Week 5 - Independent Study

EXP1 SUBMISSION:
THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF AN EXPLOSION ON POROSITY

Final Machinima Documentary:


Images of final experimental environment:


Reflection:
For the first experiment in Real Time Environments, I really enjoyed using Crysis. Compared to other computer games I have played, Crysis was by far the most realistic first person shooter. Factors like shadows, wind and the time of day were very realistic and added an entirely new element to the game. I also enjoyed the interface of the editor, it allowed for a great deal of freedom when it came to shape, texture and design. Certain aspects of creating the documentary didn’t seem to be completely compatible, but the majority of the problems I encountered I was able to overcome, and overall I was quite happy with the outcome.
The effect of an explosion on porosity was a hard concept to grasp at first. With porosity being “a measure of the void spaces in material”, it only took a few explosions to see how this affected those void spaces. Richard Goodwin’s lecture also helped open my eyes to the true concepts of porosity. In my initial machinima I was more aiming at blowing up a multitude of different objects and observing the effect. However in my final custom machinima I have exploded the same objects from different vantage points, being up close, in a vehicle, and from a platform in the mountains. These different versions of the explosion go about refiguring porosity in similar, yet slightly different ways, which is what I was trying to observe. Each explosion is aimed at barrels full of fuel which explode inside a small shed. This in turn blows up an army vehicle which increases the size of the explosion and alters the notion of porosity further.

SketchUp model in Google Warehouse:

Crysis file required to play:

If above file doesnt work:

Week 5 - Lab

For the Wk5 Peer Review I had not yet uploaded my Machinima animation to my Blog. This was the main reason I feel that I was marked down. The Peer Review is a great way to gauge what others think of your work and is always helpful during the final stages of a project.

Week 4 - Independent Study

Machinima:

I have used several different methods in producing my machinima documentary. After creating the experimental environment in the “Crysis Editor”, the animations were captured using “Fraps”. I did encounter a problem with Fraps in that my animations were surrounded by a thick black border. “Adobe Premier Pro CS3” was used to adjust the video file size and eliminate this border. I then compiled the documentary as well as adding text, audio and creating the crossover fades using “Sony Vegas”.

The mode of documentary that I have used is “observational”, which involves long takes and synchronous sound. “As if you were a fly on the wall”, as Russell described it in the lecture. The reason I chose this mode was because it was the most appropriate of the three. My documentary does not acknowledge the filmmaker, so it isn’t interactive, nor is it expository. With porosity being a measure of the void spaces in material I believed that by taking the observational approach I was able to more successfully capture the physical effects of this in an explosion.

Week 4 - Lab

Machinima:

Week 3 - Independent Study

After experimenting with many different types of explosions I discovered this tank that had some very impressive strike power. So I thought I would totally level a village from high in the mountains.
This is easily the best explosion I have been able to create in Crysis.
I love the way you can see the shockwave blow out, then the mushroom cloud appear and rise from the impact zone.



Here are some more high resolution images showing the development of a section of my environment. Once again I tried to capture some visually attractive lighting, and included a shot from a helicopter for variety.

Week 3 - Lab

This video here shows the effect of changing light on the shadows and the overall environment.



These are some high resolution still shots taken as per the steps outlined in the blog. With the HUD's gone they look much better/clearer. Also after altering the time of day you can achieve a more beautiful skyline, and overall "feel" for the environment.
In the second image I tried to successfully capture the falling rain.
The only problem is that the images seem to be a little squashed horizontally, however i'm sure this can be overcome.

Week 2 - Independent Study

Hypothesis:
I believe this explosion shows the most amount of realism. Mainly due to the falling tree as a result of the blast. Sections of the building also "blow out" very appropriately. The only strange part is that the far right wall doesn't collapse. Watching the shrapnel of the house, and what is left supporting this wall, you would think it would have come down. I also thought there would be more damage to the left side of the house due to the proximity of the grenade.



Hypothesis:
Much like the first explosion, Crysis seems to be extremely realistic. Not being much of a gamer, I have never seen a game with graphics and attention to detail (e.g wind and shadows) like Crysis. The reason I chose this footage however was the falling corrugated sheet. There is something unrealistic about the way it comes down. In my opinion the sheet should have bought the wall down, or it should have stayed propped against the wall. It seems to sit awkwardly for a second or so before sliding down the slope.



Hypothesis:
This is my favourite explosion of the three. I think due to the fact that you are almost in the house when the explosion takes place. The roof seems to collapse perfectly with the location of the grenade, with the resulting shrapnel coming to a halt in a more realistic way than the second explosion. Towards the end of the clip where sections of the collapsed roof interact with each other in the middle of the screen and lay supported by a piece of the wall is very realistic.

Week 2 - Lab

These are some screenshots of my SketchUp model that I imported into Crysis. It shows a series of ramps linking together platforms. It also shows the successful addition of texture to its surfaces.


Here is a 2D graphic of the model still in SketchUp.

Week 1 - Independent Study

Video showing initial environment progress after experimenting in the Laboratory class. Here I worked on importing trees and vegetation, vehicles and buildings.

Week 1 - Lab

Still shot showing an interesting landscape feature.
I chose an underwater shot as I believe it really exaggerates the detail of lighting and vegetation. I also thought it would be a unique camera shot to choose.