Research

The following images were found on the internet. These images will help in terms of research and inspiration in order to come up with some new interesting ideas. I attempted to cover all the environments that came to mind that may spark an idea within the group.

Slums

This may be an interesting idea to explore. Although a slum can be a depressing place, I find them fascinating in terms of there randomness and their cramped nature. We could build a 3D slum environment to explore its poor conditions and networks of narrow alleys and small rooms. I believe lighting and interesting textures would make this environment a particularly interesting one. Interesting Camera angles would also make this environment idea more dynamic. A fly-through however would probably be the best way to explore the entire environment. Although it would be difficult to incorporate a busy atmosphere within the slum without including some character animation.

Gallery

For this idea I was thinking of building an exquisite museum interior with various exhibits. A fly-through would be a good way to navigate through the interior environment. However static, tracking and panning shots would also make the environment more sophisticated.

Museum

I had a similar idea to the gallery idea but instead explore the interior of a vast museum. I'm not sure yet what sort of museum, however there are dozens of possibilities. A fly-through through a well built model of a museum may look rather interesting. It could be based on a real museum to show off our observation and modeling skills. It could almost be like a virtual 3D museum experience and the camera moves from one exhibit to the other.

Domestic

I had an idea for a more architectural based environment project. The house/ home could either be old or new. Using observational skills we could build a model of a building using existing designs or attempt to create an entirely new structure. This idea would need decent modeling skills as well as effective textures and realistic lighting. A fly-through could be used in order to navigate from room to room, depicting space and design. We could incorporate animation by using a time lapse from day to night or animate lights within the interior as well as doors etc.

Town

It may be a nice idea to build a small section of a small town. A fly-through would help to navigate through its buildings, over rooftops and through narrow alleys. This project would concentrate on modeling and texturing, however we could incorporate animation by again taking a time lapse approach or animation a few characters through the town environment. We could also animate shutters, doors and lights etc. Perhaps a town at night may be interesting. Lighting would be a good medium to introduce form to an otherwise dark environment.

City

For this idea I was thinking of building a section of a city environment. The city could be old or new or futuristic. A Fly-through may be nice to navigate through the model and demonstrate modeling and texturing techniques. Lighting would also help to improve the look of our structures. Animation could be incorporated by including vehicles, moving bridges, rotating buildings, moving sings & posters etc.

Ancient

This was an idea I had for exploring an existing ancient structure. I was thinking that perhaps a time lapse would be a good way to inform the viewer of the structure and its form. Dust layers may be a good way to enhance the environment and incorporate some animation.

Planets

This is a crazy idea I had. I was thinking that we could explore the environment of space. Animation could be incorporated by including asteroids, shuttles, satellites and spinning planets. The spherical planets may be tricky to texture however.

Alien

Hangar

I also had an idea for an interior environment within some sort of aircraft hanger, whether it be a contemporary or futuristic hangar. There is a lot of potential for design and lighting in particular. We could also incorporate effective and realistic surface reflections within the interior.

Science Fiction Interior

This was an idea for a science fiction industrial interior environment. There could be some great opportunities for effective mechanical animation of robotic arms or bulkhead doors and really effective lighting to emphasise the form of the interior.

Submarine

This was an idea I had which was similar to the idea above. We could create a close, cramped and tight submarine environment with various moving parts.

Sea Forts

Oil Rig

Ship

I had an idea to navigate through a section of a ship's interior.

Factory

This was an idea I had for an interior of a factory environment. There is plenty of opportunity for mechanical animation for this idea.

Mine

Industrial

This was an idea I had for derelict industrial environments. But I'm not sure that here there would be sufficient animation opportunities.

Fantasy

This was an idea I had for a purely fictional and fantasy environment comprised of weird and wonderful spectacles.

Underwater

This could be an original idea, however this would be a challenge to pull off well. The lighting would need to be spot on and the illusion of water would need to be accurate. Animation for underwater life and activity will be tricky.

Rainforest

This could be an interesting idea. The environment would consist of mostly green hues. There is potential for foliage and water animation. This will be tricky to animate however. Lighting would also be an important factor. Light fog could look particularly effective to give the impression of humidity.

Desert

Heres an interesting idea however there is not much opportunity for animation. Perhaps introducing some dust and sand trails and swaying foliage will bring it to life. Perhaps a time lapse will also be interesting as we can experiment with lighting to see how light interacts with the form of the environment.

Ice

Another interesting environment choice consisting of blues and white. Lighting will be key here to define the shape and form of an icy landscape. Again a time lapse would be an option here. We could move the main source of light so as to change the visual appearance of our environment.

Cyberspace

Cyberspace might be an unusual and interesting idea. We could animated illuminated planes in Maya and navigate through vast voids of patterns and data or through cyber tunnels. A crazy idea but could be visually stunning in terms of animation, camera moves and colour.

Space

Navigating through a space environment might look quite aesthetic. I would want it to look decent, however pulling it off may be difficult. I have seen many attempts which have all looked rather cheap. Perhaps navigating through a fleet of science fiction cruiser ships near a gas giant might look interesting. However this idea has been done many times before and has become rather cliche. If we were to choose this idea we would focus on modeling, texturing and above all lighting. We could animate smaller ships which fly from ship to ship.