https://vimeo.com/202686885
H/H Corp :: Home Stretch!
Nearly done with the (epic) post-production on Werewolf. Learning new techniques to motion track and composite the 3D Wolf head from Cinema 4D into After Effects. Here are some short videos showing how it's done.
Also learning how to build a glitch effect and then distortion map it to a 3D element AND how to create a random opacity flicker with a custom expression and control sliders:
Messages Image(705431764)
Work continues on Hunter with script revisions and the beginning stages of character and set design. It'll be great to wrap on Werewolf so we'll have more time to focus on what's next.
Virtual Reality / Week Five :: Tutorials and Development
https://vimeo.com/202652946 The Camp has beautiful sounds and is almost ready for a live walk-through! Can't wait to make some s'mores!
Started a Unity tutorial to develop VR for Occulus. Perhaps not the smartest endeavor since we don’t have access to an Occulus yet, but I’m hoping that the basics I learn will apply to developing for VIVE even if I’m unable to show or use the finished product.
Ok, that didn’t work. You definitely need the Occulus plug-in to run in Unity and see live-feedback. Lesson learned.
Cool. Moving on…
How about Learn VR Dev School?
Excited to see that they have a Twitch channel where you can watch VR development live on Thursdays at 7:30PM PST. I know where I’ll be this Thursday evening!
https://www.twitch.tv/vrdevschool
Mid tutorial, the charming Lee Wasilenko mentions part of the Steam VR Prefabs includes a Camera that functions as “Ears” aka, the Audio Listener. I got excited thinking that this meant that the user could speak and the Ears would “hear,” only to google-discover that the ears are really speakers. I’m not sure about the terminology and hope I’m wrong.
https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-AudioListener.html
Tangential aside: discovered this fascinating discussion about SteamVR audio…
I’m curious about the writer who calls theirself “Cherry2000” (how cool would it be to befriend a developer who is this well spoken and might be my gender / age? or at least aware of pop culture androids that predate the year 2000?) alas, they have a private account.
The comments are also intriguing, just the personality and voice of people who are in this deep.
Another interesting distinction in the prefabs is the head camera HMD view vs window view from the Head.
Interestingly, I was offered an option for not including the Unity watermark intro ahem, the “splash screen” — I declined it against my better judgement … we’ll see how that goes.
It looks like I’ll definitely have to save this out as a package and try to load it up on the MSI to interact with it live while developing. Building on a remote Mac and then migrating to the MSI for feedback/interaction is not a great workflow. Developers should really have access to a permanent terminal connected to the system while they are working.
Fascinating information about creating experiences for standing (expanded play area) and sitting. The volume of space you take up varies on the Y axis accordingly and things need to be designed to those specs.
This baby is gonna have to wait until I can get my hands on the MSI:
Personal glossary additions:
HMD: Head-Mounted Display
GUI: Graphical User Interface (previously I’d been calling everything a HUD, Heads-Up Display)
Last but not least, Gabriel and I have both applied to be early adopters / developers for the HTC VIVE Tracker...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3dRGoD_EXQ
FINGERS CROSSED YOU GUYS!
And it looks like full-body tracking is on the way:
https://youtu.be/Khoer5DpQkE
Virtual Reality / Week Four :: Reading & Experimentation
We're playing with Cinema4D’s ability to render 3D objects with 2D cell shading:
https://vimeo.com/201621714
Building cozy off-world colonies:
Now reading:
*don't judge these books by their covers. no, really.
We were also lucky enough to meet Stephanie, a VR Developer for HBO and alumna (thanks be to Jill Vartenigian, again) and are reaching out to set up time for a blitz-tour of her office.
H/H Corp :: Werewolf, Branding, Hunter + Futureworld!
Teaser footage from our latest shoot:
https://vimeo.com/201803246
H/H Corp Branding continues with The Brand Deck card sorting game. Courtesy Jill Vartenigian <3
Results are in, Hanneld/Herrin Corp IS: ADVENTUROUS DEPENDABLE MULTIFACETED
We are NOT: SUBTLE CONVENTIONAL
Baby steps closer to establishing Hanneld/Herrin Corp.
We’re remaining agile and have had flux in our timeline again: 
Moodboards for Night of the Hunter (1955), we have a loose script and are excited to take on an epic animation project using 2D & 3D in AfterEffects and Cinema4D.
We're also hoping to ride the coat tails of the popular HBO Series Westworld (2016) with a reimagined title sequence for Futureworld (1976) – the subject matter is ripe for VR & 3D with a retro vibe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9sytPC1l0o
We've outlined our next steps to keep on track:
WEREWOLF Final cut of Werewolf w/ soundtrack by Thursday 2FEB Start post-production, AE / 3D Special Effects
HUNTER Complete rigging tutorials by Saturday 4FEB Revise script Storyboarding Saturday 4FEB Character & Scene design Week 5
Virtual Reality / Week Four :: C♯, Physics, Fun
Our first foray into Unity was a simple roller-ball game. We were able to keep up with the C♯ required to apply physics, and even took it a level further by researching materials & textures to make it on-brand for Hanneld/Herrin Corp. We then packaged it and were able to experience/play it via the Vive in 360 VR; totally insane. Here's a somewhat less impressive video of how that looked first person: https://vimeo.com/200871005
Excitingly enough, there's a GitHub-like repository that banks C♯ code that you can apply to your own creations: enter VR Tool Kit. The VR Test went very well:
https://vimeo.com/200729628
We finally got back to Northgate to check out Facebook's Occulus Rift. (After making appointments and trekking out only to have nobody there to offer the demo and then later, having one of our appointments lately cancelled...) 
Double not-cool, Facebook!
https://vimeo.com/200780085
Our estimation: In short, the hardware UX is outstanding. Far superior to the HTC Vive. The headset is lighter, more easily adjustable, and more comfortable.
There's a single cable coming from it rather than a bundle of three. The headphones are integrated into the goggles eliminating the awkwardness of dangling earbuds (and the hygienic/ear-hole size differential issues that come with earbuds).
The highlight of the whole experience is the hand controlers. Within seconds, you accept the fitted controllers as real hands – you can touch, point, and grab – all with haptics that immerse you in the experience. 
Meanwhile, the HTC Vive controllers feel like cartoon ham hocks: 
Lastly, Occulus has the ability to design and experience sound ––there's a microphone and you can speak, be heard, and understood. Let that sink in for a second compared to the one-way street of sound in the Vive. Right?? The jury is out on the game design / interface – there are many studios that are producing works of varied quality (both in polygon count, resolution, and storytelling) and we had limited exposure to multiple applications and no exposure to the onboarding process.
Up next: continuing Unity & C4D tutorials and we have coffee scheduled with two gentlemen from a local VR/AR startup Visual Vocal. Stoked to see the practical application of these emerging technologies.
H/H Corp :: Werewolf, Hunter, Branding, Lecture!
We had our second (and last!) shoot for Werewolf on Saturday.
Here are some lovely details of the pages Gabriel created for the shoot: 
And a behind-the-scenes video:
https://vimeo.com/200780671
And some stills:
Next up: editing the footage and adding MAGIC in AfterEffects.
We were delighted to shoot again with Katie Strand.
We're continuing work on Night of the Hunter (1956), we have a tentative narrative, the text transcribed, and will turn out moodboards this week.
We got back the headshots taken by the talented Galen Andrus.
Here's the moodboard we gave him: 
And the final results:
NOT BAD AT ALL.
We also attended a motion graphics lecture at Adobe.
But first, we had dinner at Two Shoe BBQ in Frelard. We're off the sauce for the month of January, but still know how to party...
Ahem.
Back to the lecture. The brilliant (and stand-up human) Jorge R Canedo Estrada spoke to a packed room – Here's his reel:
https://vimeo.com/185496774
Pretty cool, right??
We learned a lot and got a lot of tips and cool sites––and we're sharing them with you since you couldn't go :)
Here's another cool, useful thing he made:
Inspirational sites:
Wine after Coffee - animation & motion channel curated daily by the best animators. Here's an example:
https://vimeo.com/132508549
Learn Squared - tutorial site; Jorge has one on here that we'd love to take:
Super cool design houses where Jorge worked:
And last but not least: 5 Alarm - a website that Jorge was saying is a sad alternative to custom composed music (but implied it was better than the free shit we've all been using.) Bookmarked!
Not a bad week, all in all.*
*we did not make it to the gym. not even once.
Virtual Reality / Week Three :: Research, Troubleshooting, & Tutorials
Hanneld/Herrin made appointments at Best Buy Northgate to checkout Facebook’s Oculus (you can too: https://live.oculus.com/)
BUT... WE WERE THWARTED! The demo dude had gone home for the day.
These were our faces: 
But we are not easily defeated and have rescheduled for next weekend (and will call ahead day-of before making the trek):
We’ve finally got the Vive/MSI running smoothly (albeit tethering through our phones to connect to Steam) and have had some time to get to know the capabilities, feel, UX/UI, of the VR world.
Gabriel just started in on a tutorial for UNITY that uses C♯
(if he plays the wrong note, we’ll all B♭)
And… I’ve fallen in love with this Portal robot dog that loves my belly scritches: 
Next up: A little Unity3D Tutorial :D
Marc, Erik, we're gonna need the Jamiroquai floor ASAP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9b7LWfnxQ
H/H Corp :: Forging Further
Continuing work on Werewolf, a big prop came in on Friday and our second shoot is scheduled for Wednesday:
H/H Headshot Photoshoot with the fabulous Galen Andrus: 
Late-night branding exercise for H/H Corp (Thanks Jill!): 
Watched Night of the Hunter (1955) our next movie package: 
Title style inspiration:
https://vimeo.com/10005002
Aaaaand we’ve started working out together 3x/wk at the MAC: 
Virtual Reality / Week Two :: Experimentation & Installation
We have the location and equipment all set up. Steam VR (portal to VR Applications & HTC Vive Software – this is where Google Tilt lives) runs everything that we've experimented with so far.
As we move into development, we'll be using:
- Cinema 4D / 3D Studio Max
- Unity (Game Design)
- 360 VR / Stitch
The hardware consists of:
- 2 Controllers + 2 Chargers
- Link box (connects VR Headset to the computer)
- 3 link box cables (Audio, HDMI, & USB)
- VR Headset (wired)
- Earbuds connected to VR Headset
- MSI Laptop (y'know, the Dragon Edition) + Charger
- Sync cable for the Base Stations (mounted at 6.5')
https://vimeo.com/198945119
Virtual Reality / Week One :: VR Research & Planning
We spent a lot of time reading and researching. VR is a squishy space where a lot hasn't been figured out yet – the practical applications, the software and hardware and how they interact with preexisting design resources. Can you model something with Google Tilt and then use the 3D Printer to see it in real life?
Can two people be in the same VR world at the same time and interact with each other?
Can something created in Cinema 4D live in the VR world and be rendered as a video that can be shared?
Can you take a 360 video, map it to a sphere and populate it as a world with 3D-rendered objects?
Beats the fuck outta me, but I'll let you know in a couple weeks.
So far the reading list is:
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Ready Player One – Ernest Cline (we're already calling the VR world "The Oasis" and have a Joust Lich as our desktop wallpaper. NERD ALERT.)
We're suggesting reading or watching YouTube videos about Ivan Sutherland, Bob Sproull, & Jaron Lanier.
We're also researching the physiological functionality / effects that VR has on the human body to share back.
Stay tuned...
American Werewolf in London :: Script / Storyboard / Schedule, OH MY!
We're shooting the first weekend after finals with the fantastic cinematographer, Katie Strand. Storyboards are a lock for the WOLF sequences. The EVIL BOOK sequences are still in the hopper.
We're hoping to learn some new techniques...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8A9e4Lp0N0
John Carptenter's The Thing :: That's a Wrap!
A re-envisioning of the title sequence:https://vimeo.com/191722597
Packaging: Laserdisc, of course. 
Poster Series:
Voila!
Special shoutout to some software: Frame.io is magic for collaborating with AfterEffects & Premiere online.
John Carpenter's The Thing :: Working on the Video & Posters!
We've gone dark, working hard to stay on schedule. According to the timeline, we should be wrapping on The Thing this weekend. We're far enough along that I don't want to spoil anything from the video, but I will share some of our inspiration, good old Bauhaus designer, Jan Tschichold:
I'll also share something embarrassing, if only to generate more content for this entry... I'm learning digital painting at great expense to my ego and available time...
Moving along...
Here are some process shots from the first poster.
John Carpenter's The Thing :: Sketches & Shooting
https://vimeo.com/190033718
Couldn't resist trying out the new stencil (light board + blown-out candle + 1,000 IG filters)
John Carpenter's The Thing :: And We're Off!
Same drill – Opening title sequence, Packaging & Posters. We've watched the movie and the special features which was a great move because the covered the practical effects used for the reveal of the title in the original sequence. Another added benefit is watching interviews with cast and crew–the names in the credits are no longer anonymous, we have faces and voices to go with them which adds another dimension to animating them.
https://vimeo.com/99871834
https://thepropstop.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/the-thing-art-of-ploog-special-edition-artbook-and-storyboard-special-kickstarter-review/
STAY TUNED!
MadMax Beyond Thunderdome :: Video Shoot
What are the two most essential elements in the post-apocalyptic desert hellscape? Water + Fuel
The third? Blood.
Drawing on these fundamental elements drawn from our moodboard, we decided to shoot these elements mixing at different speeds.
We enlisted the help of pro videographer and photographer, Victoria Kovios.
MadMax Beyond Thunderdome :: Sketches & Moodboards
We watched Beyond Thunderdome in the Nerd Room at school on a sunny Saturday afternoon. We took notes, paused frequently to chat and sketch.
We'd almost immediately settled on using the original Maurice Jarré Bartertown score for the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFLJCXaIaGU
Things really heat up at 1:26 in case you don't have all day.
We made the plan to go off separately and build mood boards and concept for the title sequence re-design. Here's what we came back with:
True to form, we'd pretty much selected the same palette making our decision pretty easy... 
Our Untimely Demise :: Hanneld/HerrinCorp.
So it begins: 
THE PLAN :: Three Film Treatments including: • Reimagined title sequences for well-known films • Poster • Packaging • Website to showcase final work • Branding & identity for AJ & Gabe
Audience & Considerations: Primary: Prospective employers Secondary: Pop-culture junkies Always show respect for the original and frame up our project as fan-art rather than “fixing” something (it’s homage not hubris)
Objectives: Learn this software inside and out, demonstrate an aptitude for understanding and appropriately expressing the essence of the film.
Primary strategy is time; we’re devoting a tremendous amount of time to this project, for watching the films, talking about them, sketching, doing AE tutorials. The plan is currently to meet every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday.
The Medium: We’re hoping that the films themselves will dictate the medium, be it analog (paper cutting / hand animation / stop motion) or digital (AE, 3D, etc.). The pieces we create will not acknowledge any previous title sequences, wordmarks, logos, or posters but should absolutely work with the existing films. Finish products will be showcased on a website.
Deadline: End of the quarter with the possibility of extending through the end of the year. We have built in interal milestones to keep us on track.
Budget: Other than our lab fees, the only anticipated cost is for stock footage / footage website management depending on how we decide to execute each treatment. Sign-off: Each product will have to meet with our own expectation as well as those of our Professor.
Sign-off: Each product will have to meet with our own expectation as well as those of our Professor.
STEP ONE: Build a timeline / choose your films
And we're off...