10/10/14
I've decided I want to create a Museum exhibit based on the Museum of the Minds and Cabinets of Curiosity.
I will studying the cabinet of curiosities concept in depth,
exploring the history behind it and it's evolution into it's more
contemporary existence we currently recognize. The cabinet of
curiosities has bridged the gap between science and art and I intend
to research why this was so popular and why it has continued to be
so. It's introduction was at the height of discovery and exploration
and was not obviously a declaration of wealth but much more subtlety
about rarity; the more unusual the artifact, the higher the status.
13/10/14
Over the weekend I've been visiting the Forum Library watching documentaries and reading on the subjects of What makes a museum and how museums in Britain came to be. I really enjoyed what I found on the Cabinets of curiosity that the collections originally when not just confined to a cabinet but an entire room full of artifacts and treasures, not in any linear order just curated in a way that was for pure over whelming impressiveness.
20/10/14
Off to London to take photos of the architecture and exhibits in the, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A Museum and the John Soanne Museum.
Arrived at London via coach, decided to travel by the tube to get to museums then walk back as to take photos and sketches of the building along the journey.
When we arrived to V&A we entered viva the underground entrance I was amazed at the change in style between one area to the next, it was like a complete change in atmosphere within a couple of steps.
John Soanne Museum was amazing! I was completely blown away by the layout and design of the entire building, I didn't know what to expect from one room to the next. I wanted to spend hours in there. I wasn't able to take any photos as my phone was taken off me along with my bag and sketch book but I purchased a book in their shop with photography of all the exhibits and secret hallways.
This made me really reconsider the layout and design of my museum. I am now really reconsidering the way I utilize space and the presentation of the artworks.
7/11/14
After visiting London I had plenty of ideas on how I wished to lay out my environment so started creating rough sketches for layout designs on paper first then scanning them into Photoshop. I was rather unimpressed with my outcome so I decided to try another approach. At first I just wildy cut of pieces of my blueprints that I found interesting then placed them in areas I thought would be fun but this only took me so far.
I then noticed a pack of cards on my desk and thought maybe if I try and throw them into a cup at the other end of the room I may get some interesting shapes.
7/11/14
After visiting London I had plenty of ideas on how I wished to lay out my environment so started creating rough sketches for layout designs on paper first then scanning them into Photoshop. I was rather unimpressed with my outcome so I decided to try another approach. At first I just wildy cut of pieces of my blueprints that I found interesting then placed them in areas I thought would be fun but this only took me so far.
I then noticed a pack of cards on my desk and thought maybe if I try and throw them into a cup at the other end of the room I may get some interesting shapes.
11/11/14
After doing more research on the origins of the museum I have learnt that before Britain had its own established institutes dedicated to collecting and preserving artifacts that other areas around the globe would have small pockets of educational collections used for work or to show to the public.
Some people refereed to these collections to these collections as "Arks of Knowledge". I like the sounds of this, later whilst procrastinating I came across the Halo 2's Remastered Cutscenes, In 1080p which of course I had a massive nostalgia trip. Though it made me consider setting my museum in a different style with more moving parts rather then static.
After doing more research on the origins of the museum I have learnt that before Britain had its own established institutes dedicated to collecting and preserving artifacts that other areas around the globe would have small pockets of educational collections used for work or to show to the public.
Some people refereed to these collections to these collections as "Arks of Knowledge". I like the sounds of this, later whilst procrastinating I came across the Halo 2's Remastered Cutscenes, In 1080p which of course I had a massive nostalgia trip. Though it made me consider setting my museum in a different style with more moving parts rather then static.
12/11/14
I've been tackling more of my essay today, I've used the research gathered from my trip to London along side what I've found out from the library, I've tried to make sense of all the pages I've scanned in and highlighted to fit into some kind of order for me to structure paragraphs around.
13/11/14
Today I've been doing more research on the level design pipeline in industry. I've purchased an eBook called "Preproduction blueprint; How to land game environments and level designs." It has encouraged me to look at different ways of tackle level design and it's helping me come up with more interesting and meaningful ideas.
Also I still haven't heard back from github.com for getting the new Unreal engine, so rather then sitting around and twiddling my thumbs I've decided to explore the unity engine for the project.
14/11/14
Today was a good day, I downloaded Unity and managed to import some of my concept blocked out layouts. Unfortunately a couple of the designs I was most happy with didn't work out so well in a 3D space. Walking around the environment "first person" and having a look round at scale and position the styles and layouts didn't flow in a natural manner in my opinion, So I started using Maya and Unity to work on 3D block out concepts instead of starting on paper.
15/11/14
As a practice object to test different texturing methods I decided to create a small arcade machine. I plan to create a small scene just to perfect my skills for the final project. I aim to create the assets and import them to unity, and create rendered images of the outcome.
Today was just research and sketches of different shapes and models of arcade machines just to knock out some quick concepts of what I was looking for.
16/11/14
Today I managed to get in contact with a friend that works as a curator in the castle museum in norwich. We discussed what goes into curation and how the museum uses set pieces to draw in more people and navigate them around the museum itself, this was really interesting and helpful for both my written work and practical work.
19/11/14
I wanted to do some texturing today so I choice one of the assets I had in my library and got to work. I wanted to use the arcade machine as it was an interesting shape and I could have a lot of fun using it and creating fun designs.
I was getting frustrated when it came to sorting out the bump maps and specular maps so i decided it would be wise to purchase Crazybump. I saved myself so much time and stress and could now focus on other areas of work.
20/11/14
Today was a day of exporting and importing things into unity, it was great fun being able to walk around and explore my own environments I get a rush every time I do this. Though I did spot some areas which I need to improve on. I noticed that in some walk ways and floors there were Zfights where the textures were jibbing over one another, I sorted this issue and now I'm aware i need to take more care when it comes to lining things up so that this doesn't happen again.
21/11/14
Argh, why must I never keep track of my research! Today has been hunting down all my references and work to show my thought process for my research document it has been a long task and I fear I will never learn my lesson.
22/11/14
23/11/14
24/11/14
I managed to meet some more people in the games industry today and I am planning on meeting some people from lionhead studios over the holidays to discuss work and get some tips and trick from the inside.
25/11/14
Further research into layouts and texturing just to reestablish methods and pipelines in my head.
26/11/14
One this day the 26th of November I did but collect all the images required for submission. I decided it be best that I go through all my images and line up all assets in a more presentable manner so that they looked more organised when in the documents.
27/11/14
As I travel later and later into the night I feel myself slowly slipping away from the real world and into the world which inhabits my museum. Polishing off the last written pieces ready for hand in.
28/11/14
Lets do this! (Hand in)
Today was a good day, I downloaded Unity and managed to import some of my concept blocked out layouts. Unfortunately a couple of the designs I was most happy with didn't work out so well in a 3D space. Walking around the environment "first person" and having a look round at scale and position the styles and layouts didn't flow in a natural manner in my opinion, So I started using Maya and Unity to work on 3D block out concepts instead of starting on paper.
15/11/14
As a practice object to test different texturing methods I decided to create a small arcade machine. I plan to create a small scene just to perfect my skills for the final project. I aim to create the assets and import them to unity, and create rendered images of the outcome.
Today was just research and sketches of different shapes and models of arcade machines just to knock out some quick concepts of what I was looking for.
16/11/14
Today I managed to get in contact with a friend that works as a curator in the castle museum in norwich. We discussed what goes into curation and how the museum uses set pieces to draw in more people and navigate them around the museum itself, this was really interesting and helpful for both my written work and practical work.
19/11/14
I wanted to do some texturing today so I choice one of the assets I had in my library and got to work. I wanted to use the arcade machine as it was an interesting shape and I could have a lot of fun using it and creating fun designs.
I was getting frustrated when it came to sorting out the bump maps and specular maps so i decided it would be wise to purchase Crazybump. I saved myself so much time and stress and could now focus on other areas of work.
20/11/14
Today was a day of exporting and importing things into unity, it was great fun being able to walk around and explore my own environments I get a rush every time I do this. Though I did spot some areas which I need to improve on. I noticed that in some walk ways and floors there were Zfights where the textures were jibbing over one another, I sorted this issue and now I'm aware i need to take more care when it comes to lining things up so that this doesn't happen again.
21/11/14
Argh, why must I never keep track of my research! Today has been hunting down all my references and work to show my thought process for my research document it has been a long task and I fear I will never learn my lesson.
22/11/14
23/11/14
24/11/14
I managed to meet some more people in the games industry today and I am planning on meeting some people from lionhead studios over the holidays to discuss work and get some tips and trick from the inside.
25/11/14
Further research into layouts and texturing just to reestablish methods and pipelines in my head.
26/11/14
One this day the 26th of November I did but collect all the images required for submission. I decided it be best that I go through all my images and line up all assets in a more presentable manner so that they looked more organised when in the documents.
27/11/14
As I travel later and later into the night I feel myself slowly slipping away from the real world and into the world which inhabits my museum. Polishing off the last written pieces ready for hand in.
28/11/14
Lets do this! (Hand in)
