HA2 Task 1 - Technical Glossary

Write a Glossary of the following key technical terms and subjects:

PIXEL AND RESOLUTION
VECTOR AND RASTER IMAGES
FILE FORMATS AND USES -  bmp, png, gif, tiff, jpg, psd, pdf, eps and ai
COMPRESSION
IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICES
OPTIMISING
STORAGE AND ASSET MANAGEMENT

Remember that you are trying to describe and explain your findings. Illustrate as required and remember to cite any sources you have used in your research, both written and visual.

Pixel and Resolution

A pixel is the smallest thing that you can usually see on a screen. These pixels then group together to create an image, a colour or letters. The amount of pixels in a screen depends on the quality of it. At this time the general amount of pixels in a TV screen is 1080 which shows that 1080 individual pixels on the screen can make up what is seen. The amount of bits in the pixel shows the amount of colours that can be a pixel. 1-bit is 2 colours, which is also known as monochrome. It then multiplies as the amount of bits double until it gets to 24-bit and that has 16,777,216 different colours in it. This is also known as true colour.

The resolution depends on the size of the screen. It is shown in the formula of (Width x Height). For example a possible resolution of a screen is (1920 x 1080)

Vector and Raster

Photoshop is used to create raster images. Raster images are made up of pixels, therefore they usually cannot be scaled in size without them looking pixelated. These are usually used for images that are finalized or are going to be printed off.

Vectors are designed in illustrator. These are designed by using curves. This way they can be scaled as much as they want and can be easily edited. Also, the colour of each curve can be edited and it gives it more of a variation. For this reason these are usually used when an image in being created.

File Formats

bmp: A Bitmap Image File is used for raster images and is usually used for Microsoft Windows and is used the store the images independently on the display device  

png: A Portable Network Graphics is a raster graphics file and it supports loss-less data compression 

gif: A Graphics Interchangeable Format that uses 8 bits per pixel and is a bitmap image format

tiff: A tagged Image File Format that uses colour depth from 1 bit - 24 bit

jpg: jpg stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is a compressed image file format, however it is not limited to any amount of colours

psd: psd stands for Photoshop Document. It is an image that is created on Adobe Photoshop and it stores the different imaging options in Photoshop such as adding text or transparency

pdf: It stands for Portable Document Format. It is usually used to save documents and it stores the information of the fonts, texts and graphics.

eps: Stands for Encapsulated PostScript. And makes it so that they can be added to the script

ai: Used in Adobe Illustrator. It is a vector graphics editor and it can be edited in Adobe Illustrator

Compression

Compression allows data to be put into fewer bytes to make it quicker to be sent to a different device or to be downloaded. For files, these are usually compressed into a '.zip' file and can be uncompressed at anytime to get all the data back that you originally had. In word documents, files are compressed by removing the spaces in the document or having the document simplified. This can be reduce the file size by about 50% of the document. 

Image Capture Device

An image capture device is creating a digital image from a sensor. These devices include cameras and video recorders. Video recorders take an image of something very rapidly and it makes the images seem like they are moving in real life.

Optimising

An image is optimized when it differs in size from the original source to fit another purpose such as it being fit onto another webpage. If the image is more optimized for the webpage it makes the image differ in size which also makes the webpage load quicker usually. You optimize an image by changing the dimensions of it

Storage and Asset Management

This is when you do something with a file such as renaming it, downloading it or exporting it. It helps to keep all of your files easily found.

                 

DSLR Camera Workshop

HA3 Task 7 - Review

I made sure that I knew what I was doing before I started the task. I also did some research on other game characters so that I knew how I wanted my character to look and act, aswell as the style of game that was available. I used the Ghant Chart also so that I knew how long it took me for each task. This helped me alot because I then knew how long I also had left. I then started the create my character. I used a mixture of Photoshop and Illustrator. They compliment eachother very well because one is good for creating the image from the very basics and the other helped me to edit that image the exact way that I wanted it. When also took photographs of eachother in the poses of the character that we wanted, This helped as it gave me the basics of how I wanted my character to look and I could then model how the character would look on myself. The experience of tracing the character over me was very new to me. So to start with I struggled alot with it, however I then found it easy after a few sessions of using Adobe Illustrator.

Overall, I am very pleased with my work, I did it in time and to the best of my ability with the time I was given. However if I was to do this again I would maybe go back over the character and background in different colours. As I think that this would have given my character alot more depth.

HA3 Task 6. Presentation

HA3 Task 5 - Production

HA2 Task 3 – Graphic Types

Create a report that explores these five different types of computer game graphics:

PIXEL ART
CONCEPT ART
TEXTURE ART
BACKGROUND GRAPHICS
PRINT MEDIA ART

Choose a wide range of examples and remember that you are trying to describe and explain your findings. Illustrate as required and remember to cite any sources you have used in your research, both written and visual.

Pixel art is a raster type of image that is created using pixels that you can clearly see. Alot of retro games are pixel art as they were easy to run on the older systems. Alot of games like Mario. Legend of zelda and pokemon were created on this.

#

Pokemon Red/Blue was created using this. Being created in 1995 on the Gameboy meant that the visuals on this game were extremely limited, therefore this was the main way that this could be created.


Concept art is the basics of the game creeated first before anything else. The concept art is of weapons and the character usually and is hand drawn, it is then later translated into being created digitally.




The concept art of this is of the main character. As the characters looks can differ, the artist had to show what the character may look like with different examples. And also the art shows off some of the parts of the game like the clothing and the stances.

Texture art is art that has a certain  form of texture to it, for instance grass may be texture art or the art that is actually on a rock.



The texture art for this game is of a box, also as you can see the texture of it is shown in a way that it has to fold together. Thus makes it easy for the art to be placed onto it.


The background graphics in games usually come in the form of skyboxes or similar pieces of work. They are very simple and are just there so that it gives the place some background.



This is in Grand Theft Auto V. The background of this image in particular is a sunset and it animates so that it makes it seem like time is going by. It also has a mountain range in the background, however this later renders into the game and is an actual asset in the game.



Print Media art is usually the box cover to the game. It is important because it is the first thing that a person will see when they are going to purchase the game.They will usually be colourful and they make the game standout alot.




In borderlands it uses the 'phyco' in the game as this is the thing that is predominantly known in the game and is seen alot. Therefore it makes sense to put it on there. Also the art is very colourful and stands out from the rest of it.


http://www.411mania.com/games/columns/121496/Retronomicon-11.11.09:-Pok%C3%A9mon-Red-Blue.htm
http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=4691
http://melvinart.blogspot.co.uk/2010_09_01_archive.html
https://blog.2k.com/index.php/home/single/borderlands-2-box-art-and-special-editions-revealed

HA2 Task 2 – Artistic Styles

Create a report that explores these four different artistic styles found in games:

PHOTOREALISM
CELL SHADING
ABSTRACTION
EXAGGERATION

Choose a wide range of examples and remember that you are trying to describe and explain your findings. Illustrate as required and remember to cite any sources you have used in your research, both written and visual.

Photo-realism is used in many games to make the visuals of the game seem alot like real life. This is usually used in games that are meant to be realistic in some form and they are not usually used in alot of 'tongue in cheek' games.



Heavy rain is a great example of photorealism. The game itself is very serious and any other form of art style in games would not be in place. In turn the game uses dark colours like alot of browns and blacks. The game in some parts of it are very gory or graphic and the art style is used so that you can get an emotional link with the characters. A website also says "Another aspect of Heavy Rain that pulls the player and viewer out of the experience comes from clothing. In most video games, clothing gets “attached” to the characters." This is another way that they added Photo-Realism to the game.


Cell Shading is also used in some games, these games are usually not as serious and the artistic style helps this massively.




In Borderlands 2 this type of style fits in perfectly. It is an RPG based on another planet and this is heavily used. As the game uses different creatures that we are not used to seeing, them being cell shaded gives them a better visual rather than them being in Photorealism.



Abstract art was mainly used in retro games. This was because real objects were very hard to translate into becoming an asset in the game. There fore they used the easiest method they colour with was Abstract.


Geometry Wars was a game that was created as an early arcade game on Xbox Live Arcade. Due to this the funding on the game would have been tight, therefore they used a simplistic art style. However I feel like this kind of art fits the game perfectly. This is because the flashing lights that you can see on the game amke it look very unique and that is was the series is known for. It is also designed to give the effect of being a traditional 'arcade' game.

Exaggeration is used in alot of JRPG games. Usually they will exaggeratedifferent aspects of the game, whether that be the character, the background or the weapons.





The character in the Final Fantasy series Cloud is a great example of this. Although he is not exxagerated the sword that he holds is huge compared the Cloud himself. I believe that this series uses exaggeration in their games because it makes the character feel alot stronger than if he was just holding a sword of a smaller capacity.






http://www.gametrailers.com/games/goy5bd/heavy-rain
http://www.geek.com/games/heavy-rain-photorealism-1175772/
http://www.destructoid.com/these-borderlands-2-screens-will-make-you-high-209092.html
http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/11/21/geometry-wars-galaxies-review-2
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Cloud_Strife