and within reach of grabby kids. This means it needs to stand out and grab your attention immediately.

This is achieved through a big font that takes up all the space of the packaging and contrasting bold colours. For instance, Wispa’s red and purple clash and draw the eye for that reason and lion and twirl have deep backgrounds with bright yellow font. Snickers crunchie and mars use a light outline to punctuate their letters. Another thing to note is how different the look is to all the bars. The fonts are different and the palettes are different all in an attempt to stand out to the consumer.

Streaming Services

Streaming services want a monthly fee for tv. For many, this is a family bundle shared by a household. This means their target audience is as many different demographics as possible.

Because their demographics are so large the logos look sleek and simple. These logos appeal to anyone and are inoffensive. They each have a different main colour however to differentiate themselves from each other.

Cafes

Cafes are great places to relax, meet with friends or family, or study in peace.

All these Cafes use soft yellow light to create an ambiance and relaxed atmosphere. They are easily defined by their colour palette red, blue and green but all keep to a natural feel of brown muted tones.

In conclusion, I need my website to be in line with other animator websites but have a unique feature, either colour or illustration or layout, etc..  

Colour Research

This site allows me to find pallets that have complementary colours.

Here are a few ideas for the site:

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Studio Research

I will choose studios I could see myself working at and say why and also analyse their sites and what works.

A + C

https://www.aplusc.tv/stop-motion/

This is a stop-motion studio based in Margate I have been following for a while. The following pics are all the first page as I scroll down. I honestly think this website is amazingly designed and want to take note as to why so I can apply it to mine. 

I also would love to work for this studio, the site sadly has no job page but I am hooked by their creative animation that changes with every brief. It looks like a really experimental studio and is in a great location. I would also love to work there because they do adverts which means I wouldn't be working on something for years, I’d is working on it for months. I think this would allow me to grow more as an artist. Its also stop-motion, which would be my first pick for a job even though I'm looking to generalise in both stop-motion and 2D animation.

I like the use of 1 big video showcasing the work of the studio on the first page.

The posh sleek feel to the site can be attributed to the grey and white colour scheme and simplistic vibe.

I like the logo on the left, which is also sleek and the hint of mint green underlining which page of the menu you are on.

This site screams professional and we can get whatever you need doing, done.

the grey mint and white colour scheme continues, and I like that the menu scrolls down with the viewer so we can always navigate to a new page.

I don't like the font of the text above as I feel its a bit essay compared to the text below in the boxes and above on the menu.

The very short statement about who they are and who they work with is great. I want to use maybe 1 or 2 sentences on my homepage to get across who I am too, I feel more text may be boring as I work in such a visual medium.

The asymmetric grid shows which big brands they have worked with and you can click through to the corresponding videos. I would like to do a similar gallery of my best-animated work.

Again there is just enough writing to get the point across and to get more info you click across preventing boredom. 

I love the aesthetic of the white box that draws your eye to important details on the page. Contact is boxed on the menu so you can always click it no matter where you are in your scroll. When you get to the end of the page get in touch takes you to the same place. 

Tinmouse Animation Studio

http://www.tinmouseanimation.com/

This is the first studio to come up when I searched “2D animation studio London”. I was curious what the first search result would look like as London is an accessible area for me and may be where my future career lies.

The first thing you are greeted with is this screen with very blurred animation that changes behind it. The intro statement lets any client know immediately what the do and who they are.

I don't like the moving animation behind the text as I can't read the text easily and the animation is blurred anyway so I can't see what their animation looks like right off the bat.

I do sort of like that this is a screen you have to click through to get to the site though as it creates intrigue.

This website is a mix of good and bad, I like some things and dislike others.

Firstly I'm not a fan of the white background. In my opinion, it looks a little basic and childish which is added to with the menu being underlined with different rainbow colours and the giant mouse toy as a logo. It would make sense if they were marketing to kids but they aren’t. They are marketing to businesses.

it is good that the contact info is immediately visible but I'm not a fan of the turquoise colour on the white background either, it looks faded out.

The logo is too big and makes the menu come almost a third of the way down the page

The choice to put a showreel on the top of the page is great as to the description beside it. it makes me already feel I have the information at my fingertips and I know the company form the start.

I love the gallery, its classy, symmetrical and shows what I'm clicking on if I hover over the picture. It also shows a range of what they can do without oversharing and dumping too many choices to click on.

This part of their page is good because it shows potential clients they are open for business. The fancy banner with a question sort of begs an answer and the clients underneath scroll. As a potential client is considering they will see the companies that have been worked with in the past and this could sway them to Tinmouse’s side.

Red Knuckles

Red knuckles looks like a great studio to work at where I could experiment a grow in discipline. It even has a careers page that shows what jobs they have available at any time. What is unique about this studio is that they stretch across disciplines with work in all sectors of animation. I'm also a fan of how strong their animation portfolio is and how uniquely vast.

This first page does utilise a white background but with the images reaching across the edges of the page it looks clean and I like the background. The reddish pink and black are simple and yet the background images (which you can click to play the animation of) are beautiful and the plain page just draws your eye to the fabulous work. 

I love the simple design of the logo and the fonts which are sans serif. I definitely like sans serif more on these websites as it is easier to read and cleaner.

This is clearly a pattern with the 1 sentence explaining what the company is about as I have seen it on the 2 other sites as well. It is a great practice and i will use it on my website too.

Now we see the gallery in grid form again everything stretched to the edges which I love. If you click the image you are transferred to a separate page with the animation. The white text on the images works here because they have taken care to select images with darker backgrounds that contrast the text making it readable.

Here is another film in the gallery which we can see has an award and is a Vimeo pick. If a potential client hasn’t clicked on an image yet this is the image to entice them and show how professional the studio's work is.

These pitches show off the studios talent and creativity as they are from people who work there and though they aren't animations yet show imagination and dedication to the job.

The studio is again a lovely short and sweet statement about where it is, no waffling.

The studio is ready to show its processes with a list of things they go through and then shows the companies they have worked with and awards. This is the section where they brag about what they have achieved, sort of like a personal statement.

I'm not a fan of all the white space and the lack of anything to the right side of the screen composition wise.

Lastly, the contact us shows location, phone number and the people to get in contact with. I like this section its in the right place is simple and to the point.

One thing I got from all 3 of these studios is that scrolling is key. I found scrolling more natural than clicking through and I want my website to be scrollable as well, though I will also include the option of a menu.

[beckykingba2a]

Job Research

Prop Designer

Los Angeles, California

Art

We are seeking Prop Designers for animated series, features, and exciting things in between. Prop Designers develop and establish props to set the stages of our worlds and support our character’s acting.

What You'll Do:

Visually develop props to enhance sets, acting, and storytelling

Explore, imagine and create a variety of prop design options that fit into a story/world

Provide line art, turnarounds, and color passes for props

Troubleshoot and address notes

Meet deadlines from concept to final deliverables

Collaborate with grace, humility, inclusion, and open mindedness

What You'll Need:

2 years design experience

Preference for experience on feature films, shorts, or series development or production

Excellence in draftsmanship

Samples and/or credits demonstrating excellence in prop design

Expert working knowledge of digital drawing tools

MY THOUGHTS

All 18 Netflix jobs required 2 years experience in the field so it would be more of a longterm goal were I to go there.

I like the openness of the language e.g. “visionaries can do their best work without compromise” 

It doesn't specify a digital drawing tool so I assume as long as you are an expert in 1 they are willing to work with that.

I would be working all through the process of production from pre to post. 

MY THOUGHTS

This is a job you can get straight out of uni to build work experience and get a portfolio

Adobe creative suite and after effects experience is key - which I have some knowledge and experience with

“Confidence with a pencil” is great as it is a strength of mine

This role sounds like an ideal starting point 

A 2-minute animation one day and an infographic the next - This I take to mean I will be doing different things frequently not working on just 1 project which is great for me as ill get a more rounded experience. I hope it doesn't mean I have to make a 2-minute animation in a day as that is simply not feasible.

THOUGHTS

After effects is definitely industry standard as while I have been browsing it has repeatedly come up

I have not seen much in the way of TV paint, however, and I think I should start trying to learn toon boom or adobe animate to make myself more marketable.

A lot of the jobs I've seen need 2 years experience so if I can find work in industry for 2 years I should be set to move to a new job should I not be happy where I am.

“Motivated self-starter with the ability to deliver in a deadline-driven environment”. I think this implies high stress very fast paced environment which may not be for me.

“Highly congenial and supportive corporate culture; everyone working toward the same goal”. This sentence implies people working together. Corporate may mean that we have a lot less freedom, however.

this job seems to have reasons to apply and reasons not to.

[beckykingba2a]

Personal Branding Brief

This project is going to help me reflect on my development so far on this course and then contextualize that into working in the industry.

It’s about finding out what I want, can do and what is out there for me.

Negotiations with clients at the beginning of projects are essential to not wasting time on work the client won’t want or pay for. Often the client won’t know what they want themselves and negotiation is key to what you are creating. Similarly, I need to pick apart the brief to know what is needed in this project.

If you walk in a room looking relaxed and like you belong there you put interviewer at ease be calm. It all matters and helps.

To get out there and find work it is essential to tailor your image to the client. You may need to make a separate showreel that contains work the client is specifically interested in. Any CV would need the keywords that relate back to the clients brief or job description. 

Branding can involve quite a few different things. These vary depending on the client and how you want to present yourself. These include:

A personal website 

social media that links back to your website

CV

Producing a showreel

Showreels

Short snappy

Good flowing music

Use the best parts at the start

Collate all of your work everything you’ve done is and out of uni

Could end up putting together showreels for clients with specific interests

Next year I can edit the personal website accordingly to other ones in the industry. As of now, it is important to have a base to work with.

I need to file everything together: Drawings, videos, etc on a hard drive. 

I’ll reflect on what I liked to do, what I’m good at and what is out there.

It's important to consider the location. Some animation hubs are Norwich, Manchester, London (Soho), Bristol (where GTA started) and Dundee. These are areas with good animation courses which people graduated and then settled in that city. I should consider lifestyle as well, London, for instance, is a busy bustling place with a high cost of living. Norwich, in contrast, is small and cheap.

I need to consider: What can I do from Norwich? What can’t I do from Norwich? What types of animation and jobs are prevalent in what areas?

Website analysis

Fonts, colours and logos matter, everything is coded and decoded by the audience. Who your audience is, affects how they react and many different people will have different responses. 

http://www.glyndavidson.co.uk/

Glyn Davidson uses his given name. This is a choice as you could use a working name, real name or a company.

 He's a 3D animator, designer, artist, 3 different specialisms. I need to figure out my specialisms. Generalists are people who do many different parts of animation. I could put as many specialisms as I want to go into. 

Decoding the main page

The logo pops out as it's not grey like the majority of the page. This can be a positive or negative depending on your POV.

Grey is a colour different people will read different ways: sci-fi, boring, sleek technological, dull.

Sexy robot split between render and non render shows tough animation with the anatomy of the robot. The overt sexuality of the robot can turn some away while impressing others. The loud majority of our class found this robot ridiculous and made them think the man was older and saw women’s bodies before their brains, but back in 2011 when this was made the political climate and how the robot was decoded may have been a different story.

The industrial background has connotations.

The name font fits the theme but the drop shadow with the shine makes it look tacky. That’s because they have been overused in the industry in the past.

You can change the colour scheme in the top left corner. This proves Davidson can code, looks unprofessional and is detrimental to the site.

This site was made in 2011, and in my opinion, doesn’t hold up now. This site is very stylised and trendy for the time, but this makes it out of fashion now. A site with fewer trends and fads will hold up for longer.

Www.davidmattock.co.uk

Decoding the main page

The site looks white which can be deconstructed as simple, spacious, boring,  clean etc. 

Orange highlights help you skim read. simple light colours are playful and fun.

A lot of text. Some may like this but I find it tedious. I would probably put that info on a different page.

The logo is simple and professional looking.

Monster iconography on right is fun and makes you think motion graphics. The lack of any 3D on the front page may prevent an employer from clicking through to the showreel. 

Animated jobs.com

https://animatedjobs.com/

Lots of jobs say they have a lot of fun doing what they do so you should mention this too Interactive projects change and alter Linear projects have a defined beginning, middle and end

I need to look at the website to find jobs that are around and be up on the phrases, then adapt or customise my website or showreel to them specifically. 

Look for people in the company and find out about them online. If you call you get a receptionist, if you write to an individual you will get a person. Make your best guess on who is driving the cause. Avoid recruitment officers because they are not animators and not creative. Find a way around them this is just advice nothing is always true though.

You need someone who understands where you are coming from.

For this project, I will need

Personal website

Showreel

Research Blog 

Critical Evaluation 250 to 300 words

Social media pages

This will change depending on the person eg maybe more than 1 showreel no more than a minute

Due on the 10th of May

I need to be honest with myself with what I want to do.

This is the first website for animation so I don’t have to be committed to the job yet.

Look at companies and job applications. Does the job I want exist? (if so where) Is it in demand? 

[beckykingba2a]

Background Research on Rollercoasters utilising VR or Interactivity

This is purely research and from websites, it is not my own writing but a compilation of topical broad research on my topic of choice.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man

This is an example of  3D technology being used to increase immersion in an attraction (1999)

“The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is a motion-based 3D dark ride located at the Islands of Adventure, Orlando and Universal Studios Japan, Osaka theme parks. Built for Islands of Adventure's opening in 1999, the attraction is a hybrid ride combining special roving motion vehicles with 3D projection, elaborate physical sets, and both practical and tactile effects. The attraction took three years to produce, with many new technologies and techniques being developed. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man has been well received, winning several awards including the Golden Ticket Award for Best Dark Ride for twelve consecutive years.

In addition to the ride's motion base and 3D projections, special effects including fog machines, fire, wind, heat, mist, strobe lights, and water spray are also employed throughout the attraction. All of these effects, along with the ride system, 3D projections, and soundtrack, are controlled by a central industrial control system which knows, to one-thirtieth of a second, when they are to execute. Just shy of the ride's debut, the director of show and ride engineering at Islands of Adventure, Steve Blum, described The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man as the "most technically complex of all of the attractions" at the park. Vice president of design and creative development Mark Woodbury stated that they "would not have been able to tell this particular story if it weren't for the technical tools"

Arthur Levine of About.com gave the ride 5 stars describing the ride as "an incredibly sophisticated attraction" that "blurs the line between virtual and reality so well that you'll emerge slack-jawed and awe-struck". He stated the enhancements made to the film projections in 2012 and 2013 "make the attraction even more immersive and awe-inspiring". Brady MacDonald of the Los Angeles Times rated the ride his second favorite in the world, after Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure. In an interview for Amusement Business, Mark Hansen Jr. of Theme Park Critic praised the ride in stating that their dream ride would combine The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man with a 4th Dimension roller coaster such as X at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Theme Park Insider rated the ride a 9 out of 10, based on 250 reviews.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Adventures_of_Spider-Man

Avatar Flight of Passage 

This is an example of  3D technology being used to increase immersion in an attraction (2018)

“Avatar Flight of Passage is a 3D flying simulator attraction within Pandora – The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Set in the Avatar universe, the attraction allows guests to take flight on a native mountain Banshee and soar across the landscape of Pandora.

On February 27, 2018, after four incidents had occurred, Disney added warning cards for riders before entering the ride. The cards are similar to those on Mission: Space and warn riders about fear of heights, motion sickness, and the seating restraints. These cards were removed in late 2018 and have been replaced with a pre-recorded message which communicates similar information to guests. The message plays only in the queue room immediately before the ride experience.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_Flight_of_Passage

““There were a number of things that people really wanted to do on Pandora, and one of them was flying on the back of a Banshee,” David Lester, show programmer at Walt Disney Imagineering, tells me on a busy press day. In the world of theme parks, Imagineers are the closest thing you can find to rock stars, and the company has doubled the number of Imagineer groups available to discuss Pandora in order to meet the demand. “Every decision about how to create this experience, what technology to use, was all designed with that in mind: How do we make it feel like every person engaging in this experience is truly there?”

The ride mechanics are similar to Soarin’, Disney’s hang-glider simulator. When it begins, audiences face a gigantic 3D screen, with the chairs pivoting and tilting to recreate the feeling of plummeting down the face of a cliff, or pulling left in a tight corkscrew around a floating mountain. Bursts of wind and sprays of mist enhance the sense of immersion, while visually it appears you’re inside Avatar itself. Audiences first met Pandora and the Na’vi in 3D CG environments, and returning to that kind of world in Flight of Passage feels totally organic.

“We're illusion designers,” Imagineering executive producer Amy Jupiter tells me. “The whole thing about individualized flight is that the technology is supposed to fall away. That's our job, to really help you know that you're flying on a Banshee. The first thing that says, ‘Oh, technology!’ will take you out of that.””

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/27/15702590/pandora-world-of-avatar-flight-of-passage-ride-review

[beckykingba2a]

Background Research on Virtual Reality

This is purely research and from websites, it is not my own writing but a compilation of topical broad research on my topic of choice.

http://fortune.com/2016/04/25/disney-nokia-virtual-reality-camera-deal/

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2016/04/25/nokia-technologies-ozo-to-enable-virtual-reality-experiences-for-disney-movies/

“Nokia Technologies (2016) work with Disney to provide equipment and VR technologies to support the creation of special VR content for a range of Disney films. Most recently, Nokia and Disney used OZO to create two 360 videos for the April premiere of Disney's The Jungle Book

OZO will help Disney bring their film properties to life in new ways through an immersive entertainment experience.”

https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/28/9064499/nokia-vr-camera-ozo

“Today Nokia is beginning to lay out its vision. At an event for the entertainment industry in Los Angeles tonight, Nokia is announcing Ozo, a next-generation camera for capturing audio and video in 360 degrees. Nokia intends for the device, which is now in its pre-production phase, to become the default mode of shooting virtual-reality experiences for Hollywood, the media, and the advertising industry. A formal launch, along with a final sale price, is planned for the fall. But Ozo is not a consumer camera — the device is expected to sell in the mid-five figures.

Ozo affixes to a standard tripod and outputs video in standard formats. You can watch Ozo video on a headset like Oculus' or as a 3D video posted to a site like YouTube. The goal was to make a system that would integrate into filmmakers' existing workflows, Nokia executives said, and not to trap them in proprietary file formats.”

https://www.nokia.com/about-us/news/releases/2017/10/10/nokia-focuses-on-patent-brand-and-technology-licensing-and-targets-faster-growth-in-digital-health-with-sharpened-strategy-for-nokia-technologies/

“In digital media, the slower-than-expected development of the VR market means that Nokia Technologies plans to reduce investments and focus more on technology licensing opportunities. The unit aims to halt the development of further versions of the OZO VR camera and hardware while maintaining commitments to existing customers.

The potential reductions are expected to affect up to 310 of the roughly 1090 employees in Nokia Technologies, mainly in Finland, the US and the UK. To start the process, Nokia today has invited employee representatives of Nokia Technologies in Finland to cooperation negotiations.”

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/10/16452114/nokia-killing-off-ozo-virtual-reality-camera-310-jobs-lost

“It was only two years ago that Nokia announced the Ozo camera system and positioned it as a high-end option for filmmakers to capture 360-degree video. The camera originally sold for $60,000, though the price was eventually cut to $45,000. In a press statement, Nokia said it will “maintain commitments” to existing Ozo customers, though did not clarify what that means.”

http://www.goodnewsfinland.com/disney-goes-virtual-nokia-technologies/

“Virtual reality represents a new frontier in storytelling, and we’re thrilled to be bringing this VR technology to the team at Disney,” states Ramzi Haidamus, president at Nokia Technologies. “OZO will help Disney bring their film properties to life in new ways through immersive entertainment experiences, and our focus will be on helping them get the most out of VR as they begin to uncover all that it has to offer.

OZO is the world’s first and sole virtual reality camera for professional content creators. The camera offers real-time VR preview, 3D 360 degree spatial audio and video capture, full compatibility with professional workflows and multiple head-mounted displays. It also significantly reduces post-production time, complexity and cost.”

https://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html

“The Nintendo Virtual Boy (originally known as VR-32) was a 3D gaming console that was hyped to be the first ever portable console that could display true 3D graphics. It was first released in Japan and North America at a price of $180 but it was a commercial failure despite price drops. The reported reasons for this failure were a lack of colour in graphics (games were in red and black), there was a lack of software support and it was difficult to use the console in a comfortable position. The following year they discontinued its production and sale.”

https://futureofstorytelling.org/video/glen-keane-step-into-the-page

“Keane has spent his career embracing new tools, from digital environments to 3D animation to today's virtual reality, which finally enables him to step into his drawings and wander freely through his imagination. At FoST, he'll explore how to tap into your own creativity, connecting to emotion and character more directly than ever before?”

Keane's VR painting is created in Tiltbrush

https://www.blender.org/

“Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation. You can create animation in 2D and add a 3D environment all in this 1 program.”

http://what-when-how.com/hybrid-animation-integrating-2d-and-3d-assets/hybrid-animation-the-main-problems-hybrid-animation-integrating-2d-and-3d-assets-part-1/

“Yet ever since the first appearance of a 3D glowing bauble in a 2D animated film, Disney’s The Black Cauldron, artists have been finding inventive ways to combine the animation media. The use of 2D/3D at Disney predates The Black Cauldron and can be seen in a short test done by John Lassiter titled Where the Wild Things Are (1983).”

https://interestinglyanimated.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/2d3d-animation-combined-disneys-paperman/

“John Kahrs Is Still “Pursuing” This Process At Disney”

https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/05/15/cheaper-vr-is-coming-will-it-be-enough-to-kick-start-consumer-interest/

“The Oculus Go is one device designed to target consumers who have been reluctant to invest in VR because of the price. First revealed in 2017, the Oculus Go is a standalone headset device that doesn’t require a smartphone to be used—nor does it require a bulky computer setup.

Instead, for just $199, users can have a fully immersed VR experience. As you might imagine, the Oculus Go experience won’t be as high-quality as the full Oculus Rift experience, but it should be enough to win over some new users.

The Oculus Rift, for its part, is getting cheaper as well; a headset these days will set you back $399. For this, you’ll still need a sophisticated computer, however, and due to the high price of GPUs, it’s no longer cost-efficient to build your own PC from scratch. You can still expect to pay $1,000 or more for a high-quality gaming PC, though it’s possible to find options for $750 if you don’t mind a budget model. That’s still $1,150 out the door for a full VR setup, however, which is more than many consumers are willing to pay.

Oculus isn’t the only name in VR, of course. Google’s smartphone-based Daydream is already going for around $50, though any VR experience powered by a smartphone is going to be less immersive and detailed than one powered by a gaming PC.

Then there are options like PlayStation VR, which makes use of the PS4 console to give users a high-quality VR experience—though game selection is more limited than it is with a PC and Oculus Rift.

The other issues with VR

Price is one of the biggest issues critics have found with modern VR, but there are other factors keeping the tech from taking off.

Lack of killer content. There isn’t any core content that makes people want to rush out and buy a VR unit. Game consoles often launch with one or two must-have games that draw consumers to the main product, but there aren’t any standout VR titles that have justified a $1,000+ investment. Some piece of content needs to bridge the gap between low-expectation users and technology.

Gaming alignment. Do you have any friends who dislike video games but are obsessed with VR? Probably not. While VR has uses beyond gaming, the general public has a strong association with VR as a piece of gaming technology. There are millions of gamers to market VR to, but VR developers are hoping to reach a wider audience. Because they haven’t been able to shed the gaming-specific association yet, an entire segment of the public is practically unreachable right now.

VR sickness. VR developers also haven’t solved the problem of VR sickness, the motion sickness-like state of nausea that occurs in many users when engaging in a VR world. While many people can engage in VR endlessly without an issue, many others report unpleasant feelings when using VR. It’s certainly not a selling point.

Usability. Today’s smartphone-based VR headsets are lightweight and portable, but the fully-featured headset units are usually wired, clunky, uncomfortable, and not very portable. This lack of usability makes them less appealing to many.

Is price enough?

So far, lower prices have been enough to stimulate more consumer interest. According to Canalys Research analyst Vincent Thielke, “VR adoption in the consumer segment is highly dependent on price, and Oculus’ strategy of lowering prices has definitely helped drive adoption.”

Cumulatively, by the fourth quarter of 2017, more than 1 million VR headsets had been sold across brands—a figure few would have expected, given the clunky, underwhelming start that most brands saw.

VR adoption is definitely growing, but consumer interest remains an issue, and for more complicated, hard-to-fix reasons than price. Getting lower-priced models to market may be beneficial in kick-starting both sales and consumer interest, but it isn’t enough to foster widespread adoption. For that, VR companies will have to dig a bit deeper.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/10/vr-arcades-are-gaming-centers-of-the-future.html

https://www.superdataresearch.com/market-data/virtual-reality-industry-report/

The nascent VR gaming industry earned $286.7 million last year, per SuperData Research. However, the firm projected it will grow into a $2.3 billion industry by 2020.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/10/vr-arcades-are-gaming-centers-of-the-future.html

While there are millions of personal headset owners out there — Sony’s PlayStation VR headset alone sold more than 1 million units as of June 2017 — VR is not yet widespread.

The nascent VR gaming industry earned $286.7 million last year, according to SuperData Research, but could grow $2.3 billion industry by 2020. Though you can buy Google Cardboard viewers for $15 you can use with your smartphone, gaming headsets alone are hundreds of dollars. Facebook’s Oculus Rift starts at $399, while an HTC Vive starts at $599 — not to mention the computers and other equipment you’ll need to run high-end VR experiences.