Avant Garde Inspirations

In an age, of melodic music and structured compositions there is less notice of the avant-garde style which has many effective attributes.

An avant garde artist that I have been an admirer example of in particular has been Arnold Schoenberg. His piece 'Six Little Pieces for Piano, Op. 19' is an example of atonal music – not obliged to a key signature. This style of music ignores the emotionality of traditional Western scales – atonal music celebrated by Adorno.

A personal Avant Garde of mine is ironically from The Beatles, 'Revolution 9' released on the White Album (1968). There is no specific structure to the music, it is unpredictable which is what I find fascinating. The anticipation and thrill of what you hear is something that I feel is less appreciated in tonal music. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNCNfBpHUUI

Blender Experimentation 2

This was the second short project that I completed using Blender. Not only did creating this allow me to continue to improve my familiarity with the software's general functions, but it also gave me the opportunity to experiment with different types of lighting to create a more refined and moody aesthetic. My sculpting and texturing skills also improved when making this render, as well as my grasp of physics in animation as well as realistic sculpting and texturing.

Lesson 3 Notes

Sculpting mode(bottom left) 

Symmetry/lock - mirrors the alterations on the selected axis

Can change the strength - top left slider bar

Radius- changes size of brush

Control alt-u 

Click Add ons tab

Type in images 

Click Import images as planes

Save user settings

Shift A

Add image as plane 

Click little ball in bottom left, then click material of material 

Bottom left box - Graph editor 

Select 2 nodes/key frames 

T- set key frame interpolation

Select a preset for the movement 

Shift A - text 

Spanner- modifier

Click on camera

Shift F - fly mode for camera 

Blender Experimentation 1

This was the first mini-project/test that I have completed using Blender. Creating this short video which was mostly tutorial led, allowed me to utilise many of the skills that I had learnt in class, increasing my familiarity with the interface and techniques such as sculpting and creating materials/textures. In addition, I also learnt many new skills when learning how to create motion-based videos such as this. For example, it gave me a greater understanding of using 'physics' in Blender and incorporating movement into a scene using dynamic objects.

C4D Tutorials

lecture 2 - using blender

LECTURE 2 - notes 

Materials tab - specify colours and simulate texture 

Cycles render - renders quickly 

Diffuse colour - change colour of object

Use nodes - textures - you can download presets 

Shift A - Add plane 

New material - glass - can now see reflection of cube in the glass

Shaders - the surface and how it reacts to the light 

2 textures on 1 object 

Selected object

Default to compositing window 

Then click materials icon in middle of page

Shift A - shader - select a texture 

Click green dot and drag it to the object 

Mixed shader node 

Shift A - shader - mix shader 

Attach both textures to the mix shader  

Attach mix shader to the object 

Add image 

Shift A - texture - image texture 

Connect colour nodes

Open image 

Shift A - input - texture coordinate 

Connect generator node to vector node 

Render 

Click triangle in  top right hand corner of screen 

Click plus button on UV maps

Connect UV node to vector node 

Try on sphere 

May look flat 

Image texture - change flat to sphere 

SCULPTING 

Tab - Edit mode - object will go orange 

Can edit shape by faces or vertices 

Bottom of the window next to global

3 boxes for face or vertices selection 

Select one and then you can move the shape

Face select mode and Subdivision 

Select face and press W

You can subdivide multiple times 

But be careful as it will take longer to render 

Easy art:

Subdivide it

Mesh tools - randomise a couple times 

Explosion:

Start with object 

Click triangle with 3 dots in top right

Click shape Keys 

Click plus button- first key

Click plus button again to add a second key

Press tab 

Press randomise(in mesh tools) a few times 

 You can Drag value slider up and it will merge the two Keyss

Hover over value bar and press "I" which inserts key frame 

Move slider to end of video 

Change the value again 

Hover over value and press "I" again to add the second key frame 

Can change the value multiple times and add several key frames to make it pulsate 

E- extrude the face 

Armature - Skelton of the object 

Can subdivide to make the skeleton more complex and can subdivide the faces to move the object more 

Start with default object 

View(bottom left) front 

Press Z - wireframe mode 

Left click bottom of cube 

Shift A - amature - single bone 

Press S and scale it to the top of the box 

Press tab - edit mode 

Select all of the bone

Press W and subdivide the bone a couple times 

Come out of edit mode and Click cube and then go back into edit mode to subdivide the faces 

Come out of edit mode 

Right click the cube 

Then shift click the armature 

Then ctrl P - click set parent 2 with automatic weights 

Change object mode to pose mode (bottom left) 

Then alter the bones 

Lesson 2: Notes

Materials tab - specify colours and simulate texture 

Cycles render - renders quickly 

Diffuse colour - change colour of object

Use nodes - textures - you can download presets 

Shift A - Add plane 

New material - glass - can now see reflection of cube in the glass

Shaders - the surface and how it reacts to the light 

2 textures on 1 object 

Selected object

Default to compositing window 

Then click materials icon in middle of page

Shift A - shader - select a texture 

Click green dot and drag it to the object 

Mixed shader node 

Shift A - shader - mix shader 

Attach both textures to the mix shader 

Attach mix shader to the object 

Add image 

Shift A - texture - image texture 

Connect colour nodes

Open image 

Shift A - input - texture coordinate 

Connect generator node to vector node 

Render 

Click triangle in top right hand corner of screen 

Click plus button on UV maps

Connect UV node to vector node 

Try on sphere 

May look flat 

Image texture - change flat to sphere 

SCULPTING 

Tab - Edit mode - object will go orange 

Can edit shape by faces or vertices 

Bottom of the window next to global

3 boxes for face or vertices selection 

Select one and then you can move the shape

Face select mode and Subdivision 

Select face and press W

You can subdivide multiple times 

But be careful as it will take longer to render 

Easy art:

Subdivide it

Mesh tools - randomise a couple times 

Explosion:

Start with object 

Click triangle with 3 dots in top right

Click shape Keys 

Click plus button- first key

Click plus button again to add a second key

Press tab 

Press randomise(in mesh tools) a few times 

You can Drag value slider up and it will merge the two Keyss

Hover over value bar and press "I" which inserts key frame 

Move slider to end of video 

Change the value again 

Hover over value and press "I" again to add the second key frame 

Can change the value multiple times and add several key frames to make it pulsate 

E- extrude the face 

Armature - Skelton of the object 

Can subdivide to make the skeleton more complex and can subdivide the faces to move the object more 

Start with default object 

View(bottom left) front 

Press Z - wireframe mode 

Left click bottom of cube 

Shift A - amature - single bone 

Press S and scale it to the top of the box 

Press tab - edit mode 

Select all of the bone

Press W and subdivide the bone a couple times 

Come out of edit mode and Click cube and then go back into edit mode to subdivide the faces 

Come out of edit mode 

Right click the cube 

Then shift click the armature 

Then ctrl P - click set parent 2 with automatic weights 

Change object mode to pose mode (bottom left) 

Then alter the bones 

Examples of Motion Graphics

Motion graphics are pieces of digital footage or animation which create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects.

Motion capture (Mo-cap for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics. In filmmaking and video game development, it refers to recording actions of human actors, and using that information to animate digital character models in 2D or 3D computer animation. When it includes face and fingers or captures subtle expressions, it is often referred to as performance capture. In many fields, motion capture is sometimes called motion tracking, but in filmmaking and games, motion tracking usually refers more to match moving.

http://instagram.com/_estebandiacono

http://instagram.com/mregfx

http://instagram.com/zolloc

Intro to blender

Keyboard shortcuts:

N - properties

G (+XYZ for axis) - Grab
S (+XYZ for axis) - Scale
R (+XYZ for axis) - Rotation
X- Delete Object
Shift + A - Add a shape
Left Clicking - moves 3d cursor
Shift + right click - multiple selection
A - Select all/deselect all
Shift d - Duplicate
view - front/back/left/right/camera to see angles
render - renders

i - insert keyframe menu
up and down keys - skip between keyframes
alt + i - Delete keyframes

MOTION CAPTURE

Motion Capture Inspiration

Esteban Diacono

http://www.estebandiacono.com/

Esteban Diacono is a motion graphics artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose work was one of the things that inspired me to choose Motion Graphics as a pathway. The way he simulates movement, creates realistic textures and makes original content with interesting concepts caught my attention and allowed me to better understand the commercial use of motion graphics and the boundaries to which it can be pushed to. His general style is incredibly cinematic and his work attempts to blur the boundaries between the digital world and reality.

After some discussion with Antonio in the initial introductory lesson as to how some of his work was created, such as much of the 'I Love Music' project/compilation (which can be seen below), I have taken an interest in motion capture technology and its use within motion graphics. I would now like to further explore its possibilities and potentially find its use within my own practice.

Intro to Blender - First Project

Introduction to Blender

Blender Shortcuts

N - properties

G (+XYZ for axis) - Grab

S (+XYZ for axis) - Scale 

R (+XYZ for axis) - Rotation

X- Delete Object

Shift + A - Add a shape

Left Clicking - moves 3d cursor

Shift + right click - multiple selection

A - Select all/deselect all

Shift d - Duplicate

view - front/back/left/right/camera to see angles

render - to render

Animate - Exports

i - insert keyframe menu

up and down keys - skip between keyframes

alt + i - Delete keyframes