In this week I have made several materials through Substance Designer based upon the main structure of my environment building Siheyuan:
Hence, here is my testing result showing traditional Chinese bricks, red wood, roof tiles:
Here are my pipelines of building up different materials in Substance Designer:
Black_Roof_Tile
2. Red_Acrylic_Paint
3. STONE_BRICKS
4. Big_White_Bricks
In the following week, I will be focused on finishing the texturing of the whole building, and import it into my UE5 project. Also, I will be tested out how to customize my Paragon in UE5 based upon the character I have.
In this week, I keep focusing on the modelling of my architecture and gradually moving on to UV wrapping & adding subdivision level. Below are screenshots showing my progression:
I make sure the topology of each building is clean and looking right:
I make sure the inside of the building having a space and looking right in its topology:
The courtyard has a group of stone furniture as a decoration based on my reference:
I make sure there is no triangles or N-gons in my scene:
I started the UV wrapping of my model before adding their subdivision level, and I used the UDIM to organize them as several groups to be imported into UE5:
Here are my other UDIM groups based on my models:
In next week I will be finishing cleaning up the scene, finishing the UV wrapping and UDIMS, started building materials to be used of my architectures, and then starting doing textures.
Carrying on with developing the rest of the proposal Here is today’s feedback: -thinking of the other subtitles like ‘creativity and exploitation’ -no need to put page numbers for article journal in my citation
-check italics again (of the citation) -check how anthropomorphism developed for children’s animation under the cultural influences -I can use other parts in the animation as counter arguments in my topic, not only anthropomorphism is used to develop the comedy or genre of the film -start my research design/ abstract
In this week I have been focused on adjusting the blocking of my animation with the weekly feedback, and gradually moving onto making my animation SPLINED. Here are some notes I have done below.
A few adjustments I have done based on the feedback:
Giving time for my character to observe the mushroom
Selecting everything first o Key every two frames o Working with setting showing ‘AUTO &AUTO’, turning blocking to AUTO as well–> it’s splined
– Starting from the transformation and rotation of the root
o Picking a nice section and make it digestible o Work section by section with all controllers o 30-40 frames each time? o Thinking what my character is thinking o Looking for whooshing motion, tightening everything o Do nice clean shape of the graph
In this session, we have went through different topics and videos, here are my notes:
To read things more efficiently, there are no short ways; the more we read, the quicker we would become, and the more familiar we will be with the chosen topics.
Check paper topics, abstract, refined information
using Mendeley desktop
reading introduction, checking the beginning of each paragraph.
Always reading supporting papers after reading key papers.
Research Design:
It is the method of organization and data collection that a researcher applies to a project or study.
It can provide instructions for collecting, analyzing and measuring data effectively.
I can choose an effective research design by considering my research problem, which is the specific topic or knowledge gap that my research aims to address.
We could include my research question and research design selection in the introduction of my paper.
I can choose a research design by reviewing the methods other research papers used and learning about different types of research designs.
20 Types of Research Design:
Exploratory research design:
don’t have a clearly defined problem to study
is less structured
a guide to uncover your research problem
Observational research design *
emphasizes observing my research topic without altering any variables
observing behaviors or phenomena and record them rather than conducting an experiment
Descriptive research design *
to describe a research topic
useful when I need more information about my topic
understand the “what,” “where,” “when” and “how” of my research topic, excluding ‘why’
Case study *
analyses of real-world situations to understand and evaluate past problems and solutions
test how an idea applies to real life
Action research design
involves initial exploratory analysis and the development of an action strategy
focuses on finding solutions, making it practical for many research topics
Experimental research design
to test how different factors affect a situation
very versatile
uses the scientific method
elements included: Hypothesis/ Independent variable/ Dependent variable/ Control variable
Causal research design
to identify and understand relationships between variables
involves at at least two variables and explore many possible reasons for a relationship between variables
Correlational research design
identifies relationships between variables like casual research design
measures variables but do not alter them
Diagnostic research design
attempts to find the underlying factors that cause events or phenomena to occur
to understand what’s causing problems so I can find solutions
Cross-sectional research design
another type of observational research design
observing multiple individuals at the same point in time
does not alter variables
Sequential research design *
divides research into stages
complete sequential research at multiple points in time, study phenomena that occur over periods
Cohort research design
commonly used in medicine
examining research subjects who have already been exposed to a research topic, making it especially effective for conducting ethical research on medical topics or risk factors
Historical research design
use past data to test your hypothesis
relies on historical data like archives, maps, diaries and logs
useful for completing trend analysis or gathering context for a research problem
Field research design
observe subjects in natural environments
collect data directly from real-world situations
Systematic review
involves reviewing existing evidence and analyzing data from existing studies
use previous research to come up with new conclusions
Survey
use surveys to gather information directly from your sample population
including interviews, online forms, focus groups, and questionnaires.
Meta-analysis research design
uses a variety of populations from different existing studies
use previous research to form new conclusions
Mixed-method research design *
combine multiple research methods to create the best path for a specific research project
include both qualitative and quantitative research methods
Longitudinal research design
involves observing the same sample repeatedly over a period of time
Philosophical research design
analyze and understand your research problem
builds on philosophical argumentation techniques
In a research proposal, the author demonstrates how and why their research is relevant to their field. They demonstrate that the work is necessary to achieve the following: • Filling a gap in the existing body of research on their subject • Underscoring existing research on their subject, and/or • Adding new, original knowledge to the academic community’s existing understanding of their subject Your research proposal also must explain the following • The research methodology you plan to use. The tools and procedures you will use to collect, analyse, and interpret the data you collect • Limitations or constraints that =are come with conducting it through your institution, department, or academic program
Golden Thread: (How I’m tying my thesis together to answer my research questions and addressing the research problems)
part 1: Concepts
What is the central argument in my research
Be reasonable with the ‘so what’ question
Take the reader from problem to solution, by aligning chapters with each other and tying it all back to our research problem.
Part 2: How to practically apply the golden thread
Place my title on the footer of my dissertation or thesis, it helps me to study with my topic when I write things.
Perform Alignment
Create a criterion by having a very clear title
Highlighting important parts in my title, using them as my checklist and keywords
Creating primary and secondary research questions (Chapters) based on the research problems
check primary and secondary research questions with my checklist, if anything we didn’t address, we need to add another chapter.
Literature Review: including points to resolve the research questions.
Check topics in the Lit Review match with my checklist main titles and my previews primary and secondary research questions.
Add points in Lit Review if there is lack of allignment to our previous checklist and topics.
Part 3: How to weave the golden thread in my research design
Research Design and Method chapter:
Having title, problem statement and research questions, points in literature review in prepared
Checklist main topics, key concepts in primary/ secondary question problems/ Literature Review Points
Think how would I be able to approach my written topics/ concepts (check 20 ways of doing research designs)? —> collecting data through methods/ research designs and then explain them in this chapter to align with topics I previously choose.
Part 4: ‘So What’ Question
Research Discussion Chapter:
Starting my key findings
This chapter must be aligned with previous questions and titles
Compare my findings to literature review, my study can contradict with the notion, and result a different conclusion
Add new findings as research discussion topics
Conclusion topic:
Answer the ‘So What’ Question based on our data.
Research Objectives:
outcomes that you aim to achieve by conducting research, research projects contain more than one research objective
Research objectives help me narrow in on the focus of my research and key variables, guiding me through the research process. They also drive the research project, including data collection, analysis and conclusions
research objectives appear early in a research proposal, often between the introduction and the research question
can place the research objectives in the introduction
researchers also list their objectives in the abstract of their proposal
can break research focus down into smaller steps and separate objectives, use the specific objectives to describe how you can achieve your general goal
Measurable: Making your objectives measurable is essential to achieving them. You can create metrics to measure your progress toward achieving your objectives.
Achievable: Be sure to create objectives that you can realistically achieve to help you avoid getting overwhelmed by unrealistic expectations. Make sure you have the resources and budget to accomplish your objectives.
Relevant: Make your objectives relevant to your research and your overall goals. This can help you stay motivated and on track throughout your research project.
Time-based: You can establish deadlines to help you keep your research process on track. You can set a major deadline for your entire project as well as smaller deadlines for each objective.
In this week’s class, we mainly experienced the Vcam function in UE5, which is a way to use the phone to control the camera in our project and then progress the shooting. It focuses a lot on the environment, therefore it has also inspired the brief assignment I want to do for this unit.
Plugins for VP:
Livelink/ Remote Sessions/ Take Recorder/ Cirtual Camera/ VIrtual Production Utilities/ AppleAr Kit/ AppleAR facekit
Here is one of the clips our group recorded in the class:
When doing it, it’s necessary to check the IPconfig through RUN on the computer in use and type the same code into the phone app ‘Unreal Vcam’ to control it.
character rig progression: I have finished my character’s rig in maya by using Advanced Skeleton, and thinking I could import it into UE5 project as a paragon for my audience to be played with.
My new idea: due to this project being heavy in interaction and immersive world building, I am thinking of focusing on the Chinese architecture ‘Siheyuan’, which I am quite familiar with. And setting up a scene showing the Chinese New Year elements inside UE5 to allow my audience to interact with things.
Here is my reference:
Here is my draft blocking of the building built in Maya, I will be refine it in the next week:
texture file: I started my character texturing with a few changes due to the newly added Chinese elements.
Through the feedback session this week, I changed my plan to keep the animation more reasonable and simple. I get rid of the confusing frog character and instead focus on the interaction between the mushroom and the main character. Here are my new reference:
And here is my new recorded thumbnails of the key poses in the shot:
Here are my notes of how to start the blocking of the shot in Maya:
Key poses to convey the story, set up the foundations of the shot. Steps:
Rough blocks (three poses, camera composition)
Regular blockings (5-15 blocks) -take my time -Choices need to be good -set poses -Think of lines of action: draw a line through my pose and see where my line is taking me. One clear C shape is an example that clarifies the movement and creates a dynamic pose. Arcing my body to tell the audience where to look -thinking of the rule of the third (if we have two points of interest, especially)
FK V.S IK:
FK: more predictable, starting from the top to the below, each joint can be rotated. IK: all about positioning the end of the chain, e.g. using it for punching.
Blending them during the movement makes the animation stronger; the character’s movement is made of mechanics and emotional expression. Ik could work when it raises the shoulder in the movement without raising the whole arm.
Blocking plus (every 2-5 frames is going to have a key)
Hit spline, s-blocking
Blocking Plus: （Do not hit the spline!）
‘allowing the animator to approach the shot as a series of step-keyed poses right up until final tweaking’ Adding moving holds and copied pairs!
Breakdown:
Breakdowns are different to Extreme Poses, extreme poses are showing the extreme movement in an animation, while breakdowns are showing the fluency of the transition between breakdown and key poses.
Breakdowns are after extreme poses, they appear in blocking pass or splining
Breakdowns are before moving hold and copied pairs!!!
There are 3 types of breakdowns: 1. Classic breakdowns, 2. antics/overshoots, 3. Spaces
Classic Breakdown = middle transition pose. It’s basically about what arcs we want and describing the arc motion.
Anticipation and overshoots define the motions and arc further, and the weight of the character.
Spaces help to define the gap (it favours the last pose generated by the computer, slowing down). Like what type of ease in and out we want.
Resting to a move-> we need ease out
A move to a resting state -> we need ease in
Overshoot can be a change in direction, which needs an ease-in to the pose. Instead, we need an ease in to connect to a resting pose; the spacer pose would help.
Moving holds and copied pairs： Copied pair: a technique creating those moving holds and making sure how long you want a key pose to be.
Always used in the blocking stage of my animation.
How long do I want my character to hold for a pose? (My pose then transfers to the next one)
I can use Plateau tangents instead of the stepped ones in this stage to visualise the movement
It helps to avoid floatiness
Moving hold: giving a slight change to a pose after several frames to make the character more vivid, basically to avoid the character looking dead.
Characters hold a key pose to prevent them from looking dead
Preventing a floaty animation in transition
Each part balances the weight of the character
We can add a moving hold on top of the copied pair
When a character comes to a stop, body parts will counteract
Moving hold is different from easing in & out; we could add easing in and out through Spline when the movement is being conveyed
Secondary movement can be added through a moving hold to show the emotion
Considering the character before adding the moving hold, do not do mechanical things in the scene!!
Focusing on my emotions if I do this realistic movement—
Squash and stretch. The more you squash and stretch, the softer the character; the volume shouldn’t change.
Anticipation: preparing the energetic action.
Staging: control what audiences are looking at in my shot, either the rules of the third or the middle. Thinking of Mise-en-Scene.
Straight Ahead & Pose to Pose: animating frame to frame or adding the middle frame later. Pose to pose can fix a lot of work, catching problems early on. (Keys 1, extremes 2, how far my character would go, breakdowns 3, how my extremes will connect 4 in between) 1-3 added in the blocking stage, 4 added in the polishing stage. extreme poses 通常指主动作本身的最极端时刻，比如跳跃的最高点、落地时最压缩的瞬间。Breaksdowns就是纯过渡
✅ Key poses是讲故事的”重要姿势”，
✅ Extreme poses是讲动作”物理极限”的姿势。
Flow through & Overlapping actions, and drag*: the appendage will follow and then come back to the main body
Slow in & slow out (add it during the polishing stage): Use the spline to change the frequency of the character, the object gets slow, fast and slow
Arcs*: adding slow in & out through the spline (polishing stage), body moving to shape an arc
Secondary action: Gesture that supports the main action!! It’s not the overlapping animation. E.g. facial expression
Timing: The speed of the action will be defined by the number of frames between two key actions.
Exaggeration: making the expression more dramatic and bigger, stronger. When the motion is quick, the exaggeration needs to be bigger to be noticed, otherwise, it makes the exaggerated pose longer.
Solid Drawing: 3d dimensional drawing, draw perspective lines on the floor. Avoiding symmetry lines. Avoid Twinning, avoid symmetrical poses. Characters need to be balanced in the 3d environment.
Appeal: characters need to be appealing, interesting to look at. A dynamic design. 1. Using a variety of shapes. 2. Playing with Proportions. Magnifying things we find interesting, shrinking things we find ugly or boring. 3. Keep it simple.
By reviewing the session’s demonstration, here are my notes:
Here is how we should parent constrain the body part to the prepared locator with baked information:
