The document summarizes the process of creating a 3D motion graphic promoting a new college radio station. It describes initial brainstorming of ideas, creation of assets like the maze and characters, challenges faced along the way, and solutions developed. Key aspects included designing the maze to resemble a retro video game, adding arcade machines and animating characters across software to transition between scenes. The finished project captured the spirit of Pacman to promote the radio station.

2. 20.10.12
For this assignment we
had to plan and produce
a new 3D motion graphic
to promote the college’s
upcoming new radio
station E6.

3. Initially we worked in teams
researching ideas and
coming up with individual
concepts. From them we
chose a finalized plan which
we created a storyboard for
us to follow.

4. 27.10.12
After we had come up with our final idea we separated as a team and created
individual motion graphic using our storyboard as a template and then individually we
made creative changes and alterations to make our motion graphic unique.
We quickly created a 3D test to visualize how our motion graphic would turn out,
by
doing this I decided I would add a whole new introduction to my motion graphic as
well as spotting some difficulties I might come across while doing my actual
production.

5. 09.11.12
One of the first issues I snagged on was when I was creating the assets for
the pacman scene. Initially for the six which would chase the E’s I used the
knife tool to slice through the hoop part of it then created several of them
with the slice opening at different stages. However as the gap got bigger
the shape of the six got more distorted and didn’t fit in the maze
A solution to this was if we were to separate the top part of the 6 on a different layer
To the bottom part we could use the pivot of the object to act as a hinge which would
smoothly swing the 6 open and close.

6. I then continued to create the other assets
Including the e’s, the E6 radio logo and the
College logo. However because of a change I
Made to the beginning of my motion graphic,
I had to take a different approach to how I
Would add these.

7. 13.11.12
For the maze itself I wanted it look as much like a
video game as possible going right down to a
suitable font. The illustration of the maze on the
left is the object I used for the test and the one on
the right in one of my finalized objects. The pixel
like font on the right was created by downloading a
vector file of pixel alphabet in illustrator then
importing it into modeller. I also added a neon light
like texture to all the layers within the maze object.

8. To give my Pacman maze a sense of place I
Decided I would create a maze to place around
It and I gave it decals related to the college like
A picture of the college’s entrance at the front.
However this led to an issue because of the
Angle the maze would have to be placed it made
Animating the six very difficult so instead I decided
To place the arcade machine at a slant so the maze
Would be flat I could do this because in layout I
Could angle the camera so it looked like the arcade
Is on flat terrain.

9. 23.11.12 - 11.12.12
I took the idea of creating an arcade machine for my maze further by creating a mini
arcade which would add a bigger space and add more detail to my motion graphic
however doing affected the time I had left for post-production editing of the video
sequence.

10. Pony Arcade
Machine

11. Skool Dance
Dance Machine

12. Crane
Machine

13. Stacking Game, Hockey Table
And Driving Machine

14. 14.11.12
This is the first version of the arcade scene, without any textures added to the walls and
Floor. I decided that to save myself the hassle of rotating all the arcade machines at a
Slant I would create the fly through of the arcade right up to the point where it zooms
into the E6 screen then create a transition in post-production that would connect it
With the pacman sequence

15. 19.12.12
However I then discovered it was possible to have an AVI play on the other arcade machines
Screens by importing like how I had imported all the other images I created for their surfaces.
This gave me an even better idea on how I would change from the arcade fly through to the
E6 Pacman chase. If I edited the Pacman chase in premiere then exported it as an avi I could
Add it straight to the arcade machines screen in the flythrough in layout and then this would
Give it a real sense of being on the screen, however I had to make sure the camera was at the
Right angle and that I had additional lighting on the screen to compensate for the shadow
Being cast by the top of the machine.
In Layout the AVI looked pixelated but once rendered it came out clean.

16. For the pacman chase sequence a lot of it was produced in post production with on the 6
Being animated in layout. The three main other things that I needed to incorporate was
The high score changing with each thing eaten by the six, the E’s that the six will chase
And the last bit of the sequence where the logo will come out.
For the highscore I took render
shots of each of the numbers
that would be in view during
the chase at the correct
position then in
Photoshop I cropped the rest of
the scene out leaving only the
number in the correct place.
The issue was the close up
Shots where I had to take the
render shots in the exact
position of the many positions
of the camera

17. I decided that I would animate the e’s in 2D with flash so I had less to manage in layout
When animating the 3D six. In Flash I created motion paths for the e’s to follow up to the
Bit where the camera closes in on the six which by then the only e left I animated frame by
Frame so I could get the precise position. A slight niggle I cam across with this method is while I
Was animating the six I didn’t visualize which route the e’s would take and at what position they
Would be eaten therefor during post-production in flash I had noticed I had deviated from my
Initial plan and had to improvise subsequently meaning I had to drop one of the e’s and only
Have three.

18. 20.12.12
The ending sequence in which the Pacman six transforms into the full E6 radio logo I decided
To produce in Adobe After Effects where I would transition the six and the eaten from their final
positions into the logo with a white background as I felt this was a lot simpler method then trying to
scale it and transform in layout.

19. Overall I am quite happy with the finished product although there are some
Things I could have changed. I feel I may have spent a little to much time in the
Construction of the arcade units and maybe could’ve added a more realistic
Textures to them. There is also some inconsistency with the lights as the camera zooms
Into the college arcade machine and that was because I thought a spotlight was needed
So the screen could be seen more clearly and didn’t realise that the rest of the sequence
Rendered still had the same light fittings. I am very pleased with the design of the maze
And I think it captures the essence of Pacman enough that people will recognize the
Similarities.
A link to the finished Motion Graphic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLfYlrRR0UA