my-blog

new video

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:42:23 +0100

having done alot of tweaks to the environment and making alot of buildings and figuring out how to do lightning and fog i have another video done. one of many many many. i also have realised hwo to put sound into the animation itself. this may prove very useful as it sets the volume for the distance obviously so i dont have to fiddle about in moviemaker to get it sounding right. its very batman. check it out on my videos page.

website changes

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:35:54 +0100

since my website is getting a bit crowded i have decided to create a brand new one. incorporating flash, dreamweaver (no html coding for me suckers!) and my new logo. it will take some time but it'll all be worth it.

Skyline

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:47:51 +0100

im working on the skyline for the city now, i have alot of the buildings done, i need to add texture to the buildings and also some windows with lights on. i did a preview of the flyby for the final animation. it doesnt look very amazing but it was just to make sure the camera doesnt go through any buildings. its in the videos section along with some new segments i probably will use for the final piece.
i have included some screen shots from the fly by and also some close ups of the statin in its near complete stages.

The one thing i have noticed about the station is that the colour has gone. i will probably need to sort this out.

expanding the station

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:12:00 +0100

having almost finished the station completely. im now onto making the background. what im going to try and do is make at least a dozen different looking buildings then just randomly assort them around the parts of the background which will be seen. since its based in a city the buildings will be quite massive so a dozen sky scrapers from ground level should cover the background. i will have them lit up from below so the shadows are cast upwards and may or may not give them a texture. i may put some glow in the odd window just to make it look a bit more alive.
drawing a dozen buildings is getting a bit repetitive. but im almost there. i have taken the classic new york buildings like the flatron, empire state, chrysler, and that cool one from the first ghostbusters film which acts like a ghost magnet and brings the staypuff marshmallow man to kick some ass.
i think im still on schedule to finish for the end of the term, heres hoping i stay on schedule and dont slip behind. heres a picture of some of the buildings so far.

more changes to train

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:51:24 +0100

even though i have a massive hand-in of work for this thursday i am still doing some work for my other lesson. i tweaked the train a bit more, i am not satisfied with the orioginal carriages and engine. the new ones look alot more realistic in shape and will be easier to animate with doors etc.
i am still having major problems with lighting at the station, the train just blots out the lights and elaves the station in shadow, and i cant seem to get lights to work on the train so that you can see it. i have to limit the supply due to the green screening, too many and it will be almost impossible to re create. i have got my things to make the light map, im thinking i may be making it too big (a1 size), but what the hell, bigger is better.

New Videos

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:35:20 +0100

New videos featuring the clock are now in my videos section.

Train animation so far

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:33:12 +0100

yes i have been very laxed on posting, but i have been working, the train animation now has the clock and im just finishing up the texture for the clock, i am looking at the chairs for the station and on starting the footbridge but i need further research to do so. another step im looking at is green screening people onto my animation.
i have done another short render of the animation up to the point i will green screen people onto it, and added some extra effects just to give it a little something. the lighting for the platform needs improving, i am getting rid of the reflections as they take just too damn long to render.

Pictures to print

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:52:27 +0100

having amazingly so many problems trying to start a sketchbook. so pictures will go on ehre then ill have to print them at uni.

pillars and gravel and a bit of fog

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:21:31 +0100

I updated the train firstly. The coal carriage never satisfied me. I got some photos of trains of a friend and re drew the carriage based on ones from old steam engines at the york museum. I made it look a bit more industrial rather than the half pipe design it had before.

The pillars are based on the previous light fittings i made. The problem im starting to face is that there are so many light sources the shadows are taking in excess of 5 minutes to render one image. Which may not sound long, but theres 30 images in 1 second of animation. So 1 second would take 30 x 5 = roughly just over 2 hours.
I added a sky texture with fog to the scene just to see how it would affect the light. It didn't do much difference so i left it be for now. The gravel is just a simple grey texture with a bump map on it.

Advanced lighting and shadows

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:14:07 +0100

I made the ceiling lighing for the station. Based upon 1930's lighting so it can be accurate for the times. They have been made to look like massive, almost chandaleir-esque lights. Using transparant materials for the light shade i then could put a light emitting object inside it which casts the shadow of the lens shape over the ground creating a nice effect.
I doubled up the station and track to add alot more background and of course it wouldn't be a single line railway in a city anyway. I positioned the lights so that the shadows how the most effect. The next step i need to take is drawing up benches and pillars for the middle platform. and benches for the other outside platforms, and also finish the clock off. The clock is taken straight from the german expressionist film "metropolis".