What were my takeaways from this class?Honestly this class was a ton to take in. I realized about halfway through the year that I would need to put in a lot more effort into this class than I thought. This is shown by my steady improvements through the quarters, from an 83 (which was the lowest grade I had ever earned on a quarter) to an 89 to a 93 to a 96. That's 13 points risen since the beginning of the year! That was one lesson, that eventually I will adjust to any class, even if it is super tough like a very certain AP course I will take next year. Another big takeaway from this class was the skill in Photoshop and Illustrator which we learned so long ago has manifested itself into my life. This is proven by the fact that I now own Adobe Photoshop and I am also helping other people use it. One such example of this is me helping a family member remove unwanted individuals from a photo and increase the lighting. Overall, the skills I have learned in this class have been used outside these doors and it proves that material learned at school can be applied anywhere. What was the most rewarding experienceThe most rewarding experience in this class was actually the class. I will explain. This class is essentially an online course and that has great significance. This is shown by the simple fact that these skills of knowing how to use these programs provides incentives for colleges and universities to pick students who have this good of a knowledge of these programs and how they work. In addition, due to the rigor of this class, major colleges may wish to look at this class and this school for that matter as a really hard place. In addition, we learned 3D modeling towards the end, which not only has uses in the game industry, but in science, technology, art and so much more. To sum it up, the whole experience of this class was the most rewarding aspect of this year. What skills from this class will follow me?The ability to adapt will follow me. This is evident by the fact that adaptable people are more likely to do well. Take the story of the deer and the blizzard. There are 1000 deer in the forest, 900 of which have short hair, 50 have long hair and 50 deer can grow different coats in a year. There is a heat spell in August, and those 50 deer will die off since they can't adapt. The 900 will survive because they are naturally acclimated to the climate. The other 50 deer will live because they are adaptable. Then there is a blizzard. The 900 deer die because they can not adjust to the cold, no matter how well they are acclimated to the heat. The other 50 deer survive. This is relevant because we can never get complacent like the 900 and the 50. We must learn to be like the other 50 if we are to survive school.
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What is Hearts of Iron IV?Hearts of Iron IV is a World War II grand strategy game set between 1936 and 1950. It is produced by Paradox interactive, a video game company based in Stockholm, Sweden. There are two starting dates in the game, 1936, which allows the player to be able to build up prior to World War II, while the 1939 start date sends you straight into the conflict and prove your skills as an online commander. HOI4 allows the player to control five major aspects of nations in the WWII period, industry, economics, military, consumer goods and politics. You can build factories (civilian or military), control economic laws, build up your armed forces, control consumer good production and even what type of government your nation has. Is Hearts of Iron IV worth the buyI do believe that Hearts of Iron IV is worth the buy. One major pro is that it allows you to control so many aspects of a country, not just one. To show the consensus Luke Plunkett of Kotaku.com said "This goes way beyond the mere movement of your fleets, armies and air forces. You’re also in charge of diplomacy, research, recruitment and, most importantly, production. Not for a base, not for a region, but for the entire war." This shows that HOI4 lets the player control a nation's war effort and prewar buildup. Overall, I do believe that despite a few pitfalls like the cost of DLC's, HOI4 is still a very good game and I would recommend it to anyone who likes World War II or strategy games. Gameplay ImageTo sum it up...
References“r/hoi4 - This Is about as hoi4 as It Can Get.” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/hoi4/comments/60x7fu/this_is_about_as_hoi4_as_it_can_get/.
Plunkett, Luke. “Hearts Of Iron IV: The Kotaku Review.” Kotaku, Kotaku, 6 July 2016, kotaku.com/hearts-of-iron-iv-the-kotaku-review-1780258434. “Hearts of Iron IV.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 May 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_of_Iron_IV. Have my thoughts on 3D Modeling changed?For the better. As of late, we have been doing more interesting and complicated items than we did in the beginning of the fourth quarter and this is showcased by the use of subobjects, splines and the material editor which allows you to do so much more than what we did in the beginning of the unit. In addition, as of late I have found this quite easy, as watching the videos has really helped me on assignments even if it is like the space scene one where we had to make an Earth and make it appear seemless, but it wasn't even that hard. I thought that making it seemless meant a lot of trial and error, but it really was not that bad when I got down to the nitty-gritty, and I wasnt even sure if I did good. The same could be said for my mushroom scene. Overall, my thoughts on 3D modeling have improved since last time. How have my skills grown?My skills since learning of 3DS Max in late March have grown exponentially. This is proven by how I started with only the basic and rudimentary knowledge of standard primitives, such that even making a simple snowman proved to be daunting. However I could now do that task in five minutes. In addition, I have learned to do so many new things including but not limited to texturing and subobjects. To sum it all up, I have grown alot in 3D modeling since late March when we started Example of New SkillsTo sum it up...
What and where was it?The North American League of Legends tournament took place in St. Louis, Missouri on the weekend of April 14, 2019. This tournament drew in more that 600,000 people viewing the tournament on YouTube and Twitch, a live-streaming service. It had many sponsors including Nike. Although this is a far cry from the 98 million people who watched Super Bowl LIII in 2019; it was not the biggest League of Legends tournament, to do that you would have to go back to November 2018. Last November there was a large League of Legends tournament in Seoul, South Korea hosted by Riot Games, the company that designed the game. This had a total viewing of 100 million people, two million more viewers that that of the Super Bowl. What are my thoughts on it?I think that the League of Legends tournament getting more views than the Super Bowl; a household brand in the sports industry to be rather shocking, but expected. This is evident by the massive spike in popularity of E-sports; in 2016 the same event brought in 43 million viewers. However, in 2017 the tournament brought in 60 million views, however a discovery by TNL Media showed that the numbers of worldwide viewers could be encroaching on 100 million, just three million less views than Super Bowl LII. This shows that the popularity of e-sport events such as League of Legends could eventually consistently overtake the Super Bowl as the largest sporting event broadcasted. Overall I am impressed that League of Legends and other e-sport events are catching up fast to televised events such as the Super Bowl. To sum it up...
ReferencesPei, Annie. “This Esports Giant Draws in More Viewers than the Super Bowl, and It's Expected to Get Even Bigger.” CNBC, CNBC, 14 Apr. 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/04/14/league-of-legends-gets-more-viewers-than-super-bowlwhats-coming-next.html.
Anekal, Manny. “How Many Viewers Watched The League Of Legends 2017 Championship? Not 60M.” The Next Level, The Next Level, 27 Nov. 2017, tnl.media/esportsnews/2017/11/18/how-many-viewers-watched-the-league-of-legends-2017-finals-not-60m. So what did my group do?Our group proved to people why the references to God that are sanctioned by the government are allowed even though the first amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". We used this in our script as a base for our argument that the references to god do NOT REFERENCE A SINGLE RELIGION, due to many people believing in one all powerful God. We chose to omit our detail about how it does not reference one single religion because we had to pack a punch and we believed that this would not be the best usage of our time. What are my thoughts on the group's performance?My overall thoughts on my group are really good, I was very pleased with how we filmed. We used a wide variety of elements such as but not limited to montage. I was really pleased with how we incorporated the montage into the PSA when we did a very brief introduction of ourselves. I was really proud of us for that. In addition, I liked how we all compromised, due to the film being a mixture of ideas, as evident by me not getting the shot I desired of the poster in the front office showing the pledge of allegiance. In addition, I got a shot of me saying the pledge of allegiance which likely would not be there had I stepped in to stand up for that concept. Overall, I was very proud of how efficiently and cohesively we worked as a group and despite some small hiccups such as other group members filming birds, I was still overall pleased with how our group worked.
My criteria for this list1) is it easy to use 2) does it serve it's purpose 3) does it have other uses Number 5: Adobe AnimateAdobe animate is the worst of the pieces of software so far that I have come by. This is evident by it being very hard to learn and still to this day I have a hard time figuring it out. In addition, this tool has very little versatility as it can only be used for one thing and that is 2D animation. It's score? 3/10 easy to use 2/10 usability 4/10 versatility 3/10 overall Number 4 After EffectsAfter effects is better but I have not really found a good use for it. Everything that it can do I have found I can do with other programs, which makes it number 4 on my list. It's score? 7/10 easy to use 2/10 usability 4/10 versatility 4/10 overall Number 3 - Adobe PremiereThis program is very good, nothing much to say about it. It is good if you want to create a film, and it has some other uses, such as compiling footage and or animations, which helps it earn a number 3 on my rankings. 7/10 easy to use 6/10 usability 5/10 versatility 6/10 overall Number 2 - Adobe IllustratorAt first, I thought I would not really enjoy Illustrator. I was totally in for a surprise. I found out that it had a wide variety of uses and it was easy to use once you got the hang of it. I was able to create vector graphics like I never thought I was capable of. In addition, it has a high level of versatility as it can be used in many fields such as graphic design and animation, just to name a few 6/10 easy to use 8/10 usability 8/10 versatility 8/10 overall Number 1 - PhotoshopI can not begin to describe the magnificence that is Adobe Photoshop. It has everything that could be desired out of a program. 9/10 easy to use 10/10 usability 9/10 versatility 9/10 overall To sum it up...
References“Adobe Photoshop CC 2017.” www.klicoubaixou.com.br/adobe/adobe-photoshop-cc-2017-mac-x-os/.
“Adobe Illustrator Draw.” www.adobe.com/products/draw.html. “Adobe Animate CC.” www.adobe.com/products/animate.html. Cloud, Adobe Creative. “What Is Adobe After Effects (October 2017) | Adobe Creative Cloud.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nElk0UWm0Cw. So what is Google Stadia?Google Stadia is basically a brand new and revolutionary innovation in the game industry that could change the ways that games are played and the requirements may not be a factor, you may not have to spend a thousand dollars on a gaming PC if this works out. This means that gone will be the days of paying thousands of dollars on getting the hardware that Ninja uses to play Fortnite, as stated by Mark Edmunds of Starfire Studios “So it’s another game streaming service – but with the huge presence of Google behind it. Great for casual games or trying out a quick demo and the fact you need no high-end graphics hardware (just a good internet connection).". So what he is trying to say is that, like stated earlier, it will not require the big bucks to be spent and will only need internet access. Overall, Google Stadia plans to revolutionize the gaming industry. What are my thoughts?Google Stadia will be very good for people who do not have access to gaming software, but I overall do not like it. As stated in an article by Varsity.com, "Although still missing some intangible details (namely, pricing or a launch date)...". This shows that the price may be very similar to that of the gaming software that this new technology seeks to make obsolete. Also, this software could not be that much of a benefit for those with a bad internet connection, as evident by it being run by a Google server. Also, opponents argue that this is just a power play for Youtube and Google AI. Overall, I have a negative response towards this new planned product. To sum it up...
ReferencesPaprocki, Matt. “Game Industry Has Mixed Reactions to Google Stadia.” Variety, 20 Mar. 2019, variety.com/2019/gaming/news/game-industry-has-mixed-reactions-to-google-stadia-1203167795/.
How are they similar?After Effects, Animate and Premier are very similar. They are motion-based software, meaning they are used to create motion pieces. They are also all part of the Adobe CC Suite. After Effects and Premier are similar because they use frames on a timeline. For a similar reason Premier and Animate are similar, as both use a process of tweening. Animate is best known for this because of its ability to create pieces of animated work. For Premier, you use a process very similar in creating something like a short montage of images, where they do fade in and out, similar to what is found in Animate with tweening. However, After Effects and Animate are both used for animation. Overall, Animate, After Effects and Premier share many common features. How are they different?The three mentioned pieces of software also have many differences. This is evident in the fact that they have different purposes. After Effects and Animate are different partially due to there being only a frame-by-frame option for animating in After Effects, while in Animate, one can do frame-by frame animation, but one also has the option to do tweening and interpolations. While After Effects and Animate are known for having solid spaces to draw; in Premiere, you really do not have the same options that you would have in After Effects and Animate. In addition, After Effects has a main use for animating simple things, while Premiere is more focused on creating documentaries and other types of montages rather than forms of animation. To sum it up...
References“Adobe Animate.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Animate.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Animate “Learn the Basics of After Effects.” Conceptos De Modos De Color En Photoshop, helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/how-to/getting-started-after-effects.html. helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/how-to/getting-started-after-effects “Adobe Premiere Pro.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Premiere_Pro. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Premiere_Pro What is crunch time and why is it importantCrunch time is when you are forced to work extra time for little to no pay. This is often occurring when the product, be it a game or any other form of media, such as movies, is behind schedule due to either a bug being found or "complications" found in the game's design. This is important due to the employees not getting paid, which can lead to job cuts and the company shutting down, as was the case with Telltale, which shut down in 2018. This has led to the creation of many game worker's unions, one such being Game Workers Unite. They directly call out Activision's CEO for mistreating the employees How are people fighting back?Many people want the CEO of Activision, the company that makes popular games such as the smash-hit Call of Duty series. However not all employees are happy; as stated by the Game Worker's Association, “Upending 800 workers’ lives while raking in millions in bonuses for you and your c-suite buddies isn’t leadership; it’s theft,” the Game Workers organization stated in a tweet. “We, the workers of Activision and their friends, have had enough. Join us in saying that it’s time to #FireBobbyKotick.” Bobby Kotick is the CEO of Activision. However, many companies are taking steps to improve their worker's conditions, as evident by the CEO of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, cutting his own pay to make sure his employees do not get their jobs cut. As stated by Game Workers Unite “Iwata, as CEO of Nintendo, cut his own pay during times of trouble to ensure no employees would lose their jobs,” Game Workers Unite wrote on Twitter. “And Activision saw record profits this year. They have no excuse.” To sum it up...
ReferencesGrubb, Jeff. “Game Workers Unite Org Calls for Activision CEO's Job after Layoffs.” VentureBeat, VentureBeat, 15 Feb. 2019, venturebeat.com/2019/02/13/fire-bobby-kotick/amp/.
venturebeat.com/2019/02/13/fire-bobby-kotick/amp/ What is my favorite idle animation?The best idle animation is that of the umpire in Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run. This one is so good because the idle animation is very realistic. This is evident because he says "play again kid" which is what umpires would say to something like that in the 90's if the game was paused, so the umpire would likely intervene. Overall, this idle animation is the best one I know of. Why does this idle animation appeal to me?This idle animation is appealing because it entices you to come back and play the game again. This is proven by the umpire saying "play again kid", which albeit the only thing of this category he says, still encourages you to come back and play the game. What makes it feel natural?It feels "natural" due to the context of which it is used. Since it is a baseball-based game, of course there are umpires that will be there. However, what really makes it come alive is the fact that it is so realistic. This is shown by what the umpire does, calling the player to bat again. In this situation, this is likely what an umpire, no matter how much we hate them, would likely do; as they would want to resume play in the game. The umpire also does not do it casually, he just gets up and delivers his line in which he instructs the player to continue the game. To sum it up...
ReferencesWatchMojo.com. “Top 10 Video Game Idle Animations.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wrVFuwaS1E
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wrVFuwaS1E Couture, Joel. “What Makes a Great Idle Animation? Devs Share Their Favorites.” Gamasutra: The Art & Business of Making Games, gamasutra.com/view/news/318163/What_makes_a_great_idle_animation_Devs_share_their_favorites.php. gamasutra.com/view/news/318163/What_makes_a_great_idle_animation_Devs_share_their_favorites.php |
AuthorHello my name is Owen Howard. I am a junior currently enrolled at Durham School of the Arts and this blog will document my experiences in this class. Categories
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