Tools and Environment Selection.

Tools and Environment Selection

I started creating a digital art project that will explain and illustrate the history of 3D models.I have been learning and working in 3D spaces for almost 20 years. I started my Journey Using AutoCAD a software used by architects and engineers. The software is still in use but is very hard to work with and the user interface is confusing. I also tried to learn another 3D software such as FormZ and did not find easy to learn too.
Several years ago a small US company introduced SketchUp, their slogan was 3D for everyone. SketchUp was designed to be simple and intuitive, the software has a few tools that are easy to learn. I was lucky to have learned about this software from a friend. In less than 2 months I mastered the software. SketchUp used free video tutorial that is basic and short. I watched 20 of them each is 3-4 minutes and practiced what I learn and I became the local SketchUp expert! This opened career doors for me and revitalized my interest in architecture.

For this class, I wanted to use a more advanced software that will allow me to create character animations. I spent time trying to learn Maya, a powerful software that is used in making Hollywood quality animations. Two weeks ago it became clear that I won't be able to master the software is this short-term time. It is the kind of software that takes years to learn.

I researched other option and rediscovered Blender an open source software that is easier to learn and that can produce high-end quality animation. See this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta78vv-IE9E 

This a high-quality film that is totally made by Blender:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0zPOpADL4&list=PL6B3937A5D230E335
Open source software makes art making democratic and allows a sense of community with other fellow creative souls.

I am watching video tutorials and creating models that I hope I will be able to make move and walk soon.

As an architect, I am used to making buildings that are frozen in space it is exciting to create shapes that can move and morph.

This is a quick video that explains the best 10 things about Blender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9F5ElvHYBM

Refrences:

https://www.blender.org/foundation/history/

https://mastersketchup.com/history-of-sketchup/

Lakhan, S. E., & Jhunjhunwala, K. (2008). Open source software in education. Educause Quarterly, 31(2), 32.

Digital Dance:

Dance to me is the expressive movement of the human body in space sometimes accompanied by music and rhythm.  Dance always adjusts to its settings. It was no surprise to see that 21st-century choreographers are including digital technologies to their performances.  I am not sure if computer or robots even puppets are in the same league as the natural human expressive and unique movement.  To me seeing another person dance enriches and refreshes my feeling towards humanity.  

I used YouTube to search for a dance group that uses digital art. The first search presented me with America Got Talent video of a piece called Freckled Sky. The team presented what seems to be a new form of entertainment they were using high-end image projection technologies. Val Syganevich is the founder of and creative director with Jalen Preston and Olga Sokolova as dancers.

The dancers in the performance on America Got Talent interacted and were engulfed by digital projections and TV screen, as they appear to vanish and cross the boundaries between projection and reality. At one point, they appeared soaked it water while covered with digital rain. The audience and judges of the show were impressed gave the performance the highest compliments.I enjoyed the show but I thought it was too short and too fast to allow me to fully appreciate the new medium and artistic treatment.

I always loved modern dance, one of my favorite movie is Pina a documentary film, 2011 by filmmaker Wim Wenders who filmed dancers in motion as a tribute to legendary choreographer Pina Bausch, who died in 2009. I found her modern dance so rich and her choreography manages to capture the richness of human experience with direct impact and extreme simplicity and grace. In comparison, the elaborate work of technology that I saw in Freckled Sky pieces did not impress me with dance but with digital technology.

Luckily the YouTube algorithm recommended Enra to watch next. This Tokyo based dance company performs with digital projections at a natural dance speed. This dance company uses graphic projections as an interactive part of their choreography. They dance with projected shapes and designs. They make the viewer believe that they are underwater or have the power to lift huge spheres of light while gracefully dance on stage. The company used gymnastics and circus art to create innovative and masterful new dance forms. The digital projection help elevate the dance form and excited the audience

In the video, the piece above the scale play between the dancer and projections is not seen in traditional dance and the use of digital paintings and even martial arts are unusual and pushes the art form to new levels. 

References:

http://enra.jp/works

http://sfglobe.com/2015/08/31/mbC/

https://randomwire.com/dancing-with-light/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/arts/dance/pina-bausch-bam-tanztheater-wuppertal.html

Khader Final Proposal for Digital Art Project

Khader Final Proposal for Digital Art Project:

October 24, 2017

3D Space, how is it created? How are virtual reality environment is rendered and what makes objects and characters move and look natural.

Project Overview:

My project aims to demystify the process of creating 3D objects in digital spaces. I will explore the mathematical history of these shapes (platonic solids) then I will show the most basic techniques for making these shapes using computer software. I will use AutoCAD, SketchUp and Maya software to show the overlap and the diversity of methods to create the same basic shapes. All these software allow exporting to virtual reality and to 3D printing.  

I teach college-level courses on subject Computer-Assisted Design (CAD). I discovered that most of my students did not learn about the relevance of geometric shapes and their real-world applications. We have been watching computer modeled reality on TV and in the movies. We experience these shapes in virtual reality. Most people don’t know the process that leads to these creations.

 Action Plan

I hope this introduction video that I will finish by the end of this term will cover the most basics of shape creation methods and help viewers understand how these complex 3D realities are made. I will start with square and triangles then I will introduce circles. Eventually, all my shapes will move from 2D to 3D.

The next step, I will show how the software applies surfaces to wire-frames. This effect makes the shapes appear more real than a line-drawing. In later stages, we shall cover how to apply colors and textures on these surfaces.

I will show how perspective is used to create an illusion of spatial depth. I will explore how Renaissances artists used perspective and how that affected our understanding of the world around us.  

In later stages, I will be creating solid shapes and moving them in space that will make my environment feel as if we are traveling in a move set. I will then add lighting and reflections to render the scenes the way we see in our human eyes.

I am learning Maya which is a great software for creating characters that are much more complex from a geometric point of view. A detailed human face as seen below is made of hundreds of small polygons and surfaces then the software round the edges to make it more organic.

Finally, I want to introduce the viewer to the process of making these forms appear alive by moving their bones and facial features. As you can in the diagram below each major bone is connected into a hinged skeleton frame and then programmed to move based on the natural movement of the human body. This requires solid understanding of human anatomy. An aniamtor has to master so many skill and act as a choreographer and a painter.

I hope I can eventually reach this level of creating a facial character that expresses human feeling as in this model.

This new generation comuter models can learn how to reflect the facial expression of normal people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXrC1aBjDrM

Timeline:

Weeks 1-2:

Brainstorming – Coming up with idea and methods that I can use and apply? How this video will take from and what is my storyboard?

Weeks 3-4:

Learn Maya and Filmora Video. I am finding Maya much more challenging than any design software that I have ever used . I hope to get the levels I need to by week 12
EDITOR

Weeks 5-6:

I will start building all the materials for telling the story of 3D shapes. I will record video animation of each stage.

Weeks 7-8:

Assembly of different sections using Filmora, making sure that my story line is clear and that my graphics appealing visually.

Weeks 9-10:

Creating the hardest part of the show. Human characters with bones and faces

Weeks 11-12:

Edit/Publish – the film parts that I have been creating throughout the process. Adding music and voice over to explain each step. Adding close captions, creating titles and credit. Using references.

Budget:

I will be using Maya which I have a free access to and several other software that I won on my laptop. I will buy Filomora it is $50 and is worth it. I used the copy at my wife’s Mac and was pleased with the results.