Techniques

In the end, I only used two programmes. Maya and After Effects.

Maya is a programme that allows you to create 3D models on a computer, which is how I was able to model my designs. I was taught how to use Maya from the very start of my course; in year one we modelled a interactive map, that we could transfer to a programme called unity (E3 used this programme to make one of there games called, Assassins Creed ® unity) which we could walk around in and experience something we created ourselves. I find Maya to be a complicated programme to use, due to the many tools and the many mistakes you can make, however I’m glad that I learned how to use it because I will need it for university. The advantage to using Maya is that I could create a 3D object that I could animate and put into my advert.

After Effects is a programme used for Visual Effects, which is where I created a 3D dimension as my background (which I discovered by myself by experimenting with the options and effects) and other effects like the text and transitions. I learnt how to use this programme in year two, where we had to create a title sequence for a James Bond film we made a title to, I very much enjoyed this project which Is why I decided to use this for my final major project. However there are disadvantages to this programme, if you used to much data or the computer was to slow, the programme would shut down and try to restart itself, which meant all my progress would be lost. To overcome this problem, I saved every time I knew I was going to do something complicated, which also meant I ended up with a lot of saves; that I had to number to keep track. But from this experience, I now know a better way to present my work in a class or presentation, rather than using PowerPoint.

Week 5

On the fifth week I began experimenting on the different camera angles I could use and the different ways I could get my model to interact with the objects. The first time i began shooting, i didn’t use a green screen; so when i began test the scenes in After Effects, i had to use the rotobrush tool for every frame, which did consume most of my time but it did what i needed, which was to mask the background, so i only had the model. Taking what I learned from the first shoot, i brought the green screen with me when i did another shoot; and this time when i was editing in after effect, it was quick and easy to do because i only had to use key-light, which removes the colour green with in the scene, hence the use of a green screen.

 

This scene, shows my dad stomping his foot, i asked him to do this because i believed i needed a way to activate the bag, but in the end i didn’t use this scene, because it was at the wrong angle and i couldn’t find a way to bind this scene with the others and find a effect that would make the shield appear.

This is a scene that i might consider using; it took me awhile to use the rotobrush for each frame in this video. I wished i had thought of using my green screen for this to make it look more effective which is why i am reluctant to use this shot.

 I liked the camera angle in this scene, however i couldn’t make it fit naturally with the 3d background because it was stationary, so the shot would be cut off and glide across the screen; i had this same problem when i did a 360 around the model, the camera would shake and the tracking would effect it because the scene would float into the air.