Week 7 – 3D VFX Workshop

November 3, 2015 Benjamin Adams Leave a comment

After a week break from frequency I came back to my workshop with a fresh start and mind. The aim of this workshop was to look at anchoring an assessed to a part of footage which can disappear off and on camera whilst staying in the same place. Compared to my previous VFX workshop where I was only taught how to 2d motion track an assessed.

The exercise i was tasked with was to create a realistic 3D pot hole in the middle of a road.

[INSERT POTHOLE RENDERED VIDEO]

From the skills I have learnt in this workshop, I can see them being invaluable as it allows me to add layers to footage that I myself wouldn’t of been confident in doing two weeks ago. In addition to this it will also mean that in my own time I can practice on my skills and technique.

Year 2 Semester A

Week 6 – Frequency Festival

Image November 3, 2015 Benjamin Adams Leave a comment

During this week i volunteered for frequency festival. As frequency festival runs every two years this was the only year i could participate in. I found it thoroughly interesting and useful as I went to installations that triggered inspiration and ideas for future projects of my own. I first helped out at Squid Soups Enlightenment Installation over in the waterside shopping center.

I found this installation really interesting from a digital media student perspective as not only did it look visually pleasing it also was a very unique piece of art. As you walked through the chains of light light up behind you creating a trail which transforms into a ripple effect.

IMG_20151025_162543208 — Illuminos – Through the Fourth Wall

I then later went to help out on this installation called y which used projection mapping to create the effect. The piece featured lots of small individual windows featuring footage of what seems to be people carrying out daily life. The whole installation felt surreal as you were watching because at the end all the people turn to start waving at you and then turns their lights off one by one.

The last installation that i particularly liked was Road by Nick Driftwood. Whilst being a relatively simple concepts it had a big impact. It featured sped up footage of a dashboard mounted camera travelling across america in 4K definition with a carefully created soundtrack that matches the footage. This was more impressive more than anything because as a viewer you really felt as if you were part of the journey.

In summary Frequency Festival 2015 was a informative week that provided me with many experiences that i will not forget.

Year 2 Semester A

Week 5 – 2D VFX

Video October 24, 2015 Benjamin Adams Leave a comment

During the space of this workshop I looked at how 2D Visual Effects can be incorporated into moving images.

I was showed examples of scenes of films/ TV shows with before VFX and after VFX, And how they can be used to enhance and improve a films aesthetic and logistics.

After that I was tasked with applying a image to a video using marker points.

[INSERT FINAL BOX RENDER]

I found out that if a video has a low frame rate it makes it a lot harder for the marker points to track the footage as motion blur occurs much easier compared to a higher frame rate.

Once this was done the next task to perform a sky replacement from a piece of footage using a image of another sky.

[INSERT RENDERED VIDEO OF SKYSCAPE]

2D motion capture does have its limitation however because if any of the selected pixels the marker pins are tracking disappear off frame or become obstructed the tracking will be lost.

Year 2 Semester A

Week 4 – Augmented Reality

October 20, 2015 Benjamin Adams Leave a comment

To Test the information i had learnt in the workshop i downloaded the free app called augment on to my phone which allows me to created augmented reality live from my phone the images below are photos from a test i did at my desk in my room.

Here are some of the images i took off my phone when i was playing around with augment. From the images you can see that i successfully managed to create a tracking point to anchor the assets down and then was able to move around it in 3D space.

I really enjoyed this workshop as it allowed to experiment on the move with the app on my phone. It opened up a whole new area of creativity for me.

Year 2 Semester A

Week 3 – Projection Mapping

Image October 20, 2015 Benjamin Adams Leave a comment

During the space of this workshop we were taught about what projection mapping was. I was showed some examples of early projection mapping and then different consumer software I can use to create my own work.

An example of Early projection mapping was Disney Lands Haunted Mansion from 1969 which featured what looked like floating ghosts but was actually clever uses of projectors and projection mapping.

I was then showed an app which can be downloaded on to an Mobile device called DynaMapper. I was showed a demonstration using this app which seemed easy and straight forward to use and then once connected up to a projector created effective results using the space and lines of the area being projected onto.

The next piece of software we were showed was for laptops and computers. The Software is called Heavy M. It felt a little more advanced than DynaMapper, but still managed to deliver similar effects. I downloaded Heavy M myself so I could play around with it.

During my workshop my tutor held a demonstration involving a small mock city as seen in the images below. The demonstration was creating shapes of the individual building and then filling it with either colour of moving image to create the effect of projection mapping.

I found this workshop to be really interesting as i have never been introduced to projection mapping. I have seen it used many times as places such as theatres, museums and at live music concerts but never really understood at how it was carried out.