For choosing a critical report topic, one should consider asking a research question that has the potential to impact present or future theoretical and practical study. Use academic journals, papers, books… as references and make notes of them to summarize into an essay.
This week, I was thinking choosing my research topic around animation or game. I am interested in both of them, and it is hard to decide. However, I think cutscenes in video games would be the one I will go for, as they combine cinematic storytelling with interactive experiences.
Levels: The container for all the actors present in a scene.
Project Progress
After I researched and developed the Tarot World card and the four elements, I got some keywords for my worldbuilding: Cycle, Utopia, Healing, and Completion.
Moodboard
Plan (World Map)
According to previous research, different elements in the World card correspond to different attributes and directions. The goddess acts as the centre of this space, with the other four parts distributed in the North, South, West, and East.
The first week’s session was focused on getting to know Unreal Engine and the project brief.
In the library, the newest version of Unreal Engine is 5.4.4:
File system in Unreal Engine 5
The imported assets (models, texture, audio, animations, etc.) are saved in Content Folder as .uasset files. Levels are saved as .umap files. Projects are saved as .project files.
Nanite
A new internal mesh format and rendering technology to render pixel scale detail and high object counts. Project Brief aims to explore and create immersive environments integrating animation and interaction through the deconstruction and reconstruction of space, time, and materials.
My inspiration
In the world of tarot, there are no rigid boundaries but fluid energies that evolve with personal reading.
Description of the Tarot Card World
The World card shows a naked woman wrapped in a purple cloth, dancing inside a large laurel wreath. She looks behind her to the past, while her body moves forward to the future. In her hands are two wands or batons, like the one The Magician holds. It is a symbol that what was manifested with The Magician has now come to completion with The World. The wreath is circular, symbolizing a continual cycle of successful completion and new beginnings because, as the woman steps through the wreath, she is completing one phase but beginning another one almost straight away.
Around the wreath are four figures (a lion, bull, cherub and eagle), similar to those in the Wheel of Fortune. Both The World and the Wheel of Fortune speak to the cyclical nature of your life and your progression through its cycles. The four figures represent the four fixed signs of the Zodiac—Leo, Taurus, Aquarius, and Scorpio. They are symbolic of the four elements, the four suits of Tarot, four compass points, four seasons, and the four corners of the Universe. They are here to guide you from one phase to the next, bringing balance and harmony to your journey.
