semester 2 progress

roughly 2 months~ish until submissions are due, feeling mildly anxious but i think i`m going at a good enough rate.

i`ll give a quick overview of all the modules. big updates are planned for each one in the coming months so this is just a taster of whats to come.

advanced animation oh god i do suck at it. skinning is as hard as ever, and my unconventional model is making it much more so.

observe the `animation` thus far.

the cables from the arms are going to dangle eventually instead of looking like a cross between a turkey and necromorph.

skinning is the process of attaching the movement of joints in the invisible skeleton to the visible mesh. it`s baffling how little documentation there is on the subject considering how difficult and important it is to character animation. 😦 . i`ve also got the animatic required for submission made for this module. it`s basically a rough performance of me choreographing my characters movement and dialogue. it`s embarrassing beyond belief and i`m grateful to the tutor that we don’t have to show them off.

i think at this point i`m 100% certain that character modeling and 3d animation is not something i want to do. maybe many years down the line if i practice my 3d skills bit by bit i could create something worthwhile, but it`s not my passion for the time being and definitely not an applicable `talent` for a job. if i ever dive into 3d in the near future i imagine it will be for environments or modeling in mudbox for practice.

on a more uplifting note! i did the presentation for my digital media module.

this module is a combination of essays,presentations and portfolios. my presentation was created in flash using nothing but original art assets to compliment a script i had memorized. i went into detail about the growth of the 2d platformer genre (a subject i think i will cover in my essay) my companies of choice and the tools i need and can use. however it`s indecipherable without my performance to compliment it. but have a look if you like anyway.

http://www.box.net/shared/cnmocdqbse

and ignore box.net`s obnoxious warning, my file is definitely safe 🙂

my actual presentation went good aside from me talking at light speed and realizing how outdated the stuff on my showreel video was. half of it has been improved since. regardless, i`m using it as part of my submission along with this blog.

here`s a image containing the assets used from it

you may notice my scottish rendition of the dare to be digital logo, yes i am entering it this year. our application form goes through on sunday and hopefully we will hear back soon. i`ll detail our game concept at a later date but here`s some sexy concept art.

screenwriting!

legend of fail!

it has gone a bit quiet on that front hasnt it. well rest assured it`s improved vastly from the snoozefest that were episodes 1 – 4. the editing is now extremely quick cut, it`s just one joke after another and just enough footage to show the level progression without disorientation. i made a intro sequence as well. here are some screenshots from it.