Improvements and corrections.....

We took on board all the feedback we recieved and got straight to work on making the corrections.

Selecting a soundtrack became a real bugbear for the group as it was so difficult to select something that suited all the scenes and atmosphere's. Our CD collections were trawled through and eventually the tune we selected was 'Amazing' by Bruno Marrs.

There were a couple of improvements we felt we could also make too. These were:

Insert 'postcard' renders between each scene to display the name of the location.
Close with postcards falling onto a beach scene ending in a Visit Essex logo.

final scene

Final Presentation.....

On the 8th December we presented our promoting Essex animation to Elli from essex County Council, the other groups and the course tutors.

Once the presentation was over, and to reinforce the postcard theme, we printed off a set of rendered 'postcards' and gave them to Elli to take away with her.

We felt that the presentation went quite well and it was well recieved. We did however recieve some constructive criticism and thankfulywe were given a chance to alter the animation ahead of the deadlines due date of December the 10th.

The suggested improvements were:

Add some sound (we ran out of time for the presentation)
The background plane could be seen through the archway in the Layer Marney scene.
The names of the locations should be added to make it obvious to viewers from outside Essex.
Add the address of the Visit Essex website at the end.
Overall the clips could be shortened in places to make the animation more 'punchy'

Week 11 updates.....

Paul animated his clips.....I tried importing the clips into Adobe Premiere and for some reason it degraded the quality of the clips????
Our tutor advised me to render to 720i quality resolution which is 1280 x 720.
Again this degraded in Premiere so I tried it in Windows Movie Maker on my laptop and this seems fine.
I also contacting Elli again to keep her up to date with progress. She replied saying she could hardly wait to see our animation. :o)


Gemma carried on with work on the bike and the secret bunker.......

Lovely senery cycling through essex...

Rich animated the maldon scene complete with moving water, sail and flag. :o)......

Week 10 updates....

Gemma after visiting the secret bunker carried on modeling it...
Paul worked on the Colchester Zoo models and postcard stand......

The stand was created using the Sweep Tool...
We'll be animating the images on the postcards using the Rotoscope tecnique. I hope nobody copies our idea as it looks really cool :o)



I created an exploding Colchester Zoo logo using the PArray partical tool....

richard created pauls hand for the picking up the postcard scene.

Shhhhhh, it's the Secret Nuclear Bunker ;o) ........

We needed loads of images of the Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelvedon Hatch near Brentwood and mentioned this to our client Elli who kindly arrange a visit.

It's a facinating place set in a woodland and hidden beneath a mock bungalow. Beneath this is a series of long tunnels and interconnecting rooms which are fully stocked with period artifacts such as a sick bay and BBC tv studio. Well worth a look :o)

The mock bungalow....
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Entrance sign....

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The entrance tunnel beneath the bungalow...

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Sick bay....

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Communication room...
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Canteen....

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Week 9 Updates....

Paul pressed on with some Colchester Zoo models......
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Richard did some great work with Cloth Modifiers and Reactor Water....

And Gemma started work on the bunker...Richard work on layermany tower












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Week 8 updates...

Modelling continued well with several new techniques being employed...
Gemma worked on the bike to create cycling through essex.

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Paul created a model of a Tiptree Jam jar......

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And began work on the factory buildings.....

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and worked on the interior of the VAF some more....

Rich worked on a nice model of a boat wind breaker and deckchair scene and Walton

Second client meet....

Ensuring the client is kept up to date with progress, the group met Elli Constantatou for an informal second meeting.

Date: 08/11/10 Time: 10:00 Location: Starbucks, High Chelmer.

Present: Elli Constantatou, Paul Frost, Gemma Patterson, Richard Olden.

Content of meeting:

The group explained to Elli that several other teams were using the rotating globe theme and asked if they could show her the new postcard theme.

Using the storyboard and 3DsMax models on a laptop, the group explained the new concept. Elli responded very positively to the proposal and was happy for us to proceed with it.

The group then informed Elli of how they arrived at their 'Top Ten' and taked her through each one.

The group will be modelling the Secret Nuclear Bunker in Kelvedon Hatch and Elli kindly offered to contact the owner on our behalf to arrange a visit.

Elli also explained that through her contacts she could help with interior layout details of the VAF which are not published on the internet.

Week 7 updates....

Gemma starting modelling the bike for the Cycling In Essex theme.........




The group pressed on with the places in Essex models......

Paul began modelling the Visual Arts Centre in Colchester...



And some trees and people that can now be used to populate all our scenes.




And Rich created a model of the Layer Marney Towers.....