3D Type - Woodwork

For this workshop I was asked to think outside of the box and create some 3D typography that was explorative, cost effective and visually intriguing. So I came up with the idea to do some woodwork and to somehow mark my typography onto the wood. So I first stripped a hardwood log down to some clean wood and sanded it to a smooth finish. Doing this with hardwood was more difficult than it would have been with softwood but I did not have access to any softwood.

I then took a screwdriver and with a hammer I chiseled the letters by following a stencil. To everyones misery this made a lot of noise. I had to be careful not to make the wood split or for the counters in the middle of the letters to chip away. To finish I picked embedded paper out of the wood and chipped some more wood away to give the letters more definition and 3D presence.

The next step will be to sand down the surface once again so it is comfortable to touch, and then burn the chiseled areas to emphasise the letters more. I will need to be careful about controlling the burning so I don't just set the whole log on fire, and with the sanding I need to be careful and not chip the counters and delicate corners away.

This tutorial was the first time I have used cinema 4D, however I have used other 3D software like 3Ds Max and SketchUp. I quickly set up a project document and familiarise myself with all the tool which are similar to the other 3D software I have used. I created some quick Illustrator artwork and made sure to save it as an Illustrator 8 format, this makes it compatible to export into Cinema 4D. When creating my artwork I also have to make sure I was importing closed shapes, otherwise when I convert them into 3D object it will only effect the stroke.

I used the extrude tool to pull the shape along the z axis and make it a 3D object, I also added some very subtle curved edges to make it softer and pleasing on the eye. The next step was to set up an environment in which to place and capture my 3D object, imagine it like setting up a photography studio. I created a floor and background and make them the same colour to give the endless slope effect. To add the colour I needed to create a material which I can then apply to the shapes, so I created each colour I would be using and applied it.

I then created a camera and two lights and set them up in a way that created soft and shallow shadows. I set the camera up to be looking down at an angle, this is a typical product photography frame. To add the camera object I set my perspective viewport up to where I wanted the camera, then created the object, the camera object is placed in exactly my position of perspective. To finish I added some atmospheric lighting effects and exported the frame as a JPEG.

Red Riding Hood Infographic

Red Riding Hood Infographic from Emma Nicholson on Vimeo.

For this tutorial I would be creating two scenes from a fairytale which showcase facts and figures from the story. I drew my two scenes and an additional this which will be used in the middle as a scene wipe between the two. I used simple colours and shapes to represent the two characters, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf as colour is a key part of the story (for example the emphasis on Red Riding Hoods red cloak).

I imported the two main scenes into After Effects as two separate five second compositions. I created the text in After Effects int he case I want to add effects later. These effects could include the preset effects, the common ones used are the animate in and out effects.

For my transition I decided not to use the wipe, but to create a click effect where a button is pressed, and on release it snaps to the next scene. I made a few adjustments as it was slow and sluggish at first and did not have the snappy click motion I wanted. I also made adjustments to the transition of text to give it a comfortable pace to be read.

To finish I combined both comps in a ten second render composition. I checked the transition was smooth and then rendered to HD.

Moving Cameras in 3D space

InDesign Construction from Emma Nicholson on Vimeo.

For this project I decided to take a different spin on it and potentially break a fourth wall. Here I disassembled a typical InDesign document and created artwork on separate layers ready to import into After Effects.

*Side note: editing what looked like an InDesign document in After Effects, whilst the real InDesign was open in the background was quite disorientating, but pretty funny when someone tried to figure out what was going on on screen when they walked past.

So I imported my Illustrator file into After Effects and set the layers to work in 3D space. I adjusted my workspace to show two viewports, one birds eye view so I could see where my objects where placed in relation to each other, and the other a perspective view so I could see what would be the final output. I then set the objects apart on the new y axis and created a camera layer. The camera layer started around the middle of the y axis, I then moved it all the way back over the course of the animation. This gave the impression that as the camera was zooming out, elements of the InDesign document were moving and being set into place. It took a lot of adjustment to get an intriguing angle and speed of movement, but I learnt that the most effective way was to place all my objects on the final frame and work backwards from there.

From there I was also shown the page turn effect which I used on the page element int he InDesign document, so the 'paper' was being placed int he InDesign document like it would onto a real desk.

Animating Sketches - After Effects

Sketched Type Animation from Emma Nicholson on Vimeo.

In this workshop I was shown how to take a range of sketches which look the same (however have slight variations because I can not possibly draw exactly the same without assistance) and create an animated illustration which has natural organic movement.

The first step was to process my sketches so I scanned them in and removed all colour information plus I re-defines the white, black and grey tones to give the line art more definition. I then imported the image into After Effects where I adjusted how many frames each drawing lasted, essentially speeding up or slowing down the effect. Then using the pen tool I drew over the letters, this does not make a mark on the composition, but generates information for an effect to follow. I then applied the stroke effect to the path which reveals the sketch underneath gradually, giving the impression the words are drawing themselves. I tweaked the width of the effect to ensure it covered the pencil lines, and I adjusted things like the speed of the effect to get a natural appearing drawing motion. I then added a slight wiggle effect to the background to give it some organic movement to match the illustration.

Letter Sketching Series 11/02/16

Here is three new letters in my letter sketch series. These three came promptly after a trip to Berlin in January. I worked on the sketches for my Collide brief where I will be using them for a computer generated archive of my work: you could also consider it a portfolio that presents itself perhaps?

This was the first time I got some feedback on my sketches before I worked on the digital artwork. I was told the tail on the lowercase i was too long and made it look like a j; so I shortened the tail and it looks more prim in my opinion. So feedback on my sketches are useful I have found.

Processing - Independent Development

I am currently using the Processing programming language for my Collide project. The only other times I have used processing has been under tight tutorials where I simply followed steps, here I will be using Processing nearly independently. I will still be asking for help with troubleshooting and what not, but now I do not have the stabilisers of tutorials and sep to step instructions.

So here is my current position on the Collide brief:

I have finished the archive of my grid work and have saved a number of files as .png and named them. From this point they were ready to be used in Processing. I begun initial developments of my program by creating basic code which randomly cycles through my grid archive at one every second. It was fairly simple to construct once I looked into the functions I needed to use. I used simple string arrays, both local and ones used throughout the program , I also loaded my archive onto them and got the program to read back what was being imputed. Inside the draw and keyPressed functions I then added loops and random pickers to generate the .png files onto the 700x700px canvas.

This was not plain sailing however. I encountered some frustration problems which I had help to solve. What I did not know what that Mac OS and the Finder software generates hidden data which Processing was trying to import and use the same as with he .png files; this would throw up an error which to my eyes, did not exist. So I added a filter so Processing only imported .png files and that problem was solved. I also had to increase the memory allowed for Processing to use. But there is a problem I currently can not find a solution for. I am getting error messages saying some of my images contain “Bad Data” and these images fail to load onto the canvas, creating gaps in the cycle, and I have a similar issue with all my images as they only partially appear, as if data is lost or being missed; I will guess that I will need to export my images in a certain way that works best for Processing, but I can not find any relevant information. This issue remains unsolved for the moment.

In addition to the basic random cycle present in the draw function, I have included other features. One being the ability to interrupt the cycle, which laps every second, by clicking a mouse button. This will generate an image on demand, so for exhibition purposes a user can cycle through images at a pace they like. I plan to include a function to work along with this: I want the user to be able to stop the cycle which would resume to a normal pace after a mouse click. This would be useful if they see an image they like and would like to pause it to examine further, or even reference in the provided archive manual.

Something to also note: It would be wise for me to record the program running int he event it crashes before the exhibition, I can then play the animation as I would have the program, the interaction would be lost, but I would still be able to showcase something.

Bored on a Train

Due to my motorbike having a corroded indicator relay and speedo cable, in addition to high winds; i was forced to take the train to university for a couple of weeks. Taking the train usually did not bother me before i got the bike, however i found it hard to get used to again. It was tedious and boring. So to occupy myself one journey i decoded to draw some letters into the contents of a newspaper. I got three good results and a few terrible ones. Battling the rocking pacer train was a pain. But here are some of the letters:

 I then left the newspaper on the train, i do wonder if anyone will notice my drawings.