Opportunity to showcase yourself , learn new skills and network, while winning awards and having fun. This could also help you find future employment after you finish the course and will be counted towards you placement year:

https://www.bfxfestival.com/competition/

We had a Skype call in class to discuss the possibility of participating in the competition or at least trying to apply. This would count towards placement year and would help you to learn new things and to meet and network with new people creating channels for communication for years to come. In the process you will also win awards and make a name for yourself and this will help you sell yourself to companies and it can also get you job offers. It is all expenses paid 7 week program over the summer holiday and accommodation is provided. The process helps better prepare yourself and organise your work and can work with a group of friends of your choosing and helps you develop some skills for placement year and also makes you more desirable as you will have it on your CV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Instructions:

We ask teams of 5 people to submit an application form and showreels (unlike previous years, an animatic or treatment is not required at this stage). The teams with the strongest set of skills and showreels are then shortlisted and 8 final teams chosen to take part in the competition. Each team is given a charity brief selected for them by the BFX team. They will then have approx. 2 months to create storyboards, animatics and character designs for the charity. The charity review the treatment and provide further feedback before the residential competition starts in July.

As a team of five people, you will be tasked with creating a stunning 2D or 3D visual effects or animation sequence for 4 charities that is based on one of 8 supplied screenplays. The 7-week residential competition is based in Bournemouth over the summer from July to August (all accommodation is free and the team members are given a stipend to help with their cost of living expenses). In 2017 and 2018, teams were mentored and judged by experts from Framestore, Double Negative, MPC, Animal Logic, Hibbert Ralph Animation, ILM London, ToonBoom, Outpost VFX, Jellyfish Pictures and Blue Zoo.

 

How to apply:

 

Competition Guidebook

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Contents

 

1. Key dates 2019

 

2. The basics

 

3. How to apply

 

a. Form a team

 

b. Organize your team

 

c. Compile your supporting information (Individuals)

 

d.  Read the Terms & Conditions

 

e. Submit your application online

 

4. F.A.Q

 

5. What happens next?

 

 

1. Key dates 2019

 

 

Applications open                  7th January 2019

 

Applications close                  25th February 2019

 

Team selection                       28th February 2019

 

Script Draw                             5th March 2019

 

Storyboard, animatic,            28th May 2019

environment and

character design

1st draft deadline                  

 

Competition                           Monday 8th July – Friday 23rd August 2019

 

Awards/prize giving                Thursday 3rd October 2019 (subject to change)

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2. The basics

 

The BFX Competition is FREE to enter and all teams will be hosted at Bournemouth University (BU).

Participates will be provided with accommodation and given a stipend for living expenses. Participants must be 18 years or over at the time of application and be available for the full

competition period.

 

Teams will live on campus at BU free of charge for seven weeks, during this period they will have access to the facilities of the NCCA including studios, workstations/software platforms, cameras and lights.  In 2018 teams were mentored and judged by experts from Double Negative, MPC, ILM, Aardman, Hibbert Ralph Animation, Outpost VFX, Jellyfish Pictures and Blue Zoo, both in person and over the Internet.  Teams will also have the support of academic staff and technicians.

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3. How to apply

a.  Form a team

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You need to be a team of 5 containing a balance of artists, technical directors and/or programmers.  In addition to this your team must have someone willing to take on the role of team leader in addition to their creative/ technical duties.  To be eligible to apply to enter the Competition, you must be over 18 years old.

 

You must be a team of students (postgraduates and/or undergraduates) at a Higher

Education Institution (University or Art College) studying in the UK.  Team members do not need to be studying or have studied at the same University/College.  Students studying at

Universities from overseas may be invited to compete this year as well.

BFX Teams shall be made up as follows:

•    In a team of 5 at least 3 members must be currently undertaking graduate or postgraduate studies at a UK University or Arts Institute.

•    The remaining team members may either have graduated from a UK University, Arts Institute or College of Further Education within the last two years or be studying at a College of Further Education or be any combination.

Please note, if you are a graduate you need to have had no more than 8 months’ full time relevant work experience within the last three years and not be currently employed in the VFX, Animation or games/interactive entertainment industries. Internships or placements undertaken during study will not be construed as “relevant work experience”.

•    In a team of 5 students you can only have 2 previous BFX Competitors.

If you are looking for another member of the team, then use our Facebook group page to meet potential partners  https://www.facebook.com/groups/bfxcompetition/

b.  Organize your team

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•    Choose a team name

•    Assign everyone a role

•    Decide who will be your Team Leader

 

Team leaders will be responsible for gathering all the information from individual team members, submitting the application and will be the main point of contact during the application process.

 

c.  Compile your Supporting Information: Individuals

 

In addition to your team application each group member will also need to submit the following information:

•    Showreel

A URL (to Vimeo or YouTube) of your personal portfolio/ showreel illustrating the skills which you’ll be demonstrating during the competition.

•    Team statement

Please submit a short paragraph outlining what the team will gain from being in the competition.

d.  Read the Terms & Conditions

These can be found online at http://www.bfxfestival.com/competition/competition-terms-conditions/

e.  Submit your Application

When you have all your supporting material available, download the electronic application at www.bfxfestival.com/competition. Complete all fields and submit no later than 12 noon (GMT) 25th February 2019 by going to http://www.bfxfestival.com/competition/apply-now/

4) F.A.Q

If you have any questions about the application process or taking part in BFX, please check the Frequently Asked Questions section on the BFX website.  If you don’t find your answer you can contact a member of the team at competition@bfxfestival.com

5) What happens next?

•    Submission confirmation

On submission of the application, the team leader will receive an email confirming receipt of the application.  Should this not arrive within 3 hours, please check your Spam filter.  Failing that, please contact competition@bfxfestival.com

•    Successfully Selected teams

Successfully selected teams will be contacted by telephone on Friday 1st March 2019.  Unsuccessful teams will also be notified via email.

•    Script draw

Each team will be randomly selected for 1 of the 8 scripts which will then become the teams brief for the competition on Tuesday 5th March 2019.

Copyright of the screenplays is owned by the named Bournemouth University Scriptwriting student and is to be used for BFX Competition 2019 purposes only.

•    Storyboards

Each team will be put in contact with Jerry Hibbert from Hibbert Ralph Animation on 6th March 2019.  Each team is to work with Jerry on creating a storyboard and animatic for your chosen script.  TBC

The BFX team will be available for any applicants looking for guidance or help regarding the storyboard and animatic.  Please contact competition@bfxfestival.com to book an appointment.

•    First draft deadline

First draft storyboards, animatics, environment and character designs to be sent to Tracey Ricketts (VFX Hub Project Coordinator):  tricketts@bournemouth.ac.uk by 12noon on Tuesday 28th May 2019. 

•    Feedback

Feedback from the charities will be emailed to each team on Friday 31st May 2019.  Changes must be made and ready for presenting during the competition on Wednesday 10th July 2019.

•    Competition starts

All teams to be at Bournemouth University ready to start the competition at 9am on Monday 8th July 2019.

 

GOOD LUCK

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The Group : 

Myself , Dom, Natasha , Neale and  Katie  plus another back up member to be decided in case someone drops out.

Group name:

Group Leader:

Email:

My Latest Showreel:

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

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The Project Week 1- 12 semester 2 Creative industry's:

Project Brief:

Final hand-in due Monday 6th May.
Presentations Week 5 & 11.

This project expands on the skills, processes, planning and research from the first semester and looks to add more professional practices to your workflow, communications and reflective outlook. 

This ‘placement-light’ assignment is intended to give an insight into a studios professional process from concept to development and final polish, with feedback/critiques helping to refine these different stages.  

Teams will be assigned to a studio which will act in a studio/client like relationship, where they set the brief.  This could be part of an existing IP or a completely new IP.  The student teams take this brief and idea, research, concept and develop over the semester based on the guidance of the studio.  
Student teams should co-ordinate with their studio representatives to arrange a weekly or fortnightly meet-up.
 

Presentations during the semester will help track the teams work in progress and personal development of each team member.  Presentations will occur on weeks 5 & 11, where week 11 is the final presentation, allowing time for feedback to be applied before final submission in May.

Note: Some studios might be working on IP (intellectual property) that is under an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement), if so you may need to keep your blog posts password projected or set to private and a password supplied on submission.  Ask your studio representatives for guidance on what can/cant be made public or if an NDA form is required to be signed.

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Hand-in Requirements: 

Teams will submit a final outcome. Individual submission will take our usual form of:

 

• Portfolio

This project should have it's own portfolio section on your personal blog. Portfolio should include final designs, models, animations etc. created by you during the project and annotated/credited accordingly  Also include the final team outcome.

• Blog

Your blog should capture your research, development, application of theory and importantly your reflection as you go through the process of developing a client lead project.  The project should have it's own section and be organised in a thoughtful way.  

• Team Assessment form

Team assessment is an integral part of individual and peer development and should be completed at the end of the project.

• Software files

Please include a Onedrive /Google Drive / dropbox link to your individual software files and final scenes.

 

• Sketchbook (optional)

Sketchbooks hold your thoughts, processes, sketches, discoveries and notes throughout the project. In a format that suits your creative process.  If submitting a sketchbook this must be done digitally -  Please photocopy and create a portfolio on your blog for this.

 

All elements contribute to final grade.

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The Company: Italic Pig

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The Group:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have worked with Neale Rafferty ( A self proclaimed dinosaur expert) in the floating city project last year and with Katie Catney in the final animated short of last year and the animated short on bravery of semester one of this year. I have also worked with Magdalenea Chervenyakova on the first project of 1st year with on the create a world project but have not worked on a 3d project together since that. This makes me excited to work with her again as i have seen her skills and work and i think it is awesome. Marc McAuley  I know from foundation art at Belfast Met and i know he has come to this course from Bournemouth and has some very good and diverse skills that will aid the group. I am yet to introduce myself to Joshua Atkinson but i hear he is very capable and is a very efficient modeller and avid user of Maya. 

Overall i think we have a good well rounded group and feel like we will be very capable of completing the tasks that we will be assigned by italic pig and i am certain we will learn new things working with games and begin to use and learn new software and workflows and tools of the industry. I know each of us have individual strengths and weaknesses which i feel like we will have to explore and develop and specialise in our own areas while trying to come out off our comfort zone and try new things and learn new software and techniques to become more effective.

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Company Research:

Who are the Company ?

Italic pig is an indie games development company based in in Hollywood. "Italic Pig is a cheerful Northern Irish studio comprised of clever, talented and hilarious people. We create sarcastically epic, narrative-driven adventures for all ages, and occasionally win awards."

"From the sheer variety of projects we work on, to the quirkiness of our team, to the benefits that we offer, we like to think that Italic Pig stands out among the crowd. You won’t find 100-hour workweeks here, but you will find a team of passionate game developers and artists that are given the chance to fully thrive in our studio.

Our studio is based outside of Belfast in the seaside town of Holywood. This tiny town is the epicenter of creativity in Northern Ireland, being home to Paper Owl, Yellow Moon and Waddell Media.

Our work-space is a rambling three-story townhouse that we’re making our own with graffiti art, a cafe space and a custom Schrodinger’s Cat Arcade machine. Luckily for us, there’s room to grow.

The entire team is active in the UK game and animation industries with our very own Kevin Beimers a regular speaker at events throughout the world."

Quoted from their homepage: https://elk-gazelle-h3s2.squarespace.com/

https://twitter.com/italicpig?lang=en

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What they have Done:

Video Games:

"As Brexit looms large on the horizon, the video game industries of both North and South Ireland have arranged a playdate. The goal is to break down borders, on the border.

DUBLIN, BELFAST, 20th November 2018 - Run For The Border will kick off at The Spirit Store in Dundalk, Ireland on 19 January 2019, running from 7pm to 11:30pm. The two largest game organisations on the island - Games NI from the North, and Imirt from the South - will bring together over 150 game developers and enthusiasts for an international cross-border clash of clans. It is expected that this will be the largest ever gathering of independent game developers throughout the island of Ireland.

Dundalk is a bordertown exactly halfway between Dublin and Belfast. Placing Run For The Border at the Belfast/Dublin halfway point was a vision of the event from the beginning. Neither group wanted it to be a specifically Northern or Southern event; it was always about meeting in the middle.

“Our two communities don’t get together nearly enough,” says Kevin Beimers of Northern Irish game development studio Italic Pig, and events coordinator for Games NI. “We know one another through social media and occasional visits, and tend to get together at worldwide events, but rarely do a Northern developers travel to Southern events, or vice versa. ”

“There is incredible talent on both sides of the border,” adds Elaine Reynolds, Imirt board member and CEO of Simteractive in Dublin, “Having these two game dev communities so close to each other, yet rarely actively interacting, is something that definitely needs to change.”

Of course, the central location means that both sides need to travel to attend. Fortunately, an ideal supporter has stepped in to help. To open the border to higher attendance and as much cross-border collaboration as possible, the event will be receiving generous support from the Creative Europe Desks of both Ireland and UK, in the form of two 50-seater coaches, bringing eager developers to and from Belfast and Dublin city centres on the day of the event.

“The Creative Europe Desks Ireland and UK  (Northern Ireland) are delighted to support Run for the Border,” adds Orla Clancy (Ireland) and Sophie Hayles (UK/NI). “Games companies North and South have successfully accessed the Creative Europe Video Games scheme, and we’re really pleased to be working together to enable a meet up that sees the sectors coming together. Particularly with the uncertainty around Brexit, it’s a pleasure to work with the spirit of creativity, cooperation and collaboration shown by GamesNI and Imirt.”

Quoted from their website:

https://elk-gazelle-h3s2.squarespace.com/italic-pig/2018/11/27/video-game-developers-run-for-the-border

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Venturing into Vr Work:

Northern Ireland indie game studio Italic Pig is jumping headfirst into the virtual reality arena with the successful award of a €125 000 grant from Creative Europe Media.

The irreverent team behind Mona Lisa (mobile, in development) and Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark(Steam/Xbox/PS4) was granted the award with their proposal for a new “vertical reality” adventure entitled The Infinite Hotel.

The Infinite Hotel concept pitch boasts the creation of a narrative-driven, immersive VR game combining elements of popular, award-winning games like Job Simulator, Papers Please, and Grim Fandango… “all from inside a 5-foot square.”

The Creative Europe judging panel was impressed by The Infinite Hotel game concept, uniqueness of story and the VR game mechanics.  As always, a key strength of the Italic Pig team is story writing and character development.  The panel relayed this to the successful team with feedback stating that the “overall story is intriguing” and the “sharp satirical tone of voice adds a definite edge to the storytelling and content.”  In addition, they described the multitude of characters within the game as “not stereotypical game characters, but rather intriguing and innovative”.

In particular, the panel recognized that creating a “VR experience based on a huge amount of interweaving stories is an ambitious task.”  They also understood that the VR platform is in its infancy and ripe for strong story-based games, indicating the high likelihood that The Infinite Hotel will move past development into a globally published VR title.

When asked about the studio’s interest in VR, Director Kevin Beimers said, “When people ask me what sort of games Italic Pig makes, I usually reply ‘self-indulgent, sarcastically-epic ones.’ I know that’s not very descriptive, but I believe it embodies what it means to be an Indie Game Developer; there’s a game in the back of your mind that you’ve always wanted to play, but nobody’s made it for you, so you’re finally forced to throw up your hands and make it yourself.

“What interests me in VR,” adds Kevin, “is that it hasn’t had its ‘Fruit Ninja’ moment yet. I’m not saying I’m looking for Fruit Ninja VR, but Fruit Ninja as a metaphor represents the new game mechanic that truly embraced and catered to the touchscreen mobile. VR is still in its infancy, and as far as I can tell, people are still searching for the new mechanic that is ‘special ‘to VR – not a port, not a reskinning, but a unique, purist experience for the medium. As someone who likes to mess with expectations and experimentally mash genres together, it’s the absence of hard rules that excites me most.”

Italic Pig was one of only 6 UK companies to receive the award from the Creative Europe MEDIA Sub-Programme support. The callout received nearly 150 pitches from 19 countries all over the EU, with a total of 32 successful companies chosen. The aim of the grant is to improve the competitiveness of the European video games industry by increasing its capacity to develop European Audiovisual works with a high circulation potential, both in the EU and beyond. The grant places a strong emphasis on narrative and character development, with the intention of promoting the video game industry as a strong storytelling medium.

This is the second time Italic Pig has received this award from Creative Europe.
Funding of €122,500 for Italic Pig’s Renaissance adventure Mona Lisa was received in 2015 and match-funded by Northern Ireland Screen.

Mona Lisa is an artistic new heist and forgery adventure for mobiles and tablets. The player takes on the role of the mysterious Mona Lisa, Renaissance Italy’s greatest art thief. Mona sneaks into the studios of the other great masters of the 16th century using Leonardo’s arsenal of gadgetry, locating precious works of art, and swapping them out with slapdash forgeries created by the player during the robbery in under two minutes.

Mona Lisa’s hook is its speed-painting engine, which, in Kevin’s words: “offers the player the satisfaction of creating something beautiful in minutes, without silly things like lack of talent getting in the way.”

Still in development, Mona Lisa has already achieved recognition at worldwide events, winning the Very Big Indie Pitch at PocketGamer Connects, becoming the branding sponsor for Casual Connect USA, and winning several awards and nominations for Best Casual Game, Best Indie Game, Best Mobile Game, Most Creative & Original, and Most Innovative Game.

“When we started Mona Lisa, all we had was a great story and a loose direction of how we wanted the game to work. The funding from Creative Europe and Northern Ireland Screen gave us the freedom to experiment, resulting in a truly unique, award-worthy mobile game that is turning a lot of heads,” adds Kevin. “We’re hoping that the same spark will happen with The Infinite Hotel.” Quoted from their website:

https://elk-gazelle-h3s2.squarespace.com/italic-pig/2018/10/1/italic-pig-ventures-into-vr-with-creative-europe-media-grant

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Roles in the Company:

Concept Artist

Rigger

Animation 

Games Development 

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Projects they have worked on in the Past (Track Record):

https://elk-gazelle-h3s2.squarespace.com/what-weve-done-2/

SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST QUARK

MONA LISA

THE INFINITE HOTEL

Awards they have won :

https://elk-gazelle-h3s2.squarespace.com/awards-and-nominations/

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Communicating and organising a time to meet in an email:

I had done a rough draft which was to long and had to much information so we cut it down then Maggie redid the email and she sent it.

Maggie volunteered to do the email as she has more experience and knows how to compose and organise it so it is less formal and is short and sweet instead of having a page of writing.

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Email:

Dear Kevin Beimers and Ross Morrison, 

 

I am writing to you regarding our Studio Guided Project at the University of Ulster. Alec Parkin has notified us that we will be working with you and has sent us a link to some of your work for the current dinosaur project. 

Our team consists of myself, Magdalena Chervenyakova, as well as Joshua Atkinson, Marc McAuley, Matthew Kane, and Neale Rafferty, who I have CC'd in. We were hoping to arrange an initial meeting sometime this week with you to further discuss details.

 

Thank you for your time!

 

Kind Regards, Magdalena Chervenyakova

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Reply:

Hi Magdalena,

 

Thanks for your email. Yes, Alec has informed you well! Paleo Pines (working title) is Jordan Bradley's brainchild and what you guys will be working on. We'd love for you to come in and meet everyone this Friday at 9:30 am. This will give Jordan an opportunity to run through her vision and give you ample time to ask any questions you may have. 

 

We are located at:

140 High Street

Holywood

BT18 9HS

Just at the top of High Street past the police station on the right and the next door up from the undertakers.

 

Any questions in the meantime please let me know.

Look forward to seeing you all then,

 

Warmest regards

Ross 

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The meeting getting Started :

The introduction and getting to meet the team: 

I arrived slightly early and met Ross Morrison head of production and oversees future plans for the company down the road and manages the day to day stuff while Kevin Beimers is the director of the studio.

While waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, i sat in their waiting area for about 10 minutes as i wanted to give a good impression by being early and showing how eager i was to get stared and to show the dedication i have also i didn't want to leave a bad impression on the 1st day by being late. As when the my group arrived we chatted to each other while waiting for Italic Pig to wrap up their quick meeting. This is when we collectively meet Jordan Bradley a Concept artist and past pupil from the Animation course. She is the the creator of the project we will be working on classified as "Paleo Pines" we all had a closer look at her work  looked at her work and learnt their individual roles in the company. The idea originated from some quick concept sketches Jordan id while she was attending the Games Jam and received very positive feedback with 6,000 people wanting the game to be made in the first week. 
 

They asked us what we where each good at and what we wanted to try. I told them i was an all rounder and a generalist and was comfortable working in any aspect of the pipeline but i prefer the 3d aspect. They also asked us what we  wanted to do so i said i liked to model and comp scenes like a look development artist , but i wanted to give rigging and character creation a go as i have never modelled for a games engine before keeping in mind the topology being tris instead of quads and the low poly count.

They also asked what type of style of animation we liked i said Dreamwork's, How to train your Dragon just for the style story and characters. They also asked what type of games we played only a handful of people in the group that play games currently as we are focused on University .

At the end of the meeting we where tasked with doing our own research for the following week which we all did and some of us planned on doing some designs.

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We also decided to create a slack group so we could communicate and convey ideas and have a place to upload our work and receive feedback so as to keep on track of everything to be able to follow instructions and what direction or path Jordan wants to take or make the game look like.

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Industry Research :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-46828450?fbclid=IwAR36sBd5UlcxPFo_wcd6aMKGCgcbXKg37n-uA82SCgeHh3wF-HZnGLmnqNA

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The Project Code name : "Paleo Pines" subject to change.

Latest updates:

https://twitter.com/italicpig?lang=en

Going for Visuals like Slime Rancher and Animal Crossing.

Slime Rancher:

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Slime Rancher Concept art:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/08/02/slime-rancher-art/

https://slimerancher.fandom.com/wiki/Concept_Art

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My impression:

I really like the Styled and hand painted environment and the designs the contrast and simplicity of colour and line makes it seem really low poly yet immersive and creates an almost alien planet esk like atmosphere, i love the designs of the characters and the creatures as they too are simplistic and stylised they also feel like they belong in the enviornment and create a sense of consistence as it feels like they belong in the world and this creates a narrative that flows very well and visuals that complement one and other.

The game is played in an open world and from a first-person perspective. The player controls a character named Beatrix LeBeau, a rancher who moves to a planet far from Earth called the Far Far Range to live the life of a "slime rancher", which consists of constructing her ranch and exploring the environment, in order to collect, raise, feed and breed slimes, gelatinous living organisms of various sizes and characteristics.

The game's main economical aspect revolves around feeding slimes the appropriate food items so that they produce "plorts", which can then be sold in exchange for Newbucks, the currency required to purchase upgrades to the rancher's equipment or farm buildings. The player moves the character around a variety of environments, and can collect slimes, food items and plorts by sucking them up with their vacuum tool (called a "Vacpack", a portmanteau of vacuum and backpack). They can only store a limited number of items and item types at a time and must go back to their ranch to unload their collected items before being able to collect more. The player must buy and upgrade various enclosures to house their collected slimes and farms for storing their food. Upgrades can also be aesthetic upgrades to the character's home, vacuum, and ranch itself.

Animal Crossing:

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Animal Crossing Concept art:

https://www.neoseeker.com/animal-crossing-3ds/concept_art/

Animal Crossing is a social simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo and was created by Katsuya Eguchi. In Animal Crossing, the player character is a human who lives in a village inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, carrying out various activities including fishing, bug catching, fossil hunting, etc. The series is notable for its open-ended gameplay and extensive use of the video game consoles' internal clock and calendar to simulate real passage of time. 

My impression:

I really like the aesthetics as the use of low poly cute and chibi stylised characters and the environment make it very playful and nostalgic of child hood. I think the use of these things like the design and colour is used to help attract players of all demographic backgrounds but focuses predominately on children and getting them to play and continue to return to the franchise due to the game mechanics and revamped graphics and  reinvented narrative/plot.

The game creates a narrative that flows very well and visuals and a style only seem to add to the game play and make it a more effect game this is evident in its success. 

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Game engine we will be using: Unity due to it being free and being stable and tested and a better community for developing games. Has an Indie kinship that developers create by working and releasing your work for free as you go and until the final paid games release.  

Project Research:

Articles i looked at:

https://80.lv/articles/following-the-stylized-trend-in-video-games/

https://80.lv/articles/tips-on-low-poly-game-environments/

https://80.lv/articles/emek-can-ozben-low-poly-environment/

https://80.lv/articles/the-soul-of-low-poly-characters/

https://80.lv/articles/low-poly-scenes-with-blender/

https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/whats-the-difference-a-comparison-of-modeling-for-games-and-modeling-for-movies

http://www.joshocaoimh.com/ramble/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-the-low-poly-style-in-game-design

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Getting my bearings and looking at the different style for low poly environments and characters and looking at the different types of species and sub species of Dinos over the different era's in prehistoric history:

https://www.livescience.com/28739-jurassic-period.html

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Images i liked and used as reference for my concept art: These  images give me a better sense of the style and the theme that the company wanted to go with and furthered my understanding and sense of what the company want for the project as i tried to look out for colours, patterns and unique and interesting designs. These gave me an appreciation for what i was planning on doing for rough idea and concept art, for when i would be doing some rough designs and  trying to replicate the same style as italic pig's work, to keep it consistent. It also showed me all the  the different aspects we could focus on as a group as we could all focus on a single Dinosaur or divide them all up allocating a specific amount to each person in the group and for each Dino we would have or do several variations for their designs. W e could also focus on planning out and concepting the different types enviornment design and work towards the low poly game style. We could also work on concepting new or different character design if their is going to be more than one.  For everything i did i thought about this important questions, which i asked myself every time i was working on something either by myself or in a group. "how does our work fit into the game and the different ways we could contribute to the project" and "what are we doing and why are we doing this to this particular piece of work ?" also " Does this fit with what Italic Pigs vision and what they want ?" another one was is it "Is this relevant and necessary ?"this was more for time management and staying focused and not wasting precious time.

 

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I examined the style of the images above in the gallery and tried to relate it back to what i imagine italic pig would want to see in my own work and the aesthetic in my own designs and development in my work. I analysed the simplicity of line and the  the body structure of the Dinos and each have a very different or at least distinguishable design. Also there is realistic colour pallets but for this project i think we are going for more playful and child friendly colours and not using harsh colours but more dulled down or vibrant or rich colour that has a nice contrast or complement each other. We are also not supposed to show teeth as it is a sign of aggression so in order to avoid this when it comes to modelling we will create a blank mouth that can open and close and we as a group will decide to  paint in the mouth and use blend shapes to animate the mouth and jaw along with the eyes. Thus making the Dino's look less dangerous and intimidating which serves the the main purpose and game mechanics of the game as you are supposed to befriend and ride them.

This is if Italic Pig and Jordan agree with this method otherwise we will have to do it an alternative way following their and Jordan specification for her vision for the game.

 

The environment is not to be like a  zoo but instead it is supposed to be set on a farm or ranch similar to a literal reptile farm but for ancient prehistoric creatures that one must find, befriend, maintain e.g.(feed, train and clean them) and this will help your character develop bonds with them. This will then allow you to gain the ability to ride them when it reaches a certain level like 3 hearts etc and you ear hearts by doing specific actions or by spending a certain amount of time with a Dino. This will be in the user interface and by tapping or touching  the Dinos if it is a mobile game it would clean, pet or feed them. It could also cause them to do a animation or if tapped more than once a variation of different animation. The setting is to be an actual farm with dinosaurs being kept on it this is not to change this is set in stone and we as a group must stick to Jordan's Vision. It is not supposed to be like Jurassic Park and their will be no dinosaurs running around eating people. A game mechanic i thought of was having the dinosaurs escaping  or damaging their pens which would become apart of the game play as this would happen due to long periods of inactivity or not playing the game for a long period of time or it would simple be a random event that would happen every so often to impede the users progress and make them spend more time on the game. If you don't play the game for a set number of days when the user comes back to the game it would mean your ranch or farm would be in sorry state of disrepair and would need the user to use building materials to repair it to its former state.

It would also mean that you may need to recapture any Dinos that have escaped.

 

Game Research:

Examples i looked at :

Monster hunter Stories: Styled cartoon version from it's standard platforms specifically designed for 3DS and android. 

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Gallery of images from Monster Hunter Stories:

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This inspired me look at how to to produce low poly stylised dinosaur models and i looked into toon shadering for textures for the dinosaurs.

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Monster Hunter Platform Franchise:

The Evolution of Monster Hunter:

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New Creatures and better graphics and environments over the years :

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Latest Rendition is Monster Hunter World where there is a variety of different creatures in the game:

 

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The Majority of the creatures are fantasy or based of off mythology and designs but a lot of them resemble reptiles and dinosaurs and are similar to one another sharing some of the same physical attributes and designs but they have been manipulated and exploited so as to create something new and unique like the creatures in game.

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Some Creatures and their designs :

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Some of their concept designs:

https://imgur.com/r/monsterhunter/S5EIX

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For more check out the Monster hunter art book: Monster Hunter illustrations and Monster Hunter World artbook.

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I just love the designs and the use of line and colour and the posing and the different nature  and the rich lore and backstory each has and they are all located in different regions and the regions all have different landscapes and settings which just create a rich immersive atmosphere that compliments the each one of the creature making you feel like they belong. It essential creates a habitat for each and every creature and gives them a purpose and a place on the food chain and what their status , like height orientation be it male or female or indeed the type of animal be it carnivore omnivore or herbivore.

 

I also looked at a handful of documentaries on dinosaurs and even watched some of the BBC series "walking with dinosaurs": This was so i could learn and gauge their habitats and the visual representation of the different types of species and belong to the same classification of dinosaur genus.

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I also watched the film "Dinosaur (2000)" by Disney for research : 

This is just the intro to the film but i looked at the movement and animation they used:

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How to train your dragon:

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I love Dreamworks animation style and i love their creature design for HTTYD as they mix and match dragons with different animals as the main dragon Toothless is like a hybrid as he resemble and shares alot of the same mannerisms of a black panther which sometimes come through in certain moments and movements and he was animated using references from a tabby cat for movement and mannerisms also.

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/train-dragon-designs/

https://www.iizcat.com/post/90/Toothless-from-How-to-Train-Your-Dragon-waz-modeled-after-a-tabby-cat

 

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs:

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I like the design and the style of animation and especial love the designs which are so cartoonist in the their design and  style and it shows from the concept art from the ideas inception of the for the characters design and aesthetics that are clearly visible throughout from rough models and sculpts to the final finished outcomes. There is consistency in their work which makes all the characters blend seamlessly into the scenes as nothing is outstanding as they all stay to the same visual design and by doing this there is no eyesore and it isn't disjointed it is instead fluent and smooth, you feel like the characters belong in the scene.

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Jurassic World Evolution and using the film as research as well:

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This is the game closes to what we will be trying to create with the same kind of mechanics and layout / planning but more personalised cartoonist style ,in a low poly world with a focus on the direct interaction with the dinosaurs which have a more cute design aimed at children. Rather than this eagle eye perspective game play in a  god role we will be making it very differently which we have yet to discuss the specifics.Jurassic world Evolution is very similar to another game "Sims" s you control the world in the same manner the sims is about creating and keeping avatars alive while you help them live their life. You get to make all the decisions for them this is similar to Evolution as in it you get to design and maintain your own dinosaur zoo. This is similar to what we want to do for the game but have it located on a ranch or a farm.

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Ark Survival :

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Turok:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turok:_Evolution

Once you complete the game bonus features are unlocked like the concept art and the making of the game the art book and this Easter egg which allows you to walk around in a dinosaur zoo.

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3d models in the game and concept art:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reboot game concept art and the trailer below:

https://www.neoseeker.com/turok-nextgen/concept_art/

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I liked to look at the graphics comparison of the old games for the game cube and play station two and looked at the remastered versions of the game revamped to the previous generation of consoles like the xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was one of the earliest game i remember playing, that had Dinosaurs in it and it was groundbreaking in its day because of this and how you can interact with Dinosaurs like riding a pterodactyl. It was the first game that i remember that started the dinosaur trend in gaming and as such since then the market has become saturated.

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Dinosaur King:

This was a cartoon i used to watch as a kid also i love the designs and the transformation when they went into battle mode as they would go from hand drawn cartoon characters designed to look like cute pets, to 3D  realistic visually impressive representation of their dinosaur species. I was looking at the cute design in particular to aid me in my designs and the colours they use in to create a contrast and the effects this generates as this makes the dinos look less hositle and more playful which is reinforced wiht their child like mannerisms which resemble baby animals like nawing one each others tails as they have no teeth when they are small. 3d dinosaurs

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Digimon:

This also follows the same style and uses alot of the same concepts and i to watched it as a child as i used to love seeing all the different designs and it provided me with some much needed escapism and as such i would wake up at 7 in the morning to watch it on a Saturday morning and would spend the whole morning binge watching cartoons.

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Pokemon:

This was another show i watched growing up but this is probably the most relevant as in Pokemon there are certain mechanics. These have been weaved into the narrative that are present across all of the mediums  the franchise is present on they are on including the  games which have been adapted from the TV show. The clinics or " poke center" are used to heal your Pokemon with is things as this that Jordan may decide on working in along with the research center and having a finite number of dinosaurs in your party or in a particular pen relating to a certain type of species or sub species and you keep a Journal or in Pokemons case a Pokedex a registry / index of all the dinosaurs you have encountered. This will also provide a description and details of the dinosaur and ecology, when they are from like certain periods.  You find out more about them when you complete specific tasks or reach a certain bench mark like raising you bond with them or having more of the same dinosaurs to study from.

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Reschedule meeting later to Friday at 2:30 pm for the second week so we don't miss class then after the second week need planned on meeting on Wednesdays at 9:30 on our days off. We also set up a slack group so we can communicate and forward work back and fort creating another channel for communication and feedback

Week 2:

Monday the 4th of February Class introduction and Meeting Micheal:

​Micheal is a 3d generalist and has a balanced skill set in the 3d workflow he has worked as a freelance artist in both games and animation and even for Jam media. He attended quayside university. He is proficent at modelling , sculpting ,rigging , texturing , lighting and animating.

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Look into Light linking, Fresnel  Rim lighting, light probing and alternative HDR images for 3d skydome lighting.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/downloads/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2018/ENU/Maya-LightingShading/files/GUID-08A2A23B-15DB-4F01-96F4-F5011DAE0322-htm.html

https://docs.arnoldrenderer.com/display/A5AFMUG/Rim+Lighting

https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-us/Engine/Rendering/Materials/HowTo/Fresne

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Class exercise:

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Evaluation of my work:

I need to have more built up and anticipation and maybe work on exaggerating specific points to make it more exciting and i think i could have made it look like more effort and force was being put into pushing the block with  more movement in the elbows and feet and  i learnt that it is better to use IK to keep the hands fixed on a specific object rather than FK as you will have to set the hands at each frame otherwise they will be to floaty.

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Group Project Stuff Continued:

Italic Pigs Designs by Jordan Bradley:

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3D model of Lucky the starter Dinosaur by Ryan Loughran "Locko":

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