I tried to talk to nintendo's marketing department about their recent get up and play campaign. Most of the details can be found through other sources but i though for raw data i would try to contact them directly.... But apparently, all the information you can get (for free on wikipedia) is private and they are unable to give anything out to the public. This is what i sent and the response i got....
Hi,
Im a degree level student doing a case study on Nintendo's marketing and advertising strategy for the 2010 Wii "get up and get playing" campaign.
I wondered if you could provide me with some accurate information as to how this particular product was marketed. Specifically the advertising campaign; how it was devised and implemented.
Could you also provide me with the figures for the expected sales, then the actual sales figures of this endeavor. Forecasted profits and predicted sales vs Actual sales and profits.
I have been given this as a template for reference and consideration:
Purpose and Mission
Situational Analysis
Marketing Strategy and Objectives
Tactical Programs
Budgets, Performance Analysis and Implementation
Additional Consideration
Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is going towards my final grade for the year and is core research.
Thanks for your time.
Ben Marles
Leeds college of art and design - Films, game and animation.
Response
Dear Mr. Marles, thank you for your email.
Unfortunatley, this information is classed as company confidential and can not be released to the public on request.
However, I do suggest you visit the corporate section of our website which is: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/
I do hope this helps with you enquiry.
There is nothing on this website that sheds any information that isn't vague or untruthful at best.
They were no help and actually a hinderance to me devising a case study from which to draw raw data and info to influence my own advertising campaingn for our group project.
I was most disappointed.
Monday 28 March 2011
Sunday 27 March 2011
Evaluation for game Art Module
It was daunting beginning this project. Lost of Maya and New game engines to get to grips with. Over the course of the 5 weeks, i have learned an immense amount about not only software, but what i am actually capable of. I feel i really managed to exceed my own expectations of ability and perseverance, inspiring much motivation for the up coming Self directed study module.
Thinking back to my initial brainstorm, there are many threads of narrative and consistency of concept that are clearly visible in the level created. Initially, i was looking at Grey tones, juxtaposed with bright dashes of colour, organised and collected objects, the idea of a dystopian landscape that was barren and empty, references to old radio signals and military notions, even the initial games looked at for reference can be seen in the end result. However, due to wanting to remain adaptable and have a project naturally evolve, there are many things, that i do not think have had a detrimental effect on the out come of the project that have been discarded for new ideas and motifs. The Victorian steam punk idea rapidly disappeared once i started developing the techno-dystopic motif, this was realized further once i started creating audio assets and thinking about Dystopias. (like Ridley Scotts Blade Runner).... At this stage of the project, the only thing i wish i had done would have gone out with he camera and taken images of dilapidated warehouses and factories and just collected more RAW data and images to use.
I did this later on, but had progressed with an idea to the point where these new images would have detracted away from the eventual feel and ambiance of the level.
I did a pre-production time management chart, that due to unforseen external circumstances (Being broken into twice in two months, being mugged, my sisters decent into addiction that is slowly resolving itself, but the biggest killer of motivation was a 2 month period of minimal sleep that as we know from experiments conducted on American GI's during the war, sleep deprivation is a one way ticket to tempering psychosis)
This said i strggled to keep to my initial Gant chart and started late. This however did not effect my pre production product and managed to hand in the work on time, having picked up the slack in later weeks.
To focus and strengthen the narrative within the concept, i made multiple moodboards of collected images of dilapidated buildings and old steel mills.
This coincided with the sort of games i was looking at for research. In taking these images, they reminded me of the textures in Doom, Heretic, Duke Nukem, Hexen and quake, all of which carry some form of dystopian narrative and visual style. This is why my research into games was focused in this era. (Also the case study i did on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI) I feel this aided the ambient feel of the level in the end, however doing this again, i would look at much more contemporaneity games to give me more of a feel for industry standard gaming. For visual reference and for sounds.
Also, it must be noted that this informed the decision for the my Characters 'collected objects.' I saw trash, coke cans, wrappers and other discarded human waste surrounding the images that i collected. This reinforced the concept further.
I decided to investigate using sketches and charcoal drawings for backdrops, moved forward from the images and visual stimulus i had investigated previously.
These sketches far exceeded my expectations and i really enjoyed doing them. However, they have now been re classified as concept art as yet again, i felt they were fighting/contrasting to heavily with how i felt the outcome should look. Thus they were abandoned as a potential route through directly after Intrim crit.
I would like to investigate the 'sketched' feel at a later date, and having seen Ken's level, within which he had used the toon-shader to achieve an illustrated feel that i thought was aesthetically brilliant and suited his level to a tee.
Storyboards were also completed for the Idle and Reaction animations for my character that was to be imported into my level. These were clear, conciese and directed my goals for sound design. All in all a very useful exercise.
I handed in all my pre production work on time (email), despite the late start, but was unable to make the presentation as we had the second of our 'break in's' the night before and my flat mate and me were dealing with the police till 6 that morning and unfortunately, having put in the hard work, was denied this luxury.
After crit, there were a few things noted that needed to change. I revised and made a much more detailed time management plan that really over the course of the project helped me more than i ever thought. Having what you need to do layed out in front of you really helps ease the stress. Breaking things down in to bite size chunks makes chipping away at the mountain feel a lot more constructive and therefore productive.
I also re did a floor plan that was to scale and did accurate schematic drawings, that again exceeded my expectations, despite being crude attempts at best. This helped direct the layout and structure of the level making it a lot easier to realize the concept in MAYA.
Doing things again, i would definitely like to come up with clearer concept art and accurate scale drawings, before productions begins. However this time i feel i was let down by issues beyond my control.
Having imagery in my head, i felt it was time to start Sound design, as i wanted this to inform the direction of building the level. The audio was a reaction to the notion of Dystopia and A barren wasteland. Wanting spurious radio signals and interference, blips and blops and lots of swirling wind noise. Using my case study on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI, i wanted to experiment with MIDI. The sounds were devised in Ableton live and as MIDI is a relatively easy thing to get to grips with, the audio came together quickly. This is definitely a strong suit that i have always been able to rely on and its seen me right again for this project.
The sounds consisted of bit reduced synths, layered reverb, reversed percussive hits and imported radio signals, all automated and mixed out into a minute long seamless loop. Again making good loops is an art unto itself so i am proud that i have managed to create one. The time and effort this takes is always worth it for a more professional sounding audio sample...
The sounds were imported into Unity, then attached to a Box Collider. This was then directed by a simple bit of script that was attatched. The sound now operates, functions and is triggered when the player interacts with the objects, or steps into the level.
There are a couple of samples that have been attached to the 'digital boxes' / receivers that are placed in the level. This made the level feel so much more interactive and therefore a much more immersive, convincing environment for players.
Doing the sound again i would like to spend more time creating samples and assets, taking more time over effecting parameters such as 'roll off' and the intensity of sound in 3d space that can be achieved in Unity.
1. Import your audio files into your Unity Project. These are now Audio Clips.
2. Go to GameObject->Create Empty from the menubar.
3. With the new GameObject selected, select Component->Audio->Audio Source.
4. Assign the Audio Clip property of the Audio Source Component in the Inspector.
The main basis for the level was created in Maya out of cubes and cylinders, mainly to keep the poly count down, but also, being skeptical of my Maya abilities, wanted to keep it simple to ensure i didn't waste time.
Once the basic shape was in place, i decided it was time to begin Photoshopping textures, making them seamless and adding dynamic. By this time my focus was on Re creating the Duke Nukem feel, deciding to use images of Andreas Gursky, amoungst many others, to create the dystopian feel i was aspiring to.
Importing these textures into Maya, using Lambers and Blinns went well. This has been learned from previous projects and saved me lots of 'working out time.' At this stage in Maya, the textures looked good.
The issues started in starting to export the Maya files (.fbx files) into unity.
Trying to decipher the issues that have occurred through trying to bring my character animation into Unity is going to be a challenge in itself.
Firstly the issue lied with selecting everything across all the layers in Maya. I had just been selecting the geometry and trying to export that as an .fbx file. This obviously meant that when i imported it in to Unity, there was just a vacant robot. This was fixed by turning on the skeleton layer, geometry layer and the animation/control layer, deleting the history, edit select all, and export the lot as a .fbx file.
Further issues lied in forgetting to toggle the 'bake animation' function in the export window and define the set keys that were required. This meant going back, having importing it into Unity again and finally getting it right.
However, there were several warnings when the fbx file was translated out of maya. The animation working fine, My character was now missing a leg. Where this has gone i don't know. In the preview window in Unity, the model is there, fully formed with all his assets attached. Both me and Annabeth looked over it and really could not understand why this miss translations happened after 4 or 5 different methods were tried. So after 4 hours of trying to get the file to work, we left it. Hopefully tomorrow the issues can be resolved but if not then the character will have to go in as a static model, potentially without animation. However this has been a technical issue that so far has not been resolved.
I had a few problems in Unity to. I had to Scale up the fbx file to 1, and generate colliders to add basic physics to the engine. However, a lot of objects had a 'shimmering' effect. It happened that a lot of the objects had been duplicated for some reason. Due to the previous mishaps i decided just to delete all the spurious objects one by one. This took time but the results are evident in the surfaces and textures of the objects.
I speeded my character up as it felt sluggish and slow in first person mode.
Essentially being let down by technical issues that neither me or the Tutor could get around.
The next challenge was getting the scale right for the character, which i got round by scaling the model up to 1, and making sure the first person controller was a large enough size for everything to be in a harmonious scale frame.
Finally imported all my assets into unity. Has taken a while to ensure that textures translate properly and the scaling of the level is now much more accurate.
Started off having imported the level from Maya that i had been working on at home, but initially forgot the embedded media toggle and had to re open and export again. the fbx file this time worked. The level now, in Unity, has all its assets imported, including sound, all that is missing is the correct animation files.
My revised concept art came as a reaction to seeing the level complete. It was really to develop some artwork and bolster up the portfolio work and as my drawing skills are poor, they were all made using Illustrator and Photoshop. A fun process but i hinesight should have been made much earlier on in the process. Next time, i will allow much more time for the development of concept art, or ask someone who can draw to visualize the concept for me, delegating the work would save time.
Overall, i have really appreciated the time to reengage with Maya. It is such a useful asset in the creation of 3d visuals. Now i have the fundementals locked in my head, i intend to use it in a slightly more abstracted way in the up coming self directed study. The interface has revealed a few of its secrets to me and this has given me the motivation to push further and harder with future projects.
Unity was a relatively simple piece of software to get my head round, however i did not do anywhere near enough tutorials. Now this was gotten around to a certain degree as most of my assets were created in Maya, but looking at other levels that have been made in Unity, i know the engine has so much more to offer. I barely scratched the surface in terms of Unities functions and scripting capabilities.
I had little interest in Game Art before this module. But the last 5 weeks have helped me realise that these pieces of software combined can produce some really interesting results. The potential for interactive art, installations and live visual is immense. I never thought i would be able to create a Level for a game, and although crude at best, i am very happy with the result.
I, for once, have exceeded my perception of my own ability.
Thinking back to my initial brainstorm, there are many threads of narrative and consistency of concept that are clearly visible in the level created. Initially, i was looking at Grey tones, juxtaposed with bright dashes of colour, organised and collected objects, the idea of a dystopian landscape that was barren and empty, references to old radio signals and military notions, even the initial games looked at for reference can be seen in the end result. However, due to wanting to remain adaptable and have a project naturally evolve, there are many things, that i do not think have had a detrimental effect on the out come of the project that have been discarded for new ideas and motifs. The Victorian steam punk idea rapidly disappeared once i started developing the techno-dystopic motif, this was realized further once i started creating audio assets and thinking about Dystopias. (like Ridley Scotts Blade Runner).... At this stage of the project, the only thing i wish i had done would have gone out with he camera and taken images of dilapidated warehouses and factories and just collected more RAW data and images to use.
I did this later on, but had progressed with an idea to the point where these new images would have detracted away from the eventual feel and ambiance of the level.
I did a pre-production time management chart, that due to unforseen external circumstances (Being broken into twice in two months, being mugged, my sisters decent into addiction that is slowly resolving itself, but the biggest killer of motivation was a 2 month period of minimal sleep that as we know from experiments conducted on American GI's during the war, sleep deprivation is a one way ticket to tempering psychosis)
This said i strggled to keep to my initial Gant chart and started late. This however did not effect my pre production product and managed to hand in the work on time, having picked up the slack in later weeks.
To focus and strengthen the narrative within the concept, i made multiple moodboards of collected images of dilapidated buildings and old steel mills.
This coincided with the sort of games i was looking at for research. In taking these images, they reminded me of the textures in Doom, Heretic, Duke Nukem, Hexen and quake, all of which carry some form of dystopian narrative and visual style. This is why my research into games was focused in this era. (Also the case study i did on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI) I feel this aided the ambient feel of the level in the end, however doing this again, i would look at much more contemporaneity games to give me more of a feel for industry standard gaming. For visual reference and for sounds.
Also, it must be noted that this informed the decision for the my Characters 'collected objects.' I saw trash, coke cans, wrappers and other discarded human waste surrounding the images that i collected. This reinforced the concept further.
I decided to investigate using sketches and charcoal drawings for backdrops, moved forward from the images and visual stimulus i had investigated previously.
These sketches far exceeded my expectations and i really enjoyed doing them. However, they have now been re classified as concept art as yet again, i felt they were fighting/contrasting to heavily with how i felt the outcome should look. Thus they were abandoned as a potential route through directly after Intrim crit.
I would like to investigate the 'sketched' feel at a later date, and having seen Ken's level, within which he had used the toon-shader to achieve an illustrated feel that i thought was aesthetically brilliant and suited his level to a tee.
Storyboards were also completed for the Idle and Reaction animations for my character that was to be imported into my level. These were clear, conciese and directed my goals for sound design. All in all a very useful exercise.
I handed in all my pre production work on time (email), despite the late start, but was unable to make the presentation as we had the second of our 'break in's' the night before and my flat mate and me were dealing with the police till 6 that morning and unfortunately, having put in the hard work, was denied this luxury.
After crit, there were a few things noted that needed to change. I revised and made a much more detailed time management plan that really over the course of the project helped me more than i ever thought. Having what you need to do layed out in front of you really helps ease the stress. Breaking things down in to bite size chunks makes chipping away at the mountain feel a lot more constructive and therefore productive.
I also re did a floor plan that was to scale and did accurate schematic drawings, that again exceeded my expectations, despite being crude attempts at best. This helped direct the layout and structure of the level making it a lot easier to realize the concept in MAYA.
Doing things again, i would definitely like to come up with clearer concept art and accurate scale drawings, before productions begins. However this time i feel i was let down by issues beyond my control.
Having imagery in my head, i felt it was time to start Sound design, as i wanted this to inform the direction of building the level. The audio was a reaction to the notion of Dystopia and A barren wasteland. Wanting spurious radio signals and interference, blips and blops and lots of swirling wind noise. Using my case study on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI, i wanted to experiment with MIDI. The sounds were devised in Ableton live and as MIDI is a relatively easy thing to get to grips with, the audio came together quickly. This is definitely a strong suit that i have always been able to rely on and its seen me right again for this project.
The sounds consisted of bit reduced synths, layered reverb, reversed percussive hits and imported radio signals, all automated and mixed out into a minute long seamless loop. Again making good loops is an art unto itself so i am proud that i have managed to create one. The time and effort this takes is always worth it for a more professional sounding audio sample...
The sounds were imported into Unity, then attached to a Box Collider. This was then directed by a simple bit of script that was attatched. The sound now operates, functions and is triggered when the player interacts with the objects, or steps into the level.
There are a couple of samples that have been attached to the 'digital boxes' / receivers that are placed in the level. This made the level feel so much more interactive and therefore a much more immersive, convincing environment for players.
Doing the sound again i would like to spend more time creating samples and assets, taking more time over effecting parameters such as 'roll off' and the intensity of sound in 3d space that can be achieved in Unity.
1. Import your audio files into your Unity Project. These are now Audio Clips.
2. Go to GameObject->Create Empty from the menubar.
3. With the new GameObject selected, select Component->Audio->Audio Source.
4. Assign the Audio Clip property of the Audio Source Component in the Inspector.
The main basis for the level was created in Maya out of cubes and cylinders, mainly to keep the poly count down, but also, being skeptical of my Maya abilities, wanted to keep it simple to ensure i didn't waste time.
Once the basic shape was in place, i decided it was time to begin Photoshopping textures, making them seamless and adding dynamic. By this time my focus was on Re creating the Duke Nukem feel, deciding to use images of Andreas Gursky, amoungst many others, to create the dystopian feel i was aspiring to.
Importing these textures into Maya, using Lambers and Blinns went well. This has been learned from previous projects and saved me lots of 'working out time.' At this stage in Maya, the textures looked good.
The issues started in starting to export the Maya files (.fbx files) into unity.
Trying to decipher the issues that have occurred through trying to bring my character animation into Unity is going to be a challenge in itself.
Firstly the issue lied with selecting everything across all the layers in Maya. I had just been selecting the geometry and trying to export that as an .fbx file. This obviously meant that when i imported it in to Unity, there was just a vacant robot. This was fixed by turning on the skeleton layer, geometry layer and the animation/control layer, deleting the history, edit select all, and export the lot as a .fbx file.
Further issues lied in forgetting to toggle the 'bake animation' function in the export window and define the set keys that were required. This meant going back, having importing it into Unity again and finally getting it right.
However, there were several warnings when the fbx file was translated out of maya. The animation working fine, My character was now missing a leg. Where this has gone i don't know. In the preview window in Unity, the model is there, fully formed with all his assets attached. Both me and Annabeth looked over it and really could not understand why this miss translations happened after 4 or 5 different methods were tried. So after 4 hours of trying to get the file to work, we left it. Hopefully tomorrow the issues can be resolved but if not then the character will have to go in as a static model, potentially without animation. However this has been a technical issue that so far has not been resolved.
I had a few problems in Unity to. I had to Scale up the fbx file to 1, and generate colliders to add basic physics to the engine. However, a lot of objects had a 'shimmering' effect. It happened that a lot of the objects had been duplicated for some reason. Due to the previous mishaps i decided just to delete all the spurious objects one by one. This took time but the results are evident in the surfaces and textures of the objects.
I speeded my character up as it felt sluggish and slow in first person mode.
Essentially being let down by technical issues that neither me or the Tutor could get around.
The next challenge was getting the scale right for the character, which i got round by scaling the model up to 1, and making sure the first person controller was a large enough size for everything to be in a harmonious scale frame.
Finally imported all my assets into unity. Has taken a while to ensure that textures translate properly and the scaling of the level is now much more accurate.
Started off having imported the level from Maya that i had been working on at home, but initially forgot the embedded media toggle and had to re open and export again. the fbx file this time worked. The level now, in Unity, has all its assets imported, including sound, all that is missing is the correct animation files.
My revised concept art came as a reaction to seeing the level complete. It was really to develop some artwork and bolster up the portfolio work and as my drawing skills are poor, they were all made using Illustrator and Photoshop. A fun process but i hinesight should have been made much earlier on in the process. Next time, i will allow much more time for the development of concept art, or ask someone who can draw to visualize the concept for me, delegating the work would save time.
Overall, i have really appreciated the time to reengage with Maya. It is such a useful asset in the creation of 3d visuals. Now i have the fundementals locked in my head, i intend to use it in a slightly more abstracted way in the up coming self directed study. The interface has revealed a few of its secrets to me and this has given me the motivation to push further and harder with future projects.
Unity was a relatively simple piece of software to get my head round, however i did not do anywhere near enough tutorials. Now this was gotten around to a certain degree as most of my assets were created in Maya, but looking at other levels that have been made in Unity, i know the engine has so much more to offer. I barely scratched the surface in terms of Unities functions and scripting capabilities.
I had little interest in Game Art before this module. But the last 5 weeks have helped me realise that these pieces of software combined can produce some really interesting results. The potential for interactive art, installations and live visual is immense. I never thought i would be able to create a Level for a game, and although crude at best, i am very happy with the result.
I, for once, have exceeded my perception of my own ability.
Top Video Game Publishers
Nintendo
Revenue: ¥1.43 trillion
Net income: ¥229 billion
Notable IPs: Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, F Zero, Pikmin, Pokemon and more.
Origins: Starting as a playing card company in 1889, Nintendo has since developed into one of the largest and most important videogame companies in the world.
Based in: Japan, but has sectors in American and Eurpoe.
Electronic Arts
Revenue: $3.654 billion
Net income: $677 million
Notable IPs: Battlefield, Dead Space, Rockband, Mass Effect,
The Sims, Burnout and More.
Origins: Starting as just a Publisher in 1982, the company moved to start
developing their own games.
Based in: America, but has sectors in Canada and Europe.
Activision Blizzard
Revenue: $4.447 billion
Net income: $418 million
Notable IPs: World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, Spyro The Dragon, Call of Duty,
Starcraft and more.
Origins: Created by a merger between the two american games companies,
Blizzard entertainment and Activision in 2008.
Based in: Amrican, but has sectors in Canada and the UK
Ubi Soft
Revenue: €971 million
Net income: €89.8 million
Notable IPs: Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Rayman, Myst, Prince of Persia.
Origins: Founded as a game publisher in 1986 by five brothers of the
Gullimot Family.
Based in: France, but has sectors in America, the UK and the rest of Eurpoe.
Take-Two Interactive
Revenue: $968.5 million
Net income: $137.9 million
Notable IPs: Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, Bioshock, Civilisation.
Origins: Founded in 1999 as Jumpstart Entertainment by Strauss Zelnick
Group project research.....
Revenue: ¥1.43 trillion
Net income: ¥229 billion
Notable IPs: Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid, F Zero, Pikmin, Pokemon and more.
Origins: Starting as a playing card company in 1889, Nintendo has since developed into one of the largest and most important videogame companies in the world.
Based in: Japan, but has sectors in American and Eurpoe.
Electronic Arts
Revenue: $3.654 billion
Net income: $677 million
Notable IPs: Battlefield, Dead Space, Rockband, Mass Effect,
The Sims, Burnout and More.
Origins: Starting as just a Publisher in 1982, the company moved to start
developing their own games.
Based in: America, but has sectors in Canada and Europe.
Activision Blizzard
Revenue: $4.447 billion
Net income: $418 million
Notable IPs: World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, Spyro The Dragon, Call of Duty,
Starcraft and more.
Origins: Created by a merger between the two american games companies,
Blizzard entertainment and Activision in 2008.
Based in: Amrican, but has sectors in Canada and the UK
Ubi Soft
Revenue: €971 million
Net income: €89.8 million
Notable IPs: Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Rayman, Myst, Prince of Persia.
Origins: Founded as a game publisher in 1986 by five brothers of the
Gullimot Family.
Based in: France, but has sectors in America, the UK and the rest of Eurpoe.
Take-Two Interactive
Revenue: $968.5 million
Net income: $137.9 million
Notable IPs: Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, Bioshock, Civilisation.
Origins: Founded in 1999 as Jumpstart Entertainment by Strauss Zelnick
Group project research.....
Thursday 24 March 2011
ADVERTISING IN COMPUTER GAMES - Ilya Vedrashko
Advergames. These are advertiser-sponsored development projects that infuse stand-alone
games with branding messages. Many examples of such initiatives exist. However, few create
tie-ins to direct consumer action—a critical, and easy, element.
• Product placement. Like in films, there are many examples of product placement in console
and PC games: Electronic Arts's multimillion-dollar deals with Intel and McDonald's in The
Sims Online as well as Activision's deal with Nokia in Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer. Video game
technology has drastically improved the quality of simulation during the past decade. Game
characters no longer wear obscure and formless garments. They instead sport the latest
athletic shoes, carry the latest gadgets, and drive the latest cars.
• Real-world analogs. Just as banners offer analogous advertising vehicles in online content, 3-
D environments provide space for ads with real-world analogs. Such vehicles include in-game
billboards, sports banners on stadiums, and radio spots. These ads serve a dual role by both
enriching the virtual game world with reality and providing direct advertising opportunities.
• Cross-promotion. There are innumerable opportunities for cross-promotion in video games.
Media tie-ins as well as consumer product promotions with discounts, coupons, and rewards
offer the most obvious strategies. There are also creative applications such as Capcom's
promotion with the clothing company Diesel through its Devil May Cry franchise.
games with branding messages. Many examples of such initiatives exist. However, few create
tie-ins to direct consumer action—a critical, and easy, element.
• Product placement. Like in films, there are many examples of product placement in console
and PC games: Electronic Arts's multimillion-dollar deals with Intel and McDonald's in The
Sims Online as well as Activision's deal with Nokia in Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer. Video game
technology has drastically improved the quality of simulation during the past decade. Game
characters no longer wear obscure and formless garments. They instead sport the latest
athletic shoes, carry the latest gadgets, and drive the latest cars.
• Real-world analogs. Just as banners offer analogous advertising vehicles in online content, 3-
D environments provide space for ads with real-world analogs. Such vehicles include in-game
billboards, sports banners on stadiums, and radio spots. These ads serve a dual role by both
enriching the virtual game world with reality and providing direct advertising opportunities.
• Cross-promotion. There are innumerable opportunities for cross-promotion in video games.
Media tie-ins as well as consumer product promotions with discounts, coupons, and rewards
offer the most obvious strategies. There are also creative applications such as Capcom's
promotion with the clothing company Diesel through its Devil May Cry franchise.
Wednesday 23 March 2011
Of interest / research
Interesting use of optical illusion, acute 101 film techniques and great lighting. There appears to be multiple layers and various softwares. (could be a combination of after effects, final cut or editing software, Adobe products and potentially modulation/automaiton softwares like Modul8 or Vj software for output)
Friday 18 March 2011
Evaluation - game art 2
It was daunting beginning this project. Lost of Maya and New game engines to get to grips with. Over the course of the 5 weeks, i have learned an immense amount about not only software, but what i am actually capable of. I feel i really managed to exceed my own expectations of ability and perseverance, inspiring much motivation for the up coming Self directed study module.
Thinking back to my initial brainstorm, there are many threads of narrative and consistency of concept that are clearly visible in the level created. Initially, i was looking at Grey tones, juxtaposed with bright dashes of colour, organised and collected objects, the idea of a dystopian landscape that was barren and empty, references to old radio signals and military notions, even the initial games looked at for reference can be seen in the end result. However, due to wanting to remain adaptable and have a project naturally evolve, there are many things, that i do not think have had a detrimental effect on the out come of the project that have been discarded for new ideas and motifs. The Victorian steam punk idea rapidly disappeared once i started developing the techno-dystopic motif, this was realized further once i started creating audio assets and thinking about Dystopias. (like Ridley Scotts Blade Runner).... At this stage of the project, the only thing i wish i had done would have gone out with he camera and taken images of dilapidated warehouses and factories and just collected more RAW data and images to use.
I did this later on, but had progressed with an idea to the point where these new images would have detracted away from the eventual feel and ambiance of the level.
I did a pre-production time management chart, that due to unforseen external circumstances (Being broken into twice in two months, being mugged, my sisters decent into addiction that is slowly resolving itself, but the biggest killer of motivation was a 2 month period of minimal sleep that as we know from experiments conducted on American GI's during the war, sleep deprivation is a one way ticket to tempering psychosis)
This said i strggled to keep to my initial Gant chart and started late. This however did not effect my pre production product and managed to hand in the work on time, having picked up the slack in later weeks.
To focus and strengthen the narrative within the concept, i made multiple moodboards of collected images of dilapidated buildings and old steel mills.
This coincided with the sort of games i was looking at for research. In taking these images, they reminded me of the textures in Doom, Heretic, Duke Nukem, Hexen and quake, all of which carry some form of dystopian narrative and visual style. This is why my research into games was focused in this era. (Also the case study i did on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI) I feel this aided the ambient feel of the level in the end, however doing this again, i would look at much more contemporaneity games to give me more of a feel for industry standard gaming. For visual reference and for sounds.
Also, it must be noted that this informed the decision for the my Characters 'collected objects.' I saw trash, coke cans, wrappers and other discarded human waste surrounding the images that i collected. This reinforced the concept further.
I decided to investigate using sketches and charcoal drawings for backdrops, moved forward from the images and visual stimulus i had investigated previously.
These sketches far exceeded my expectations and i really enjoyed doing them. However, they have now been re classified as concept art as yet again, i felt they were fighting/contrasting to heavily with how i felt the outcome should look. Thus they were abandoned as a potential route through directly after Intrim crit.
I would like to investigate the 'sketched' feel at a later date, and having seen Ken's level, within which he had used the toon-shader to achieve an illustrated feel that i thought was aesthetically brilliant and suited his level to a tee.
Storyboards were also completed for the Idle and Reaction animations for my character that was to be imported into my level. These were clear, conciese and directed my goals for sound design. All in all a very useful exercise.
I handed in all my pre production work on time (email), despite the late start, but was unable to make the presentation as we had the second of our 'break in's' the night before and my flat mate and me were dealing with the police till 6 that morning and unfortunately, having put in the hard work, was denied this luxury.
After crit, there were a few things noted that needed to change. I revised and made a much more detailed time management plan that really over the course of the project helped me more than i ever thought. Having what you need to do layed out in front of you really helps ease the stress. Breaking things down in to bite size chunks makes chipping away at the mountain feel a lot more constructive and therefore productive.
I also re did a floor plan that was to scale and did accurate schematic drawings, that again exceeded my expectations, despite being crude attempts at best. This helped direct the layout and structure of the level making it a lot easier to realize the concept in MAYA.
Doing things again, i would definitely like to come up with clearer concept art and accurate scale drawings, before productions begins. However this time i feel i was let down by issues beyond my control.
Having imagery in my head, i felt it was time to start Sound design, as i wanted this to inform the direction of building the level. The audio was a reaction to the notion of Dystopia and A barren wasteland. Wanting spurious radio signals and interference, blips and blops and lots of swirling wind noise. Using my case study on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI, i wanted to experiment with MIDI. The sounds were devised in Ableton live and as MIDI is a relatively easy thing to get to grips with, the audio came together quickly. This is definitely a strong suit that i have always been able to rely on and its seen me right again for this project.
The sounds consisted of bit reduced synths, layered reverb, reversed percussive hits and imported radio signals, all automated and mixed out into a minute long seamless loop. Again making good loops is an art unto itself so i am proud that i have managed to create one. The time and effort this takes is always worth it for a more professional sounding audio sample...
The sounds were imported into Unity, then attached to a Box Collider. This was then directed by a simple bit of script that was attatched. The sound now operates, functions and is triggered when the player interacts with the objects, or steps into the level.
There are a couple of samples that have been attached to the 'digital boxes' / receivers that are placed in the level. This made the level feel so much more interactive and therefore a much more immersive, convincing environment for players.
Doing the sound again i would like to spend more time creating samples and assets, taking more time over effecting parameters such as 'roll off' and the intensity of sound in 3d space that can be achieved in Unity.
1. Import your audio files into your Unity Project. These are now Audio Clips.
2. Go to GameObject->Create Empty from the menubar.
3. With the new GameObject selected, select Component->Audio->Audio Source.
4. Assign the Audio Clip property of the Audio Source Component in the Inspector.
The main basis for the level was created in Maya out of cubes and cylinders, mainly to keep the poly count down, but also, being skeptical of my Maya abilities, wanted to keep it simple to ensure i didn't waste time.
Once the basic shape was in place, i decided it was time to begin Photoshopping textures, making them seamless and adding dynamic. By this time my focus was on Re creating the Duke Nukem feel, deciding to use images of Andreas Gursky, amoungst many others, to create the dystopian feel i was aspiring to.
Importing these textures into Maya, using Lambers and Blinns went well. This has been learned from previous projects and saved me lots of 'working out time.' At this stage in Maya, the textures looked good.
The issues started in starting to export the Maya files (.fbx files) into unity.
Trying to decipher the issues that have occurred through trying to bring my character animation into Unity is going to be a challenge in itself.
Firstly the issue lied with selecting everything across all the layers in Maya. I had just been selecting the geometry and trying to export that as an .fbx file. This obviously meant that when i imported it in to Unity, there was just a vacant robot. This was fixed by turning on the skeleton layer, geometry layer and the animation/control layer, deleting the history, edit select all, and export the lot as a .fbx file.
Further issues lied in forgetting to toggle the 'bake animation' function in the export window and define the set keys that were required. This meant going back, having importing it into Unity again and finally getting it right.
However, there were several warnings when the fbx file was translated out of maya. The animation working fine, My character was now missing a leg. Where this has gone i don't know. In the preview window in Unity, the model is there, fully formed with all his assets attached. Both me and Annabeth looked over it and really could not understand why this miss translations happened after 4 or 5 different methods were tried. So after 4 hours of trying to get the file to work, we left it. Hopefully tomorrow the issues can be resolved but if not then the character will have to go in as a static model, potentially without animation. However this has been a technical issue that so far has not been resolved.
I had a few problems in Unity to. I had to Scale up the fbx file to 1, and generate colliders to add basic physics to the engine. However, a lot of objects had a 'shimmering' effect. It happened that a lot of the objects had been duplicated for some reason. Due to the previous mishaps i decided just to delete all the spurious objects one by one. This took time but the results are evident in the surfaces and textures of the objects.
I speeded my character up as it felt sluggish and slow in first person mode.
Essentially being let down by technical issues that neither me or the Tutor could get around.
The next challenge was getting the scale right for the character, which i got round by scaling the model up to 1, and making sure the first person controller was a large enough size for everything to be in a harmonious scale frame.
Finally imported all my assets into unity. Has taken a while to ensure that textures translate properly and the scaling of the level is now much more accurate.
Started off having imported the level from Maya that i had been working on at home, but initially forgot the embedded media toggle and had to re open and export again. the fbx file this time worked. The level now, in Unity, has all its assets imported, including sound, all that is missing is the correct animation files.
My revised concept art came as a reaction to seeing the level complete. It was really to develop some artwork and bolster up the portfolio work and as my drawing skills are poor, they were all made using Illustrator and Photoshop. A fun process but i hinesight should have been made much earlier on in the process. Next time, i will allow much more time for the development of concept art, or ask someone who can draw to visualize the concept for me, delegating the work would save time.
Overall, i have really appreciated the time to reengage with Maya. It is such a useful asset in the creation of 3d visuals. Now i have the fundementals locked in my head, i intend to use it in a slightly more abstracted way in the up coming self directed study. The interface has revealed a few of its secrets to me and this has given me the motivation to push further and harder with future projects.
Unity was a relatively simple piece of software to get my head round, however i did not do anywhere near enough tutorials. Now this was gotten around to a certain degree as most of my assets were created in Maya, but looking at other levels that have been made in Unity, i know the engine has so much more to offer. I barely scratched the surface in terms of Unities functions and scripting capabilities.
I had little interest in Game Art before this module. But the last 5 weeks have helped me realise that these pieces of software combined can produce some really interesting results. The potential for interactive art, installations and live visual is immense. I never thought i would be able to create a Level for a game, and although crude at best, i am very happy with the result.
I, for once, have exceeded my perception of my own ability.
Thinking back to my initial brainstorm, there are many threads of narrative and consistency of concept that are clearly visible in the level created. Initially, i was looking at Grey tones, juxtaposed with bright dashes of colour, organised and collected objects, the idea of a dystopian landscape that was barren and empty, references to old radio signals and military notions, even the initial games looked at for reference can be seen in the end result. However, due to wanting to remain adaptable and have a project naturally evolve, there are many things, that i do not think have had a detrimental effect on the out come of the project that have been discarded for new ideas and motifs. The Victorian steam punk idea rapidly disappeared once i started developing the techno-dystopic motif, this was realized further once i started creating audio assets and thinking about Dystopias. (like Ridley Scotts Blade Runner).... At this stage of the project, the only thing i wish i had done would have gone out with he camera and taken images of dilapidated warehouses and factories and just collected more RAW data and images to use.
I did this later on, but had progressed with an idea to the point where these new images would have detracted away from the eventual feel and ambiance of the level.
I did a pre-production time management chart, that due to unforseen external circumstances (Being broken into twice in two months, being mugged, my sisters decent into addiction that is slowly resolving itself, but the biggest killer of motivation was a 2 month period of minimal sleep that as we know from experiments conducted on American GI's during the war, sleep deprivation is a one way ticket to tempering psychosis)
This said i strggled to keep to my initial Gant chart and started late. This however did not effect my pre production product and managed to hand in the work on time, having picked up the slack in later weeks.
To focus and strengthen the narrative within the concept, i made multiple moodboards of collected images of dilapidated buildings and old steel mills.
This coincided with the sort of games i was looking at for research. In taking these images, they reminded me of the textures in Doom, Heretic, Duke Nukem, Hexen and quake, all of which carry some form of dystopian narrative and visual style. This is why my research into games was focused in this era. (Also the case study i did on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI) I feel this aided the ambient feel of the level in the end, however doing this again, i would look at much more contemporaneity games to give me more of a feel for industry standard gaming. For visual reference and for sounds.
Also, it must be noted that this informed the decision for the my Characters 'collected objects.' I saw trash, coke cans, wrappers and other discarded human waste surrounding the images that i collected. This reinforced the concept further.
I decided to investigate using sketches and charcoal drawings for backdrops, moved forward from the images and visual stimulus i had investigated previously.
These sketches far exceeded my expectations and i really enjoyed doing them. However, they have now been re classified as concept art as yet again, i felt they were fighting/contrasting to heavily with how i felt the outcome should look. Thus they were abandoned as a potential route through directly after Intrim crit.
I would like to investigate the 'sketched' feel at a later date, and having seen Ken's level, within which he had used the toon-shader to achieve an illustrated feel that i thought was aesthetically brilliant and suited his level to a tee.
Storyboards were also completed for the Idle and Reaction animations for my character that was to be imported into my level. These were clear, conciese and directed my goals for sound design. All in all a very useful exercise.
I handed in all my pre production work on time (email), despite the late start, but was unable to make the presentation as we had the second of our 'break in's' the night before and my flat mate and me were dealing with the police till 6 that morning and unfortunately, having put in the hard work, was denied this luxury.
After crit, there were a few things noted that needed to change. I revised and made a much more detailed time management plan that really over the course of the project helped me more than i ever thought. Having what you need to do layed out in front of you really helps ease the stress. Breaking things down in to bite size chunks makes chipping away at the mountain feel a lot more constructive and therefore productive.
I also re did a floor plan that was to scale and did accurate schematic drawings, that again exceeded my expectations, despite being crude attempts at best. This helped direct the layout and structure of the level making it a lot easier to realize the concept in MAYA.
Doing things again, i would definitely like to come up with clearer concept art and accurate scale drawings, before productions begins. However this time i feel i was let down by issues beyond my control.
Having imagery in my head, i felt it was time to start Sound design, as i wanted this to inform the direction of building the level. The audio was a reaction to the notion of Dystopia and A barren wasteland. Wanting spurious radio signals and interference, blips and blops and lots of swirling wind noise. Using my case study on sound development within games and the advent of MIDI, i wanted to experiment with MIDI. The sounds were devised in Ableton live and as MIDI is a relatively easy thing to get to grips with, the audio came together quickly. This is definitely a strong suit that i have always been able to rely on and its seen me right again for this project.
The sounds consisted of bit reduced synths, layered reverb, reversed percussive hits and imported radio signals, all automated and mixed out into a minute long seamless loop. Again making good loops is an art unto itself so i am proud that i have managed to create one. The time and effort this takes is always worth it for a more professional sounding audio sample...
The sounds were imported into Unity, then attached to a Box Collider. This was then directed by a simple bit of script that was attatched. The sound now operates, functions and is triggered when the player interacts with the objects, or steps into the level.
There are a couple of samples that have been attached to the 'digital boxes' / receivers that are placed in the level. This made the level feel so much more interactive and therefore a much more immersive, convincing environment for players.
Doing the sound again i would like to spend more time creating samples and assets, taking more time over effecting parameters such as 'roll off' and the intensity of sound in 3d space that can be achieved in Unity.
1. Import your audio files into your Unity Project. These are now Audio Clips.
2. Go to GameObject->Create Empty from the menubar.
3. With the new GameObject selected, select Component->Audio->Audio Source.
4. Assign the Audio Clip property of the Audio Source Component in the Inspector.
The main basis for the level was created in Maya out of cubes and cylinders, mainly to keep the poly count down, but also, being skeptical of my Maya abilities, wanted to keep it simple to ensure i didn't waste time.
Once the basic shape was in place, i decided it was time to begin Photoshopping textures, making them seamless and adding dynamic. By this time my focus was on Re creating the Duke Nukem feel, deciding to use images of Andreas Gursky, amoungst many others, to create the dystopian feel i was aspiring to.
Importing these textures into Maya, using Lambers and Blinns went well. This has been learned from previous projects and saved me lots of 'working out time.' At this stage in Maya, the textures looked good.
The issues started in starting to export the Maya files (.fbx files) into unity.
Trying to decipher the issues that have occurred through trying to bring my character animation into Unity is going to be a challenge in itself.
Firstly the issue lied with selecting everything across all the layers in Maya. I had just been selecting the geometry and trying to export that as an .fbx file. This obviously meant that when i imported it in to Unity, there was just a vacant robot. This was fixed by turning on the skeleton layer, geometry layer and the animation/control layer, deleting the history, edit select all, and export the lot as a .fbx file.
Further issues lied in forgetting to toggle the 'bake animation' function in the export window and define the set keys that were required. This meant going back, having importing it into Unity again and finally getting it right.
However, there were several warnings when the fbx file was translated out of maya. The animation working fine, My character was now missing a leg. Where this has gone i don't know. In the preview window in Unity, the model is there, fully formed with all his assets attached. Both me and Annabeth looked over it and really could not understand why this miss translations happened after 4 or 5 different methods were tried. So after 4 hours of trying to get the file to work, we left it. Hopefully tomorrow the issues can be resolved but if not then the character will have to go in as a static model, potentially without animation. However this has been a technical issue that so far has not been resolved.
I had a few problems in Unity to. I had to Scale up the fbx file to 1, and generate colliders to add basic physics to the engine. However, a lot of objects had a 'shimmering' effect. It happened that a lot of the objects had been duplicated for some reason. Due to the previous mishaps i decided just to delete all the spurious objects one by one. This took time but the results are evident in the surfaces and textures of the objects.
I speeded my character up as it felt sluggish and slow in first person mode.
Essentially being let down by technical issues that neither me or the Tutor could get around.
The next challenge was getting the scale right for the character, which i got round by scaling the model up to 1, and making sure the first person controller was a large enough size for everything to be in a harmonious scale frame.
Finally imported all my assets into unity. Has taken a while to ensure that textures translate properly and the scaling of the level is now much more accurate.
Started off having imported the level from Maya that i had been working on at home, but initially forgot the embedded media toggle and had to re open and export again. the fbx file this time worked. The level now, in Unity, has all its assets imported, including sound, all that is missing is the correct animation files.
My revised concept art came as a reaction to seeing the level complete. It was really to develop some artwork and bolster up the portfolio work and as my drawing skills are poor, they were all made using Illustrator and Photoshop. A fun process but i hinesight should have been made much earlier on in the process. Next time, i will allow much more time for the development of concept art, or ask someone who can draw to visualize the concept for me, delegating the work would save time.
Overall, i have really appreciated the time to reengage with Maya. It is such a useful asset in the creation of 3d visuals. Now i have the fundementals locked in my head, i intend to use it in a slightly more abstracted way in the up coming self directed study. The interface has revealed a few of its secrets to me and this has given me the motivation to push further and harder with future projects.
Unity was a relatively simple piece of software to get my head round, however i did not do anywhere near enough tutorials. Now this was gotten around to a certain degree as most of my assets were created in Maya, but looking at other levels that have been made in Unity, i know the engine has so much more to offer. I barely scratched the surface in terms of Unities functions and scripting capabilities.
I had little interest in Game Art before this module. But the last 5 weeks have helped me realise that these pieces of software combined can produce some really interesting results. The potential for interactive art, installations and live visual is immense. I never thought i would be able to create a Level for a game, and although crude at best, i am very happy with the result.
I, for once, have exceeded my perception of my own ability.
Thursday 17 March 2011
Concept art - game level
Collage of images that i felt represented the correct aspects on the video. Some my own and Some taken off Google images.
Was put together in multiple layers, using features of Photoshop like photo filters, hue and saturation balance, colour balance and the channel mixer. Opacity settings and more subtle noise added.
I enjoy making pieces like this. The organisation of images or artefacts on a page pleases me. Harmonious arrangements of objects and artefacts.
These pieces of concept art are a reaction to the level as i have been building it. Just the colours, shapes and semiotic symbols that i think of when i am imagining the level.
More Unity..../ Maya to Unity... Animations / Importing Mr Character
Firstly, yet again, name everything in maya. This has consistently let me down through out all my maya endeavors. And still i dont learn. Doing anything in Maya (and unity and i imagine all software) requires organisation and disciplin. A hard lesson learned.
Trying to decipher the issues that have occurred through trying to bring my character animation into Unity is going to be a challenge in itself.
Firstly the issue lied with selecting everything across all the layers in Maya. I had just been selecting the geometry and trying to export that as an .fbx file. This obviously meant that when i imported it in to Unity, there was just a vacant robot. This was fixed by turning on the skeleton layer, geometry layer and the animation/control layer, deleting the history, edit select all, and export the lot as a .fbx file.
Further issues lied in forgetting to toggle the 'bake animation' function in the export window and define the set keys that were required. This meant going back, having importing it into Unity again and finally getting it right.
However, there were several warnings when the fbx file was translated out of maya. The animation working fine, My character was now missing a leg. Where this has gone i don't know. In the preview window in Unity, the model is there, fully formed with all his assets attached. Both me and Annabeth looked over it and really could not understand why this mis translations happened after 4 or 5 different methods were tried. So after 4 hours of trying to get the file to work, we left it. Hopefully tomorrow the issues can be resolved but if not then the character will have to go in as a static model, potentially without animation. However this has been a technical issue that so far has not been resolved.
I had a few problems in unity to. A lot of objects had a 'shimmering' effect. It happened that a lot of the objects had been duplicated for some reason. Due to the previous mishaps i decided just to delete all the spurious objects one by one. This took time but the results are evident in the surfaces and textures of the objects.
I speeded my character up as it felt sluggish and slow in first person mode.
So all in all i feel i still have a lot to do but its definitely manageable with the day at it tomorrow. More Clever thinking about sound and what digital sounds should be attached to, the outcome of which will be written about in my evaluation.
I need a final red to purple plane for the 3d illusion on a 2d plane to complete the Duke Nukem, Doom, futurist, dystopian feel to the level.
It just could be such a shame if the character doesn't end up working, as all the hard work creating the character and the issues importing it to unity would all to a finite degree, be wasted. Obviously i have learned an immense amount over the last 5 weeks. The software is beginning to show its logic to me, despite the issues with this project. It has filled me with confidence and motivation actually getting to grips with Maya and seeing something through that i never thought i would be able to do.
Trying to decipher the issues that have occurred through trying to bring my character animation into Unity is going to be a challenge in itself.
Firstly the issue lied with selecting everything across all the layers in Maya. I had just been selecting the geometry and trying to export that as an .fbx file. This obviously meant that when i imported it in to Unity, there was just a vacant robot. This was fixed by turning on the skeleton layer, geometry layer and the animation/control layer, deleting the history, edit select all, and export the lot as a .fbx file.
Further issues lied in forgetting to toggle the 'bake animation' function in the export window and define the set keys that were required. This meant going back, having importing it into Unity again and finally getting it right.
However, there were several warnings when the fbx file was translated out of maya. The animation working fine, My character was now missing a leg. Where this has gone i don't know. In the preview window in Unity, the model is there, fully formed with all his assets attached. Both me and Annabeth looked over it and really could not understand why this mis translations happened after 4 or 5 different methods were tried. So after 4 hours of trying to get the file to work, we left it. Hopefully tomorrow the issues can be resolved but if not then the character will have to go in as a static model, potentially without animation. However this has been a technical issue that so far has not been resolved.
I had a few problems in unity to. A lot of objects had a 'shimmering' effect. It happened that a lot of the objects had been duplicated for some reason. Due to the previous mishaps i decided just to delete all the spurious objects one by one. This took time but the results are evident in the surfaces and textures of the objects.
I speeded my character up as it felt sluggish and slow in first person mode.
So all in all i feel i still have a lot to do but its definitely manageable with the day at it tomorrow. More Clever thinking about sound and what digital sounds should be attached to, the outcome of which will be written about in my evaluation.
I need a final red to purple plane for the 3d illusion on a 2d plane to complete the Duke Nukem, Doom, futurist, dystopian feel to the level.
It just could be such a shame if the character doesn't end up working, as all the hard work creating the character and the issues importing it to unity would all to a finite degree, be wasted. Obviously i have learned an immense amount over the last 5 weeks. The software is beginning to show its logic to me, despite the issues with this project. It has filled me with confidence and motivation actually getting to grips with Maya and seeing something through that i never thought i would be able to do.
Audio / Unity
Having looked at how to implement audio from tutorials, it was a relatively simple task to achieve. Importing the audio as an asset, then attaching it to a box collider from the physics drop down menu. At first i stretched the scale of the collider to the plane of the floor plan, which would have been ok if my character was a millimeter tall. But it bust encompass the area designated for the sound. So it soon became apparent that in a 3d space, the box collider had to encompass everything the 'first person' would come into contact with. As soon as this was in place i added this script to the script editor to enable the audio to be triggered when the player enters the room:
function onTriggerEnter()
{
audio.Play();
}
function onTriggerExit()
{
audio.Stop();
}
This now functions in unity properly and the sweeping midi samples work perfectly with the atmosphere.
A few more digital bits of sound surrounding some of the 'computer esq' objects within the level to add more dynamic.
I feel this will give the level a much more interactive quality, thus making it a more convincing and enjoyable playing environment.
I would like to make more of the 3d aspect of sound within the level, and add further dynamic using the 'roll off' parameter to effect.
Its a shame its a mission to get sound on blogger as i would have a demo up....
function onTriggerEnter()
{
audio.Play();
}
function onTriggerExit()
{
audio.Stop();
}
This now functions in unity properly and the sweeping midi samples work perfectly with the atmosphere.
A few more digital bits of sound surrounding some of the 'computer esq' objects within the level to add more dynamic.
I feel this will give the level a much more interactive quality, thus making it a more convincing and enjoyable playing environment.
I would like to make more of the 3d aspect of sound within the level, and add further dynamic using the 'roll off' parameter to effect.
Its a shame its a mission to get sound on blogger as i would have a demo up....
Audio Sources
Creating Audio Sources
Audio Sources don't do anything without an assigned Audio Clip. The Clip is the actual sound file that will be played back. The Source is like a controller for starting and stopping playback of that clip, and modifying other audio properties.
To create a new Audio Source:
1. Import your audio files into your Unity Project. These are now Audio Clips.
2. Go to GameObject->Create Empty from the menubar.
3. With the new GameObject selected, select Component->Audio->Audio Source.
4. Assign the Audio Clip property of the Audio Source Component in the Inspector.
Properties
Audio Clip - Reference to the sound clip file that will be played
Play On Awake - If enabled, the sound will start playing the moment the scene launches. If disabled, you need to start it using the Play() command from scripting.
Volume - How loud the sound is at a distance of 1 world unit (1 meter) from the Audio Listener.
Pitch - Amount of change in pitch due to slowdown/speed up of the Audio Clip. Value 1 is normal playback speed.
Min Volume - The minimum value of the sound. No matter how far away you get, the sound will not get softer than this value.
Max Volume - How loud the sound gets at the loudest. No matter how close you get, the sound will never get louder than this value.
Rolloff Factor- How fast the sound fades. The higher the value, the closer the Listener has to be before hearing the sound.
Loop - Enable this to make the Audio Clip loop when it reaches the end.
Audio Sources don't do anything without an assigned Audio Clip. The Clip is the actual sound file that will be played back. The Source is like a controller for starting and stopping playback of that clip, and modifying other audio properties.
To create a new Audio Source:
1. Import your audio files into your Unity Project. These are now Audio Clips.
2. Go to GameObject->Create Empty from the menubar.
3. With the new GameObject selected, select Component->Audio->Audio Source.
4. Assign the Audio Clip property of the Audio Source Component in the Inspector.
Properties
Audio Clip - Reference to the sound clip file that will be played
Play On Awake - If enabled, the sound will start playing the moment the scene launches. If disabled, you need to start it using the Play() command from scripting.
Volume - How loud the sound is at a distance of 1 world unit (1 meter) from the Audio Listener.
Pitch - Amount of change in pitch due to slowdown/speed up of the Audio Clip. Value 1 is normal playback speed.
Min Volume - The minimum value of the sound. No matter how far away you get, the sound will not get softer than this value.
Max Volume - How loud the sound gets at the loudest. No matter how close you get, the sound will never get louder than this value.
Rolloff Factor- How fast the sound fades. The higher the value, the closer the Listener has to be before hearing the sound.
Loop - Enable this to make the Audio Clip loop when it reaches the end.
Audio Assests Unity
Sounds
Unity features support for two types of audio: Uncompressed Audio or Ogg Vorbis. Any type of audio file you import into your project will be converted to one of these formats.
File Type Conversion
.AIFF Converted to uncompressed audio on import, best for short sound effects.
.WAV Converted to uncompressed audio on import, best for short sound effects.
.MP3 Converted to Ogg Vorbis on import, best for longer music tracks.
.OGG Compressed audio format, best for longer music tracks.
Import Settings
If you are importing a file that is not already compressed as Ogg Vorbis, you have a number of options in the Import Settings of the Audio Clip. Select the Audio Clip in the Project View and edit the options in the Import Setting section of the Inspector. Here, you can compress the Clip into Ogg Vorbis format, force it into Mono or Stereo playback, and tweak other options. There are positives and negatives for both Ogg Vorbis and uncompressed audio. Each has its own ideal usage scenarios, and you generally should not use either one exclusively.
Importing Audio Assets
Unity supports both Compressed and Uncompressed Audio. Any type of file except .mp3 will be initially imported as Uncompressed. MP3 and Compressed audio files must be decompressed by the CPU while the game is running, but are smaller in file size. Native formats have the benefit of being higher fidelity without increasing CPU taxation, but create much larger files.
As a general rule of thumb, Compressed audio is best for long files like background music or dialog, and uncompressed is better for short sound effects that are under two seconds. However...
If you are creating a web player game, you should Compress as much of your audio as possible. This will help you attain the smallest file size for webplayer downloads. If you tweak the amount of Compression, the difference in sound quality won't be noticeable.
Using 3D Audio
If an audio clip is marked as a 3D Sound then it will be played back to simulate its position in the game world's 3D space. 3D sounds simulate distance and location of sounds by fading volume and panning across speakers. Unity supports 3D audio, and any stereo or mono clip can be played back in 3D space. However, mono 3D sounds are the most common.
Unity features support for two types of audio: Uncompressed Audio or Ogg Vorbis. Any type of audio file you import into your project will be converted to one of these formats.
File Type Conversion
.AIFF Converted to uncompressed audio on import, best for short sound effects.
.WAV Converted to uncompressed audio on import, best for short sound effects.
.MP3 Converted to Ogg Vorbis on import, best for longer music tracks.
.OGG Compressed audio format, best for longer music tracks.
Import Settings
If you are importing a file that is not already compressed as Ogg Vorbis, you have a number of options in the Import Settings of the Audio Clip. Select the Audio Clip in the Project View and edit the options in the Import Setting section of the Inspector. Here, you can compress the Clip into Ogg Vorbis format, force it into Mono or Stereo playback, and tweak other options. There are positives and negatives for both Ogg Vorbis and uncompressed audio. Each has its own ideal usage scenarios, and you generally should not use either one exclusively.
Importing Audio Assets
Unity supports both Compressed and Uncompressed Audio. Any type of file except .mp3 will be initially imported as Uncompressed. MP3 and Compressed audio files must be decompressed by the CPU while the game is running, but are smaller in file size. Native formats have the benefit of being higher fidelity without increasing CPU taxation, but create much larger files.
As a general rule of thumb, Compressed audio is best for long files like background music or dialog, and uncompressed is better for short sound effects that are under two seconds. However...
If you are creating a web player game, you should Compress as much of your audio as possible. This will help you attain the smallest file size for webplayer downloads. If you tweak the amount of Compression, the difference in sound quality won't be noticeable.
Using 3D Audio
If an audio clip is marked as a 3D Sound then it will be played back to simulate its position in the game world's 3D space. 3D sounds simulate distance and location of sounds by fading volume and panning across speakers. Unity supports 3D audio, and any stereo or mono clip can be played back in 3D space. However, mono 3D sounds are the most common.
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Process for Baking animation files in Maya for Unity
-Get rid of textures in maya.
-.fbx files
-Define what key frames need exporting. (all of them)
-Ensure that: Smoothing group, smoothing mesh, animation, bake animation set up frames ad axis conversion are all toggled on before exporting.
Import the character texture separately into unity and apply it there.
-.fbx files
-Define what key frames need exporting. (all of them)
-Ensure that: Smoothing group, smoothing mesh, animation, bake animation set up frames ad axis conversion are all toggled on before exporting.
Import the character texture separately into unity and apply it there.
UNITY
Finally imported all my assets into unity. Has taken a while to ensure that textures translate properly and the scaling of the level is now much more accurate.
Started off having imported the level from Maya that i had been working on at home, but initially forgot the embedded media toggle and had to re open and export again. the fbx file this time worked.
The next challenge was getting the scale right for the character, which i got round by scaling the model up to 1, and making sure the first person controller was a large enough size for everything to be in a harmonious scale frame.
The level now, in Unity, has all its assets imported, including sound. Just need to apply the 3d sound globally so it loops over and over in its sequence.
The only thing left to do is to import my baked character animations into unity and set up the idol and reaction animations to work with first person view. - (Setting up invisible trip wires for interactive aspect to the level)
This is the job for tomorrow, as help from Annabeth is definitely needed. These were the parts of the module that i missed due to financial difficulties, illness and (doctors orders) prescription downers (zimophane) that really ruined my motivation over christmas and made me feel like an astronaught for the 4 weeks i was on them.
Back to reality, and i have to get this done tomorrow. Early start, 12 hour day and all will be well. Looking forward to sending this work through as the module was tough, and it has been by far the most challenging and few months of my life.
Although simple, i am really happy with the progression i have made with Maya and this module has really changed my perspective on game art and games in general.
The reason for playing it safe was to get through the module. Due to all the issues i've had, i didn't want to risk doing something more detailed whilst i didn't know if i could handle the workload.
But with self directed study coming up, a clear head, the sunshine on its way and being off medication, i intend to push the limits of my ability and really utilise all the skills i have learned over the last 2 years and make something that im proud of.
Monday 14 March 2011
Point for reflection
The Level having gone through the Beta testing, its about time to review the decisions i have made throughout the project. As with every project i like to remain flexible. This allows creations to meander and evolve naturally. I have always found this method of working productive and things can sometimes take on a mind of their own. This digression can also be hazardous as if there is no narrative within the concept, it would lose its meaning, or a potential client may not see potential in a product. Its important to maintain a decent level of plasticity, that is to say that there should be details within the concept, or brief that are not compromised. This could be a motif or a style, or something as obvious as a brand logo or companies signature in terms of branding.
The most apparent point in this project where this happened was when i made the audio. In one of the original concepts, i was looking at incorporating a 'steam punk' motif. This in terms of audio, i felt meant lots of steam and static, industrial noise and interference. So when i started creating the audio this is what i pushed forward. But i creating the sounds and layering them up, it started to feel like more of a techno-dystopian world as opposed to the victorian steam punk idea. The image i saw in my head after involving myself with the sound was more barran and dark juxtaposed against brighter colours and intense vibrancy.
This visually fitted the initial research i did looking at Doom, Heretic and Duke Nukem, however the soundtracks to these games are either Kistch heavy metal or dark, naive synth music. Again really different to the sounds that i had made in Ableton.
Therefore, aesthetically i have attempted to realise a more 'tech-savy' style, and the audio is in keeping with the feel of this motif, not the steam-punk, analogue feel that was previously in mind.
One of the main reasons the audio ended up sounding how it did was due to what i investigated in my case study. The development of audio within games, and in particular for the sound of my level, the use of MIDI. The ability for games to have 128 different sounds and textures.
All of the noise and audio, apart from the radio transmissions (taken from Prelinger archives) were all synthesized with layers of midi notes. I experimented with drum racks and layers of samples, different patterns of textured static, effects such as reverb, bit crushing, delay and gating.
In retrospect i should have looked at a wider variety of games, especially contemporary games. But these things do not interest me. I wanted to use games and styles that i knew something about, and also that i liked the aesthetic style of a lot more so than newer games. It was a conscious decision not to really look at modern games, but to look back at older games because i wanted my level to look like those games. (Duke Nukemm Heretic, Hexen, Doom, Castle Wolfenstein)
Due to unforeseen circumstances i was late in starting this project and neglected to do a Gant chart or reference time management un till after the first crit. As a response to this, i sorted a production chart and guidelines for time keeping and although i have slipped in areas and i can still improve, i feel with this project that has improved greatly. If i had not had exterior issues, i think this time my time management would have been nearly spot on. In the up coming self directed study module, i feel i will have no issues with time management. Perseverance and disciplin have been learned the hard way over previous projects and i am now confident in my ability to get work sent through on time.
Doing what ive done again, i would have got concept art and textures sorted out earlier on to allow more time for Photoshop work, made sure i had schematics and scale floor plans before starting production as this time it slowed me down interms of construction and importing it to unity.
I would have also done loads more unity tutorials and made use of its features. I feel in re engaging with Maya, i left a lot of Unity work on the back burner as Maya is time consuming and ultimately involving.
Things left to do - Import audio to Unity, bake out animation files for reaction animation and idol and import into unity and refine a few of the textures that were effected in the transfer from Maya to Unity.
The most apparent point in this project where this happened was when i made the audio. In one of the original concepts, i was looking at incorporating a 'steam punk' motif. This in terms of audio, i felt meant lots of steam and static, industrial noise and interference. So when i started creating the audio this is what i pushed forward. But i creating the sounds and layering them up, it started to feel like more of a techno-dystopian world as opposed to the victorian steam punk idea. The image i saw in my head after involving myself with the sound was more barran and dark juxtaposed against brighter colours and intense vibrancy.
This visually fitted the initial research i did looking at Doom, Heretic and Duke Nukem, however the soundtracks to these games are either Kistch heavy metal or dark, naive synth music. Again really different to the sounds that i had made in Ableton.
Therefore, aesthetically i have attempted to realise a more 'tech-savy' style, and the audio is in keeping with the feel of this motif, not the steam-punk, analogue feel that was previously in mind.
One of the main reasons the audio ended up sounding how it did was due to what i investigated in my case study. The development of audio within games, and in particular for the sound of my level, the use of MIDI. The ability for games to have 128 different sounds and textures.
All of the noise and audio, apart from the radio transmissions (taken from Prelinger archives) were all synthesized with layers of midi notes. I experimented with drum racks and layers of samples, different patterns of textured static, effects such as reverb, bit crushing, delay and gating.
In retrospect i should have looked at a wider variety of games, especially contemporary games. But these things do not interest me. I wanted to use games and styles that i knew something about, and also that i liked the aesthetic style of a lot more so than newer games. It was a conscious decision not to really look at modern games, but to look back at older games because i wanted my level to look like those games. (Duke Nukemm Heretic, Hexen, Doom, Castle Wolfenstein)
Due to unforeseen circumstances i was late in starting this project and neglected to do a Gant chart or reference time management un till after the first crit. As a response to this, i sorted a production chart and guidelines for time keeping and although i have slipped in areas and i can still improve, i feel with this project that has improved greatly. If i had not had exterior issues, i think this time my time management would have been nearly spot on. In the up coming self directed study module, i feel i will have no issues with time management. Perseverance and disciplin have been learned the hard way over previous projects and i am now confident in my ability to get work sent through on time.
Doing what ive done again, i would have got concept art and textures sorted out earlier on to allow more time for Photoshop work, made sure i had schematics and scale floor plans before starting production as this time it slowed me down interms of construction and importing it to unity.
I would have also done loads more unity tutorials and made use of its features. I feel in re engaging with Maya, i left a lot of Unity work on the back burner as Maya is time consuming and ultimately involving.
Things left to do - Import audio to Unity, bake out animation files for reaction animation and idol and import into unity and refine a few of the textures that were effected in the transfer from Maya to Unity.
More on Blogs - Niche
One of the most important decisions that needs to be made when starting a new blog is choosing a topic or subject. You have the option of choosing a highly-competitive and crowded market, or you can select a niche with fewer existing blogs. Too many new bloggers don’t realize how much this decision will impact them down the road.
Pros:
1. Less Competition. The most obvious advantage to being in a niche is that you’ll have less competition. You’ll have less competition for traffic, for product sales, for affiliate product sales and whatever else you do.
2. Easier to Get Visitors to Subscribe. In more competitive niches your visitors may already be subscribed to a number of other blogs on your topic. In this case it’s difficult to encourage them to add more reading to their routine. You really have to show how valuable your can be for them. But if you are blogging in a small niche your visitors may not be subscribed to any blogs of your kind. If they are interested in the subject they’re much more likely to subscribe.
3. Creating Unique Content is Easier. With less blogs covering your topic you will have an easier time writing blog posts that aren’t repetitive. Unique content is essential for any blog’s success regardless of what niche it is in, so having an easier time being unique is a big advantage.
4. Higher Value for Advertisers. Many blogs create income by selling ad space. If an advertiser is looking for highly-targeted traffic, a niche blog will be a better option for advertisers. Because of this, niche blogs can frequently charge more for ad space than another blog could with the same amount of traffic.
5. Less Competition for Advertisers. Niche blogs will also have less competition from other blogs that are looking to sell ad space for specific advertisers. Again, if advertisers are interested in the highly-targeted traffic that your blog can provide for them, they will have fewer options. This also helps to increase the rates that you can charge for ad space.
6. Easier to Retain Readers. With less competition from other blogs, your readers won’t have the option to unsubscribe and get the same or similar information somewhere else. Creating and retaining loyal readers is a key to successful blogging and is much easier for specific niche blogs.
7. The Novelty Factor. Being in a smaller niche will make it easier for visitors to remember you because you will be more unique. Don’t underestimate the importance of being able to create a memorable impression on visitors.
8. Higher Search Engine Rankings. Niche blogs usually will have an easier time achieving high search engine rankings because of the lack of competition and the specific keywords and phrases that searchers will use.
9. Easier Monetization. The traffic of a niche blog will usually be more valuable than the traffic of other blogs because it is highly targeted. With highly-targeted traffic and less competition, monetizing a niche blog becomes easier because there are not hundreds of other blogs trying to earn income from the same visitors.
Cons:
1. There’s No Guarantee the Niche Will Stay Small. Some blogs start in a small up-and-coming niche and before long they have much more competition.
2. Lower Traffic Potentials. Although it may be easier to create higher search engine rankings and higher subscription rates, blogs in small niches will still have lower potential amounts of traffic than blogs that cater to larger audiences. Social media websites favor topics that are of interest to a large number of people, and links can be harder to come by for niche blogs simply because there may be less websites and blogs interested in linking to that subject.
3. Less Options for Monetization. Although it may be easier to monetize a niche blog, you may also have fewer options. If you are looking to monetize a blog by selling affiliate products you may only have one or two options, whereas with a more popular subject you may literally have hundreds of options.
4. The Niche May Become Obsolete. Depending on the niche you choose, it may not be of any interest at some point in the future. Be careful when you choose a topic and make sure that it has staying power.
5. Less Search Volume. The potential for higher search engine rankings is somewhat offset by lower amounts of searches. Ideally, you’ll want to rank highly for common search phrases, but this may not be possible depending on your niche.
Social media has been the number 1 source of traffic for many blogs. On the other hand, a highly specific niche blog may have a harder time creating social media traffic, but an easier time creating loyal readers.
Ways to Check the Amount of Competition Before Starting a New Blog:
Perform a search at Technorati for keywords and phrases related to a niche.
Perform a Google Blog search for keywords and phrases related to a niche.
Set up a few Google Alerts to track new content that Google indexes on the subject.
Use Google Trends to see the search volume of phrases.
Use sources like Techmeme to see what topics are hot.
When deciding on a topic, you first and foremost must choose a topic that interests you enough to keep you motivated. Building a profitable blog takes a lot of consistent work, and this can be very difficult to accomplish if you don’t enjoy writing, reading, and learning about the issues and subjects that you cover.
If your interests lie in a subject area that is highly saturated you need to understand what you are up against and have the persistence to stick it out. If you decide to compete in a smaller niche you need to realize that you will be targeting a smaller audience than some other sites. While you may never reach the high traffic levels and subscriber counts of some of the top blogs, you will still have a realistic chance to earn money from your smaller niche.
Pros:
1. Less Competition. The most obvious advantage to being in a niche is that you’ll have less competition. You’ll have less competition for traffic, for product sales, for affiliate product sales and whatever else you do.
2. Easier to Get Visitors to Subscribe. In more competitive niches your visitors may already be subscribed to a number of other blogs on your topic. In this case it’s difficult to encourage them to add more reading to their routine. You really have to show how valuable your can be for them. But if you are blogging in a small niche your visitors may not be subscribed to any blogs of your kind. If they are interested in the subject they’re much more likely to subscribe.
3. Creating Unique Content is Easier. With less blogs covering your topic you will have an easier time writing blog posts that aren’t repetitive. Unique content is essential for any blog’s success regardless of what niche it is in, so having an easier time being unique is a big advantage.
4. Higher Value for Advertisers. Many blogs create income by selling ad space. If an advertiser is looking for highly-targeted traffic, a niche blog will be a better option for advertisers. Because of this, niche blogs can frequently charge more for ad space than another blog could with the same amount of traffic.
5. Less Competition for Advertisers. Niche blogs will also have less competition from other blogs that are looking to sell ad space for specific advertisers. Again, if advertisers are interested in the highly-targeted traffic that your blog can provide for them, they will have fewer options. This also helps to increase the rates that you can charge for ad space.
6. Easier to Retain Readers. With less competition from other blogs, your readers won’t have the option to unsubscribe and get the same or similar information somewhere else. Creating and retaining loyal readers is a key to successful blogging and is much easier for specific niche blogs.
7. The Novelty Factor. Being in a smaller niche will make it easier for visitors to remember you because you will be more unique. Don’t underestimate the importance of being able to create a memorable impression on visitors.
8. Higher Search Engine Rankings. Niche blogs usually will have an easier time achieving high search engine rankings because of the lack of competition and the specific keywords and phrases that searchers will use.
9. Easier Monetization. The traffic of a niche blog will usually be more valuable than the traffic of other blogs because it is highly targeted. With highly-targeted traffic and less competition, monetizing a niche blog becomes easier because there are not hundreds of other blogs trying to earn income from the same visitors.
Cons:
1. There’s No Guarantee the Niche Will Stay Small. Some blogs start in a small up-and-coming niche and before long they have much more competition.
2. Lower Traffic Potentials. Although it may be easier to create higher search engine rankings and higher subscription rates, blogs in small niches will still have lower potential amounts of traffic than blogs that cater to larger audiences. Social media websites favor topics that are of interest to a large number of people, and links can be harder to come by for niche blogs simply because there may be less websites and blogs interested in linking to that subject.
3. Less Options for Monetization. Although it may be easier to monetize a niche blog, you may also have fewer options. If you are looking to monetize a blog by selling affiliate products you may only have one or two options, whereas with a more popular subject you may literally have hundreds of options.
4. The Niche May Become Obsolete. Depending on the niche you choose, it may not be of any interest at some point in the future. Be careful when you choose a topic and make sure that it has staying power.
5. Less Search Volume. The potential for higher search engine rankings is somewhat offset by lower amounts of searches. Ideally, you’ll want to rank highly for common search phrases, but this may not be possible depending on your niche.
Social media has been the number 1 source of traffic for many blogs. On the other hand, a highly specific niche blog may have a harder time creating social media traffic, but an easier time creating loyal readers.
Ways to Check the Amount of Competition Before Starting a New Blog:
Perform a search at Technorati for keywords and phrases related to a niche.
Perform a Google Blog search for keywords and phrases related to a niche.
Set up a few Google Alerts to track new content that Google indexes on the subject.
Use Google Trends to see the search volume of phrases.
Use sources like Techmeme to see what topics are hot.
When deciding on a topic, you first and foremost must choose a topic that interests you enough to keep you motivated. Building a profitable blog takes a lot of consistent work, and this can be very difficult to accomplish if you don’t enjoy writing, reading, and learning about the issues and subjects that you cover.
If your interests lie in a subject area that is highly saturated you need to understand what you are up against and have the persistence to stick it out. If you decide to compete in a smaller niche you need to realize that you will be targeting a smaller audience than some other sites. While you may never reach the high traffic levels and subscriber counts of some of the top blogs, you will still have a realistic chance to earn money from your smaller niche.
Blogs and wastes of time?!?!?
The "blogging revolution"... I'd call it the "blogging invasion". It seems that any one, no matter how novice to the Internet, can master a blog: there's no need to know HTML and it's free. These are the first "pros". But are they really "pros"?
if any one can master a blog, it means any one can have a blog and write whatever he or she has in mind: a dream, a recipe, a funny story about a cat, a poem, a diary, a sleazy comment about another person, porn, hateful remarks and more. Hey, it's a free world! But, because there are so many bloggers out there, it's rather difficult to find quality blogs.
If you run an online business and try to use blogs to promote your products and services, you'll certainly find blogging advantageous. Blogging will help develop stronger relationships and loyalty with your clients by providing useful information on regular basis. A newsletter has the same impact, but, unless you create a "newsletter archive" online, the search engines will not index it. Blogs are different: search engines scan them on daily basis. This means you are reaching a far larger public than you expect and no one can accuse you of spamming. Another advantage is that by enabling comments to your blog, you'll have a free opportunity to get feedback and see how the readers react to your products, prices, etc. Moreover: a professional blog will help in presenting your organization as a trustworthy and experienced one.
Now to the "cons": as already mentioned, because many people don't have anything of value to say, and since they write it anyway, it's difficult to find quality blogs. For business blogs it's also difficult to find the right blogger who can write comprehensible text that appeal to the public and call to action. Blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain. You think blogging is a free advertising and marketing strategy, but have you considered your time? Writing is a time-consuming task. If you don't update your blog, your organization might lose good points on reputation.
Should you hire a professional writer to blog for your organization? Many online entrepreneurs do. On the long term this is a good investment: you'll have time to take care of other aspects of your business. A good publishing strategy will help your organization build a professional reputation that will attract more and more clients.
Who cares, I have to care unfortunately!!!!!
There's real money in words: the more you blog, the more traffic you get. The more traffic, the more chances to make a sale.
if any one can master a blog, it means any one can have a blog and write whatever he or she has in mind: a dream, a recipe, a funny story about a cat, a poem, a diary, a sleazy comment about another person, porn, hateful remarks and more. Hey, it's a free world! But, because there are so many bloggers out there, it's rather difficult to find quality blogs.
If you run an online business and try to use blogs to promote your products and services, you'll certainly find blogging advantageous. Blogging will help develop stronger relationships and loyalty with your clients by providing useful information on regular basis. A newsletter has the same impact, but, unless you create a "newsletter archive" online, the search engines will not index it. Blogs are different: search engines scan them on daily basis. This means you are reaching a far larger public than you expect and no one can accuse you of spamming. Another advantage is that by enabling comments to your blog, you'll have a free opportunity to get feedback and see how the readers react to your products, prices, etc. Moreover: a professional blog will help in presenting your organization as a trustworthy and experienced one.
Now to the "cons": as already mentioned, because many people don't have anything of value to say, and since they write it anyway, it's difficult to find quality blogs. For business blogs it's also difficult to find the right blogger who can write comprehensible text that appeal to the public and call to action. Blogs are easy to start and hard to maintain. You think blogging is a free advertising and marketing strategy, but have you considered your time? Writing is a time-consuming task. If you don't update your blog, your organization might lose good points on reputation.
Should you hire a professional writer to blog for your organization? Many online entrepreneurs do. On the long term this is a good investment: you'll have time to take care of other aspects of your business. A good publishing strategy will help your organization build a professional reputation that will attract more and more clients.
Who cares, I have to care unfortunately!!!!!
There's real money in words: the more you blog, the more traffic you get. The more traffic, the more chances to make a sale.
Portrayals of Utopia and Dystopia within film (with reference to Classic and Modern Literature)
“Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 2)
The main thread of narrative within this essay will be dealing with the portrayal of utopia and dystopia within film and the dogma such ideology can inspire. Also, using modern and classic literature as reference, remembering that most ‘big idea’ or ‘utopian’ films owes their inspiration to the likes of More or Orwell. There are numerous films that deal with these themes, however two in particular, one dystopian in nature, Ridley Scott’s decadent, down-beat and dark ‘Blade Runner,’ starring Harrison Ford, and the other utopian, Sean Penn’s beautifully shot and viciously expansive ‘Into The Wild,’ starring Emile Hirsch. These two films are the antithesis of each other visually, yet metaphorically they address similar issues. René Descartes was the first to clearly identify the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and ‘distinguished this from the brain, which was the seat of intelligence.’
Therefore for the purpose of this analysis, utopia and dystopia are proposed as a duality.
Using the mechanism of idealism, expressed through the medium of film, both ‘Scott’ and ‘Penn’ bring to life a fictional projection of finite eventuality. In other words, they are expressing a subjective view of the future, using imagination to visualise and bring to life a ‘zen’ like concept such as ‘utopia.’ This kind of a concept is riddled in dogma, made up of preconception and artist projection. It can be difficult to remain objective as semiotics, the visual language used in the analysis of the films aesthetic and existential matters such as ‘participation,’ ‘observation’ or ‘duality,’ are all subjective areas. Defining and extracting issues of utopia and dystopia is made easier through image analysis, drawing on visual reference for direct comparison, allowing for analysis of material in terms of semiotics and symbiosis.
In communication theory, a language is a semiotic process through which thought may be conveyed, but a language system enables a response to that thought using the degrees and kinds of signs and signifiers made by the language. Film uses not only words, but also different kinds of shots, angles and speeds; therefore, while the audience can react to a film's semantic intent, that audience cannot address its concerns regarding the film in the same language the film used to convey its argument. Christian Metzs argument is that while the means by which film expresses itself to its audience constitutes a language, it cannot constitute a linguistic system. Metzs argues that:
“one might call language any unity defined in terms of its matter of expression literary language, in this sense, is the set of messages whose matter of expression is writing; cinematic language is the set of messages whose matter of expression consists of five tracks or channels: moving photographic image, recorded phonetic sound, recorded noises, recorded musical sound, and writing. Thus cinema is a language in the sense that it is a
technico-sensorial unity graspable in perceptual experience.” (Stam, 1992, p124)
Therefore, in dissecting these images, there is an open dialogue between the observer, information and interpretation. The language used and ‘signs’ recognized maybe abstract, but relevant none the less.
Into The Wild – Sean Penn
“Is there anybody out there?…… Guess not!”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 45)
Within the image above, Penn has chosen the perfect location, utilising cool, calming colours that create a sense of the merging together of surroundings. Chris is stood on top of the bus; the immense scale of the natural objects and matter that surround him dwarfs these man-made, artificial objects. In an abstracted sense, this could demonstrate the director Sean Penns’ appreciation of mans position within the ‘biosphere,’ or within the film could represent Chris’ respect for the environment he has placed himself in. The fact that Chris, is compositionally positioned slightly off centre also illustrates cohesion with surroundings. Notice the scale of his body against the trees, ultimately similar in scale and size suggesting a balance between man and his environment. It also hints at a naivety, innocence and almost fallacy in his purist pursuit of happiness. As it is written in the film, within a novel by Tolstoy,
“Happiness is only real when shared.”
Translated literally, “In nature”, ‘Into the Wild’ by title is a reference to Jack London's ‘The Call of the Wild,’ but also a great tradition of American writers including John Steinbeck.
“I’ve decided I’m going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty is just too good to pass up.”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 104)
Faced with consumerism, materialism and excess, in a world, which refuses to compromise and after being subjected to its rules until the end of his studies, this young rebellious energy embodies an alternative, which takes a very strong role in American lethargy. Within this fragmented narrative of ‘boy becoming man,’ Chris is essentially embarking on an immense physical and mental journey seeking enlightenment and harmony, culminating in his arrival at Alaska, which he envisions as his physical ‘Utopian Ideal’. Chris is slowly discovering the meaning of his approach by his determination to reject attachments, whether the desperate love of a young girl or the protection of a surrogate father. This character refuses the cynicism of the adult world, having too long endured the effects in his family circle, baring similarities to the hero of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by ‘JD Salinger’, whose author has lived in seclusion for several decades.
Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a hypothetical perfect society. It has also been used to describe actual communities founded in attempts to create such a society. The adjective ‘utopian’ is often used to refer to good but (physically, socially, economically, or politically) impossible proposals, or at least ones that are very difficult to implement.
The term ‘Utopia’ was first coined by Sir Thomas More. He created the word "utopia" to suggest two Greek neologisms simultaneously: ‘outopia,’ meaning no place, and ‘eutopia,’ meaning good place.
“the soul of man is immortal, and that God of his goodness has designed that it should be happy; and that he has therefore appointed rewards for good and virtuous actions, and punishment for vice, to be distributed after this life.”
(More, 1551, p.4)
Chris’ mental and physical ideal lies within truth, his utopia is honesty, the cornerstone of trust. He is evidently attempting to satisfy his internal needs, expressing them in external space. The film ends in finite cataclysm as it draws to a close. Chris poisons himself unintentionally having collected and eaten inedible berries. He withers away and dies.
“Rather than love, or money, faith, fame and fairness…. Give me truth.”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 86)
Spiritual awakening and the reaching of ‘utopia’ and happiness for Chris was coming to the realisation that ‘happiness is only real when shared.’ He then forgives, and in turn realises love for his parents in his final seconds of life. This is the strongest sense of utopia the film offers. One comprised of lessons learned internally. Utopia, in Into The Wild, could be perceived as a state of mind, and according to More, Chris is ‘rewarded’ in his final moments with the image, feeling and truth of his parents loving embrace accompanied by the citation,
“What if I were smiling, and running into your arms. Would you see then, what I see now?”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 186)
To summarise, Sartre wrote,
“our point of departure is, indeed, the subjectivity of the individual…….because we seek to base our teaching upon truth…. Before there can be any truth whatever, then, there must be an absolute truth, and there is such a truth which is simple, easily attained and within the reach of everybody; it consists of one’s immediate sense of one’s self.”
“What is at the very heart of existentialism, is the absolute character of the free commitment, by which every man realises himself in realising a type of humanity - a commitment always understandable, to no matter whom in no matter what epoch.”
(Sartre, 1948, p.47)
Blade Runner – Ridley Scott
“If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then the possibility of life is destroyed.”
(Sartre, 1948, p.21)
Blade Runner imagines an overcrowded, rapidly decaying post-industrialist society, characterised by a class system defined between pastiche consumerism and exorbitant wealth. Classic traits of Dystopia: a futuristic, fictional society that has degraded into a repressed and controlled state, whose reality is comprised cleverly under the guise of the utopian ideal of a ‘big idea’ society.
Expressionist and film noir elements of Blade Runner serve more than simply a formal function. Historically, both styles have conveyed malaise and disillusionment. However, expressionism generally has conveyed an active, outraged sense of justice or ethical idealism, while film noir's underlying point of view has been more amoral, cynical and resigned. Blade Runner attempts to bring these elements together in an ideological amalgamation that has influenced Science Fiction from its introduction to popular film culture. In reference to Blade Runner, uncertainty, unreliability, questions about reality and identity are apparent yet at times shallow. This is in the stylization, architecture, characters, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. With regards to semiotics and communication theory, Ridley Scott releasing Blade Runner five times spanning twenty years has allowed a multitude of different analyses to be conceived. Therefore there are numerous narratives the film investigates, that lead the observer to draw various conclusions about Blade Runner’s motives.
Depicted in the Los Angeles of Blade Runner, simulation is completely dominant as the effect of the existence and operations of the simulacrum. Los Angeles, reproducible and mass-manufactured evidenced in the omnipresent advertising, marketing and commerce. The Replicants affirm the fiction of the real. The real is superseded by and replaced with simulations. These copies take the place of what they initially imitated.
Blade Runner’s existentialist framework provides a different narrative, however it is closely intertwined with themes already explored. Philip Mairet states
‘Philosophical variations can never be wholly explained by reference to surrounding social and historical conditions, important as these are to the full understanding of the item, for ideas often spread across geographical boundaries and periods of time; they germinate anew wherever they find individuals with the mentality and sensibility favorable to their growth.’
(Mairet, 1973, p.10)
Throughout Blade Runner the main Replicants, Roy, Rachael and Deckard, are all seeking the meaning of their existence. Subject to the extreme disillusionment that has prevailed as to the political and social systems that man had previously relied on, their discredit extending to all the cults and systems of objective thinking that had been associated with them, they all struggle to find identity. Roy begins as a mercenary, ruthless and cunning, eventually over a period of time, within which he ‘met his maker,’ (creator) and has a systematic voyage of self-discovery that culminates in him saving Deckard’s life, and ultimately overcoming his objective thought for one of balance, enriched with emotion and thus justifying Mariet’s ideas of social and historical conditions influencing the temperament and thinking of an individual.
Deckard’s crisis runs deeper. He surrenders his thinking to the artifice of rationalism, that in the beginning make him neglect or deny fundamental forces of his inner life that turn into highly destructive forces. His inner conflict develops into one of existential stasis. His predicament is perfectly described by Jean Paul Sartre as
‘what is at the very heart of existentialism the absolute character of free commitment by which every man realises himself in realising a type of humanity, a commitment always understandable - and its bearing upon the relativity of the cultural pattern that may result from such absolute commitment.’
(Sartre, 1948, p.47)
The dogma within the ideal of utopia is beginning to emerge. Both Blade Runner and Into the Wild are expressing two halves of the same coin. Into the Wild presents us with real, physical and internal utopia, where as Blade Runner illustrates a fictional and physical dystopia. However, Blade Runner still leans heavily towards the characters finding of a mental ‘zen’, or some sort of balance and harmony internally. (‘Utopia’)
Most utopias fail to deal with a number of problems in the contemporary, globalised, multi-cultural society, which we actually inhabit. Dystopias can do this more easily. For example, there are very few comprehensive responses to discrimination or oppression of ‘lesser’ cultural groups in multi-ethnic or linguistic societies. One other interesting attempt is in LeGuin’s The Lathe of Heaven in which the protagonist telekinetically dreams (quite literally) of solution to problems in the world (very like our own) which he inhabits. His dream to address racism is to make every inhabitant of the world grey and without distinguishing features, not differentiated in terms of facial structure or coloration.
Not surprisingly, the narrator and the characters frame this amalgamation as an unsatisfactory solution.
Like More's Utopia and the walled-off Communist world, both literary and attempted filmic utopias depend on being isolated or being ‘islands’ either literally or operationally. Interestingly, this is a form of segregation of one group from others with varying access to resources. This focus on one main social problem gives the genre an important defining characteristic, which is that almost all utopian writing, and almost all intentional societies that have been attempted and even dystopias (totalitarian, oppressive or ‘perfectly unjust’ societies) are based on a ‘big idea’ or main ideology upon which the society is imagined or built. In terms of classic literature, 1984, George Orwell, Island and Brave New World, Aldous Huxely, from the likes of which these modern films owe their inspiration, a utopia can be either idealistic or practical, but the term has acquired a strong connotation of optimistic, idealistic, impossible perfection. Both Blade Runner and Into The Wild fall foul of these traits, as do other films such as Micheal Anderson’s Logan’s Run, 1976 or Peter Wier’s 1986 classic The Mosquito Coast.
Therefore within film, there are two main outlets for illustrating utopia and dystopia. These come as a tightly knit package or Duality. A projection of material and physical dystopia usually accompanied by internal and mental utopian narrative. Or external utopia expressed and achieved through internal sacrifice, ruin and dystopia. The majority accompanied with a ‘grass is always greener’ motif, making it incredibly difficult to draw any finite conclusions about the nature of utopia and dystopia within film. A subjective ideal that semiotics and imagination dictate can be achieved in a variety of different ways. Whether fictional, physical, psychological or literal, a utopian ideal is usually accompanied by nihilistic and tragic dystopian motifs and dystopian depictions of reality are realised through an undercurrent of utopian ideas and positive values.
Bibliography.
Baccolini, R & Moylan, T (2003) Dark horizons: science fiction and the dystopian imagination London: Routledge
Harvey D. (1989) The Space-time compression and the post-modern condition, Basil Blackwell: London
Jameson, F. (1985), Postmodernism and consumer society, in H Foster (ed.), Postmodern Culture, Pluto Press: London
Jaspers, K (2009) Man in the Modern Age London: Routledge
Krakauer, J (2007) Into the Wild London: Pan Books
Kumar, K (1987) Utopia and Anti-utopia in Modern Times Oxford: Blackwell
Mairet, P. (1973) An introduction to Existentialism and Humaninsm, Methuen
Manuel, Frank & Manuel, Fritzie (1979) Utopian Thought in the Western World Oxford: Blackwell
More T, (1516) Utopia Longman: London
Sammon, P. M. (1996). Future Noir: the Making of Blade Runner. London: Orion Media
Sartre J.P. (1948) Existentialism and Humanism, Les Editions Nagel: Paris
Stam, R (1992) New Vocabularies in Film Semiotics: Structuralism, Poststructuralism and Beyond London: Routledge
Internet sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner Accessed on 28. 10. 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia Accessed on 23. 10. 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild Accessed on 22. 10. 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia Accessed on 19. 10. 10
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/comm321/gwalker/semiotics.htm accessed 3. 11. 10
www.filmsite.org/blad.html accessed on 3. 11. 10
www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1235.Jon_Krakauer accessed on 2. 11. 10
www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758 accessed on 2. 11. 10
Roy, G (2004) Storyline The Internet Movie Database (iMDB)
Visual reference
Penn S. (2007) Into the wild: Paramount Vantage
Scott, R (1982) Blade Runner: The Final Cut (5-Disc Ultimate Collectors' Edition Tin) [DVD] Warner Home Video
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 2)
The main thread of narrative within this essay will be dealing with the portrayal of utopia and dystopia within film and the dogma such ideology can inspire. Also, using modern and classic literature as reference, remembering that most ‘big idea’ or ‘utopian’ films owes their inspiration to the likes of More or Orwell. There are numerous films that deal with these themes, however two in particular, one dystopian in nature, Ridley Scott’s decadent, down-beat and dark ‘Blade Runner,’ starring Harrison Ford, and the other utopian, Sean Penn’s beautifully shot and viciously expansive ‘Into The Wild,’ starring Emile Hirsch. These two films are the antithesis of each other visually, yet metaphorically they address similar issues. René Descartes was the first to clearly identify the mind with consciousness and self-awareness and ‘distinguished this from the brain, which was the seat of intelligence.’
Therefore for the purpose of this analysis, utopia and dystopia are proposed as a duality.
Using the mechanism of idealism, expressed through the medium of film, both ‘Scott’ and ‘Penn’ bring to life a fictional projection of finite eventuality. In other words, they are expressing a subjective view of the future, using imagination to visualise and bring to life a ‘zen’ like concept such as ‘utopia.’ This kind of a concept is riddled in dogma, made up of preconception and artist projection. It can be difficult to remain objective as semiotics, the visual language used in the analysis of the films aesthetic and existential matters such as ‘participation,’ ‘observation’ or ‘duality,’ are all subjective areas. Defining and extracting issues of utopia and dystopia is made easier through image analysis, drawing on visual reference for direct comparison, allowing for analysis of material in terms of semiotics and symbiosis.
In communication theory, a language is a semiotic process through which thought may be conveyed, but a language system enables a response to that thought using the degrees and kinds of signs and signifiers made by the language. Film uses not only words, but also different kinds of shots, angles and speeds; therefore, while the audience can react to a film's semantic intent, that audience cannot address its concerns regarding the film in the same language the film used to convey its argument. Christian Metzs argument is that while the means by which film expresses itself to its audience constitutes a language, it cannot constitute a linguistic system. Metzs argues that:
“one might call language any unity defined in terms of its matter of expression literary language, in this sense, is the set of messages whose matter of expression is writing; cinematic language is the set of messages whose matter of expression consists of five tracks or channels: moving photographic image, recorded phonetic sound, recorded noises, recorded musical sound, and writing. Thus cinema is a language in the sense that it is a
technico-sensorial unity graspable in perceptual experience.” (Stam, 1992, p124)
Therefore, in dissecting these images, there is an open dialogue between the observer, information and interpretation. The language used and ‘signs’ recognized maybe abstract, but relevant none the less.
Into The Wild – Sean Penn
“Is there anybody out there?…… Guess not!”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 45)
Within the image above, Penn has chosen the perfect location, utilising cool, calming colours that create a sense of the merging together of surroundings. Chris is stood on top of the bus; the immense scale of the natural objects and matter that surround him dwarfs these man-made, artificial objects. In an abstracted sense, this could demonstrate the director Sean Penns’ appreciation of mans position within the ‘biosphere,’ or within the film could represent Chris’ respect for the environment he has placed himself in. The fact that Chris, is compositionally positioned slightly off centre also illustrates cohesion with surroundings. Notice the scale of his body against the trees, ultimately similar in scale and size suggesting a balance between man and his environment. It also hints at a naivety, innocence and almost fallacy in his purist pursuit of happiness. As it is written in the film, within a novel by Tolstoy,
“Happiness is only real when shared.”
Translated literally, “In nature”, ‘Into the Wild’ by title is a reference to Jack London's ‘The Call of the Wild,’ but also a great tradition of American writers including John Steinbeck.
“I’ve decided I’m going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty is just too good to pass up.”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 104)
Faced with consumerism, materialism and excess, in a world, which refuses to compromise and after being subjected to its rules until the end of his studies, this young rebellious energy embodies an alternative, which takes a very strong role in American lethargy. Within this fragmented narrative of ‘boy becoming man,’ Chris is essentially embarking on an immense physical and mental journey seeking enlightenment and harmony, culminating in his arrival at Alaska, which he envisions as his physical ‘Utopian Ideal’. Chris is slowly discovering the meaning of his approach by his determination to reject attachments, whether the desperate love of a young girl or the protection of a surrogate father. This character refuses the cynicism of the adult world, having too long endured the effects in his family circle, baring similarities to the hero of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by ‘JD Salinger’, whose author has lived in seclusion for several decades.
Utopia, in its most common and general meaning, refers to a hypothetical perfect society. It has also been used to describe actual communities founded in attempts to create such a society. The adjective ‘utopian’ is often used to refer to good but (physically, socially, economically, or politically) impossible proposals, or at least ones that are very difficult to implement.
The term ‘Utopia’ was first coined by Sir Thomas More. He created the word "utopia" to suggest two Greek neologisms simultaneously: ‘outopia,’ meaning no place, and ‘eutopia,’ meaning good place.
“the soul of man is immortal, and that God of his goodness has designed that it should be happy; and that he has therefore appointed rewards for good and virtuous actions, and punishment for vice, to be distributed after this life.”
(More, 1551, p.4)
Chris’ mental and physical ideal lies within truth, his utopia is honesty, the cornerstone of trust. He is evidently attempting to satisfy his internal needs, expressing them in external space. The film ends in finite cataclysm as it draws to a close. Chris poisons himself unintentionally having collected and eaten inedible berries. He withers away and dies.
“Rather than love, or money, faith, fame and fairness…. Give me truth.”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 86)
Spiritual awakening and the reaching of ‘utopia’ and happiness for Chris was coming to the realisation that ‘happiness is only real when shared.’ He then forgives, and in turn realises love for his parents in his final seconds of life. This is the strongest sense of utopia the film offers. One comprised of lessons learned internally. Utopia, in Into The Wild, could be perceived as a state of mind, and according to More, Chris is ‘rewarded’ in his final moments with the image, feeling and truth of his parents loving embrace accompanied by the citation,
“What if I were smiling, and running into your arms. Would you see then, what I see now?”
(Krakauer, 1999, p. 186)
To summarise, Sartre wrote,
“our point of departure is, indeed, the subjectivity of the individual…….because we seek to base our teaching upon truth…. Before there can be any truth whatever, then, there must be an absolute truth, and there is such a truth which is simple, easily attained and within the reach of everybody; it consists of one’s immediate sense of one’s self.”
“What is at the very heart of existentialism, is the absolute character of the free commitment, by which every man realises himself in realising a type of humanity - a commitment always understandable, to no matter whom in no matter what epoch.”
(Sartre, 1948, p.47)
Blade Runner – Ridley Scott
“If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then the possibility of life is destroyed.”
(Sartre, 1948, p.21)
Blade Runner imagines an overcrowded, rapidly decaying post-industrialist society, characterised by a class system defined between pastiche consumerism and exorbitant wealth. Classic traits of Dystopia: a futuristic, fictional society that has degraded into a repressed and controlled state, whose reality is comprised cleverly under the guise of the utopian ideal of a ‘big idea’ society.
Expressionist and film noir elements of Blade Runner serve more than simply a formal function. Historically, both styles have conveyed malaise and disillusionment. However, expressionism generally has conveyed an active, outraged sense of justice or ethical idealism, while film noir's underlying point of view has been more amoral, cynical and resigned. Blade Runner attempts to bring these elements together in an ideological amalgamation that has influenced Science Fiction from its introduction to popular film culture. In reference to Blade Runner, uncertainty, unreliability, questions about reality and identity are apparent yet at times shallow. This is in the stylization, architecture, characters, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. With regards to semiotics and communication theory, Ridley Scott releasing Blade Runner five times spanning twenty years has allowed a multitude of different analyses to be conceived. Therefore there are numerous narratives the film investigates, that lead the observer to draw various conclusions about Blade Runner’s motives.
Depicted in the Los Angeles of Blade Runner, simulation is completely dominant as the effect of the existence and operations of the simulacrum. Los Angeles, reproducible and mass-manufactured evidenced in the omnipresent advertising, marketing and commerce. The Replicants affirm the fiction of the real. The real is superseded by and replaced with simulations. These copies take the place of what they initially imitated.
Blade Runner’s existentialist framework provides a different narrative, however it is closely intertwined with themes already explored. Philip Mairet states
‘Philosophical variations can never be wholly explained by reference to surrounding social and historical conditions, important as these are to the full understanding of the item, for ideas often spread across geographical boundaries and periods of time; they germinate anew wherever they find individuals with the mentality and sensibility favorable to their growth.’
(Mairet, 1973, p.10)
Throughout Blade Runner the main Replicants, Roy, Rachael and Deckard, are all seeking the meaning of their existence. Subject to the extreme disillusionment that has prevailed as to the political and social systems that man had previously relied on, their discredit extending to all the cults and systems of objective thinking that had been associated with them, they all struggle to find identity. Roy begins as a mercenary, ruthless and cunning, eventually over a period of time, within which he ‘met his maker,’ (creator) and has a systematic voyage of self-discovery that culminates in him saving Deckard’s life, and ultimately overcoming his objective thought for one of balance, enriched with emotion and thus justifying Mariet’s ideas of social and historical conditions influencing the temperament and thinking of an individual.
Deckard’s crisis runs deeper. He surrenders his thinking to the artifice of rationalism, that in the beginning make him neglect or deny fundamental forces of his inner life that turn into highly destructive forces. His inner conflict develops into one of existential stasis. His predicament is perfectly described by Jean Paul Sartre as
‘what is at the very heart of existentialism the absolute character of free commitment by which every man realises himself in realising a type of humanity, a commitment always understandable - and its bearing upon the relativity of the cultural pattern that may result from such absolute commitment.’
(Sartre, 1948, p.47)
The dogma within the ideal of utopia is beginning to emerge. Both Blade Runner and Into the Wild are expressing two halves of the same coin. Into the Wild presents us with real, physical and internal utopia, where as Blade Runner illustrates a fictional and physical dystopia. However, Blade Runner still leans heavily towards the characters finding of a mental ‘zen’, or some sort of balance and harmony internally. (‘Utopia’)
Most utopias fail to deal with a number of problems in the contemporary, globalised, multi-cultural society, which we actually inhabit. Dystopias can do this more easily. For example, there are very few comprehensive responses to discrimination or oppression of ‘lesser’ cultural groups in multi-ethnic or linguistic societies. One other interesting attempt is in LeGuin’s The Lathe of Heaven in which the protagonist telekinetically dreams (quite literally) of solution to problems in the world (very like our own) which he inhabits. His dream to address racism is to make every inhabitant of the world grey and without distinguishing features, not differentiated in terms of facial structure or coloration.
Not surprisingly, the narrator and the characters frame this amalgamation as an unsatisfactory solution.
Like More's Utopia and the walled-off Communist world, both literary and attempted filmic utopias depend on being isolated or being ‘islands’ either literally or operationally. Interestingly, this is a form of segregation of one group from others with varying access to resources. This focus on one main social problem gives the genre an important defining characteristic, which is that almost all utopian writing, and almost all intentional societies that have been attempted and even dystopias (totalitarian, oppressive or ‘perfectly unjust’ societies) are based on a ‘big idea’ or main ideology upon which the society is imagined or built. In terms of classic literature, 1984, George Orwell, Island and Brave New World, Aldous Huxely, from the likes of which these modern films owe their inspiration, a utopia can be either idealistic or practical, but the term has acquired a strong connotation of optimistic, idealistic, impossible perfection. Both Blade Runner and Into The Wild fall foul of these traits, as do other films such as Micheal Anderson’s Logan’s Run, 1976 or Peter Wier’s 1986 classic The Mosquito Coast.
Therefore within film, there are two main outlets for illustrating utopia and dystopia. These come as a tightly knit package or Duality. A projection of material and physical dystopia usually accompanied by internal and mental utopian narrative. Or external utopia expressed and achieved through internal sacrifice, ruin and dystopia. The majority accompanied with a ‘grass is always greener’ motif, making it incredibly difficult to draw any finite conclusions about the nature of utopia and dystopia within film. A subjective ideal that semiotics and imagination dictate can be achieved in a variety of different ways. Whether fictional, physical, psychological or literal, a utopian ideal is usually accompanied by nihilistic and tragic dystopian motifs and dystopian depictions of reality are realised through an undercurrent of utopian ideas and positive values.
Bibliography.
Baccolini, R & Moylan, T (2003) Dark horizons: science fiction and the dystopian imagination London: Routledge
Harvey D. (1989) The Space-time compression and the post-modern condition, Basil Blackwell: London
Jameson, F. (1985), Postmodernism and consumer society, in H Foster (ed.), Postmodern Culture, Pluto Press: London
Jaspers, K (2009) Man in the Modern Age London: Routledge
Krakauer, J (2007) Into the Wild London: Pan Books
Kumar, K (1987) Utopia and Anti-utopia in Modern Times Oxford: Blackwell
Mairet, P. (1973) An introduction to Existentialism and Humaninsm, Methuen
Manuel, Frank & Manuel, Fritzie (1979) Utopian Thought in the Western World Oxford: Blackwell
More T, (1516) Utopia Longman: London
Sammon, P. M. (1996). Future Noir: the Making of Blade Runner. London: Orion Media
Sartre J.P. (1948) Existentialism and Humanism, Les Editions Nagel: Paris
Stam, R (1992) New Vocabularies in Film Semiotics: Structuralism, Poststructuralism and Beyond London: Routledge
Internet sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner Accessed on 28. 10. 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia Accessed on 23. 10. 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Wild Accessed on 22. 10. 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia Accessed on 19. 10. 10
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/comm321/gwalker/semiotics.htm accessed 3. 11. 10
www.filmsite.org/blad.html accessed on 3. 11. 10
www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1235.Jon_Krakauer accessed on 2. 11. 10
www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758 accessed on 2. 11. 10
Roy, G (2004) Storyline The Internet Movie Database (iMDB)
Visual reference
Penn S. (2007) Into the wild: Paramount Vantage
Scott, R (1982) Blade Runner: The Final Cut (5-Disc Ultimate Collectors' Edition Tin) [DVD] Warner Home Video
Sound technology development within console games (1971 – 1996)
The specifics of computer science and technology pass most people by, but there are those that can make it do incredible things.
There are countless job descriptions within the Game industry: programmer, artist, animator, game designer, producer, etc. There are endless possibilities with careers in areas like sound design, although it could be seen as a vague term with many connotations. Slightly more concise are the roles of composers, audio content providers, musicians, sound sculptors. These are the jobs that bring us the kind of satisfaction craved by ‘gamers.’
In 1971, video games appeared on the market with the game ‘Computer Space.’ A year later, Atari ’s Pong, took its place in history. This console game was uncomplicated by today ’s standards; its few sounds were simple, single tone, electronically-generated bleeps. Atari ’s home entertainment offering in 1975 brought ‘Pong’ into our homes, but it wasn’t until 1977 that the Atari 2600 game system brought a slightly improved presentation of sound.
Over a small amount of time, stimulated by the need for the evolution of both technology and more diverse sound, various methods and audio processors where applied to aurally satisfy the player. In 1979, Mattel presented their Intellivision system, offering a sound generator capable of three-part harmony. Atari answered back in 1982 with their 5200 platform and a dedicated audio processor called Pokey. The Pokey chip used four separate channels that controlled the pitch, volume, and distortion values of each, allowing a four -piece ‘virtual band’ to perform for the first time.
This was a turning point for sound design in games as every new system had more audio resources to draw from.
“The audio of the 8-bit era games represents a interesting tension between game sound aesthetics and the series of pressures and constraints exerted by technology, by industry, by genre and by the very nature of games themselves.”
- Game sound: an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of video game music and sound design - Karen Collins
The original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 used five channels of monophonic sound. Sega’s introduction in 1986 brought three monophonic sound generators using four octaves each into the ring. By 1989, the NEC Turbo Grafx brought six voices with stereo output and the Sega Genesis with 10 voices — both with a later add-on that allowed for CD quality audio. Throughout the 90’s, audio processors continued to improve, adapting synthesizer chips, 16 -bit processors, more memory, better compression and decompression algorithms, and even internal effects processors.
A strong correlation between the competition of rivalling companies pushing to out strip each other and the rapid increase and development of technology in ‘sound design development,’ resulted in more progressive techniques and sounds being achieved throughout the 1980’s and 90’s. Also clearly seen in present day, ego centred gaming institutions continue to battle each other to create or utilise more advanced and unique techniques to keep engaging with their audiences. This is essential for the growth and expansion of any evolutionary process.
22 kHz, 16- or 8-bit sounds are still commonly used, as pastiche or sometimes nostalgia. However, these audio properties were replaced in mainstream gaming with 44.1 kHz and16 -bit stereo sound (CD quality audio) as storage space, memory, and faster processors continued to improve, as did the increase in audio file sizes.
MIDI really never took off in gaming. Essential to other electronic art forms, a demanding public expressed their disappointment with it. Internal instruments gradually became better as sound card manufacturers included high-grade synthesizer chips, but because this quality differed greatly between manufacturers, what sounded good on one card sounded like a train wreck on another. This lack of consistency meant MIDI ’s eventual downfall in gaming, however, secondarily, Down Loadable Sounds and more advanced soundcards triggered further interest in MIDI capabilities through the use of ‘sound fonts.’ These are triggered from the games internal memory through sequencing data. This, in turn, revolutionizing game sound again. Composers could then pick and choose their own sounds, bypassing the system RAM and use the sound cards circuitry. Typically, most of the standard 128 MIDI sounds loaded on a sound card would go unused. Now, by loading a new bank of sound fonts before game play, all 128 sounds could be used, if needed, to make the audio a much more interesting experience.
Another interesting point has been since the advent of the web, and more specifically the move to online gaming, the same wants and demands apply. Java and Flash were used initially, designed to load quickly and usually re used one or two sounds for every thing. Having been stuck with small file sizes, facets as low as 8khz, using 8-bit mono and compressed file formats that do nothing to enhance the sound. As the broadband capacities got bigger, so to did the quality of audio and the creative vision applied to it.
Game developers understood the impact of superior music compositions and film quality sound effects. Their increased sound budgets allowed them to hire audio professionals to make this all happen. Composers and sound designers were brought in earlier in the development cycle, as part of the design team, instead of as an afterthought during the final phases of production. Eventually, video games became, and have become more like interactive movies where the psychological effects of music and sound will be dominant.
Developers tried to imagine a fully immersive virtual world, surrounded by sound, where hearing is essential for accurate game play. Hearing your footsteps, environmental sounds coming from air ducts, doors and moving objects, sounds reverberating, shell casings tinkling on the floor. This is evidently now the case with almost all contemporary Games.
“Sound offers a spatial freedom, as it is not limited to the realm of a computer display. In sound-based games, the game space can cover entire rooms and even larger spaces
with out depending on very expensive equipment. The players of sound based games can be encouraged to move around, as the omni-directional aspects of sound.”
- Audio Games: New perspectives on game audio - Johnny Friberg
As we race towards the future, the game industry just keeps expanding, as does the technology that allows this evolution. So many eventualities that were perceived as ‘pipe dream’ have already come to fruition.
Further more, in a modern day context (1996 - now), titles such as Call of Duty, Heavy Rain and Rainbow 6 Vegas to name but a few, all utilize 3d sound design to a high degree, even incorporating head sets so gamers can interact with each other. If paid attention to, these sounds enhance game play and allow for far more accurate spatial awareness of the gamers and their avatars within game levels.
The ‘binaural audio’ game Papa Sangre has no graphics short of a basic menu system and interface, providing a shockingly convincing 3D effect for the player/listener. It relies completely on sounds to direct the user through an imaginary world. A completely immersive mental world that if played with a little imagination, is highly expansive and hugely rewarding.
To conclude, as technology develops, so do gamers needs’ for greater detail, bigger levels, more depth and breadth to the emotional response games can evoke. Games appear to be fast becoming a multi-sensorial experience, steadily evolving in harmony and balance with technology.
We only have to think about Moore’s law of a long-term trend in computer hardware, that is that capabilities approximately double every two years. His prediction has proved to be uncannily accurate, in part because the law is now used in the semiconductor industry to guide long-term planning and to set targets for research and development.
Bibliography.
- Collins. K Game sound: an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of video game music and sound design
- Friberg. J Audio Games: New perspectives on game audio
- Grimshaw. M Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments
- Wolf. M The medium of the Video game
Web links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_industry_practices
http://www.thegameconsole.com
http://www.slipperybrick.com/2009/03/atari-vcs-2600
There are countless job descriptions within the Game industry: programmer, artist, animator, game designer, producer, etc. There are endless possibilities with careers in areas like sound design, although it could be seen as a vague term with many connotations. Slightly more concise are the roles of composers, audio content providers, musicians, sound sculptors. These are the jobs that bring us the kind of satisfaction craved by ‘gamers.’
In 1971, video games appeared on the market with the game ‘Computer Space.’ A year later, Atari ’s Pong, took its place in history. This console game was uncomplicated by today ’s standards; its few sounds were simple, single tone, electronically-generated bleeps. Atari ’s home entertainment offering in 1975 brought ‘Pong’ into our homes, but it wasn’t until 1977 that the Atari 2600 game system brought a slightly improved presentation of sound.
Over a small amount of time, stimulated by the need for the evolution of both technology and more diverse sound, various methods and audio processors where applied to aurally satisfy the player. In 1979, Mattel presented their Intellivision system, offering a sound generator capable of three-part harmony. Atari answered back in 1982 with their 5200 platform and a dedicated audio processor called Pokey. The Pokey chip used four separate channels that controlled the pitch, volume, and distortion values of each, allowing a four -piece ‘virtual band’ to perform for the first time.
This was a turning point for sound design in games as every new system had more audio resources to draw from.
“The audio of the 8-bit era games represents a interesting tension between game sound aesthetics and the series of pressures and constraints exerted by technology, by industry, by genre and by the very nature of games themselves.”
- Game sound: an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of video game music and sound design - Karen Collins
The original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 used five channels of monophonic sound. Sega’s introduction in 1986 brought three monophonic sound generators using four octaves each into the ring. By 1989, the NEC Turbo Grafx brought six voices with stereo output and the Sega Genesis with 10 voices — both with a later add-on that allowed for CD quality audio. Throughout the 90’s, audio processors continued to improve, adapting synthesizer chips, 16 -bit processors, more memory, better compression and decompression algorithms, and even internal effects processors.
A strong correlation between the competition of rivalling companies pushing to out strip each other and the rapid increase and development of technology in ‘sound design development,’ resulted in more progressive techniques and sounds being achieved throughout the 1980’s and 90’s. Also clearly seen in present day, ego centred gaming institutions continue to battle each other to create or utilise more advanced and unique techniques to keep engaging with their audiences. This is essential for the growth and expansion of any evolutionary process.
22 kHz, 16- or 8-bit sounds are still commonly used, as pastiche or sometimes nostalgia. However, these audio properties were replaced in mainstream gaming with 44.1 kHz and16 -bit stereo sound (CD quality audio) as storage space, memory, and faster processors continued to improve, as did the increase in audio file sizes.
MIDI really never took off in gaming. Essential to other electronic art forms, a demanding public expressed their disappointment with it. Internal instruments gradually became better as sound card manufacturers included high-grade synthesizer chips, but because this quality differed greatly between manufacturers, what sounded good on one card sounded like a train wreck on another. This lack of consistency meant MIDI ’s eventual downfall in gaming, however, secondarily, Down Loadable Sounds and more advanced soundcards triggered further interest in MIDI capabilities through the use of ‘sound fonts.’ These are triggered from the games internal memory through sequencing data. This, in turn, revolutionizing game sound again. Composers could then pick and choose their own sounds, bypassing the system RAM and use the sound cards circuitry. Typically, most of the standard 128 MIDI sounds loaded on a sound card would go unused. Now, by loading a new bank of sound fonts before game play, all 128 sounds could be used, if needed, to make the audio a much more interesting experience.
Another interesting point has been since the advent of the web, and more specifically the move to online gaming, the same wants and demands apply. Java and Flash were used initially, designed to load quickly and usually re used one or two sounds for every thing. Having been stuck with small file sizes, facets as low as 8khz, using 8-bit mono and compressed file formats that do nothing to enhance the sound. As the broadband capacities got bigger, so to did the quality of audio and the creative vision applied to it.
Game developers understood the impact of superior music compositions and film quality sound effects. Their increased sound budgets allowed them to hire audio professionals to make this all happen. Composers and sound designers were brought in earlier in the development cycle, as part of the design team, instead of as an afterthought during the final phases of production. Eventually, video games became, and have become more like interactive movies where the psychological effects of music and sound will be dominant.
Developers tried to imagine a fully immersive virtual world, surrounded by sound, where hearing is essential for accurate game play. Hearing your footsteps, environmental sounds coming from air ducts, doors and moving objects, sounds reverberating, shell casings tinkling on the floor. This is evidently now the case with almost all contemporary Games.
“Sound offers a spatial freedom, as it is not limited to the realm of a computer display. In sound-based games, the game space can cover entire rooms and even larger spaces
with out depending on very expensive equipment. The players of sound based games can be encouraged to move around, as the omni-directional aspects of sound.”
- Audio Games: New perspectives on game audio - Johnny Friberg
As we race towards the future, the game industry just keeps expanding, as does the technology that allows this evolution. So many eventualities that were perceived as ‘pipe dream’ have already come to fruition.
Further more, in a modern day context (1996 - now), titles such as Call of Duty, Heavy Rain and Rainbow 6 Vegas to name but a few, all utilize 3d sound design to a high degree, even incorporating head sets so gamers can interact with each other. If paid attention to, these sounds enhance game play and allow for far more accurate spatial awareness of the gamers and their avatars within game levels.
The ‘binaural audio’ game Papa Sangre has no graphics short of a basic menu system and interface, providing a shockingly convincing 3D effect for the player/listener. It relies completely on sounds to direct the user through an imaginary world. A completely immersive mental world that if played with a little imagination, is highly expansive and hugely rewarding.
To conclude, as technology develops, so do gamers needs’ for greater detail, bigger levels, more depth and breadth to the emotional response games can evoke. Games appear to be fast becoming a multi-sensorial experience, steadily evolving in harmony and balance with technology.
We only have to think about Moore’s law of a long-term trend in computer hardware, that is that capabilities approximately double every two years. His prediction has proved to be uncannily accurate, in part because the law is now used in the semiconductor industry to guide long-term planning and to set targets for research and development.
Bibliography.
- Collins. K Game sound: an introduction to the history, theory, and practice of video game music and sound design
- Friberg. J Audio Games: New perspectives on game audio
- Grimshaw. M Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments
- Wolf. M The medium of the Video game
Web links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_industry_practices
http://www.thegameconsole.com
http://www.slipperybrick.com/2009/03/atari-vcs-2600
Sunday 13 March 2011
Accurate scale floor plan
After crit it was made aware to me that i needed to think about the scale of my character in relation to the scale of the level. I found that in beta testing, my character was far to small for the size of the level. In first person mode, you had to jump up the steps that are supposed to be low profile. So i went back to the drawing board and made a floor plan of more accurate proportions. This along with the perspective drawings from earlier have made constructing the level much easier to understand.
Textures/Tones Tested for Unity
These are the textures i have decided to move through into unity. After multiple testing in maya with different cominations of Blinns and Lamerts, imported files and the attribute editor, i have decided that the textures above are the ones that suit the environment best.
It has taken lots of experimentation with making things up in photoshop or finding quality resolution images to make seamless textures.
The techno-dystopian aesthetic has really taken over from the victorian steam punk idea. This is due in part to making a soundtrack and reacting to that. This will be further established in a later evaluative post.
Saturday 12 March 2011
the-sirens-of-titan-by-kurt-vonnegut-j (Read this Book)
Sci-fi philosophy
The Sirens of Titan was Vonnegut’s second novel (after Player Piano, published in 1952). It strongly influenced Vonnegut’s reputation as a writer of science-fiction. It is a book overflowing with spaceships, Martians, intergalactic battles, and ‘chrono-synclastic infundibula’. The Sirens of Titan, however, also proved Vonnegut to be one of the greatest satirists and philosophers of his time.
‘Somebody up there likes me’
The Sirens of Titan is a science-fiction novel about religion, war, philosophy, and the weaknesses of the human race. It is at once clever, funny, outrageous and very relatable. And whatever may be behind the creation of the universe, the design behind this novel is very intelligent indeed.
The Sirens of Titan is set on four different planets, and encompasses a range of complicated and quirky characters. The novel’s main protagonist is Malachi Constant – a rich, depraved party animal from Hollywood. Malachi made his millions through luck – When asked to explain this good fortune, Malachi Constant can only reply ‘I guess somebody up there likes me’.
The novel begins as Malachi Constant is summoned to the home of Winston Niles Rumfoord, an aristocrat who has become caught in a chrono-synclastic infundibula (a sort of rift in time and space). Rumfoord materialises on Earth once every fifty-nine days, for one hour. During this particular materialization, Rumfoord has insisted upon meeting with Constant, in order to reveal the future to him. “Your destination is Titan”, Rumfoord informs Constant, “but you will visit Mars, Mercury, and Earth again before you get there.”
Determined to avoid ever shooting off into space and fulfilling these prophecies, Constant embarks on a partying binge that leaves him hung-over and bankrupt. With nothing left for him on Earth besides poverty and possibly prison, Malachi agrees to be recruited by the Martian army, and relocates to Mars. The rest of the novel tells the tale of Constant’s journey across the universe.
Kurt Vonnegut: Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions.
Friday 11 March 2011
Level 4 - Evaluative Post Crit - Fri 11th
This project has demanded a lot of different skills and has pulled on resources that i did not really think i had within me.
The main point of focus has been the re engagement with Maya. I started off really resenting the fact that i was going to have to create everything in Maya, having just spent weeks struggling with it. However, as soon as i got started, everything began to flow nicely. No there are no ideas above my station. This is a level made up of basic shapes and simple geometry. Still convinced that game art isn't really my thing, i wanted to be working with a clear and concise idea as to not waste time.
I have already started working on my self directed study for next term. Research and idea development - and having worked with Maya more, i will be in cooperating much more abstract 3d work into my final piece. This is due to the work put in on this module.
I was really frustrated that my textures did not translate across into unity.
A simple error that ca easily be remedied with toggling a switch in maya before exporting it. From the crit, it has been suggested that the shelves should be cubes not planes, as planes only have one surface for textures.
I really need to consider the size and scale of my character in relationship to the scale of the level.
Id also like to experiment with more abstract features. Such as photoshoped images of buildings that have been dilapidated to add dynamic, scale and a sense of other-worldliness, it was mentioned in crit that Kandinsky and Dali have been an influence. I would not say that they have directly influenced my work but these are artist i respect and have loved for many years so that's a compliment within itself.
I basically really need to implement a sense of scale and a more convincing (outer level) experience. A more immersible game environment is definitely required.
Much more to go on. Textured and uv-mapping next week and hopefully it will all come together... Who knows... ill try my best and see what happens....
Thursday 10 March 2011
Level 3
Completed maya texturing....
Experimenting with Blinns and lamberts, importing files and using the attribute editor to create a relatively convincing 'Duke Nukem' era games environment.
In looking retrospectively at the textures in 'Level 2' post, the bricks looked awful and needed to be amended. This required taking a photograph (high quality) of a brick wall and some photoshop work to make the scale fit better. It is still by no means perfect, but alot closer to the look and style of brick i was after for the walls. I think i need to tone down the intensity of the red that comes across. This can be done by decreasing the incandescence and altering the ambient colour of the blinn.
I have also changed the skin on the rails to make them more reflective and stand out. They define the edge of the level and at the moment they just appear to do nothing, define nothing and have no earthly use being there.
There are many more textures to go in and refinement of those textures. Then i would like to think about particles and ambience in Unity.
Level 2
More artefacts added and textures in place. Shaping up to be something that resembles a level.
Due to my basic maya skills i am relatively happy with the results so far.
The brick textures need to be sorted and a more seamless texture for the main part of floor (steel).
Need to bake out the character animations to drop into unity.
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Sound Design
Now that more of the dystopian aspect of the concept has come through, i felt it was about the right time to make some sounds for the level. This will start on a loop as the player enters the room. The loop that has been made is almost seamless which im happy about. It has several textures and layers that are comprised of made up sounds using Ableton. There are bit reduced synths, reversed percussive hits that are layered in reverb, samples of old fm radio signals - Keeping continuity within concept as the robot is searching for traces of human life, thus collecting items that have been left and storing them..... There are layers of static and samples of conversations occurring over VHF radio.
I really tried to create a dynamic set of sounds for this level as i think it will aid convincing the player of the world they have immersed themselves into. Sound is the most important aspect of any creation or event for me and i feel i can do the visual justice due to knowing how to react to visual stimulus with sound.
The red lines that span the waveforms are the bits of automation i have added. They represent either the track volume, the panning from right to left, effects such as bit crushing, flanging and different oscillator parameters that i feel added a huge amount of dynamic in the scape of sound.
The scape was played through and the different osc settings were applied using the MS-20 synth plug-in VST.
The nuances were tweaked in post production.
In conjunction with my Case study, i wanted to experiment with midi.
There are 2 free source samples in this piece. The rest is all processed midi sounds and hits that i have created. To create these sounds i was mainly using 'simpler' and 'impulse,' in house Ableton midi instruments.
Midi is a great thing. Being able to paste in hits of samples in a simple sequencer and see that in front of you really gives you an appreciation of the movement'flow of a signal being transformed and modulated. Ultimate control over sound with an easily readable 'visual mechanism/format' with which to work from.
For the digital objects (computers/radios) within the level i will get blips and blops off freesoundproject.org
This is a great website and always has high quality samples, all royalty free.
I really tried to create a dynamic set of sounds for this level as i think it will aid convincing the player of the world they have immersed themselves into. Sound is the most important aspect of any creation or event for me and i feel i can do the visual justice due to knowing how to react to visual stimulus with sound.
The red lines that span the waveforms are the bits of automation i have added. They represent either the track volume, the panning from right to left, effects such as bit crushing, flanging and different oscillator parameters that i feel added a huge amount of dynamic in the scape of sound.
The scape was played through and the different osc settings were applied using the MS-20 synth plug-in VST.
The nuances were tweaked in post production.
In conjunction with my Case study, i wanted to experiment with midi.
There are 2 free source samples in this piece. The rest is all processed midi sounds and hits that i have created. To create these sounds i was mainly using 'simpler' and 'impulse,' in house Ableton midi instruments.
Midi is a great thing. Being able to paste in hits of samples in a simple sequencer and see that in front of you really gives you an appreciation of the movement'flow of a signal being transformed and modulated. Ultimate control over sound with an easily readable 'visual mechanism/format' with which to work from.
For the digital objects (computers/radios) within the level i will get blips and blops off freesoundproject.org
This is a great website and always has high quality samples, all royalty free.
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