About Me

British Computer Animation student currently studying at Teesside University in his final year

Thursday, 13 December 2012

Some Useful Links... (or at least that I've found interesting)

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft_design
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_cross-section
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar-absorbent_material
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealth_technology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goalkeeper_CIWS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Airframe_Missile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashtan_CIWS
http://www.darkgovernment.com/news/missile-shield-relocated-to-israel/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_guidance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_defense
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_High_Energy_Laser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Pebbles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-satellite_weapon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_countermeasures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMX
http://thinkingbeyond-curiosity.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/stealth-aircraft-one-of-deadliest.html
http://www.aviationweek.com/topicsevents/Innovation.aspx
http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%253A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%253Ac61d80df-a87d-4909-8ae9-5b80e3609ae1
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/deckplans.php
http://www.lr.tudelft.nl/en/organisation/departments-and-chairs/space-engineering/space-systems-engineering/expertise-areas/space-propulsion/design-data/size-estimation/
http://www.eurenco.com/en/high_explosives/new_energetic.html
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/286589/top_75_spaceships_in_movies_and_tv.html
http://arxiv.org/ftp/gr-qc/papers/0203/0203033.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitoelectromagnetism
http://www.relativitybook.com/resources/gravitomagnetism.html
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/starfleet-vessel-enterprise-nx-01.php
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19910023479_1991023479.pdf
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/index.html
http://www.space.com/8141-nasa-test-medical-device-sick-astronauts-space.html
http://nasamedicalsupply.com/index.html
http://singularityhub.com/2009/06/08/growing-organs-in-the-lab/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICAN-II
http://www.engr.psu.edu/antimatter/introduction.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISS_ECLSS
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/pdf/104840main_eclss.pdf
http://mix.msfc.nasa.gov/
http://suzymchale.com/ruspace/indexiss.html
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050092399_2005093339.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria

Revised FMP Specification


Project Aim: To model futuristic technologies for a computer generated spacecraft set, as if consulted by area specialists, as is common on science fiction films.

There are many military and research spacecraft with popular science fiction, but very few rescue or medical ships. The Star Wars franchise includes various medical and rescue ships, including medical ship Redemption where Luke Skywalker receives his robotic hand, and several fire service craft seen after a crash landing on the planet Coruscant. Medical bays play a large part in the Star Trek franchise and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, both having larger numbers of crew aboard their key ships. However none of these are really equipped to retrieve downed crew members or rescue those stranded in environmental catastrophes, either on an international or interplanetary scale.

The spacecraft will therefore be designed with these areas as a priority, with human safety and rescue capabilities put first in the dangerous environments of both planets and space.
The research involved will cover many areas including current and projected space, medical and rescue technologies.

With the recent advancements in both scientific and computer generation technologies, there has been a recent resurgence in sci-fi films, many coming as massive investments and profitable franchises. With green screen set extensions now common-place and full digital sets becoming standard for film environments, I believe developing the techniques to construct such sets in the computer will give me an advantage in the field as they become normal practise.
Having assets like this allows visual effects teams to composite actors or characters into the generated environment, but also provides a basis for practical sets and pre-visualisations.

There has also been increased interest and research into environmental and climate changes in recent years, with the concern they will bring about more weather based disasters for the human population. This issue has increasingly been used as the subject message for films, including science fiction. Therefore I believe the presence of search and rescue teams and vehicles within these films will increase as a result as filmmakers dream up more and more terrible disasters for characters to endure.

This project will allow me to invest further in prop modelling and environment design, two areas I have great interest in. I believe each aspect of a visual effects asset should have a purpose and a reason for its existence, rather than the sometimes purely aesthetic preference that often seems illogical and impractical. Efficiency in the asset’s design will therefore be paramount as well as keeping close to technology in use today or projected for the future.
The areas of focus will be production design with visual effects assets. Within the asset there will be models of equipment and structures involved in medical treatment and recovery as well as search and rescue technology, all in the context of space travel and living.

As the topics for research are quite wide and varied, I am unsure I will complete all the research and modelling in certain areas.
Due to the heavy space based aspect of the asset, NASA and its associates are obvious candidates for me to contact, with their lengthy and focused research. Unfortunately due to the large distance to them, as well as current budget cuts, they may be unable to provide ample assistance. They do however have extensive online resources including possible applications of technologies from science fiction. Results from research in this area may have to be vastly extrapolated to fit the asset’s intended purpose (as is often the case in science fiction) as no direct comparisons yet exist.
Medical advances and projected future innovations in the area are often the subject of expertise in large universities. These should be far easier to contact and will also have their research published in journals as well as online. Unfortunately any current research is probably unlikely to be allowed to be discussed or released.
Rescue technology should be quite easy to research with the amount of footage compiled from incidents worldwide every day. This should allow research into dealing with many different disasters that occur in multiple environments across all continents. Disaster movies could also serve as good reference for current technologies and techniques. Developing and future technologies in this area would be harder to gather research on as much is often developed in conjunction with other areas including the military, making it confidential.
Other experimental technology is often constructed under military contracts and so would be harder to discuss or find evidence of. These include stealth, armour and non-lethal weapons technologies that the spacecraft may need to use in entering hostile environments.

The final assets I wish to create for this project are:
1.       A 3D spacecraft that can be used as both a visual effects asset and a basis for practical sets; interior and exterior
2.       A user manual for said spacecraft including labelled cross-sections and blueprints of the ship’s decks and systems
3.       A video of a fly-through showing the interior of the ship with labels for systems similar to a HUD or AR system

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

Final Major Project Specification Draft

Project Aim: To model futuristic technologies for a computer generated spacecraft set, as if consulted by area specialists, as is common on science fiction films.
There are many military and research spacecraft with popular science fiction, but very few rescue or medical ships. Many ships have medical bays and treatment facilities aboard, but few are equipped to retrieve downed crew members or rescue those stranded in environmental catastrophes, either on an international or interplanetary scale.
The design of the ship would therefore be designed with these areas as a priority, with human safety and rescue capabilities put first in the dangerous environment of space.
The research involved will cover many areas including current and projected space, medical and rescue technologies.
 
Science fiction directors have used scientific consultants since the dawn of the space age. There has been an increasing fascination with the genre since, and has become one of the corner-stones of popular culture.
With the recent advancements in both scientific and computer generation technologies, there has been a recent resurgence in sci-fi films, many coming as massive investments and profitable franchises. With green scene set extensions now common-place and full digital sets becoming standard for environments, I believe developing the techniques to construct such sets in the computer will soon become normal practise. Doing so will allow the visual effects teams to composite actors or characters into the generated world, but also provide a basis for practical sets and pre-visualisations that the director can approve.
With the increased interest and research into environmental and climate changes, with the concern they will bring about more weather based disasters for the population, has increasingly been used as the subject of a basic message for films, including science fiction. Therefore I believe the presence of search and rescue teams and vehicles will also increase as a result.
 
This project will also allow me to invest far more in prop modelling and environment design, two areas I have great interest in. I believe each aspect of a visual effects asset should have a purpose and a reason for its existence, rather than the sometimes purely aesthetic preference that often seems illogical and impractical.
The areas of focus will be production design with visual effects assets. Within the asset there will be models of equipment and structures involved in medical treatment and recovery as well as search and rescue technology, all in the context of space travel and living.

The Star Wars franchise does include various medical and rescue ships, including Rebel Alliance medical ship Redemption where Luke Skywalker receives his robotic hand and several fire service craft after a crash landing on the planet Coruscant. Medical bays play a large part in the Star Trek franchise and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, both having larger numbers of crew aboard their key ships.
The Star Wars and Star Trek franchises both have their own Wikipedia databases and many art books including designs and extensive cross-sections of many of the ships featured.
As the topics for research are quite wide and varied, I am unsure I will complete all the research and modelling in certain areas.
Due to the heavy space based aspect of the asset, NASA and its associates are obvious candidates with their lengthy and focused research, but due to the large distance to them, as well as current budget cuts, they may be unable to provide ample assistance. They do however have extensive online resources including possible applications of technologies from science fiction. Result from research in this area may have to be vastly extrapolated to fit the asset’s intended purpose (as is often the case in science fiction).
Medical advances and projected future innovations in that area are often the subject of expertise in large universities. These should be far easier to contact and will also have their research published in journals as well as online. Unfortunately any current research is probably unlikely to be allowed to be discussed or released.
Rescue technology should be quite easy to research with the amount of footage compiled from incidents worldwide every day. This should allow research into dealing with many different disasters that occur in multiple environments across all continents. Disaster movies could also serve as good reference for current technologies and techniques. Developing and future technologies in this area would be harder to gather research on. Much is often developed in conjunction with other areas including the military.
Other experimental technology is often constructed under military contracts and so would be harder to discuss or find evidence of. These include stealth and armour technologies as well as non-lethal weapons.
The assets I wish to create for this project are:
1.       A 3D spacecraft that can be used as both a visual effects asset and a basis for practical sets; interior and exterior
 
2.       A user manual for said spacecraft including labelled cross-sections and blueprints of the ship’s decks and systems
3.       A video of a fly-through showing the interior of the ship with labels for systems similar to a HUD or AR system


Sunday, 21 October 2012

"The Wizard and The Spaceman"

Here are the effects shots and unfinished edit of my short effects based film "The Wizard and The Spaceman", created for a second year module

 

Compositing Exercises

My reel of compositing exercises created for a second year module

"Falling" Animatic

This is my original animatic for the "Falling" animation

"Falling"


Final piece for my second year double module, CG Technique, entitled "Falling"
There are some improvements I want to make to this and it was originally going to be longer, with beginning and end portions to be added
 

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