A Cohesive World
Elements
01//
Space
02// Sound
03// Objects/Models
04// Colour and Light
05// Type
Non-Linearity
Navigation
01// The Camera
02// Trigger/proximity related Navigation
03// Avatars
Virtual Reality vs. Virtual Environment
A
Cohesive World
Building a virtual environment is creating a cohesive
world and as such it is
unlike any other art and design work with the exception of the cinema:
It can in fact be best likened to creating a movie and this is what
you will essentially be doing
for
the
next 14
weeks. Needless to say we only have limited time and resources at
our disposal and we are not going to attempt to create any kind of
alternative to the full blown Hollywood production. But you should,
nonetheless
be aware that, the output that you are expected to create; a tangible,
operational, well designed and narrated virtual environment, that will
attract people and create sufficiently interest them to become
a participitant of the "story" for a reasonable length of
time, will demand more resources, planning and overall skill, fantasy
and ingenuity
than any other computer science, art or design course on the curriculum.
Not
to put too fine a point on it: More so than any other design medium
virtual environments need to be endowed with a “personality”,
complete with
content which is conveyed with sound, narrative and visual data as well
as the effects and spatial placements that pull all of these together. In
order for your work to make sense, to join, to become whole an untold
number of factors will have to be taken into account and woven into
the overall fabric of the project. Your world will need a climate!
It will need a "look" that corresponds to its content and
that in its turn may involve research. It will need characters that
people it,
some still and some animated. It may need architectural elements, then
again
it
may be a natural environment, in which case you will have to create
"nature". It will need sound: Footsteps, laughter, whispers,
conversations; nature and cityscape sounds - rain or traffic, as the
case may be, and maybe music. But above all, it will need a content
and a "story"
and a scenario, be it narrative, navigational or otherwise.
After
having determined subject, scenario and narrative but before you set
out to design your environment consider the elements below and decide
what is best suited to your content. Elements
01//
Space
Your environment may have an open plan, with no
boundaries such as
is the case with "Public Map" or a confined
space as is the case with "Jingle Forest".
In an open plan the boundaries of the space are not visible. Although
the user may be restricted in his/her movements and cannot wander off
the edge of the parameters that you have set, he/she can see beyond
those parameters into the entire space. In a closed in environment
there are "walls" that stop us from
seeing
the
world
beyond.
02//
Sound
Quite possibly the most crucial element in creating narrative and conveying content
as well as establishing mood and ambience, sound is something that you have to
plan and work towards pretty much from the time that you start planning your
project. This work may involve recording and will almost certainly involve sound
editing. Bear in mind this may take up time and involve "actors" so plan accordingly.
A
workshop
in
sound
design
will
be
given
at
the
start
of
the
semester.
So
at the risk of repeating myself: I cannot stress the importance
of sound in a virtual environment too much. A silent virtual environment
will not work nearly as well as one with sound and narrative content
can quite simply not occur without sound. 03//
Objects/models
One thing should be very clear to you from the outset: This
is not a 3D modelling class. Obviously, when designing a
3 dimensional environment 3 dimensional objects will have to be
brought into
play. However, given the limitation that the 3 dimensional objects
that you use can only have a very low polygon
count in order for
the environment to function properly, you will largely be restricted
to the usage of primitives. A workshop on Maya will be given
at the begining of the semester, however this is not for the purpose
of teaching complicated modelling techniques but rather to teach
you the fundamentals of 3 dimensional design, such as the usage
of lights, camera, object placement, using orthogonal views and
so on. Some modelling can of course be undertaken, provided it
consists
of
simple objects
with low polygon counts. You are also encouraged to familiarise
yourself with resource utilisation as in readymade, low-poly models
downloadable from the internet or freeware easy modelling software.
Links to this end are provided in the links section of this website.
One
visual element you are encouraged to use are images
and textures mapped onto
primitives and simple objects. These, especially in conjunction
with alpha channels and special effects can enrich the visual content
of your environment like no other visual element. These 2 dimensional
images can be video footage and thus animated as well
as still images. The
proficiency in the usage of professional quality raster software,
i.e. Adobe
Photoshop, is a must. Both still images as well as animated imagery,
such as image sequences or vector animations, can be made or
again be obtained from freeware/purchased resources.
2
dimensional imagery, with its richness of narrative and symbol
as well as the third dimension concealed
within it, be it still or animated as in videos, is (still) unsurpassed.
Go to "Illustration
and Symbol" to find out more about how
throughout the ages masters of the genre have created images. 04//
Colour and Light
Colour and light are elements that have been used for millenia,
by artists whose caliber of creativity can only be described by
the term genius. Thus, before you set out to utilise these in your
environments view these links: "Illumination" and "Colour".
05//
Type
Although being by origin a graphic designer, and as such a big
fan of typography, I have to say that the usage of type does not
help to any great extent when conveying complex content and narrative
in a virtual environment. Here, sound is by far the better option
to achieve communication. However, type can and should be used
as
accents,
much along the
lines that type is widely used in newscasts and commercials in
television as an emphasising element. And of course, beyond all
this, a visual element as beautiful as type will give your environment
a great deal of sophistication as is the case in "3
African Sculptures".
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Non-Linearity
There
is one important aspect, where creating a virtual environment
differs greatly from creating a movie and that is the fact that
a virtual environment is non-linear. In a movie the scenario is created
to
follow a pre-defined plan along which the story unfolds and the viewer
does not have the option of deciding what part of the "story" he/she
will focus on, what he will see, and at what length, and what he
will skip altogether. In a virtual environment however, we are free
to
wander around, to
participate
in or view some areas and stories, to skip some altogether, to return
to some and so on. In fact different participitators at different
times will see and experience the environment, as well as the "story"
unfolding therein, quite differently. And this brings us to how this
will be accomplished, i.e. navigation.
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Navigation
Unlike a website, where the user will essentially navigate using buttons,
in a virtual environment the user will be able to wander around,
deciding upon where he/she wants to go. As far as the visual/audial
attributes of your site are concerned you can arrange a certain hierachy
for navigation by making certain parts of your environment more attractive:
Areas with more light, colour or animation will draw the user in.
On the other hand, a "mysterious" ambience may also have its benefits
in attracting users.
The Camera
Given the fact that the camera will constitute the viewpoint of the user,
the camera is your navigational tool. The angle of the camera, the
speed with which it moves as well as the paths along which it moves can
all be used as elements that enhance the navigational experience.
On the other hand, you will also be using the camera to restrict
movement.
Cetain areas of the environment, such as its boundaries,
will be defined as "off limits", thus hindering the user from wandering
off into space. You may also be restricting the user from wandering
through walls, but then again you may use the "wandering through
walls" syndrome as a special effect.
Trigger
(button) or proximity related navigation/events
Your user may be wandering around
the environment freely, deciding where he wants to go but you may also be setting
up navigations or effects whereupon the user may trigger situations
and/or navigation by "touching" objects or even approaching them. Thus
when he/she touches objects he/she may be instantly transported to
other
parts
of the environment
or events such as light or colour changes, enlargement or shrinking
of the environment, increase in sound etc. are triggered. See
project "Metamorphosis"
Avatars
In many instances, especially where novice users of virtual environments
are your defined audience, avatars i.e. special objects designed
as environmental guides can be used. These guides can have antropomorphic
characteristics but need not necessarily be so. Thus any object,
from geometric primitives, to household objects to humanoids can
be avatars. See project "Beyoğlu"
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Virtual
Reality versus Virtual Environment
What you create should involve fantasy,
even possibly a sense of the
absurd, should help develop your imagination
and skills of story creation as
well as narrative. It may involve surreal elements and the bringing
together of objects that may be unrelated in the "real" world. In real
life trees are green, skies are blue and the earth is brown. In a virtual
environment only your own imagination sets the limits: Trees
can be of metal, or pink, or of leopard skin. Skies can be made of
barley sugar and the earth of fluffy cottonwool! Don't shortchange
your fantasies for a "real" world: "Real worlds", in this context,
are boring! And, in this course, not what
we are really after as far as creativity is concerned!
Furthermore,
just as is the case with any design project of any degree of sophistication,
you should be using visual and audial symbols
and metaphors.
These will add to your design more so than any "real" sound or object.
In the project "Battered Women",
the sound of whales was used as a metaphor for the sounds of the human
womb. This turned out to be far more effective than using actual womb
sounds. Again in the same environment blobby shapes were used as trigger
buttons.
These kinds of objects are not present in a human womb but work very
well, as symbols of nurturing and softness, in this context. Again,
the embryo's in this project are stylised to the extent where they
are only
vaguely
associative
with
real embryos.
Real embryos, would have been far too overpowering
and would not have been as symbolically significant.
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