The first step to this project was coming up with an idea that could be easily incorporated with choreography whilst having a strong concept. My immediate idea was to create a choreography with the 3 states of matter, since it is physically impossible for them to dance in our physical world, by themselves. As humans, we are a combination of these 3 states of matter and not just one. The same goes for all living beings on the planet. Therefore, I want to use a digital medium (VR) to help create that otherwise impossible vision.
I decided to pair up with Ana for this project since we have a similar concept and have never worked as a group before. Our vision revolves around the three states of matter, and how they move in space. Since they make up human beings, it is almost like deconstructing what makes us human and therefore deconstructing what makes dance.
It would be interesting to see how dance can interpret the physical states’ properties and interactions. To do this, we will select some students from LCDS and hopefully create something great.
Our Group
Ana – LCC
Margarida – LCC
Lewis – LCDS
Juliette – LCDS
Ava – LCDS
Vee – LCDS
Update
There was a slight change of planes regarding our concept, after our first session at LCDS. Since we have 5 dance students, we had to find a way to incorporate the three states of matter into something a little bit more inclusive of the current number of group members we have. Therefore, we want to instead incorporate the idea of the 3 states of matter with the 4 elements + 1 extra element that ties them together. We thought this would still include the first idea, while also exploring an extremely interesting and inherently human concept, the 4 elements. We also thought the idea of the 3 states of matter was very factual and somewhat cold. However, having them be the four elements instead, adds some warmth and familiarity to our concept.
We would like to explore their movement through space as well as possible interactions. As a result, Ana and I started discussing how this could happen and what medium we would use for our final presentation. To better illustrate what we came up with, I drew a storyboard.
For our fifth element, we later decided to go with something that depicted a human being, but at the same time, not quite. Since the idea of the four elements is merely a human-created concept, our existence ties all of these elements together. Furthermore, their physical states are all part of our existence as physical beings, therefore we can also suggest that they somehow represent us or make us whole. Either way, we will include this final character. But instead of human skin or a general human figure, we want something that we can play around a bit more (special effects-wise). So, this human would be more of a metaphysical representation, rather than an actual person.
Idea – Example
Medium
We pretty much came to a consensus right away regarding the medium we’d use for this project. We feel that a VR video will be the best option. Our plan is to have the dancers surrounding the viewer in a circle and each element will be performing their choreography at the same time. This will create a very immersive effect which also allows the viewer to get an even closer look at each character’s properties and movements throughout the performance.
Here is the video with the Gameplay. Also, I forgot to mention this earlier but I decided to call my game “Keep Your Cool” since that is necessary to accomplish this game’s goal, which implies a peaceful resolution for all the levels.
Note: I would also recommend that the person who plays this game is sitting down to help prevent motion sickness.
Critical Appraisal
I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish over the past few weeks, especially in terms of coding with C#. As time went on, I felt myself get more and more comfortable with this programming language, and it gradually started making more sense in my head, to the point where I knew what type of logic I wanted to use even if I did not necessarily know how to code it. In terms of overall aesthetics and concept, I also feel content with the scenes I managed to build. I feel that I was able to achieve what I had initially set out to do, therefore I think I kept a fairly coherent path all throughout this project.
However, this is not to say that there were no challenges. My most significant issues were to do with things that were extremely specific and that I would not have been able to solve on my own, for example, the shooting mechanic or the soldier following the player on the last level. I think gaining more experience and acquiring new C# knowledge is the only way for me to progress in this aspect. Furthermore, initially, I had a tendency to complicate the coding a bit too much. For instance, after using an object, I set all of the other tags to the same tag as the object I had used, so that the other panels wouldn’t pop up. This was extremely time-consuming and made for huge lines of unnecessary coding. However, I later realised that I could simply turn off the character’s colliders. But as I have previously mentioned, I reckon these are things I will most likely fix with more time and experience.
If a could take this project further, I would definitely add more object feedback, such as sound as well as animations. Secondly, I would polish many elements and make the more professional, such as the pop-up menus and even the 3D models themselves. I would also want to make the levels longer and more complicated, in order to mimic the feeling of an escape room, where there are multiple steps to get to the solution.
This project was definitely a challenge because it was my first time building a game and using coding. However, I think it was an extremely enriching experience since it not only gave me and my colleagues more experience but also presented us with a new set of skills that could be quite useful in the future.
In conclusion, I would say I was successful in my attempt to bring my ideas to life and I adapted to the challenges with the tools I was given and the knowledge I had. Even so, there are a lot of things that could be improved and there is much yet for me to learn in this particular field.
Before building the actual scenes, I created a few scenes just to experiment a bit with the game layout and the interaction with the characters.
I also ended up experimenting a bit with coding just to get a better idea of the type of mechanics that I will be using throughout the game.
Level 1
In level one, the options are quite limited and the interactions themselves are apparently very simple. For each item, I need to add a tag that, on collision with the character “Karen” will activate the gamestate “lose” or “win”, and then the losing/winning panel will pop up
For the gun, Herman created a file that already includes the shooting mechanic.
The only issues that I currently have are the driving option and the radio button.
Level 2
This stage is quite similar to the first level in terms of mechanics. The only difference is that on this level, the player will be able to walk. Therefore, I need to add some sort of object that activates the gamestate “lose” if the user walks too far. Meaning they can’t run away from the game.
But once again, I don’t know how I will accomplish radio button mechanics. I have to watch a few tutorials…
Note: I have also decided that the song I will use for this level is “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. I find it a bit ironic since the player literally plays that song to stop the player from attacking them. Furthermore, I really like this track and I think it’s groovy and relatable to many generations.
Level 3
The last level is ironically the hardest to play but the easiest to code. The player will not be able to pick up or use any of the objects on the floor. Instead, I just have to figure out a way to keep the player from lowering their arms and some sort of solution for the hug as well. And I will also add a walking barrier, just like in level 2. However, I don’t have anything in terms of coding for this stage, yet. I will figure that out later.
Designing and Prototyping
In terms of design, I did a few sketches for the characters, which are posted on my padlet presentation. For the environments, I will be using free 3D from sketch fab to get more realistic results and accomplish that GTA aesthetic I am aiming towards.
Level 1
For this level, I wanted a very simple city scenario with a road and a couple of buildings. I got all the models from Sketchfab.
For the Karen prefab, I used MakeHuman to create the character and downloaded some of the clothes from the MakeHuman community page, which offers a wide range of free prefabs to use on the characters.
I wanted her expression to be grumpy and unpleasant. Furthermore, I wanted to embody the typical “Karen look” that we often see on social media, so I gave her a short Karen haircut and gave her some middle age looking clothes.
Level 2
The Thug level has a darker atmosphere. It’s supposed to make the player feel trapped and isolated. I got a full-scale model of an alley that captured this exact feeling and will be using it for this level. The elements are all from Sketchfab as well. In my opinion, it feels a little bit less realistic compared to the first level(and some proportions are weird), but I think it still works, especially when the other objects are present in the scene.
The Thug prefab was created in MakeHuman. I created a young-looking fellow that has this edgy expression and the mouth covered. I mainly focused on the character’s readability to make sure that he stood out in the scene, while still making sure that he looked like a Thug. For his tank top, I got a jpeg with the logo from the band Queen(Clue) and added it in photoshop to the character’s clothes textures images.
Level 3
The last level is supposed to resemble a city destroyed by war. To accomplish this look, I once again use a few models from Sketchfab a created a city that is slowly falling apart due to the bobbing and destruction caused by violence. I think this level was really supposed to embody the message that was originally intended for this game, “Reflecting on violent acts and their casualties, in a serious manner”. Therefore, I wanted to make sure it was easy to perceive by making it a fairly big open space with very readable elements.
For the soldier prefab, I tried to make sure it was very easily readable as well. I also made him a bit scrawny and scared to show that his intentions due not solely rely on violence and that he himself is scared and does not want to hurt the player, and that he is also a submissive meek character. I used MakeHuman for the Soldier, as well.
Game Mechanic and Coding
Hitting character mechanic (filtered by tags) – Level 1 and Level 2
This mechanism consists of creating tags that define which objects are “wrong” and which one is “right” when in contact with the character in the level (Karen/Thug). If they are wrong, it triggers the “Lose” Gamestate and the losing panels pop up. If it’s the right object the Gamestate “Win” is activated and the winning panels pop up. Also to make sure that after winning or losing, I wouldn’t be able to change the Gamstetae, I started by changing the objects tags after using an object, but later on, found out it was easier to turn off the character’s colliders.
Shooting mechanic – L1
Initially, I tried using the shooting mechanic uploaded by Herman on Moodle, but for some reason that was not working so, I used an extremely helpful tutorial from YouTube, which I will reference below.
Driving mechanic – L1
I struggled a bit with this mechanic… I was trying to create a smooth-driving car when the button was pressed, but for some reason, it wasn’t working. So I just created a very simple “if you press this button, this object’s position will be added +3”, kind of statement. And then attached a cube to the car with the tag “WrongItem1” to trigger the “Lose” Gamestate. I then attached the script to the main camera, created a button, attached the object (camera) and referred to the statement “Drive” for the car to move when I clicked the button.
Radio mechanic button – L1
This was pretty much like the driving script but instead of changing the car’s position, it played a song from an audio source, and then set the Gamestate to “Lose”.
Feedback systems – sound, animation and panels – L1, L2 and L3
For the feedback systems, I just added the required feedback responses to the already written “if statements”. For example, if tag = wrong item1, set gamestate to lose1 and karenmad.bool = true(this would trigger the animation). I just did this for all the sounds and animations for each character’s main script and attached the corresponding elements to them. Same thing with the Gamestate panels, but for these, I also added the option to follow the player’s head movement for levels 2 and 3. Also, I added coroutine timers to get more time to play the character’s animations/sounds, before the panels popped up.
Radio mechanic object – L2
This script was very similar to the first radio script, the only difference being that to play the song on this one, the player has to touch an object (collide with it), instead of pressing a button. And then Gamestate = lose, etc… I added a tag to the player’s hand and made it so if that tag touched the radio button object, the song would start.
Cross barrier mechanic – L2 and L3
This logic was also very straightforward. Basically, if the player’s hand (added specific tag) touched the barrier I created, the Gamestate would be set to “Lose”, etc. then after that, I added another physical barrier (no script) so that the player isn’t able to walk any further.
Parent mechanic – L2
For this one, I just followed Herman’s tutorial which would set the XR rig as the parent of each object I picked up and let me walk with them. This one took me a while to figure out. I did follow the tutorial, but for a while, I didn’t know why it wasn’t working. And then it hit me… I had set the parent to be any elements with the tag from the player’s hand and forgot to add the tag from the XR origin as well. And then it worked!
Hands-up mechanic – L3
This mechanic is the basis of the final level. It makes the player raise their arms by working as a collider that when in contact with a specific tag on the hand’s prefab, activates the Gamestate “Lose” and the level has to be restarted. This basically means that the player cannot lower their arms at any point through this last stage.
Five-second screen mechanic – L3
For this panel, I just created a coroutine timer so that the player gets a few seconds to read and adapt to this level’s rules. I also added a physical barrier so that they cannot move during these 5 seconds. Also, this timer works for the Hands-up cube by only activating it after the initial panel is gone.
Hug Mechanic – L3
This one was fun to think about. Basically, I wanted the player to have to use both hands to trigger the hug and get the “win” response. To do this, I tried a couple of approaches like “only if y & x” statements but for some reason, once again it didn’t work. So I thought it would be interesting if I had two cubes (one for the left hand and one for the right), when for example, my left hand collides with the left hand cube, it would set.active(true) a hug trigger on the right side and only by touching it with my right hand, will it activate the gamestate “win”. Same logic for the right hand. But to summarise, it means that you always need to hug with both arms, one to activate the trigger and one to touch it on the opposite side to get the “win” gamestate.
Follow player mechanic – L3
I used this mechanic to have the soldier follow (as in rotate)the player as they walk. I tried to do this for a while but it was not working. I followed countless tutorials and even tried doing it during class by also adding a rotation restraint and nothing. And then, Herman sent me a working script and it was much more simple than I’d previously thought. So yeah… now it works fine. Thanks, Herman!
Menu mechanic – L1, L2 and L3
For the pop-up menu, I followed a Youtube tutorial that taught me how to make it so that when the player moved it would follow them. However, later on, I had to change the trigger button because the button I was using was restricted and when I exported the game, it would not work. I ended up using a different button, and now it’s fine. Also, to back to the main menu, I created a script for each scene that pretty much subtracted a specific number of scenes to get to the main menu. For example, for the first level, it subtracted 1, for the second level it subtracted 2 scenes, etc. You get the logic. I was trying to do it in one script only but I did not get it to work. This logic was fine too so I used it instead. Finally, for the next level option, I used the same logic but added +1, and for the “restart” option, I just told the script to reload the current scene.
Update: Adding a Main Menu Scene
I forgot to mention this decision earlier but I decided to add a main menu before the actual game starts so that the player has time to get familiarised with the rules beforehand. Also added the buttons tutorial, which I thought would be pretty useful since I got some feedback on that.
Gameplay
Level 1
The player looks around and tries to find a clue.
In the first level, the player has to either pick an object to use or a button to push.
If they press any button, they lose and have to restart the level.
If they pick an object they will either pick the “right” one (solution) or the “wrong object”.
If they pick and use a “wrong object”, they lose and have to restart the level.
If they pick and use the “right object”, they win and can proceed to the next level.
First Playtest (Colleagues) – I let a few of my colleagues try the game to get a better understanding of how I could improve the gameplay. Actually, there wasn’t much. It was mostly feedback on the first level and second.
For the Karen level, I was told to make the Karen more obvious, since their first reaction wasn’t to look in the right direction.
For the Thug level, The radio object was too obvious and the player would accidentally press the button without even knowing it. To solve this, I put the radio in a less obvious place and set the pivot/grabbing point to a much further distance from the player’s hands, so that they wouldn’t trigger it accidentally and would instead try to find how to play it.
Second Playtest (Herman) – This playtest was crucial for me to understand some of the points I really had to improve for my final version of the game.
The first thing that was pointed out to me is that I should create some kind of particle system to make the interactable objects more apparent instead of making the player figure out which ones are usable. At first, I thought this would be necessary and that the challenge of finding the objects that worked made more sense and was part of the difficulty. However, I think it left the players confused as to what they could do on the level. Therefore, I ended up adding particle systems to the intractable objects.
The other advice I got was to make the Soldier from the last level, follow the player as they walked. I’d already been trying to do this for a while but to no avail. In the end, Herman ended up emailing me with a script that worked!
Third Playtest (Brother) – I thought I would just be showing my brother the game and everything would go smoothly but I actually found one problem that really annoyed me. On the Karen level, when the player drove by clicking the drive button, it wouldn’t be disabled and my brother ended up clicking more than once, which made him drive further and no longer be able to see the “lose” screen to restart the level.
It was an easy fix by disabling the object after the gamestate was set to “lose”, but it certainly reminded me that I had to carefully evaluate all the components in my game, to make sure nothing was missing or incorrect. I’m glad I made him play it…
Other Playtests (myself) – These were the final Playtests I did by myself. And I actually ended up tweaking a few things, such as the camera/XR rig position and for the last level, I perfected the hug triggers and their position relative to players’ hands.
Overall, easy fixes but very monotonous since every time I exported the game and thought I’d be happy with it, I ended up finding something to adjust and had to save and export everything all over again.
Update: Actually, I found a relatively big problem. When I built the game, the button that triggered the menu was not working. I spent hours trying to fix this and look for a solution when I finally found a thread online with someone that had the same problem. To summarise everything, the button I was using could not acquire other functions besides its own. so the solution was simple. I had to pick another button from the VR controller.
Update 2: I ended up doing a final playtest with a couple of friends from a different course, and got some feedback that was extremely useful. First, they asked for a controller tutorial so I added that in the main menu scene. Then they said the last level’s panel’s phrase was too long and they did not have time to raise their arms, so I made it shorter. Finally, they said the winning/losing panels for the second level could follow the character instead and I agreed. Also, I found out that one of my friends was able to jump the physical barrier on the second level somehow, and fixed it.
I used ChatGPT to help me write lines of code that I wanted/understood how they would work but didn’t know how to write the language.
I cannot stress how useful this was! Because if I were to have googled some of these, the results might have been somewhat adapted to other games and would not be able to explain as well as ChatGPT did.
My problem wasn’t not knowing what mechanics I needed to use, it was how to write them. This was extremely helpful and I highly recommend it to anyone (beginner or pro) this software, cause it saves a lot of time and gives really in-depth explanations of how to apply the code to the game.
We’ve grown accustomed to witnessing human suffering like it is our daily bread. Not that we hear about it all the time, but we see it so often through images and movies and animations to the point where we don’t really feel much about it anymore. It’s so natural nowadays to go into a store and have the ability to buy a bunch of games that show violence, suffering and human killings, that at a certain point, it doesn’t even affect us. This is not to say that I’m entirely against these kinds of games, but I think it is crucial for people to not become disconnected from the ideas represented in these entertainment platforms so that we are able to separate reality from fiction.
My idea for this game is to put violence in perspective. With everything that has been happening in the world right now, I think we could make people reflect a bit more on this issue, even if it’s through a silly game.
To put it simply, I want my game to be a series of challenges that present the player with stressful and/or annoying scenarios, from which they have to escape, by picking the correct solution without hurting the other characters or getting hurt by them.
Game type – a puzzle game where the player needs to find the correct solutions to solve each level and keep progressing. It would be like a simplified escape room. (Note: Add a clue to each level)
As I mentioned in the previous heading, there is a link to my class presentation that explains some of my ideas for the levels as well as their characters and the elements used to solve each level. However, I think it would be helpful to explain each stage a bit more in-depth.
Level 1
For the first level, the player will face an annoying situation. There will be a Karen complaining about something nonstop. The player will be inside a car (so they cannot simply run away), and there will be a bunch of actions/objects to use on Karen.
Clue – for this level will be a valentine’s day card.
Solution – giving a rose to Karen.
Twist – There isn’t one. This first stage is the easiest one and I want to make it very straightforward to give the user a very clear idea of what the goal of the game is.
Other options: Baseball bat, gun, driving the car, playing the radio, punching her(I removed this one). These are all wrong options that will lead to the player’s loss and a funny panel will pop up, telling the player what went wrong.
Level 2
For level 2, the difficulty will increase. And all of a sudden, the situation isn’t just annoying anymore, it’s dangerous.
There will be a criminal/thug threatening the player while they are completely cornered in a shady alley. The player won’t be able to walk very far (or they lose). Therefore, they will have to use the objects scattered around the floor to try to calm down the Thug.
Clue – There will be a logo of a band on the Thug’s clothes
Solution – Play the song on the radio.
Twist – instead of using this item on the Thug, the player will have to pick up the radio and figure out how to use it (so that it plays the song).
Other options – Burger, Wooden Plank, Trash Bag, Phone. These are all wrong options that will lead to the player’s loss and a funny panel will pop up, telling the player what went wrong.
Level 3
In level 3, there will be a considerable increase in difficulty. This time, the player will face a soldier pointing a gun at them, in a war-damaged city.
Clue – there will be a picture somewhere that will indirectly (or directly) tell the player what they have to do.
Solution – Hug the soldier (without lowering the arms too much…)
Twist – The player must keep their hands up all throughout this level, or they will die. They also can’t pick up any objects, but they will not know that… hehehe
Other options – Walk away, Try to pick up objects, Lower arms. These are all wrong options that will lead to the player’s loss and a funny panel will pop up, telling the player what went wrong.
Storyboard
This is also on the padlet page, posted above. But here is the general flow of the game and what happens at each stage.
Inspiration
Aesthetically, I got inspiration from the game Grand Theft Auto. I think there is also a bit of irony in picking a game that encourages pretty much just violence, as inspiration for a game that discourages it. However, I think that only makes the message stronger. By graphically communicating to the player that this is a similar game, they will be tempted to resort to violence. But they will quickly realise that this will not work.
I also looked into a game called “Toilet Chronicles”, which was shown to me by Herman. I found this game extremely funny, but what attracted me to it the most was its mechanic. It is an escape room kind of game, where the player has to gather multiple clues and solve various puzzles throughout many stages to solve all the challenges a finish the game.
There was something else that got my attention. In this game, when the player dies, a panel pops up, explaining the type of death and for each type, there is a funny little drawing of the cause that lead to the player’s demise. I think I will do something similar to this, as I reckon it gives some comedic relief to the gameplay.
Why VR?
I think this question is especially relevant considering my concept. I want the player to have to make the decisions from a first-person perspective. However, if it were to be played on a computer or console, the only way to interact with it, would be through joysticks and/or buttons. By making it a VR game, the player has to perform the actions physically and interact with the situation “first hand”. All of the responsibility of hurting other characters will feel much more present and real. Meaning the player will be able to choose to physically hurt another character “with their own hands” and see the physical consequences of their actions.
I think writing it down by hand (even though it’s a tablet) helps me remember and think about what I want to write. The pdf is a bit confusing but the main idea for the structure is this: Present the concern/issue; give examples of how it has happened or may happen; propose a solution; counterargument (because my goal is not to discourage VR but to help it evolve correctly).
Also, I was quite shocked when I found a study that basically summarised many of the things I wanted to address in my essay. This paper covers the psychological, cognitive and physical effects of VRTs on minors. I focused more on the psychocognitive effects that include circadian rhythm disruption; difficulty in distinguishing what is real and what isn’t; addiction and isolation. The physical effects may also be a good extra argument to make, but I don’t want to deviate too much from the actual theme since I only have 1500 words to write.
The study’s arguments are very balanced and take into account the need for more research into this field. However, it also supports its ideas based on previous experiences with other types of hardware and software, which is a valid approach since there is much yet to learn from VR itself.
Essay Entry 2 – Research and Writing
I have been trying to write my essay and it has turned out to be way more complicated than I previously imagined. I already have one paragraph that I wrote during class, and I think the way I connected the ideas makes sense. However, I am having trouble doing the same thing for the other 2 paragraphs/points I want to make.
The first one is regarding addiction and I don’t know how to start the paragraph… Do I talk about games? But then how do I move from that to VR and then addiction? It’s really complicated! Same thing with social media and VR. I feel like I start going on a tangent bout social media and end up not being able to connect it to my actual argument.
On top of that, I feel like I’ve gone through tens of papers and haven’t actually gotten anything out of them, since I can’t connect my ideas…
Update: I kind of had an epiphany at 4 am yesterday (or today…). But basically, I found a way to connect the arguments I want to make. I just had to write it down to make sure I don’t forget it… It might be a bit confusing but I’ll upload my notes anyway.
Essay Entry 3 – Writing and Paper Analysis
I am feeling much more confident about my essay right now. I already have a well-defined structure.
Note: I decided to change the connection I was going to make between Games, VR and addiction. Instead, I will compare VR to other gadgets, such as smartphones, as it is a broader argument and it makes more sense. Addiction to technology nowadays is visible in countless technologies, not just gaming. Also, the connection is much easier to make this way.
Structure:
Intro – do later
Argument 1 – As with many techs. nowadays, VR can too become a source of addiction for children due to their vulnerability (EXAMPLE); Consequences: addiction a disruption in sleep patterns, f.e. (EXAMPLE); Solution: Involve the parents and design (EXAMPLE); Counterargument: can still be used in moderation and for education(EXAMPLE).
Argument 2 – VR is becoming more realistic, making it hard for children to distinguish what is real and what isn’t (EXAMPLE); Consequences: confusion and improper responses to real-life situations (EXAMPLE); Solution: education and keeping adults nearby (EXAMPLE); Counterargument: such approaches have shown positive results in children, but it needs more research. Still can be good if done correctly (EXAMPLE).
Argument 3 – VR is now part of social media too. But it’s not properly regulated, therefore there are risks of sexual abuse and trauma caused by it. (EXAMPLE) Consequences: impact on physical and mental health, and trauma (EXAMPLE); Solution: create regulations and bring people responsible for the attacks to justice(EXAMPLE) Counterargument: If tackled correctly, it can enrich our social lives and change the way we collaborate (EXAMPLE).
Conclusion – do later
Papers and studies analysis:
I will not analyse in depth every single paper/website/article I used/ am using for this essay, but I will mention them all and explain the most relevant ones. Note: One of them was mentioned already in one of the posts.
Firstly, I had to find a credible source of information that gave me a standardised definition of what a child was. For this, I used the definition established by the UN website. Very straightforward.
To establish the link between technology and addiction, I used a paper published in 2018 that looked into the use of mobile technologies across different generations and the consequences it may have on their physical and psychological well-being. It stated that Younger generations (Y) are more prone to develop addiction and psychological effects of overuse. To accomplish this, it conducted a study with multiple individuals of different ages and genders.
To illustrate one of the consequences of addiction, I compared the lack of natural sunlight in HMD to the same phenomenon in casinos and how it affected their circadian rhythms. I’m using a study that looked at this tendency, and the ways this has changed by actually finding proof that daylight is a better way to keep gamblers engaged. This only further demonstrates the truth in my argument. Natural light is crucial for human beings and it helps us maintain a healthy circadian rhythm.
The next paper analysis technology addiction and children and strongly recommends involving parents and education in setting boundaries and encouraging educational approaches to deal with these kinds of problems. I used this study as one of the examples I suggested as a solution for the first paragraph. Although the study seems a bit biased, it still presents some solid arguments and logic that needs to be considered in today’s world.
This journal tackled several problems to do with VRTs and backed them with data acquired from ethical experimentation and other papers as well. It was overall very useful to reflect on my ideas and further develop my argument. However, I’m only using its content in my essay to exemplify one of the solutions for addiction in VR environments.
The following journal analysis the use of educational games to improve and enrich the educational experience for students. I’m using it to counterargue my point about addiction, to say that it isn’t all negative and that it can actually have very positive results, as this study has found.
For my second argument regarding the confusion between reality and VR, I’m using an experiment example illustrated in this study. It illustrates how a real-life situation simulated in VR can have damaging effects on a child’s perception and response to danger. And even though it’s from 2006, it has been cited in multiple recent studies and is still used as a credible source of information.
I used this paper as a way to counterargument my point regarding the lost sense of reality in children caused by VR. It illustrates the benefits it may have for children with ASD as well as helping them learn pedestrian skills. To accomplish this, the researchers went through many trials with participants to better understand the benefits and how their research can be taken further.
This newspaper article was very useful to illustrate the type of situation a child can encounter themselves in. Factual and straightforward, it gave the exact type of risk I had previously familiarised myself with. And despite people thinking that news outlets are biased and spread misinformation, we are looking at a situation that doesn’t rely on biases. It uses investigation and proof to show the public what we have to look out for.
I used this website to illustrate the consequences of sexual abuse in children. It is a national reliable source that pointed out very clearly, the effects these terrible acts can have on their physical and psychological development.
I briefly mention the Oculus/Meta company in my essay. I merely intended to expose their statement that their VR technologies are intended for people 13 years of age and older. Which in this case, works against them.
This last study examines social multi-user experiences in VR and looks at various ways that make virtual interaction a reality, as well as demonstrations and experiments that demonstrate its performance and the respective results, which require improvement. They list the benefits of such implementation, backing them up with data and experiments conducted by the authors.
Update: I have finally finished my first draft of this essay. I feel like there is a lot of stuff I can still perfect but I’ll be doing that slowly in the next coming weeks. Right now I think it’d be wise to get some feedback.
Essay Entry 4 – Writing and Strategies
Today I spent a few hours perfecting my essay, by reviewing everything and putting it in Harvard reference style. I found a few websites that were extremely useful! I will share them here, in case anyone wants to use them.
“Cite this for me” and “bibguru” are websites that automatically create the Harvard-style bibliography by inserting DOIs and links (or manually).
“Cite them right” is very useful to make sure the citations are correct and make small changes in case the previously mentioned websites omit information. Same thing with “bcu”.
Finally, “check plagiarism” sounds quite obvious. It gives the user the percentage of plagiarised content. It might not be completely accurate but it gave me a somewhat close number to what Turnitin will give me (hopefully…).
https:// instatext.io –> the link wasn’t working so I had to add a space in between.
Since I couldn’t add titles to the paragraphs in my final version, I will upload it here. Same thing for the Harvard referencing style. I couldn’t add the page numbers due to the current Harvard referencing guidelines. But I will add them to this version. Note: Some sources do not have pages, therefore I couldn’t add them.
Week 1 – Immersive Technology, Computer Vision and Intelligence
This first week focused on analysing various aspects and fields where VR has been advancing and the social and practical impact these types of software have had on society.
However, we also looked into the risks that arise as technology moves forward. Some examples we discussed in class included technology as a means to fight or deepen biases. Furthermore, we even tackled challenges in regard to the humanization of technology by analysing one of the most significant failed socio-technological experiments from Microsoft, Tay.
I think VR technology still needs to evolve considerably before we witness those potential scenarios. But this does not mean we shouldn’t be thinking about them. On the contrary! It’s now that we should conduct more research so that we avoid problems that have been tackled before in the tech industry.
It was a very interesting discussion and it really inspired me to think more about the theme I want to research for my essay this year. My plan is to address VR in education, once again. Only this time, my goal is to focus on the risks VR might have on the minds of developing children and how we should adapt it so that it becomes an ally to the upbringing and education of children, rather than an obstacle, to summarize it very briefly.
Week 2 – Theories and Aesthetics of Storytelling in VR I
This week we analysed the use of colour, props and shapes in storytelling. It reminded me a lot of my animation classes, two years ago. Most people don’t know or don’t realise the importance of such visual theories. It’s very easy to overlook such small details and even think they were just “randomly” chosen. But the truth is that movies wouldn’t feel the same without artists designing such important details in visual storytelling.
I think what felt most frustrating about this is that we don’t really learn any of this in this course, practically I mean. I think this would be great knowledge to use in the game we’re developing and the VR documentary as well. It is true that some of us might take VR to a less “artsy” path but I still think that these types of visual rules and strategies are very important. Especially in VR, which relies mostly on the visual sense.
And there is another element that I think is really important to mention. Camera angles and transitions are amazing ways to create the flow or feeling of a scene. Filming over the shoulder, point of you and close-up are some examples of such angles used in countless movies. I think this element is even more overlooked than the rest since it isn’t physical but instead requires the viewer to be visually aware of they are positioned in the movie, relative to the characters. I reckon this would be a great addition to this lesson!
Note: I used images from the TV show arcane on purpose. It is one of the best if not the best show I have ever seen. It’s not just the plot. Visually, the show is incredible and even people who wouldn’t normally point out such details, are completely flabbergasted at how visually stunning the shots are. (Highly recommend it as s show and also from an artistic perspective).
Arcane shots that illustrate amazing use of colour, props and camera angleCamera angles and use of shape to convey superiority
Homework – Week 2
For this week’s assignment, I chose to interpret/analyse a 360 comic book experience I found quite fascinating, in VR.
To summarize it very quickly the main premise is a boy that meets a girl that can stop time around her and him for a couple of minutes, so that they can play around all they want without being disturbed by anyone, eventually developing romantic feelings for each other. Sadly, meddling with time eventually takes a toll on her and she ends up getting into a comma and passes away. As I see it, this story is an interpretation of some kind of disease and the time-stopping works as a metaphor for the glorious time they spent together which almost felt like it was just them and the world around them didn’t exist.
Anyway, I feel like there were two main factors that influenced the way this story impacted the reader. The first one is the soundtrack and the other one is the reader’s physical presence in the story.
Firstly, the soundtrack is probably the most relevant factor throughout the whole experience. Normally, comic books do not have sound or music, so this added a new layer to the type of experience readers usually get while reading comics. It felt a lot like watching a dramatic tv show due to the extreme emotional charge that came with hearing music and watching the story develop at the same time. However, it still felt like a comic book, only with a whole other level of immersion.
The other element I want to mention is the reader’s physical presence in the story. Some of the scenes turn the reader to the main character, making them adopt the main character’s perspective. As a consequence the reader ends up developing an up close one-to-one relationship with the other character, adding to all the current interactions we have in either films or books. This makes everything more tragic since it feels like we become part of the narrative, and even though we personally came to know this character first-hand, the ending was inevitable, and therefore even sadder.
There were also other interesting elements such as playing with the colour palette to bring the focus to the main characters or the floating particles of light that turned a few scenes into somewhat of a fantasy tale. Also, the use of completely black screens to mark time jumps. And white ones that add an emotional, almost angelical feeling to the final scenes, which obviously makes the reader sad, yet somehow at peace. The fact this all happens in a 360 experience makes it even more touching and immersive.
Week 3 – Theories and Aesthetics of Storytelling in VR II
Today we addressed once again techniques for storytelling and the effects of shape and colour and how these change our perspectives in media and cinematography.
We also analysed how those perspectives have changed throughout the years, depending on the generation, available technology and cultural ideas. We mainly discussed this phenomenon in regard to society’s ever-changing definition and aesthetic view of the future, or futurism.
It’s interesting to see how our own perceptions of the future have changed over the years and how we subconsciously get those ideas from movies, tv shows and the media in general. We looked at various pictures of how the future looked like to past eras and generations, and I found it quite funny. Those ideas of new and futuristic felt old to me. The irony of a past idea of the future that feels antiquated is extremely amusing. This is not to say that our current aesthetic prediction of the future is more correct, but instead to say that those views always reflect our current reality and ideas. In the end, we can never predict the future accurately because it’s always changing based on everything that’s evolving around us.
What the future would look like in the 1960s vs now
Homework
This week’s homework is extremely relevant to the overall outcome of this unit. The task is to finally pick a question for this year’s essay.
In the beginning, I wanted to somehow focus my question on the education of young children and address the effects of VR on young children. However, it feels a bit similar to what I did last year with a small shift in perspective and age group. Therefore, I think it would be more interesting and useful to analyse the overall effects of VR on children since this action already constitutes a form of implementing educational practices and helping with youth development.
At first, I considered analysing all possible effects, such as social, phycological and physical. But since we are restricted by a limited word count, I will limit these effects to only physiological ones. Even then, these psychological consequences will always somehow affect the rest, so in a way, I will be analysing everything, still.
Another problem I had, was how to define the age group I wanted to analyse, based on a coherent idea of what a young child would be, as in a pre-teen minor. However, I feel like those definitions can vary slightly from website to website or from country to country. My original idea was for 6 to 12-year-olds since it’s the age children enter school and right before puberty. Despite that, there are too many different definitions of when that period starts, so I had to pick a relevant source and go with that definition, for the sake of arguing. As a result, I went with the definition stated by the United Nations “The United Nations, for statistical purposes, defines ‘youth’, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, without prejudice to other definitions by Member States. This definition was made during preparations for the International Youth Year (1985) and endorsed by the General Assembly (see A/36/215 and resolution 36/28, 1981). All United Nations statistics on youth are based on this definition, as illustrated by the annual yearbooks of statistics published by the United Nations system on demography, education, employment and health.
By that definition, therefore, children are those persons under the age of 14. It is, however, worth noting that Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines ‘children’ as persons up to the age of 18.” (https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/what-we-do/faq.html).
As a result, my essay question/theme will be “The psychological effects of VR on children’s (education and) development” (Assuming a maximum age of 14 years). I think education should stay in brackets since I don’t want to theme to only focus on something that hasn’t happened yet. I would have to make a lot of assumptions about how VR would be applied in education, so I’d rather talk about the effects on children’s development in general, as that implies tackling education as well.
“The effects of VR on children’s psychological development”
Week 4 – VR Theories and Aesthetics
During today’s class, we analysed simulacra, simulation, simulacrum and hyperrealism.
I had never heard of the concepts of simulacra and simulacrum. At first, I didn’t quite get it but as we started looking at examples, it became more clear.
However, what drew my attention the most was the last slide. The new Quest Pro is the first commercial VR headset to mix both simulacra and simulation. Of course, there have been other situations where this happened. Augmented reality allowed this to happen ever since it was created. I remember seeing it on the ps vita or pokemon go but had never thought about it this way.
And nowadays, for the first time, we have a medium that allows for a combination of all these elements, Virtual Reality. This could be a really interesting topic to develop further next year…
Week 6 – Games as Cheating Lesson
This week’s session was about human-computer interaction and how we perceive and trust AI. Also, the way it has shaped our perception of the world and ideas we take for granted nowadays, such as online maps, locations, and the way we remember stereotypical images of humans, animals, etc. We also addressed how to distinguish computers from humans using the imitation game and also game theory.
Overall, it was a very interesting session. We did this thing where we drew images of a person, a horse and a lizard, and even though there were different skills in drawing abilities, the poses in which we drew them were actually quite similar. This was definitely a way to show how we have acquired these very standardised ideas without even being aware of them.
I think we talked about so many topics today, that it becomes kind of difficult to summarise them a establish one opinion about everything. However, I can say that computers have fundamentally changed the way we live and perceive our world and have been continuously closing the gap between humans and AI. The ways it’s influencing us will only continue growing and might eventually become an inherent trait of human beings, by incorporating technology into our own species. I feel like I am deviating a lot here, but there are too many aspects of our lives that involve technology and AI. and the ways it shapes our views and interacts with us are too broad to summarise in one paragraph.
Also, regarding VR and Meta, I think it is still early to think about how it affects our perception of the world. Most people don’t even understand it… But as the headsets evolve and hopefully the software gains better graphics and has more applications in real life, it will add to the way we experience reality. This could be through the metaverse or even other smaller things such as education or shopping, for example. But I will not be discussing examples, otherwise, this post will be huge.
However, I think I find the idea of the Turing test very interesting and would like to explore it further, maybe next year. I want to connect it with an idea that has been intriguing me, mind uploading in VR. Like in the episode San Junipero from Black Mirror.
Week 7 – Politics of Immersive and the Mediated Reality
Today, we looked into how we perceive the world. Be it with a realistic approach in mind, meaning that reality is detached from our perceptions and memories, and has its own objective truth. Or a more constructive approach, which states that reality is a combination of our perceptions, memories and views of the world.
However, I don’t think we should compare these ideas. When talking about my existence, I always associate the ideas I have with experiences I have had in the past. The reality from a human’s perspective is that. We don’t come to this world with a predefined idea of what surrounds us. We build it gradually and learn from reality by creating our own ideas of it. On the other hand, this is not to say that reality doesn’t have an objective truth to it, we don’t know. There is much that we probably can’t perceive nor explain about reality because our senses constantly lie to us or aren’t capable of grasping all reality entails. Therefore, in my opinion, we should not compare both views because we are only human and our perceptions will always be based on memories and constructions of reality that depend on our senses and brain connections. But this construction can also be part of the realistic approach. Who’s to say that the way we experience reality isn’t realistic? It is to us… But it still relies on constructivism.
We also analysed hyperreality in VR and how it has been used by people to escape the real world or look for different types of interactions.
I think to some point it has been successful and helped a minority of people deal with life by somehow living a hyperreal version of it. However, I think the metaverse Meta wants to create is years ahead of its time. We currently don’t have the technology that allows for the type of immersion people would need to simulate a reality where we could stay for hours. I think we are getting there but the current equivalent of that is the analogy we used for game graphics and how when we look back everything looks blocky and low resolution. The only difference is that most people don’t feel that the metaverse is good now or that it will ever be. In my opinion, we will eventually get there because it’s human nature to want to create life. It’s just a matter of when.
Week 8 – Mimesis
Today was a very interesting session! I think at the end we were talking about nihilism and existential paradoxes and ideas. But the main idea of this session was mimesis or imitation. The main goal was to say that human beings constantly try to represent reality artificially and that we are making it more realistic, to the point where we think we will eventually create a reality so real, it will be impossible to know it’s not real. As a result, we have questioned ourselves “Is this reality real or a simulation?”.
Again, at least for me, I don’t think it’s a relevant question. Even if it is a simulation, it doesn’t change anything. And I know that as human beings we will continue to look for this answer and I think in the long term, this pursuit is good. But since I’m not a scientist and I’m 99.9% sure we won’t get an answer to this before I die, It’s completely irrelevant to me. In the long term, if humanity survives and acquires all knowledge in the universe (if possible), then good for them. That’s why I used the analogy for the existence of God during class. I’m agnostic because I believe I won’t find an answer to whether go is real or not, so it’s irrelevant to look for one.
I feel like I deviated a bit from the actual conversation. But I do believe we will eventually create a reality so real, we won’t be able to tell it’s fake (would it be fake?). It might take years before it happens but I think it’s the natural progression of our existence.
Note: It’s kind of funny to me how many of the things we talk about during these sessions, remind me of high school and the subjects I studied. It feels nostalgic…
Week 9 – Immersive Visual Music/Sound
This week we talked about the evolution of sound and music throughout the decades. As well as the transition to abstraction in sound and art.
I found it really interesting since I haven’t really learned a lot about the history of sound in the past. Just like in other types of history, sound also reflects the era it was created and it explains why things turned out the way they did.
It was really cool that we got to watch and experience so many videos and sound interpretations. I had never really given it much thought, but I think this session, at least for me, was a way to broaden my horizons when it comes to sound in immersive media and how it can create such profound experiences. This actually makes a lot of sense when looking at cinema and how sound influences the way we perceive a scene. But I think today we went a step further and looked at sound as a main focus for storytelling.
Week 10 – 360 Gaze
Today, we talked about immersion and the viewer’s perspective throughout history and in different mediums, such as paintings, games, theatre, social media, etc.
I think it’s very interesting to analyse the way immersion has been recreated throughout the decades. However, nowadays, we are witnessing a fusion of all that’s been done before, together with the new technologies that are being created and might change our current paradigm of immersion, for example, VR. Everything nowadays is so overwhelming because there is an almost never-ending amount of information, that we often overlook the many ways we immersive ourselves, be it through technology or art.
I also feel like today’s session was very focused on our essays, which was actually very helpful and served to clarify some things about the proposal. I have never written one before and I’m still a bit confused as to what I should write but I think it’ll be fine.
Homework
Sitting on my office chair, melancholically writing another repetitive script filled with meaningless idiosyncrasies. Everything is repetitive, and everyone goes about their lives blinded by lies and a promise of purpose.
I am tired.
I hurriedly put on my jacket, grab my cane and run away from this meaningless urban nightmare. I run to the train station and buy tickets to an unknown destination.
As soon as I get there, I see a tremendously huge mountain. So high, its peak is completely covered by an immense layer of clouds.
I climb it, only to find myself contemplating life. It is then and there that I see myself as if looking at a mirror, and in the midst of cloudy pinnacles, for the very first time, I feel that I simply exist in this exalted scenery of relentless peace. I am my truest self.
Creating the rig for the character was a very smooth step. I simply followed everything that was shown in class, and it’s looking great!
Weight painting was A little bit more complicated at first. Every time I finished a section, I locked it. In doing this I didn’t know that by the time I got to the final element if every layer was locked, it would start deforming the mesh. Fortunately, I was able to figure this out and it all worked out fine.
Update – Gun Position
I was trying to figure out how I would create the gravity effect on the weapon, attached to the character’s shoulder. After giving it much thought, I thought It would be better to just change its position so that I don’t have to be worried about trying to make it believable.
I reckon this is a wise decision. Instead of trying to make it more complicated by adding effects, this simple rotation should solve this problem.
Update – Rig Issue
Unfortunately, I have tried everything but the rig doesn’t seem to work when I set the animated rig as a source. For some reason, The legs become all distorted and deformed. I have tried reassembling the dots from the mesh individually, redone the rig and weight painting, and nothing.
And Kelvin couldn’t tell me what was wrong because this is most likely a problem to do with the software or the mesh. He doesn’t know… I don’t know… This is giving me a huge headache!
Update – I am so dumb sometimes…
I swear to God… Why me? So basically, I am so dumb that I position the character’s hands in the wrong position. According to the T position, the hands should be facing down. As a result, when I try to apply some sort of animation to my wolf, it assumes the hands are in the position they should be and distorts the wrists.
I thought a lot about this. I tried rotating the hands but couldn’t because the mesh was already done, so my decision was to remove the hands and give him some gloves. I am not happy about this but I think it’s the best solution I have for this issue. Therefore, I created a pair of green gloves to match with the helmet.
I am not happy about this but I think it’s the best solution I have for this issue. Even though it’s not ideal, the result isn’t bad at all, still not my goal. Oh well…
MoCap Alternative
I have been thinking about it and even messaged Kelvin regarding this decision. I think it is better to use Mixamo instead of trying to find mocap animations since I have been having so many rig issues. Fortunately, someone broke the mocap suit and I’m allowed to do this otherwise, I’d be doomed.
I tried using Mixamo and it looks so good! I even recorded a video of the wolf smashing expectations XD. This was fun.
Update – Lowering mesh definition
I didn’t know about this but apparently, there is a very easy way to lower the mesh definition. This solved the problem I had with the flower. Thanks to this, now the flower mesh is much smaller and I can finally combine it with the weapon without having to wait for it to process the action for seconds. Thanks, Kelvin!
Mixamo Animation Demo in Blender
Even though the tail gets a little distorted, it works! And this would be an issue anyway, even if I had gone with the rig option. I’d probably have to animate the tail, otherwise. this actually gives it some bounce and it somewhat feels natural.
Overall, this experiment was very successful!
Animation Sequence Sketch
I used Procreate to sketch out the general idea for the wolf’s movement. The idea is to have him relaxed at first, then straddled, ready to act and finally celebrate this holiday’s victory. My goal is not to express violence, as this holiday’s core celebrates the peaceful nature in which the revolution was conducted. Therefore, I want this character to be mild at first but also show he is ready to fight if necessary (so not weak). This is pretty ironic at the same time because this character is supposed to represent a ferocious species of wolf, which in this case is a metaphor for the strength of the Portuguese people that was used peacefully rather than physically.
It’s also important to note that I had to check what was available on Mixamo first since the library is pretty limited. However, I reckon I found some pretty good shots to use in the final animation. They are already selected on a list I created during class.
Combining Animations in Maya – Try
There really isn’t much to say here, since I found out that I have no idea how to blend each action smoothly and other arent many tutorials for this software. I also had the issue that I couldn’t move the character if it was walking, for some reason.
But to cut this short, I’m switching back to blender, since I have found multiple tutorials on how to tackle this problem, there.
Combining Animations in Blender
This was a much smoother process. Every step was so clear and easy to follow that I seriously question Maya sometimes XD. Anyway, I followed a great YouTube tutorial that I will post below and that will save me the time of explaining what I had to do.
The results are very promising! The ease in and out tools are so useful and have made the transitions almost perfect.
Update – Animation
Now that the actions are combined the next step is to set the scene. So adding lights, the camera, a background, etc.
I am so excited! The hardest part is complete now it’s adding small details and this will be ready in a couple of days!
Background
I don’t want to lose my time focusing on elements that are not extremely relevant right now. So I downloaded two images from a free stock website and will use them as background. I think they kind of resemble Portuguese traditional buildings, despite some details that make them look medieval. But they are useful nonetheless.
19th century town street with european buildings and lake promenade. Vector cartoon illustration of city landscape with old vintage architecture. Retro cityscape on river shoreBridge over rivet and promenade in old european town. Vector cartoon cityscape with old lake quay, empty seafront with retro architecture, autumn trees and pier
Update – Background
I used the images as they were but soon found out that they blend with the wolf’s colours too much and make the viewer lose focus on the character’s movements. So to summarise, I changed the hue and colour values in photoshop to create the contrast between oranges and their opposite colour, blue. Same thing for the ground.
Extra 3D models + Easter egg ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
At some point in the animation, the wolf climbs something. In this case, I decided to make it a building. I quickly modeled it using Maya and imported it into blender. I also used a building model from sketchfab for the structure next to the one I created just because I thought it would add more realism and detail to the scene.
Again, I made them both able for the reasons mentioned above.
The Easter egg is a play on the tradition of the dictator’s portrait. It is very common for dictators to make people hang portraits of them on the walls as a sign of submission and blind loyalty to the leader. Salazar, the main dictator responsible for the country’s misery and regime, was no exception to this rule.
If you look closely at the obstacle the wolf is jumping over, it is a broken frame with a picture of Salazar. This was meant as a sign of overthrowing the regime and leaving behind irrelevant ideas.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Camera and lights
These were both fairly quick steps. For the light, I just added a sun and used a medium intensity yellowish light to make it look cartoony yet still visible and clear. I don’t want to make the lighting too complicated by mixing colours and creating effects. It’s just a simple animation and again, I want to make everything clear and visible.
As for the camera, I just changed the positions and rotations, added a few frames and voila, done.
Rendering
I have to say this. Blender has the smoothest and most well-designed rendering process of all the 3D software I have used. I was able to export it as a video directly instead of an image sequence. I can also change different settings such as the format and the resolution. And the best thing of all is that it only took a few minutes to make a medium resolution (which is already pretty good), soI was able to render the whole thing a couple of times until I got something I was happy with.
I am still planning on doing a high-resolution one but that might take longer since I applied a subdivision modifier to make the character mesh smoother.
But I am happy to say this was the last step and my animation is finally ready! I thought I could add some sound effects but I think this is more than enough and honestly, I am tired.
Sound
For the audio effects, I went with something very simple. Some crowd sound effects I got from Youtube and for the walking part and when the wolf stretches its arms, I created a quick recording of my hands tapping and my fingers cracking on my phone. But what I think made a big difference here, was “Grândola, Vila Morena”. This song was played on the morning of this holiday to give the official signal to the population and the military forces that it was time to strike. It remains one of the most iconic Portuguese musical pieces due to its historic relevance.
I think it works pretty well with the moment the wolf gets startled and then immediately gets prepared for action, just like the Portuguese people, 48 years ago.
During the first 3D modeling class, we worked with Maya to create our characters. However, I quickly realised I didn’t enjoy the process that much and that I could get more detail from sculpting as if it were clay. As a result, I’ve decided to start working with blender instead since most tutorials for this sculpting approach are for this free software.
1st try in Maya
Blender progress
Sculpting in blender is a fairly simple process. For each section of the body and limbs, I add a new sphere, smooth it out and merge it with the previous elements. The details are very easy to create since the tools allow me to create pretty much any effect I want. My only concern here is that the file is turning out to be quite heavy. Maybe I will have to lower the definition. But for now, I am pretty happy with the results.
Sculpting is Bender – Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed this process more than my initial approach with Maya. It felt more like digital clay as if I was sculpting in real life. Of course, there are pros and cons. Blender feels more natural and allows for more details, but the file will always be bigger and I will have to do quad drawing. Maya, on the other hand, allows for smaller, more simplified shapes that are easier to manipulate inside the software. It also does not require quad drawing.
The only concern I have right now is that this file is huge. 2Gb of data I have to import into Maya somehow…
Update – Class
I was finally able to export the blender file to Maya. In the beginning, it would simply crash and close the software, but I went back to blender and lowered the voxel size. It finally worked! I was starting to worry I would not be able to import my model… I did not know what to do at this point. But it’s done.
Also, when I reduced the voxel size, The mesh between the fingers of the wolf became all weird and deformed. However, I think I can correct this later on with quad drawing.
Quad drawing – Maya
This is hands down the worst step of this process XD. I have been quad drawing for 3 hours now, and I am not even halfway done. This is taking way longer than it should. Since the file is so big, Maya is taking a while to process when I create quads. It is taking so long!! But despite this, I don’t think this is a complicated step. In fact, it is quite easy if you don’t have a file that keeps loading every time you draw one point.
The hand is looking terrible… I can’t get it to look good and the centre of the paw will probably give me some issues later on so I’ll have to redo it. I have the same problem with the foot. I think the best thing to do now is to take a break and watch some tutorials and hopefully, that will help me fix this.
Quad – Update
The hands and feet were a big challenge! Mostly because they had so many details that were round and would extrude from the main object. But I was able to do it anyway. It has been almost 10 hours and I am SO TIRED. I swear if quad drawing were a person, I would beat them up… But I am finally done!
I had to give up some details, such as the fur from the neck, otherwise, I’d be here for another 10 hours and I do not think that is necessary at this point. Also, the cushion on the wolf’s paw is more subtle because I couldn’t get it to be round and respect the coherent quad mesh at the same time. But I was finally able to correct the issue with the hand mesh, I just had to ignore the deformations and force the quads underneath them.
UV
For some reason, every step wants to haunt me. I have been trying to UV unwrap my model but it does not want to cooperate. Every time I unwrap the torso, some parts get deformed and I don’t know how to fix it. I have tried creating new wolf models by mirroring the mesh from the quad drawings, hoping it would fix it. Sadly no. And now I have 3 copies of the same wolf for nothing.
And one of the UVs is completely destroyed, again, for some reason :’).
None of them worked¯\_(ツ)_/¯
UV – Update
Today during class, Kelvin helped me figure out some tricks I could use to fix the UV problem. Changing the way I cut it helped a lot and some of the tools allowed me to unfold any bits that were folding underneath the UV mesh.
Also, I didn’t know the separate parts didn’t have to be symmetrical and all look the same. It would be helpful if they did, but I’m relieved that is not a problem.
UV – Update 2 – Markings
I decided it would be better if I marked the places where I wanted my character to be painted since the UV scale is incorrect. I discovered there is a tool called 3D paint tool, and I used it to define the areas that would be painted and what colours. I feel like this was a smart and helpful decision to save me time when I export it to photoshop to colour the parts.
Note: I almost forgot to mention that I added spheres for the eyes and those were also UV unwrapped, which was pretty easy.
Colouring
For the colour and texture, my goal for this character is to make it as simple as possible. I want everything to be very visibly clear and readable, so no textures. And I also plan to use the same colours like the ones I chose for my initial drawing. Meaning natural tones of brown with more saturation to make the character pop.
Update – I exported the UV images and finished them in photoshop. It was actually the most relaxing step of this project up until now. I re-exported and corrected the coloured file a few times before having something I was happy with, but I think this is it.
I am so happy right now! It finally feels like things are falling into place and I can see what my character will look like in the end.
Note: I did the same thing for the eyes, but since I don’t have photoshop installed on this laptop, I used a free version on the internet, and that worked out perfectly.
Accessories – Helmet and Gun
The first two accessories were a piece of cake. For the helmet, half a sphere with a few more divisions and some extrusions. For the gun, a cube and a cylinder extruded in a few directions, and voila.
For the colours, I went with the same ones as I used for the drawing, without any type of variation. Just an opaque base colour that still allows for readable props.
Accessories – Flower
The flower was a little more complicated and I did not know how to approach it. My goal was to create something more organic so I felt that I could go back to blender for this last element. I found a really good YouTube tutorial on how to do flowers and It was a huge help. I used tools that I had no idea existed but turned out to be a great asset to consider in future models.
To summarise, this process consists of creating planes for the petals/leaves and subdividing them in order to bend the shape. Afterwards, there are a couple of tools to navigate in order to get the wrinkled effect. I could explain it it’s literally in the video. For the flower’s stem, I used a spare and sculpted it into my desired shape.
Again, I will probably encounter the same issue as I did with the wolf. This model is a bit heavy, but not as bad as the previous one. I will probably end up using quad drawing for this one, again :,).
After exporting it to Maya, I went with solid colours for this model as well. I think it looks pretty good!
