Category: Serra Session

This week marks the final chapter of my Artefact project journey, and it’s been an incredible adventure, where all the pieces come together to create a truly immersive Doctor Who experience! This week, I tackled the task of composing the entire video. weaving together the tranquil beach scene, the bustling London street, and the mind-bending time vortex. It was like creating a mini Doctor Who episode, with each scene flowing seamlessly into the next. The first glimpse of the TARDIS in the middle of a London street, the heart-stopping plunge into the vortex and then the scene on the beach – it’s all coming together to tell a story …

WEEK 10 – Echoes from the Void Read more »

Smoke on Unreal Engine My initial plan was to create a swirling smoke tunnel using Niagara Fluids in Unreal Engine. I even followed a promising tutorial, but most probably i woulden’t work because my Mac didn’t cooperate. Let’s just say there were some compatibility issues that put the kibosh on my smoky vortex dreams. Blender to the Rescue: Building a Time Tunnel Time to adapt! I decided to switch gears and utilize my skills in Blender. Here’s how it went down: I started by creating a Bezier curve, which essentially became the blueprint for the tunnel’s shape. Using this curve, I built a 3D tunnel that felt dynamic and otherworldly.To create the …

WEEK 9 – Making the Tunnel Read more »

TARDIS Takes Off This week, I tackled the exciting task of animating the TARDIS in the London scene. Imagine the iconic blue box slowly rotating on the street, its presence captivating the attention of the neighbourhood. The TARDIS then takes flight, gracefully ascending into the twilight sky. To make the tardis move, since it’s made with a lot of different parts and materials I used an Actor. I linked every part of the tardis under the same one and after that, I animated just the actor in the sequencer. To truly capture the essence of the TARDIS’ departure, I animated the camera as well. The camera will rotate around the TARDIS, providing …

WEEK 8 – Animating the Tardis in London Read more »

This week I’ve said goodbye to the beach scene (for now!) and am venturing into the bustling streets of London! I started by constructing a single street, lined with typical terraced houses. These houses, with their classic facades and charming details, instantly evoke the essence of a London neighbourhood. To capture the true spirit of a residential area, I styled the houses to reflect a lived-in feeling. Think window boxes overflowing with colourful signs on the shops, doorsteps painted in cheerful hues, and even the street lamps along the streets. It’s all about creating a sense of everyday life and community. This week, I also created a beautiful summer sky in …

WEEK 7 – Making the London Scene Read more »

This week, I ventured into the exciting world of motion capture. Remember the astronaut tumbling out of the TARDIS? I spent some time in the mocap room, with my actor to make him act out the scene.  From Mocap to Unreal: The Power of Vicon IK Once I had the raw mocap data, it was time to translate it into the world of Unreal Engine. This is where the Vicon IK rig came into play. I took the mocap data and adapted it to my astronaut character’s specific rig using the IK retargeted. I have been able to do this after that i connected the right bones in both …

WEEK 6 – Vicon Motion Capture Read more »

Blender to the Rescue! For modelling the TARDIS, I knew I needed a user-friendly tool. That’s where my old friend Blender came in. Its intuitive interface made the whole process much smoother. As the first thing i started to meticulously craft that signature boxy silhouette. Shading the TARDIS Once the basic shape was done, it was time to bring some color to the party. I used the shader editor to create a new material – a perfect match for the TARDIS’s worn blue wood. I also created an emissive material for those iconic glowing windows and the beacon light on top. Now the TARDIS is starting to feel truly alive! Illustrator: …

WEEK 5 – Creating the Tardis Read more »

This week has been all about getting the scene ready to introduce the Tardis. With the last update, I left the ocean whit his waves. This week, I focused on polishing it off. The ocean looks vast and inviting, ready to welcome our time-travelling visitor. To make the scene feel even more natural, I added a material to the ground to simulate a beach. This little detail goes a long way in establishing the environment and making it more believable. I also scattered some giant rocks around the landscape, adding a touch of texture and visual interest. Lights, Camera, TARDIS! Finally, the most important part: I  set the camera for the scene where the TARDIS …

WEEK 4 – Finishing the Ocean scene Read more »

This week, Serra and Suny opened the door to a whole new world of creative possibilities. TouchDesigner is like the ultimate playground for anyone who loves merging real-time 3D graphics with interactive control.TouchDesigner can seamlessly connect with anything you throw at it – live camera feeds, and sensor data. It’s like having a blank canvas that comes alive with your interaction. But learning the ropes wasn’t just about theory. We dove deep into practical sessions with Pierre. His workshops were a goldmine of information, covering everything from project mapping to crafting audio-reactive visuals. One of the most valuable lessons for me? Mastering how to manipulate colours in a round shape and transform them into dynamic elements that …

WEEK 3 – Introducing TouchDesigner Read more »

Diving into Unreal: Ocean Odyssey As the second week approaches here’s the latest update on my Artefact project! This week, I took a deep dive into Unreal Engine to create the foundation of my last scene of the artefact: the ocean. Water Experimental Plugin I started by trying to understand the Water Experimental plugin. Now, this plugin has some serious potential for creating realistic water effects, but let’s just say it wasn’t exactly user-friendly. Setting it up was really challenging because I’m not an expert on Unreal Engine.I aimed to craft a realistic environment that felt like a real Ocean beach. But those perfect ocean waves with their foamy crests? Yeah, that turned out to be …

WEEK 2 – Creating the first environment Read more »

Back from brake a new project! After the brake it’s time to tackle something completely different: the Artefact challenge under the watchful eye of Serra. Serra’s Artefact Challenge: A User Experience Odyssey Serra’s brief for the Artefact challenge was all about user experience. That got my brain whirring, but to be honest, I was initially staring at a blank canvas. But in class, we talked about the other’s projects and the skills that I wanted to sharpen, and together, we hatched a plan that ticked all the boxes. Trying to learn a little bit more about Unreal Engine I’m still not sure about what I want to do as …

WEEK 1 – the Artefact Challenge Read more »