Reflection On "The Story So Far..."

In a recent post, titled "The Story So Far..." I talked about the work I have been doing, and the progress I have made with the various sources of learning. This post aims to expand on this, with some added reflection on my programme of study, and the 'journey' so far.

Initially, I commenced my studies at DJCAD with the intention of focusing on 3D animation - specifically gaining a better understanding of the principles of animation, and how to apply them in being a better animator. This interest came from the work I had undertaken as part of my Honours studies, where I created a short animation depicting a story from Greek mythology - "Theseus And The Minotaur" (this was an individual project).

However, after taking advantage of the opportunity to attend presentations by a wide range of people, I gained an insight into using 3D computer graphics as a visualisation tool - this was thanks to an insight into the work being done by John McGhee and Chris Rowland, although I was more interested in the idea of biomedical visualisation.

This change in direction forced me to change my programme of study to something more appropriate, and as discussed in "The Story So Far..." I have since spent time developing the necessary skills in 3D computer graphics.

These skills have been relevant to my programme of study, as I am currently involved in two projects which make use of this new technical undertstanding. The first project is in collaboration with the University mathematics division, and involves developing more visual methods of visualising mathematical data (more specifically, cell visualisation). The second project is a visual-effects based project, in collaboration with another MSc student. As part of this project, I am responsible for 3D modelling, and creating a dynamics simulation.

Although each of these projects have had difficulties, good progress has been made and the experience has been invaluable. If the projects did not have any problems, I would not have learned nearly as much as I have, and I would not be as prepared for future projects as I am now.

Now that I have a stronger understanding of 3D computer graphics and their use in visualisation, I can focus on the application of these skills, and concentrate on completing these projects.

Moving forwards, I would like to continue developing my 3D abilities, and gear this specifically towards using RealFlow for advanced dynamics simulation (allowing me more flexibility in the type of visuals I can create) and learning MEL scripting within Maya (potentially giving me the option to automatically generate visuals from huge amounts of mathematical data).

Considering the drastic change of direction in my programme of study, I am glad I started developing skills in visualisation. Moving forwards, I am excited by the range of projects out there, and look forward to developing my own visual style.

Background 5 : The Gods Made Heavy Metal

This series of posts will show some of the examples I used as part of my Background & Aspirations presentation.

In this fifth and final post, I wanted to end with something a bit different - and a bit more fun!

'The Gods Made Heavy Metal' was animated using Adobe Flash, and components were created using Adobe Photoshop. It follows the narrative of a song by epic metal band Manowar, and describes how the Gods created heavy metal.

Without further ado...

Background 4 : Theseus And The Minotaur

This series of posts will show some of the examples I used as part of my Background & Aspirations presentation.

In this fourth post, I have chosen to showcase my final year Honours project - a short trailer for a fictional film called 'Theseus And The Minotaur'. I opted to create a trailer, so that I could focus on telling a story in a shorter space of time (and miss out all the boring bits).

This was an individual project, and I was responsible for all stages of production, which meant there were many long days and sleepless nights! Autodesk Maya was used for all 3D aspects, with Adobe Photoshop being used for image manipulation. Renders were taken into Adobe After Effects for editing, compositing, and adding audio. The final output was at a resolution of 1280x720.

Throughout this project, I experimented with Maya's built-in 'Toon Shader' feature, and also made use of the 'nCloth' dynamics system (used for the character's clothing, and ship's sails).

Background 3 : Male Figure

This series of posts will show some of the examples I used as part of my Background & Aspirations presentation.

This third post illustrates advanced organic modeling, in the form of creating a realistic male head. This was created using a box modeling workflow in Autodesk Maya, and has a high level of realism, thanks to using photo references (of 'Simon').

Texturing was completed using the 'project and bake' method which was time consuming, but creates high-detail textures. These were created using Adobe Photoshop, and applied using Mental Ray's subsurface scatter shader (SSS).

Background 2 : Female Figure

This series of posts will show some of the examples I used as part of my Background & Aspirations presentation.

This second post shows the result of sculpting a female figure (using photo references of 'Claire') and was completing using Autodesk Maya. Particular attention was paid to creating the correct 'edge flow' so that the figure was correctly proportioned and anatomically correct.

After creating the finished model, I was required to re-pose her into something more creative. Multiple passes were rendered and taken into Adobe Photoshop, where attributes were tweaked. All texturing was 'faked' and was completed in 2D post-production.

Background 1 : The Well-Worn Interior

This series of posts will show some of the examples I used as part of my Background & Aspirations presentation.

This first post showcases 'The Well-Worn Interior', which was carried out as one of my earliest 3D projects, and was completing using Autodesk Maya and Adobe Photoshop.