Hunting for lost files on your computer is an absolute nightmare, it's like looking for a needle in a hay stack, and with my organisation (which there isn't any), it is practically impossible. After going through 3 usb sticks over the time of just 2 semesters, I'm starting to think computers do not like me.
At this very moment, looking through my nice and neat folders of work, ready to be put on CD, I keep thinking I could have done so much more. Either I have done very little or I am very picky with what I want to do. I really should just do what I first think and told instead of leaving everything to the last minute and having a minor break-down and screaming at my cranky computer.
Looking back over this first year of Uni...It is nothing to what people say it is. Just before I started uni my parents told me its one of the best parts of life and it is so much fun blah blah blah, but in reality it is hard work and you end up with no life because of all the deadlines you have. OK it might be because this course is very over whelming and there IS alot of work. But I have fell in love with the course. At first it was like 'what the hell am I doing here?' and you think that everyone around knows exactly what they are doing, but after settling down and making friends, everyone had the near enough the exact same feeling. I have learnt so much through the short time that has been my first year. (It has gone too fast) I have learnt alot more than I have actually realised; Learning 3ds max from scratch and holding onto the basics, being aware with what a graphics tablet is and how easy they are to actually use and learning through my own time how to work around Photoshop.
3ds max is a completely new world to me and I am grateful that it has been shown to me. Yeah it's bloody scary but once you start to wrestle with it and tell who is boss, it starts to come together. It still gets me completely mind-boggled and wound up into a hissy fit when something doesn't seem to work that did work 3 minutes ago, but that's the program. Someone said it was made by a programmer, and that they will never use it so they didn't think about the people who would have to use it.
The enjoyment of drawing is something that I can just relax into, but when it's sat outside in the freezing cold or rain and with a drippy nose running down onto your work, is just cruel. (thanks Chris) I have done so much life drawing and I think this is one of my favourite parts to the course. Learning One-point and two-point perspective made my brain a little confused as you start to see imaginary lines that you hadn't noticed before. But it all helps in the end as everything lines up with each other to create the final picture.
I want to carry on. I am looking forward to the start of next year, where after, I confess a very lazy start of the first year, through the second year I can prove to myself that I have the motivation, talent and organisation to create amazing and creative work. (That sounds so big headed, sorry)
Targets...
Quite frankly I need to set myself some targets for the up coming year. (hopefully I am in the 2nd year, just a bit of panic there.) It's never too late to set yourself anything even if it is mid April. I Didn't realise how lazy I actually am and also very unorganised. Yes I am picking faults with myself, so targets are needed;
- Laziness; It's not an option. Keep busy and push through things, add the extra piece of work. Not because it will maybe get you that little bit of an extra mark but because you WANT too. You are working towards something you really want to do and are passionate about...So pull your socks up!
- Time Management; Well that is something that no one is good at. Do the work when it is set, not the day before, it stresses me out beyond what a stress ball can handle. It's really not worth it and your work just seems crap when it is rushed and not thought about.
- Enjoy; Enjoy the work you are set, it's meant to be fun! It's something you enjoy but when it is something that you should be doing it does feel abit tedious, but make it enjoyable and think outside the box. There are no right and wrong answers...are there?
In some ways I am sick and tired of seeing digital art. Yeah it can be good but by looking at everyone's, it all looks the same. (of course no offence intended) It is like everyone has forgotten what they drew with and that there is this new gadget that every has to try. It is boring. Also I haven't really picked up the skills of Photoshop and to be honest it is embarrassing. I went with the traditional media's. Good old water colours, fine liner, pencil and then Photoshop to slightly neaten the rough patches.
Who follows 'Rules'?
Take into consideration through the rules of my own...
-Reference; use what ever you can get your hands on. We have the beauty of the internet but primary sources are the best. Take pictures!
-Thumbnails; draw anything and everything, even if you don't have any paper on you, use that tissue or a receipt that's in your pocket. Quick sketches, it doesn't have to be a master piece, just a few lines to get the main frame and idea down. Fiddle around with the rest later.
-See with your senses; Make it believable, think about how something feels, smells, looks like. Try to capture all that is there. Yeah I find this hard but sometimes it gives you more than what you are just looking for.
-Over do it, you know you want to. Explore and express yourself, give something of you into what you are creating. Don't be scared, you are the controller, imagination is meant to be well imaginative.
-Mood; Create the mood of the area, make sure that the audience knows what you are trying to achieve.
-Atmosphere; I guess that comes under the same point as the mood. Make sure it is visible and understanding.
-Story telling; You are there to tell a story, to show the story through visual evidence. Setting the scene, helping the audience to understand.
-Colour; colour themes, different colours and lighting have different effects of things. Colours help to set the moods, lighting helps to show the genre. Darkness for unsafe and scary things, light for happiness and rainbows and bunny rabbits.
-Believable; why is reality, reality? Anything can be believable. You have to show and make it so. Express and create what isn't real. It is believable if you make it so. It doesn't have to be understood.
-Reference; use what ever you can get your hands on. We have the beauty of the internet but primary sources are the best. Take pictures!
-Thumbnails; draw anything and everything, even if you don't have any paper on you, use that tissue or a receipt that's in your pocket. Quick sketches, it doesn't have to be a master piece, just a few lines to get the main frame and idea down. Fiddle around with the rest later.
-See with your senses; Make it believable, think about how something feels, smells, looks like. Try to capture all that is there. Yeah I find this hard but sometimes it gives you more than what you are just looking for.
-Over do it, you know you want to. Explore and express yourself, give something of you into what you are creating. Don't be scared, you are the controller, imagination is meant to be well imaginative.
-Mood; Create the mood of the area, make sure that the audience knows what you are trying to achieve.
-Atmosphere; I guess that comes under the same point as the mood. Make sure it is visible and understanding.
-Story telling; You are there to tell a story, to show the story through visual evidence. Setting the scene, helping the audience to understand.
-Colour; colour themes, different colours and lighting have different effects of things. Colours help to set the moods, lighting helps to show the genre. Darkness for unsafe and scary things, light for happiness and rainbows and bunny rabbits.
-Believable; why is reality, reality? Anything can be believable. You have to show and make it so. Express and create what isn't real. It is believable if you make it so. It doesn't have to be understood.
Getting along
Looking forward to life drawing again (as I always do), but its a bit weird as we are going to be learning portraits. I have never done portraits before but even as I try to draw faces I just can't, they always turn out like some sort of growth instead of an actual human being. The life drawing lesson this week was one of the most enjoyable lessons I had so far. Using chalk pastels and other media's we had, I had water soluble drawing pencils. A few of my sketches came out really well. I've noticed that my understanding of the human anatomy has improved greatly since Christmas. Its great looking back over work and comparing the differences between them all.
I'm glad I chose blue, for some reason I work well in blue, even though it gives the model a cold look and feel. Trying to understand fore-shortening was very difficult when I first attempted it. Looking at the model and seeing it looked perfectly fine, but putting it down on paper, its like 'what the hell?' But as I've been told it all gets easier over time and practise.
Amongst other things, uni seems to be more relaxed and calm at the moment, yes the work is still there and piling up quickly but everyone seems easygoing and not so stressed, its a very good vibe to be feeling. Although friends have been getting letters from uni about game production, like a warning or something. I haven't got one yet and hopefully I wont but seriously its scary thinking that we have about 6-7weeks left until Easter and that means our final assessments. Its gone so fast and TOO fast in some cases. Wow I'm not a noob anymore and proud, even though
Seeing things differently
I have recently started playing World of Warcraft again (yeah yeah I know, but I like wow, different people like different games). But anyways, as I was standing there in the game, I started to analyse my surroundings. Noticing how to create elements on 3DS max and also realising that the textures are all tillable textures. Game production has ruined my experience of games. I'm constantly picking things out and seeing faults such as the texture seems and how things don't match up.
I guess it shows i'm learning without realising and i'm happy about that, but one of my favourite games and im criticising it, it is kinda amusing though.
I've also noticed that within WoW there isn't any specular or bump maps within the environment. But there are noticeable specular maps on characters, such as; Armour, weapons, equipment and also companions such as elemental's.
I guess it shows i'm learning without realising and i'm happy about that, but one of my favourite games and im criticising it, it is kinda amusing though.
I've also noticed that within WoW there isn't any specular or bump maps within the environment. But there are noticeable specular maps on characters, such as; Armour, weapons, equipment and also companions such as elemental's.
Sucker Punch review PEW PEW!
Ok, I really really really wanted to see this at the cinema when it first came out but I missed my chance. But that's what DVD's are for, so I can watch it when ever I want.
Sucker Punch is all about this cute blonde girl called baby doll. Yeah kind of a weird name but all the characters have weird names as its a weird film full of weirdness and strangeness.
Storyline
A young girl (Baby Doll) is locked away in a mental asylum by her abusive stepfather where she will undergo a lobotomy in five days' time. Faced with unimaginable odds, she retreats to a fantastical world in her imagination where she and four other female inmates at the asylum, plot to escape the facility. The lines between reality and fantasy blur as Baby Doll and her four companions, as well as a mysterious guide, fight to retrieve the five items they need that will allow them to break free from their captors before it's too late...
The difference between reality and imagination is in some what obvious. When she goes into the asylum that's reality but then it flips to a imagination. The imagination of this young girl is fun and unnatural. Dancing her way through battles and obstacles (yes really). Well there is more to it but I don't want to give it away.
The graphics and concepts are beautiful and are very well done. To help show between reality and imagination the colour pallets differ.
For this film I would rate it 7/10
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