Enviroments

Today in Chris's lesson we developed a photo realistic environment complete with a sky dome. To start off we used a simple plane with many segments. After using a modifier called "Displace" it created a random rocky surface to resemble an environment. We then made a texture in photoshop to go over this newly made environment. I wanted to create a hellish landscape so l found a lava texture on Google images to edit in Phototshop. After playing around with layer options I made something I was happy with and placed it onto the environment as a bitmap image. This turned out rather well with the lighter colour residing in the deeper recesses of the environment it look like light was emitting from the lava below.

We then created a skybox with a large sphere around the entire enviroment which we then turned inside out and used a sky texture in Chris's I-Drive to do over the dome. The problem was the texture was a clear blue sky which was not suitable for the lava land I had created. So by tweaking it in photoshop  I changed to a more suitable colour.

We now have a hellish landscape with light emitting from the deepest recesses for more realism complete with a sky texture which was just a blue sky to begin with but twith the wonders of photoshop converted it to suit the enviroment. To get to this point we used some new features including the Displacement modifyer to create the rocky landscape, and basic envoroment filters. Light fog was used in this scene to brighten up the light from the hole. These features are new to us and will prove useful in the upcoming trailer project.

Planning for my 3D Enviroment

This is the reference picture I worked from. I didn't have a decent corridor image from the pictures we took with the camera. I decided this corridor looked plain enough to be worked into any kind of image and would be suitable. It is also from a eye level perspective so the horizon line is in the dead centre of the page.  

Analogue Sound

In Chris's lesson today we looked at analogue recording methods over digital. Analogue sound is a higher quality debatably because the record uses vibrations to create real physical sound which is then amplified this sound is more natural to us humans.
The sound is played because different wave lengths are scribed onto a surface as a physical texture which cause vibrations in the needle which then produces the correct wavelength which is amplified for us to hear. This is the method used for record players that use a needle to play the sound from a disc.
Another analogue recording method uses magnetic tape rather than a vinyl disc used for record players. To record the quality sounds the thicker the tape and how slowly it is winded define the quality of the sound slower and thicker means better quality unlike modern CD recordings.     

Trailer Anaylysis

Today we dicussed as a group what to include in our game trailer by listing key points on a spider diagram. First we listed what was common in most trailers like team logos, age ratings, release date things that should be included by default and make up our teams identity.  

Sound Unit

Today in Chris's lesson we looked at different ways of creating sounds in games and other forms of media. The two main techniques involve recording live sound with a recorder or synthesising sounds with computer software.
Examples we looked at were the movie Star Wars and how the producers recorded various machinery sounds to create a believable atmosphere through sounds. Foley artists is the official name given to these sound producers how record and edit sound.

In today's lesson we discussed out mutual reactions to different music and discussed our feelings and why we may have reacted in that way. We listened to six very different songs but all seemed to get similar vibes in terms of what we thought of each song. Here are my recorded thoughts on each song...

 

Pumped up- Very fast paced to emphasize action, aggression etc.

Unit 6: Saltaire Research

From this research l learnt that not everyone is compliant to give up their time to answer a few questions. Mostly because they are too busy or simply do not want to do it. However most did agree to fill in the questionnaire either carefully or as quickly as possible. I found myself selectively picking potential people who l think would take the questionnaire seriously. People like teachers, members of staff, ones that would treat the questionnaire as actual course work. Though l think we managed to get at least one of every age group specified on the questionnaire though it was primarily 17-20 year olds. Because we asked allot of students to fill out the forms.
In the way of team organisation we simply split into pairs each with some of the questionnaire sheets and went to get them filled in. I got most of mine from the college resource centre. Where l managed to get a few 30+ age questionnaires filled.
For the questionnaire itself we used Alex J's template.l It didn't really matter who's we used since we all had similar questions. So we just added necessary ones to Alex's template and used that. Though when we were out getting them filled in. We started to notice numerous mistakes such as repeated questions and questions not everyone will understand. From this l have learnt to pick questions carefully and make them understandable by everyone or provide sufficient explanation.
As for the outcome of the results it was to be honest as expected mostly 17-20, Roberts Park being the most popular location. We have also acquired allot of useless information with these questionnaires we cant actually use.

Overall l think we could have done allot better with the quality of information gathered but what we have will do. Things that could be improved would be only use multiple choice questions. We had questions where the applicant could write their own opinion in their own words. Not many were willing to properly fill this out or just put a silly answer. To effectively gather and record information in a spreadsheet you need to have multiple choice questions. You can not record opinions into a spreadsheet as a result we scrapped these answers entirely.
For this project based on the research l don't really want to base our project on Roberts Park since there aren't many interesting buildings there save for the cafe and statue. I would much rather make the Salts building in a futuristic theme. Not sci-fi kind off future more like how l imagine Saltaire will be 100 years from now. Technology will have advanced but at a realistic and believable level.