Week 4: Animation in Unreal

After finishing my first 3 sequences in Unreal, I decided the next videos I wanted to watch were about animation. I was never good at animation even back when I used Maya in 3D, but I wanted to see the difference between the 2 and see if Unreal would be any easier. I quickly came to find out that Unreal was just as difficult. Watching the videos made me confused and I felt like I was in 3D all over again, but animation was never my strong suit to begin with. I tried using the mannequins and rigging but I was unsuccessful. I want to rewatch the videos and try to do it again once I've had time to pick up my shattered ego, but for now I think I'm going to go back to using the Cesium Ion plugin and create new sequences using that. I want to do something more cinematic and professional so I think I'm going to try and find more videos to help me do that. 

Week 4: Unreal Sequencer Assignment

This week we finished up our sequences in Unreal. The only problems I ran into when creating them were figuring out how to get 3 camera shots in 1 sequence and finding places that rendered right. After looking at the link sent and consulting my classmates, I figured out how to complete this. I was overlapping the sequences which was resulting in some actions not being recorded when I rendered it and some of the shots would be static for the first half and then do the ending actions. To fix this, I adjusted the length of the scene itself and duplicated the scene 3 times to implement the 3 different camera shots. This would ensure that the keyframes wouldn't overlap and cut each other off. The second issue took a little longer to solve. Most of the issue was some places are just more detailed than others in Google Maps so I needed to find a place that had a lot of detail. That's when I landed on Paris, specifically the Eiffel Tower, which was clear and very detailed. It rendered beautifully and I was very pleased how it turned out. I went on to do different spots in Barcelona and I even included NYC to show the difference in detail of some parts of the world. 

Week 3: Unreal Fellowship- Sequencer

This week in class we continued watching videos about learning how to use Unreal sequencer as part of the Unreal Fellowship. These videos were hard to understand, but due to prior knowledge of how to use sequencer it was easy to figure out how to make scenes in Unreal. I started playing with the sequencer function and making things move and blocking it out. The fellowship provided a demo file to use of Egypt so I started my sequence by moving one of the pillars in the scene and using keyframes to block it out. I learned how to place cameras on the scene and move the camera in order to make a shot for the scene. Once I started playing around with the sequencer it got much easier to use and it set me up to make my first assignment for the class. I used a model I made for another class to start this assignment. It was a model of the Earth using the Cesium Ion plugin in Unreal, and you could specify where you wanted to go so I decided I wanted to sequence different landmarks around the world.

Week 2: GiantLands and Unreal Fellowship

This week in class we played GiantLands for the first time. I mostly just observed so I could learn how the game works, as I have never played a game like this before. It was very interesting to watch as everyone was getting very into the fantasy. I joined in towards the end with making my first play; unfortunately my grenade did not kill the the monster. Later in the week we made a transition from GiantLands to getting used to the controls in Unreal Engine. Coincidentally, I am also learning Unreal in another class so getting used to the program was easier for me than some. We were introduced to making a new project and where key functions are within the program that are essential to making any project in Unreal. We had to watch videos from the newly released Unreal Fellowship in order to learn how to use the software. I found the videos confusing as the presenters were using industry vocabulary that I had to stop and search up to understand. Despite that, I appreciated the opportunity to watch the videos and get to learn from the very professionals that use the program every day and gain insight into how Unreal runs.

Week 2: Secrets of Blackmoor

After watching the documentary I found the most interesting part to be the start. I liked how the documentary highlights the process and making of what would eventually become one of the greatest games of all time. It was also cool to learn that D&D started with another game that Wesley then took and revamped to fit what he wanted. The documentary was cool to watch and seeing the evolution of the game from start to finish was neat. This game is a classic and has inspired many other games that would be released after so seeing how this iconic game came to be is great.

Week 1: GiantLands

This week in class we were tasked with reading the Spirits Guide for the game GiantLands. The game is similar to Dungeons and Dragons, which I've never played before, so the rules of the game were a little confusing for me. We then had to create a character to use during gameplay in class. I decided to name my character Jonathan ("Than" for short) because I thought it was funny. Most games have these elaborate names that mean something special to enhance the game, but I went with something way more simple. I know that I wanted my character to be a healer because I had backstory already in mind. He was orphaned and while surviving on his own he was bitten by an insect that gave him healing powers and poison abilities. Another side effect of this bite was blindness. He now devotes his life to helping others in the game by healing them when they are injured. Making the character was fun to do as you had free reign over most of the choices. Some required a dice roll, but most of the time you go to pick and choose what your character looked/acted like during gameplay.