My scope for this project:
In this project Plan I on heading forwards with the 360 VR video this is because I feel like this area can play to a lot of my strengths as I am planning on using Maya to create this scene in. My initial idea for this plan was to create an 1800s cell which the user is in, through the entirety of the video they will stay in the same area of the cell but can utilise the 360 to look around at the immersive scene.
The reason why I plan on having the camera stationary for the whole time of the video is for a few reasons; one being this will slowly allow the user to naturally feel more comfortable with VR if they have never used it and will be more encouraged to look around and check out the scene. My second reason is I am trying make the usually feel and understand the idea that they are trapped in somewhere a bit grim and creepy; to further this I wanted to play deeper into their senses. Sound for example, in the box cell I want there to be multiple different sounds that will attract the user to turn and look around. My final reason why I keeping the character stationary is to avoid users feeling cyber sickness, allowing them to see what they want at their pace will really help this and if it does it will always benefit the users enjoyment.
Within the cell and its design I do want to make it quite large and the player being quite far from them, a couple reasons for this one being I’m trying to immerse the user in this idea that they are alone and instincts tell us if we are in dangerous we should run, hide get cover and I want to remove that ability so give the viewer the idea either something will happen or they’re in danger. Next reason being more ethical, having a bigger than necessary room just to avoid the user feel claustrophobic and them not enjoy the experience, especially if they’re new to VR.
More detailed idea on what I am actually making in the scene: So the cell I’m wanting to come across as underground like some pit; to utilise the 360 I want and open roof bars across it with moonlight shining through, they can look up see the moon, night sky and maybe an bird fly above them. In the cell itself four walls box shape and on the walls dark arch ways again with bars into the ground- could of just suggested brick walls all around however I think this helps the user understand they are locked in a cell of some sort also creates a bit of fear because they cant see out because its too dark. On one of the arches in the corner there isn’t any bars (or bars have been bent open) and from that there is a creepy old male voice chatting away to the user throughout the video in a 1800s accent. This will be the main part of the story in the scene however I want visuals and sounds of cockroaches scattering sound the users feet and maybe owls above, wind blowing just to increase the immersive experience.
I really like this video and am going to take a lot of inspiration from it, I love how they have chosen to make “sleep paralysis” as their idea going into because its playing in their favour doing a 360 scene because a person wont be able to move, I also think its shows how effective a 360 scene can be without needing to move the camera as all; the different changes of light I thought was a good touch not only to keep the viewer interested in what was happening but as a heads up to something was going to happen. I like how the FX of the viewer closing theirs as the creature grab them just avoiding sharp objects towards the viewers face to make the video feel a little be easier to watch. watching this video I think I would want to take into my own work is something visual for the viewer to understand why they cant move around, think this makes the scene a little more believable than just a standing position, they have done that really well in this video as you can see the rest on the body under the cover. to improve this video I think I would of had a variety of characters/ creatures that would been in the room just so it doesn’t get too repetitive. in terms of sound for this video some aspects of the door creaking open I love but overs like the overly loud storm destroy some of the fear factor in; in my ow piece I really want to get the directional sound right not only so the scene is more realistic but immerses the user further into my scene.
Another 360 video that has gave more some more ideas and inspirations. I think its important to stay on researching my genre I have chosen to go with, I can gain new ideas for my own and notice different/ unique ways to make the scene seem for creepy. A big approach towards this video to make it seem scary was that they challenged the comfortability of the user, meaning they purposely tried making the user feel uncomfortable, this is shown in a number of ways; there is a scene where a women crawls up from the legs of the viewer onto the viewer which would be a freaky and uneasy thing to happen to you. Or it could be from something more simple like the way they shown the user that they are in a wheel chair just pushes that idea of a lack of control to the user. A feature that wasn’t used in the last video which I liked was the blood splatter on the camera, not there to scare the user but to just immerse the user a little further. However, I can see how this particular scene can deter people from 360 video if they are new as they could feel uncomfortable when how close the character get to the scene which is the balance I will have to find within my own work.
So my ideas from this I can bring into my own scene is maybe a chair at the centre of the cell that the viewer is stuck in weather that be chained to it or tied just so they understand they wont be moving in the video; this could also encourage the viewer to experiment looking around faster. This has also made me think about the change of lighting in the scene if there is an ways I can change lighting for a dramatic effect, cloud going over the moon light gets dimmer ect.
Just spent some time gathering a few images I thought would be useful when developing the scene, as an overall look at the references I knew they would be quite dark and dingy looking but something I will be taking away from that is in each scene there is always one solid bright light and that bright light is either the focal point or on the focal point. through these images the majority of them have some sort of story you can see through the rooms, I particularly like the one with the the girl in the centre because the walls have drawings all on them, left for the viewer to think she did it – my idea out of this was to do a similar thing to further make the 360 look around more visually interesting but to illude to the fact the mysterious man speaking had done it, I feel like this makes the scene so much more creepy as the viewer can come to find out the man can get into his cell and has done.
Image above shows just a rough layout on what I am planning on making, just used a selection of colours to highlight the different things that will be going on in the scene, this doesn’t mean they are going to be happening all at once just a rough guide to follow when heading to create this piece. The really goal of this image is to display how the user is going to be surrounded, not essentially by people or creatures but things to catch their attention, I am wanting this because it just makes the user experience a lot more interesting , when both their sight and hearing are being used to explore the scene I believe it is so much more immersive this way. In the image I’ve used colours to show all of the things which should grab the users attentions and keep them immersed in this scene just to show that I am trying to use the 360 aspect of the scene as much as possible to my advantage.
This pie chart is here just for me to have guide and more accurate path on what I need to get done and a loose idea on how much a particular part of my process it should be taking up. I wanted to give animating a little more time and effort than I usually would because I think its one of the vital areas which contributes a lot towards the final part of my piece. unfortunately the retopology has a larger part on the process just for the amount of time which it takes to complete however I believe If I’m smart which the sculpting this could become a faster process.
How I am going to create this scene:
The process of making this starts within maya where I will start to block out and work out where the walls, arches and assets are going to be within the scene, this will be done by simply extruding basic shapes. I believe I wont get the right amount a detail I am looking for in just maya so I plan to export basic shapes from maya to Zbrush just to increase the detail and realism of the scene, things like; the bricked walls, the uneven muddy floor ect. This will be done by a few different techniques such as a span of different brushes, noise maps, subdivisions. Just before texturing, I will be UV unwrapping the lower resolutions back in maya ready for the model to be baked in substance painter so I can proceed with the texturing. This can be a long process as this can really make the scene so much more believable and immersive, I feel like little unique details can go such a long way in these scenarios; this is all done but layering materials, black and whites masks and many more. All textures made and exported back to maya to be plugged in, at this stage the stationary scene should be complete and set up in maya. at this stage I will be sorting all the lighting out which could take some time fiddling making sure that some areas are not lit up to get the correct effects, for realistic more lights I think using IES lighting is the best especially using atmospheric fog. Animating is keep along with timing, making sure that the animations are going off at the correct times to create suspense, fear all the feelings to make the 360 immersion effective along with the animations, I will be applying directional sounds to the movements to grab the attention of the user, encouraging them to turn.
There are some things that I hope to include in my piece; since there is going to be dialog running through pretty much the entire scene, to be as inclusive as possible I thought it would be right to try including subtitles so that people who cant/ have trouble hearing can follow along with the story and have a equally good experience.
I think of having a Gantt chart to just show how I am planning on organising my time and how much time I am going to dedicate the different sections of work is really important when I have a specific amount of time to work with, it helps me understand if I am falling behind on things or if I am ahead of my work. This also reduces stress when trying to complete different areas of the topic so I am not guessing when and how long I have to complete my assignment.
Feedback weeks:
In the first couple weeks I hope to have got a substantial amount of the block out and potentially the high resolution sculpture of the scene pretty much complete, the feedback at this stage I will be looking for is pretty much all visually, I want the scene to look realistic, maybe new ways to make it seem more realistic and techniques to show a dirty grungy look on the scene. questions I could ask are does the scene look like? how does this scene make you feel? How would you improve this? around the third and forth week I should have the UVs and retopology complete and I’m wanting these to be done to a professional standard and good enough to utilise fully for texturing therefore I am wanting any new techniques to improve or different approaches I could take when attempting this again, therefore questions I will be asking are; do you think I can lower the poly count? Do I need as many loops on this mesh? Am I utilising the UV space enough to get as much detail in? In the fifth or sixth week, this is when I will be done with the textures and the whole scene should have them on. This stage I am wanting the scene to be visually most impressive, it need to look dirty, grimy, wet and just have an overall feeling of unsettling ness, with this in mind I am planning on asking questions like; How does this scene make you feel? Is this realistic? What would you do to improve this scene so far? Is this scene interesting? Towards the seventh and eighth week of this process the whole scene should be textured, and setup in maya with lighting, sound and animations. I am wanting the scene to keep the realism throughout the scene so I will focus this on the animations and sounds; questions I aim to be asking at this stage are, does this scene grab your attention? Do the animations look natural and flow? How does this scene make you feel? Nineth week, this is when the setup to the 360 compatibility will be completed so people can view the finished product. This is where I will be wanting feedback on the end result therefore questions like do you feel immersed in this scene? is it visually impressive? How could you improve this scene?