After Effects #4

25/02/2016 - Process and Production


Life Is About Balance from Daniel Boscarino on Vimeo.


In this session, I have learned something new which is how to manipulate the camera view of the video in a way that it zooms in and out and at different pace.

For me to get to that part, I had to create the scene of the video, just like the previous After Effect session, I will be using text in my video.

To start off with, I had to think of a quote or saying to use so I decided to use 'Life is about balance' because it is something I usually say so it relates to me. I used Illustrator for the text and I used the 'OCR A Std, Regular' font for this. I had to create separate layers for the font so each word had its own layer so that when I uploaded it on After Effects, I could edit one word at a time separately.

I didn't want just the text to be included in my video otherwise it would look boring so I decided to include a scale because it relates to the word 'balance' and it makes the video look more busy and just plain which I then added a background to it.

I experimented with the scale and the text because I was trying to find a look that I liked. I wanted the scale to move from being unbalanced to balanced so I had to create several layers of the scale and had to change the position of it each time to get that effect.

I decided to go with the see through scale look because I want the viewer's focus to be on the text but at the same time, the scale can be seen slightly which gives it a nice effect.

The next step was uploading everything into After Effects and placing everything in order so I would have each word shown one at a time then the scale appearing during it. I wanted to emphasize the quote and the word 'balance' so I decided to have the words 'about' and 'balance' appearing from the top then moving towards the unbalanced scale then landing on the scale to make it balanced, I achieved this by using the 'transform' - 'position' tool which I have used in the previous sessions to make the words move from top to bottom and I made the scale move by using the different layers that I created on Illustrator and placing them in time with the words.

Finally, it's the part that I have learned today, as shown in the video, the camera of the video seems to zoom in slowly, that was created by the camera settings, I used the 'point of interest' and 'position' tool' as shown in the image below to make it move and zoom in.

Conclusion

I think today's session was useful because I have learned something new which is always good to do. I think knowing how to use the camera settings is vital because the camera view of a video is important, e.g if you want something emphasized, zooming in is a good way to do that because it enlarges what you are trying to emphasize.

I will definitely use this in the future but for now, I feel like I still need some practice with it and After Effects overall, as you can see from the video, there's a lot of work to do to improve it and I feel like the camera might be a bit too slow zooming in.

Design Thinking

25/04/2016 - Lecture

In this lecture, we looked at the different design processes and the different stages. We looked at the double diamond design process which we looked at ages ago, I remember writing a blog post which I included the double diamond process.

There are 7 stages of a design process, I didn't know there were 7 stages, I thought it was just define, research, experiments/development and final design but there are more so I was eager to learn the other stages.

7 stages of the design process -

1) Define
2) Research
3) Ideate
4) Prototype
5) Select
6) Implement
7) Learn


1) Define

The start is about figuring out what the brief is trying to tell you and how you can tackle the problem.

You got to think about your target audience, amount of time you have, budget requirements, what exactly is the problem and how to solve it which is why questions like who, why, where, what, when and how are important, it will make the job easier.

question examples......

- Who is your target audience and client?
- What does your client want from you?
- When is your deadline?
- Where will the design be used?
- Why does the client require a design solution?

Basically, my job is to create a concept or story that conveys a clear message to my target audience, otherwise it wouldn't be successful because if my target audience don't feel something towards the message or don't understand the message then I have failed.
To communicate successfully, my message has to connect with my target audience on a personal level, it could be a solution to a problem they have or just simply to make them laugh.

2) Research

There are different types of research....

 - Primary which is data collected by the researcher e.g me and secondary which is data that already exists.
- Qualitative is facts and reasons and quantitative which is statistics.

The point of research is basically to inspire and influence you. At the end of your research, you should have several ideas in your mind, if your research was effective.

You can normally tell if someone's research was successful or a failure by the ideas they have, which is why having an effective research could be the key to a great idea.


3) Ideate

This part is the ideas you have generated from your research. This stage is where you look at what you have and the ideas you have generated and by the end of this stage, you should have a clear idea or ideas that you have picked to develop further.


4) Prototype

This stage is all about creating a prototype like an example of what your final design could look like, this is key because it will give you an insight of what your final piece will look like and see if you need to make any changes to it. It isn't your final design so mistakes can happen which then can be fixed later on, as long as you have something to show.

Ideally, you should have 3 ideas with which to prototype on so that you have a range of work to pick from in case one goes badly or you /client doesn't like it anymore.


5) Select

This part is where you start to or already select the best work to display.


6) Implement

This stage is where you define and refine your work to get rid of any mistakes and make it as professional and good as possible. This is the stage where you add the finishing touches to your work.


7) Learn

This is the part where you look at your final work and get some feedback from people but also from yourself, ask yourself, what would you do differently next time?, where/what can you improve?, what don't you like?, what do you like about it? and have you solved the problem?

These questions are vital to ask yourself so next time you will be more prepared and know where you went wrong so you won't make the same mistake.


Conclusion

I have learned the different design stages there are. I found this information useful because I can use it when I'm doing a project, I can ask myself questions to help me understand what the problem is and how I can start solving the problem.

I have learned how important it is to ask questions and to answer them. I have asked myself questions in the past which has helped me but I'm going to continue and ask more questions to myself.

I like the last stage which is 'Learn' because I like to keep improving myself and the only way I can do that is by looking at my previous works and look at what and how I can improve certain aspects of my skills. I can do the same with this blog by looking at previous blog posts and improving them.

Cinema 4D

28/04/2016 - Process and Production


This session was about Cinema 4D. I have used this software before but only briefly, what I think of it is that I like the different things you can create on it but before this session, I didn't know how to use it.

The first step was obviously getting familiar with the tools on it. I learned what nearly every important tool is used for.

One of the first things I have learned was the render button, where it will render the object you have created and show you what it would look like so it's like a preview which is shown below, the before and after.

The basics

The next step was learning the basics like how to create a shape, how to rotate it, enlarge it and move it which led to learning how to only move the camera and not the shape, this is useful if you want to see the whole of the shape without moving the shape. This is achieved by pressing the number 1 on the keyboard to move it, number 2 to scale it and number 3 to rotate it.

Key information -

- Green - Y axis

- Blue - Z axis

- Red - X axis

The next step was learning how to manipulate the object in a way that I can change the shape of it in anywhere I want. This is achieved by adding segments to the object so it's easier to change each part of the object and the segments can be seen by going to 'display' then 'gouraud shading (lines)' which is shown below. The next image is just me playing around with the object by changing the shape of it, this is achieved by using the 'points', 'edges' and 'polygon' tool on the left side.

How to make an object move?

The first part was creating a shape then making it flexible like bendy which can be done by going to 'bend' then 'object' then 'strength and angle' which is shown in the first image below. The next step is creating a clone of it by going to 'mograph' then 'cloner' then make it the parent of the first shape which is shown in the second image below.

The last part is actually making it move, this is achieved by moving the frame of the time line which is found at the bottom to 0F, go to 'coord' which is found on the right side, this is shown in the second image below then pressing the grey button of 'R.B' which will turn to red. Skip the frame to 90F then change the 'R.B' to 720 degrees and press the grey button again, finally press play and the object will move.

How to sketch, add text and upload a shape created in Illustrator?

Sketching is easy, this can be achieved by going to the 'pen tool' at the top, I learned how to view the sketch in every angle so I know what it looks like which is shown below. The perspective, front, top and right camera can be viewed.

Just like sketching, adding text is easy as well, this can be done by using the text tool. If you want it to look 3D, this can be done by using the 'extrude' tool then the 'null' tool and make that the parent of the text and extrude.

Let's say I want to upload something I have created in Illustrator, I would save the document in Illustrator by saving it as an old file, so instead of 'Illustrator CC', I would save it as 'Illustrator 8' then upload it onto Cinema 4D.

If I wanted to make the shape I created in Illustrator 3D instead of 2D and manipulate it, I would create a rectangle on Cinema 4D then use 'sweep' and make that the parent of the rectangle and the shape, then I would change the dimensions of it, for example, to create the shape in the image below, I made the width smaller than the height to create a hole in the middle.

 The image below was done using the render button that I have learned earlier.

How to add light and shadow?

Light can be created by using the 'light' tool which looks like a light bulb at the top. To control where you want the light, all you have to do is drag it around and to where you want the light, you can have more than one light, as shown in the images below.

You can change the color of the light by going to 'general' at the bottom right then simply change it to what you want.

A floor can be added to make it more realistic which is helpful because it helped me decide where to place the light as I imagined how objects look on the floor which the light on it.

How to add texture to the object?

This can be achieved by going to 'create' then 'new material' which is found at the box at the bottom then drag the object (matt) onto the object, making sure that the object is highlighted, from there, just simply change the colours of the light and object.

Conclusion

In my opinion, this was one of the best sessions I have had. I had fun using Cinema 4D because of the different things I can create and how I can create something 3D/4D to move. I still think I need some time to understand the software but it is a software that I am willing to use next year.

I think I have learned the basics, I feel comfortable enough to create any shape I want, add texture and light to it to make it realistic and make it move. I think that is all I need to know for now.

Overall, I found this session useful because I got an insight of how Cinema 4D works which is useful because it's a software that I will use next year so it was nice to get an idea of how to create something and get some experience from it.

Cv Design Pages

I have done a mindmap of themes or ways that the viewer can set out their CV, some ideas will be from experience and others will be from the research that I have done.

On these pages i have designed objects that the viewer can use for their CV like the drink can which I got from my research because I thought it was creative and different.

I designed the outline of the objects in Illustrator because it was easier for me to draw the outline in Illustrator than Photoshop especially the curved parts by using the ‘curvature tool’. 

I coloured in the objects in Photoshop using the ‘fill tool’.

Typography Pages Experiments (Project)

Typography #2 (Project)

This part is all about the viewer creating their own typography to maybe impress and display their drawing and thinking skills. As an example, I’m using the fonts I created in my Process and Production sessions to visually display the viewer the steps of creating your own fonts, I will show before and after.

I will include tips and advices of how the viewer can create their own typography.

I have only picked some designs as I can't fit all of them in my book, I have picked the ones I feel are the strongest and developed them further.

I have taken some letters and developed them further to show the reader the steps and how they can develop the letters, I have tried to create different versions of the letters with different colours.

I have used Illustrator to create the outline of the letter then copied and pasted it in Photoshop to fill in the gaps with colours.