Recent Activity.

Main Project - The Last Trophy

So Recently,... We've been in all of Easter. 9am to 5pm everyday, (apart from weekends) We've even faced the odd porter who walked in asking if we should be there.... Could you imagine if they tried to kick us our in this crucial time of getting out Animation out?

I've been updating the group blog and correcting the lighting, compiling things for rendering, figuring out what needs changing, editing passes and Ambient Occlusion as directed by Pete (Technical Director), Unfortunately Olly has been away quite some time now, and with my lack of lighting knowledge, I've had to go into scenes and edit the lighting to suit our needs, which isn't looking too bad, it's still based off of all of Olly's base lights, I've just stopped some Shadows being cast and added a few more rim lights and toned down some of the heftier lights that were making our characters blown out, the major change was just offsetting the direction of the main Sunlight.

We're all still optimistic, and I can honestly say right now, this year has been pretty amazing, we've all been talking about it, but really, look at how much we've done so far, everything we've learnt, technically, team work wise. Had we done more of this in the first two years, we'd be proper Pro. Honestly, I never thought I could effectively lead a team of my peers, although not alone in this endeavor, with Simon's help on the creative side of things.

I think when I finish I will be attacking more personal creative aspects of my life, As I've taken a more administrative role this year, which I've enjoyed. But at the same time. I'm an Artist as well believe it or not.

I point you to what I can find of my Musical Career. Something that's followed me through life and pulled me through every aspect, I think most of the hardest times I've faced whilst at uni accumulate to me thinking, "You know what, Georg is right, I'm gonna be a rock star and marry a fat Britney Spears", which is something I'd happily do to make the music that I love and have people all over the world enjoy it. (I would hope) So here's a live video from a pretty awesome gig we did in a small venue in Birmingham, inter cut with our times at our practice shack. I looked thinner back then.....



Next I'd like to point you to someone I'm fond of musically and now as an Animation Professional as well. Jamie Lenman is still in my eyes one of the greatest British Song smith's of all time, but as a Musician turned animation professional, You can find his Youtube channel above where he has posted animatics and bits of animation works along with a cover of a Frank Turner Tune on a Banjelele (Is that how you spell it?) Jamie when he was with his band Reuben directed a lot of the bands videos. So I figured for your watching pleasure I would post up one of my favorite Video's by the band.



Innovations

I'm aiming to do something game related. Something that I intend to follow on with when I finish Uni. As a lot of people know. I did intend to do something with the Unreal Engine. But as of yet I have no models, My computer can't run Maya or Unreal without dying a death, and I haven't the money to upgrade, So with purest intention, I'm gonna hit my summer project again and work on doing something Flash related. I know the basic Actionscripting required to make a simple platform game.

I did really want to make an Avatar Based chat room, much like Sulake's Habbo Hotel, only for a more mature audience, and with Facebook integration, which is still an idea for when I finish Uni, I think it would make a good business starter, and would gain a lot of financial input from advertising, but that's a wait and see.

Anyway. That's all I can think to share of this moment, no doubt there will be more coming up in the next couple of weeks what with the deadline approaching.

Tx

The Last Trophy - Quick Update.

So I've been collating together all the animation and work that's gone ahead so far, and been throwing it into the offline edit. AKA. The Block Through. (haw haw) The results are as above.

All the guys in the group are powering on, and it feels really good again to have all this work coming together, I'm currently waiting on Olly to send me scenes with Passes and Layers added in so I can start getting my render on. Animation is looking fantastic which we have Emma, Roy & Oddne to thank for that, through all the hard times and technical difficulties, we're all still here powering on through the Easter break in our own little corner of the room. (That's right, I said it. OUR OWN! haha nah I kid.) Matt. B, Matt. L and Simon have been texturing and conquering all the technical difficulties, and plastering the scenes with textures at the same time. Pete's Scripting has been a god send in sorting out our file management, and he's also been hitting up our effects with his genius. Olly Kingston-Winston has been in constant contact with me, A Master of Fire and Brimstone, he has brought the magic of light to our worlds, and for this we thank him, also being a great base for creating presets and shaders, it's safe to say that without his dedication and pure "Lightness", The Last Trophy would in no way look as good as it does, and without the pretties, we'd all be less stoked to get this finished. So Massive Kudos to him.

This is kind of an update for everyone really as I've just done on the groups blog as a lot of the guys have been so busy night and day, that blogging has just seemed a million miles away, which is where I come in, as my Mentor, (Hopefully) is none other than The Creative Assembly's Mark O'Connell. A PR and Marketing Manager who has recently just put out the fantastic Total War: Shogun II. (I'm sorry for being premature on that, it may not even happen yet) But I'm massively stoked for this, and from what I've seen, he seems like a really awesome guy, get across to his website at the link above and check out his achievements.

Anyway, to conclude, everyone's pushing it, the studio smells of sweat and fear, and that's just me!

Take Care Guys.

Tx