Thursday 28 December 2017

Minor Project | Complete Renders


After rendering out the various sequences of primitive shape deformations, I have reached the end of this process and can begin the final composite and audio deformation step. Below are some of my favourite moments from the deformations that occur during the final film...



Friday 15 December 2017

Minor Project | Continued Renders | Cone & Helix



After completing the various deformation renders for the cylinder primitive, I moved onto exporting the renders focused on showcasing the cone and helix primitives, leaving only two more shapes to be fully rendered out before the final composite can begin...


After completing a number of renders concerning the helix shape is clear that this primitive in particular is going to make for some very interesting deformations...



Sunday 10 December 2017

Minor Project | Continued Renders


After rendering out the various different deformations available within the cylinder primitive, I have now almost completed the renders for this shape and shall begin working on the renders for the next shape, the cone...



Monday 4 December 2017

Minor Project | Continued Renders


After completing the rendering process of the cubic primitive I have now moved on with rendering out the deformations of the cylinder...





Minor Project | Cubic Deformation


After successfully completing the separate renders surrounding the cubic primitive shape, I've composited them into their final format and accompanied the footage with a music note that's pitch is derivative of the shapes deformations, now onto the next shape...

           

Saturday 2 December 2017

Minor Project | Continued Renders


As rendering continues for my project, the portion of the abstract animation that focusses on the cubic primitive shape is almost complete, again displaying the various extremities that the deformation tool offers during the modelling process...



Wednesday 22 November 2017

Minor Project | Primitive Sound Design Development


Continuing on with the development of the sonic aspects of my project, I've now taken the primitive notes that correspond with their base shape and altered their identities to suit the changes of the model structure (pitch being height and time being width.


By assigning one of these primitive notes of music (played through a bass synth) to a basic model that has been created in Maya, I have been able to establish 'the sound' of each of these shapes, giving them a sonic identity as well as a physical one.

The first step in this process is physically creating the sounds, starting with the C note which has been assigned to the spherical primitive shape. By using GarageBand I was able to create these notes freely and choose which instrument best suited the tone of the overall piece.


After this instrument has been established and the note has been created (using the computer keyboard as its musical counterpart), the next step is to take this note into another editing software and begin the pitch alterations.


The first program I took the primitive note into was Adobe Audition, but after some time experimenting with the tools at hand it felt as if the most accurate results would be achieved through editing alongside the corresponding model deformation, pushing me to take the note into Adobe Premiere Pro.


By be able to see the physical representation of the note being played alongside the corresponding video I was able to achieve an alteration that seemed to much more closely relate to the video footage, potentially just because editing the sound in realtime allowed me to change the dimensions of the sound as I physically saw change.


Now that the sound was being edited alongside the corresponding video, it was time to change the pitch of the note to suit the changes in the model. To do this I created a pitch shifter effect and apply it to the MP3 file that contained to the note, allowing me to alter the pitch of the track.


The keyframes shown above are physical representations of the pitch being shifted over time, by starting at a natural pitch that corresponded with the original sound and then shifting it to suit the deformations of the model I was able to create a track that suited the model as well as the methodology of the entire project.

Listen to the sonic deformation here...
            

Monday 13 November 2017

Minor Project | Primitive Note Development



As the terms for my primitive sounds have now been established (height and width relating to time and pitch), I've continued the development of the notes being used in my film, with each base note relating to a different primitive model. By establishing these sounds as starting points for the sonic identity of each model I can now begin altering their literal identity, searching for the right instrument to use as a foundation. The current running 'vibe' of the project suggests an electronic feel as it utilises the mechanical element of the project. 

With that said, here is the sonic aesthetic of the primitive notes played through a heavy sub bass...

            

Minor Project | Sound Design & Development


In further search for the basis of my sound design, I've decided upon basing my foundation sounds on the music notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B, as these are the musical equivalent of Maya's primitive shapes, giving me a strong starting point for my sonic design.



By assigning one of these basic musical notes (all in the same key) to each of my primitive shapes I will have essentially given each of these structures a sonic identity to manipulate in a way similar to that of the modelling. By establishing a musical foundation for each of these primitive shapes I will be able to confidently alter their aesthetic using time and pitch to suit the deformation of the model, with width of the model being time (wider - slower) and height being pitch (taller - higher), meaning that the core idea of this project is physically present in every element, giving the piece a much stronger identity.









The similarities between deformations and time/pitch are certainly
strong enough to draw a correlation from as both tools are at their core existent to alter the shape (physically or sonically) of an element and leave it in a different state then that of which it arrived upon originally.





This connection between sound a structure has given me a solid starting point to simply produce the notes of music (using a keyboard/synth) and manipulate the time and pitch in relation to the newly established rules around width and height, giving each model its own 'primitive' note as well as sonic deformation.




Wednesday 8 November 2017

Minor Project | Sound Design


As the development for this project furthers, its becoming more and more important to continue designing the sound that will accompany my short abstract film, a that highlights the primitive functions of Maya and its capabilities as well as flaws.

At the heart of this sound design will be the exact same principle that runs through the corresponding models, the idea of Maya essentially creating its own pieces, only this time the sound will run through a different program, most likely Adobe Audition.

Before continuing with this design I want to use this quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as a critical building block for the featuring sound: "Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music".

I plan on taking the above statement from von Goethe and incorporating it into the sounds that fit the appropriate model. By taking a sound somehow attached to a shape I can manipulate the pitch of said sound to suit the transformation of said shape.

As to how I'm going to connect a base sound to a shape is yet to be established, however the answer may be found within the term synesthesia, a condition that relates numerous senses causing individuals to see a certain object when they hear a specific sound. This idea could definitely be incorporated into the movement of the shapes I'm currently working with.

The next step from here is to find a method of sourcing a base sound from a primitive shape, a step that will be taken now.

  


Monday 6 November 2017

Minor Project | Test Sound Sample

After further development of my minor project submission, I've decided to turn to sound now as opposed to later on in my project as I'm planning on it being an integral part of my minor project conclusion.

Now that the pipeline of animation has been established for my project, it seems like a good time to start working on the sonic elements of my work. I want the sounds to derive from my morphing models and to change accordingly, all stemming from one note, much like the one in my sound sample below...

           

I want the sonic pipeline of my project to mirror that of my modelling and animation pipeline, in order to keep the core ideas of my project continuously close to my work.

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Minor Project | Staging & Lighting Test


In preparation for the coming weeks of rendering and compositing, I've created this brief test video that shows a possible manner in which I could present the various models and their respective deformations, this model in particular was created with a sphere primitive and the flare option in deform tool...

          

When it comes to combining all the various primitives, the video will simply run through all of the deformations for each model, starting with the sphere and ending with the helix primitive

Thursday 26 October 2017

Minor Project | Project Development & Progress



After further discussions with Phil regarding the progress of my project and what the submission of my minor project may look like, my experiments are beginning to filtered down into what is likely to become a working pipeline for my hand in. After talking about the reasons behind this project and what I want to provoke in my work, I've grounded my creations and focused on the strongest aspect that simultaneously allows me to talk about the ideas I want to.

This idea exists as model deformations, as they embody thoughts I have around the software being used and what its limitations and purposes are. By taking the base primitive shapes, excluding the plane as deforming this object has no effect, I'm able to display the limits of Maya and the items it can produce before reaching breaking point.

By taking these shapes and applying the same deformations to them, all of equal value, I'm able to show the starting points Maya provides at the breaking point of the most primitive modelling tools it offers. These creations are attempting to break down the software that reduces it to its own primitive if you will, showing beauty in the moments before Maya damages the model.

The end goal for these models is shaping into an animation, an animation that will display each primitive shape at the limit of each of its primitive modelling tools, something that will be put into production now these models have been established, enjoy...