#for the benefits of 3D for camera angles and complex action scenes

[advertflair-3d]

Elevate Your Product Presentation: Mastering the Art of 3D Product Animation

Introduction:

In a visually-driven digital landscape, capturing the attention of your audience requires more than static images. Enter the realm of 3D product animation – a powerful tool that can transform your product presentation into an engaging and immersive experience. This guide explores the art of presenting your product flawlessly through the dynamic world of 3D animation, offering insights into its benefits and how to harness its potential.

Unveiling the Power of 3D Product Animation:

3D product animation involves creating moving, three-dimensional representations of your product. This dynamic approach goes beyond traditional static imagery, allowing you to showcase your product from every angle, highlight features, and tell a compelling visual story.

Benefits of 3D Product Animation:

Enhanced Visualization: 3D animation provides a comprehensive view of your product, allowing customers to see it in action and explore intricate details.

Versatility: Whether it's a complex machinery demonstration or a sleek consumer product, 3D animation adapts to showcase a diverse range of products effectively.

Increased Engagement: The dynamic and interactive nature of 3D animation captivates audiences, holding their attention for longer periods compared to static visuals.

Storytelling Opportunities: Use animation to narrate the story of your product, emphasizing its unique features, benefits, and value proposition.

Steps to Perfect 3D Product Animation Presentation:

a. Define Your Goals:

Before diving into 3D animation, clearly define your presentation goals. Identify key features, benefits, and the narrative you want to convey to your audience.

b. Choose the Right Style:

Select an animation style that aligns with your brand identity and the nature of your product. Styles can range from realistic and technical to stylized and artistic.

c. Detailed Product Modeling:

Invest in detailed 3D modeling to ensure an accurate representation of your product. High-quality models form the foundation for realistic and visually appealing animations.

d. Scripting and Storyboarding:

Develop a script that outlines the key points you want to convey. Create storyboards to visualize the sequence of scenes, transitions, and camera angles for your animation.

e. Animation Techniques:

Employ animation techniques that showcase your product effectively. This may include smooth rotations, exploded views, or close-ups to highlight specific features.

f. Engaging Narration and Music:

Enhance your 3D product animation with a compelling narration or background music. Audio elements add an extra layer of engagement and help convey your brand message.

g. Interactive Elements:

Consider incorporating interactive elements if your animation will be used in presentations, websites, or apps. Interactive features allow users to engage with the product on their terms.

h. Optimize for Platforms:

Ensure that your 3D product animation is optimized for the platforms where it will be showcased. Whether on your website, social media, or presentations, adapt the resolution and format accordingly.

i. Gather Feedback:

Before finalizing your 3D product animation, gather feedback from target audiences or stakeholders. Use insights to refine your animation and ensure it resonates with your intended audience.

Applications Across Industries:

E-commerce: Showcase products with 3D animations to give customers a virtual "try before you buy" experience.

Manufacturing: Demonstrate the functionality and assembly of complex machinery for training or marketing purposes.

Consumer Electronics: Highlight features and user interactions in a visually appealing manner.

Healthcare: Visualize medical equipment, procedures, or pharmaceutical products for educational or promotional purposes.

Conclusion:

Mastering the art of 3D product animation is a transformative journey that elevates your product presentation to new heights. By combining detailed modeling, engaging storytelling, and interactive elements, you can create a dynamic experience that captivates your audience and leaves a lasting impression. Whether you're in e-commerce, manufacturing, consumer electronics, or healthcare, the versatility of 3D product animation offers endless possibilities to present your products perfectly in the digital realm.

[doodle1212]

Top animation trends in 2023

Animated objects are increasingly popular in the entertainment, marketing, educational, and other sectors of the economy. Since animation has established itself as a powerful means of communication, this industry is always evolving in search of fresh, improved methods of concept visualization. Because of this, animation professionals always research what trends in the industry may draw in larger audiences in the next years.

An animated explainer video can accurately represent your brand and can also be more affordable than live action. A fun, interesting, and concise approach to conveying information is through animation. Because of this, an animated explainer video is useful for providing a brief explanation of a product or service. The animation trends used to engage with consumer viewing habits change along with it. 

Here are the top trends in animation.

Mixed 2D and 3D Animation

A special kind of animation known as "2D and 3D Mixed Animation" mixes the two animation methods to create a highly detailed, visually attractive piece of art. A sense of depth and realism that is not attainable with either method alone is produced by combining 2D and 3D animation.

This enables animators to produce dynamic scenes with realistic movements - something that is impossible with only one of the two methods.

Additionally, mixed animation gives producers more creative freedom when it comes to dynamic camera angles, which is useful when creating films with thrilling action sequences or wide settings.

Animations with AI

AI animation tools and generators can speed up the process and produce a high-quality animated explainer video.

Animation creation in the video game business has undergone a revolution because of AI technologies. Everything uses animation, including lifelike 3D figures and limitless virtual worlds.

Characters and avatars can learn complex motor skills like parkour, dancing, sports, and martial arts using the Deepmotion motion intelligence platform.

Anthropomorphic Animations

Anthropomorphic animations are cartoons containing objects or characters that have features that are similar to those of humans.

These videos typically employ anthropomorphism to enhance the humor, feeling, and relatability of their narratives. Character connection is further enhanced by anthropomorphic animations since the characters become more relatable because they behave more naturally.

When utilized to spread important ideas like environmental awareness, racial equality, and conflict resolution, this style of storytelling is tremendously powerful.

Thin lines animation

Due to the Walt Disney Company and other players in the animation industry, this animation style is almost as ancient as television. To generate shapes and figures in the cartoon, thin line animation uses only basic lines. Simple lines are used to form the cartoon's characters and other features. This sort of animated explainer video has the benefit of being easily produced at a reasonable cost. It also aids in developing personalities that seem entertaining, which is another benefit.

Motion graphics video

A compelling and attractive form of art is motion graphics. Motion graphics combine sound, images, and animation to produce an engaging experience for the eye.

These images usually feature geometric patterns, vivid colors, and leisurely motions that are relaxing to viewers.

By creating a setting that invites viewers to explore it at their own leisure, they can also give enjoyment.

Flat Graphic Animation

This fashion has been around for a while, is still in demand now, and will be discussed for years to come.

Flat graphic animation is clean, contemporary, and—most importantly—it quickly sends information while seeming clean and fresh.

This kind of animated explainer video is a terrific method to make interesting and beautiful explainer videos, product demos, and other types of movies. 

AR/VR Animation

Currently, a lot of animated content—from games and simulations to design and online travel is developed for AR/VR applications.

These remarkable technologies have paved the way for the creation of new, promising animations and the improvement of the user experience for animated content.

Lofi animation 

Lofi animation combines retro color correction and visual effects. The last several years have seen a rise in the popularity of this kind of animation. It is now often utilized in music videos, from animated cartoons to clips of well-known musicians.

Scrolling animation

One of the things we do online the most is scroll. However, it is not always practical because you never know when the scrolling is finished.

Because the photos and other content load as you scroll down, scroll animation helps your website load more rapidly. Businesses can utilize scroll animation in a variety of ways to distinguish their brand and sway consumers.

Animated logos

The business logo is crucial to a company's brand. People frequently remember certain brands just because their logo remained in their minds. This actually demonstrates the reason why many companies are switching to better, animated logos.

Animated logos elicit a stronger reaction than the flat logos to which we are all used. In the coming years, its popularity is likely to increase.

Kinetic Typography

Typography is the peak of graphic design because all that is needed to create stunning broken texts is the right font choice. Designers progressively stretch, bend, pixelate, and even change the text in all dimensions, which usually produces letter formations that are almost three-dimensional.

Key takeaway

The secret to effectively communicating with your target audience is always flawless animation. However, because of how difficult the creation process is, it requires specialized knowledge and abilities.

Trends in video design are constantly evolving. They mirror changes in society because they are highly open to them. This list of trends should also encourage you to use design creativity in an animated explainer video produced to boost the success and recognition of your business with the best motion graphic video design services.

[enchantmentrecordings]

Lights, Camera, Action Unveiling the Magic of Video Production Services

In a world where visual content reigns supreme, the power of video cannot be underestimated. Video production services bring stories to life, captivate audiences, and convey messages in a dynamic and engaging manner. From storytelling to marketing, education to entertainment, video production services play a vital role in various industries. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the significance of video production services, their diverse applications, the creative process behind them, and how they shape the way we perceive and interact with content.

The Importance of Video Production Services

Engaging Content: Video is inherently engaging, capturing attention and holding it far more effectively than other forms of media.

Storytelling Medium: Video production services excel at telling stories, evoking emotions, and conveying messages that resonate with audiences.

Visual Communication: Videos communicate complex ideas quickly and effectively, making them an ideal tool for education, marketing, and information dissemination.

Memorable Impact: People are more likely to remember information presented through video, thanks to the combination of visuals, sound, and emotional engagement.

Versatile Medium: Video production services can be used for a multitude of purposes, including branding, advertisements, documentaries, tutorials, and more.

Applications of Video Production Services

Corporate Marketing: Videos help businesses tell their brand story, showcase products, and connect with customers on a personal level.

Educational Content: Educational institutions and e-learning platforms use videos to deliver engaging and interactive lessons to students of all ages.

Entertainment Industry: Video production services bring movies, TV shows, music videos, and web series to life, offering entertainment for audiences worldwide.

Social Media Marketing: Short, impactful videos dominate social media platforms, allowing brands to connect with audiences on various channels.

Product Demonstrations: Videos provide an effective way to demonstrate product features, benefits, and usage, enhancing customer understanding.

The Creative Process of Video Production

Pre-Production: This stage involves concept development, scriptwriting, storyboarding, location scouting, casting, and planning for the shoot.

Production: The actual shooting takes place during this stage, with a focus on capturing scenes, dialogue, and visuals according to the storyboard.

Post-Production: Editing, sound design, visual effects, color correction, and adding music are done in this stage to bring the video to its final form.

Distribution and Marketing: Once the video is ready, it's distributed through various channels like social media, websites, and streaming platforms.

Feedback and Iteration: Feedback from viewers is valuable for improving future video production services and refining storytelling techniques.

Crafting Compelling Videos

Visual Aesthetics: The use of lighting, camera angles, composition, and color schemes plays a significant role in creating visually appealing videos.

Emotional Appeal: Videos evoke emotions through storytelling, music, and visuals, forming a connection with the audience.

Narrative Structure: An engaging narrative structure with a clear beginning, middle, and end keeps viewers invested in the story.

Effective Editing: Skillful editing ensures seamless transitions, pacing, and the elimination of unnecessary content.

Incorporating Technology: Advanced technology, including drones, 3D animation, and virtual reality, adds a layer of innovation to video production services.

The Impact of Video Production on Consumer Behavior

Increased Engagement: Videos drive higher engagement rates than other content types, capturing and retaining viewer attention.

Boosting Conversion Rates: Videos on product pages or in marketing campaigns lead to higher conversion rates and increased sales.

Improved SEO: Videos can improve a website's search engine rankings, increasing visibility and driving more organic traffic.

Brand Awareness: Consistent video content can enhance brand recognition and foster a loyal audience.

Educational Value: Tutorial and explainer videos establish brands as authoritative sources and provide valuable information to consumers.

Collaboration and Expertise in Video Production Services

Multidisciplinary Team: Video production services involve various roles, including directors, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, and more.

Creative Vision: Video production services combine technical expertise with creative vision, resulting in content that aligns with a brand's goals.

Professional Equipment: High-quality cameras, lighting setups, and editing software are essential for producing polished videos.

Client Collaboration: Effective communication between video production teams and clients ensures the final product meets expectations.

Continual Learning: Video production is a constantly evolving field, with professionals constantly updating their skills to stay ahead.

Video production services are a dynamic force that shapes the way we consume information, experience stories, and engage with brands. From corporate marketing to educational content, videos have transcended their role as mere entertainment to become an integral part of our lives. Through careful planning, creative storytelling, technical expertise, and cutting-edge technology, video production services unlock the potential of visual communication, bringing stories and ideas to life in a way that captivates, educates, and inspires. Whether you're a business owner, educator, content creator, or consumer, the impact of video production services on our digital landscape is undeniable, forever transforming the way we connect and interact with the world around us.

[connorcarter32]

Planning For Negotiated Project Film

Reading List:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376541/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527186/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_7 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1191111/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notes_from_Underground https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_Godot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton

Notes:

Feelings of euphoria.

Existentialism and absurdity.

Perspective changes with musical mode.

Fixed camera angles ((needs testing) Better with fluid camera)..

Dream-Wave music, alongside imagery with similar feelings. 

60’s - 80’s bias in subject matter.

Photo-realistic style (or as close as possible to it).

Albert Camus and focus on the origins of an individual.

Also considers the meaninglessness of the world as a whole. 

Film will have a lack of coherent rules to portray the films world as meaningless (i.e. each corner turned is a drastically different setting, basic physics don't apply). 

Following Camus’ beliefs it will advocate against any injustice and discrimination.

3D animated style will benefit the film, as it’s perceived as less meaningful then live action and general audiences, furthermore unnatural occurrences are easier to produce.

Music video style helps ground the dynamic stylistic choices in more realism. 

Jean-Paul Sartre Theory:

"condemned to be free”.This theory relies upon his position that there is no creator, and is illustrated using the example of the paper cutter. Sartre says that if one considered a paper cutter, one would assume that the creator would have had a plan for it: an essence. Sartre said that human beings have no essence before their existence because there is no Creator. Thus: "existence precedes essence".

^imagery could consist of unnatural items or tools, like a glass mallet.

SCENE 1

EXT. DESERT PLAINS

An arid black desert is still, and a sinister purple sun rises from the horizon, illuminating the black sand. After it reaches its peak in the sky an obelisk of a second green sun slowly rises and bleaches the colours of the setting. 

TITLE

SCENE 2

(Long shot)

A drag PILGRIM wearing robes traverses the sands across a flat, featureless plain. 

(Long shots)

After an extensive cut of his tribulations, the plains start to become populated with dilapidated pylons. One has its cables spread across the ground. PILGRIM carefully steps over each cable, as a volatile hissing emits from them. 

SCENE 3

PILGRIM Comes across a farming patch that seems rather barren despite some scraps here and there. 

He takes a nearby shovel, and tills one of the patches.  He produces an array of vegetables that have the textures of meat, and one by one he notes his findings in a small book from his robes. 

SCENE 4

(Mid Shot)

An arid wind is heard, alerting the PILGRIM. A dark hue lingers in the air as a sandstorm brews. The PILGRIM falls to the ground and withdraws into his robe, as the storm washes over him and envelops the scene. 

SCENE 4

INT. RUINED CHAMBER 

Once the storm had subsided, it has uncovered the decrepit hallway, which lies before the PILGRIM. 

Once he stands and staves off the adrenaline, The candles lined up on the walls flicker, as if beckoning him towards the back wall. 

The back wall crumbles and a radiant purple light floods the hall, drowning the light of the candles. 

The walls begin slowly pulsing forward, getting faster, pushing him backwards. Little progress is made as he struggles towards the Source of light. The hall then twists and contours. 

SCENE 5

Once being pushed out from the hallway, the previous desert is now a vast empty space above the clouds. PILGRIM falls, struggling to stabilise himself. Once passing the cloud layer, a dense green field is seen from below, the sky unnaturally blending in with the verdant green tones. 

Eventually he strikes the ground at an accelerated pace, by a patch of dense purple flowers, congregating only in a small circle around PILGRIM. 

He stands up and observes his surroundings. His hand reaches for the grass below, however the blades snap and crumble like ice. 

SCENE 6

In the distance, another Human figure stands alone, brandishing a glass sword. PILGRIM excitedly hurries over to them, however they are met with hostility, they are clearly scared. once they stand before one another the figure strikes PILGRIM, however the blade shatters to dust. 

PILGRIM embraces the figure, who is much the same of he. 

FADE TO BLACK

-END

Tests and Progress:

Use of a purple horizon to represent royalty, or a regal feeling, within something that is unobtainable, lending to the feeling of meaninglessness. 

Dilapidated pylons to discredit the industrialism that is believed by existentialists to have fronted a mindset of seeking purpose amidst material.  This also represents how the objects essence is already defined, despite the scenario and setting making them meaningless. 

Music:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yLEGBiNPHb1gKg2ZsU0LSNMZqIST1MEP

Animation Test:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HJ_bNrZtDLvN_8Hq1_UPg1Rtw0ySmK0L

Production preview:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BqMqnL1hQrxbtfv5PRXYeeafNpcuzBg6/view?usp=sharing

Made in a more mediocre render engine, compensating the look of lighting and textures for much faster render times. This allowed me to experiment with shot types and different animation key-frames and shape keys, since the render times were within an hour. 

Despite my lack of experience I thought that this scene in particular came out quite well. There’s some complex movements that I made without the use of reference images. 

[postgamecontent]

Landstalker: SEGA Genesis RPG Spotlight #3

Original Release Date: October 30, 1992

Original Hardware: SEGA Mega Drive

Developer/Publisher: Climax Entertainment/SEGA

I've already gone into the history of Climax Entertainment and SEGA's ultimately fruitless search for their own Zelda-killer, but both topics are quite relevant as we discuss Landstalker, the 1992 Genesis action-RPG most well-known for its isometric perspective. The game's developer, Climax Entertainment, was founded in 1990 by a former programmer on the Dragon Quest series named Kan Naito. Its first two projects were jointly developed with Sonic! Software Planning and should be familiar to anyone who has found their way to this article. Shining in the Darkness is a first-person dungeon crawler that kicked off SEGA's long-running Shining series. Shining Force, a turn-based tactical RPG, is perhaps the most celebrated entry in that series. Climax's contributions to those games included vital elements such as art and programming, but the series was ultimately the child of Sonic! and would proceed solely in their care after the first two installments.

Having worked on a dungeon crawl RPG and a tactical RPG, Climax had already started making a name for themselves with fans of the role-playing genre. It made sense that their first wholly-developed title would also be an RPG. While Climax was independent of SEGA, they had a good relationship with the publisher at this point. Perhaps out of a desire to get away from turn-based games and try something new, or perhaps to help SEGA try to find its Zelda, Climax decided their new game would be an action-RPG. Someone on staff must have been a fan of British computer games, because they also opted for an isometric viewpoint for their game, a relatively unusual choice among Japanese-developed games of the time.

Back before hardware could easily handle a lot of polygons, you basically had a few choices if you wanted to make a 3D game. To start with, no matter which route you took, your camera would almost certainly have to be fixed. Many developers opted to use an overhead view, which allowed players to move easily in any direction and see the world around them without any issues. This worked well for many genres and was quite popular as a result. The only catch is that the player is usually so far above the action that it hardly feels like a real 3D space. In fact, most of these games simply swapped one dimension for another, as the ability to move in all directions often took the place of any real verticality.

Another option was to go with a first-person view. Again, the camera was essentially fixed in most of the early games that went in this direction. The hardware simply couldn't handle a player moving about and looking as they liked. As such, games played from this point of view usually had the player move in fixed chunks of distance. This kind of stop-and-go gameplay was best suited for games with a more leisurely pace, such as RPGs or adventure games. Some clever programming and design was being applied to bring this perspective to PC action games around the time of Landstalker's development, but it would still be a while before consoles would enjoy the fruits of that. The benefits here are obvious. Having the player look through the character's eyes makes the game feel more lifelike and the world more three-dimensional. The main drawback is that it gave players a very limited view of the area around them.

Then there was the isometric perspective. Skewing things at that angle allowed the world to express depth without giving up the player's ability to see all around them at a glance. With this method, it was easier to create games that afforded players the ability to move in all directions while still being able to jump and climb. It could also be quite cinematic if things were set up the right way. This viewpoint was popularized by Ultimate Play the Game's Knightlore, which spawned a cottage industry of clones in the British computer gaming scene in the 1980s. While this seems like the ideal choice for an action-adventure, there's a serious drawback that becomes almost immediately obvious to anyone after playing one of these games for a little while.

Simply put, the depth is an illusion. Our ability to perceive how far or close objects are to us depends greatly on methods that could not be easily replicated by a 2D television at the time. Polygonal games could alleviate this issue by allowing the player to move the camera, giving them the chance to compare objects and figure out where they were, relative to one another. Sprite-based games had no such luxury for the player, who was at the mercy of the developer's ability and/or desire to lay things out in a manner that wasn't confusing. This is not an easy task by any means, and many developers simply couldn't resist using depth perception issues to hide secrets and trick the player. It's that specific respect that makes the isometric viewpoint somewhat controversial among players.

On top of that, most controllers since Nintendo's 8-bit hardware launched use a directional pad for movement. Such pads typically emphasize the cardinal directions, and that left the developer with a difficult choice. What happens when the player pushes up on the pad? Will they go to the upper-left, or will they go to the upper-right? Do you force them to use diagonals so that things match up properly? I think there's a good reason why the most popular isometric games tended to be slower-paced affairs. But there's always someone who tries to ice skate uphill, and over the course of their first decade of existence Climax would keep on taking a run at just that.

Landstalker in a lot of ways is asking more of this perspective than any of Climax's other isometric games. Battles are often crowded and take place right on the map, requiring you to quickly turn directions to stave off enemies coming at you from all around. There's a fair bit of complex platforming, much of it involving moving platforms whose relationships to each other aren't always obvious. Missteps will send you hurtling back to the start of whatever you were trying to climb. Secrets are hidden behind pieces of the scenery that the camera can't see, and some of them require you to jump onto ledges and objects that aren't visible to you. Should you happen to run out of life hearts and have no healing items left, you'll be unceremoniously dumped back to the title screen, forced to replay from your last save point. Said save point is likely in a nearby town, so you pretty much have to complete dungeons in one go. Naturally, you can't move the camera an inch.

What this all comes down to is that while Landstalker has a lot of qualities that almost everyone can agree on, it's an incredibly divisive game. Its gorgeous visuals, strong soundtrack, and interesting puzzle designs make it hard to outright hate, but the line between mediocre and masterpiece appears to lay in how well the individual can get along with the necessary outcomes of its isometric perspective. I've noticed that those well-versed in those Knightlore-inspired UK computer games have less of a problem getting over that hurdle than those who were raised on a diet of Japanese console games or American arcade games. That makes a lot of sense, given that learning to cope with the quirks of the viewpoint weren't part of the education of a lot of players outside of that particular group. Arcade players had Marble Madness, but that controlled with a trackball. Console players only had the odd PC port from Electronic Arts or the occasional release from Ultimate Play the Game themselves under their new name of Rare.

I feel like I grew up on a relatively mixed diet of computers, arcades, and consoles. The first games I played were in arcade cabinets. The first machine I had in my home capable of playing games was a Commodore 64. But though I was late to the console party, once I got my Nintendo Entertainment System I was in, all the way. Yet for all the British classics I played on that C64, I never did get into isometric games all that much. In turn, it's something I feel like I'm fighting with every step of the way when I play Landstalker. I have a good time with literally every aspect of the game except the basic controls. Curiously, it's a far greater issue for me here than it is with Dark Savior, one of the game's follow-ups. But then again, that game allows me to move the camera a little, isn't as punishing when I fail, and moves its combat to a far simpler arena.

Outside of that admittedly major issue, I have nothing but praise for Landstalker. The environments are varied, the overworld feels big, and the dungeons are cleverly designed with puzzles a-plenty. I love the art style, and the designs fit the Genesis's capabilities perfectly. The story isn't nearly as simple as it initially appears, though like Dark Savior its ending sort of fizzles to nothing. You get a surprisingly good sense of the characters in spite of relatively little dialogue for some of them, and the more developed characters really come out well. It's about on the level of a silly Saturday morning cartoon in most respects, but it's at least a good one. I love that wherever it feels like there should be a secret, there is one. I also genuinely appreciate that this is a game where effort is typically rewarded with something of appropriate value. The game aggravates the heck out of me, but after I get through one of those wall-punching situations, I usually feel pretty good about it.

In some ways, I find Landstalker more enjoyable on a replay. You know what to expect, you've seen your way through the worst of it once before, and you know what you can look forward to. But the controls and perspective, so annoying at the time, feel worse every time I come back. I also find myself less tolerant of the many moments where the developer knew exactly what kind of unfair trickery they were relying on and did it anyway. It's a bizarre habit of Climax. Instead of designing their games around obscuring the weak points, they tend to shine a bright flashlight directly upon them. This isn't a problem, Landstalker says. It's so very much not a problem that we're going to force you to deal with it as much as possible. I'd love to chalk that up to their relative newcomer status at the time of Landstalker's release, but it's a behavior that persists in their work. The most recent Climax game I played, the dreadful Kingdom of Paradise for the PSP, was similarly proud of its shortcomings.

Looking at Landstalker from a design standpoint, it's clear that Climax could have made a high quality action-RPG that might have pleased a wider crowd had they only stuck closer to the conventions of the genre. That said, it's hard to be too down on a developer for trying something different. There are a lot of people who have no problems with Landstalker's controls and platforming, and for them, it's a game that gives a Zelda-like feeling without directly copying Zelda. That's something precious, particularly in Landstalker's era. I think it says a lot for Landstalker that in spite of my borderline hatred of its fundamental mechanics, I still think it's a really great game. It just has a really big asterisk next to it, is all.

Interestingly, if you want to play Landstalker today, your options are quite limited. It's available on the Wii Virtual Console, the PC SEGA Genesis & Mega Drive Classics Collection, and in its original cartridge form. None of the console SEGA Genesis collections include the game, and although it would have benefited better than most from a SEGA 3D Classic treatment on the 3DS, there's no such luck there either. Wherever you choose to play it, make sure you've got a good directional pad to work with. The game isn't terribly long, so if you can deal with its flaws, it's certainly worth the time for a playthrough.

Previous: Beyond Oasis

Next: Sword of Vermillion

If you enjoyed reading this article and can’t wait to get more, consider subscribing to the Post Game Content Patreon. Just $1/month gets you early access to articles like this one, exclusive extra posts, and my undying thanks.

[techscorn]

Incredible tech! via TechCrunch

“The Mandalorian” was a pretty good show. On that most people seem to agree. But while a successful live-action Star Wars TV series is important in its own right, the way this particular show was made represents a far greater change, perhaps the most important since the green screen. The cutting edge tech (literally) behind “The Mandalorian” creates a new standard and paradigm for media — and the audience will be none the wiser.

What is this magical new technology? It’s an evolution of a technique that’s been in use for nearly a century in one form or another: displaying a live image behind the actors. The advance is not in the idea but the execution: a confluence of technologies that redefines “virtual production” and will empower a new generation of creators.

As detailed in an extensive report in American Cinematographer Magazine (I’ve been chasing this story for some time, but suspected this venerable trade publication would get the drop on me), the production process of “The Mandalorian” is completely unlike any before, and it’s hard to imagine any major film production not using the technology going forward.

“So what the hell is it?” I hear you asking.

Meet “the Volume.”

Formally called Stagecraft, it’s 20 feet tall, 270 degrees around, and 75 feet across — the largest and most sophisticated virtual filmmaking environment yet made. ILM just today publicly released a behind-the-scenes video of the system in use, as well as a number of new details about it.

It’s not easy being green

In filmmaking terms, a “volume” generally refers to a space where motion capture and compositing take place. Some volumes are big and built into sets, as you might have seen in behind-the-scenes footage of Marvel or Star Wars movies. Some are smaller, plainer affairs, where the motions of the actors behind CG characters play out their roles.

But they generally have one thing in common: They’re static. Giant, bright green, blank expanses.

Does that look like fun to shoot in?

One of the most difficult things for an actor in modern filmmaking is getting into character while surrounded by green walls, foam blocks indicating obstacles to be painted in later and people with mocap dots on their face and suits with ping-pong balls attached. Not to mention everything has green reflections that need to be lit or colored out.

Advances some time ago (think prequels-era Star Wars) enabled cameras to display a rough pre-visualization of what the final film would look like, instantly substituting CG backgrounds and characters onto monitors. Sure, that helps with composition and camera movement, but the world of the film isn’t there, the way it is with practical sets and on-site shoots.

Practical effects were a deliberate choice for “The Child” (AKA Baby Yoda) as well.

What’s more, because of the limitations in rendering CG content, the movements of the camera are often restricted to a dolly track or a few pre-selected shots for which the content (and lighting, as we’ll see) has been prepared.

This particular volume, called Stagecraft by ILM, the company that put it together, is not static. The background is a set of enormous LED screens such as you might have seen onstage at conferences and concerts. The Stagecraft volume is bigger than any of those — but more importantly, it’s smarter.

See, it’s not enough to just show an image behind the actors. Filmmakers have been doing that with projected backgrounds since the silent era! And that’s fine if you just want to have a fake view out of a studio window or fake a location behind a static shot. The problem arises when you want to do anything more fancy than that, like move the camera. Because when the camera moves, it immediately becomes clear that the background is a flat image.

The innovation in Stagecraft and other, smaller LED walls (the more general term for these backgrounds) is not only that the image shown is generated live in photorealistic 3D by powerful GPUs, but that 3D scene is directly affected by the movements and settings of the camera. If the camera moves to the right, the image alters just as if it were a real scene.

This is remarkably hard to achieve. In order for it to work, the camera must send its real-time position and orientation to, essentially, a beast of a gaming PC, because this and other setups like it generally run on the Unreal engine. This must take that movement and render it exactly in the 3D environment, with attendant changes to perspective, lighting, distortion, depth of field and so on — all fast enough so that those changes can be shown on the giant wall a fraction of a second later. After all, if the movement lagged even by a few frames it would be noticeable to even the most naive viewer.

Yet fully half of the scenes in “The Mandalorian” were shot within Stagecraft, and my guess is no one had any idea. Interior, exterior, alien worlds or spaceship cockpits, all used this giant volume for one purpose or another.

[gallery ids="1949115,1949123,1949122,1949124"]

There are innumerable technological advances that have contributed to this; “The Mandalorian” could not have been made as it was five years ago. The walls weren’t ready; the rendering tech wasn’t ready; the tracking wasn’t ready — nothing was ready. But it’s ready now.

It must be mentioned that Jon Favreau has been a driving force behind this filmmaking method for years now; films like the remake of “The Lion King” were in some ways tech tryouts for “The Mandalorian.” Combined with advances made by James Cameron in virtual filmmaking, and, of course, the indefatigable Andy Serkis’s work in motion capture, this kind of production is only just now becoming realistic due to a confluence of circumstances.

Not just for SFX

Of course Stagecraft is probably also the most expensive and complex production environments ever used. But what it adds in technological overhead (and there’s a lot) it more than pays back in all kinds of benefits.

For one thing, it nearly eliminates on-location shooting, which is phenomenally expensive and time-consuming. Instead of going to Tunisia to get those wide-open desert shots, you can build a sandy set and put a photorealistic desert behind the actors. You can even combine these ideas for the best of both worlds: Send a team to scout locations in Tunisia and capture them in high-definition 3D to be used as a virtual background.

This last option produces an amazing secondary benefit: Reshoots are way easier. If you filmed at a bar in Santa Monica and changes to the dialogue mean you have to shoot the scene over again, no need to wrangle permits and painstakingly light the bar again. Instead, the first time you’re there, you carefully capture the whole scene with the exact lighting and props you had there the first time and use that as a virtual background for the reshoots.

The fact that many effects and backgrounds can be rendered ahead of time and shot in-camera rather than composited in later saves a lot of time and money. It also streamlines the creative process, with decisions able to be made on the spot by the filmmakers and actors, since the volume is reactive to their needs, not vice versa.

Lighting is another thing that is vastly simplified, in some ways at least, by something like Stagecraft. The bright LED wall can provide a ton of illumination, and because it actually represents the scene, that illumination is accurate to the needs of that scene. A red-lit interior of a space station, and the usual falling sparks and so on, shows red on the faces and of course the highly reflective helmet of the Mandalorian himself. Yet the team can also tweak it, for instance sticking a bright white line high on the LED wall out of sight of the camera but which creates a pleasing highlight on the helmet.

Naturally there are some trade-offs. At 20 feet tall, the volume is large but not so large that wide shots won’t capture the top of it, above which you’d see cameras and a different type of LED (the ceiling is also a display, though not as powerful). This necessitates some rotoscoping and post-production, or limits the angles and lenses one can shoot with — but that’s true of any soundstage or volume.

A shot like this would need a little massaging in post, obviously.

The size of the LEDs, that is of the pixels themselves, also limits how close the camera can get to them, and of course you can’t zoom in on an object for closer inspection. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with Moiré patterns, those stripes you often see on images of screens.

Stagecraft is not the first application of LED walls — they’ve been used for years at smaller scales — but it is certainly by far the most high-profile, and “The Mandalorian” is the first real demonstration of what’s possible using this technology. And believe me, it’s not a one-off.

I’ve been told that nearly every production house is building or experimenting with LED walls of various sizes and types — the benefits are that obvious. TV productions can save money but look just as good. Movies can be shot on more flexible schedules. Actors who hate working in front of green screens may find this more palatable. And you better believe commercials are going to find a way to use these as well.

In short, a few years from now it’s going to be uncommon to find a production that doesn’t use an LED wall in some form or another. This is the new standard.

This is only a general overview of the technology that ILM, Disney and their many partners and suppliers are working on. In a follow-up article I’ll be sharing more detailed technical information directly from the production team and technologists who created Stagecraft and its attendant systems.

[ajayuikey]

“The Mandalorian” was a pretty good show. On that most people seem to agree. But while a successful live-action Star Wars TV series is important in its own right, the way this particular show was made represents a far greater change, perhaps the most important since the green screen. The cutting edge tech (literally) behind “The Mandalorian” creates a new standard and paradigm for media — and the audience will none the wiser.

What is this magical new technology? It’s an evolution of a technique that’s been in use for nearly a century in one form or another: displaying a live image behind the actors. But the advance is not in the idea but the execution: a confluence of technologies that redefines “virtual production” and will empower a new generation of creators.

As detailed in an extensive report in American Cinematographer Magazine (I’ve been chasing this story for some time but suspected this venerable trade publication would get the drop on me), the production process of “The Mandalorian” is completely unlike any before, and it’s hard to imagine any major film production not using the technology going forward.

“So what the hell is it?” I hear you asking.

Meet “The Volume.”

Formally called Stagecraft, it’s 20 feet tall, 270 degrees around, and 75 feet across — the largest and most sophisticated virtual filmmaking environment yet made. ILM just today publicly released a behind-the-scenes video of the system in use as well as a number of new details about it.

It’s not easy being green

In filmmaking terms, a “volume” generally refers to a space where motion capture and compositing take place. Some volumes are big and built into sets, as you might have seen in behind-the-scenes footage of Marvel or Star Wars movies. Some are smaller, plainer affairs where the motions of the actors behind CG characters play out their roles.

But they generally have one thing in common: They’re static. Giant, bright green, blank expanses.

Does that look like fun to shoot in?

One of the most difficult things for an actor in modern filmmaking is getting into character while surrounded by green walls, foam blocks indicating obstacles to be painted in later, and people with mocap dots on their face and suits with ping-pong balls attached. Not to mention everything has green reflections that need to be lit or colored out.

Advances some time ago (think prequels-era Star Wars) enabled cameras to display a rough pre-visualization of what the final film would look like, instantly substituting CG backgrounds and characters onto monitors. Sure, that helps with composition and camera movement, but the world of the film isn’t there, the way it is with practical sets and on-site shoots.

Practical effects were a deliberate choice for “The Child” (AKA Baby Yoda) as well.

What’s more, because of the limitations in rendering CG content, the movements of the camera are often restricted to a dolly track or a few pre-selected shots for which the content (and lighting, as we’ll see) has been prepared.

This particular volume, called Stagecraft by ILM, the company that put it together, is not static. The background is a set of enormous LED screens such as you might have seen on stage at conferences and concerts. The Stagecraft volume is bigger than any of those — but more importantly, it’s smarter.

See, it’s not enough to just show an image behind the actors. Filmmakers have been doing that with projected backgrounds since the silent era! And that’s fine if you just want to have a fake view out of a studio window or fake a location behind a static shot. The problem arises when you want to do anything more fancy than that, like move the camera. Because when the camera moves, it immediately becomes clear that the background is a flat image.

The innovation in Stagecraft and other, smaller LED walls (the more general term for these backgrounds) is not only that the image shown is generated live in photorealistic 3D by powerful GPUs, but that 3D scene is directly affected by the movements and settings of the camera. If the camera moves to the right, the image alters just as if it was a real scene.

This is remarkably hard to achieve. In order for it to work the camera must send its real-time position and orientation to, essentially, a beast of a gaming PC, since this and other setups like it generally run on the Unreal engine. This must take that movement and render it exactly in the 3D environment, with attendant changes to perspective, lighting, distortion, depth of field and so on — all fast enough so that those changes can be shown on the giant wall a fraction of a second later. After all, if the movement lagged even by a few frames it would be noticeable to even the most naive viewer.

Yet fully half of the scenes in The Mandalorian were shot within Stagecraft, and my guess is no one had any idea. Interior, exterior, alien worlds or spaceship cockpits, all used this giant volume for one purpose or another.

There are innumerable technological advances that have contributed to this; The Mandalorian could not have been made as it was five years ago. The walls weren’t ready; The rendering tech wasn’t ready; The tracking wasn’t ready — nothing was ready. But it’s ready now.

It must be mentioned that Jon Favreau has been a driving force behind this filmmaking method for years now; Films like remake of The Lion King were in some ways tech tryouts for The Mandalorian. Combined with advances made by James Cameron in virtual filmmaking and of course the indefatigable Andy Serkis’s work in motion capture, this kind of production is only just now becoming realistic due to a confluence of circumstances.

Not just for SFX

Of course Stagecraft is probably also the most expensive and complex production environments ever used. But what it adds in technological overhead (and there’s a lot) it more than pays back in all kinds of benefits.

For one thing, it nearly eliminates on-location shooting, which is phenomenally expensive and time-consuming. Instead of going to Tunisia to get those wide-open desert shots, you can build a sandy set and put a photorealistic desert behind the actors. You can even combine these ideas for the best of both worlds: Send a team to scout locations in Tunisia and capture them in high-definition 3D to be used as a virtual background.

This last option produces an amazing secondary benefit: Reshoots are way easier. If you filmed at a bar in Santa Monica and changes to the dialogue mean you have to shoot the scene over again, no need to wrangle permits and painstakingly light the bar again. Instead, the first time you’re there, you carefully capture the whole scene with the exact lighting and props you had there the first time and use that as a virtual background for the reshoots.

The fact that many effects and backgrounds can be rendered ahead of time and shot in-camera rather than composited in later saves a lot of time and money. It also streamlines the creative process, with decisions able to be made on the spot by the filmmakers and actors, since the volume is reactive to their needs, not vice versa.

Lighting is another thing that is vastly simplified, in some ways at least, by something like Stagecraft. The bright LED wall can provide a ton of illumination, and because it actually represents the scene, that illumination is accurate to the needs of that scene. A red-lit interior of a space station, and the usual falling sparks and so on, shows red on the faces and of course the highly reflective helmet of the Mandalorian himself. Yet the team can also tweak it, for instance sticking a bright white line high on the LED wall out of sight of the camera but which creates a pleasing highlight on the helmet.

Naturally there are some trade-offs. At 20 feet tall, the volume is large but not so large that wide shots won’t capture the top of it, above which you’d see cameras and a different type of LED (the ceiling is also a display, though not as powerful). This necessitates some rotoscoping and post-production, or limits the angles and lenses one can shoot with — but that’s true of any soundstage or volume.

A shot like this would need a little massaging in post, obviously.

The size of the LEDs, that is of the pixels themselves, also limits how close the camera can get to them, and of course you can’t zoom in on an object for closer inspection. If you’re not careful you’ll end up with Moiré patterns, those stripes you often see on images of screens.

Stagecraft is not the first application of LED walls — they’ve been used for years at smaller scales — but it is certainly by far the most high-profile and The Mandalorian is the first real demonstration of what’s possible using this technology. And believe me, it’s not a one-off.

I’ve been told that nearly every production house is building or experimenting with LED walls of various sizes and types — the benefits are that obvious. TV productions can save money but look just as good. Movies can be shot on more flexible schedules. Actors who hate working in front of green screens may find this more palatable. And you better believe commercials are going to find a way to use these as well.

In short, a few years from now it’s going to be uncommon to find a production that doesn’t use an LED wall in some form or another. This is the new standard.

This is only a general overview of the technology that ILM, Disney, and their many partners and suppliers are working on. In a follow-up article I’ll be sharing more detailed technical information directly from the production team and technologists who created Stagecraft and its attendant systems.

[ad_2] Source link

How ‘The Mandalorian’ and ILM invisibly reinvented film and TV production – TechCrunch “The Mandalorian” was a pretty good show. On that most people seem to agree. But while a successful live-action Star Wars TV series is important in its own right, the way this particular show was made represents a far greater change, perhaps the most important since the green screen.

[magzoso-tech]

How ‘The Mandalorian’ and ILM invisibly reinvented film and TV production

New Post has been published on http://rebrand.ly/t0mcxbu

How ‘The Mandalorian’ and ILM invisibly reinvented film and TV production

“The Mandalorian” was a pretty good show. On that most people seem to agree. But while a successful live-action Star Wars TV series is important in its own right, the way this particular show was made represents a far greater change, perhaps the most important since the green screen. The cutting edge tech (literally) behind “The Mandalorian” creates a new standard and paradigm for media — and the audience will be none the wiser.

What is this magical new technology? It’s an evolution of a technique that’s been in use for nearly a century in one form or another: displaying a live image behind the actors. The advance is not in the idea but the execution: a confluence of technologies that redefines “virtual production” and will empower a new generation of creators.

As detailed in an extensive report in American Cinematographer Magazine (I’ve been chasing this story for some time, but suspected this venerable trade publication would get the drop on me), the production process of “The Mandalorian” is completely unlike any before, and it’s hard to imagine any major film production not using the technology going forward.

“So what the hell is it?” I hear you asking.

Meet “the Volume.”

Formally called Stagecraft, it’s 20 feet tall, 270 degrees around, and 75 feet across — the largest and most sophisticated virtual filmmaking environment yet made. ILM just today publicly released a behind-the-scenes video of the system in use, as well as a number of new details about it.

It’s not easy being green

In filmmaking terms, a “volume” generally refers to a space where motion capture and compositing take place. Some volumes are big and built into sets, as you might have seen in behind-the-scenes footage of Marvel or Star Wars movies. Some are smaller, plainer affairs, where the motions of the actors behind CG characters play out their roles.

But they generally have one thing in common: They’re static. Giant, bright green, blank expanses.

Does that look like fun to shoot in?

One of the most difficult things for an actor in modern filmmaking is getting into character while surrounded by green walls, foam blocks indicating obstacles to be painted in later and people with mocap dots on their face and suits with ping-pong balls attached. Not to mention everything has green reflections that need to be lit or colored out.

Advances some time ago (think prequels-era Star Wars) enabled cameras to display a rough pre-visualization of what the final film would look like, instantly substituting CG backgrounds and characters onto monitors. Sure, that helps with composition and camera movement, but the world of the film isn’t there, the way it is with practical sets and on-site shoots.

Practical effects were a deliberate choice for “The Child” (AKA Baby Yoda) as well.

What’s more, because of the limitations in rendering CG content, the movements of the camera are often restricted to a dolly track or a few pre-selected shots for which the content (and lighting, as we’ll see) has been prepared.

This particular volume, called Stagecraft by ILM, the company that put it together, is not static. The background is a set of enormous LED screens such as you might have seen onstage at conferences and concerts. The Stagecraft volume is bigger than any of those — but more importantly, it’s smarter.

See, it’s not enough to just show an image behind the actors. Filmmakers have been doing that with projected backgrounds since the silent era! And that’s fine if you just want to have a fake view out of a studio window or fake a location behind a static shot. The problem arises when you want to do anything more fancy than that, like move the camera. Because when the camera moves, it immediately becomes clear that the background is a flat image.

The innovation in Stagecraft and other, smaller LED walls (the more general term for these backgrounds) is not only that the image shown is generated live in photorealistic 3D by powerful GPUs, but that 3D scene is directly affected by the movements and settings of the camera. If the camera moves to the right, the image alters just as if it were a real scene.

This is remarkably hard to achieve. In order for it to work, the camera must send its real-time position and orientation to, essentially, a beast of a gaming PC, because this and other setups like it generally run on the Unreal engine. This must take that movement and render it exactly in the 3D environment, with attendant changes to perspective, lighting, distortion, depth of field and so on — all fast enough so that those changes can be shown on the giant wall a fraction of a second later. After all, if the movement lagged even by a few frames it would be noticeable to even the most naive viewer.

Yet fully half of the scenes in “The Mandalorian” were shot within Stagecraft, and my guess is no one had any idea. Interior, exterior, alien worlds or spaceship cockpits, all used this giant volume for one purpose or another.

There are innumerable technological advances that have contributed to this; “The Mandalorian” could not have been made as it was five years ago. The walls weren’t ready; the rendering tech wasn’t ready; the tracking wasn’t ready — nothing was ready. But it’s ready now.

It must be mentioned that Jon Favreau has been a driving force behind this filmmaking method for years now; films like the remake of “The Lion King” were in some ways tech tryouts for “The Mandalorian.” Combined with advances made by James Cameron in virtual filmmaking, and, of course, the indefatigable Andy Serkis’s work in motion capture, this kind of production is only just now becoming realistic due to a confluence of circumstances.

Not just for SFX

Of course Stagecraft is probably also the most expensive and complex production environments ever used. But what it adds in technological overhead (and there’s a lot) it more than pays back in all kinds of benefits.

For one thing, it nearly eliminates on-location shooting, which is phenomenally expensive and time-consuming. Instead of going to Tunisia to get those wide-open desert shots, you can build a sandy set and put a photorealistic desert behind the actors. You can even combine these ideas for the best of both worlds: Send a team to scout locations in Tunisia and capture them in high-definition 3D to be used as a virtual background.

This last option produces an amazing secondary benefit: Reshoots are way easier. If you filmed at a bar in Santa Monica and changes to the dialogue mean you have to shoot the scene over again, no need to wrangle permits and painstakingly light the bar again. Instead, the first time you’re there, you carefully capture the whole scene with the exact lighting and props you had there the first time and use that as a virtual background for the reshoots.

The fact that many effects and backgrounds can be rendered ahead of time and shot in-camera rather than composited in later saves a lot of time and money. It also streamlines the creative process, with decisions able to be made on the spot by the filmmakers and actors, since the volume is reactive to their needs, not vice versa.

Lighting is another thing that is vastly simplified, in some ways at least, by something like Stagecraft. The bright LED wall can provide a ton of illumination, and because it actually represents the scene, that illumination is accurate to the needs of that scene. A red-lit interior of a space station, and the usual falling sparks and so on, shows red on the faces and of course the highly reflective helmet of the Mandalorian himself. Yet the team can also tweak it, for instance sticking a bright white line high on the LED wall out of sight of the camera but which creates a pleasing highlight on the helmet.

Naturally there are some trade-offs. At 20 feet tall, the volume is large but not so large that wide shots won’t capture the top of it, above which you’d see cameras and a different type of LED (the ceiling is also a display, though not as powerful). This necessitates some rotoscoping and post-production, or limits the angles and lenses one can shoot with — but that’s true of any soundstage or volume.

A shot like this would need a little massaging in post, obviously.

The size of the LEDs, that is of the pixels themselves, also limits how close the camera can get to them, and of course you can’t zoom in on an object for closer inspection. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with Moiré patterns, those stripes you often see on images of screens.

Stagecraft is not the first application of LED walls — they’ve been used for years at smaller scales — but it is certainly by far the most high-profile, and “The Mandalorian” is the first real demonstration of what’s possible using this technology. And believe me, it’s not a one-off.

I’ve been told that nearly every production house is building or experimenting with LED walls of various sizes and types — the benefits are that obvious. TV productions can save money but look just as good. Movies can be shot on more flexible schedules. Actors who hate working in front of green screens may find this more palatable. And you better believe commercials are going to find a way to use these as well.

In short, a few years from now it’s going to be uncommon to find a production that doesn’t use an LED wall in some form or another. This is the new standard.

This is only a general overview of the technology that ILM, Disney and their many partners and suppliers are working on. In a follow-up article I’ll be sharing more detailed technical information directly from the production team and technologists who created Stagecraft and its attendant systems.

[embedded content]