Core skills and abilities (1.1)
My specialist area
My specialist areas would be a 2D artist, script writer, concept artist and storyboard creator.
2D artist:
I chose the 2D artist because I have always enjoyed drawing and creating 2D art when I was a kid, I was also inspired from the cartoons I watched like “adventure time”, “Batman” and “Justice League” and how those shows styles vary; I would like to further improve my drawing skills and style when working on the final major project.
Interactive media ecosystem (1.1)
This week we learnt about the interactive ecosystem, what it contains and how it connects. The ecosystem contains four sections, platforms and media, organisation
and institutions, and sectors.
Main evaluation of dossier
Planning, production and post-production techniques and processes I used to create an effective media product:
We used facebook group chat to keep communication between all the team members through out the processes of creating the dossier, this way we can keep the work we are doing consistent, be able to give each other work over the weekend to do for the dossier and be able to find out whether someone is in or not.
A process we did in post-production is testing the dossier worked, we would be testing the navigation, the buttons, the image sequences and audio files. We also asked other people to go through the dossier so we can a fresh pear of eyes on it, simulating the dossier being viewed by the public audience, this way we can note down any problems the view sees that we can’t.
Describe you project:
The project that we are doing is to create a dossier that is based on a game called Age of Napoleon, the dossier will be used as promotional materiel for the game. The game is based on an alternate timeline where Napoleon found the Tesseract in Egypt and won the battle of Waterloo, now there are three big fractions in this time line, Napoleon’s grand army, The resistance and the spies. The game’s age rating is 12pg, we used this information so we could make our content the same age rating as the game.
What were my goals and expectations?:
My goal was to create a section that would show what kind of state Napoleon is in, both physical and mental; another goal was to create a visually interesting section, which meant putting a lot of work in the images and layout of each page, that way the view would be more interested in the dossier.
An expectation was to make the dossier easy to navigate and each button purpose to be understandable to the view. This way the viewer can have a full experience for each page of the dossier and have no trouble in finding or using what they want.
What is challenging, different and interesting about my media product?:
My media is challenging and interesting to most peoples media because it gives a lot of content that is of its own, connected to a different section of the dossier and contains hints that based on the timeline or based on a specific person e.g. in Napoleon’s health records, it mentions a cancer napoleon gets and recovers from but in the actual timeline of our world, this cancer was cause of Napoleon’s death.
My media is also interesting as it shows visual examples of certain topics such as in the medical record section, it has diagrams of the apparatus that is helping Napoleon stay alive or in the audio device section, there is a 3D model of the device that is actually playing the voice log. This keeps the viewer interested because its not all boring text, it has pictures to visually stimulate viewer.
Who is your ideal target audience?:
Our ideal target audience is people who are potential customers or are new to the product and both will use the promotional material to learn more about the game. The age rating is also aimed at 12+ which means we aim to produce material that is both able to fit in the age rating (keeping violence and language controlled) and is able to please older viewer base such as teens above 12 and young adults.
Why should the audience see/listen to/use my media product?:
They should use my media if they are intending to buy the game we are promoting or are interested and want to learn more before the game, this is because it gives more information about the timeline the game is based on. This way when a viewer who is intending to buy the game or is wondering about it, can understand more about what the game will be about story wise.
What is the message of my media product?:
The message of media product is to create interest in potential customers and to give information of the games story and timeline so the customer has a better understanding of the game, such as who are the three fractions, who is good, who is evil and what kind of technology do they have.
How did my creative decisions help communicate message?:
I used both visual and audio to communicate the messages; I used visual to explain information of the games story and timeline by using the written content to explain who Napoleon is and his grand army, as well as giving brief hints about the rest of the world such as the resistance. I also used visual content to interest potential customers by using pictures to show what kind of technology era they are in and what they have achieved such as sketches of Napoleon’s apparatus and a 3D model of an audio device which plays Napoleon’s voice log.
For audio, I used it to both give interest to the potential customer and to give more information about the games story; I did this by having Napoleon explain how his army works and using the right emotion and language when recording the voice log. This would give information to the viewer about how Napoleon’s army works and also would show the viewer the how main enemy in the game acts and works, making the viewer interest as the main enemy would difficult to defeat there for proposing a challenge to the viewer.
Unit 5 (LO3.1)
What audio problems did I encounter during the production and post-production process?
An audio problem I found was when recording the foley sound of the air pump of Napoleon’s apparatus, the pump’s spout was pointed right into the microphone which meant that the sound recorded would have a very loud noise of the wind exiting the pump.
Another audio problem was also caused by the pump, when recording the pump it would give a little quack when drawing in air which is a sound I do not want for the air pump sound.
An audio problem I also found was when recording the voice logs for the dossier, some word containing P’s, D’s, C’s and S’s can cause popping and sibilance in the audio.
What did I do to solve audio problems you encountered?
To solve the first problem I used the equalizer on audacity to cut out the unnecessary loud sounds of the air, this way you can still hear the air but at an extent.
To solve the second problem I went through the audio file on audacity and carefully looked for each part that made the quack noise, I then highlight it and delete it from the sound file.
To solve the popping and sibilance to can accrue when recording a voice script, I placed myself facing diagonally towards the microphone and kept a good distance from the microphone, not to close to cause a high chance with popping and sibilance and not to far so the voice log would not editing because it was to quiet.
How effective was my final outcome in solving audio-based problems at the end of my creative media project?
They were pretty effective, there was just enough rushing air noise to make it sound like a pump and there were no quacks throughout the sound file, along with any noise jump because of audio I deleted.
The outcome for the solution to the popping and sibilance worked very, there were no issues with popping and sibilance in the voice recording as well as no need to edit the audios sound level because it was to quiet.
How could I make this better?
I cannot do better with the current skills I have with audacity, however I believe I could make it better if I learn more skills and techniques for audacity.
For the outcome of the voice log, nothing really needed improving the recording of it, the audio was clear and easy to understand with no popping or sibilance.
What audio skills have I learned during this project and how can you develop them further for my FMP (Final Major Project)?
I have learned how to use the equalizer and the leveller better on this project and the new skills I have learnt are how to create and use Brownian noise, I can further develop this skill by using it to create sound effects of old speakers in my final major project.
I have learnt how to repeat audio tracks, which I can further develop by using it to have a sound effect be long or put in a loop in my final major project.
I have learnt how to use amplifier to adjust audio sound levels, I can further this skill by adjusting different sound effects sound levels, that way sounds in the final major project aren’t ridiculously loud or quite to their real life counterparts.
I have learnt how to mix multiple sound tracks into one, I can further develop this skill by using it to make workflow more easier when editing audio for the final major project.
I have learnt how to properly record voice audios which I can further improve by using it in the final major project to create voice dialogs and narration, etc.
Unit 6 (LO3.1)
What visual problems did I encounter during the production and post-production process?
One of the visual problems I had was the shading on the 3D model of the audio device, this was cause by the edges of the 3D model. Another visual problem I had was when creating the world map for the plan section, I applied the a pattern of the French flag on the countries Napoleon resided in but when I tried the same thing with the resistance’s flag for the countries they reside in, the resistance’s flag symbol just kept repeating making it look less professional.
Another visual problem I had was when implementing the written content into the dossier, the health record written content was too long to fit on the whole page when trying to keep the font the same size so it could be consistent through out the dossier.
When we began to put all the dossier sections together we discovered that one of our team members did the folder size of the dossier differently to the rest of us, meaning that the dossier had an inconsistency with one of it’s sections.
What did I do to solve visual – based problems I encountered?
To solve the shading problem I went into edit poly and selected vertexes, I then used the connect tool to select two vertexes and connect them with a new edge, this would help the program to calculate the shadowing for the object. I continued to connect and disconnect different vertexes until I reached a point where I was happy.
To solve the map design problem, instead of using the resistance’s flag, I only used the main colour of the flag which was a dark blue that could easily be told apart from the blue of the French flag.
To solve the text problem, I separated the written content into three different text boxes, I then aligned them up with all of them still selected and created a new state. This placed them all into different states so the viewer can see all the written content without it being changed or overlapped; I created two buttons to flick through the states so the viewer would have control on what they wanted to read and for how long.
When solving the inconsistency with the dossier’s section, we decided to keep the inconsistency and change the rest of the dossier to fit because it looked more appealing with its design. This meant that we had to resize all the sections to match one, this meant making the folder the right size then making the rest of the dossier’s content smaller so it would inside the folder.
How effective was my final outcome in solving visual-based problems at the end of your creative media project?
The shading of the 3D model was a lot better than what it was originally, however there was still couple of shading miscalculations left. For the map, it also worked pretty well as it is easy to tell what fraction resides in what country.
Using the states to show all the content worked very well, it is easy to read as the size was not changed and is easy understand how to see the rest of the written content as it uses simple icons that show they go to the next state.
The outcome of resizing the sections to match one turn out very nicely, the design match what we were looking for, a dossier on the table; the reason why we went for that design is because it showed more of the table and looked like the actual size of a real dossier.
How could I make this better?
I think I could have spent more time on connecting the edges of the 3D model, which would have left now shadow errors on the 3D model, however because of time I could not do this.
I also could have created a better design for the resistance’s flag; instead of applying the resistance flag pattern across all the countries they reside in, I could have only applied it to the main country they are located in and use the main colour of the flag across the rest of the countries. Again I was not able to do this because of the little time I had and also realising it at the very end of the project.
I believe the written content does not need any improvement as it is able to do what it is meant to do and it does it the right way.
We could have made it better by using our communication when making the dossier, we should have discussed our ideas for the folder’s size, that way we would need to rush when resizing it all at the very end of the project.
What visual based skills have I learned during this project and how can you develop them further for my FMP?
I have learned how use the pattern tool on Photoshop and how to create new patterns, I can further develop this skill by using the pattern tool when creating the visuals on Photoshop.
I learned how to use edges to fix shadow problems with 3D modelling, which I can develop further by using the technique to fix shadow problems in my 3D model, if I chose to have any 3D models in my final major project.
I learned how to create a wooden texture and a metal texture which I can further improve if I use it to create wooden furniture and metal objects for the final major project.
Unit 7 (LO3.1)
What interactive–based problems did I encounter during the production and post-production process of my creative project?
When creating a buttons for the audio play function, I tried to create it so that when the image is pressed in a certain place (the button), it would flick to another image and then go back. This would act like animation which would show the audio devices button being pressed then depressed, however how to do this I did not know.
When creating the buttons to turn the pages, I used a rollover so it would show a different icon when hovered over; however the problem is when the button was clicked it would return back to the first image and if used on a touch screen it would not show the change.
When using states for one of the pages, there was no way for the viewer to interact and change them in the dossier, meaning that the viewer would not have full access to all the dossier’s content.
What did I do to solve interactive – based problems I encountered?
To solve the audio button problem, I chose to use the image as a button instead of a certain section of the image and used the roll over technique to making so the image would change when hovered over or clicked.
To fix the rollover problem, on the button creator, before deleting the image on the normal image (which is what the button looks like when nothing happens to it), you must also enable the “click image” as well as the “rollover image”. This means that when the image is hovered over or clicked, it would show the image you set.
To solve the problem with the interactions of the states, I created two buttons to go through the states, one would go to the next state, the other would go to the previous state and both were set to not loop when they reach the end of the states. This allowed full control of the states for the viewer.
How effective was my final outcome in solving interactive-based problems at the end of my creative media project?
The final outcome for the audio device was very well done as it was able to show some form of animation when the image was interacted with; I was not able to fully achieve what I wanted but I was still able to get the same effect from it.
The final outcome for the page turning buttons went very well, I was able to achieve what I wanted, which was to have the buttons change when hovered over or clicked and to take the viewer to the next page.
The buttons to interact with the states worked very well, it is easy to understand how to move through the states and it is able to go to each state without any problems.
How could I make this better?
I can make the audio device button better by figuring out why the images won’t lay over each other properly and how to fix this without me moving it into a position that nearly achieves this but is off slightly.
For the page turning buttons, I think they do not need any improving, as they are able to achieve what I want, which is to be able to go to the next and previous buttons whilst changing its image when either clicked or hovered over.
The buttons used for the states are very good but can be improved by having them change when they are interacted by the viewer, such as it’s visual design could change when it is clicked, etc.
What interactive based skills have I learned during this project and how can I develop them further for my FMP?
I have learned how to use states properly in InDesign and I can further improve this skill by using it to create images that change on each page if I decide to use InDesign for the final major project.
I have learned how to use buttons to do specific things such as to play audio or to go to a specific page, I can further develop this by using button for more specific things and finding out new ways to use them if I decide to use InDesign for the final major project.
I have learned how to make even the buttons be interactive by making their visual appearance changed when either clicked or hovered over; this skill can be improved by using the technique to make buttons more appealing when creating buttons for the final major project.
jack hilder interactive media 