Final Pitch To Client - Friday 5th December 2008

This was the arranged meeting with Alex Counsell, that took place in the Eldon Basement at 12.30pm

Here is what we discussed so we can get a written
agreement:

There are limited results with the Motionbuilder 2009 edition and collision
detection. Once Alex has found that it is all in working order, he will let us
know. In the meantime, we cannot use Motionbuilder for that function. He
did mention that we could get booked into the MOCAP room to learn the other
aspects of Motionbuilder.

Testing will need to be carried out to achieve the 25 frames per second.

5 Levels must be created instead of the 3, as the group last year made 3.
Each of the levels should be different and interesting. There must be
diversity between the levels. The levels must contain some kind of puzzle
aspect, instead of just simple controlling to get through the maze. Maybe
puzzles used in the Nintendo Zelda games? This will need to be researched.

Audience Interaction - Maybe the audience can control perils that happen,
that the actor does not know about, with a button release. Such things as
boulders being released, or swinging axes etc. If the audience can outwit
the actor, then it'll make the performance more interesting, and funnier.

We will research 'THE ADVENTURE GAME' BBC TV program from late 70's, and try
base our ideas around that.

Fran suggested a fight sequence at the end of the game, where one audience
member fights another audience member, to win back the daughter at the end.
This could be a possible idea. An idea arised of having 2 separate
characters, and 2 audience members would control these. Maybe battling
against each other?

Movie lighting could be used, and particle effects can be used on the
environment - thus making the most out of Motionbuilder's functions. A
possible idea would be picking up a torch and carrying it to create light.
Real-time fog could be an idea?

We must make the most out of Motionbuilder, and use such things as real-time
shadows, real-time particles, real-time light, bump matting and use of
textures etc. Relations in Motionbuilder must also be researched.

Meeting Six - Monday 1st December 2008

Everyone was present at the meeting. The meeting was again at
12.30pm as me and Hel had filming to do for our other unit, and this
was a brief meeting.
I had arranged a meeting with MOCAP guy (Alex Counsell) for friday 5th
december at 12.30pm. Fran had said that because she has to go home
because of personal reasons in the next couple of days, she may not be
able to make that meeting, or a group meeting with Andy Bain. Because
interviews were starting this week, Fran wanted the group to get the
interview out of the way, but because we wern't prepared with all our
work for this day, then it wouldn't be possible. It was decided that
Fran would just go to the interview with Andy Bain by herself.
Hel had been thinking of pages for the website, and she will type
these up soon, and work on the website. She has been working on flash
buttons for the website and getting everything to work properly.
Jack and Alex had uploaded their 3D model images to the files section,
and these were looking good. Fran said they were too detailed, but I
think they were pretty good, and would be good to use them. Alex said
it had taken him a while to work on the torso, but because he had been
working as well, it gave him little time to work on it. He would
upload the torso soon, meaning the character would be taking shape!
Fran had come with yet more sketches of the characters, because she
wanted something to take with her to the interview. She had also come
up with level designs. I don't think this was discussed with Simon,
but Fran showed us how she thought the levels should look like. We
thought a 3rd person view, (birds eye view) of the levels should be
shown, and not a 1st person view like we originally thought. This way
the whole of the maze is shown, and you can still see the 3D
obstacles. Fran will scan and upload these to the files section, so
that Simon can get to work on the environments in his program
Simon's software had finally come, and now that Fran had these
designs, Simon could now work on them using the full software. Once
done these can easily be exported to 3D Studio Max. We had a
discussion whether the environments had to be made in Motionbuilder,
but because the 2 softwares (Max and Motionbuilder) are made by the
same company, they could easily be switched from one to another.
I had finally been sent the flash images and would work on an
animation soon.
Our roles for this week were:

Hel - Write down pages needed for the website, and upload these to the
group, so the group will know what will go on each page. She will look
up a tutorial for a scroll bar in flash, so the content can be
uploaded. She will bring in the website design, and other work that
she has done to the meeting with MOCAP guy (Alex Counsell) on friday.
She will contact Andy Bain to arrange the meeting, but apparently we
just need to turn up.

Jack + Alex - Jack will send all his models to Alex so that the model
could be pieced together. If this would not be possible, or the model
would not look right, they will just print out their models, and bring
them in on Friday. Jack had finished his models and was waiting for
Alex. Alex will work on the legs and torso, then the model would be
complete. He would try and finish it by friday, if not, he'd print off
what he'd done.

Fran - Work on the storyboarding for the intro animation. Also, upload
the images of level designs to the google group, so Simon can work on
environments

Simon - Work on the level designs/environments in his full software,
Vue Extreme. He found out that no roof was needed, because the
audience need to see what's going on. Also only 2 walls would be
shown. It has also been discovered that there is a tutorial to make an
animated lava pit in 3D Studio Max, and this would be used for the
Volcano level. Both Alex and Simon have books on lighting, and these
would be used as well.

Me - Write down list of requirements for proposal to Alex Counsell on
friday. This would include such things as collision detection and
animation etc. The handbook would help with this. Work on the intro
animation using Flash. Continue Project Process.

We decided that we should have our interview with Andy Bain on Monday
8th December, as it would give us time to prepare, and would suit us
all.
We wondered who was going to control our character in the game,
whether it'd be someone in the audience or Andy Bain himself, and we
would ask that at our meeting with him next week. Our next meeting may
be without Fran.

Meeting Five - Monday 24th November 2008

Everybody turned up to this meeting! This week we had
the meeting at 12.30pm due to me and Hel needing to sort out filming
unit out.
Hel had made her banner/start screen, after some confusion on the
title of our project and game performance. This is now uploaded onto
the files section
Jack had uploaded more of the character body to the files section as
well. Was looking good so far and our character was taking shape
nicely.
Alex said he was working on the Torso of the body, and would upload it
soon.
Fran had uploaded the story to the Pages section, meaning now I could
start on an animation for the intro. She had also uploaded images of
each of the characters she has drawn in Flash. These were good because
she used the grid section in Flash to create the pixellated graphics.
This meant that Jack and Alex could now create the 3D character in 3D
Studio Max based on the character design that Fran did.
Simon said the only program he can create the environments for the
levels in, is Vue Extreme. He has made an example cave design, but
this has text all over it, advertising the product, because it is a
free version. He would have to purchase the software, which comes to
£125. When he receives it, he cannot use his previously built models,
and must start again, but this will be easier for him.
I have been continuing the project process and documentation.

Our roles for this week were:

Hel - Not so much she can do at the minute, since content is little.
She can work on the banner, which will just be a cut version of the
start screen. She will think of pages for the website.

Jack and Alex - continue working on the 3D model of the character, and
upload the images as they finish them. Jack will send Alex his models,
and they will try piece them together to fit.

Fran - will work on the storyboarding of the intro screen.

Simon - Order package, and work on sketches of levels

Me - Write down specifications of idea, and continue working on
project process. Get Fran to send me the Flash files of the characters
so I can animate them.

We will arrange a meeting with Alex Counsell soon (it must be done before christmas).

Meeting Four - Monday 17th November 2008

Regular 1pm meeting in Eldon basement. Everyone
apart from Alex turned up, so we have decided Alex will have to go in
the MOCAP suit for our performance, cos he has failed to appear twice
to meetings.
Jack has done models uploaded to this group, and are taking shape.
Fran has now created the 3 characters involved in the story, and
created them in flash. Her idea for the animation/background story
will be scripted and storyboarded and uploaded soon. We decided that I
can help fran in animating the story at the start.
We also discussed making our game into more of a performance, by maybe
getting someone from the audience to get up and play our game, trying
it out for themselves. Altho, is this really a performance, or an
interaction? If it is a performance, I guess it must be controlled by
us, and although getting audience participation might seem a good
idea, it not really a performance. We also decided that maybe the
audience should decide what final door to open. Altho all 3 doors lead
to exactly the same ending of THE WRONG DOOR idea meaning that we
don't have to do a fancy ending story, and the player is just killed
or whatever. Who thinks we should do any of this?
Our roles were this week were:

Hel - Create a logo for the website, and maybe create a banner also

Jack + Alex - Create the 3D character based on Fran's drawings

Fran - Upload the story, and characters for Jack and Alex to model.
Continue the storyboarding, and once done, upload to this group

Simon - Create some drawings ON PAPER of the level designs you had.
Making sure its a simple design. Simon has put up image of cave
environment on the group, and i dunno what others think, but I'm
liking it! We able to get the text and all that outta the way?

Me - Help Fran with animation of background story, and continue
documentation and production process, AND PROPOSAL.

We decided that next monday we would meet up with all our work, so we
can check it before giving it all to our client, Alex Counsell. The week
after that, we will arrange a meeting, and get our idea signed off.

Inital Client Meeting - Thursday 13th November 2008

There are motion capture drop in sessions where we will be able to view the equipment and props in action with the use of motion builder.

The university usually keeps the MOCAP room open on Mondays and Fridays for RTGROP students.

Discussion with Alex Counsell

Our project idea was proposed to Alex, he liked the concept but pointed out similarities with our idea and the previous year’s attempts. He agreed that it would be an interesting and viable project to undertake as long as we understand that he expects us to improve upon last year’s attempts and make use of the new features within the MOCAP lap.

Alex proposed that we should have our thoughts for the project gathered and submitted to him before Christmas. The basic idea has already been agreed upon through brief discussion, but it’s required that we give him the details of the project, such as the story, environmental designs, character concepts, 3d concept renders etc, possibly in the form of an extended pitch document.

Expectations

Alex’s biggest complaint of the previous year groups was that their performances appeared clunky and that he would like it to appear more seamless. This mainly refers to when transitioning from real-time motion capture to pre-rendered videos and other media. The performances can seem more realistic with the use of the new in-built physics engine (including collision detection) which is available this year with the introduction of Motionbuilder 2009 into the MOCAP room. However, MB2009 has not been tested with real-time data as of yet, so until Alex tests this, we will not know if we are able to make use of all these new features or if we will have to resort back to MB7.5 (shit).

Due to the vague nature of the marking scheme and the fact that what we are doing is a performance, we are able to use whatever is at hand to make it work. For example, one group performed a magic show and the hat appeared to be floating, when in fact it was just a piece of wood with two reflective balls being moved about in the air by another student. Another example is of a group placing a sticker of the university logo physically onto the screen to earn the mark of keeping the university logo present at all times of the performance.

The final important point that was mentioned was that he wants to know of any changes that are made to the original pitch as we go through the project process, since we are pretending that he is our industry client, he must be kept up to date.

Technical Information

• Motionbuilder 2009 Learning Edition is available free to download now (confirm?)
• Polygon limit will most likely be able to be increased due to the introduction of new software and hardware; i.e to 9,000 triangles (not confirmed but highly likely).
• ‘Relational Constraints’ are apparently very important for some reason, but not much was mentioned because it’s fun to be ignorant.
• FBX exporter is not available on some of the university machines, which according to Alex, is needed for the use of 3dsmax with Motionbuilder.
• No additional physics plug-ins such as Endorphin are required if MB2009 can be used.

Meeting Three - 3rd November 2008

In this meeting, everyone managed to turn up! I think we have
decided to have the meeting next week after CTPRO, so that would be
11pm.
Anyway, in the meeting we discussed that we cannot really go much
further with any work until the mocap guy has signed us off, and
agreed of our idea. I managed to email the guy, and got a response
back saying he was free tuesday and wednesday this week, but this is
short notice. I am sending out an email for everyone to let me know
when they're free, so we can arrange something, although, do all of us
need to be there?? The main focus this week was a background story,
and Frances had been thinking just that. She had taken all of our
ideas down, and combined them into 1 story. If Frances could post her
story on this, or a new post, that'd be fantastic. We have decided to
stick with the three level ideas, level 1 as a cave, level 2 as a
straight forward rope bridge, and level 3 as a volcano. In this way,
the spikes, and the flame pits that I added in the level designs can
be used.
We decided:

Hel = CONTINUE WEBSITE DESIGN

Frances = DRAWINGS OF BACKGROUND STORY AND CONCEPT ART. E.G.
STORYBOARD OF EVENTS OF BACKGROUND STORY

Jack = CONTINUE MODELLING THE OTHER BODY PARTS- DOESN'T HAVE TO BE
COMPLETLY PERFECT, JUST AN IDEA SO WE CAN SHOW TO MOCAP GUY. ALSO
RESEARCH THE ENVIRONMENTS IN MOTIONBUILDER AS WE ARE NOT SURE THEY CAN BE DONE IN MAX.

Alex = CONTINUE MODELLING THE LEGS, FEET AND TORSO OF BODY, AND SEND
TO JACK THE MODELS.

Simon = TRY SOME LEVEL DESIGNS IN MAX, AS HE SAID HE IS GOOD AT
DRAWING? IF NOT...PROFESSIONALLY DRAW OUT THE LEVEL DESIGNS ON PAPER,
OF CAVE, ROPE BRIDGE AND VOLCANO, INCLUDING THE SPIKES, FLAME BITS,
AND MAYBE BIRDS IN THE ROPE BRIDGE

Me = CONTINUE WITH PRODUCTION PROCESS

We found out we can get training with the mocap guy on how to use
Motionbuilder, so when we have a meeting, we can discuss what will
happen then.
We discussed maybe using midi music, as the character on background
story will be pixellated. We liked Miyamoto in pixel form. Check out
pixel games such as alex the kidd, frogger, megaman and mario bros
classic.
We also confirmed that there would be fixed lighting along the walls,
as carrying a torch would be too hard and complex.

Meeting Two - Monday 27th October 2008

In this meeting, everyone except Jack was there, due to illness. Jack
managed to email us, and let us know his progress. Simon had managed
to research into programs and decided Unreal engine is probably the
best, due to him having experience in it. I don't know if this is a
final decision, but can Simon and/or Jack get back to me, if this is
the engine we are going to use. Hel had researched previous mazes, but
found no luck. We decided it would probably be best to make a dark
maze, so a labyrinth would be good. We also wanted the conditions to
be dark, as we don't want to highlight the character, as due to the
limit in polygons, it won't be very detailed. Basic humanoid
structure. I had come up with some level designs and drawn them in
flash. Gave the group a week to decide whether these were good, and
posted them up on the FILES section.
We decided:

Hel = SET UP GOOGLE GROUPS ACCOUNT FOR EVERYONE TO SUBMIT THEIR WORK.
COME UP WITH SOME WEBSITE DESIGN IDEAS, AND START ON THAT. AND TO
CREATE A BLOG FOR THE PRODUCTION PROCESS.

Frances = START ON DRAWINGS OF LEVELS, AND TRY SOME MODELLING IN MAX.
LOOK AND CREATE TEXTURES

Jack + Alex = CHARACTER DESIGN AND MODELLING.

Simon = CONTINUE LEARNING THE UNREAL ENGINE AND TO TALK TO JACK ABOUT
IF THIS IS OK. RESEARCH BOTH AVAILABLE ENGINES, AND COME UP WITH
POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES

Me = THINK OF ENVIRONMENT DESIGN, AND CHANGE THE LEVEL DESIGNS AROUND.
FLAMES AND SPIKES CAN BE ADDED. COME UP WITH BACKGROUND RESEARCH INTO
LABYRINTHS

Meeting One - Monday 20th October 2008

In this meeting, Simon and Frances were both away due to late notice
of moving the meeting to 11am, as there was no DACCI this week.
We decided:

Alex = WORK ON CHARACTER DESIGN

Jack = RESEARCH PROGRAMS AVAILABLE (+ tell Simon)

Me + Hel = RESEARCH - BACKGROUND STORY, PREVIOUS MAZES, LEVEL DESIGN,
NO. OF LEVELS, STORYBOARDING, ENVIRONMENT DESIGN

Frances = DRAWING, STORYBOARDING, LEVELS, CONCEPT ART etc

Introduction

This blog will show our RTGOP group 11's production process. The meetings, tasks set and deadlines will be posted that is discussed every week.