Creator
Yesterday didn’t turn out the way I had planned.
Instead of work on the assignment, we got to work on building a level inside the Unreal Development Kit. This was an exciting lesson but I fell behind just before the end. So I’m hoping to take the project home and continue to develop it further by using online tutorials.
After some unexpected time off I am finally back in the classroom. To get my mind back into work mode – and out of Battlefield mode – I’ve looked through my folder and created a ‘to do’ list. Continue reading “Finishing Up The Assignment”
Today I’ve been able to sort my primary and secondary research. I now feel I have enough to begin creating a presentation for the fictional Jarrow video game.
Carrying out the research is only one task of four from the brief. I have been working hard towards covering as many learning outcomes as possible, so I have already made good progress on tasks two and four. Continue reading “Jarrow: End Game”
Today’s lesson with Kaf was fast and we covered a lot of stuff. The first was a way to label scene objects in Maya, using medial capitals or CamelCase.
Camel case – Wikipedia
Some systems prefer camelcase with the first letter capitalised, others not. For clarity, this article calls the two alternatives upper camel case (initial upper case letter, also known as Pascal case) and lower camel case (initial lower case letter). Some people and organizations, notably Microsoft, use the term camel case only for lower camel case.
Playing with the tools in Maya helped me understand that I have a lot more to learn before I’ll be able to ‘rig‘ a character. Continue reading “CamelCase”
Today Len taught us about the ‘S.M.A.R.T.’ mnemonic and he asked me to explain my personal goal based on this premise.
S – To produce a ‘Distinction’ quality portfolio of work which can be used to showcase my talents as a video game designer; allowing me to secure funding or employment in the industry.
M – I will measure my success against the marking criteria for the H.N.D. Games Production (Engines and Animation) course which I am enrolled. I see this as the standard to which I must work and I will be comparing my work to that of my peers and professionals, for inspiration.
A – I have worked hard through adversity to get to this point and have received encouraging praise for my progress so far. I feel the goal is achievable as I know I have relevant skills.
R – It will also challenge my known weaknesses; complex art and traditional drawing styles.
T – I do best when I have a large amount of work to do in a relatively short amount of time; preferring intense sessions of learning to maximize my creative output. Continue reading “S.M.A.R.T. Target & Life Goal”
Despite today’s lesson on the new timetable being animation, Kaf was not available, so we had a productive session of project work with Martin instead.
I worked back over the assignment brief, expanding on my previous work, so I can meet the ‘merit’ and ‘distinction’ criteria for each learning objective. I still feel like I am often stepping outside of the scope of the given task. Continue reading “Research…So Much Freaking Research”
Today I had my glimpse into the world of 3D animation in my first lesson with our animation tutor, Kafui ‘Kaf’ Elorm Avornyo.
Kaf explained to us, that he will be teaching us the complexities of Autodesk’s Maya 2013, as well as checking our progress on the assignments we will be given. For the first assignment, however, we are not required to animate, simply research. This meant we had time to have a quick play with the program before being given a comprehensive study list and some interesting homework. Continue reading “Animate Like Miyazaki, Go!”
Firsts, that is; the first day at university, the first lesson and the first assignment, among other not so tasty or enjoyable firsts.
I was surprised to be told within minutes of the lesson that our lead tutor, Frankie Cavanagh, is going to be leaving soon – taking some of the staff with him – to start some other game related course across from our university. We were also introduced to the fellow who would be replacing him called Martin Holcroft, who just finished working at Ubisoft on Watch Dogs. Hopefully, this will work out better for us but only time will tell.
With that out of the way, we dove straight into the first assignment brief; a pitch to the local council for a video game based in your hometown. I had to sip the air and hold my breath, to stop myself screaming “JARRA!” in my best Viking voice. Continue reading “A Series Of 01000110 01101001 01110010 01110011 01110100 01110011”
Today was not the day it seems!
It turns out that I am a week early for my course; the start date is actually Monday the 30th September. In the meantime, I plan to practice my drawing and coding skills in preparation.
I have enabled the blog feature of Drupal, which I will be using to post regular updates as I go through my studies.