Unit 78 P1 (Part 3) Digital Graphics for Computer Games (26/09/16)

Level 3

Unit 78 - Digital Graphics for Computer Games (Part 3)

P1- Understand Theory & Application of Digital Graphics

Pixel:

·         Not a square.

·         Small little dots making up images on computer displays. Flat screen or tub monitors.

·         Can only be one colour at a time although, they are so minute they often blend to make a series of various shades and colour blends.

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Picture Resolution (Size):

·         How many pixels are in our image from top to bottom.

·         File size of image.

·         To find a total amount of pixels in a photo you would multiply the amount of pixels by width, by the amount of pixels by length.

Image Resolution (Quality):

·         Quality of the image.

·         Higher image resolution = Higher Quality/sharper/clearer.

·         1mp = 1,000,000 pixels.

o   Image 1 = A at 1 by 1 resolution.

o   Image 2 = A at 10 by 10 resolution.

o   Image 3 = A at 50 by 50 resolution.

o   Image 4 = A at 100 by 100 resolution.

o   Image 5 = Using anti-aliasing to smooth out jagged edges – almost cheating resolution.

 §

Pixel Values (Intensity):

·         How bright the pixel is and/or what colour it should be (by a single number).

·         “The most common pixel format is the byte image, where this number is stored as an 8-bit integer giving a range of possible values from 0 to 255.” Typically 0 = black, 255=white (greyscale).

·         “To represent colour images, separate red, green and blue components must be specified for each pixel” pixel value = vector of 3 numbers.

References:

Pixel: http://techterms.com/definition/pixel

Pixel Resolution: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/essentials/image-resolution/

Image Resolution: http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/1711/what-is-image-resolution-why-does-it-matter/

Pixel Values: http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/rbf/HIPR2/value.htm

Unit 78 P1 (Part 2) Digital Graphics for Computer Games (19/09/16)

Level 3

Unit 78 - Digital Graphics for Computer Games (Part 2)

P1- Understand Theory & Application of Digital Graphics

Computer Game Graphics:

Popular characters using pixel art



• Pixel Art - Consisting of creating images through a computer using software that can make raster images (this means they can be changed and made pixel by pixel). This method was used way before 3D graphics in games were popular but these creations are still often found in 2D games and on mobiles as they can use two-dimensional art still, giving it back its needed value. Normally stored as GIFs or PNGs. Anything that generates pixel art cannot be defined as pixel art: gradients and anti-alias tools (a sort of a blending tool) etc.

Concept art for the Joker

• Concept Art - "The main goal of concept art is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product." - Creative Bloq Staff. So basically it wants to show the overall design and its effect rather than making everything in its right terms at the beginning. It is key to focus on that exact artistic vision and smooth out any mistakes visually that might be able to create any sort of problem. It can range from mood shots to more detailed things like props or a character. It should reduce error chances therefore, time and cost.                                                                 

Texturised wall

• Texture Art - Its thanks to textural artists that we have the amount of detail we do as they define parts of a 3D computer model. A majority of textures created are used in film, TV shows and video games. They must create photorealistic textures for almost wrapping onto 3D objects used in film, TV shows, video games music videos or commercials (like presents and gift boxes). Most will be started from scratch but they may also be created using existing materials, they should be familiar with the processes of UV mapping. They may scan in photos then apply the textures to what item or environment made by other members of the effects team or create custom textures that are not very close to what happens in nature.

Simple background 

• Background Graphics - Sets the stage for player, also the furthest thing away from the player.  It may act as a blank canvas. It may show key elements to a game including hints, tips and where to go next. These tend to be one of the highest quality works of a game, as it can be the focal point of graphics and make the game more interesting for those who enjoy styles like photo realism.

Self edited and analysed User Interface of Uncharted using
Photoshop and a graphics tablet



• In-game Interface - A display of progress, information and feedback known as the HUD (Head Up Display), this may include: map info, health, ammo, objectives and a signal your health may be at critical. For shooting a gun your target should be in the centre of view and everything should be at a minimal to avoid blind spots and getting in the way. They should always stay in our peripheral vision and stay away from out central vision. A lot of FPS game players will expect things to be in the same place this usually means; "Health on the left and ammo on the right. Maps: Top of the screen out of the way of your target. Inventory/Weapon Choices: Toggled, either approaching from the sides or on top." - Chris Castaldi on Slide Share. Types of interface may include: Buttons (what's available and what to press), Management (group movement, raid interfaces and inventory considering types of a unit), Targeting (current taget and health or other info of the other target), Info (how much of current weapon, durability, ammo, health and inventory), Textual (mostly in MMOs or RPGs, chat, dialog and nameplates) and Navigation (compass, minimaps, world maps and X Marks the spot types). Interfaces should not be big, too full of info, unresponsive, contain too little info, bad fonts, bad colour choices or the incorrect style.

Attack on Titan 'Treasure Box'

• Print Media Art - This includes posters, box art, packaging, manuals and labels. Its basically anything that is physically printed relating to the game. It is mainly a form of marketing to look appealing enough to draw people in and make them actually want to spend money on the game. This may be achieved by colour use, art styles and techniques, and sometimes in writing and fonts. It must be eye-catching and use focal pointing and other drawing in effects. Without good print media you might not have a game worth enough to others to sell. This Attack on Titan 'Treasure Box' uses print media to not only decorate the games box itself enough for you to want it, but also comes with a mass amount of accessories cleverly designed to attract its audience and buyers. This is all part of the thought out marketing plan.

Types Of Digital Graphics:

• Raster Images -  These include: BMP, GIF, TIFF and JPG. They are made of pixels arranged to display an image, each pixel is a different colour. They allow colour editing past that of a Vector image.

Self made GIF using MakeAGIF.com

• Vector Images - These include: PSD, WMF, FLA and AI. They are made up of paths with a mathematical formula each that will tell the path on how it should be shaped and what its filled or bordered with. Vector images are scalable so it may be resized to fit anything from a business card to a billboard. 

  

  Love heart self made in Photoshop

• Main Differences - Raster image pixels do not have the same appearance as the size of the image increases. If you were to enlarge a Raster image majorly it would become blurry due to this factor. Vector images do have the same appearance no matter what the size seeing as the mathematical dictate how the image is rendered. Raster are larger files in comparison to Vector files which are small and lightweight.

• What are BMP, GIF, PSD, WWF etc. exactly? -

• BMP - Bitmap image file
• GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
• TIFF - Tagged Image File Format (exchanging BMF images between application programs)
• JPEG (file name extension of JPG) - Joint Photographic Experts Group
• PSD - Photoshop Document
• WMF - Windows Metafile (originally designed for Microsoft Windows in the 1990s)
• FLA - Flash Files (file extension)
• AI - Adobe Illustrator Artwork 

My gaming machines - Then and Now

Nintendo DS Lite vs. IMac

IMac 21.5" (late 2013)

DS Lite (2006)

           Vs 

Specifications:

• Display: 
• DS - A backlit, 3.12-inch, colour LCD with 256x192-pixel resolution (top). Same but with analog touch screen (bottom).
• IMac - LED backlit, 21.5-inch, 16:9 widescreen, 1920x1080 resolution.
• Storage: 
• DS - Internal flash memory of 256MB flash memory
• IMac - 1TB hard drive (added from 500GB)
• Battery:
• DS - 15–19 hours on the lowest brightness setting 5–8 hours on the brightest
• IMac - Power Adapter
• Memory:
• DS - 4MB SRAM
• IMac - 8GB RAM
• Processor:
• DS - 67 MHz ARM9 and 33 MHz ARM7
• IMac - 1.4 GHz Core i5
• Dimensions:
• DS - 2.9 x 5.2 x 0.85
• IMac- 17.7 x 20.8 x 6.9
• Sound:
• DS - Stereo speakers 
• IMac - Stereo speakers
• Accessories:
• DS -  Headset, Skins, Stylus, Earphones
• IMac - Magic Mouse/Trackpad, Keyboard, USB Superdrive (CD and DVD), Earphones, Headset, Speakers,Mounts, Keyboard Covers, Graphics Tablet, Music Accessories (Microphone, Smart Guitar, IRig KEYS PRO, etc.), Printers and Scanners, 3D Printer,  Software, External Storage (USB and Hard Drives).
• Top Selling Game:
• DS - New Super Mario
• IMac - Steam = Rocket League, Origin = Sims 3, App Store = Sims 2 Super Collection

IMac - Life Is Strange

DS lite - Animal Crossing

What I was or am missing                 out on?

• Portability: You could actually take the DS around with you as A, it had an internal battery that could be plugged in and charged, unlike the IMac which must be plugged in at all times. B, it was more than ten times smaller and lighter.
• Better controls: I did love the controls of the DS lite of course but they weren't practical. Having to have one hand on the arrows, one hand on the A,B, X, Y buttons and one hand using a stylus at times was just not possible. Then there was the power button on the side which could be very easily knocked off and get rid of all your progress. All of this compared to a keyboard and mouse is pretty inferior don't you think?
• Dual Screening: The DS had many ups, along with portability was the dual screening. This allowed you to actually touch and feel like you were interacting more with the game than if you were just pressing buttons. Of course with the IMac there is no touch screen but I don't feel like it takes away any of the immersion.
• Updates and Upgrading: IMac's like most Apple products may be upgraded, however unlike most PC's you cannot upgrade many things after you have bought the product, other than SSD and RAM. IMac and DS both do/did software updates but can run out of fashion quite quickly making them insignificant and not worth the companies spending money to create updates. The IMac is currently still getting updated whereas the DS is not.

Unit 78 P1 (Part 1) Digital Graphics for Computer Games (12/09/16)

Level 3

Unit 78 - Digital Graphics for Computer Games (Part 1)

Artistic Styles:

Exaggeration - Mainly used in RPGs, exaggeration is generally a typical style for animé and manga. It has a tendency to make everything look, of course, 'exaggerated.' It is also used for emotions, enhancing certain features for certain feelings and auras. These things can include characters eyes widening when sad or excited and muscular if the character is strong. Even things like cheekbones and jawlines are more prominent and chiselled for drastic impacts. Characters weapons and accessories are also enhanced like cars, guns and sword etc. Final Fantasy uses this effect as shown below.

Abstraction - Abstraction makes no effort to be realistic, standing out is its biggest feature. Of course they might have to resemble a few things, but the differences between that and the real thing are pretty huge.  I found a game called Proun that uses shapes as the characters, obstacles and backgrounds.

Cell-Shading - Its actually pretty difficult to find this in any video games but its not impossible. Many developers would much rather use this style. It is often used in games that originate from an animated/cartoon Tv series such as The Simpsons Hit and Run.

Photorealism - A popular choice indeed. As the name suggests, it creates the artwork from a picture or video from real life. As you can imagine the result is going to create a very pretty, smooth and aesthetic. This should make the player think of them less as just NPCs and more of actual people.

My favourite game (visually) is Uncharted 4 and is such a realistic game

Impacts of computer games in our current society (12/09/16)

Impacts of gaming

Concerns:

• Excess playing times
• Inappropriate content -  age rating being ignored (sex, drugs, language and violence)

• Addiction - studies have shown 11% of gamers show an addictive nature. Cause by missions and an addiction to the sense of achievement and winning.
• Teens have commonly been know to neglect their schoolwork
• Sleep schedules and disturbances - 'insomnia and parasomnia (i.e., night terrors, sleepwalking or talking, and nightmares.)' Also, hallucinations from inside the game as well as, hallucinations from lack of sleep e.g. shadow people. 

• Social skills - loss of friends and some relationships being lost all together. 'Among addicted gamers who are married, up to 50 percent report a strain in their marriage as a result of their addiction.'
• Health issues -  overuse of a mouse could cause carpal tunnel syndrome 'area of the wrist that houses the main nerve and tendons - becomes irritated or swollen,' migraines 'intense concentration required and the strain put on the eyes,' back ache, eating irregulary and poor personal hygiene.
• Violence - loss of reality causing more violent behaviours

• Stereotyping - gender and race 

Benefits:

• Help overcome dyslexia - improved reading comprehension following sessions of games heavy on action
• Could improve vision - a study showed that participants who tried to play games using only their “lazy” eye, with the “good” one obscured showed improvement in the affected eye
• Fascinated by history - because most games use actual historical events to drive their story the players enjoy learning about it to further their knowledge about the game

• May slow down the aging process - solving problems has been shown to cause the cognitive function of players of the age 50 has improved and lasted several more years
• Help ease pain - cause distraction to the brain as well as 'an analgesic (pain-killing) response in our higher cortical systems'
• New social connections -  make new friends online as well as, using current ones to complete levels and missions
• Improve balance in MS sufferers - it has been proven that 'MS patients who played games requiring physical interaction while standing on a balance board displayed improvement afterwards.'

• Reflexes and faster decisions -  faster actions, aka in driving and adapting quickly
• Reduce stress -  A study tracked players over six months and found that certain titles reduced the adrenaline response by over half.
• Less likely to bully - playing the bad guy can cause remorse over actions
• Help address autism - showing more engagement when having a victory