I dont think anyone would dispute the fact that visualisation is art, especially when it engages more than one of the human senses.
I have an obsession with music visualisation, because it adds to the euphoric experience when you go and see live music. It can tell a story, engage emotion and even disorientate the senses.
Below is Chris Cunninghams visualisation for one of Aphex Twins track. The visualisation for this song is powerful, energetic and very artistic. There are underlying emotions, themes and narratives in this video that can be interpreted differently depending on the viewer. To me that is art.
Chris Cunningham and Aphex Twin
In this video you can see various lighting arrangements and visual display that have been chosen and carefully designed for a reason. Matching with the theme, tempo and energy of the music it gives the user an overpowering experience visually.
Carl cox live ibiza 2009
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Tuesday 25 January 2011
html5 Proposal
We decided to base our HTML5 website on dinosaurs, and therefore make it a fun interactive environment for children. The mock up below shows a simple layout of the way the site may look. Their are five main HTML5 elements that we intend to include. Embedded audio which will autopsy on the load of the page, Embedded video which will be altered by a 3D effect, the canvas element will be used to display different din fact cards, linked to this all data will be 'tagged' to make the page more semantic, and finally we intend to use the local storage element to build up, and display unique user profiles of favourite dinos etc.
Most of the elements we intend to use can be demoed at w3schools, a good example of what we wish to do with our embedded video can be found here, and the fact cards on the canvas element example can be found here.
Most of the elements we intend to use can be demoed at w3schools, a good example of what we wish to do with our embedded video can be found here, and the fact cards on the canvas element example can be found here.
Sunday 16 January 2011
Final Blog Conclusion.
Even though after effects has not been as reliable as I thought it would be, and many hours have been spent searching for solutions to errors, and the dome correction plugin wouldn't work,I'm very proud of myself and my project.
I set out to create an animation with a meaningful cultural narrative that suitably animated to the progression of audio, and that's exactly what it does. After testing on the inflatable dome I can also see that my animation creates a 3d environment from nothing but 2d animations, something I didn't think I would achieve.
Looking back I wish I could have created my project in blender, but I struggled so much, and I think I would have had to come up with a much more simplified idea, and I just didn't want to do that.
Obviously my idea and project are open to opinion but I achieved what I set out to create, and i hope the audience enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
I set out to create an animation with a meaningful cultural narrative that suitably animated to the progression of audio, and that's exactly what it does. After testing on the inflatable dome I can also see that my animation creates a 3d environment from nothing but 2d animations, something I didn't think I would achieve.
Looking back I wish I could have created my project in blender, but I struggled so much, and I think I would have had to come up with a much more simplified idea, and I just didn't want to do that.
Obviously my idea and project are open to opinion but I achieved what I set out to create, and i hope the audience enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Blog 11. Question time.
Why didn't I use blender?
When using blender I felt I just couldn't get to grips with the simplest of tutorials, and i knew it would hinder my idea greatly. Also I had not seen any current projects where someone had related audio and video effectively with a 3d package. My idea was also very abstract and colourful when I thought about it, and its something blender couldn't give me in such a small time with a high learning curve.
Why did I use after effects?
Very easy to get to grips with, and much more suited to my project than blender. With a vast array of plug-ins and tutorials it seemed silly not to choose After effects. While i did run into small errors here and there they were easily solved by an overwhelming user community on the web.
What would i do differently?
I would have loved to have spent alot more time fine tuning my project, but the deadline was a factor obviously.
In the time we had i managed to teach myself After effects and produce an animation which im very proud of.
Although it is not dome corrected due to the plugin refusing to work with my animation, I think I've done a good job of creating a 3d immersive animation that is visually exciting.
When using blender I felt I just couldn't get to grips with the simplest of tutorials, and i knew it would hinder my idea greatly. Also I had not seen any current projects where someone had related audio and video effectively with a 3d package. My idea was also very abstract and colourful when I thought about it, and its something blender couldn't give me in such a small time with a high learning curve.
Why did I use after effects?
Very easy to get to grips with, and much more suited to my project than blender. With a vast array of plug-ins and tutorials it seemed silly not to choose After effects. While i did run into small errors here and there they were easily solved by an overwhelming user community on the web.
What would i do differently?
I would have loved to have spent alot more time fine tuning my project, but the deadline was a factor obviously.
In the time we had i managed to teach myself After effects and produce an animation which im very proud of.
Although it is not dome corrected due to the plugin refusing to work with my animation, I think I've done a good job of creating a 3d immersive animation that is visually exciting.
Blog 10. Finishing off.
Design
Credits
The music has climaxed, the animation is done, and hopefully the audience have gained a good experience form it. So now all that's left is to title my animation and give thanks to the artist of the song.
I called my animation 'ideas of life' because I related to the themes and ideology of 'ideas' and 'life' throughout, so it made sense.
Credits
The music has climaxed, the animation is done, and hopefully the audience have gained a good experience form it. So now all that's left is to title my animation and give thanks to the artist of the song.
I called my animation 'ideas of life' because I related to the themes and ideology of 'ideas' and 'life' throughout, so it made sense.
Blog 9. Climax
Design
Technical
At the time of storyboarding I wasn't sure how I was going to animate the 16 seconds of audio in which the music climaxes. I just knew that i wanted lots of colour and movement to represent the concept of an idea being destroyed.
I finally decided to use trapcode particular as it was something I knew how to use by now, be it very basically. The particles move towards the audience with a motion blur effect applied to give a deeper sense of movement. The velocity increases as the audio becomes more intense in the build up and fades as it drops.
Narrative
By this point the entire colour scheme has changed, just like the narrative. Instead of having the calm blue lighting I used earlier on in my animation, I used a white light on a black background, that you can almost associate with death, while that is dark, it is representing the death of the artists idea concluding with a visual explosion.
The words " and destroyed just as easily" appear concluding the sentence left open at the start. I wanted to send a message to the audience that we can all relate to without being a pretentious wally. However I may have done just that, still its something i had to include so that the audience realise they aren't just looking at a collection of different animations with no meaning.
Technical
At the time of storyboarding I wasn't sure how I was going to animate the 16 seconds of audio in which the music climaxes. I just knew that i wanted lots of colour and movement to represent the concept of an idea being destroyed.
I finally decided to use trapcode particular as it was something I knew how to use by now, be it very basically. The particles move towards the audience with a motion blur effect applied to give a deeper sense of movement. The velocity increases as the audio becomes more intense in the build up and fades as it drops.
Narrative
By this point the entire colour scheme has changed, just like the narrative. Instead of having the calm blue lighting I used earlier on in my animation, I used a white light on a black background, that you can almost associate with death, while that is dark, it is representing the death of the artists idea concluding with a visual explosion.
The words " and destroyed just as easily" appear concluding the sentence left open at the start. I wanted to send a message to the audience that we can all relate to without being a pretentious wally. However I may have done just that, still its something i had to include so that the audience realise they aren't just looking at a collection of different animations with no meaning.
Blog 8. Deeper and darker.
Design
At this point in the animation the screen needs to be completely black to show the loss of an idea.
Technical
By the time of 2.01 the animation needs to be completely black. This is because of reasons explained below but also due to the audio being at its most minimal point right before its main build up. As you can probably tell this was the easiest part of the animation.
Narrative
At this point the artist has lost the idea, and things begin to go wrong in his/her mind. This is why the opacity of the orb and particle system fade out until the point of 2.01. It also creates suspense because the audience know that the climax of the song is yet to come.
At this point in the animation the screen needs to be completely black to show the loss of an idea.
Technical
By the time of 2.01 the animation needs to be completely black. This is because of reasons explained below but also due to the audio being at its most minimal point right before its main build up. As you can probably tell this was the easiest part of the animation.
Narrative
At this point the artist has lost the idea, and things begin to go wrong in his/her mind. This is why the opacity of the orb and particle system fade out until the point of 2.01. It also creates suspense because the audience know that the climax of the song is yet to come.
Blog 7. Final idea
Design
Technical
On paper a glowing orb is a simple concept, digitally, not so much. The movement of both the orb and particle system was a simple task. I simply used keyframes to move the camera and composition along the X,Y and Z axis.
Creating the orb and streaks was hard and required multiple tutorials. However with enough willpower i gained a result Im quite proud of. The orbs are in fact 2 solid layers with different opacity's and feather lengths to create a glow effect.
The streaks of purple colour were created using the pen tool, polarised and then linked to a singular Null object so they could be manipulated.
Narrative
Two very important aspects need to be visualised at this point of the animation (1 min 31 seconds).
First of all when the Techno synth comes in at 1.31, part of the animation needs to visually match the beat.
I tried very hard to use Trapcode soundkeyes at this point to animate the streaks of purple colour, however this required a considerable amount of ram to provide enough keyframes, required for the segment of audio i wished to relate to the animation. So i kept the streaks animated how i started them, by simply rotating and emitting them around the singular orb to create a visually exciting array of colour and light.
My way around this was to use a particle system moving at a velocity and direction that suited the progression and tempo of the audio, which I think it does quite well.
Secondly, this is the point where the artist has compiled all of his/her thoughts and settled on a final idea. So being an 'artist' the animation needed a good use of color, lighting and movement. Now again reprsenting an idea is hard when it isnt a visual entity, however keeping with the lighbulb theme i created a singular glowing orb with streaks of color radiating from the centre.
This is also where the narrative starts to switch. Up till this point the narrative has been of a positive theme, but this is where it begins to turn negative. I wanted this part to represent an idea being stolen/ destroyed or even forgotten about because this is when the audio begins to break down. This is why the 'idea'( glowing orb) and the artists ' motivation/enthusiasm' (Particle system) move in different directions to show that the relationship between them is being lost and simply to utilize all of the domes space.
Technical
On paper a glowing orb is a simple concept, digitally, not so much. The movement of both the orb and particle system was a simple task. I simply used keyframes to move the camera and composition along the X,Y and Z axis.
Creating the orb and streaks was hard and required multiple tutorials. However with enough willpower i gained a result Im quite proud of. The orbs are in fact 2 solid layers with different opacity's and feather lengths to create a glow effect.
The streaks of purple colour were created using the pen tool, polarised and then linked to a singular Null object so they could be manipulated.
Narrative
Two very important aspects need to be visualised at this point of the animation (1 min 31 seconds).
First of all when the Techno synth comes in at 1.31, part of the animation needs to visually match the beat.
I tried very hard to use Trapcode soundkeyes at this point to animate the streaks of purple colour, however this required a considerable amount of ram to provide enough keyframes, required for the segment of audio i wished to relate to the animation. So i kept the streaks animated how i started them, by simply rotating and emitting them around the singular orb to create a visually exciting array of colour and light.
My way around this was to use a particle system moving at a velocity and direction that suited the progression and tempo of the audio, which I think it does quite well.
Secondly, this is the point where the artist has compiled all of his/her thoughts and settled on a final idea. So being an 'artist' the animation needed a good use of color, lighting and movement. Now again reprsenting an idea is hard when it isnt a visual entity, however keeping with the lighbulb theme i created a singular glowing orb with streaks of color radiating from the centre.
This is also where the narrative starts to switch. Up till this point the narrative has been of a positive theme, but this is where it begins to turn negative. I wanted this part to represent an idea being stolen/ destroyed or even forgotten about because this is when the audio begins to break down. This is why the 'idea'( glowing orb) and the artists ' motivation/enthusiasm' (Particle system) move in different directions to show that the relationship between them is being lost and simply to utilize all of the domes space.
Blog 6. Flying through the clouds.
Design
Technical
To create the cloud fly though was a hard task but one that I enjoyed the most. I had seen previous work where a cloud fly through was used as footage, but I wanted to go further. I wanted a digital cloud fly through that conformed to the aesthetic of my animation. The clouds are simply one image made in photoshop but alter in size, rotation and position to give the effect that they are all slightly different.
So the same image has been duplicated many times and placed accordingly on the scene. To create the effect of 'moving' through the clouds I used a camera and a null object to slowly move through the Z axis to give the perception of clouds moving towards the screen. The clouds also alter in size so that it gives the impression that some are further away than others.
Narrative
Each cloud represents different thoughts by a digital artist was to what to do to his/her idea. Thinking about an idea is a long and perhaps slow process and that is why the clouds move slowly towards the screen, as well as keeping with the progression of the audio. The flythrough ends with focusing on one cloud to represent a chosen theme for an idea and this paves the way the cell animation at 1 minute 31 seconds.
The orbs fly away from the audience and into the clouds, I wanted this part to represent high aspirations of a digital artist. Not only this but it effectively adds to the depth of field.
Technical
To create the cloud fly though was a hard task but one that I enjoyed the most. I had seen previous work where a cloud fly through was used as footage, but I wanted to go further. I wanted a digital cloud fly through that conformed to the aesthetic of my animation. The clouds are simply one image made in photoshop but alter in size, rotation and position to give the effect that they are all slightly different.
So the same image has been duplicated many times and placed accordingly on the scene. To create the effect of 'moving' through the clouds I used a camera and a null object to slowly move through the Z axis to give the perception of clouds moving towards the screen. The clouds also alter in size so that it gives the impression that some are further away than others.
Narrative
Each cloud represents different thoughts by a digital artist was to what to do to his/her idea. Thinking about an idea is a long and perhaps slow process and that is why the clouds move slowly towards the screen, as well as keeping with the progression of the audio. The flythrough ends with focusing on one cloud to represent a chosen theme for an idea and this paves the way the cell animation at 1 minute 31 seconds.
The orbs fly away from the audience and into the clouds, I wanted this part to represent high aspirations of a digital artist. Not only this but it effectively adds to the depth of field.
Blog 5. Representing an idea visually.
Design
Technical
Creating the orbs was tricky. Its something i had never done before, and quickly found that I would need certain plug-ins(Trapcode lux, Trapcode Particular) to create the effect I wanted. The orbs grow lighter in intensity as the music progresses.
Getting the orbs to move in 3d was simple. Using camera movement and key frames, I moved the orbs further away on the Z axis.
Narative
Visually representing anything that happens within the human mind is no easy task due to the fact Everyone has a different perception on how the mind works. So keeping with the light bulb concept and staying true to the minimal nature of the audio I designed two glowing orbs. The only reason that there is two is to create a more visually appealing animation. However in the animation the speed, direction and behaviour of the orbs change multiple times to the time of the audio. This is to represent an 'idea' within the mind of a digital artist being changed many times. Be it a technical reason, or a time saving reason, its something all IDAT students can certainly relate to.
I tried to utilize as much of the space I could, not only to create a depth of field but so that the orbs visually represent the 'idea' travelling to different areas of the brain.
Technical
Creating the orbs was tricky. Its something i had never done before, and quickly found that I would need certain plug-ins(Trapcode lux, Trapcode Particular) to create the effect I wanted. The orbs grow lighter in intensity as the music progresses.
Getting the orbs to move in 3d was simple. Using camera movement and key frames, I moved the orbs further away on the Z axis.
Narative
Visually representing anything that happens within the human mind is no easy task due to the fact Everyone has a different perception on how the mind works. So keeping with the light bulb concept and staying true to the minimal nature of the audio I designed two glowing orbs. The only reason that there is two is to create a more visually appealing animation. However in the animation the speed, direction and behaviour of the orbs change multiple times to the time of the audio. This is to represent an 'idea' within the mind of a digital artist being changed many times. Be it a technical reason, or a time saving reason, its something all IDAT students can certainly relate to.
I tried to utilize as much of the space I could, not only to create a depth of field but so that the orbs visually represent the 'idea' travelling to different areas of the brain.
Blog 4. The first 16 seconds.
Design
Technical
To do this part was fairly simple. By using 2 lens flares I animated the brightness and opacity over the course of the first 16 seconds of audio. The audio changes to a more harmonic tone at 16 seconds and this is why the light dims at this point, to show that an idea has been formed. The blue colour and cloudiness of the scene give the light atmosphere and depth, something of which is essential for a truly immersive animation.
Narrative
For my idea to work the first 16 seconds had to represent the birth of an idea within the mind of a digital artist.We as society generally represent someone having an idea as a light bulb switching on. I adapted this in my animation.
Technical
To do this part was fairly simple. By using 2 lens flares I animated the brightness and opacity over the course of the first 16 seconds of audio. The audio changes to a more harmonic tone at 16 seconds and this is why the light dims at this point, to show that an idea has been formed. The blue colour and cloudiness of the scene give the light atmosphere and depth, something of which is essential for a truly immersive animation.
Narrative
For my idea to work the first 16 seconds had to represent the birth of an idea within the mind of a digital artist.We as society generally represent someone having an idea as a light bulb switching on. I adapted this in my animation.
Saturday 15 January 2011
Blog 3. Storyboard, final idea and narrative.
I wanted to create a meaningful narrative, something that i and others can relate to. So instead of trying to come up with an idea, i made my narrative about the theme of ideas themselves. So my animation would visually represent the thought process of an idea that a digital artist has. Going through the process of the idea being born, taking shape and finally being changed/ killed. I think this is an interesting narrative because we as digital artists are constantly thinking of new and creative ideas but yet have to change them or forget about them for various reasons. I want to capture that visually.
I have not had much experience with either Blender or After effects, but after struggling to get with blender even to do the basics I felt after effects would enable me to fully realise my idea.
So now I had my idea I had to gain a decent amount of knowledge on after effects in a small amount of time.
Ae tuts and video co pilot were a huge help in my quest to find help on After effects.
http://ae.tutsplus.com/
http://www.videocopilot.net/
I have not had much experience with either Blender or After effects, but after struggling to get with blender even to do the basics I felt after effects would enable me to fully realise my idea.
So now I had my idea I had to gain a decent amount of knowledge on after effects in a small amount of time.
Ae tuts and video co pilot were a huge help in my quest to find help on After effects.
http://ae.tutsplus.com/
http://www.videocopilot.net/
Friday 14 January 2011
Blog 2. Choosing the audio
Music taste differs from person to person, so its not a good idea to start using a song just because you think it’s good, others may disagree and this would bring down my whole idea. Anyway here is my choice.
While this might im sure that it can be appreciated. For me personally this is one the greatest songs in the genre of minimal techno. Its progressive and simplistic beat takes me away and i want to recreate that feeling visually.
Existing work and inspiration.
Theres a lot of similar work all over the internet, but all in the same style. Most people use trapcode soundkeyes to form a relationship between the visuals and the bass/treble of a song. It produces results like this.
Both interesting to look at, but neither immersive or 3D. Also neither of them have a narrative which is something I want to utilize in my project. So now it was time to storyboard a general idea.
Existing work and inspiration.
Theres a lot of similar work all over the internet, but all in the same style. Most people use trapcode soundkeyes to form a relationship between the visuals and the bass/treble of a song. It produces results like this.
Both interesting to look at, but neither immersive or 3D. Also neither of them have a narrative which is something I want to utilize in my project. So now it was time to storyboard a general idea.
Monday 10 January 2011
1.Re-presenting Reality: First thoughts...
Brief.
“Produce a short film for the IVT, which encapsulates an interpretation, or explores an aspect of perception and representation. We have primarily focused on visual perception, but you are welcome to consider all elements within the perceptual field. Through the lecture series you should develop an understanding of theoretical foundations of perceptual development and capacity - particularly those relating to the embodiment in perception: biological, physical, cultural, social, and environmental factors, which are active in visual processes.”
First thoughts...
I found it hard to imagine exactly what I wanted to create for this brief because I had so many ideas but no real connectivity between them. I wanted to utilize something I have a great passion for in my project. I also knew I wanted to work heavily with audio at some point during my time on the course, so naturally I thought that this could be a great chance to.
Music is one of my biggest passions, from the intricate formations of minimal techno to the heaviness of drum and bass. Whatever the genre I am amazed that different styles of music can engage certain emotions and body language. I wanted to tap into this and create a visually provocative animation driven by a suitable audio track.
So in my mind I started piecing together what I could do and with what genre. So the next task was to look at examples of similar work, and choose the perfect song.
This is my favourite music video of all time and the main source of inspiration for choosing an audio animation. In my opinion this is such a good song and what I consider to be a truly original idea. Directed by Michel Gondry, it creates the effect of a continuous train journey using several bits of footage. However each visual element represents a different beat in the audio. It’s quite obvious that the amount of time that went into this project is substantial and something I will not be able to do. However my ideology is the same to an extent. I want my animation to be in time with the music and certain elements to react based on the bass or treble on the track.
So to keep my workload down, i knew i had to choose a minimal track.
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