Oxford was a very eventful day, and I ended up visiting many different areas of Oxford, and I did feel that not only did I find lots of interesting things in the museums for inspiration, I feel that this trip has also helped me to grow as a person in terms of independence, and strength of character, amongst many different other things.
I feel this way because initially I was a bit reluctant to go, but I feel that I handled myself very well, and was able to freely explore the museums and the town itself very well, and it also made me feel like I could accomplish almost anything!
So I'd say it did make me realise a bit more how much I have overcome since the dark days of High School, where I was struggling to cope with almost anything (there were times when I felt I couldn't even leave my own house on my own, let alone go on a trip for a full day!) and I was pleased with the fact I could freely walk around an unfamiliar city on my own and still find my way back to the coach on time!
It especially meant a lot getting praise from my parents, who said that they were both very proud of me for going, and it meant a lot that they did reward me for what I had achieved today.
I feel that from today I could try visiting even more unfamiliar places, making me feel brave and adventurous, and it is fun doing that sort of thing, but I will say that it would have been even better if it wasn't raining all day!
Friday, 24 May 2013
Oxford Trip Topic 5: Returning Home
Because it was a trip, it was a much longer day than usual, so we arrived back in Stafford at around 6pm on the 14th May 2013, where I met with my dad who took me back home.
I felt quite tired, but I felt that it was a good day out, even if I felt it did distract me from my other projects. Mum made me a lovely dinner and both mum and dad said how proud they were of me, as originally I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to go, but I thought it was a place I have never been to before, which made me feel quite adventurous and brave, and even though in the end I didn't, I thought it could have been an opportunity to get to know some of the Foundation Degree students a lot better. So I did feel quite pleased with myself, and it did make me feel like I could cope in many uncomfortable situations.
As a reward, my mum wrote a lovely message saying well done for today and how much she missed me, and game me a present in the form of a Wreck it Ralph magazine, which was a lovely treat after a challenging day, and I did really enjoy reading this too!
I felt quite tired, but I felt that it was a good day out, even if I felt it did distract me from my other projects. Mum made me a lovely dinner and both mum and dad said how proud they were of me, as originally I wasn't sure whether I really wanted to go, but I thought it was a place I have never been to before, which made me feel quite adventurous and brave, and even though in the end I didn't, I thought it could have been an opportunity to get to know some of the Foundation Degree students a lot better. So I did feel quite pleased with myself, and it did make me feel like I could cope in many uncomfortable situations.
As a reward, my mum wrote a lovely message saying well done for today and how much she missed me, and game me a present in the form of a Wreck it Ralph magazine, which was a lovely treat after a challenging day, and I did really enjoy reading this too!
Oxford Trip Study Tasks.
In this task we had to find 2 items and create a study of them, such as drawing them, which is what I have done. I would have liked to have had a little bit more time to this task, but due to other outstanding projects, I have only spent around 5-10 minutes on each study.
Study 1: Discus Athlete, Ashmolean Museum
Study 2: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Natural History Museum
Study 1: Discus Athlete, Ashmolean Museum
Study 2: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Natural History Museum
Oxford Trip Topic 4: the Town itself
Although this was a college trip where the aim of it was to look at museums and galleries, I did give myself the chance to explore some of the other parts of Oxford, including its shops and restaurants. I would say that it does have a nice high street, with many different shops and eating places to look in and buy things from. I was pleased that their HMV was still open!
I also looked around many other shops, and was pleased that they had a Shopping Centre tucked away in one of the corners of one of the streets, which contained Primark and Game, so had a good look in there, and thought it was a really nice place to come shopping again one day!
Also, even though I had already had my lunch that day, I did feel quite peckish, so just before I boarded the coach I bought myself a Chicken Burger from KFC to eat on the coach too!
I also looked around many other shops, and was pleased that they had a Shopping Centre tucked away in one of the corners of one of the streets, which contained Primark and Game, so had a good look in there, and thought it was a really nice place to come shopping again one day!
Also, even though I had already had my lunch that day, I did feel quite peckish, so just before I boarded the coach I bought myself a Chicken Burger from KFC to eat on the coach too!
Oxford Trip Topic 3: the Natural History Museum
Even though we only saw the inside of this museum because we had to walk through it to get in and out of the Pitts museum where we intended to go, I did find the things on display that we did see, whether they were finished and ready or they weren't, very interesting. There was a very detailed display on the evolution of man, and many displays about monkeys, which I found to be impressive, as well as a life sized DNA helix strand.
However, some of my favourite displays I saw were when we were leaving. There was a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, which I wasn't sure was ready for display yet, which looked really cool, and I could easily see me creating something in the future that is to do with dinosaurs (there are also many books about dinosaurs too, so researching them wouldn't be too bad either,) and there were also some interesting crystals and rocks too, which unlike other displays we could actually touch them!
One other artefact I found interesting was something about a bacteria cell, and the insides of them as well
So even though we were only in there for a short time, I did enjoy the Natural History Museum in Oxford.
However, some of my favourite displays I saw were when we were leaving. There was a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, which I wasn't sure was ready for display yet, which looked really cool, and I could easily see me creating something in the future that is to do with dinosaurs (there are also many books about dinosaurs too, so researching them wouldn't be too bad either,) and there were also some interesting crystals and rocks too, which unlike other displays we could actually touch them!
One other artefact I found interesting was something about a bacteria cell, and the insides of them as well
So even though we were only in there for a short time, I did enjoy the Natural History Museum in Oxford.
Oxford Trip Topic 2: the Pitts Museum
After looking around the Ashmolean for around three hours, and I still felt that there was more to see, myself, some of the other students and lecturers moved on to other museums. The next museum we visited was the Pitts museum, which we had to walk through some unfinished, but impressive displays in the Oxford Natural History museum to get there.
To be honest I did find the Pitts museum to be quite cluttered and dark, and there were also lots of excitable schoolchildren running around the museum, there were still a few interesting things on display, and the layout of the museum did remind me of a potential game level, which did feel quite exciting. There was a large totem pole towards the back of the museum, spanning all three floors of the museum, which I particularly liked, due to it standing out and its grand scale, but there were also other things that reminded me of my childhood displayed there, such as ice skates, both old and new.
I did feel that there were a lot of textiles and fashion based items on display, of both old fashion and some things I could see people wearing today at the Pitts museum, so I feel that it would be a much more inspiring place for people particularly interested in fashion. There were also a very wide variety of items on display, which I did appreciate.
I wouldn't say the museum was as good as the Ashmolean, or any museum or gallery I visited in Paris for that matter, and I wouldn't say I could spend more than an hour or two there without getting a bit bored, but I still appreciate looking around these places, and the things they have on display, because they are still ver creative and historic.
Oxford Trip Topic 1:the Ashmolean Museum
The first place we visited as a college after departing from the coach was the Ashmolean Museum, which was located just across the street from where we were parked. So after we were given out many tasks, and a map to prevent us from getting lost, we were left to look around the museum by ourselves, considering we were all over 18 and could look after ourselves.
I went around by myself, which I found quite beneficial, because I could then look at the items on display that were most interesting and relevant to me. At first, even though I wasn't initially looking forward to the trip, being on the coach allowed me to rest a bit from my other outstanding projects, and found myself feeling quite fresh and excitable visiting a new place, even though the weather was terrible throughout the whole day.
So anyway, I felt that the Ashmolean museum was a brilliant museum, it was very informative about each artefact and had a very wide variety of artefacts on display spanning 5 floors! Most of the artefacts were historic, but there were a few modern items on display, and I felt that the inside of the museum itself had a very modern feel to it. I think my favourite things on display there were the musical instruments, as well as all the human sculptures and the Ancient Greek display, which reminded me a lot of the Disney Classic Hercules. Even though this area would be quite easy to miss, I was also particularly impressed by the artwork printed on the Japanese Scrolls at the museum, and made me feel like people all over the world should paint or print their artwork on scrolls, as I felt that was a very good and inventive medium to use.
I felt I could have stayed there for longer, but because I was in an unfamiliar place, and didn't want to separate from the main group, I kept to the schedule, and moved on with the other lecturers to the other museums.
I went around by myself, which I found quite beneficial, because I could then look at the items on display that were most interesting and relevant to me. At first, even though I wasn't initially looking forward to the trip, being on the coach allowed me to rest a bit from my other outstanding projects, and found myself feeling quite fresh and excitable visiting a new place, even though the weather was terrible throughout the whole day.
So anyway, I felt that the Ashmolean museum was a brilliant museum, it was very informative about each artefact and had a very wide variety of artefacts on display spanning 5 floors! Most of the artefacts were historic, but there were a few modern items on display, and I felt that the inside of the museum itself had a very modern feel to it. I think my favourite things on display there were the musical instruments, as well as all the human sculptures and the Ancient Greek display, which reminded me a lot of the Disney Classic Hercules. Even though this area would be quite easy to miss, I was also particularly impressed by the artwork printed on the Japanese Scrolls at the museum, and made me feel like people all over the world should paint or print their artwork on scrolls, as I felt that was a very good and inventive medium to use.
I felt I could have stayed there for longer, but because I was in an unfamiliar place, and didn't want to separate from the main group, I kept to the schedule, and moved on with the other lecturers to the other museums.
Oxford Trip picture task
In this task whilst I was at Oxford with college I had to take at least 10 pictures of things I found particularly interesting and write things about them. these are some of my favourite things I saw in the Ashmolean and the Pitts museums and galleries.
These vases and pots represent the ancient greeks, and would often have images of gods and goddesses painted on them. I particularly liked these because they particularly reminded me of the Disney Classic Hercules, and how the writers of that film must have done some extensive research into greek mythology, in terms of their art and their architecture, which also inspire many around the world too.
In the Ashmolean museum there were lots of musical items on display, with many different fascinating instruments. This was one of the many guitars they had on display. I loved how each guitar had an entirely different pattern, and I feel that right now I am particularly fascinated by music, and I may want to try creating a musical talent for myself over the Summer, as I am a big fan of all kinds of music, and the guitar is one of my favourite musical instruments. I was also interested to read about the history and origins of each musical instrument on display, and if I remember correctly, the guitar was originally from Spain.
There was also an assorted collection of historic rings displayed in the Ashmolean museum, all with different meanings and fascinating designs. These rings did in fact remind me of my favourite character in gaming, Sonic the Hedgehog, as he usually has to collect a lot of rings in order to survive, and also one of my old friends is into jewellery, so I suppose this reminded me of them too.
This was an interactive display which taught you about weaving. Even though this wasn't the most spectacular item on display, I felt that this was one of the most relevant pieces to my course, as I feel it is important for any museum or gallery to have at least one display that the public can interact with, and to help people who were unfamiliar with weaving, such as myself, there was a little information sheet teaching you about all the basic weaving techniques which were clear and easy to understand, which is also important in an interactive display as it makes the public appreciate the display more if people can easily understand something.
It was quite surreal to see that in the Pitts museum they had some ice skates on display! I had to take a picture of these because ice skating was one of my favourite pastime hobbies, and made me feel like ice skating again! For those who don't know the white ones are figure skates, for figure skating, where you learn different moves and tricks and balancing on the ice, and the black ones that almost look like trainers are ice hockey skates, for playing ice hockey, and going a lot faster.
These are some very old fashioned ice skates, which are basically leather shoes with pieces of wood attached to the bottom. It was very interesting to see the origins of the invention of ice skates, to move and balance in icy conditions, and it gives you an idea of how people who lived in those conditions did cope.
There were many sculptures of humans like this one displayed in the Ashmolean museum, and I did take pictures of many sculptures, and this is just one example of a human sculpture, which I think was made from bronze or brass.
This was another interactive display of using a lever to lift a rock. However, you could adjust the angle of the lever, which would affect the strength of the lever, making it either easier or harder to lift the rock, which I thought was a very clever and fascinating display, as it made you learn something as well, about the best way to lift heavy rocks. It could also be a good workout too!
This was another interactive display that included a museum friendly crossbow and some deer silhouettes, where you would use a wooden peg to see how many deer silhouettes you could shoot down and get past. I will be honest, this was my least favourite interactive display at the Ashmolean, because of its lack of morals and because it wasn't as satisfying, but I still admire the creativity that goes into interactive displays, which are arguably more creative and more fun than standard displays at museums, even though the interactive displays here were very basic and I did prefer some of the standard displays, strangely enough.
This was a shiny silver trumpet found in the music section of the Ashmolean museum. I have never considered blaying the trumpet before, but this was one of my favourite and one of the better looking instruments on display, which was used for Royal occasions. I was impressed by how well kept it was, despite being a few hundred years old.
Thursday, 23 May 2013
23/05/13
Today was DEADLINE DAY! Which meant all the work had to be handed in by the end of today!
Again, I had mainly written work to do. I spent most of this morning finishing the tedious task of referencing all my research into a bibliography, something I will have to approach differently in future projects, if a bibliography is required in future projects. I feel I will have to fill my bibliography as I work on a project, instead of doing it all at the end.
I also had to decide on a font for my trading cards, and then save each trading card onto separate files, as when I was working on this project, I was working on one file for all my cards, resulting in many many layers in Photoshop, so to separate them all I saved each card onto separate files.
Will need new bag as strap broke this morning. Must also anticipate weather better, as I had to walk to college in just a hoodie, t shirt and jeans, but it started hailing! In May!
Again, I had mainly written work to do. I spent most of this morning finishing the tedious task of referencing all my research into a bibliography, something I will have to approach differently in future projects, if a bibliography is required in future projects. I feel I will have to fill my bibliography as I work on a project, instead of doing it all at the end.
I also had to decide on a font for my trading cards, and then save each trading card onto separate files, as when I was working on this project, I was working on one file for all my cards, resulting in many many layers in Photoshop, so to separate them all I saved each card onto separate files.
Will need new bag as strap broke this morning. Must also anticipate weather better, as I had to walk to college in just a hoodie, t shirt and jeans, but it started hailing! In May!
22/05/13
With the deadline of tomorrow firmly planted in my head, I knew I had to get the rest of my work finished. This included my product, which was almost finished, my research, my bibliography for my research and this, my learning journal.
I felt that all of the big and exciting jobs were all done now, so I could see the finish line of this now, but this left all of the written work to do, which to be honest I find less interesting, and I feel my enthusiasm for the written work has decreased as the year has passed.
Today I had to start adding finishing touches to my trading card design, such as colouring and adding symbols I started at home this past week, but still need to decide on text for cards.
Also started collecting a bibliography, which did prove quite difficult, as a lot of my research wasn't already referenced properly. I'm just happy that I did properly reference some of my work!
I felt that all of the big and exciting jobs were all done now, so I could see the finish line of this now, but this left all of the written work to do, which to be honest I find less interesting, and I feel my enthusiasm for the written work has decreased as the year has passed.
Today I had to start adding finishing touches to my trading card design, such as colouring and adding symbols I started at home this past week, but still need to decide on text for cards.
Also started collecting a bibliography, which did prove quite difficult, as a lot of my research wasn't already referenced properly. I'm just happy that I did properly reference some of my work!
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
21/05/13
Over the past weekend I feel I have made excellent progress with my college work and I can certainly see myself finishing my work on time if I work hard, which does feel relieving, but I must keep on track of things.
This weekend I managed to focus on finishing and perfecting the textures of my spirit character models, and also successfully attempted this effect I learned in my research to achieve a more ghostly effect, and I must say I feel that this has really helped me to achieve what I was looking for more accurately, and I feel glad that I have managed to learn an entirely new skill in Maya without Neil's help, which is one of the things I initially wanted to get out of this project. I have also learned how to make cloths in Maya, as well as smooth, stretch and indent models using the brush tool, but Neil has showed me how to do these things, which I still appreciate even though I didn't learn them independently, and I appreciate the fact that he doesn't seem to mind showing me new skills in Maya.
I have also met with a lady on Friday who may be able to help me to get a work placement relevant to what I may want to do as a career in the future, and had a very good and successful chat about what I may want to get out of this service that helps people find relevant work placements, known as Open Door. I found that she was very kind, easygoing and laid back, but very efficient, and my dad also works with her, which I feel helps i terms of communication. I have had to email her more details about what skills I feel I could bring into
Today's lecture with Neil (W) was basically just a recap of all the sessions of the reflective writing module so far, including the trip to Oxford last week, and also reminded the class of all the homework tasks which needed to be completed by noon on Friday (except for the presentation, which needs to be presented after half term.) I feel that this recap was helpful, necessary and relevant, and I was glad and felt very relieved when I found out I can submit all of my work by email, as this makes it much easier to hand in my work as first of all, it means me not coming into college and handing it directly on Friday, and it also means that I don't have to print off loads of pages that my reflective journal is worth.
I am slightly concerned about the midday deadline for the reflective journal and the 1000 word report on the course so far, discussing key experiences relevant to the course so far, but I hope if I work hard and get my work done as quickly as I can, I will be able to get my work done.
As the lecture was basically a recap, the lecture did finish a lot earlier than usual, possibly the shortest lecture I have had all year. However, I did expect to be working on the group presentation I need to do with the other first year New Media students, but one of them wasn't in the lecture today, and the other person felt it would be better to work on it when everybody was around, so we have agreed to keep in touch over Facebook, and perhaps work on the presentation if we have any spare time at college.
I then had a nice chat with my college support Lynda, discussing all the news in my life over the past weekend.
This weekend I managed to focus on finishing and perfecting the textures of my spirit character models, and also successfully attempted this effect I learned in my research to achieve a more ghostly effect, and I must say I feel that this has really helped me to achieve what I was looking for more accurately, and I feel glad that I have managed to learn an entirely new skill in Maya without Neil's help, which is one of the things I initially wanted to get out of this project. I have also learned how to make cloths in Maya, as well as smooth, stretch and indent models using the brush tool, but Neil has showed me how to do these things, which I still appreciate even though I didn't learn them independently, and I appreciate the fact that he doesn't seem to mind showing me new skills in Maya.
I have also met with a lady on Friday who may be able to help me to get a work placement relevant to what I may want to do as a career in the future, and had a very good and successful chat about what I may want to get out of this service that helps people find relevant work placements, known as Open Door. I found that she was very kind, easygoing and laid back, but very efficient, and my dad also works with her, which I feel helps i terms of communication. I have had to email her more details about what skills I feel I could bring into
Today's lecture with Neil (W) was basically just a recap of all the sessions of the reflective writing module so far, including the trip to Oxford last week, and also reminded the class of all the homework tasks which needed to be completed by noon on Friday (except for the presentation, which needs to be presented after half term.) I feel that this recap was helpful, necessary and relevant, and I was glad and felt very relieved when I found out I can submit all of my work by email, as this makes it much easier to hand in my work as first of all, it means me not coming into college and handing it directly on Friday, and it also means that I don't have to print off loads of pages that my reflective journal is worth.
I am slightly concerned about the midday deadline for the reflective journal and the 1000 word report on the course so far, discussing key experiences relevant to the course so far, but I hope if I work hard and get my work done as quickly as I can, I will be able to get my work done.
As the lecture was basically a recap, the lecture did finish a lot earlier than usual, possibly the shortest lecture I have had all year. However, I did expect to be working on the group presentation I need to do with the other first year New Media students, but one of them wasn't in the lecture today, and the other person felt it would be better to work on it when everybody was around, so we have agreed to keep in touch over Facebook, and perhaps work on the presentation if we have any spare time at college.
I then had a nice chat with my college support Lynda, discussing all the news in my life over the past weekend.
Thursday, 16 May 2013
RLJ 16/05/13
After the success of yesterday, my dad and I went to see the new Star Trek movie. I enjoyed it, but not as much as my dad did. I just felt that the story didn't really make all that much sense, but the acting and special effects was brilliant, minus oneparticulardeathscene (SPOILERALERT, SOMEBODYDIES!) But I strangely enjoyed it. I just liked how everything looked, and was mostly quite a nice, fantasy sic fi film.
So today it was back to texturing, I textured another two models today, but one of them in particular stressed me out because of a very complicated and confusing unwrap, which led to the colours overlapping on faces that I didn't want them to be on. I did find this quite tiring and stressful, and I did speak to Neil about this, but he didn't seem too worried about this for my project. In fact, he said that if I didn't point it out to him, he wouldn't have noticed! I suppose this brought out the perfectionist in me to be honest, and Neil suggested if I did want to try and get the textures perfect, then I could try redoing the unwrap of the parts that are causing me stress and then texture them that way. I feel reluctant to do this, considering I only have a week left until everything, including this blog and my research has to be handed in, but I feel it could be something to consider, especially seeing as I still have two more models to unwrap and texture, which hopefully won't take me too long.
This afternoon I mainly started catching up on my blog, despite the fact that my laptop's battery was rapidly running out, but today myself, Ananda and Scott started talking about this group presentation about a success story for Neil (W) after half term, and agreed that we shall start working on it maybe on Tuesday after the lecture and we are also considering making the presentation on Pixar, seeing as we don't have much time on it and that we have studied this subject already in other modules. Neil (B) even offered to help by letting us present the presentation to him next week if we get it finished. If not, we may have to meet up over half term, which would be fine, but I am visiting my sister over half term for a few days for a show she is working on, and I am excited about this.
So today it was back to texturing, I textured another two models today, but one of them in particular stressed me out because of a very complicated and confusing unwrap, which led to the colours overlapping on faces that I didn't want them to be on. I did find this quite tiring and stressful, and I did speak to Neil about this, but he didn't seem too worried about this for my project. In fact, he said that if I didn't point it out to him, he wouldn't have noticed! I suppose this brought out the perfectionist in me to be honest, and Neil suggested if I did want to try and get the textures perfect, then I could try redoing the unwrap of the parts that are causing me stress and then texture them that way. I feel reluctant to do this, considering I only have a week left until everything, including this blog and my research has to be handed in, but I feel it could be something to consider, especially seeing as I still have two more models to unwrap and texture, which hopefully won't take me too long.
This afternoon I mainly started catching up on my blog, despite the fact that my laptop's battery was rapidly running out, but today myself, Ananda and Scott started talking about this group presentation about a success story for Neil (W) after half term, and agreed that we shall start working on it maybe on Tuesday after the lecture and we are also considering making the presentation on Pixar, seeing as we don't have much time on it and that we have studied this subject already in other modules. Neil (B) even offered to help by letting us present the presentation to him next week if we get it finished. If not, we may have to meet up over half term, which would be fine, but I am visiting my sister over half term for a few days for a show she is working on, and I am excited about this.
RLJ 15/05/13
I am really pleased with how much I managed to get done over the weekend since I last worked on my Spirit Rush project. I managed to get 4 models unwrapped in one day over the weekend! I have also unwrapped a further 2 models, and decided on a good logo for my Trading Card Game, all of which I feel happy about and I feel that this is more than enough work for me to have done over the weekend. However, I am starting to feel a real pressure to get this work finished, and this is one of the reasons why the word "rush" is in the title of my project, because I think it's going to be a real rush to get this project done.
I was quite stressed on Monday, for a number of reasons, I think. First of all, I was working pretty much all afternoon on my project and not giving myself enough break time and didn't go outside until the evening when I spoke to my parents about my project and how stressed I was about it, and how much I still needed to do, and speaking to my parents and going out for a walk with my dad really helped me to feel better about everything. I just feel so lucky to have caring and supportive parents that are always there for me and happy to help. I was also comparing how well I got on with my work the previous day (the day I unwrapped 4 models!) to what I had done on Monday, (unwrapped 2 models, nearly 3) which did make me feel a bit sad, because I really wanted to get as much done as possibleI was also stressed and nervous about going to the "compulsory" Oxford trip with college yesterday because everybody has got things to hand in for the end of year show in June, and I wasn't really sure what we were doing in Oxford, and I was struggling to see the point of it on Monday, but I had a nice time in Oxford in the end.
I was also happy that, despite me feeling a bit stressed to get work done, I did have enough time to see my friend on Saturday, and we had a good time together, which I feel happy about. I also had enough time to spend with my family as well, and I am also starting to look at possible things to do to get me set up for a career after this course for something I would enjoy doing more, and I feel that I have already had quite a lot of help with this, and I am feeling quite optimistic, yet naive about these opportunities.
So today at college was the day I would start texturing! I feel slightly less worried about my project than I was on Monday, because I have asked Neil if I can print my work off outside of college, as I'm sure that coming up to the end of year show most students will want to have at least something printed, and if I wanted something printed at college I would have to have everything finished for tomorrow, and my work is nowhere near finished yet, so Neil has agreed for me to print my final pieces off outside of college. However I was a bit nervous about showing Neil my research, as he did request to see it last week, and so far almost all of my research is web based, but if all goes well this week, I will try and complete my research completely next week.
So today at college I managed to start texturing 3 of my models. I have only used mainly solid colours so far due to time restrictions, but may add textures to some parts a bit later. I find texturing a bit of a strange process, as sometimes I can find it quite simple, but at other times it can be quite stressful and that the colours will go where they're not supposed to. It's a very detailed process, but when this is done for all of my models, then all there is to do is to render each model and put the rendered images onto the trading card design, something I have also worked on over the weekend. I learned how to create a multicoloured effect for the borders of one type of my trading cards on a simple YouTube video, which is actually quite a cool effect. You have to select the gradient tool next to the paint bucket, and select the multicolour effect and make a line! Simples!
Speaking of my trading card designs, Neil wanted me to show them to him this afternoon. He seemed to like them, but may need to colour white parts of the trading cards as they may be too similar to the background on Photoshop. He also decided that I don't need to print my work off before half term, I just need to finish it as I would like it in the show, then over half term Neil can look at my designs and see if they work with the Augmented Reality idea, and send me feedback if I need to adjust anything for the designs. This was the most relieving news I have heard at college in a long time, as this takes loads of pressure off getting all my work done ready to print.
So really, quite a good day where I got a lot of work finished!! Yayyy!
I was quite stressed on Monday, for a number of reasons, I think. First of all, I was working pretty much all afternoon on my project and not giving myself enough break time and didn't go outside until the evening when I spoke to my parents about my project and how stressed I was about it, and how much I still needed to do, and speaking to my parents and going out for a walk with my dad really helped me to feel better about everything. I just feel so lucky to have caring and supportive parents that are always there for me and happy to help. I was also comparing how well I got on with my work the previous day (the day I unwrapped 4 models!) to what I had done on Monday, (unwrapped 2 models, nearly 3) which did make me feel a bit sad, because I really wanted to get as much done as possibleI was also stressed and nervous about going to the "compulsory" Oxford trip with college yesterday because everybody has got things to hand in for the end of year show in June, and I wasn't really sure what we were doing in Oxford, and I was struggling to see the point of it on Monday, but I had a nice time in Oxford in the end.
I was also happy that, despite me feeling a bit stressed to get work done, I did have enough time to see my friend on Saturday, and we had a good time together, which I feel happy about. I also had enough time to spend with my family as well, and I am also starting to look at possible things to do to get me set up for a career after this course for something I would enjoy doing more, and I feel that I have already had quite a lot of help with this, and I am feeling quite optimistic, yet naive about these opportunities.
So today at college was the day I would start texturing! I feel slightly less worried about my project than I was on Monday, because I have asked Neil if I can print my work off outside of college, as I'm sure that coming up to the end of year show most students will want to have at least something printed, and if I wanted something printed at college I would have to have everything finished for tomorrow, and my work is nowhere near finished yet, so Neil has agreed for me to print my final pieces off outside of college. However I was a bit nervous about showing Neil my research, as he did request to see it last week, and so far almost all of my research is web based, but if all goes well this week, I will try and complete my research completely next week.
So today at college I managed to start texturing 3 of my models. I have only used mainly solid colours so far due to time restrictions, but may add textures to some parts a bit later. I find texturing a bit of a strange process, as sometimes I can find it quite simple, but at other times it can be quite stressful and that the colours will go where they're not supposed to. It's a very detailed process, but when this is done for all of my models, then all there is to do is to render each model and put the rendered images onto the trading card design, something I have also worked on over the weekend. I learned how to create a multicoloured effect for the borders of one type of my trading cards on a simple YouTube video, which is actually quite a cool effect. You have to select the gradient tool next to the paint bucket, and select the multicolour effect and make a line! Simples!
Speaking of my trading card designs, Neil wanted me to show them to him this afternoon. He seemed to like them, but may need to colour white parts of the trading cards as they may be too similar to the background on Photoshop. He also decided that I don't need to print my work off before half term, I just need to finish it as I would like it in the show, then over half term Neil can look at my designs and see if they work with the Augmented Reality idea, and send me feedback if I need to adjust anything for the designs. This was the most relieving news I have heard at college in a long time, as this takes loads of pressure off getting all my work done ready to print.
So really, quite a good day where I got a lot of work finished!! Yayyy!
Thursday, 9 May 2013
RLJ 09/05/2013
My aim for today was to completely finish my models, so it was going to be quite a busy day, even though I was feeling quite tired today.
This morning I attempted to finish modelling my hand, which did take quite a while, and I think that from this and other previous experiences that proper hands are one of the most difficult things to model because of the very complex shapes. Throughout the time that I was modelling the hands for some of my spirits, I was talking a lot to Lisa, and strangely enough this didn't really distract me, and in fact helped me to model the hand for the spirits by showing me all the details of a human hand, and I think because of this I have got a much better understanding on how to model hands.
After I finished modelling the hand, I then showed Neil (B) my models so far, which are all almost finished, but may need finishing touches to them to make them perfect. I showed him the models to gain feedback so far, as well as help and advice to improve my models, and his feedback was literally just to add finishing touches to some of my models. And eyes, he did stress that I would need to model the eyes as well for each of the spirits. He seemed quite happy with what I have done though, which is always good to hear. However, he did strongly point out which of my models he preferred (the Power, Water, Nature and Wind spirits,) and if I don't completely finish, texture and render all of my models by next week then he suggested to just focus on these, but I will try and get as much done as possible. However, I do understand that I will need to completely finish at least some models ready for the end of year show.
I spent the afternoon applying these finishing touches to my models, the trickiest being repositioning the lightning bolts on the Light Spirit, as they were overlapping in places, which we cannot have in the final render as the model will flicker if they overlap, which will affect the quality of the final render.
I also modelled some eyes for each of the spirits, but this was easily done, as all that was required for the eyes was a simple oval.
This morning I attempted to finish modelling my hand, which did take quite a while, and I think that from this and other previous experiences that proper hands are one of the most difficult things to model because of the very complex shapes. Throughout the time that I was modelling the hands for some of my spirits, I was talking a lot to Lisa, and strangely enough this didn't really distract me, and in fact helped me to model the hand for the spirits by showing me all the details of a human hand, and I think because of this I have got a much better understanding on how to model hands.
After I finished modelling the hand, I then showed Neil (B) my models so far, which are all almost finished, but may need finishing touches to them to make them perfect. I showed him the models to gain feedback so far, as well as help and advice to improve my models, and his feedback was literally just to add finishing touches to some of my models. And eyes, he did stress that I would need to model the eyes as well for each of the spirits. He seemed quite happy with what I have done though, which is always good to hear. However, he did strongly point out which of my models he preferred (the Power, Water, Nature and Wind spirits,) and if I don't completely finish, texture and render all of my models by next week then he suggested to just focus on these, but I will try and get as much done as possible. However, I do understand that I will need to completely finish at least some models ready for the end of year show.
I spent the afternoon applying these finishing touches to my models, the trickiest being repositioning the lightning bolts on the Light Spirit, as they were overlapping in places, which we cannot have in the final render as the model will flicker if they overlap, which will affect the quality of the final render.
I also modelled some eyes for each of the spirits, but this was easily done, as all that was required for the eyes was a simple oval.
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
RLJ 08/05/13
Over this Bank Holiday weekend I went down to Rochester in Kent to visit my sister for her "Bring a Friend Day," where I had to participate in all the lessons she would normally have in a day with her. She goes to a Performing Arts College (PAC) so I had to do a lot of dancing and it was a lot more energetic and hardcore than I expected, as some of her fellow students brought parents, and a lot of the "friends" weren't trained dancers/performers, so it was quite exhausting, but I really enjoyed it, and enjoyed meeting and getting to know some more of my sister's college friends and their "friends." There was also a cake sale where some of the students and friends brought and baked cakes to sell at the college that day, and the cakes I had were lovely. One was like an angel cake, but with all the colours of the rainbow, and I thought that was visually impressive as well! When I was participating in some of the classes it did make me think what if my life was a video game and that these classes were rhythm action minigames, but the difficulty level would be a lot higher for me as I am not a trained dancer or performer, and perhaps don't have as much stamina as the students.
But because I was away, there wasn't really any chance for me to do any of my college work in Rochester, but I returned to Stafford on Saturday because I was aware I had quite a lot to do, as well as the fact I was due to meet some of my old college friends to see Iron Man 3, a film which I thought was really good, despite hearing mixed reviews about, and I admit there were a few random and unnecessary parts. I loved the appearance of all of the different Iron Man suits, and it made me think that I would love to see any concept drawings or designs of any of these suits, as there were quite a lot of variations of the classic Iron Man suit in the film, including the Iron Patriot, a version of Iron Man owned by the government to protect America and the President, if I remember correctly.
I also went for a walk with my family to a countryside area where lots of Bluebells were growing, a Bluebell Wood, which was a lovely place, and even though I had my college work on my mind, I really enjoyed being there.
I finally managed to get a bit of college work done, over Monday and Tuesday (I had the day off on Tuesday because of Staff Training), where I spent a lot of my time on modelling my spirits and have nearly finished 7 of them. However, I did have a problem with the hands on some of the spirits. I noticed that on the hand I had modelled for some of the spirits, I didn't leave any gaps between the fingers (this was probably because I didn't want to add too many subdivisions on my model at first), so I decided to import my gladiator model and take the hand from that model to try and save time. However, Maya kept on closing down whenever I tried to do something with the hand, so some of my models don't have any hands yet, and this is something I will have to model very soon.
I have felt over the past few days though that it is really starting to sink in how much work I really have to do over the next 2-3 weeks, and it is worrying me slightly how I am actually going to get what I need to do done for my college projects. I have made mum and dad aware, as I feel it always helps to tell them whenever I am nervous or anxious about something, and my dad has offered to help by finding somewhere other than college I could print my work if I needed to find somewhere else. This is because college will undoubtedly have loads of print orders for the end of year show, and my work might take a bit longer to complete for the print order deadline for college.
Anyways, today I worked on the wind spirit, the only spirit I haven't started at home this weekend, because I remember Neil (B) showing me a technique in Maya to get the shape I wanted (a tornado) the best way possible, so i decided to wait until today to ask him to remind me. All my other spirits are almost finished in terms of modelling, I just need to perfect the hands for some of them, which is something I was struggling with this weekend. Neil showed me how to make a decent effect by using the deformer tools after building a cylinder to get the shapes and effects I wanted, and can be something I feel I could use in future projects if necessary. The deformer tools let me manipulate an already made polygon and add effects to them, such as twisting the shape, which is what I did to achieve a tornado shape.
It was good to get this spirit underway, and after a morning of experimenting with the new skill I learned in Maya, I then continued to model the rest of my design for the Wind Spirit. Because the head of the wind spirit had a similar shape to that of the nature spirit, I decided to import the head of the nature spirit into the Wind Spirit file and edit the shape of the head slightly to match my Wind Spirit design better. I also had to extrude a beak from this shape, as well as merge vertices that weren't properly matched up. I also started modelling the wings and talons, but at the moment I feel these look a bit chunky, and I will be able to finish these very quickly hopefully.
I also had to help move the boards from the storage cupboard on the top floor of college to our room on the floor below, ready for the end of year show. These were quite heavy, and my clothes got quite dusty, and it has been a very energetic few days for me. Feeling good but still need to watch my progress on my project.
I am nervous about the Oxford trip next week, as I'm not really sure what to expect, and I'm not really sure to be honest what the whole purpose of the trip is. It has also come at a busy and stressful time of year for college, which makes me question if it's a good idea for a college day trip in the first place, and also makes me think if the Contextual Studies modules have been put in order the most efficient way.
But because I was away, there wasn't really any chance for me to do any of my college work in Rochester, but I returned to Stafford on Saturday because I was aware I had quite a lot to do, as well as the fact I was due to meet some of my old college friends to see Iron Man 3, a film which I thought was really good, despite hearing mixed reviews about, and I admit there were a few random and unnecessary parts. I loved the appearance of all of the different Iron Man suits, and it made me think that I would love to see any concept drawings or designs of any of these suits, as there were quite a lot of variations of the classic Iron Man suit in the film, including the Iron Patriot, a version of Iron Man owned by the government to protect America and the President, if I remember correctly.
I also went for a walk with my family to a countryside area where lots of Bluebells were growing, a Bluebell Wood, which was a lovely place, and even though I had my college work on my mind, I really enjoyed being there.
I finally managed to get a bit of college work done, over Monday and Tuesday (I had the day off on Tuesday because of Staff Training), where I spent a lot of my time on modelling my spirits and have nearly finished 7 of them. However, I did have a problem with the hands on some of the spirits. I noticed that on the hand I had modelled for some of the spirits, I didn't leave any gaps between the fingers (this was probably because I didn't want to add too many subdivisions on my model at first), so I decided to import my gladiator model and take the hand from that model to try and save time. However, Maya kept on closing down whenever I tried to do something with the hand, so some of my models don't have any hands yet, and this is something I will have to model very soon.
I have felt over the past few days though that it is really starting to sink in how much work I really have to do over the next 2-3 weeks, and it is worrying me slightly how I am actually going to get what I need to do done for my college projects. I have made mum and dad aware, as I feel it always helps to tell them whenever I am nervous or anxious about something, and my dad has offered to help by finding somewhere other than college I could print my work if I needed to find somewhere else. This is because college will undoubtedly have loads of print orders for the end of year show, and my work might take a bit longer to complete for the print order deadline for college.
Anyways, today I worked on the wind spirit, the only spirit I haven't started at home this weekend, because I remember Neil (B) showing me a technique in Maya to get the shape I wanted (a tornado) the best way possible, so i decided to wait until today to ask him to remind me. All my other spirits are almost finished in terms of modelling, I just need to perfect the hands for some of them, which is something I was struggling with this weekend. Neil showed me how to make a decent effect by using the deformer tools after building a cylinder to get the shapes and effects I wanted, and can be something I feel I could use in future projects if necessary. The deformer tools let me manipulate an already made polygon and add effects to them, such as twisting the shape, which is what I did to achieve a tornado shape.
It was good to get this spirit underway, and after a morning of experimenting with the new skill I learned in Maya, I then continued to model the rest of my design for the Wind Spirit. Because the head of the wind spirit had a similar shape to that of the nature spirit, I decided to import the head of the nature spirit into the Wind Spirit file and edit the shape of the head slightly to match my Wind Spirit design better. I also had to extrude a beak from this shape, as well as merge vertices that weren't properly matched up. I also started modelling the wings and talons, but at the moment I feel these look a bit chunky, and I will be able to finish these very quickly hopefully.
I also had to help move the boards from the storage cupboard on the top floor of college to our room on the floor below, ready for the end of year show. These were quite heavy, and my clothes got quite dusty, and it has been a very energetic few days for me. Feeling good but still need to watch my progress on my project.
I am nervous about the Oxford trip next week, as I'm not really sure what to expect, and I'm not really sure to be honest what the whole purpose of the trip is. It has also come at a busy and stressful time of year for college, which makes me question if it's a good idea for a college day trip in the first place, and also makes me think if the Contextual Studies modules have been put in order the most efficient way.
Thursday, 2 May 2013
RLJ 02/05/13
Today was continuing from where I left off yesterday, modelling my spirit characters from yesterday. I had my synopsis to write as well today, which was floating around in my mind, but I wasn't too worried about this, as it only had to be 250 words, something I could easily find the time to write today.
Today I made progress on modelling the Light and Dark spirits, two designs I feel really pleased with, and I really hope that they will look just as good in 3D. I worked on the Light Spirit first, which was going quite well to start with, but I was stuck for quite a while on the two lightning bolts that are supposed to coil around each other. It was also quite difficult to build these lightning bolts, and to get the shape to match my drawing as accurately as possible. However, after a while, I did solve the coil problem, as I had to mirror the geometry of the second lightning bolt twice, which to be honest was by chance, as I was trying to experiment different things that would rotate the second bolt to where I wanted it, but I just couldn't manage to get the second bolt to where I wanted it at all by rotating alone, no matter how hard I tried, so I was so glad and relieved when I used the mirror geometry tool on the lightning bolt, twice, and that it worked so successfully. This made me realise that I did make quite a challenge with my drawing of the Light Spirit that I was following throughout my modelling.
I am quite concerned about the fact that I won't have too much time to do my work until Sunday, as I am going to visit my sister in Kent this evening until Saturday morning
Today I made progress on modelling the Light and Dark spirits, two designs I feel really pleased with, and I really hope that they will look just as good in 3D. I worked on the Light Spirit first, which was going quite well to start with, but I was stuck for quite a while on the two lightning bolts that are supposed to coil around each other. It was also quite difficult to build these lightning bolts, and to get the shape to match my drawing as accurately as possible. However, after a while, I did solve the coil problem, as I had to mirror the geometry of the second lightning bolt twice, which to be honest was by chance, as I was trying to experiment different things that would rotate the second bolt to where I wanted it, but I just couldn't manage to get the second bolt to where I wanted it at all by rotating alone, no matter how hard I tried, so I was so glad and relieved when I used the mirror geometry tool on the lightning bolt, twice, and that it worked so successfully. This made me realise that I did make quite a challenge with my drawing of the Light Spirit that I was following throughout my modelling.
I am quite concerned about the fact that I won't have too much time to do my work until Sunday, as I am going to visit my sister in Kent this evening until Saturday morning
RLJ 01/05/2013
Today was the day where I would finally start modelling my spirit characters! I brought my laptop to college today, as that already had Autodesk Maya, the 3D modelling program installed on it. However, I haven't used Maya since the Gladiator project back in February before I went to Paris, so it did take me a while to get used to it again today. I was struggling with the Maya on my laptop because I couldn't switch the Backface Culling option on, something I needed to do to build my models from my sketches (I scanned my final sketches of my models at home) and a lot of the tools in Maya were missing on my laptop, something I found quite odd and wasn't sure how to deal with it, so eventually I went on the Macs at college and used Maya on them, which went a lot more successfully, as I could find and use all the tools that I am familiar with on Maya.
I am also pleased with myself for looking through my blog to remember how to make an imagebox, to use as a guideline for creating my 3D models of the spirits I have designed, and this proves how useful the learning journals can be, which is something that is often questioned by many people on these foundation degree courses at college. I wanted to aim to get as much done as possible today, by finishing the models for at least 2 of my spirits, so that I am not rushing in the next couple of weeks.
I didn't want to start on a more complex model, so I decided to start on the Water Spirit, a spirit with a teardrop shaped head and the body of a standard fish or mermaid, which was surprisingly simple to model, and got this quickly done by the end of the morning. However, I was struggling a bit with modelling the hands, and this reminded me of how hard it is to model hands, so I may come back to this later, and I might try and find a tutorial on how to model hands the best, quickest and most efficient way, to help me not only in this project, but future projects to come.
This afternoon I worked on modelling the Fire Spirit, which was much more simple and had a much simpler shape, so this didn't take too long. the design on the Fire Spirit is based on a volcano for its head and the rest of its body is in flames. This was basically made by editing a standard cylinder, and shaping the cylinder to how I wanted it to look like. However, I am noticing, because I don't want the unwrapping and texturing to take too long, I have tried not to add too many subdivisions to the models (lines that split up the model, allowing you to edit the model more.
I had a bit more time at the end of the day to start on another spirit, the Normal Spirit, which is loosely inspired by the ghosts in Pac Man, and again a very simple cylinder shape. However, Neil (B) did show me how to make cloths in Maya, to perhaps get a better looking shape for the ghost shape I want to achieve with this spirit, and perhaps a few other spirits, and I feel that this is certainly something to consider to save time and to save my models from looking to jagged and edgy. I did try this with the Normal Spirit, but felt that it wasn't really what I wanted, but I appreciated Neil showing me this additional tool in Maya, as it could come in handy with some of my other Spirit models and also in future projects as well.
After college today I had a meeting with a careers advisor at college, Hannah, as I am really considering what I would like to look into and do during and after my time at college, as I do feel like I would like to try and do something different after this course, something creative still, but something that can help people be happy. This went really well, and I feel that even though it was my first meeting with her about this topic, I feel I made tremendous progress, and she is going to refer me to some people who she thinks can really help me. I will also still have meetings with Hannah, to get closer to an answer for what I would really like to do when I leave college, and I hope that I will ind something I really enjoy that I could do for a career through this. I would also, if possible, like to try and avoid a course of this intensity that I am doing right now, because I have found doing a degree course at college quite difficult, much more difficult than I expected, and I felt that this course would have been more creative than I thought. However, I feel that since Paris, I have learned to accept my course a lot more. Maybe it's because of this project where I can choose what I do, but I seem to be enjoying the course more compared to 2-3 months ago and beyond.
I am also pleased with myself for looking through my blog to remember how to make an imagebox, to use as a guideline for creating my 3D models of the spirits I have designed, and this proves how useful the learning journals can be, which is something that is often questioned by many people on these foundation degree courses at college. I wanted to aim to get as much done as possible today, by finishing the models for at least 2 of my spirits, so that I am not rushing in the next couple of weeks.
I didn't want to start on a more complex model, so I decided to start on the Water Spirit, a spirit with a teardrop shaped head and the body of a standard fish or mermaid, which was surprisingly simple to model, and got this quickly done by the end of the morning. However, I was struggling a bit with modelling the hands, and this reminded me of how hard it is to model hands, so I may come back to this later, and I might try and find a tutorial on how to model hands the best, quickest and most efficient way, to help me not only in this project, but future projects to come.
This afternoon I worked on modelling the Fire Spirit, which was much more simple and had a much simpler shape, so this didn't take too long. the design on the Fire Spirit is based on a volcano for its head and the rest of its body is in flames. This was basically made by editing a standard cylinder, and shaping the cylinder to how I wanted it to look like. However, I am noticing, because I don't want the unwrapping and texturing to take too long, I have tried not to add too many subdivisions to the models (lines that split up the model, allowing you to edit the model more.
I had a bit more time at the end of the day to start on another spirit, the Normal Spirit, which is loosely inspired by the ghosts in Pac Man, and again a very simple cylinder shape. However, Neil (B) did show me how to make cloths in Maya, to perhaps get a better looking shape for the ghost shape I want to achieve with this spirit, and perhaps a few other spirits, and I feel that this is certainly something to consider to save time and to save my models from looking to jagged and edgy. I did try this with the Normal Spirit, but felt that it wasn't really what I wanted, but I appreciated Neil showing me this additional tool in Maya, as it could come in handy with some of my other Spirit models and also in future projects as well.
After college today I had a meeting with a careers advisor at college, Hannah, as I am really considering what I would like to look into and do during and after my time at college, as I do feel like I would like to try and do something different after this course, something creative still, but something that can help people be happy. This went really well, and I feel that even though it was my first meeting with her about this topic, I feel I made tremendous progress, and she is going to refer me to some people who she thinks can really help me. I will also still have meetings with Hannah, to get closer to an answer for what I would really like to do when I leave college, and I hope that I will ind something I really enjoy that I could do for a career through this. I would also, if possible, like to try and avoid a course of this intensity that I am doing right now, because I have found doing a degree course at college quite difficult, much more difficult than I expected, and I felt that this course would have been more creative than I thought. However, I feel that since Paris, I have learned to accept my course a lot more. Maybe it's because of this project where I can choose what I do, but I seem to be enjoying the course more compared to 2-3 months ago and beyond.
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