Now that the school year is ending, I wanted to combine some of what I've learned into a big project. I decided to use Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and some of Illustrator in this project. A few of my friends and I brainstormed ideas for a video, filmed it over two days, and I edited the whole thing over a few days into a 15 minute long video. The video is a parody of the "Top Ten" genre on YouTube. In our video, we counted down the top ten letters of 2018 so far, and aimed at making the video comical for a wide group of people. My friends and I are proud of how it turned out, and we hope to make more videos in the future.
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On July 25, 2017, Epic Games released Fortnite, a co-op sandbox game made for PC, PS4, and Xbox. The game originally was not that popular, and got mediocre reviews. Later that year, Epic Games released a "Battle Royale" mode to their game. For a while, the Battle Royale mode was also not very popular, but by around February of 2018, the game started gaining a lot of popularity. The Battle Royale mode itself is free, and the original game costs $30, but the Battle Royale has microtransactions, which is how Epic Games has made most of their money off of Fortnite. The battle royale mode is a free for all mode with 100 people all fighting to be the last man standing. You can team up with 1-3 friends in Duos or Squads mode and fight other teams as well. The game starts off with everyone dropping into the map and looting what they can, and as the number of players drops, people get better weapons and the play area shrinks. Fortnite is fun to play by yourself and with friends, and if you have the Battle Pass, the challenges will keep you playing.
In class, we recently started working on a team project. I have had to plan with others on how to make a final product and we had to divide the work. The different people in the groups had different jobs, and my job was to create the graphics and logos. I decided to research ways to improve logos and graphics for a video. I found that a good technique to use is to combine an image with text. It gives a sense of cleverness, as you can combine a symbol for your company with text. Another tip I found was to pick colors carefully. Colors are very important in giving your logo the feel you want. The last thing I learned was to not make a logo too complex. You want it simple enough to be understandable, but also complex enough to be creative. Logos that are too complex will be confusing and hard to understand and logos that are too simple will look pointless and effortless.
In Premiere Pro, I have been experimenting with new tools and effects in Adobe Premiere Pro. I wanted to research how to edit effects and see what certain effects can do. I researched the volume effect and the pitch shifter effect. First, to add an effect to part of your video, you simply have to find it and drag it onto the section of video you're trying to edit. With the default workspace, the effects are in the bottom left. There is a drop down for different types of effects, such as video effects or audio effects. On the panel in the upper left hand corner of the default workspace, you can edit the effects. With the volume effect, you can easily slide the volume up and down up to an extra 6 dB or 287.5 dB less. The pitch shifter effect is a bit more complicated. There is the option to use a custom setup for the effect, or you can use a slider to adjust the pitch. The slider adjusts the ratio in which the pitch is shifter. It goes from a ratio of 0.5 to 2.0. Together, these effects can be used to perfect audio in videos made in Premiere.
helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/applying-removing-finding-organizing-effects.html Mariokart is a very popular game series that has existed since 1992, with the release of Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Mariokart games are games made by Nintendo with characters from other Mario games, but instead of being an active story/puzzle game, you race with other people or with computers. Over the years, Mariokart has developed and changed greatly. New items have been added to use while you race, new characters, new maps, and new game mechanics have all been added to make the Mariokart series as fun as possible. In 2014, the newest Mariokart game was released for the Nintendo Wii U, and later in 2017, Mariokart 8 Deluxe was released for the Nintendo Switch. Mariolart 8 Deluxe was the same game as Mariokart 8, but it was for Nintendo's new console, the Nintendo Switch, and included all of the downloadable content that was released after Mariokart 8. Mariokart 8 Deluxe is fun to play, and is greatly balanced for all types of players. Unlocking new parts to use is very fun, and completing every Grand Prix is satisfying and fun. Mariokart 8 Deluxe also offers many online features, such as Tournaments and Battles. These modes are just as fun, and you can play with your friends no matter where they are. Overall, Mariokart 8 Deluxe is a great game, with great graphics, and great online features for multiplayer, and you don't have to pay for downloadable content.
mariokart8.nintendo.com/ I have started to get much better at using Adobe Illustrator, and I am now at a similar skill level to my ability in Adobe Photoshop. I wanted to research more ways to practice and improve in Illustrator. Something I researched was how to get better at being creative and having more appealing ideas. To have more creative ideas, you can try drawing ideas on paper first. You can also look at other types of media, such as books or digital images for inspiration. Another thing I learned about was the Clipping Mask Tool. This is similar to the vector mask in Photoshop, and allows you to put the texture of something onto a defined shape. I used this tool in creating one of my playlist covers, which I included below. I used a clipping mask to put the galaxy texture onto the could shape in Illustrator.
design.tutsplus.com/articles/10-essential-tips-tools-all-adobe-illustrator-beginners-should-learn--cms-23163 A drawing tablet, or a graphic tablet, is a tablet or pad that you use a pen to draw on instead of using your mouse. It makes drawing on a computer much easier and on certain programs, can open up new tools and techniques to use. For example, in Adobe Photoshop, using a graphics tablet and pen, you are able to access pen pressure in the brush panel. This is useful if you want to shade and make different parts of an image appear 3D or different sizes. You can access this in the brush presets panel. For example, with pen pressure on, shape dynamics will change the shape of what you are drawing depending on how hard you press. Similarly, color dynamics will alter the color of what you are drawing on a gradient between your foreground and background colors based on how hard you press.
www.computerhope.com/jargon/g/graptabl.htm Super Mario Odyssey is an incredibly popular game made by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch that came out on October 28, 2017. In Super Mario Odyssey, you play as Mario, Nintendo's well known character that has been in many popular games in the past, such as Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Odyssey is the next 3-D game with Mario in it since Super Mario 3-D Land for the Nintendo 3DS. In this game, you traverse many worlds with different unique themes and complete fun challenges. There are worlds with many different themes that all feel very inspired and original, such as New Donk City in the Metro Kingdom, the Sand Kingdom, the Seaside Kingdom, and Bowser's 's Kingdom. One of the most fun and original parts in Super Mario Odyssey is Mario's new ability. He can now throw his hat, which is actually a hat possessed by a ghost named Cappy, to become, or "capture", objects and enemies. There is a wide variety of things you can capture, and it is very fun to find new things to capture and see what you can do with them. One of the most fun parts about Super Mario Odyssey is the different things you collect. You collect "Power Moons" which are used to power your ship that takes you to each kingdom. Each Power Moon is extremely fun to find and collect, and it feels satisfying to find them all and find the numerous secrets. When it comes to aesthetics, Super Mario Odyssey is not lacking. Each character is colorful and looks cheery, and the different worlds and environments are diverse, yet similar in that they are all beautiful in their unique ways. Super Mario Odyssey is an incredibly fun game that can be played by yourself or with a friend. It is fun to complete and it is fun to replay or collect everything after you have completed it.
Dungeon Defenders II is a game that was made by Trendy Entertainment and released on June 20th, 2017. In this game, you defend an objective from enemies and bosses in a series of levels of increasing difficulty. You collect loot and level up your character along your journey through the levels. Some good things Dungeon Defenders II has to offer are the large selection of characters and big amount of customization. There are many characters to choose from, and it actually takes time to earn a new character you want. Getting a new character is rewarding, and it is fun to learn how to play someone completely new. You can customize your appearance and gear to a fairly large extent. While you are limited on how much secondary currency you can earn, it still feels rewarding to unlock new weapons and upgrade your character. One thing that could be improved on in Dungeon Defenders II is the improved explaining of gameplay. While playing this game you may feel confused as to how some things work or how to access something, and this definitely could use some work. Overall, Dungeon Defenders II is definitely an upgrade from the first game in terms of gameplay and content and is a great game choice to play alone or with friends- and it's free.
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AuthorThis is the blog feed of Cooper Oljeski for Fundamentals of Design and Animation. Archives
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The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools.
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