Identities - My Elements

Over the last few days i have been scribbling down different ideas for each of the elements in my sketchbook. I wanted to define exactly what i would be doing for each of the elements. However, this wasn't as easy as i thought and i haven't decided 100% on what i will be doing yet! However here are my ideas for each one.

My Logo is pretty much sorted now, i am going to use one of the ideas that i created in illustrator and then in 3ds Max, although i am quite pleased with the final design I'm not sure it really displays my identity as much as it possibly could - maybe room for improvement there!

My Avatar iv spent a lot of time looking at over the past week. My ideas have bounced around from a footballer, to a game character! I want to try to incorporate these two ideas into one. I think this is the most personal thing i am going to do so this must closely relate to my self identity, this is why i was thinking along the lines of a football avatar!

My showcase is yet another element where my ideas have been scattered all over the place. there are so many different things i can think of for this. This element needs much more work yet!

My audiovisual part of the package is going to involve the animation of my avatar in someway. If i go down the football route i could maybe have the avatar playing football and may be doing kick ups or something like that.

My two elements i have pretty much decided on as well. I think i am going to have a collection of my items that relate to my identity created in 3ds Max, i hope this shows off my personal identity quite well and clearly. Another idea was to have maybe a pixilation project. I liked doing this at the start of the year for narratives and i wouldn't mind coming back to it and doing one for my identities package.

Avatar Research

I have been thinking long and hard about which direction to go in with my Avatar. i want an Avatar that is quite simple but also looks good. I think it is important that whatever design i decide to go with it represents me in some way.

While randomly watching Music channels on TV a few day ago i saw the video for Keanes' 'Spiralling'. I couldn't help but thinking the characters in the video have been made in 3ds Max, they looked quite basic and the movements were very similar to what i have been making my biped do in the program! I liked the look of these Avatars and want to do something similar with mine.

Internet - Sends you crazy!!

Well due to my incompetent Internet connection i cannot upload anything onto my blog/YouTube or any pictures anywhere without going elsewhere. My Internet is sooo slow i cant do anything on it, it barely manages to create a blog post without seeing a stupid error message!

This means to upload anything on my blog i must venture into the library, hence why i uploaded all my work from last week on a Saturday!! Stupid!

Collection Personal Items

Here is my collection of my personal items. I have laid them out on a chair with my xbox and football boot as the focal point.

I have used my Newcastle United football shirt. I have used this as they are the team i support and feel very passionated about, therefore it is an important thing in my life.

My Xbox has also been included in this. I tend do spend quite a lot of time on this (maybe bit too much!!) So this is also a big part of who i am as i have always enjoyed video games and my xbox is probably the best £300 i spent!!

I have also used a mobile phone in my collection (however this isn't mine because i took the picture with it!). i think its very important to keep in touch with family and friends all the time so having a phone is very important to me.

Ipod/Speaker. In my collection i have used my Ipod and also one of my speakers. I am constantly listening to music and looking for new music i have not heard. When i come into my room there is always music playing and i even go to sleep with my music on in the background.

At the back of the picture is one of my sketchbooks. I am always scribbling things down on something, whether its a piece of paper, my desk or in a sketchbook. I am always thinking of different ideas for things, i don't want to forget these so i then write them down or draw them out! Sometimes my writings are nothing to do with my course or work I'm doing but something completely different that i just liked.

My football boot is at the centre of my collection. I love to play football whether its just for fun with friends or a competitive game. Its a big part of my life and i play as much as i can!

Animated Logo

This is my final logo for my identities module. I decided to animate it just to see how it looked, think it looks okay and i am pleased with my finished logo!

Logo

These are the renders for my Logo for my identities module. I first created my logo in illustrator from my scanned hand drawn logo. I have then imported the illustrator file into 3ds Max where i have added the different materials and colours. I have also varied the background and also the light and shadows to create different effects.

Football - Finished

This is my finished football for my showcase. I added a different grass texture underneath to make it look more realistic as you can now see the blades of grass.

Water Animation

This is my water i created animated. This is done by adding phase to the material that is the water. I think its really effective and looks like real water, this is aided by the sphere which also creates a good effect.

Water in 3ds Max

Another idea i had, similar to the landscape was to have it set on water. This is the still render of my water. I think this looks pretty good when the water was animated. I followed a tutorial for most of the design however i created my own textures for the water, sky and also the sphere! I added the sphere to create the effect of an object floating on the water, therefore adding to the realism. The sphere also reflects the water when its animated which looks good!

3ds Max Landscape

Another idea i had for my showcase was to have a kind of landscape concept. I tried to have a go at doing this myself as i thought i had learnt quite a lot in 3ds Max recently and felt quite confident. I started by inserting a plane and adding a texure, which is a picture of some grass close up. I could then add bump to make it look like hills or more flat. The sky was added by using a gradient material and selecting the colour of sky.


To make the landscape look a little more realistic i added some fog, this is done under the rendering toolbar under effects.

I think the landscape looks good as a starting point, however, much more detail is needed if i am going to make it look anything like being real!