12 month plan

As a part of my assignment I have to write up a twelve month plan for when I finish university. It is quite difficult, I have been thinking about what I want to do after I finish this course throughout the whole year, it was quite stressful. I have gone through a few situations where I thought I will give up on this work and start something else. Most of the time it was thoughts along the lines of selling my car buying a hippie van and going to Australia, live on the beach with the turtles. But something kept me going. And I thought and re-considered everything, all my options and possibilities and I still do not know completely, where I will end up or where I will want to end up. There are a lot of things I want to be doing to come to a decision. Things that will develop my skills and prepare me for what’s out there.

The most important thing for me is to find a job after I graduate. Pursuing a career is very important to me but I still have responsibilities and bills to pay. For that reason I am putting a professional curriculum vitae together in order to start applying for jobs in and around Leeds so I do not create any more hassle and stress for myself. While hopefully working I can develop my creative portfolio in my spare time. Perfect things that still need polishing up, and create variety of other things to make my portfolio more interesting. Gain new skills. And keeping it as a hobby for a little while will take all the stress away from it. For the past few months I felt like I hate what I do but it is purely because I have been stressing about it for far too long now. I am not giving up on seeking creative work. But I believe it is something that will take time so I am just trying to work out the best way to do it and having a steady income while I search for another job sounds like the best idea.

By the time I finish this course I will have a showreel and a social media account for my creative work. I am planning on keeping it alive to attract people and hopefully after a month or two of working hard on it I will have developed a good audience. Social media is just a great way to get your work out there and I am planning on using it to the best of my ability.

I will be posting progress of my work and occasional tutorials there to inspire and share my knowledge with fellow artists. The idea of doing tutorials came from my vfx project. Last year I created a huge challenge for myself by wanting to create a tornado with maya fluids. It was a huge task and took a lot of time. It was very difficult because it seemed to be such complicated thing to do the people who knew how to use it did not want to share with others because it gave them an advantage over other artists. There were no tutorials or much explanations on how to deal with fluids. The tutorials that are out there barely cover the basics of how to use this tool. So it took a lot of time to figure out, I have been uploading tests and playblasts to youtube. Since then I had quite a few people wanting me to share with them and create a tutorial on how to use fluids. Doing it will do a lot of good. I think it is a great thing to do, be able to teach someone something they do not yet know. I also think it will be a great way to attract people to my website and build relationship with other artists, it may come in handy further down the road.

Another thing I want to do is upload progress of my work and anything I do. I want to explore and learn new software because when I was flicking through job advertisements I realized that a good artist should have plenty of tricks up their sleeve. In a world with so many artists any bonus skill is great because you will have a little advantage. The software I want to explore and master are things like Mudbox, and Houdini. These are the things that pop up everywhere, and I have been wanting to try them for a long time now. I realized that most of the professionals use it so knowledge of Houdini will definitely be a great asset. When searching for a job it will definitely come in as a bonus.

When I am financially stable and will feel like have a strong portfolio I will start approaching creative companies to maybe gain some experience or maybe start applying for junior positions if I feel I have a strong enough portfolio. I do not want to do it before because I always felt like you have one chance at making a good impression and I just would not feel right spamming someone with my showreels and portfolio more than once. So I want to make it count. Another reason is that 90% of jobs are not even near Leeds. I would have to relocate and for that I need money for. So a sensible thing to do would be to save up, and that is what I am going to do.

During my research into the creative companies I have figured that I am in some cases more than qualified to apply for the junior positions. They sometimes ask for fewer skills than I already have and it makes me feel very confident. I want to keep an eye out for this kinds of opportunities while I still work on my skills. I was not able to apply for this particular one because it was only for residents of New Zealand but next time… When a similar opportunity arises I will not hesitate.

Even if I have a full time job, I still want to keep working creatively. I need to keep perfecting my skills because there is still a lot to learn. Another reason is that when you leave it for a little while you forget how to do things. You get thrown out of a routine and often you make mistakes that should never take place. I have learned that recently after not using Maya for a few months. I completely forgot to do the simplest things like freezing transformations and deleting history. It cost me some time and it is something that is unacceptable in a workplace. Obviously mistakes happen and it is a human thing but I do not think anyone would appreciate if they were as unprofessional as these. So my main priority will be to keep modeling and keep designing more and more environments, keep using all the main programs so I do not forget how to use any of them. It will also enhance my portfolio and show my determination.

As a part of my assignment I was to take part in a competition or collaborate with other artists. I spent a while approaching artists asking if I could use their concept art and create an environment based on it but the truth is, it is hard to find someone who will do it for free. Then I came across a thread on Polycount’s forum where artists share their work with permission for it to be used, obviously as long as the artists get credit. So I found a piece that I liked and learned how it is working with someone else’s idea. I must say it was an experience. I kept catching myself flipping things and tweaking them to my liking and completely forgot it is not how it is supposed to look like. Anyway yes it was a great experience and since then I definitely wanted to do more of it to get used to working that way. Shortly after one of the artists I got in touch with previously explained how the message went straight to the “others” folder hence why he is replying so late. He was nice enough to let me use his concepts for me to develop my own skills, he gave me a link to his website and I cannot wait to start watching this amazing artwork come to life. Contacts like these will keep me motivated to keep doing what I want to be doing. I will definitely keep in touch with everyone I have come across and keep collaborating. It will help getting my name out there and keep me motivated to work.

I am a very crafty person and this idea came up before but university really did not leave me much time for any other hobbies so it died down a little. But, I always wanted to sell my crafts. It is very easy nowadays and I am planning on setting this up. Something like making a scarf is a pleasure to me and truth be told my whole family already has scarfs, including my dog. So while I procrastinate, think of ideas and wait for things to render etc I can do these little things and sell them. They will be one off buys so I will never run into a situation where I have a lot of orders and not enough time to make them. It will be a stress free hobby. So I am planning on setting up a website for this. It is quite easy to set things up and running with websites like etsy. And even easier to spread the word with websites like facebook and instagram. I will sell things like christmas decorations so I will definitely have it up and running before christmas. Which means it will be one of the first things I start doing.

To sum up. For the first few months I am planning on just enhancing my portfolio and gaining more skills for it will give me a better chance at getting a job in the creative industry as well as save up so moving to a different city (or country) will be less stressful. After these 3-4 months if I am comfortable enough with my portfolio and a set of skills I will start applying for job positions. By that time I should also have a clear idea of where I want to be and what I want to do. If I will not be successful the first few times I apply for any jobs I will keep practising and keep updating my showreels and portfolio till a good opportunity arises. Along the line of that work I am planning on keeping involved within the online artist communities. Work alongside concept artists on polycount LevelUp and Brainstorm forums which I am currently a part of. By doing that I will receive constant feedback and also spread the word about my arts. Hopefully if I keep doing that and soonish I shall have a desired job within a year.

Daredevil!

Greatest. Fighting. Scenes. Ever.

What can I say they really are! They are so realistic! Usually when you watch a show or a movie the actors figrht for ten twenty minutes non stop run around like crazy ladies. But here they show how actors get tired, and they don't want to fight anymore. And it's a little thing BUT so important, everyone who's watched it noticed it. It's different from what they usually see and very satisfying to watch.

Apart from that, it's an amazing series as expected. I love the actors performance. And it's something I don't really ever comment on but here it's outstanding.
I also don't think there is a single bad episode. It often happens that during the tv series at least one episode in a season will be boring or less is happening and you just watch it to get through to the better bits but not with this one. I must say that I sat through and carefully watched every episode because it's just never boring! It sucks you in. And the fact they released the whole season at once didn't help my situation because you just have the need to sit and watch it start to finish. You get your snacks and drinks ready so once you start watching you don't have to get up because you won't want to. It's very addictive, I think a huge success and I'm looking forward to the rest of them! ^^ 

Guerrilla Games

Another company I checked out. 

They are currently looking for a few junior artists and also looking for an intern. 

Environment art intern 

They want you to have a solid understanding of form and shape, structure and silhouette.

Interest in natural and architectural environments.

Their prefered 3D package is Maya which is what I'm using so that's a plus. 

They say it's a bonus if you've worked on more than one 3D game projects, and I have ;) 

And if you have a good knowledge of the technical aspect of level building, have constructed levels from start to finish. I HAVE 

I get excited when I read things like these. 

But before I get excited about working for certain companies I think I need to first read up on who is eligible to work in their country. People don't ever consider that it's kind of the last thing you think of and sometimes it's a huge letdown. 

But I am really looking forward till I'm confident enough to go for these kind of jobs and work experiences c: 

ZeniMax

Another company that does internships I'd be interested in is ZeniMax.

There are none going on at the moment but they say to keep an eye out on the website till something pops up. 

And as I said before I am not a 100% with my portfolio so it works out great for me ^^

Hopefully by the time it is at a 100% there will be something and I could go for it.

When I was looking at their job advertisements they don't really specify how much experience they want. I think they want to see great ideas rather than experience because they mention strong portfolios and knowledge of software rather than previous experiences. 

Again I see "Love for" your job. 

They mention at some point that they don't want you to have a "ton of experience" they want your passion and say to "bring your best game."

They mention it's a dynamic and challenging environment. 

When reading this I really really want to be apart of a company like this.

Bungie

On their website they specify that if there are no job positions for you, they'd still like to see your work so they want you to share with them. When I feel like my portfolio is strong enough I want to send it to them and maybe, just maybe they'd consider giving me a little work experience, take me on as an intern. They don't seem to be doing that at the moment, I've checked everywhere. But maybe I could be the first. It was always my dream to work for Bungie becaus eI am just in love with this company and everything they do, so I am planning on giving it my everything and maybe one day ^^ I shall join them on their quest of World Domination!!!

Lionhead Studios

When looking at jobs internships and graduate positions I came across Lionhead Studios. 

Well I was aware of them before but I came across what they do :') 

They take on interns for year long work experiences. They are looking for bright students who will bring in new fresh ideas to the table is what they say ^^

They are currently hiring for several different roles throughout the UK and I think it's great that companies give you that chance. It is most of the time a little bit of a bummer because you don't really get paid much, or not at all. So in order to actually consider doing something like this you need some money saved up, because you're most likely going to have to move to a different city. And living costs are quite high. 

But the thing is, if you want to get an actual job job... you need experience. It's a really bad situation because you can't get one without the other. And if you have the opportunity and the funds to do something like this don't hesitate because those don't come often. 

What I thought about doing is getting a job and saving up a little before I think of applying for internships. Because it's a lot less stress if you know you're financially stable.

Mad Max

It seems like I've been waiting for this movie forever now. I've seen the trailer for it ages ago at the cinema and I've been excited for it since. 

What I think is quite impressive is the fact that most of the movie, around 90% is practical effects, there is as little cg as possible. And I was quite concerned because a lot of the stunts they were doing looked very dangerous and I'm impressed that the actors were actually up for it. 

If someone told me that I am to get into a weird looking car and perform such a thing I'd say that I want to live and I'm out of there. Haha

Back to the subject. 

They say they wanted the movie to look real, and with most of the shots done it is real. It looks really good I think. I am looking forward to seeing it all. I have not seem a single bad review about it which is very unusual!

For a while people were really excited to see cg everywhere and environments and movies as abstract as possible but now we seem to be taking a little step back and appreciate the beauty of something unedited not enhanced in any way. I'm not sure what to think about it I always thought little cgi to help tell a story or portrait someones vision is great. Even if sometimes not done to a great standard the idea itself can be amazing and I think it's important to appreciate that too. 

Need For Speed

It was that ever year a new need for speed came out and year by year I heard the gamers just weren't receiving what they wanted.

For a while I was asking myself if the game companies were releasing games for gamers or money, and with NFS coming out every year it seemed like EA is just trying to get something, anything out to bag some money. 

The public seemed to get really angry with them because the games weren't what they were expecting and wanting. They were sending them messages on social media etc (great way to get feedback) saying exactly what they want. And it was just weird and stupid that they didn't listen. So a while back they said they won't release another game for 2014 and make something special especially for their fans, because for once they listened to what they want from their games. 

They gave them extra time to develop the game so it's extra special 

They said: "we want to make this promise to you: we will listen to you. We're going to give you the game you've been asking for. It will be the game you deserve, but to do that will take us some time."

It's not very often that a company admits to their mistake and tries to fix it. From what I've seen their fans are more than happy to give them all the time they need for developing this game. It's supposed to come out this Autumn so well have to wait and see how well they can listen ^^ 

Upsilion Circuit

This game is quite interesting. From what I understand only 8 players can be playing the game at the given moment. It throws two teams of four into the environment and if you die... you cannot play ever again. "Every move can be your last". 

When I first heard about it I only heard that you only get one chance at this game. And I immediately thought about the Dark Souls game which is pretty much designed to kill you in every possible way. It's very hard a lot of people seem to love it but I was never drawn to it. I'm not sure whether it's because I get my thrills in different ways. I think it's the risk people like about games like these, it's like taking the risk when bungie jumping or gambling, people still do it, and people love it. So I think games like these are to give you similar experiences but it's a lot safer than bungie jumping. 

Anyways... yes so you've got eight players ever, at a time. You get a huge audience watching you on the live stream. The players explore the world, collect crystals like in a normal open world rpg, kill monsters but also compete against the other team. 

But what's interesting is that the xp you collect when kill monsters etc doesn't go to you, it goes to the audience and it's the audience who levels up your skill tree. I never came across such a thing before. But when I read about it it seems that people are quite excited to try it out. It's still in development but a lot of people are already looking forward to it. Hell I am looking forward to it, it'll be a great experience try it out. But I'm not sure how I will feel about people watching my moves. I mean when playing any multiplayer online you get people watching but it's not constant, they don't have any input and they occasionally say something or judge you, where here it's serious judging and serious input in your play. It's not just a teammate who you pick to kill with on halo multiplayer because hes a good shot, it's someone who decides what you can and cannot have. It's something completely new to everyone. I cannot wait to see how it turns out ^^

Screen Capture Software

When working on my showreel, well to get some footage for it I needed some screen capture so I can do a walkthrough my game. And they are mostly so so bad. They mostly came out looking like images from one of the first phone cameras, really pixelated with low frame rates. Just awful. Unacceptable to use in a showreel so I felt like I'm stuck. I left it for a while used other pieces I've had and later on I was chatting to a friend and she advised me to use one called the Open Broadcaster Software.

It worked it's magic. In the settigs you can set everything, your frames your dpi. 

It was very simple to use and just what I needed at the time.

Just thought I'll write about it because it was really hard for me to finally get one that worked perfectly, so just spreading the word c: 

Weta Digital

So many of my favourite movies exist because of these guys.
LOTR, The Hobbit!
(the avengers, xmen, prometheus, man of steel, iron man 3, godzilla, furious 7 and many many more.)

This year, instead of writing about what the companies do and their achievements, because we all already know anyway. I thought of looking into what the company is looking for in an employee. What skills etc. Because this is something I will need to develop on in the next few months to be able to even be considered for a position.

"ability to convey and incorporate ideas across multiple disciplines"

This is what I was talking about earlier, how I decided not to stick to developing one skill. Because it's pointless, and here is a proof I'm right. They want you to be flexible.

"3+ years experience in feature film, games or similar."

This isn't too bad I read a few others which required a ridiculous amount of experience. And this is quite satisfying, achievable. : )

"interest in landscape painting, underwater photgraphy etc"

I don't quite get why they're so specific about the hobbies... why underwater photography, are they just looking for an unusual candidate, with unusual hobbies?

After I was reading on I got an imporession that you just need to love what to do.
They obviously don't want a depressed person who doesn't want to go to work everyday. To me it says a very friendly environment, full of people who want to be there and enjoy being there most of all. It is definitely an environment I'd like to work in. Further down it said that they need a person who can stay calm when under pressure. Definitely a stress free environment. Dream job.

They are a huge, very popular and skilled company. Yet they don't require nothing crazy like fifty years experience for you to even apply for the desired position. Three years which they ask for isn't that long. They don't even ask for the experience to be within the area, it can be anything creative and they will consider you. I feel like they're interested in creative people with great ideas. I feel like they appreciate all creative people and believe in their abilities.

I found this position for a junior animator. This seemed like an ideal position because they required skills at my level. In fact the skills I had also fell under the "bonus" category, which means I have more skills than required and may just be above other applicants. For example knowledge of vfx software or game development. It's something I'm passionate about and reading something like this it feels like I would want to work in that environment. For once I feel like I would be comfortable applying for such a job position and I feel like I'd have a chance of actually getting it! When I read other job advertisements I don't feel that way. I always feel like they want so much skills I never even came across before.
When reading things like these I'm actually motivated to do more, to do better because I've got a realistic chance of getting a job in the industry afterwards.

Even the experienced Animator, doesn't specify you need to have millions of years of experience. They specify they need a "strong knowledge of Maya" I know some people who haven't been doing it for that long and are so amazing at scripting and modeling they could confidently go for this job! Again I feel like I would be able to do this in a while.
Reading all of this I get really motivated. Makes me feel good about myself ^^ 

Collaboration - 2

As I probably mentioned before, I have been trying to get in touch with a lot of artists regarding some collaborations. 

I either got rejected because people don't really want to do anything for free, or I got blanked. A lot of people didn't respond.

Recently I had a really nice guy contact me back apologizing for taking so long to reply but he explained that my message actually went to his "others" folder and that's why he didn't see it straight away D: I Was disappointed because it's something I would love to complete in time to get it into my portfolio.

Anyways here is his website:
https://www.artstation.com/artist/kred
He was more than happy for me to use his concepts to work with. And I am so grateful because they're so beautiful. Me not having time to do it in time for this project doesn't bother me because it's something I want to spend some time doing anyway. It'll be worth it.
So the plan is to work on it in my spare time after I finish uni. Can't wait! ^^

Career choice

All throughout last year and again through this one I was torn between vfx and game design. 

I Was always told that as I work I will pick my favourite and figure out what I want to do.

But that's not the case. You don't have to chose what you want to do.

I never knew what I should stick to, at first I thought I was very game orientated. But I really enjoyed the vfx, I still do. I have developed this thing where I deconstruct shots in the movie and figure out how they must have done it, I talk to my partner about it because he's into movies just as much as I am and sometimes he goes with it but sometimes he gets annoyed because it kind of ruins the movie sometimes... because I sit there like fake fake FAKE, AWFUL CGI. I probably couldn't do any better at the moment haha but it's fun to judge. 

I always thought I have to choose whether I want to join the dark side. 

But I'm at the point where I don't think so anymore. 

I think both skillsets are transferable.

When listening to all of the visitor speakers at conferences and festivals I kind of realized that I can develop both and both will be very good to have. A lot of people in the industry didn't have their titles to start off with. 

So after years of consideration I am just going to continue doing what I'm doing and do what I feel like doing. If I feel like doing some game design and 3D modeling I will practise that for a while, and if I feel like developing some vfx skills I will do that. I think it will keep my portfolio interesting and it will show that I am quite flexible. 

It's alright to enjoy doing both things! It can come in handy one day ^^ 

RenderMan

I was actually quite excited to hear this.

It is definitely something I will get my hands into once I have a minute. 

Pixar's rendering software is free to download for anyone. 

You can work with what they used for Toy Story or even Pacific Rim and see what you're capable of.

I think some great pieces could be created with it and I can't wait to get stuck in.

Like with every software it's free unless you want to make money from your artwork. I am not at the moment so I am planning on making the best out of it ^^ 

There are probably many tutorials on it already so it should be easy to get my head around it.

I figured that after working with similar things for so long learning a new software comes very easy. Simply because you get your head around all the terms and names. And even having a lot of bad situations happen teaches you so much because you learn how to work your way around things and sometimes, even in a different software when something similar arises it's very easy to get out of it. 

Before I was always scared having towork with different software and now I skip from one to another like it's nothing. 

I think it's a good thing because if I am to get a job somewhere creative and they throw a new software at me I haven't seen before I shall take it like a soldier and within a week or so already know my way around it. 

Social Media - Facebook Page

I set up my facebook page.

It's the easiest way to get your name out there nowadays so before I get my website up and running I will be using this and a bit of instagram which also proved to be very effective.

This is pretty much it I just need to post a ton of my work there. And start spreading the word c:

Showreel

When making my reel I didnt want to make it just vfx orientated or just games orientated. I wanted to show that I can do everything that includes all of my hobbies etc. so I took all my best pieces of work and started putting it together. It was hard because I didn't want to make it too long and boring. So I found the music I liked and decided to pick just the most favourite pieces and make it exactly 1:32. The soundtrack wasn't this short I had to edit it which proved to be a challenge once again. I'm not that comfortable with editing music but a little time and attention proves to work magic and I think it turned out quite good. 

I wanted the whole composition to flow so I chose the cal pieces to go with the buildup of the music and once it "dropped" I used more alive and exciting work. 

I am quite proud of the outcome. I would like to show off everything that I have so I will probably make another reel in a couple of months with some new pieces and tie in some of the old ones. Anyways, here it is c: Enjoy!

Silent Hill Cancellation

I Wanted to touch upon this subject because I don't really understand what happened.

So so many people were looking forward to this game and it seems like out of nowhere they cancelled it. 

It seems to be happening with so many games and I just don't understand how is it worth cancelling something you already invested so much money and time into.

At first when people were starting to figure out something was up Konami released a statement saying that the game is undertaking some serious changes but is not being cancelled. I believe that a lot of people were happy with this because as I said earlier I know so many that were looking forward to it.

But major changes already means something was seriously up with it. 

As I was reading on the articles it was very complicated. 

They already decided and cast Norman Reedus as the main character but later on turned out that his contract with the company is running out and it didn't look like they're going to sign another for unknown reasons... But the company kept reassuring people that they will continue to develop the games.

I read something about one of the most well known director and developer is actually thinking about leaving the company once he's finished with Metal Gear Solid 5.

But I think what made people wonder the most is the disappearance of the P.T (a playable teaser for the game) project off the ps4 store. 

It seems that whenever someone tried to get any information out of them they either denied or didn't comment on the matter. Even early on the day before the official statement was released they were declining to comment on whether it's being cancelled or not... which to me sounds like they didn't really know what to do. They were like a lost child in the supermarket. 

"Power struggles between staff at Kojima Productions and Konami had escalated to the stage where the publisher has begun seeking a new leadership team to work on the future Metal Gear games."

So the problem was not with the game it seems, it was with the company itself. 

No detail is being revealed and I think we will never completely know what happened. Maybe they didn't get on. And it's hard to work with someone you don't like. Especially in such environment. 

Further comments were as follows "In terms of Kojima and del Toro being involved, discussions on future Silent Hill projects are currently underway, and please stay tuned for further announcements."

and that "we will continue to develop the Silent Hill series"

To me the whole situation is very weird. It seems that it will not be quick before the resolve this. And I am not sure if they're saying that they will be developing the games for the gamers to not lose the fans or if they're actually going to develop the games... We will just have to wait and see, be patient.

Designing My New Business Cards

With another year of experience it was time to get an updated business card.

I love simplicity.

It's quite difficult to show what I do as well as keep it simple so I had to play around with the design a little.

I liked the concept of my last year's card.

The xyz axis and colours so I decided to keep that.
Even the background colour was carefully thought through, it's the darkest shade of maya's background. I thought using those colours would be very suitable. And I just like the combination.

For a while I was thinking about what I should call myself, I didn't want to stick to one name because I'm interested in doing game design as well as a bit of vfx. 

I had a short chat with a friend and we came to a conclusion that cgi artist will be suitable. ^^

Collaboration

I have come across a thread on polycount named 2D concept Bank.

It's full of concept art from different artist who give you permission to use it. 

There are so many interesting pieces there, and it's so useful because you don't have to waste time emailing endless artists and getting rejected most of the time. Which is what happened to me... a lot. 

I have decided to look through and turn some of these concepts into 3D models.

It being very relaxed and done for myself I realized I'm sort of steering away from the original concepts! Sometimes I was completely forgetting it's not actually my ideas and the way I see it in my head isn't what it should look like.
I spent about a day on them and here are the best houses c:
With something as imperfect as this I'd like to have a chance to play around with in Mudbox I think it could do it a lot of good. And it is what I will do in my spare time later on. It was quite tricky to keep the models clean and at the same time have them deformed like that. I had to be very careful and constantly look around the house to see if I'm not damaging the look of the rest of the house while perfecting one of the sides.

So I had to keep on top of it and constantly double and triple check that what I was doing
I really enjoyed this, I don't think I ever worked out of a solid concept before. I usually work with my own ideas and by that I mean I model what's in my head. And sometimes, well most of the times they're not very clear ideas so I just make it up as I go along.
But yes, it was a good experience and I will definitely be doing more of it c:

 I coloured one of them because to me it just looked like a little shroom house.

When I looked at the concept it looked as a little house from a cartoon ^^

I really enjoyed modelling them.

FMX 2015

Unfortunately due to not having enough time off  this year I was not able to attend the FMX. :C

I wish I had the time because it seems like it was very interesting!

It being their 20th anniversary they made it extra special.

When I was reading about the visitor speakers a lot of them were vfx orientated and I regretted not seeing them so so much despite always thinking that I was just interested in games... 

I think since the last FMX and seeing all the magic behind my favourite movies and tv series touched me a bit hence why my first project this year was very vfx orientated.

I think that's another good reason to visit such conferences, to see what is going on in other circles than what you're interested in. You may see something completely different you'll want to explore. 

They always give you insight to their processes and the software they use.

Since last year's fmx I've been wanting to try Houdini, everyone seems to be using it and the outcomes are amazing!
Anyways, back to the subject...

The visitor speakers that attended this year:
Joe Letteri - Supervisor and Director of Weta Digital
Lorne Peterson, John Knoll and Richard Bluff from ILM talking about STAR WARS
Ralph Eggleston, William Reeves and Eben Fiske Ostby to lookback at 20 years of Toy Story
Some of the Marvel team to talk about Age Of Ultron.

Raphael Lacoste on art direction and image composition of Assassin's Creed 4.
Brent Burley, Principal Software Engineer presentation on Hyperion.

Apart from that there were bits and pieces on the upcoming MINIONS! Big Hero 6 and Game of thrones which I also regret not seeing as last years GoT presentation wasn't disappointing. We got a short (very short) shot of the future dragons which was very satisfying!

What I love listening to are the reassuring comments. They don't just show you all the amazing things they've done. They show you the things that went wrong and tell you the stories of how it sometimes goes very very wrong and how they deal with it. Being a student and not as experienced as I'd like to be it helps me a great deal. Because sometimes during my projects I feel like giving up on it because things just won't go the way I want them to and they show everyone how it's part of the process. They present themselves like normal people and it makes me feel like being a part of it isn't as unrealistic as I imagine it.

The only problem about visiting such conferences are the £$£$£$
Fair enough the tickets are discounted for students, but as far as I remember they're still over a hundred pounds. Which wouldn't be as much but people never seem to think about the living costs and travel costs. It adds up to a fair amount of money which is why I made a whole road trip out of it last year just to make it worth the money.

Apart from that it's a great thing to do, I got a lot of useful contacts out of the last one and I will definitely try and attend it when I can! C: 

Final Environment

Bump Maps

The last thing I wanted to touch upon was the bump maps. 

In the beginning I was bump mapping everything because I always do, it adds so much to the texture but after a while I stopped doing it. 

Reason being was just the overall look, with the textures I've been using it looked a little stylized and I liked the effect. 

So I stopped bump mapping things. I think the only things that have them are the fish in the crates and veg etc. just to lift them off that plane but other than that I didn't use it for anything else because I loved the stylized look. ^^

Houses

I just wanted to show you the houses I've been modeling. 

When you put them together on a page like this you can clearly see how I've been re-using a lot of things to have as many good assets as I could because I really wanted to make my Lake Town as big as I could. 

Sometimes it was as simple as changing the roof or adding a window in a different place or a different entrance. That way I saved myself a lot of time.

Final Assets

Here are just screenshots of a few of my assets I made for this project.

I wanted everything to look very different. Because when you think about it wood ages differently and I wanted it to look like not everything was built at once. This bridge would seem a lot newer than the other etc etc.

I didn't need that many assets inside the houses etc because I wanted it to look like the people left and took everything they needed with them. There are just little bits and pieces left behind.

Sounds and music

I used a track from the Vikings called "You shall not enter Valhalla" which is just perfect.

When looking for the right soundtrack I was looking for something that would add more mystery to my town and when I came across it it was just perfect. It's not too complicated so it doesn't take the focus away. It's in the environment to send chills down your spine and that's exactly what it does!

Animating

So the animation was supposed to be a big part of my environment. 

But whenever I tried to import the animations from Maya they didn't seem to work. 

It was either the case of it completely didn't work it was just standing still in the scene as I was walking around. Or it disappeared off the screen.
I spent days trying to figure it out, I asked my friend for help and she was telling me to do exactly what I've done before so whenever that happened and didn't work out I felt like giving up. And I did, I used to just drop it and say that I will come back to it another day.
This was the death of me because whenever I came back to it it was the same story.
When I spoke to my tutor she said it's probably because of the update. Told me yet again that I should have worked on an older version because it's patched and this problem wouldn't occur there.
But it was too late, she fixed it with something as simple as parenting it to an empty game object...
I was looking for answers so deep that I didn't think of the simple ways out.
This caused me to not really have anything animated for the deadline except that one barrel.
But I will definitely come back to it and make sure everything is beautiful for my showreel.

Skybox

Damn these skyboxes.

The worst thing that could possibly happen to you is having to learn the new ways of a program you thought you knew. Even the simplest things become so, so... complicated.

The skybox for example. Before it was so so simple. And now when it came to it, it made me feel so stupid. I literally sat there doing everything I could think of and nothing was working out for me.

It being quite a new subject there wasnt that much about it out there. But I had a little dig around and in the end it was as simple as changing the setting in Window > Lighting. You just chose a skybox in there and everything is fixed. Te skybox I used was this one from the Unity store: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/24923

Depth of Field and Fog

Right from the beginning I wanted my Lake Town to look mysterious I thought of adding fog etc. But lately I also thought of adding the depth of field to the camera.

I started messing with it and I loved the outcome.

I think it helps you get the goosebumps when you can't clearly see what's out there. 

The blurry silhouettes make you want to go near it and see what it is, and the only way to see is to walk up close to it so it actually pushes the player to explore the environment, which is the aim of the game here.
It is such a simple thing to do and has a huge impact.
All you have to do is go into your character controller, add a component, -> camera, and your depth of field is in the image effects.

I have discovered this view and it helps so much. Sometimes when you're looking at the actual environment you can't see it clearly enough. For example mine is very dark so it was quite difficult and with this you can get it just right.

I spent a little while getting it to look perfect for my liking. I also added the fog which made it just the way I wanted.
I was trying to be careful so it's not overwhelming, the fog and the blur so it's not just killing the whole look rather than enhancing it.
With a little blur you can't tell that the houses and things are repeated and I could use things a lot more than before, help it look busier.

Re-using assets

As I was modeling assets etc I realized that a lot of the things I have already modeled before.

Things like furniture, candles, little bits and bobs that would come in so useful now. 

I tried looking through my computer for them but I must have put them on a memory stick or something thinking that if I'll need them I will know where to find them... Wish I was a little more organized before. It would save me a lot of time considering I tend to model everything in a similar style. 

To make up for that I was creating assets and tweaking textures or the assets themselves to have a little variety.

A little thing as changing hue of a texture makes a huge difference. So all my doors for example aren't the same. 

Texture issues

I modeled a bedside cabinet. When I imported it into Unity the first time everything was fine. 

I went back at one point and tweaked the front a little. But when I imported the changed version it was completely losing it.

I thought maybe it couldn't find the texture maybe I forgot to set the project right but I went back to check all of it and everything was just how it should be. With the only difference being that this is what it looked like in Maya when I re-opened it.

I could not for the love of god figure out what it's doing. 

When I tried to attach the texture to it, obviously because it was combined it was changing all of the textures to the one with handles which is supposed to only go at the front of the cabinet... not cool.

In the end I had to export an uncombined asset and physically attach the right texture to the front of the cabinet. 

Getting stuck

I made all my brides and paths very uneven. 

Well not just that everything in that town is very uneven...

It proved to be quite a problem because when I was trying to walk through the environment I was getting stuck on every single step. 

I tried everything.

I fiddled with the character controller, read how the skin width can affect it. 

Low skin width can mean that the character controller will get stuck more often.

So I increase that number and it helped a lot. But it didn't get rid of the problem completely. 

You still have to jump over an odd piece every now and again but I can't afford to spend any more time on figuring out how to get rid of the problem completely... 

Texture Library

I probably said it during every project but...

When I started this course I began creating a texture library. 

I take a picture of everything that's got an interesting shape for example for a reference just in case I ever want to create something like this. I take lots and lots of up close pictures of textures. 

It doesn't take any effort, we all have amazing cameras in our phones nowadays so it's not like you have to carry a digital camera around everywhere you go. 

And during projects like this I bring it all in and just flick through to find what I need.

You can imagine how many different photos of wooden things I have taken over the years, so I could easily make a variety of different assets for my Lake Town. 

Combining Assets

While trying to figure out how to get rid of my shiny assets I came across another problem.

And I know it's something that I should never have done but I haven't been using Unity or Maya for the past few projects and I just forgot the routine I needed to follow.

To be more specific, I completely forgot to combine my assets. A lot of the bits and pieces I was making separately and in the end I exported it that way...

I realized a great way into building the environment so it took me a while to combine every single thing and export them again but in order to sort out other problems it had to be done. 

Also in a long run saved me a lot of time, because later on when I was moving things around and placing them exactly where they needed to be I could easily maneuver them around. 

I felt so stupid that I've done that but since then I didn't make the same mistake. I got into the routine again of combining pieces, freezing transformations, deleting the history and then exporting the asset.

Software Update

When I began importing my assets into Unity I had a mini heart attack because every single thing had a sheen on it!

I knew that everything I created was a lambert so I knew it's something to do in Unity. But I could not figure it out. Turns out it was as simple as changing the shader around to the Legacy > Diffuse in the inspector and everything worked fine.

But this is one of the worst things that could happen during a project like this. 

Because you make a plan and a schedule without thinking that you will need a few days to get used to the updated software. And then it's a matter of rushing things here and there to make up for it.

I got advised to download the older version if it's easier for me but I thought it's pointless.

I feel like I need to show that I can adapt and quickly figure out new software maybe without it affecting my schedule that much.

I think I haven't done too bad. I needed to read a lot of forums and ask my friend for some help at certain points but just like everywhere else, you don't need to be an expert at everything and sometimes you will need a little help and advice here and there. 

Even in a professional environment people are constantly having to learn new things and new ways.

Maya crashing

At one point through the process of modeling and putting the environment together Maya started crashing constantly. 

At first I thought that maybe after hours of working my computer had enough and cannot keep going so I obviously restarted it.

It didn't help.

I then thought that maybe running all the software at once wasn't doing it any good so I started working in one program at a time.

That didn't help either,.

I made new scenes, new projects etc. 

But that wasn't the problem either.

I was so close from just wiping the whole computer (which wouldn't be ideal considering the deadline was getting very close) 

But then I realized that maybe it's the memory issue... Turns out that for the purpose of this project I brought a ton of huge photographs and a lot of other things back onto the computer which meant that I pretty much used up nearly all of my memory... So there simply wasn't enough space for Maya to keep working.

It's the stupidest thing I could possibly do, but after I realized I deleted all the photos and useless junk and not only it worked fine, and Maya no longer crashed, but it ran a lot faster.

That's the problem if you've got so much space on your drive, you never tend to look at how filled it is till you're in that kind of situation and don't even consider that to be a problem.

I will try to keep an eye out for that from now on!

Lists and Lists and Lists and Lists

Before I started the process I made a to do list. 

Afterwards I started making a list of things to model.

And as I was working I was making a list of things already modeled. 

I found this very useful later in the process because during previous projects I could just sit there for hours and not think of anything else I needed to do. Or anything else to model to clutter the space. 

Another thing I've found is that after I've finished a project I would remember that I have done a thing or two that I completely forgot to include.

So Learning from my past mistakes I got into the habit of the lists. 

Sometimes it becomes a little too much because there are just pointless lists everywhere but this time I was noting it down in my sketchbook, all on separate pages so everything is in it's right place.

I am proud to say that I've become very organised.

Modeling

After all this time of thinking about it I was so excited to finally get to modeling my Lake Town.

I knew exactly what style I was going for I have carefully thought it through so at this point it wasn't difficult to just get into it.

I started with making the big things, the houses the bridges and the paths because I thought it'll be much easier to have that down to be able to walk around it and from the beginning being able to get the feel of it.
That way I could play around with the scale and make sure things work together.
I quickly learned that it's so difficult to get the hue of the wood right.
But after a little consideration I ditched the idea of everything being the same colour because that's just very unrealistic.
Different wood from different places would have a different colour and would age differently too!

Realizing that didn't actually make anything any easier, from then on I was making about five thousand colour variations for every single thing and couldn't make my mind up at the end to which one to use...

Presentation Feedback

Lately we had to do a presentation with all our research and tests and ideas. 

After presenting all you have seen here so far I got some very useful feedback.

My tutors pulled me down to the ground and made me see that what I was originally planning on doing may be a little too much for one person given the timescale.
They made me realize that I really need to get the detail right to help portrait my story.
I am planning on doing this through mainly showing the damages, altars, and sounds.
To save time I am going to re-use a lot of things as well as look into the unity store for some assets.
Because of this change of plan I altered my to do list and to model list.

Taking everything on board and having a clear plan I gave began this very long process.