mi5016lucaswharton

[mi5016lucaswharton]

A showreel I have made featuring work I did throughout my uni course.

#Vimeo

[mi5016lucaswharton]

Resources for Future Careers - Character Design

[mi5016lucaswharton]

Notes on Atari's Graphics

These sites were used to investigate graphics of the Atari 2600 and how some games were produced under the restrictions of the time.

[mi5016lucaswharton]

A series of initial notes I have made covering a new topic I've decided to take a look at following feedback with my mentor. Going from the evolution of CG, I've gone to focus on clothing aesthetics in video games throughout the decades. The research done for those points made use of personal knowledge and secondary resources.

[mi5016lucaswharton]

At the time I first made this playlist, I initially took a look into early CG as a whole.

This link above showcases a playlist of good examples of the sort of research I wanted to take a look into.

[mi5016lucaswharton]

Initial Research Notes

When I first approached this module, I set about making a collection of notes and topics to take a look at. These primarily focused on the evolution of Computer Generated media before the release of Pixar's Toy Story (1995) and had explored obscure examples that I considered to be worthy to take a look at. Below is a series of areas I intended to look at and make use of for my written essay:

How did they accomplish such achievements using the technology of the time?

SAGE

EDSAC, Sandy Douglas, OXO (one of the first known computer games) [bring the point to early video games]

2001 slit-scan / doctor who opening sequence

Flight Simulators from the '70s and '80s (Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation)

Television idents and their elaborate set-ups (best examples; BBC globe idents from analogue to digital, Channel 4 logo identity at launch)

Early Video Games

Magnavox Odyssey (first true games console)

Atari's PONG / 2600 / Cosmos (unreleased console that tried to make use of holograms to produce a 3D effect); the video game crash of 1983

Battlezone (1980) and the Star Wars arcade game (1983) (notable game to make use of 3D wireframe graphics)

How Nintendo revolutionised the market in 1985 upon the release of the NES

Attempts at producing 3D graphics of the era (video games)

Virtua Fighter / Virtua Racing

The Atari Jaguar and the 3DO

SEGA's add ons (32x / Mega CD)

SNES' Super FX chip / Donkey Kong Country / Star Fox

The failure of Nintendo's Virtual Boy.

The Toy Story video game / how 3D was made on a 16-bit console

How the PlayStation paved the way in the video game industry

When true 3D graphics came to light

Tech demos of some pretty early computer-generated works - the hand, the human face, etc etc

Ed Catmull and Fred Parke's Computer Animated Hand (1972)

Disney's TRON.

Attempts at producing computer-generated films

Machines of the era, how long it would take to render.

Quality of graphics and texture

Shiny, plastic-looking visuals, the difficulty of modelling, etc

The Works - an attempt on producing the world’s first fully 3D animated film. The short films it influenced (for example Sunstone)

Dire Straits “Money For Nothing” - how characters were made using the technology of the time and how they look in contrast to today’s standards

Also, bring up ReBoot and the production company; how did they manage to produce the first prime-time CGI animated TV series? Maybe show how advanced the models look for the characters in comparison to those made for the music video?

Pixar's short films and advertisements before Toy Story.

How artists made use of CG of the period

Yoichiro Kawaguchi and his art

Acid House visuals

Eurotechno; Future Sound Of London; Stakker

Howard Greenhalgh/Pet Shop Boys Very music videos; "Can You Forgive Her?", "Go West"