The project
This project was part of a course at Linköping University. The overall goal of the assignment was to expand and deepen knowledge in integrated Media Production. Either by combining previously learned types of media production or by acquiring new media production skills and integrating them in the assignment.
Resources
For the project, several resources were sourced from the internet. These resources have been obtained from websites that offer material that is free to use and license-free. The website used to obtain 3D models is Sketchfab.com. The first model obtained was a file containing a city. The city was created in a low-poly style with very vibrant colors. The city did not contain any people or animals, which I wanted for our project. Therefore, additional 3D models were sourced from Sketchfab. These models were low-poly models of two people. The models of the two people have been modified to create variations of the base models. This was done to create diversity so that they did not all look the same. To achieve this, the UV mapping needed to be altered as the existing mapping. After this, the colors of the characters could be changed. A link to all the downloaded models is provided at the end of this page.
Inspiration
Early in the project, inspiration was drawn from the YouTube channel Vox. I admired the graphical style utilized by the channel, which blends photographic images and videos with stripped-down animated informational segments. In these animated parts, a common feature is a white background with a grid. It is also typical to include excerpts from reports and articles in the video, highlighting the main points with color.Another source of inspiration for the visual style comes from the video game Portal 2, specifically the informational videos within the game (see image below). These videos employ a blend of low-poly 3D graphics and minimalist 2D images that appear to be paper cutouts. The camera used in these videos is set to an orthographic view, contributing to the illusion of a 2D scene despite the use of 3D objects.
Tools
Since the project involved various types of media techniques and platforms, it required tackling the project in multiple programs. This was done to achieve as clear and straightforward a workflow as possible, from start to finish. However, it's impossible to overlook that each individual contributed in their own way, leading to inevitable variations in the execution of different tasks within the various programs. Below is a description of how different programs were used during the creation of the group's project.
Blender
When creating all the 3D scenes, Blender was our program of choice. The abundance of tutorials on YouTube combined with the extensive collection of free models made it easy for us to dive straight into the production of our scenes. As mentioned earlier, I used low-poly models of buildings, cars, trees, and so on. The majority of the time in Blender was spent on animating the camera. Each movement and placement of the models was animated by myself through keyframes.
Illustrator & Photoshop
The programs Illustrator and Photoshop were used when creating the poster for the project. Most parts of the poster are renders taken from the 3D scenes used to create the video. However, layout and typography were done in Illustrator and Photoshop. Illustrator was also used to create diagrams and illustrations used in the videos. The diagrams visualize data on how trees in cities can reduce anxiety and depression in people and also how cities are warmer than rural areas.
After Effects
To animate the material that was not 3D models, After Effects was used. This material included animations of text, diagrams, and 2D images such as images from the 3D scenes. The text and graphic elements that are in the headers of the posts were animated so that they fold up and disappear from the scene. A clip from a report on how people's anxiety is affected by living in a city has been animated so that a sentence in the report is highlighted with a yellow color and is cut out from the rest of the text.
Premiere Pro
All rendered parts from Blender and After Effects, along with audio files, were assembled in Premiere Pro. The parts from Blender were rendered out as individual images and then put together in Premiere Pro to create the animation/film.
Artivive
The program was used to link the videos with the posts in an AR experience. The posts and videos were uploaded to Artivive's website and thus linked together. This meant that when the p were ined with Artivive's app, the respective video was played in a way that made it seem like the video was overlaid on top of the pos
Poster
Scan with Artivive for an immersive experience! (or scroll down to just watch the animation here)
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Animation
