Being a Student Ambassador

I have learnt a great deal from being a Student Ambassador it has given me the opportunity to really develop my communication skills and confidence as a whole. I find that from it I am now able to talk in front of large groups of people and with confidence give them the information they need to make an informed decision about their futures. I think that from this I will be able to take these skills and adapt them into whatever endeavours come across my path in the future, may it be giving a lecture to students, promoting a game at an event or even selling myself to a client. 

I have also gained experience in UCAS fair events this was an excited and interesting experience for me I got to meet a lot of potential students and share with the passion we exchanged for our love of animation. Whilst there I was also able to browse for myself at what the universities had to over in terms of Masters degree's this was interesting information to get and I gave my email to a few institutes in England and they have since sent me valuable information through email, if my plan B needs to happen in the future i know that attending these UCAS fairs will have helped me a great deal. 

Overall I have appreciated my time as a Student Ambassador I feel that i given a lot and given good advice to those future students, I have gained a lot from the position, better speaking skills, networking, confidence and charisma, I would highly recommend any one in Leeds College of Art to jump at the chance of bettering yourself and helping other people in the process :)

Here's some pics from the UCAS fair's I did the first is Newcastle and the second was Middlesborough 

Business Cards

So for my business cards I wanted to create something that had a humorous feel to it whilst also showing people on the card a small snippet of what i can do. I researched online into business cards and from last year I also took the last third years business cards to look at as they had already gone through this before. What i got from it mostly was that Professionalism in a business card is key but as these business cards are just for the end of year show mostly i thought that humour would work better.

I was inspired by the drawing below to do a human and polar bear mash up, this i will revisit when i have more time as i think it's an awesome idea for a business card :)

 - inspiration :)

So i started by drawing a nice lil' old plobear :) 

He comes from my love of this plobear 

He's so cute :)

Any who i drew a plobear in photoshop and incorporated the name Lowrybear into it as that is what some people call me with Lowry being my last name. I decided to use this as like my slogan so that people have a name to recognise and i think its pretty memorable and easy to read and say so it ticks all of the boxes.

O have also checked that this name is not copywriting and later on in the year i will be copywriting it, I have also set up all my social networking accounts to Lowrybear and will be getting a friend to probably make a website for me later on in the year which will obviously be 

www.lowrybear.co.uk

or something along those lines. 

I think the design i have chosen goes well over all i used a simple drawing of line to make a humorous positioned bear and stuck and xbox 360 controller in his hand as i think xbox is probably my fav (but then again i love all other consoles too)

I used simple yet effective icons to symbolise my twitter, phone and email account to save space on the card. From researching business cards i found a lot of them do this and it does make them much more appealing and utilise the space on the card. I chose to go with a white background as i thought it went well with the white of the plobear.

Here is a more professional one i made as the less things on the card the more you focus on the image on the back which is where you should briefly show off your work. 

Too plain?

Font needs to be in different position?

So to make it more colourful and try something different i decided to incorporate my work onto the front cover as well i took a skybox Jpeg file i had made in second year and photoshopped it onto the card. 

I like the finished effect however I'm not sure if it would be taken seriously at an event, i will have to try these cards out and see what response i get to learn from this.

Front

Back

I also incorporated my work onto the back of the card so people could have a little snippet of something I had made for my FMP. 

I think the card design and layout go well together, I will be printing out both black and white ones along with colour ones to see which ones are more popular and see which ones people like best, this way I will know which to go for and tweak in the future. 

I also looked into creating a more professional business card from a proper printing company, I thought as these business cards are mainly a mock up or stand in business card for the time being I didn't need to send off for them, however when i do i will be using either ukmoo.com or vistaprint.co.uk

These both have pretty sweet deals in terms of cost and shipping so when i am fully ready to create my final fully professional business card i will use them. 

Creating a Logo/ Brand for myself - 'Lowrybear'

'Lowrybear'

My slogan or brand if you will is Lowrybear and i thought it was about time to create a logo that could go on my business cards and sit in the corner of my work without distracting the client or viewer too much. 

I went for something simple and humorous that would appeal to like minded people. 

I know that things should be super professional but i feel that this may be acceptable in the internet. 

I have done a lot of research into self promoting and branding, from Life after College i know that it is a big thing that helps you get noticed and can sometimes lead you to get unnoticed if its boring or rubbish. 

 I will be watching in the following weeks to come at the end of year show how people view the business cards so i then know if i need to tone it down, keep it the same or make it more professional. 

I thought that adding my slogan in a speech bubble would be more funky than just writing it in the bottom right hand corner.

I also played around with a few colours and i like them maybe for different backgrounds or if they were on a different colour however i think i will stick with a plain white bear.

I also came up with this design for the backs of business cards and as a smaller slogan for smaller things, possibly at the bottom of website newsletters? The top of Twitter pages or other advertising i could use. I think this design works well and keeps the Lowrybear image i am trying to create. 

Please see below also I made a small one and moved it in the corner to see how it might look at the bottom of my website, I really like the outcome of it i think the brand name and logo work really well together and i will go about getting these copy written later this year if the feedback from my business cards is good. 

Setting myself up with new software

So as we are coming up to our final week in uni i had a thought to myself that we may not be able to get free software anymore, yes we still have our student emails but does that still mean we can gain access to free student software to build our skills on?
So my plan of action is to download all the new software i think i will need, this way having the latest product will keep me as up to date as i can be on software packages.
I will download all the ones you see below 2015 latest editions)-

I have also been given a copy of Zbrush so i will use this to the best of my abilities and also use my subscription at digital tutors.com to be able to build these skills and make them good enough for the games industry.

Digital tutors subscription

Another thing I have done to better myself when i leave is subscribe to digital tutors.com

Yes it's money but its money well spent and after having the trial edition for a while i decided to upgrade and buy the full thing for as long as i can afford it. 

It's a fantastic source of information and has a library of videos ready to play at the click of a mouse.

I have already learned so much on Unity, scripting and Maya. It's very good as well for basic things that you may have missed or forgot along the way, I find myself learning something new each time i watch a video and it re enforces my knowledge and gives me good practise skills such as a simple thing as remembering to name your objects. 

See below how much software tutorials they have, thousands. 

I would highly recommend it to anyone who seriously wants to increase their skills and make them much more professional, as remember the people that are teaching you all pretty much have jobs in the industry and are teaching you in a professional way.

A very good feature they have which has been helping me is my backpack, basically what it is is like a favourites page, you see something you find interesting or it was really helpful to you and you may want to view it again some time, just click add to my backpack and its saved in a safe spot for you to easily access whenever you like.

I've also been looking into learning paths and this is something i am going to start when i leave uni, i haven't had the time to dedicate to this yet and give my self a strict regime to stick to because I've been busy with uni deadlines. When i finish though i am going to throughly explore this and teach myself some new software, my first go to software is going to be Zbrush as a friend hooked me up with it and i think it's a valuable skill to have and something game developers look for in a skill set and portfolio. 

Visiting Crytek Studios - Germany

At the end of June I will be visiting my good friend Omar who last year got a job at Crytek in Germany. So as a super awesome treat he is taking me round the studio and showing me what its like to work in a big games company environment.
I'm looking forward to this so much and from it I will create new contacts, see professionals and how they do it in the work place and the set up and chain of command etc.
I will be taking business cards along with me and a link on my phone to view my portfolio if any one wants to see. I will also be meeting with a few of Omar's friends who are 3D environment level designers so this is a great opportunity to ask them some questions that will help me figure out my next moves to get into the industry myself and what a company is looking for in a 3D environment designer.

I am also going to take with me some questions that i can ask the people that work there without being too annoying! I think this will be valuable information and writing it down will help a lot. I will be preparing these questions before I go.

Events I'm attending later this year

Here are a few of the events I will be attending this year to keep up with networking events and gaming expos. 

Thought Bubble 2014

I haven't been to thought bubble before so this is something i am 100% doing this year i have heard nothing but good reviews about it and it is a great place to exchange business cards and make contacts in the concept art and storyboards department. the only reason i have missed the last two is due to being on holiday or away both times :/ 

I am excited to see the artists work and possibly dress up too.

Here are some of the Illustrators that will be showing work at Thought Bubble 2014

MCM Comic Con Manchester 2014

I am also super excited to be attending MCM Comic Con in Manchester again this year, last year was awesome! And this year will be just as good if not better because i know not to wait in the queue for three hours now.... I will however have to find a new friend to go with as my gaming expo buddy has moved to Germany :( So i will find a new pally pal to go around with.

They have some pretty sweet guests too-

Play Expo 2014

I will be attending play expo in October later on this year i went to play expo in my first year of uni and i absolutely loved it there was so much retro gaming to have there and i made a good contact talking to a nintendo rep that told me about working there, this is something I'm going to look in an enquire about this year as it could be a good job on the side for random events and getting to network more with reps is always a good thing

BAF

I couldn't afford BAF last year but i will definitely put some money aside to attend BAF game if there are any 3D environment speakers there, this is something i will keep looking at at hopefully go to as its only really round the corner from Leeds. It also provides you with first hand knowledge and great information about the gaming industry as well as giving you the change to ask a panel questions.

Creative Networks

I was going to attend the creative networks event on Wednesday 21st May however i was working on that day so i could not. I've heard many good things about the event and its a good way to stay in touch with people from Leeds College of Art too as its like there professional events network.

I will be attending the next event. 

I have also given some thought into volunteering for nogloss film festival this year, it's always good to give back and help out for free :) plus as always, its important to network.

http://www.noglossfilmfestival.co.uk/2014-student-volunteer-programme/

Vsauce

Vsauce is something my friend showed me recently and i am absolutely hooked on it, I actually can't believe i have not seen it before. 

Vsauce is basically a youtube channel that explores and debates questions you wouldn't normally think of or if you did get the answers too? 

Important questions such as could Godzilla actually exist on earth?

The short answer is no - if he didn't die from not enough daily calorie consumption he would indefinitely step foot on land from the sea and immediately drop to the floor dead as his own bones would not be able to support his weight. He would also not realise that he would be dead before he hit the ground because of the fact that the signal would not reach his brain in time. 

Cool right? :)

I posted some vids below for your viewing, really watch them they are very interesting and i find they make me think in a different way and analyse things more now when i am playing on something, watching something or even developing a character. 

Could Godzilla Exist?

Vsauce3

How much does Thor's hammer weigh?

Vsauce3

This is what memories look like

Vsauce2

The web is not the net

Vsauce

See below some vids by Vsauce3 below which show awesomley awesome game merchandise

nom nom nom

want it all.

I hope you have found these videos as interesting as i have and i will continue to follow Vsauce as it is a very good source of information and inspiration on ideas. 

I find that it helps me think more outside of the box and develop my ideas more. 

Finished Piece and my thoughts on it as a whole

I've throughly enjoyed making this piece of work that is special to me on a personal level as well. I have enjoyed everything from modelling all the way to scripting and learnt so much along the way which i always do with these such large projects. 

The most I will take away from this is the skills i have learned extra in unity this time such as more particle effects and scripting sound. I also know from this to always have a plan B and even a plan C just incase because you can never know if someone will let you down or pick you up. 

I've had both in this module and it has been a roller coaster ride but I'm very proud of what I've come out with and the feedback really helped me throughout the module, especially the final crit we had. 

I've found my time management of this module to be quite an improvement to last time and i think i have stuck to my statement of intent very well.

Please see below screen shots of my final piece I will upload a build and run of the level on my blog after hand in too. 

Finding a Narrator - Overcoming Obstacles & Recording.

So, to begin with I originally found a sound designer called Andy who I asked to do the narration for me. Unfortunately as our conversation went on it was apparent that we wouldn't be able to work together as they were really busy. I also got the feeling from our conversation that if i didn't send them something super perfect they would try and charge me for the narration. This being the case I had already spent me budget of £50 for FMP on travelling for Primary research. So i had to take a step back and think more logically about this. 

So because of their busy schedules and that I couldn't show them a finished project just yet I decided to ask Luca to help me instead for free.

Luca to the rescue!

So Luca was great and saved me, his voice fit very well into the poem as I knew from my research and preference I wanted a mans voice narrating the poem, it just fit the scene and flowed much more.

I previously recorded my voice on audacity at home as an absolute last resort but thank god i didn't have to use it, I can narrate poetry quite well but it's a little too embarrassing for me to share it with the world. 

So we booked out the sound booth for about two hours and got down to work, I went through the poem adding in commas where I wanted him to phase for longer and Luca suggested a very good idea of recording it in parts, that way it would make it much more easier for me to edit it afterwards and it would give him a break and get each verse down better.

I also labelled them which made this much easier to keep track of through to final cut pro and then though to unity itself.

It worked out very well and we did quite a few takes of each segment, I spoke to Luca asking him to pronounce the words slower and posher so that the flow of the poem sounded much more medieval. 

All in all it was a very successful recording and I was pleased with the over all result, going into the sound booths gave my poem a much more professional feel as you couldn't hear any background noise at all which was essential because then the character could focus fully on the narration and the background music being played.

Here is the finished narration an animatic of what you will see and hear.

Here is also a hilarious version for you to enjoy of Luca being hedonism bot from Futurama 

Taking a deep look into Sound - Research

A strange surprise was finding beautiful sound in a tutorial video which i thought about buying as a plan C if plan B failed. They were only 99p too! This is great to know for next time that these things are easily at hand. 

Have a listen to the video below its piano just on its own but its really effective and a narration over the top of it would go very nicely if not perfectly. 

Here is the link for the 99p piano store page - BARGAIN.

https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bgekyvost73h4y4g5paozfen3ni&tid=song-Tb2e4yyor6adxdxteywbwckdaqi&rdot=1&rdid=song-Tb2e4yyor6adxdxteywbwckdaqi&partner=ytctb

Soundtracks I have listened too.

Dear Esther - Soundtrack and Narrator

I thought a lot about how the music would tie in and fit with the music in the background, i want the narration to be the dominant sound in the piece as obviously it is the story being told and without the audio the level doesn't make sense. So i looked into Dear Esther and how it mixed the two together to create a fit. I found that if i turn the background music down on the first person controller throughout final cut pro before importing it into Unity i could get a sense of how loud it needed to be over it. It took a few attempts but i got there in the end and i think i have just the right level of tone in the piece like in the video narration of Dear esther below. 

Sound is something I'm really passionate about, especially Instrumental music so i wanted something In my level that would fit with the poem as a whole and create that beautiful mix of visual and audio.

The style of these tracks below are all something i want to try and achieve in my finished piece of work, I'm a little worried as to if i can find someone to create something this good (well, not this good) but something that will create that feeling of awe and compassion almost. 

Take a listen to some of these soundtracks they are absolutely beautiful. 

Sound is something that defiantly completes if not makes a game, for example in flower not much is happening other than you are a flower blowing around in the wind collecting things, there isn't much story to this, but the idea is it isn't needed because the visuals and audio create such a connection to the player that the level is about enjoying the game, not running for your life away from the badly you get involved and sucked into its peaceful atmosphere and this is what i want to create from my game level, that harmonises sense of poetry meets art. 

Unfinished Swan soundtrack

Journey soundtrack

Flower OST soundtrack

Beyond Two Souls soundtrack

Its a shame Normand Corbeil died early last year he was such a talented composer and personally one of my favourites. Heavy rain is just beautiful. 

Heavy Rain soundtrack

ICO soundtrack

Primary Research - Bath

I visited Bath to get some primary research in whilst i was visiting with friends and i found the place to be very peaceful and nice. The middle image at the top is the best one i found and it really influenced the architectural influences in my work for this project, it made me think completely about not having just a flat room but having something a medieval place would have such as ceil beams and stone ceilings and wooden chandeliers hanging from them. It enforced my idea for arch ways too i wanted my character to walk under something like you do in castles normally. 

I also got from it more influences such as the river, my level would look much more fuller with something that a forest would have which would be a river, i can incorporate some nice river sounds in there later too with sound and scripting which should go nicely with the visuals. 

The trip was a good visit and primary research is always a must for all types of projects. 

Primary Research -Ingleton

Probably the best place to visit was with my friends Joe and Bella we went to Ingleton for the day and got some absolutely beautiful shots of the countryside. I took in a great deal especially the textures of the cliff rocks, the ground around the trees and the grassy banks of the landscape.

I will 100% have a waterfall in my scene as this can be an iconic feature in the level, like a punch line in a joke you kind of have to have something WOAH in there, so i'm hoping to achieve this by mixing sounds, particles and lighting together so that when you walk underneath the bower it will look really pretty like the landscapes of these photographs.  

I will definitely be going back and recommend a visit :)

3D World

I have subscribed to the magazine 3D world for 13 months I think that this will push me to keep up with my skills and knowledgeable of what is happening in the video games industry such as software and what other practitioners are doing. The magazines are very insightful and teach you how to create something step by step in the magazine that month

I got a really good deal on this 13 months for £46 which makes each issue around £3.50 a month so it works out really well. 

I think that this was a good move to make as it will keep pushing me in the right direction of improving my digital skills and learning new software.

Here's a few copies I've received from the subscription already -