Game Environment_beta

Part Site Model

A few renders from the model I am working on. The idea is to pick a couple of locations around the Old Royal Naval College for my scenes and modify it to fit the game theme for the year.

The cycles render gives a 'point cloud' render feel to the images.

Point Cloud filming a reality!

Whilst researching for the possibility to film using a video camera and the kinect, I unmined this amazing video! The aesthetics of it is simply subblime! The guys at the Carnegie Mellon University's Studio for Creative Inquiry developed a system to merge point cloud data and overlay it with actual footage. And the good news is that the developers kit is open source and available to download on http://rgbdtoolkit.com/

I will be doing some of my experimenting soon...

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Kinect Motion Capture trial

Exciting times! I couldn't seem to be able to do it on my laptop but managed to do it on my desktop. Motion capture using the Kinect actually works in Blender!

I used the NI mate plugin together with the trial version of the NI mate software[Limitations seem to be : only an hour of motion capture and occasional screen nags I should be able to experiment with those restrictions].

To work the motion capture is pretty straight forward. Allocated the different parts of your body to the parts of the model you require. For the test above i assigned my right hand to the cube[labelling seems to be very important here]. Pressed start in the tools menu and watch the cube being moved remotely! Exciting!

Student lands job running football team thanks to Football Manager on the computer

When a 25-year-old football fan applied for the vacant boss's job at Middlesbrough on the strength of his experience playing Football Manager on the computer, sports fans across the world were left chuckling by the brilliant application letter.

Six years on from John Boileau's correspondence with Boro chairman Steve Gibson, dozens of others have followed suit - not least when hundreds of people applied recently for the Dumbarton job on the basis of their prowess playing FIFA 12.

But for one fan, video game prowess has finally paid off in the form of a job as manager of Azerbaijan side FC Baku's 'A' team.

Vugar Huseynzade, a 21-year-old student from Sweden, landed the job at one of Azerbaijan's top football clubs - reportedly beating off big names including France legend Jean-Pierre Papin to the post - despite his only experience of managing a team being on his computer.

Yet that devotion to the virtual game - along with some work experience stint with a sports agency in the USA - were apparently enough to land him the job.

"I've always wanted to work in football and have played Football Manager since 2002," Huseynzade told Scandinavian newspaper Aftonbladet.

Azerbaijan-born Huseynzade took over the job - equivalent to reserve team manager - after previous incumbent Kamran Ismayilov left by mutual consent after more than two years.

But while Ismayilov was a balding, greying veteran, Huseynzade is anything but. The newspaper reports that a chance encounter with the vice-president of FC Baku helped him get a job at the club as an assistant last February. When Ismayilov left, Huseynzade was fast-tracked in to take charge of the 'A' team at the current Azerbaijani champions.

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What I have been doing this week_ City update

Greenwich is the area I am going to concentrate on for my project. It is suitable since I could link the new university campus in some way and also Greenwich is where time starts after all. While working with the panorama of the area[image below] and accidentally stretched it to produce the cityscape above. The image does need some work but it does have a game flair to it I must say and I am tempted to base my renders on the image above.

What I have been doing this week_ Kinecting

I couldn't wait to test the Kinect! To my surprise, Microsoft had developed an official Kinect Developer's kit which I got my hands on. And after having the tricky task of sorting out the drivers, add ons etc, I managed run some tests.

Below are a few screenshots of the tests:

Depth Basics  

This function analyses the depth of the environment the user is.

 Kinect Explorer

It gives you an overview of the abilities of the Kinect and lets you test it. 

  Skeletal Viewer

This one shows the movement joints which form a skeleton, which if can recorded can lead to motion capture.

I was looking for an environment 3D scanner and came across two:
Reconstructme and
Skanect

Reconstructme seems to work but kept losing the tracker. This might be due to the dim lights in my room. Skanect refused to work. Will be giving it another go tomorrow. But seems to produce nice effects from people who managed to get it to work.

Skanect workspace

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Whilst researching for the possibility for motion capture, I can across an application called Bloop which works with Blender [ideal!]. I didn't manage to get it to work with the few attempts I had though. I will have to test KSimmulator 's attempt.

Bloop being tested

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What I have been doing this week_ City

For my project, there will be an urban landscape. I tried the city generator for Blender[image below], the results could be interesting but a bit too random. So went and designed a whole city from scratch using the particles system. The over all result was worth the effort as you could add reflective mirrors and adjust the height of buildings etc... The test renders were made from render cycles[will have to get used to it as apparently the normal render in Blender won't be included in future releases].

Suicidator City Generator

The renders below are from the Cycles engine:

What I have been doing this week_ Portfolio

I have been thinking of the layout of my portfolio and I thought it would be a good idea to keep it themed to the project I am doing.

Video games nowadays are best played on screens with a 16:9 aspect ratio as it offers better viewing angles [especially for adventure games]. It was good to learn that previously 4:3 and 16:10 aspect ratios were common for games before the HD era.

So, with a ratio of 16:9, I thought it will be good to add a gripping length of 50mm on either end to stay in the concept of gaming. My resulting portfolio pages are 519x236mm as illustrated above.

Below are some of the pages I have be working and re working on to fit the format. This is a work in progress, annotations will be added.

Kinect acquired!

I finally got myself a microsoft kinect which I am hoping test and use for my project this year. The things I am hoping it will help is with point cloud 3D scanning, tracking and to some extent motion capture.

Apartment of the future

A former star of BBC hit TV show Dragons' Den wants to revolutionise the property market by building luxury homes boasting several 'rooms' inside a tiny studio flat space.

Simon Woodroffe has created a home which offers four times the rooms within the confines of a typical one-bedroom flat.

His YO! Home prototype works by hiding rooms which then appear at the touch of a button or the pull of a wall - with an amazing bedroom lowered down from the ceiling.

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The Scale of the Universe 2

An amazing website showing how insignificant we are! Follow the link below:

http://htwins.net/scale2/

Google Glass

DAN FORBES FOR TIME

Glass is, simply put, a computer built into the frame of a pair of glasses, and it’s the device that will make augmented reality part of our daily lives. With the half-inch (1.3 cm) display, which comes into focus when you look up and to the right, users will be able to take and share photos, video-chat, check appointments and access maps and the Web. Consumers should be able to buy Google Glass by 2014.

For more follow: Google Glass

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Thesis outline proposal + Diagram

Above is my thesis outline proposal and its diagram. It was quite tricky to design the diagram as all my attempts ended up being drawings.

My thesis will be experimenting on the technology available at the moment and will try an envision the future technology for gaming in an urban environment. The thesis project will put in visual aesthetic the experiments undertaken in the thesis. The thesis and the thesis project work will overlap to create an animation as my end project.

Animating Using the Kinect Point Cloud as Reference

Brazilian artist Jomário Murta used multiple Microsoft Kinects to generate a sequence of point clouds (a set of points in 3D space) as reference for creating animation. The process is akin to motion capture, but not the same:

      This is something like animating over the videos. Just like we usually do as 
      reference for timing and more complex movements. The difference is that I 
      can animate three-dimensionally “inside” the video; the advantage instead 
      of mocap is that the animation process is more free, where I can easily 
      exaggerate the movements and play a lot with the poses without
      compromising my style of animation.

Murta admits that he is still in a research phase and hasn’t figured out any practical applications for the technique, but that’s to be expected of any exploration of a new technology. The results are promising thus far, and it’ll be interesting to see how he and others build on the process.

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Video Game Anatomy

Super Mario

The Super Mario Bros Anatomy shows what one of the most popular video game characters is really made of…or would have if he was real.

Xbox 360 Controller Anatomy

Another great design is the Xbox 360 Controller Anatomy which many Xbox fans would agree makes sense as this controller practically becomes part of you when you play.

PS3 Controller Anatomy

Just like the Xbox controller, the PS3 Controller Anatomy is a way to prove to Playstation fans that their favorite consoles are an actual breathing specimen.

AnatoWii

The Wii Console Anatomy is a beautiful creation that shows what our actual Nintendo consoles look like inside.

Sackboy Anatomy

If you ever wondered why Sackboy is so lovable, the Sackboy Anatomy shows that he is just like a human being…and is just as fragile.

Pacman

This Pacman Tattoo and Pacman Skull do not necessarily show too much of the famous character’s anatomy, but it is a start.

Classic Characters

Mr Potato Head

We have seen a variety of crazy Mr. Potato Head Designs before, but the Potato Head Anatomy is by far the most entertaining and creative of the bunch.

Stay Puft Marshamallow Man

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Anatomy by Jason brings back many memories (both good and bad), and also provides intricate details never seen before.

Domo Kun

We love Domo here at Walyou, and the anatomy of Domo by Mr. Freeny is a wonderful addition.

Lego Figurine

We all remember the Lego Figurines from our childhood, but we never would have thought this is what they were made from as Jason clearly illustrates.

Gummy Bear

Many would argue that a Gummy Bear is made up of many ingredients that aren’t necessarily healthy, but with Jason’s presentation…they seem harmless.

Nemo

Another popular character is Nemo the fish, with its anatomy shown in a great sculpture by Freeny.

Toy Story Alien

Without too much actual lines in the movies, the Toy Story alien became extremely popular, but I am sure kids won’t like Jason’s Anatomy image as Geeks would.

Gingerbread Man

Fans of Gingerbread Sculptures would appreciate the new version of the Gingerbread Man, as presented by Jason Freeny again.

Goldfish

Being as crunchy as they usually are, no one would expect the Goldfish anatomy to look as seen here.

Hello Kitty

Geeky girls will probably not appreciate seeing the insides of the famous Kitty, but the amazing details may assist in saving a life in the future.

My Little Pony

The colorful pony makes its return with a detailed sculpture by Mr. Freeny which breaks it down for Science girls.

Balloon Animal

I always thought that Balloon Animals are filled with air, but according to Jason…that is just a myth.

The Great White Shark

A 3D White Shark Toy which is actually realistic and could help with your Anatomy studies.

Inside our Favorite Gadgets

iPhone 4 Anatomy

While there is an actual Disassembly Video of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 4 Anatomy shows there are real organs within the popular Apple device.

Android Mascot

For those who aren’t iPhone fans, Android is the next choice, and this cool Android Anatomy makes the mascot a little more human.

Canon 5D Mark II

Camera enthusiasts have always dreamed of knowing what makes their camera tick, and with this additional design from Mads Peitersen it is finally in simple view.

1210 Turntable

Another great creation from Mads is this beautiful Turntable, which would probably excite DJ’s and retro Vinyl fans.

Inside our Toasters

There are many different Toaster Designs, but the Toaster Anatomy makes you wonder who or what is toasting your bread in the morning.

Additional Cartoon Sketches

Here are some great cartoon sketches by Michael Paulus that present Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Betty Boop, Fred Flinstone and even Pikachu.

Bonus:

Rectum Bar

The amazing Rectum Bar in Vienna “…takes its shape from the human digestive system: starting with the tongue, continuing to the stomach, moving through the small and the large intestines and exiting through the anus.”

Thug Life

A funny image of an urban thug’s anatomy.

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