3D modeling in 3ds max

today i have been doing 3D modelling using the software 3ds max. i have created a table in the program by adding different shapes to it to make a table top by making a rectangle and changing the measurements of the height width and sides. i also created table legs using cylinders  i also put textures into it to make it actually look like a table and i also added lights.

a look at what i was doing in the Program:

and a 'render of what i would look like:

web animation - What you need to know

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Web Animation, What you need to know

More and more users of the internet expect increasingly more dynamic, visually engaging and media rich content. This can be achieved by designers in the form of vector based animations. Animations of this type can be scaled up or down to any size easily to adjust to different screen resolutions, from mobile phones to the highest end computer monitors. These animations are also relatively small in file sizes and can be streamed across the internet from super quick fibre optic broadband cables to the not as fast dial up modem connections. All internet users have a way of downloading video streaming software onto their computers, for example Adobe Flash player, 11 which is software that can be downloaded on almost every device or QuickTime player, which also works on pretty much any device. Software like adobe flash player and quick time are what makes being able to see these vector animations possible. These characteristics make vector animations a popular choice for web designers and the designing of these sites has created a huge and thriving sector of the interactive media industry.

This article will hopefully give you an understanding of web animations. This will cover digital animation methods and the use of animation on web applications. The web application that I will be focusing on the most is the web banner.

Animation types and methods

In such a short amount of time there has already been a variety of different types of web animations from simple to complex. The four main types of web animation are:

1.     

  Animated GIF s

2.    

   Dynamic HTML

3.      

Shockwave and flash (vector animations)

How web animations stated off

GIF animations

GIF animations are one of the biggest innovations of the internet and the dawn of web animations. A GIF animation is composed of a series of Bitmap images which are played in a sequence. The main advantage of this type of animation is that the file format is recognised by most, if not all internet browsers. The disadvantage of this kind of animation is in order to keep the file sizes down; the animation is usually short as each frame is a bitmap image and bitmap images can be quite large in size. This sort of animation was the first kind of web animation to catch on and is still widely used today.

Dynamic HTML

Dynamic HTML animation was not created with animation in mind, but will let you edit html elements in a way that will add movement to a web page. DHTML works on the principal that instead of having individual frames of animation, you tell your computer to take a static image and move it across the screen, similar to the way a computer mouse cursor moves across the screen.  Dynamic HTML content is produced using a number of complex scripting languages, for example Java or Action script that can access the Document Object Module in your internet browser, which controls everything about how an internet browser displays a web page. This kind of animation is recognized by all internet browsers so there is no need to download extra software; however it is more complex than other types of animation as the coding for it is quite difficult.

Plugins

As multimedia content became more available on the web, so were the ways of being able to display them. Instead of changing an internet browser to recognise and display these forms of content, web designers created plugins that everybody could then download and use. Plugins are programs which work with your browser to read and play a particular kind of file. They are relatively small pieces of software, so it doesn’t take you forever to download them off of the internet. They are specifically designed to work with a particular type of file, so that they can accomplish a lot of things that an ordinary browser cannot.

Flash and shockwave

Flash is now the standard format that is used for rich media animations on the web and shockwave is now a very popular format for presenting more complex animated content. Unlike Real Player and Quick Time files, slash and shockwave movies actually appear as a part of the webpage and include a high level of interactivity, similar to a simple html page. The shock wave player then not only plays the animation, but recognizes user input and then controls how the browser responds.

Flash and shock wave are not the only formats for this sort of animation, but flash and shock has caught on more than other similar formats.

Difference between flash and shockwave

Flash and shockwave software applications are very similar and were produced by Macromedia, now Adobe, but there are some differences between the two. Most of them are related to the origins of the file types.

Director, the software application that is used to create shockwave files has been around for a long time and was originally developed to create dynamic content for CD-ROMs and still is today. As dynamic content became more in demand on the web, updated versions of the software became more oriented toward making content on the web

About ‘rich media’

To describe rich media, it helps to think about other ad formats that we're all familiar with, starting with the simplest: text ads. With just a few keystrokes, anyone can create simple messages in a standardized format, and place them on a site like Google.com in minutes. Then we have standard display ads, ads that usually include text with a visual such as a logo or a graphic. These can be in formats we're all familiar with like .jpg, .gif, .swf and more. Standard display ads can either be static or animated with tools like Flash. They typically have only one interaction, meaning that when you click on them, you'll be taken to a destination site. And then at the most complex level, from a design and interaction perspective, we have rich media ads. With rich media, you can have ads that expand when users click or roll over, for example, and there are extensive possibilities for interactive content, such as HD video or even the ability to click to make a phone call.

But making a rich media ad possible requires much more complex technology to ensure that all of the ad behaviours function properly, that all of the interactions can be measured, and to serve the ads onto web pages. Every piece of the canvas, from the video play button to the button that allows for expansion, requires coding in Flash that's made possible by a rich media technology provider like DoubleClick Rich Media. With all of this complexity, there's also a lot of room for error. So in addition to enabling the development of the ads, tools like DoubleClick Studio provide quality analysis and preview functionalities to make sure that the ads work the way they should.

Health and safety considerations for freelance

While working as a freelance, when working from the comfort of your own home health and safety will probably be the least of anybody’s concern. However this is not actually true. There are a number of things to take into account when doing any form of work, whether it is working for a big company to working as a freelancer, with health and safety being one of them. On top of that there are also laws that are put in place which are designed to make sure that people are safe and healthy when working. These laws are put in place to set the absolute minimum requirements and rights that every single employee has to meet and this includes freelancers.

Personal health considerations

While working freelance, you are making your own money, however on the chance that you end up becoming ill then there is nothing you can do unless you make backup plans first. When working in a permanent job position, when you are ill you get sickness pay. Most companies have a set number of weeks however the national minimum of sickness pay that you can get is 28 weeks. That is where employers have to pay you for at least 28 weeks and chances are when you’re off sick in a permanent job position your work may be covered, depending on the job position however in a freelance position, if you can’t do work, you don’t get any money at all. You can counteract this by having at least 4 professionalised friends on standby so that the work can be completed for the client.

Diet and exercise are also a key component in this. The right amount of exercise, which is around about half an hour a day in order to keep the body fit. Eating the right foods will also help with this as you can fight diseases so that you don’t have to worry about people covering for you.

Every year approximately 2000 office workers are absent form work for more than three days due to workplace related accidents which are just as likely to happen in an office block full of people they are to happen to people in their own home. That particular statistic doesn’t even take into account the amount of people that cannot come into work because of work related illnesses.

The HSE lays down a few basic requirements for office environments:

·        

Llighting should be of an acceptable level to avoid causing eye-strain or other visual impairments.

·         Temperature should be at least 16oC and although there is no law for an acceptable maximum temperature, there is research which suggests that work based accidents become more likely to happen above a temperature of 24oC

·         There should be clean water available on tap

·         Hot and cold water  to be provided with soap and towels

·         Sufficient number of toilets to be provided which are clean and fully functioning

·         To provide at least 11 cubic meters of space per person who is permanently occupying a workplace

(Mel Dixon. (5th july 2010). 

Work/life balance

The amount of hours that you should work a week entirely depends on how big the project is and how you organise your time. It is recommended that you should keep with what you comfortable with. Leaving work to the last minute can only mean you will end up staying up every night trying to get it done and that will end up taking a toll on your health

The amount of paid holiday that you are entitled to depends on how many hours that you are working for. A typical contract worker who works 5 days a week is entitled to 28 weeks of annual leave where as someone who is working part time must have at least 5.6weeks of paid holiday. People who are self-employed such as freelancers  however so not get paid holiday.

gov.uk. (2012). 

The main rights of a worker are:

Workers and Employees have the following rights

·         National Minimum Wage - and see the Agency Workers regulations above

·         the right to be automatically enrolled in a pension scheme and receive Employers Contributions in certain circumstances and in stages from October 2012 – see our Scheme here.

·         Rest Breaks and Paid Holiday under the Working Time Directive- and see the Agency Workers regulations above

·         Protection from unauthorised deductions of Pay

·         Maternity and Adoption Pay (not Leave) and Paternity Pay (not Leave) – details as above. See our Agency Workers regulations information above for details of agency workers who will be entitled to paid time-off for antenatal care from 1st October 2011.

·         Protection against less favourable treatment if you are part-time

·         Statutory Sick Pay

·         Protection again less favourable treatment if you ‘whistle-blow’ (i.e. make a disclosure in the public interest)

·         Not to be discriminated against unlawfully on grounds or race, sex, marriage/civil partnerships, maternity/pregnancy,  disability, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief and to receive equal pay (with members of the opposite sex if you can show they are doing similar work of equal value)

·         Protection under Health and Safety law. For details of the Health & Safety legislation in the UK please look at the official website www.hse.gov.uk.  With regards to appropriate Temperatures for the Workplace – there is no legal minimum temperature set, the law says that during working hours the temperature inside workplace buildings should be reasonable.  However, the HSE’s guidance recommends a minimum temperature of 16 degrees for workplaces where activity is mainly sedentary (offices) and 13 degrees for workplaces where work involves physical effort.

·         Protection against discrimination for membership or non-membership of a Trade Union.  And from 6th April 2010 the blacklisting of workers from employment as a result of their union membership or activities is prevented.  If a worker is blacklisted and suffers a detriment at work because of this (e.g. been refused employment, been subject to detriment or unfairly dismissed because of being on a blacklist) they can complain to a tribunal for damages and/or a restraining or prevention order against the blacklist.

·         to be accompanied at a disciplinary or grievance procedure hearing (include Home-Workers below).

While the main right a freelancer have are:

·         You should not be discriminated against in the work place in most cases, and if you are could make an claim to an Employment Tribunal.  This protection only applies to Freelancers who fall under Part 5 of the Equality Act 2010 – that is those who are described as ‘contract workers’ and are contracted personally to do the work, i.e you cannot claim discrimination against your Employer if  you are contracted for the provision of services and hire someone else, or sub-contract someone else, to do the work – you must do the work yourself personally.

·         You are entitled to a Safe and Healthy working environment (as above) – see www.hse.gov.uk

·         You should be paid for the work that you have done.  If you are having problems with late payments see this comprehensive.  And if your Client is going into receivership or administration read this advice.

You may also be entitled to Statutory Maternity Allowance if you are pregnant and have recently left an engagement.

·         Also, on the occasion that you are classed as a ‘Worker’ (for employment Rights) but Self-Employed (for tax purposes), you may be entitled to the ‘Workers’ Rights as above if you perform the work personally. E.g. It is quite common in the Film and TV Industry for freelancers to be classed as ‘Workers’ and receive paid Holiday under the Working Time Directive legislation.

·         Most self-employed individuals will pay class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NIC’s) which give you entitlement to the basic State Pension and Statutory Maternity Allowance. Class 2 NIC’s do not give you entitlement to Job Seekers Allowance, Statutory Sick Pay or the additional State Pension.

·         If you are registered as a Limited Company and provide your services on a freelance basis to a client organisation (as a Provider) then you will not receive ‘workers’ rights from this organisation – it is up to you to provide yourself with ‘workers’ rights as you are employed by your own Limited Company.

·         If you are freelance, have you considered becoming a Limited Company? There are many advantages in doing this, both financially and for marketing purposes, but also there are disadvantages with a higher administrative burden. There are organisations that can help you take care of the tax and administration burden.

Lesly Furber. (Sep 24, 2008). 

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 references

Mel Dixon. (5th july 2010). Health and safety for freelancers . Available: http://www.freelanceadvisor.co.uk/lifestyle-and-timeout/health-and-safety-for-freelancers/. Last accessed 4th december 2012.

Lesly Furber. (Sep 24, 2008). What are my main Employment rights as an Employee, Worker or Freelancer?. Available: http://www.freelanceadvisor.co.uk/getting-a-job/what-are-my-main-employment-rights-as-an-employee-worker-or-freelancer/. Last accessed 4th december 2012.

 gov.uk. (2012). Holiday entitlement. Available: https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/entitlement. Last accessed 4th december 2012.

Flash CS6 bone tool armature tutorial

Today in class i made an attempt at following a tutorial about the bone tool in flash. The first thing i did as part of the tutorial was to find a picture of my face in Photoshop. i then cropped the image so that it was just my face. The next thing i did was import the image into flash and converted it into a movie clip. I then made other movie clips for different part of the body such as upper arms, neck, body etc.

i then used the bone tool so that my new body could have movement. I did this by joining movie clips together from head to tail in order to create joints. Using the arrow tool i was able to grab body parts and could then freely move them about however i wanted, which is a brilliant way of animating.

if you click on the head of the bone joint you can mess about with the properties of the joints and constrain them so that they are able to move like an actual human body.

  

these screenshots below show the results of the tutorial:

drag and drop game update: map design

today in class, i have been designing my in-game map for my drag and drop game (still don't have a title). I have designed another area for the player to go to and started the final area, where the ultimate treasure awaits. After i have designing these areas i will be able to carry on with the hit test and the rest of the game mechanics can follow.

drag and drop game development: Uddate

over the past 2 days I have started to code the game i am developing. yesterday i put the movement code in to move my character across the screen. it worked on the basis that in order to move the character you have to left click the mouse to gain control of the character, moving the mouse controls my characters movement and letting go of the left mouse button releases control of the character.

the code for whats known as start/stopdrag:

drag and drop game map design

today in class i was working on a map design for my drag and drop game. the game is going to be a puzzle maze game where you drag the character through a world, collecting treasure and avoiding traps.

this is the progress i have made so far with the map

Note: i had to change it as the original version was only the size of one screen.