#these are our first and second attempts at rendering something properly with this program

[syn4k]

im sick rn and taking a break from schoolwork but i still gotta do something to keep myself entertained so i made some practice stills of our etern1ty servermates @moth-yknowtheartist and @galladegamer in mineimator

[zak-animation]

Overview

An intensive and productive week on the course, I wanted to put a focus on the narrative research essay task and balance this academic written nature of the project with the medium of stop motion animation. Additionally, I took the time to develop my skills within Maya: re-attempting the Flying Saucers task at home and playing around with the animation workspace. Whilst I was unable to make any significant progress on my digital metamorphosis project and the animated sketchbook assignment, I instead took the time to undertake extensive research into my chosen film of Into the Spider-Verse, alongside producing a range of stop motion iterations and preparations for the ‘box lift’ task.

As a result, I’ve been able to make a series of stop motion animations that go beyond the limitations of the brief, adding a sense of narrative and interaction between off-screen characters and am confident that I’ll be able to begin work on the first draft of my essay next week. With juggling several projects at a time, as I am now, it’s important to be able to focus on particular assignments. Splitting my time between these briefs has been difficult, but I feel like I’m working to strike a balance between my ambitions for each assignment and the limited time I have left.

Narrative Research This week, I was able to decide on an analytical direction for my essay and gather a range of research sources in preparation for the drafting process. My initial idea was to analyse the plot of Into the Spider-Verse, exploring how the creators not only presented an updated take on the Hero’s Journey storyline, but also told a refreshing new version of the classic Peter Parker Spider-Man origin story we all know.

Despite this, I realised that the film’s use of this hero narrative is nothing ground-breaking or particularly new. Rather, what makes Into the Spider-Verse rather of academic study is the animation and visual language: an experimental, alternative approach to animated filmmaking, which is already making waves in the industry. Instead of taking a theoretical approach into my chosen film, I began researching into the comic-inspired aesthetic and crisp, stuttery style of CG animation.

The film represents a ‘break-through’ in animated storytelling, pilling compositional and aesthetic inspiration from it’s comic book source material, adapting dynamic storytelling poses and graphic printing techniques to the animation. In my research for this essay, I wanted to take a look behind the scenes and how this new visual language came to be. Looking through the Art of Into the Spider-Verse book, and trawling through countless interviews, online articles and really anything I could find on the process and film itself led me to the work of visionary Alberto Mielgo, the 2012 Disney experiment Paper Man and how the filmmakers created the signature ‘crunchy’ animation style.

Having completed this extensive research into my chosen film, I’ve reached a place where I’m ready to begin the drafting process. With my own question and a range of research sources ranging from the academic literature of Paul Wells to videos breaking down the animation process of Into the Spider-Verse, next week I will begin writing my essay. My aim is to have a completed draft ready for my individual tutorial, in which I will likely be reducing the word count.

Digital Principles This week, I put a major focus on other projects - taking the time to produce iterations and further develop on the other tasks. As a result, I didn’t really have time to make any significant progress or development in this project.

Stop Motion This week, we were given our second stop motion exercise: to animate a character lifting up a box. With this task, I’m considering all of the basic principles of animation: specifically timing, anticipation and follow through - additionally to staging the sequence properly.

To begin the week, I took the time to prepare for this week’s stop motion task in a depth I’ve never really done before. Producing my own reference footage and sketching from this has allowed my poses to have an authenticity to them, and I was able to act out a range of characters and situations in the process. Having this additional research and preparation in the filmed reference has given me a solid understanding of the action I will animate.

For my first attempt at this task, I experimented with working from this live-action reference. Whilst this allowed me to see the filmed reference poses directly in Dragon Frame, this method of working also posed several problems - and ultimately resulted in a lacking first iteration. The armature’s movement jolted from one pose to another, the staging of the sequence was ineffective and the timing of the motion was simply wrong.

My main take away from the initial attempt was to consider the posing of my armature more - take the time to make sure the pose is correct, and easily understood by the audience. A second idea was to exercise some restraint on the movement and timing: to take multiple frames with little movement, as stillness can be just as effective as motion. On the flip side of this, I also wanted to explore how to create a fast motion, considering making larger moves between frames to believably communicate a quick movement.

With this in mind, I hired out the Stop Motion Studio in my own time and developed on the task, producing two more attempts. In comparison, these were much more successful and interesting than my first test. Taking the time to develop upon the tasks set in the workshop has allowed me to produce stop motion outcomes of a far higher quality and ambition as it lifts the pressure of time off my shoulders. With my own schedule, I was able to really get lost in the work, and allow me to present a more ambitious attempt at character performance and begin to hint at a narrative beyond simply the action itself.

Next week, we will be exploring a more complex stop motion sequence: having a character walk on screen, and visibly change their expression and emotion. In preparation for this, I will begin recording my own live action reference to get a better understanding of the movements and posing and produce a few storyboard iterations of the sequence.

Animated Sketchbook This week, I put a major focus on other projects - taking the time to produce iterations and further develop on the other tasks. As a result, I didn’t really have time to make any significant progress or development on this project.

Digital 3D This week, I took it upon myself to develop upon the previous Flying Saucer task, downloading Maya to use at home and rebuilding the sequence from scratch, using a more planned-out approach. With a humorous direction (the sheep is too heavy for the UFO, which then crashes), I sketched out quick, loose ideas for the sequence. Alongside these preliminary sketches, I also explored Pixar’s approach to the task, Lifted, which also presents a light-hearted take on an alien abduction. With this, I knew I wanted to follow a comical direction that works to effectively subvert the audience’s expectations.

Overall, this represents a far more exciting and successful response to the task. Through iterative development and my own perseverance with Maya, I have been able to challenge myself to create an ‘engaging, successful’ CG animation that puts a new, comic spin on the farm animal abduction’ plot in this short sequence. Something I am going to put a focus on is iterative development on my practical exploration: this was the main point in the feedback of my previous unit, and it’s something I’m constantly considering moving forward. Here, iterations have allowed me to explore and further flesh out this simple CG sequence, and complete an animation (that, whilst simple in composition) demonstrates my new understanding of Maya as an animation and modelling program.

Additionally, we were also set a new task within Maya: taking the focus away from animation, were challenged to explore the modelling potential of the 3D software. Firstly, we were introduced to the Modelling workspace - as we explored the various tools to edit and change an existing shape. This provided us with a range of tools, allowing us to extrude, edit and bevel surfaces of shapes in order to create new, more exciting ones.

Initially, I struggled with this process: but after spending time trying to get to grips with the extrusion tool and asking for feedback, I was able to get a basic understanding of the modelling process and produced a pencil in response. It’s not exactly visually impressive or appealing, but I see the value in this task as a way to introduce the basic foundations of more complex 3D modelling.

The final task was a little more demanding: in the limited time remaining, we were to produce a 3D radio. After experiencing several technical difficulties with the program, I managed to create a basic box-radio following the steps described by our tutor. What I’m finding is the luxury of time with learning these processes: the sessions, whilst helpful, are ultimately too short and fast-paced for me to properly grasp an understanding of the Maya processes. I am somewhat struggling with the modelling side of things, however, I want to develop this understanding and take the opportunity to explore the digital learning world of Linkedin Learning, something our tutor suggested in the session.

In my own time, I managed to complete the radio and add some colour - adding life to the object that I couldn’t really see beforehand. I’m also interested in the potential of rendering this object and seeing how it could move too. Perhaps it squashes and stretches whilst listening to music? It’s a small motion, but I feel like it would be a good independent development of this session and a way for me to add an understanding of the basic principles to my Digital 3D work.

[shootfastrunfar]

My first taste of Failure

                   On Sunday, April 8th, I failed for the first time in my life.

               That statement is, to a degree, hyperbolic.  I’ve failed many times in my 22 (almost 23) years on this planet.  I’ve failed out of college due to laziness.  I’ve failed to bench press 225 for years.  I’ve failed to crank out 20 pullups on a PFT.  I’ve failed tests.  I’ve failed to make food properly.  I’ve failed to make good first impressions.  I’ve failed to talk to my grandfather for years before he died. But on April 8th, 2018, I failed in a way that I’ve never failed before, and it rocked me: I failed to do something that I set my mind to do.  In that way, I truly failed.

               My failure was, ultimately, my own doing.  I failed to properly prepare for something that I knew would be difficult, for a myriad of reasons; I was tired, I was busy, I had trained enough to get by, I was sore, or maybe I just said “Fuck it”. Ironically, that phrase has gotten me through some of the most physically and mentally demanding situations in my life. That phrase has also led me to this failure in the worst possible way.  It bred an attitude of complacency in me.  It bred cockiness.  It led me to believe that I could simply power through whatever challenge lay before me, through sheer guts, balls of steel, and a willingness to believe that I could do anything.  Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!  And then Ironman 70.3 Galveston grabbed me by the balls and Stone Cold Stunnered me back to earth.

               This story begins just over two years ago.  I had convinced my roommate to run the 2016 Marine Corps Marathon with me.  During that conversation, he brought up something called an Ironman.  Having never heard of such a thing, I asked him what it was.  What he described to me simultaneously scared and excited me.  A 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a full 26.2 mile marathon, all in 17 hours?! I suddenly had a sinking feeling.  I realized that simply running a marathon would no longer suffice for dick measuring contests.  If I were to ever have the largest genitalia in an argument, I realized I was going to have to step up my game.  

               First things first, however.  The marathon would be run first.  So with the Hanson’s running method under my belt, a brand new pair of Brooks Launchs, and a belly full of Gu, he and I began our training. Out of a 5 month program, we completed maybe 2/3 of the workouts.  And the last three weeks, we did 2.  Life started taking hold, and we both entered that race woefully unprepared.  But with a little bit of luck and a lot of motivation, we managed to stumble across the finish line before the cutoff time.  JUST before the cutoff times.  To say we “ran” the marathon was generous.  We jogged/walked/stumbled it.  But we finished it none the less, and I have the medal proudly sitting in a shadow box to prove it.  

               Fast forward 8 months.  The post marathon blues had destroyed my fitness.  I had stopped going to the gym for money and time reasons while training for the marathon, and it took me months to be able to start going again.  I was in the worst shape of my life.  I managed to somewhat get my shit together, just enough to convince myself I needed to make a big change.  So AT (Annual Training) 2017 came around, and I decided I was going to start my Ironman Journey.  The day before we went to the field, I signed up for my first Sprint Triathlon.  After returning, I forced myself to buy a cheap road bike and start training.  That first Tri came and went, and I was itching for another.  So I impulse signed up for Ironman 70.3 Galveston, bought a training plan, and once again gaffed off over half the training sessions, and did all of 2 in the final month.  Hell, I had done some of the longer rides and runs, so I knew I could just dig deep and power through, right?  I’m a goddamn US Marine (one weekend a month, anyway).  I could do a little fucking triathlon!  It’s not even a full Ironman! It’s the Triathlon equivalent of a half marathon! You just show up and crank it out! How hard could it be?

               The race started out well enough.  I actually crushed the swim, the area I was most concerned about.  Roka makes a damn fine wetsuit.  Their sleeved Maverick Elite II was well worth the money.  I had done no open water swims in my training, had briefly swam in the wetsuit ONCE for all of 3 minutes, and had never swam farther than 800 Meters. And I still crushed the swim in just under 45 minutes.  Not an amazing time, but I came out of the water barely winded and ready to make the rest of the race my bitch.  And then everything went to shit.

               Now, I’m not the strongest cyclist.  Most of it is me, obviously.  The bike is only as good as its engine, and I’m not exactly a V8. More like a V4 Ecoboost.  Without the eco boost.  My main enemy is wind resistance and hills.  Riding a fairly heavy road bike, and being a fairly heavy guy for my height (triathlon wise anyway), and being about as aerodynamic as a full bred Russian Boar makes those things a nightmare for me.  That’s no excuse, but it did make things a lot harder. And it REALLY made my lack of training shine.  Clydesdale after Clydesdale passed me, and I realized that my gear wasn’t the problem, I was.  However, I managed to cruise at 16.5 MPH regardless.  Not a great time, but hell, I had a headwind, and I would make cutoff. And then I hit the turnaround, and things got bad fast.

               After taking a quick pit stop and grabbing some Cliff Shots, I attempted to mount my bike.  And for the first time ever, I fell over while clipping in.  I had managed to avoid it for nearly a year, and was proud to say I had never fallen over.  That ended quickly.  I managed to get up and get going after a few seconds of cussing and swearing vengeance against the trickster god who was clearly fucking with me.  I immediately noticed something was wrong.  Why was it so hard to get back up to speed, and what was that squeaking?  Marvelous, my brake hood was cocked inwards, and my front disk brake was slightly engaged. Not enough to stop me, but enough to stop the wheel from spinning freely.  No matter, I’ll power on.  I had enough of a buffer that 2 MPH slower wasn’t going to DNF me.  And then I realized that the headwind I felt going out was not, in fact, a headwind.  It was a slightly to the side tailwind. >OhNo.jpeg. NOW I was riding into the headwind.  And it was going to work me for all I was worth. I had to switch into the small gear for the first time in my life.  I was struggling to maintain 11.5MPH.  No matter, I thought, this is gonna suck, but I have enough of a lead that I’ll make cutoff. And then I slowed to 10.  Then 9.  The squeaking was getting worse, so I scavenged a full water bottle that someone had sent flying.  I desperately tried squirting water on the front brake to maybe give it slightly better lubrication.  Surprisingly, it worked.  Until shit went tits up, literally.

               While doing this particular stunt one time, I managed to lean too far forward, get hit by a particularly nasty gust, AND avoid a water bottle on the path all at the same time.  I then had the pleasure of experiencing my first bike crash! This race was full of first experiences! About 1.5 seconds later, I was on my back, seeing starts, knee gashed, other knee starting to swell, arm and shoulder throbbing, and worst of all, I’m pretty sure I scuffed my new saddle JUST enough to render it unreturnable.  So there goes that fit guarantee!  After a few minutes of bitching and swearing to the Old Gods and the New that I would smite whomever was responsible for that water bottle in the road, I managed to mount my trusty, broke steed for another 10 miles.  And as I approached the final aid station, and glanced at the time, I realized my lack of training was coming for its due.  Despite the bad weather, despite all my gear failures, and despite my all around shitty luck, I could have finished.  I missed cutoff by 4 minutes.  4 minutes of a 3:30 hour ride.  4 minutes of a 40 minuet swim.  4 minutes of extra effort.  Gone.

               I’m a “Balling on a Budget” triathlete.  While not the poorest in this sport, I definitely don’t have money to waste.  And $500 on registration, lodging, and gas is a HUGE hit to me.  Enough that I can really only do 1 Ironman branded event per year. Hell, on my motivation board, I have “YOU PAID $2600 TO BECOME AND IRONMAN SO FAR.  DON’T LET THAT MONEY GO TO WASTE!”  This sport has claimed almost all of my disposable income the past year, plus some. The financial burden of this failure was almost worse than anything else.  And the realization that I let all that time and money go to waste was crushing. While being driven back to the transition area, I strongly considered selling all my gear and getting out of the sport.  Cutting my losses and paying off some debt.  Putting this whole thing behind me.  It would allow me to focus on my PFT, powerlifting, and bodybuilding.  The types of physical activity I prefer. Lord knows it would greatly increase my ammo budget.  That would be the smart thing to do, right?  Accept the fact I’m not cut out for the dedication this sport takes, and move on with my life.

               Well, in case you didn’t read the first paragraph, I’m not a smart man.  I joined the Marine Corps and failed college.  So clearly I’m a bit of dumbass.  

               Failure will not be my legacy with this sport. This was a wakeup call.  If I want the title of Ironman, I’m going to have to work for it, and work harder at it than anything else in my life.  My plan has not changed: Ironman Texas 2019.  I will NOT back away from that.  But I need to evaluate my discipline, my work ethic, and my training.  From here on, I must make EVERY workout be as intense as possible.  I must fall into bed EVERY NIGHT exhausted from training and work, and rise every morning with wrath in my heart and bloodlust in my soul. I must look at the weakness in my and kill it, because if I fail to do so, it will kill me.  I must forge on ahead, ready for the hardest 12 months of training in my life.  My lofty goal of qualifying for Kona in 2020 seems all the further away, but luckily I have one simple phrase to get me through:

                                                      “Fuck it.”

And so we go.

[dantekxin132-blog]

Medical Debt Relief - Check the Bill Carefully and Keep Loan Relief Options Open

Millions of individuals feel credit card financial obligation is pulling them into a great void from which there is no escape and when the truth of their situation lastly hits house, they are frozen into the "deer in the headlight" mindset without any idea which method to turn because of absence of knowledge.

Quick repairs such as a credit card debt combination loan, insolvency or some debt settlement program that requires you to keep paying the card bills are not sensible solutions since you can't borrow your escape of financial obligation and even insolvency is literally a "debtors jail" for many years to come.

When our Constitution was written, the Creators of our Nation had no concept that modern-day loan lending institutions would be able to charge a legal interest rate of 30% for credit card debt or it would have been stated unlawful, unconstitutional, usury or "a slap in the face" that would need "we individuals" to do something about it!

If enough people understood how big the credit card debt issue was, then you may become aware of "credit card tea parties" where the masses that are trapped by the big card business merely toss cards overboard and refuse to work together with those who have actually financially enslaved the population.

Times have altered so another "Boston Tea ceremony" may not be as effective as the original however there are contemporary and legal https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/06/signs-debt-relief-scam?page=1 ways to deal with the problem. A few molecules of "antimatter" would suffice and it is readily available here in the great old USA.

It doesn't matter how you entered into the financial obligation mess in addition to the lots of millions of other people, all of which have a various story about what occurred to them however it does matter what actions you take to fix the card financial obligation issue.

As soon as you stop paying charge card debt, the bank will close your account permanently and sell any info they have about you and your account to a financial obligation collector for a couple of pennies on the dollar and think it or not that is a good idea.

Yes, your credit report will plunge to rock bottom for a year or more but that's easy to legally fix later on. The excellent thing is that debt collectors are controlled by Federal Law in the type of the Fair Financial Obligation Collection Practices Act which will provide you with antimatter to make a financial obligation collector disappear.

There are two things you should definitely do to make a financial obligation collector vanish. First, you must never ever provide any information over the telephone and second of all you need to properly respond to any mail you Pinnacle One Funding receive from a financial obligation collector.

When individuals get their first debt collection call, they are absolutely horrified, stunned, in a state of panic and normally offer the caller all the details he requested. The person on the phone is trained in using your "state of mind" to persuade cash from you.

You can confirm your name but absolutely nothing more. When they tell you that this call is being tape-recorded, they are attempting to get "you" to validate details in order to "prove" that you owe them loan when in reality you do not. Remember this important truth: none of the money they obtain from you goes to the original lender however it is split in between the caller and the collections business for a hefty profit.

You need to learn to manage these harassing telephone call and offer them no info whatsoever. Instead, learn to have fun with the collector by offering him absolutely useless responses to all these concerns. You must have your own recorder going in case he gets abusive because you can receive up to $1000 per abuse and naturally, your case will be dropped and marked "paid as agreed" when you notify the collections company that you have actually the abuse recorded.

The 2nd thing that you need to definitely do is to answer any and all collections notices that say something like "unless you inform this workplace within one month after receiving this notice that you contest the validity of this financial obligation or any portion thereof, this workplace will assume this financial obligation is a valid" and you must do it in writing, registered mail, with a return invoice.

The sole function of Call and collection notifications are used to get "you" to show that you actually owe something due to the fact that the collectors can not show that you owe them anything. Old account info proves nothing, so it depends on the credit card debt collector to get "you" to form your own "great void" with details provided by you!

Your "antimatter" is developed by "you" by rendering "no details" on the phone and answering all collections notifications by authorized mail with return invoice and you might in fact generate income from the collector with his "abusive tactics" from his documented calls.

Equipped with the knowledge of how the system works you can tackle your life, with the self-confidence to deal with any "little" problem that might emerge, live your life to the max. develop your own charge card debt relief and do not be dragged into a great void that exists only in your mind.

[salemfmp]

FINAL MAJOR PROJECT YEAR 1

I have been given an opportunity to design a project that allows me to control my own outcome. By undertaking this brief, I have a minimal constraint on the finished product and the freedom to create a body of work that is far more interesting. Despite the fact that it is rather a gamble to design a brief that is over ambitious but I would like to take this route.

For so long, I have always wanted to test my technical ability when it comes to designing UI,HUD and SCI-FI Interface. I believe this is the best opportunity to research and design something of that kind.

This is going to be a zero budget project  aimed at persuading my tutors that with or without enough resources you can still achieve your long desired ambitions and dreams. Therefore I have decided to Create a title sequence for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘TERMINATOR’ Judgment day 1991.

                                          TITLE SEQUENCE

                           ‘ TERMINATOR 2 ’ Judgment day 1991

 Brief Background:  Sypnosis 

T2 is an American SCI-FI action film produced in Hollywood in 1991 co-written, produced and directed by James Cameron. The movie features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Patrick and Linda Hamilton with Edward Furlong as John Connor. It is the sequel to the 1984 film ‘Terminator ‘.

In the Year 1995 after Sarah Connor destroyed the original terminator that was programmed to destroy her, two men time travelled from the year 2029 identical to the one that Sarah first encountered, while the second one is unknown man who kills a cop and dresses himself as a victim.

John Connor is now living with foster parents. He has grown up being told by his mother that he would someday lead the remnants of the human race to victory against the machines. Sarah's experiences have significantly changed who she is, making her tougher and more vigilant, but also more desperate to warn humanity about the threat of the war of the machines. While previously attempting to destroy the headquarters of a computer company, Sarah was arrested and imprisoned at the pescarido state hospital- a maximum-security prison and hospital for the criminally insane.Meanwhile, the Terminator and the unknown man eventually locate John Connor. The "police officer" is revealed to be a machine trying to kill John; the Terminator protects John and explains what is happening. He is a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, reprogrammed by the future John Connor to act as his protector in this time. The other Terminator is a T-100 an advanced prototype, which was sent back by Skynet to kill John while he's still a child, due to the the original T-800 failing in its mission. The T-1000 is made of "a Mimetic pollyalloy", essentially liquid metal that looks like the element Mercury, allowing it to imitate almost anyone or anything of equal size. In its systematic process to locate John, the T-1000 murders John's foster parents, Todd and Janelle Voight after imitating Janelle herself. Meanwhile, as the T-800 sticks to the road with John to evade the T-1000's pursuit, John discovers that the T-800 is programmed to follow his every command. However, when John decides to use this to get payback on a verbally-abusive stranger they encounter, the T-800 almost murders the man before John stops him. This prompts John to, realising the responsibility of commanding a machine designed to terminate, handle his command over the Terminator more wisely, and to order the T-800 not to kill any humans.

                             Research and Idea Development

Specifically in my research, I was focusing on videos and clips with UI and HUD interface in order to acquire a better idea on how to draw, sketch and create interactive HUD designs. Since the terminator vision displayed UI and Futuristic Hud with a red vision, I want my Title sequence to showcase different styles of UI display used in terminator vision.

I watched the terminator 2 original title sequence and its all a practical setting.The best thing about practical effects is that it has more realism and even though it's an obvious setup in a studio or setting somewhere at least real care was put into it and there's not green screens or makeup in post production before everything is touched up on computers. 

Not only are you grabbed by this intense, serious, sad music, but you are instantly reminded what is at stake with the visuals. The scene is disturbing, and it leaves a sense of gut-wrenching and suspense. It greatly signifies that life itself will be reduced to smouldering ashes in our future if our heroes can't stop judgment day from coming.You get to see the eyes of the devil responsible for the horror you just witnessed. Everything you need to know, without giving a recap is told to you within the introduction through symbolism. I believe this was a great way of grabbing the audience attention.

My target Audience is people who love futuristic Hud and Sci-fi Films. Interactive HUD enthusiast.

Another video I came across was of Cordyfx a Youtuber and visual effects artist. The video displays a real terminator vision and sound effects properly synced to the animation and Random codes display as shown. 

It’s pretty obvious that terminator constantly scanned in and identified each and other object the target locks at as programmed. 

Both Videos maintained the same colour grading ‘Dark Red’/Terminator Fonts,  Digital Fonts and this represents the real augmented reality terminator vision.

I have also watched a few videos showing different designs of UI and Interface displays as show below .

The reason why I spent a lot of time focusing on this video was to acquire proper understanding of UI sound effects and how to sync the sound efx with animation. Loads of different design showcase and styles.

Post Production: 

Having had the opportunity to chat to Geraint about sketching UI and HUD in after effects, I felt so ready and prepared to draw my own sketches of interface which later will be used to construct the terminator vision as shown below.

Some of the Terminator interface designs and each one of them with a meaningful purpose when analysing the system/speed/target and functionality.

Production:

At this stage I managed to film the  actors with a Sony Camcorder. The background video was filmed in St Davids emergency exit, Poundworld and USW level 3 Hallway. All actors are 18+ since the original film involved strong language and terrifying action.

Here is a quick look at the Interface assembled with the footage. 

After Effects:

I used After Effects to assemble to interface together with the video footage. I had to change the color to Red in order to match the teminator Vision as show in the original film.

I animated the targets to sync to the sound and assigned each of the animated movements with a sound effect as well.

Creating these interfaces in AE was somewhat a crucial task because I had to precompose the comps over and over again due to the fact that I had to create different expressions and couldn’t copy and paste.

I used google maps for the opening scene and zoomed in to Cardiff City as the terminator location.

Premiere Pro:

Premiere is a proper advanced editing software which I used it to assemble the final project, adding a few titles and more background effects.

I find it easier and convenient to use premiere pro for the final render as it doesn’t take much time and can play a video even if it’s not rendered.

Link to the Final Original Video:

Evaluation

Strength:

I have managed to attempt creating UI and the outcome is pretty much impressive since am only a beginner in this field of visuals.

It is so chilling to see that I can actually give life to my ideas and hoping to improve with time and effort.

Syncing the sound effects to the animation was one of the best things I have done so far this year. I had to implement to skills and techniques I learnt from my previous assignment of sound sync to achieve perfection.

Weakness:

I still find it hard to create Realistic UI which is rather more appealing to the Audience and communicates a proper message.

In the field of research, the more I dig deeper the more I get obstructed away from the original idea I had in mind. In this case I end up sticking to my first ideas instead of combining random ideas together and, I feel that is one of my weakness so far.

Overall, am happy with the final outcome and hoping to improve with time.

[attendantdesign-blog]

New Post has been published on Attendantdesign

New Post has been published on http://attendantdesign.com/tether-shooting-software-for-fujifilm-gfx-50s-announced/

Tether Shooting Software For Fujifilm GFX 50S Announced

Fujifilm GFX 50S proprietors will quickly be capable of down load X Gather tether capturing software so one can join their GFX 50S to a Mac or Laptop through USB cable for direct moving and saving of Shooting pictures onto the computer.

Users may also be able to select report types for saving onto the memory card inside the digital camera, and for shifting and saving onto the pc both in Uncooked or JPEG format. X Acquire is likewise well suited with tether shooting capabilities of Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujifilm X-T2.

The X Acquire software program will be to be had from 28 February 2017 as a unfastened download from the Fujifilm website.

Test our palms-on preview with the GFX 50S for greater records at the medium layout mirrorless camera and we additionally have sample pix captured with the GFX 50S so one can Check.

A way to Remedy reminiscence Card Corruption in Fujifilm FinePix S5700 Fujifilm FinePix S5700 makes use of its internal memory in addition to a reminiscence card for storing virtual documents. For the reason that inner reminiscence can simplest store up to 27 MB of data, it becomes essential for a photographer to use a reminiscence card (xD and SD) to shop his/her big series of pics, audios, and videos. These playing cards, although agree with worthy, can get corrupt if now not treated properly.

One easy manner to discover memory card corruption is when the photographer perspectives an errors message at the time s/he attempts to view the images. The photographer perspectives the error message each time s/he accesses the card. An smooth manner to get admission to information from card after its corruption is by restoring the statistics from an up to date backup. But, if no backup is to be had, then the photographer needs to look for a few excellent Photo Recuperation solution.

Recollect a actual-world example. You attempt to access the statistics saved in xD card of your Fujifilm FinePix S5700 digicam and come across the below errors message:

“CARD errors”

the mistake appears whenever you try to get admission to the information saved inside the xD card. Needless to say, the information stored within the reminiscence card becomes inaccessible after the above mistakes message pops up.

Motive:

Fallacious shutdown of the camera, interrupted examine/write operation, or malicious software program/malware may also result in memory card corruption.

Decision:

layout the xD reminiscence card in Fujifilm FinePix S5700 digital camera. the card will become reusable after formatting and also you save new virtual documents in it. However, formatting comes with a disadvantage of deleting all of the previously stored virtual documents from the xD card.

To recover deleted files after formatting, you may need to:

Restore them from an up to date backup.

Use a industrial Image Healing application. Such Picture Recuperation software get better all varieties of files from a formatted memory card, irrespective of its size. These utilities use high-stop scanning algorithms to recover lost files and Repair them at required vicinity. Moreover, These tools do not require any technical expertise to perform Recovery. Stellar Phoenix Photograph Restoration surmounts all different Photo Recuperation software program and presents most Recovery outcomes. The software can get better statistics from almost all memory cards, together with xD, SD, MMC, CF, and SDHC. The Restoration tool may be established on Home windows and Mac OS X. It helps Healing from other media, including, Zip drives, USB drives, memory sticks, difficult drives, and so forth. Identifying and The usage of taking pictures Lanes in Hockey

I always see lovers shouting at participant to shoot the p.C. whilst they’re at the strength play or after they have a massive gain in the attacking quarter. However, I additionally see that if the player made the shot that they could no longer get the shot past the defense. They might handiest surrender control and provide the defense a threat to skate down the ice and score a aim. The purpose that the offense can not shoot the percent is they do no longer have a first rate shooting lane.

A capturing lane is any instantly course that the percent can take closer to the net. It is pretty easy to understand that if the percent cannot cross in the direction of the internet, then it isn’t always well worth capturing.

What defenders will do is try to positioned something that they are able to in the manner of the shot. A stick, a leg, or maybe there whole body may be used to dam a taking pictures lane. What the offense has to do is pick out where the modern-day taking pictures lanes are and where they’ll be in some seconds. when the offense is able to predict this correctly they will be unstoppable.

One of the approaches to look a taking pictures lane is to study the net. If you could see the net with out all people in front of it, It’s miles a taking pictures lane. But, it does no longer rely what your eyes see, it handiest topics what is in the manner of the p.C.. If you can pick out a corner with a slap shot, then you have to do it when you have the opportunity. But, you want to be clever because if the other group receives within the manner of the shot, the possibility you need to score is long gone and the alternative crew no longer has manipulate of the percent.

Simply make sure which you are The use of your head and no longer attempting to take pictures that specialists would no longer be able to. Another appropriate issue that you should do is awaiting the play. Paintings on seeing lanes develop via searching at the inclinations of the other group’s defenders. make sure that you take a glance as some of the alternative hockey techniques

The way to Select a software program Improvement Enterprise – Here Are 5 Criteria

while evaluating a software Development company, be aware of the questions they ask. Are they taking their time to analyze extra about you and what you need, or are they dashing to handing you an offer and a quote? We’ve got achieved a research and selected the 5 key Criteria we Don’t forget important for businesses to make their desire of a web or Cellular Utility Development Employer that would match their needs. The Criteria are listed by means of priority below:

1) The Variety of IT Services a Employer offers

Any assignment Development have to be handled as a complex system that requires a comprehensive technique. It includes now not best best code writing however also preliminary enterprise research, group Improvement, satisfactory guarantee, high-quality audit, threat assessment and mitigation on all stages of web Development and post-launch guide. An outsourcing Company that offers the overall Range of IT Offerings can guide you on The way to deliver out the nice of your challenge concept offers a non-trivial solution and create the product so that it will hit the market. In recent times, rendering the entire scope of IT Offerings is a have to-have for IT organizations to provide a successful task.

2) software pleasant and Professional technique

You should Pick an outsourcing crew based totally now not most effective on their technology skills, but additionally their potential to apply useful equipment and frameworks that accelerate Improvement and boom Paintings efficiency and productivity. Figure out what mockup gear, shipping process/technique, tracking systems and quality software metrics the seller employs to make software, and speak your expectations with the vendor.

3) method and challenge shipping procedure

A good IT Corporation have to observe a based and nicely-described assignment control method (such as Scrum, Kanban, and so forth.) to optimize undertaking Development and provide effective collaboration between a purchaser and a supplier. It is in particular vital for outsourced tasks to make certain their proper tracking and coordination in real time. Find out how you, as a customer, can be involved in the Development process and keep song of your undertaking implementation. Ask to put together a verbal exchange control plan.

4) Language and Cultural Compatibility

So, you need your venture to be delivered as predicted and within an affordable budget and time body. A verbal exchange gap and cultural differences can go all of the efforts you’ve got made before. Attention in your dealer language abilities and cultural compatibility. To facilitate communication and interaction, Choose an outsourcing seller that has comparable cultural and academic backgrounds.

5) location and Time area

Preferably, your supplier have to be located inside a close attain on your Organisation. Proximity reduces travel fees and times significantly. And sooner or later, ensure your seller is positioned inside the proper time area with similar working hours. That makes verbal exchange better and allows you to settle problems immediately.

[zak-animation]

Digital 3D: Modelling in Maya Review

This week’s Maya session took the focus away from animation, as we were challenged to explore the modeling potential of the 3D software. Firstly, we were introduced to the Modelling workspace - as we explored the various tools to edit and change an existing shape. This provided us with a range of tools, allowing us to extrude, edit and bevel surfaces of shapes in order to create new, more exciting ones.

The first idea we explored was 3D extrusion: which works by selecting a face on a shape and effectively ‘pulling it forward’, extruding the shape out of its original size. The primary use of this was to create a 3D pencil, something achieved by extruding cylinders, and adding more vertices to get that classic angled pencil look.

Initially, I struggled with this process: but after spending time trying to get to grips with the extrusion tool and asking for feedback, I was able to get a basic understanding of the modeling process and produced a pencil in response. It’s not exactly visually impressive or appealing, but I see the value in this task as a way to introduce the basic foundations of more complex 3D modelling.

This is an area of animation that I’ve always struggled with: I find the actual animation process exciting and inspiring, however modelling (be it stop motion or CG) has always been difficult for me. Going into the session, I knew that I’d likely struggle in comparison to my peers - however, I feel like the models I’ve been able to create here represent a step up in my understanding of Maya.

For this reason, I do see success in this workshop. As a way to develop upon this task, I created a 3D mechanical pencil allowing me to test this understanding further. This second attempt was much more visually appealing - and allowed me to produce a more successful outcome, I feel. The shapes are more interesting, and the audience can see what my model is supposed to be. At a purely graphic level, it works as a 3D iconic representation of a pencil.

The final task was a little more demanding: in the limited time remaining, we were to produce a 3D radio. After experiencing several technical difficulties with the program, I managed to create a basic box-radio following the steps described by our tutor. What I’m finding is the luxury of time with learning these processes: the sessions, whilst helpful, are ultimately too short and fast-paced for me to properly grasp an understanding of the Maya processes. I am somewhat struggling with the modelling side of things, however, I want to develop this understanding and take the opportunity to explore the digital learning world of Linkedin Learning, something our tutor suggested in the session.

In my own time, I managed to complete the radio and add some colour - adding life to the object that I couldn’t really see beforehand. I’m also interested in the potential of rendering this object and seeing how it could move too. Perhaps it squashes and stretches whilst listening to music? It’s a small motion, but I feel like it would be a good independent development of this session and a way for me to add an understanding of the basic principles to my Digital 3D work.

Something I’m learning is the need to take the time to learn these new processes independently: the sessions are a good introduction, but ultimately move too quickly for me to follow. I feel like I underestimated the steep learning curve of Maya and similar 3D software, but I’m determined to get a grasp of the programs. 3D Digital animation is a medium I’ve never worked with before, and over these coming weeks, I want to challenge myself to get to grips with the medium.

It’s a whole new approach to working, and it will be difficult - however, I will endure this in an attempt to get a basic understanding of the program. Earlier this week, I was playing around with the animation process in Maya which I found to be exciting and intuitive. In comparison, the modelling process seems somewhat daunting. Whilst I’m happy with the models I was able to build today, ultimately I simply want to have more confidence and ease when building my 3D assets, and so my next plan is to develop upon this process further: modelling a specific object, and then perhaps even animating it, considering squash and stretch principles in the Maya workspace.