Hyper-realism (Compositing)

For this assignment, we were to take a subject and photoshop them into a hyper-realistic setting. Some examples from the tutorials included photoshopping a stone lion into a mountain and a door onto a road.

I decided to go with something less dramatic, and simply photoshop my subject into the character she is cosplaying's typical setting. My friend is cosplaying Neko from the anime K Project. Neko is a cat-like girl (and can even transform into one). Neko has two different colored eyes, so that was the first thing I got to work on. Using the color balance tool, created two adjustment layers, both linked to my subject image, and then used the layer mask tool to focus the color change on her eyes. The next thing I did was fix her blemishes using the patch tool, and smoothed her skin out with the healing brush. I then took my background photo and perched her on one of the desks.

One of the biggest challenges presented was finding a background that fit the subject image. I was lucky and knew that Room 212 in Glenn had matching lighting and a very stereotypical school appearance with chalkboards and desks. Another challenge that was presented was the fact that part of my subject's skirt was concealed by the pole of the fence she is sitting on. In order to create the illusion that I captured the entire skirt, I copied portions of her visible skirt and placed them strategically that make it look like her skirt was hanging off the table. From far away it looks convincing, but up close it's quite obvious it was photoshopped in.

I believe I achieved the goal of this assignment. The only real issue was that it wasn't extreme; it was rather tame. However, if you know what the original images look like, you'll see that I've photoshopped her out of the strange location I shot her in (next to the trash bins) and put her in a more appropriate setting for her character.

Portrait

For this assignment, we were to take all the imformation we had learn about touching up portrait photos and apply them to portraits we took of people. We learned about the healing brush, spot healing tool, patch tool, and layer masks.

My final photo was this image I took of my friend Alex. He has plenty of blemishes, and the photo was prime for editing and making into a nice portrait.

I used the Camera Raw function to first fix the lighting in the photo. I then took it into photoshop and began editing away the blemishes on his face and fixing his glasses a little. Alex happens to have many skin conditions that end with his skin being quite blemished, so I had a lot to work with and a lot to fix.

The original image.

I think I achieved the end goal of this assignment. With a fully edited image that looked much better than the original, it completed that goal easily.
I kept the image simple with good lighting so it made editing easier. I also kept in mind composition rules: rule of thirds, and how much of the image the subject is taking up. As he is placed in the right third of the image and is taking up around 75% of the image, he is in prime position for this image.

One of the biggest issues I had with the image was figuring out what really looked good. To fix this, I talked to my subject and asked him what he wanted to do. With that, I was given new inspiration and incorporated composition rules to produce a good looking, interesting photo.

HDRI

For this assignment, we were to take 3-5 photos of the same image with different exposures. From there, we put them in photoshop and photoshopped them into one, High Dynamic Range Image, or HDRI.

For this photo I took 3 photos of this flower at different exposures. One that was almost overexposed, one that was nicely balanced as best as I could, and one that was underexposed. By blending the three images together, I was able to achieve the above result.

For this image, I kept in mind my composition rules, most notably the rule of thirds. Another element I used in this image was color. I chose a bright fuscc
ia flower and put it against a grey-green background. It contrasted nicely with the background and served as a good subject for this photo.

Underexposed

One big issue I found with taking these photos is getting the exact\same photo but with different exposures. So what I did was I propped my camera on my bag and only touched the shutter speed wheel and the shutter button to get the most consistent image possible.

I definitely feel I achieved the goal of this assignment and catching the viewer's eye. With all the composition elements, I was able to create an aesthetically appealing image that caught the reader's eye.
I used the camera raw plug in, and the HDR function on photoshop to achieve this image.
Side note: My files got deleted off my SD card and in the recovery process many ended up corrupted.

3D Game Level 2 Feedback | 5/6/19

For this assignment, I have created a new and improved level, starting off with the base lobby of my first level. It’s long and challenging enough to give the average player about 15 minutes of playtime. There are plenty of enemies, surprise and not, platforming, and puzzles. There are now bosses (larger, more powerful versions of the regular enemies), so it adds an element of challenge to the level. Overall, from both my playtesters and I, this was a successful level, minus the minor glitches created by Unity.

For this level, it was nice and long, giving the player plenty of time for this level. My playtesters enjoyed the adventure with the extra rooms and forks in the road. For each of these rooms, the reward was a health pack, and although this was the only award I could give them, my playtesters still enjoyed finding them. I scaled a select few of the enemies and upped their HP to create bosses varying in difficulty. Some are mini bosses, others are final bosses. This added another level of challenge to the level, and mixed it up from all the platforming. This new level also had a lot more platforming than my previous levels. From previous feedback, I was told to add more platforming, so I decided to create more complex platforming sections, and also added acid pools. This created some more difficult sections for players, and varied in difficulty. However, due to the assets being slightly glitchy, this created some issues.

Map Overview

I think I was a little ambitious with this map. I think this was definitely the downfall of this map. Had I given myself more time, I think I would have definitely been able to work out all the glitches. For example, the two enemies located in the second room that were supposed to guard the switch died instantly as the level began. One of the moving platforms did not move the player as it moved, and my playtesters found it frustrating to have to keep themselves on this platform. Some improvements I would make to this map is adjusting some of the enemy's hit points. One of the final bosses was a little too hard to beat, although some beat it after a few attempts. There was also this section of platforming that was extremely difficult due to the nature of Unity’s box colliders, and was nearly impossible to clear unless you knew how Unity’s colliders worked. The platforms were also far too small. In order to improve this, playtesters requested larger platforms, like 1x2 blocks instead of 1x1 blocks. This part for many was the most frustrating part of the level.

Through these improvements, I think this level can be more successful and fun to play. While it can be difficult and frustrating, with the right tweaks it will be more fun and challenging. Many of these tweaks that need to be made are simply fixes for Unity’s errors, so it should be fairly easy to make a more enjoyable game. 

Switch concept

This is a good “Hard” level for a 3D action platformer. There is enough difficulty to the platforming, enemies, and puzzles to challenge the player enough and give a lot of playtime. Aside from the glitches, the puzzles provided enough challenge to make the players think rather than force their way through the level by beating many enemies. 

The critical path was obvious, with a few dead ends dedicated for adventurous players. One of the playtesters noted that it really piqued their adventurous side with some of the “dead end” rooms. Aside from the level branching out in the second to last room, there really wasn’t anywhere else to go in the level, so it is very straight forward. 

Each room, along with its hallways, acted as the path. Each room led into the other, some with a small landing area to give players a moment to observe the obstacles ahead. The long hallways at the end of the level acted as loading zones to build anticipation and excitement for the final boss(es). Each one of these elements came together to form a fun and enjoyable level.

Overall, I think this level was a success. The enemies were well balanced, the platforming was enjoyable and challenging, and the level was long and had enough to be explored for the adventurous players.