Task 6

Our Evaluation

Overview

My Personal  Evaluation of the period of this brief project, I would probably say that I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it has been very hard trying to keep on top of the project, time keeping has been very poor, and for that I also hold myself responsible, our time plan wasn’t as good as it should have been, and for this we’ve ended up with piles of work right before deadline date, additionally I have found coding most of the project quite difficult, as Matt and Ryan focused purely on the design and art side of the project, I was left with coding it, making it work, beta testing, bug fixing and updates, granted Ryan had helped and designed page 3, but it was still a tough challenge implementing all the mechanics and making it work to the correct level of standard. So from this I feel workload in the future should be shared more equally, as coding and working in flash is VERY time consuming.

What we all did

1.       Research of images for graphics production

We had thoroughly researched and went through a few prototyping images and ideas before moving onto the final product, we had effectively gone through several sharks, and pictures taken from the aquarium.  We then evaluated how we were gonna use them, and whether they’d be effective or not, to which we reached the conclusion that we should design new characters to which we reached our final ideas.

2.       Research of information for general production

We went to the aquarium and the Internet for our information and facts to build the educational side of our project, acquired information on Enzo and acquired information on sharks and tried to implement as much as much as we could within the given time.

3.       Research/locate/select sounds

Matt was responsible for any of the sounds we needed for our project, he used non copyright sounds and edited them to the needed standard.

4.       Ideas generation

We went through several ideas and used Inspiration IE to build upon our ideas for the Project. To which I then implemented into our project and coded them in correctly.

5.       Production of time plan

We did have a time plan even though we didn’t really find it that effective as we all lost track of time and lacked behind. We eventually lost the time plan as Ryan was responsible for building our time plan, and he ended up losing data on his memory stick and lost the time plan with it.

6.       Production of any team planning documentation (storyboards etc.)

We produced presentations and brief ideas and mind maps about our project but we didn’t go too in depth on our design and plan processes which I now wish we pushed harder as its now landed us as a team very close to deadline date.

7.       Writing of team reports/documentation/blog items

I as a worker didn’t have the time to go into blogging detail too much as I was too busy keeping up with the animation, Ryan and Matt were more onto blogging up details than I.

8.       Production of graphics

Matt and Ryan worked hard on the graphics, our client was very pleased with the work they created and helped put together in the final project. I myself was very happy with the designs and colours they produced. I was especially pleased with the coral designs.

9&10 Flash

As Previously Mentioned I was responsible for any flash work and any animation work, not all the credit I can say goes to me though as one of the TA’s called Aaron who had extensive knowledge on flash taught me several things over the course of the project, and aided in about 50% of the coding. I found the coding and flash work very challenging as any time I fixed something, 10 more things broke, so I discovered games design is a lengthy and challenging process, even for the smallest of games.

Client Notes

Our client was overly pleased with our project, and only mentioned briefly a few minor updates we could make, mainly based around information for navigation. Which I attempted to implement as much and change as much as I could. 

Client Reaction

12/03/2012

Today we had to present our animation to our client, she reacted with a positive attitude, she said the only thing that needed improving was the guidance and help through the animation, as it doesnt come across obvious on what you should do. so this is what im currently adding in now.

Task 4

We've been given these tasks and we've assigned them as a team to each of us.

Work in your team to:

·         Produce a time-plan

·         Produce assets (images, sounds etc.)

·         Complete authoring

·         Complete scripting to provide interactivity

·         Undergo beta testing and modification

Ryan - Produce Time Plan and Help with scripting/interactivity.

Matt - Produce Assets such as Icons, Buttons, Characters and sounds. 

Myself - Complete authoring, put together the project, Modify the project and script. 

We've Mainly been working on putting our characters sounds, and main Menu together, Ryan is currently working on the Main Menu's design, while matt has produced buttons and characters, while I have been animating any completed characters or backgrounds. 

Some Character/Button/Background images that have been produced can be seen on Ryan's and matt's Blogs. 

Matt's - http://unit62mb.blogspot.co.uk/

Ryan's - http://rholder2unit62.blogspot.co.uk/

Below is some of the work that has been produced that I have worked on, I dont know if its possible to show animated characters on blogger, but Here is some of our work shown below. 

Above is our main character we're gonna use to represent enzo, hes animated, he blinks and swims with his tail, we found an image on the internet and photoshopped it, and so here is enzo.

This is the image that matt drew up and coloured of an octopus for an idle background character. once our main menu is completed we can start working on animating the background etc etc.

12/02/2013

Today we continued working on our animation for the aquarium, I worked on implementing background fish and bringing the buttons into the main menu, a little more work is needed on the main menu but apart from the buttons mechanic, everything appears to be working as it should. 

Below is the 2nd page image we've started working on, I've suggested for our clue hunting and facts interactive game, that we get several objects and try and hide them around the screen, upon the fact the player finds these objects, they open clues and questions, which will unlock a interesting facts piece about sharks. 

Comments

Task 2 & 3

In Teams of 3 we have had to come down to designing a animated interactive animation for the local aquarium, we have decided to design a interactive menu, to put a simple point across that sharks are misunderstood animals, when most people feel sharks will kill you on sight, they tend not to. one of the pages as an educational page to educate people that sharks are not as bad as they seem.

Our main page will consist of a menu with 2 pages and a cartoon shark which interacts with the users mouse, the two clinks, will potentially be two caves, which the shark will swim into and open a new area for you to read and interact with once you click on the links. Below is a brief concept design of the Main Page we will present to the aquarium, not necciserily the final design, but a rough draft of what we're aiming for. We've also decided to place a light in the corner which can be turned on and off, to make the shark feel scared, and make it feel safe again.

We're unsure about whether this draft will play a place in the final concept, but the key qualities of what we're aiming for are here, besides the Caves and the background fish.

29/01/2013

Task 3

Today we revisited the aquarium, to present our presentations for our interactive educational animation, we explained what we wanted to try and do, we explained we wanted 3 interactive pages with cartoon characters to animate, with mini-games to find clues which lead you to facts about sharks and sociology research.

We've also designed a poem, which fits very well for the younger audience, and is well written to give sharks a more friendly experience.

Our client, responded with a very positive attitude, she felt we nailed it in every way and said she loved what we've done, and said we've gone in to depth about trying to show the true nature of sharks, rather than making them out to be monsters.

Below are images of the slide show we presented to our client. we tried to put alot of thought into our slide show we made many errors including grammatical, but we eventually managed to correct and complete the layout of the slide show.

Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 3

Slide 4

Slide 5

Slide 6

Slide 7

Task 1

Unit 62

Task 1 (Week 24)

Find 2 examples of work from each of the following categories:

·          Interactivity, sound and motion added to web pages.

·          Animation for output to videotape or streaming web movies.

·          Single-user games/quizzes for distribution on interactive learning and testing materials for distribution over the web or on CD.

·          Software product tutorials.

·          Presentations, training materials or interactive touchscreen kiosks that provide instant information for exhibition visitors.

Write a short report (750 words) that summarises the principles of interactive media authoring, referring to examples of work found. This should focus on the means of interactivity – e.g. keyboard, mouse, touchscreen etc. as well the effects of interactivity, e.g. interactivity can trigger animation or sound, or movement of objects which can trigger collision detection, a user can select a language option, or can interact by drawing, etc. etc. DO NOT MERELY DESCRIBE THE WORK YOU HAVE RESEARCHED.

1. Finding examples of interactive websites.

• Zunejourney.net 

Zune Has various interactive parts of the website you can interact with, you have an animated Ipod that you can click on with music and various sections of the site which navigate you through animated " portals " its a very colourful and well designed site with interaction, sound and motion all in one bundle. 

• http://www.getyourbasketballon.com/game/index.html

The above website is also another interactive with sound, interaction and motion, it appears to be a website to motivate people into sport, specifically basketball. 

Examples of animated Movies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FArwAMcyRhw

Above is a Link to youtube for the Lion King, the lion king was a 90's Disney movie about the son of a family leader, who has a journey through life to become the new leader after his father is murdered by his uncle out of jealousy and wanting to become the new air to the family throne. its a very touching film and relates well to a young audience through the animation and use of animals. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djACTlg_vJc

Above is another movie link, called Sleeping Beauty. a girl cursed by an evil fairy, whom effectively in the end has to be rescued by a prince to break the curse. again another film by disney, connects well with a younger audience. 

Games that advertise products.

http://www.gungamezone.com/game/pirates-of-the-carribean-spin-or-sink/

Above is a link to a minigame that advertises pirates of the Caribbean the film, basically you have to try and collect 100 souls and avoid the kraken/defeat it. the purpose is a game for the film, and to make people want to watch the film. 

http://www.gungamezone.com/game/lion-king-simbas-pride/

Above is also another flash game which advertises The Lion King 2. a small game which tries to allure people into the 2nd film. by giving the feeling of the game.

Program tutorials

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-manipulation/how-to-create-a-dramatic-fisheye-spartan-scene-with-photoshop/

Above is a link to a photoshop tutorial, it explains a simple step by step description of how to create a fisheye photo of a spartan.

http://www.entheosweb.com/flash/simple_animation.asp

Above is another link to a basics flash tutorial, which explains how to tween small objects to create animations. a tween is a technique used to move one object to another destination.

Interactive media Kiosks. 

For one of our tasks we had to go out and find and interact with interactive stations and kiosks. I went down to HMV which had interactive stations for the Ipod, Tablet, and the Wii U.

The Wii U has a small interactive pad you use to navigate the menu and interact with the programs on the TV, the TV plays one thing, while the Pad shows another. The Tablet station was an area hosting different types of tablets both small and large, they had different types of interactable programs on them. Including camera and video functions with internet and market access.


My Report

Interactive Webpages

Today we had mainly researched interactive media, we had researched a wide variety of media including interactive web pages and sounds, and interactive games, one of the games we researched was a web game which was mainly about encouraging a young audience to get into sport specifically basketball, by giving live encouragement videos while actually playing the game. It was more under the concept of an interactive site, so the media could be described as both a game and a site. Hence the interactive site. The game itself was like a birds eye 2D view of a 2 v 2 game of basketball with you playing against the main character while he’s giving you encouragement videos, this would probably try to encourage the feeling of advice and training to make the user feel like basketball could be an easy thing to learn.

We also looked at another interactive site which was advertising the IPod, it had a list of music to play with an interact-able animated IPod, which when highlighted opened up and showed the user different pages and links you could click on, once clicked on, it would take you through an animated portal with lots of groovy objects flying past the screen, to which it would take you to its designated page. It was a very bright and colourful page, which added to the positive feel of the website, and makes the IPod feel like it would be a good thing to buy.

Animated Movies

While on the subject of animated media and appealing to the audience, we were tasked with looking up and researching animated movies, the movies I chose to research were a couple of famous movies by Disney.

The first one I chose was The Lion King, the lion king was a film created by Walt Disney back in the 1990’s, and it was about a Prodigal son of a King of lions, within a family, who goes on an adventure fuelled by revenge and direction, who goes out to hunt down his uncle who in turn killed his father to take the place of on the throne. He encounters both friend and foe on his journey after running away from his family once he saw his dad murdered. Eventually growing up and seeking revenge on his uncle he becomes the next king. This film was particularly suited for children and even though it portrayed a serious plot, it was suitable for younger audiences through its animation of animals and songs.

The second film I researched was Sleeping Beauty, another well-made and designed film by Walt Disney about a Princess born into a kingdom by her mother and father, and as they went to christen her, they had 4 fairies give her gifts, one of beauty, one of song, and before the 3^rd fairy can give her gift, the 4^th pretends to be gracious about being uninvited, but then curses the princess saying before her 16^th birthday she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die, the 3^rd is able to use her gift to weaken the curse, so instead of death, she will fall asleep and true loves kiss will wake her from her slumber. 15 years later, the princess lives as a peasant to keep hidden from the evil fairy but unfortunately is found, and lured into a trap, where before the sun goes down for her 16^th, she pricks her finger, and falls asleep, while a prince who previously took interest in her now goes out to rescue her from the 4^th fairy, and succeeds and defeats her. Waking the princess with a kiss.

Sleeping beauty, has a very in depth and emotional story with high climax, before being let down in a great way, its effects on younger audiences were very affective as it was one of those films with abit more realism but still a fairy tale, one of Disney’s best made films.

Games that Advertise Products.

Not only did we have to write about animated films, we had to research small time games to give advertisement and seduction to other products. In which case I decided to write about 2 games, which support and advertise 2 films.

Pirates of the Caribbean – Spin or Sink

Spin or sink is a game to support dead mans chest, the sequel to the first POTC film, the objective is to capture souls in a whirlpool while avoiding and shooting the Kraken, using your own ship you have to capture at least 100 souls to give to davy jones for your own with progressive difficulty, the game supports the film, by revealing parts of the plot in objectives, which in turn encourages audiences to go and watch the film.

Lion King 2 Simba’s Pride – Crocodile Adventure

Crocodile adventure is a small game to support both film and website for the official film/sequel to the Lion King, the objective is to leapfrog across crocodiles to rescue Kovu, the concept idea I notice has also been taken from an old game called Frogger. Once you’ve completed the objective you may start again.

Tutorials

In addition we researched Program tutorials, my first tutorial was about Photoshop, and the tutorial was a basic step by step on how to create a fish eye view a Spartan in a single photo, using various colours and techniques it takes the user through a guide on basic editing. Fulfilling its objective to help new users to become familiar with Photoshop. The second tutorial I researched was on Flash, which takes you through basic steps on how to make yourself familiar with a technique called tweening, tweening enables an object to be animated from one area to another, moving them in a specific manner. This guide tells you how in a detailed approach to flash.

Kiosks

Afterwards we went out to the city centre to research Kiosks/Interactive stations, one of the stations I took note on were the interactive stations found in a media store called HMV, the interactive station consisted of several different tablets, which had very few programs on them but enabled the user to get a rough feel for the use and experience of having a tablet. Demonstrated its ability to be a computerized smart phone, it achieves this goal perfectly.

The 2^nd interactive station I researched was the new Wii U, HMV had a Kiosks which enabled a user to have a short demonstrational experience of the Wii U, a small control pad which lets you control mechanics on a tv while having a totally different display on the handheld device, you can browse media and games, and interact with different setups for mainstream entertainment.

I was also aware of another Kiosk in the city centre, which contains a computer and arcade games which enable you to find out where you are, where to go, access your email and access the internet and jobs, the Information Kiosk’s purpose is to aid visitors in getting to their destination and being able to navigate the city and find the information they need.