Environment Design- The Double Bass District

'Put yourself not on the outside the double bass looking in, but rather inside a double-bass looking out; we're inside the 'echo chamber' of the double bass, which is from where the rich, low tones of the instrument resonate.'

'the double-Bass district reminds us of turbine halls and power stations.'

This is the hardest district so far. Trying to visualise the Double Bass from the inside is proving difficult. But there are some internal photographs of the instrument on google which helped a lot. I've used reference photos of turbine halls and power stations for guidance which helped me visualise sketch 2. 

I haven't been able to unify a colour scheme- The Brown colours have been taken from photographs of a deep underground cave system which I thought may be a fitting place to start. I'm hovering between continuing to use blues for arcing electricity, or insinuating windows to the Atlantean world Red left above him. Then again, the power running through the double-bass strings could be entirely new, perhaps a more fiery warm colour. Either way I'm open to suggestions on this particular district.

I imagine the deep power of the Double-Bass district to have the dormant strings hum with an orange glow. While those vibrating with power explode in a bright yellow light.

Environment/Asset Design- The Cello District

'Red descends further, and now we get our first proper glimpse of the Cello District; it's Atlantean! There's a majesty and melancholy about this deep, mournful district.'

'Our first impression is of some vast accretion of sunken wooden ships, with ornate figureheads, but we're looking at the necks of carved wooden cellos.'

I've got a mix of 'wreck' designs as well as 'repurposed' Cello ship designs. It could do with further exploration. I am however happy with the attempt at caustics and refractions on the building shapes.

Initial Cello District Concept Art

Environment/ Asset Design- The Viola District

'The Viola District is shaped like an enormous basin, with its buildings lining the concave wall on every side.'

'The column from which Red now appraises the city is like a perpendicular stamen inside a bowl shaped flower.'

Below I have designed the Nelson's Column like plinth Red lands atop of. I took a rather asymmetric route with this set.

All of the buildings below would be wall mounted onto the inside of the basin walls.

Below is an initial concept from the bottom of the Viola basin. I haven't managed to implement the water features properly yet. It's a design that will need further revision to add the fountain like strings that cascade from the top of the city edges.

Environment/Asset Design- The Trombone and Tuba District

I designed some classical streetlights following an attempt at creating a conceptual scene. I felt it only right to line the streets with street lamps over the lanterns designed previously. 

I looked into a few more drawbridge designs...

I particularly liked the idea of using a the horn shape in 5, so that when the drawbridge drops you essentially walk through a shortened conical tunnel. 6 was an experiment in asymmetry while 4 was a slightly more traditional take on a Trombone and Tuba drawbridge.

The conceptual scene is what I imagined Red and Yellow might see upon crossing the drawbridge, with music-note based bunting hanging from the grand buildings either side. Of course at this point the streets would have to be populated with thousands of other notes/subjects as they try to get a look at the King and Queen.

Environment/Asset Design- The Trombone and Tuba District- Buildings

I've been working on designing the Trombone and Tuba District buildings- taking on Baroque architectural inspiration. Hopefully these designs lend themselves to the opulent Royal district.

Environment/Asset Design- The Trombone and Tuba District

'The Trombone and Tuba District feels like an Imperial District- the seat of Power. Not surprisingly there is a lot of polished brass on show... Our main impression is of a Baroque architecture of ornate metalwork and royal reds.'

'... everything glints and glimmers in an expensive way.'

I've been gathering some more reference material for the rich, opulent and regal district that is the Trombones and Tuba District. I started work on the wall that reveals itself to be a drawbridge. I think 2 is where I started to get a feel for ornate metalwork but there is plenty of room for improvement. We need more grandeur- bigger, bolder... brassier! I might try going a really excessively outrageous route with future designs and see how they turn out.

I also started to create the lanterns that light the entrance way. While initially starting off well I lost the instruments along the way. It may be because the Trombone and Tuba offer themselves quite well as these old lantern shapes. The key difference however is that this districts Lanterns would be perfectly circular unlike its more angular real-world counterparts. There is definitely room for improvement and extreme exaggeration here though.

Environment/Asset Design- The Violin District

I may have gone in small circles working out some more on the Violin district. I kept forgetting the key point- That Red passes throughout the violin district at speed. We need to see it in less detail than perhaps other districts. All the same, below I have some conceptual buildings and concept art. I  found my way eventually by designing silhouettes of the Violin District City skyline.

As of tomorrow I'm working on the regal wonders of the Trombone and Tuba District.

Environment Design- The Violin District Concepts

These are my attempts to understand the Violin district in the UPA style. It's proving to be a challenge!! I need to simplify a lot further. And perhaps space things out a little more.... Its a bit cramped!

YPGTTO / Alan's Rendering Test #1

The Trumpet District render test / Alan Postings

Just sharing a really quick texturing test from CAA's senior lecturer and Maya maestro, Alan Postings, who's been looking at Emily Clarkson's YPGTTO production art and investigating the ways and means of translating it into 3D models.

The Trumpet District concept paintings / Emily Clarkson

CAA & ONE is More @ Zilina / 6th December 2016

Simon Chalk conducting the Slovak Sinfonietta during a rehearsal for the screening of La création du monde 

On December 6th, CAA's celebrated visualisation of Darius Milhaud's ballet, La création du monde was screened to a full house at Zilina's concert hall, Slovakia, with live accompaniment by the musicians of the Slovak Sinfonietta.  Simon Chalk was their conductor and master of ceremonies, and following a short presentation explaining the provenance of our animation, the lights dimmed, the musicians began to play, and shapes and colours began pulsing across the screen.

This is the fifth screening for our animation, which began life as a multi-participant speed paint challenge, in which the students, alumni and staff of Computer Animation Arts were invited to visualise Milhaud's jazz-inspired ballet as a series of abstract digital paintings.  CAA alumni Tom Beg and Jordan Buckner then worked with the resulting paintings, translating them into moving image. In common with previous screenings, the experience of watching the animation accompanied by the full bombast and beauty of a live orchestra was magical and transformative. Many thanks to Simon Chalk, for all his fizz and enthusiasm for the project, and to Keith Burden of Clever Projections, who not only ensures our screenings are faultless, smooth and gremlin-free, but who also drove the three thousand mile trip to Slovakia and back in the short space of four days!

La création du monde was screened in Zilina as part of the ONE is more programme: An Orchestra Network for Europe – ONE - is a distinctive network of classical symphony orchestras initiated by Orchestre de Picardie in 2003. Since 2005, it has received support from the European Union under the Culture Programme for 4 cultural projects. Its successive periods of activity have been called ONE, ONE - a new dimension, ONE step further and from June 2011 to 2015 ONE goes places. In 2010, under the title ONE is more, it prepared an application under the Creative Europe programme of the EU. For this bid, the University for the Creative Arts joined the partnership.

Keith Burden of Clever Projections readying the projector

La création du monde / Tom Beg & Jordan Buckner