Evaluation

Crtieria for success: 

1. Armour of the character
2. Weapon wielded by character
3. Environment/setting of the scene
4. Visual Storytelling

How have these criteria been met/achieved?

Criteria #1: Armour of the character

In this criteria, I mentioned that I planned to use a design for the armour that accurately represented the Middle ages, and the armour used during this time period. Specifically, I was looking to incorporate an Italian 15th century design. In order to achieve this part of the criteria, I paid very close attention to reference images of this design during the modelling process to ensure that my produced design was accurately matching my planned design. I used a large variety of reference images from various angles to give me a great idea and understanding of how the armour was constructed and layered in order to help me create a greatly accurate result. It was important to remain as authentic as possible to the reference images in order to create a suit of armour which is highly functional and realistic. 

This was achieved in a variety of ways. First, I started by layering individual plates and components of the armour onto the character. Creating these components of the armour separately was a great help when rigging/animating, as it allowed all the places to be moved individually for enhanced realism. I enhanced this during the modelling process, where I had refined certain parts of the model (such as the Stop-Rib) to be a separated mesh. Even though these parts would not move indepentantly, the separation of these parts further enhanced the realism since these pieces would have more depth and looked more realistic, giving more of the impression of the armour being held together as a full suit of armour. Moreover, I had created lots of other complimentary models to the armour, such as large bolts, which would add to the realism to the armour (especially if the bolt allowed a piece to move, like the Visor of the helmet) versus being textured on. This is something I had noticed during my experimentation session #2, where the textures did not elevate the surface of the model and it looked very flat and unrealistic by comparison. 

In addition, I wanted to use realistic materials authentic to the reference images and materials during that time period. This was easily achieved in the texturing stage using Substance Painter, as I was able to apply a variety of appropriate materials to the armour, primarily using a vatiety of Steel materials and modifying these with imperfections to further enhance the realism. Though, the use of the material was not enough to convey the materials realism, and this is something I had observed during my experimentation session #2 in which the thickness of the helmet was not very convincing. As a result - despite using steel materials in this helmet - the thin width of the components of the helmet did not convey the steel material fully, and felt fake. This was addressed in production however, where - during the retopology process - I had ammended the thickness of the armour to feel strong, durable and protective. 

In this criteria, I had discussed the idea of enhancing the visual result without reducing its functionality. Specifically, I was looking to incorporate non-obstructive aesthetic features to give my character more significance and prowess in the scene, using techniques such as ornamental embossing and gilding (Which were some realistic techniques for the time period I was looking to depict). I believe I have addressed both of these aspects completely in my final product; In regards to the gilding, this has been achieved by creating outer edges of the armour that were embossed, which was then UV mapped to easily allow an appropriate golden material to be applied to serve as the gilding. Furthermore, ornamental embossing has been achieved in my design, during the texturing process I had applied a hand-painted effect by using a normal texture to create rivets in the embossing that I had done earlier, to give an ornamental and more visually-interesting result.

However, my completed design is not without its flaws. The main flaw lies with the application of chainmail, which I do not believe was highly successful. Firstly, the design of the chainmail was done via texture, but the texture was not transparrent. This gave a black background to the texture. Only after placing the character in the environment did I suspect that the chainmail was out of place, as it completely blocked any light from behind the character from shining through; Even if this effect had been minor, I still believe it would have added to the realism. Perhaps a geometry-based approach would have been more successful and realistic, though I had been skeptical based on the potential performance requirement such a geometry-based approach may require. I am unsure on what would have been the best approach here. 

Additionally, the use of nCloth on the chainmail - particularily the Tasset chainmail - was ultimately flawed due to the way I had constructed the geometry. My research into the armour failed to cover how the chainmail connected to the armour, how it was layered and its actual size, this was an appoximation done based on the images I was referring to. Whilst this looked successful initially, once the nCloth was being utilised to give the chainmail physics, ultimately the simulation did not behave as expected, leaving me to believe that I had misunderstood the way the chainmail would have typically been attached/utilised in a real suit of medieval armour, something which could have benefitted from some further research. 

One other flaw in which I have found is that the plates for the fingers did not operate how I had expected when rigging, where these plates would not stay attached to the glove without bending. Whilst this flaw is very minor, it does detract from the realism some, and some more research into this specific aspect could have been worthwhile. 

In summary, I believe this criteria is hugely successful, despite its flaws. 

Criteria #2: Weapon wielded by character

For this criteria, I covered the weapon wielded by the character. I chose to create a Greatsword as the weapon of choice, and I discussed how my design should reflect a typical Greatsword used during the Medieval era. A Greatsword is a two-handed sword and is huge in size, which I can confidently say was successfully achieved in my design. I had routinely matched the size of the Greatsword to that of my charactet to ensure the proportions matched what I had researched. My success criteria details the use of Scabbards and how they were used to carry/sheath swords; Whilst this was implemented in my design, I took this a step further, investigating the specific scabbards which would have been used for a Greatsword and how it might have been utilised from a functional standpoint. This achieved my success criteria beyond my original discussion based on new information in my ongoing research. 

I had discussed how the materials of my deisgn should reflect that of conventional materials of swords during this time period. I believe this was very successful, as my sword uses a range of appropriate materials in its design. Specifically, I had UV mapped the 'spine' of the sword separately from the blade so an iron material could be applied to this area, whereas the remainder of the blade would be textured with a steel material, something that I had discussed in my dissertation about how real swords would be designed. I maintained this for the entire sword design, uting a leather material for the grip as well as a wooden material for the scabbard. This should help to portray a realistic design and accurately reflect the armour used in the Middle ages. 

My criteria discussed the idea of aesthetic enhancement of the Greatsword design, something which was carefully considered in my dissertation in order to keep the aeesthetics minimal and not over-done. In addition, I had stated that this criteria would be successful if the design of the sword had appropriately matched that done for the armour, using similar techniques. My armour design had featued gilding and embossing mentioned earlier. To maintain a sense of continuity across the designs, I applied similar aesthetic design to my Greatsword, utilising some gilding across the hilt of the Greatsword in a bid to maintain its functionality, whilst still offering some decorative yet appropriate features in its design. I was careful to not overdetail the Greatsword, avoiding important functional areas of the weapon like the blade. I believe the final design fell in line with my success criteria, and felt that this element had been successful. 

However, one aspect I had not implemented were aesthetic improvements to the scabbard. My criteria had discussed the idea of decorating the scabbbard with appopriate visual improvements accurate to the time period to enable it to be more visually pleasing in its design. Despite this, I had ultimately decided against this as the aesthetics of this did not feel in line with the rest of the design of both Greatsword and Armour of the character. Although this does contradict my criteria, I believe this was the correct decision since my testing proved that perhaps this form of decoration was not as suitable as I had originally expected when detailing my success criteria. I would argue that this does not impede on the success of this criteria based on my justification. 

Overall, I believe that this criteria has been very successful. 

Criteria #3: Environment/setting of the scene

In regards to my environment design, I had discussed that - in order for this criteria to be successful - it should clearly depict a recently fought upon battlefield. In order to achieve this, my focus was on creating scenery elements to populate the scene, and give the impression and evidence of a recent battle taking place. I did this by creating a simplistic warrior character and a variety of weapons/shields and scattered these across the scene. My criteria deemed the environment to depict a large battle, though unfortunately due to time constraints and peformance limitations, I had to restrict the number of scenery elements used to populate the scene. In my final environment, a medium-sized army is depicted, with fifty warriors (each with a sword and shield) have been placed among the scene. This was done using reference to ensure I got an accurate sense of how the bodies may be scattered across the ground. These scenery elements - though simple - were done to a good quality, and I believe they signify cleary to the viewer that a battle has recently taken place in the environment, meeting my success criteria well here, despite being slightly smaller scale than I had initially pitched. 

Additionally, I have added elements to the scenery and foreground to create a full and in-depth scene. One of the elements I had added were trees, specifically dead/dry leaf-less trees. In my dissertation I had specifically mentioned that I would like to include trees of this nature, to give eerie and ominous feeling to the environment. This has clearly been achieved in my finalised design. Following this, I have taken this a step further by adding a thick layer of fog to the scene. The fog is very appropriate considering the environment is representative of a muddy bog, and significantly contributes to the eerie and ominous connotations of the environment. I believe the design and scenery elements have been utilised and implemented very appropriately, meeting this success criteria greatly. 

This success criteria detailed about how the enviromnent should build upon and enhance the design of the medieval knight, the armour and sword designs specifically. I had discussed some ideas of how this could be achieved in my dissertation. One of the ideas I had discussed was the implementation of fire, and how it could reflect in the metal materials of the armour and enhance the visual result. Unfortunately, I could not find a means of including such elements without hindering the realism of the scene, as personally I could not justify the implementation of fire with no believable source, especially since the battle would have taken place some time before, and smoke would not enhance the visual result in my opinion. I had also dicussed the possibility of rain, and how the inclusion could add depth and improve the visual result of the scene with its implementation. Unfortunately, despite attempting to incorporate this in my project, I was met with the inability to do this based on the software choice I had both been taught and used for this assignment, as the effect was incompatible. As a result, this has not furfilled the success criteria to the standard of which I had initially planned. 

Furthermore, I had discussed how the lightning could enhance the visual result of my armour and weapon designs. Some ideas I had mentioned were midnight for the reflection of the moon upon the armour, or perhaps sunrise/sunset to get some nice reflections in the metal materials of the armour from the sun. I had experimented with lots of different lightning scenarios, though most did not appear to be appropriate in my project as they did not light my character effectively; In order to have these lighting options work, ambient lighting or other light sources would need to be present to allow my character to be visible in these lighting conditions, though the use of this would detract from the realism and thus would not be suitable. Eventually, after some experimenting with HDRI options, I settled on a very minimal sunset setting, which was only slightly visible through an otherwise gloomy atmosphere, which I believed was more appropriate considering the eerie and ominous nature of the environment discussed prior. Although this deviated from my initial ideas of the success criteria detailed in my dissertation, I feel that through experimentation I was able to find a suitable lighting scenario which complimented my character in the most realistic and matched way, with the focus being able to see the armour/weapon as opposed to focusing on some interesting reflections. I believe this was the correct choice, and - despite deviating from my criteria - manages to meet my success criteria in a more practical and successful manner. 

To conclude, my environment design does slightly deviate from my success criteria, though it does this to suit a more successful and practical output based on the overall aims of my project, prioritising the realism over the aesthetics. The environment still very much meets my success criteria, and builds upon it in other instances, so I could consider this criteria to be largely successful. 

Criteria #4: Visual Storytelling

In this criteria, I have discussed how certain Visual Storytelling techniques applied to my project would result in a successful final result. One of the methods I had discussed was 'Show, don't tell' which explores the idea of telling a story purely through visual cues and other signs. This was important in the success of my project, since my animation is devoid of dialogue and narration. I believe this has been achieved through the use of the prior success criteria, where they cumulate and build upon one-another. For example, the environment design clearly depicts a recently fought battle, with lots of fallen warriors scattered around the scene. Furthermore, my character design presents many imperfections, showins signs of wear and battle. The combination of these elements depict a clear setting to the viewer, as they can identify the damaged look of my knight character and connect this to the warriors fallen across my scene. This is an instance where visual storytelling has been achieved through the use of previous criteria, and is highly successful in this regard.

Moreover, Visual Storytelling techniques have been considered in my animation. One instance of this is towards the end of the animation, where the knight lets out a deep sigh. This suggests a lot about the character, that he potentially regrets his actions and leaves a lot for the viewer to interpret. This was the intention with my story. Another instance of Visual Storyteling being utilised is in the third shot, which uses depth of field to transition between the knight in the foreground to the fallen warrior close up in frame. The exposition between transitions connect this as significant to the story, directly comparing the warrior - now deceased - and the knight - alive and well. This connection leads the viewer to connect the deceased warrior with the knight as responsible, which leads into the fourth shot denoting regret and remorse. These cumulatively develop a successful story depicted in my animation. 

Additionally, I have tried to use the minimal camera angles to help set up the narrative and setting of the story. The opening shot begins with an establishing shot, with a camera pan slowly displaying the scene. This shot helps to set up the story, showing that a battle has recently taken place with a knight as the sole survivor. It also allows the viewer to absorb some of the detail and depth of the scene, to build upon immersion. The other camera angles have also been thought out to be used in a way which best compliments the story. This is something I had detailed about in my dissertation, which helps to commnunicate the story visually to the viewer. 

However, some visual storytelling techniques may have not been as well implemented as I would have initially liked. In my final animation, the story slightly deviated from my initial pitch due to technical limitations. The change made it so that - instead of the knight regaining conciousness from the recent battle, and standing up - the knight is already standing, hoisting the large Greatsword over-shoulder. This stemmed from multiple technical limitiations. I had planned to have the character show pain and discomfort whilst standing up, to visually communicate that the knight has been wounded, to create sympathy within the audience. Though this was a visual storytelling technique now infeasible due to the nature of my now-modified story. Despite this, it could be argued that visual storytelling is achieved due to the lack of it, reinforcing a slightly adapted story; Perhaps the knight character is so feared and powerful, the character has slain dozens of warriors without breaking a sweat, which would be reinforced by the criteria of the armour in success criteria #1. 

Overall, visual storytelling is evident in my project, helping to communicate the story visually through the use of various techniques. Despite certain limitiations in the project, I have been able to adapt the story into something still relevant but equally effective, and as such believe this criteria is highly successful. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, I have been able to assess each individual criteria to determine their success. In regards to Criteria #1, the armour deisgn has been well-thought out with a very representative design of both my initial pitch and the heavy amount of reference imagery used to create an accuate and effective design. Despite a few flaws in its design, I believe the criteria has been very successful.

Criteria #2 is well developed, building upon the design done in Criteria #1 and maintaining a strong sense of continuity in the design, whilst still using many reference imagery to create a highly accurate and functional design, reinforcing the realism of my piece. These first two criteria create a strong foundation in my project due to their highly succesful nature. 

For Criteria #3, I have created a very effective design for the environment, one which helps to set up the story of the animation in its design. Most of the elements originally pitched had been included well, though there were a few elements of the environment which were dismissed. This was purely down to either technical limitations or inappropriate use, and through both experimentation and analysis, I have been able to create a very successful environment which utilises the best ideas and builds upon them. 

Finally, Criteria #4 utilises the designs done in the past three criteria and builds upon them to communicate a clear yet ambiguous story, falling in line with my original intentions. This has been done in numerous ways, utilising different visual storytelling techniques in order to communicate the story effectively to the viewer. Whilst the story is not as representative of my planned story, it has been adapted and modified slightly, though effectively to support the new story. Ultimately, I believe the story is equally as effective as the original pitch, if not more, and that it has been communicated clearly via the use of visual storytellling; Thus, I deem this criteria to be successful. 

Overall, all of the Success Criteria have been developed effectively, and I would deem them to be highly successful. Based on this evaluation, I would argue that my project has been highly successful in total.