Author: Xavier Drysdale (Page 3 of 3)

Visual Effects (VFX)

September 28, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

VFX or Visual Effects are sometimes confused SFX or special effects. SFX are mainly practical (done in real life and actually recorded on camera), while VFX are done digitally. Video effects Artists mainly spend their time in their VFX software. There are many fields within VFX such as :

Illustration
Chroma Keying (using green screens)
Stop Motion Animation
2D & 3D Motion Capture Animation
2D & 3D Animation
Compositing

Modeling/Sculpting
Rigging
Character Animation
Environment/Physical Effects (explosions, fog, smoke, set extensions, destruction)
Rotoscoping (tracing over motion picture footage)
Tracking
Camera Matching

-(Lesley University)

Many of these categories bleed into CAD designing seeing that nowadays, VFX is including more and more CGI (computer generated Imagery) which is mainly created using CAD softwares. The ones that don’t however, are very similar to the video editing process. Before they can begin working on the shot, the VFX team must organize clips and label them in an organized manner . One of the main differences between VFX and Video Editing is that while Video editing mainly deals with a large amount of shots and sequences, the visual effects artist will work on a select few shots (most of the time only one) and will spend an immensely long time on just those shots; which then will be delivered to the video editor who will then thread those shots together in a coherent manner.

the process of VFX includes :

Assessing footage, scrubbing through timeline (window that shows sequence of clips), dragging clips, inserting effects, creating new elements to add to the shot, creative problem solving, shot tracking (tracking a clip to attach a digitally created element to a moving object), compositing, detailed and precise mouse positioning to move objects, elements, and frame point to a precise location, color correction, and frequently playing and re-playing segments of clips.

The VFX process uses a heavy combination of the mouse and the keyboard. The mouse is used mainly to drag, navigate, scroll, and make adjustments. Technically speaking, although it would take more time, aside from naming clips the entirety of the VFX process could be done with only a mouse. The biggest use of the keyboard is the use of shortcut commands for efficiency, and the input of numbers to attain exact values for certain effects.

References

Lesley University. (2020). Visual Effects (VFX) at the College of Art and Design. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://lesley.edu/visual-effects

FilmRiot. (2020, September 10). Teleport like The Umbrella Academy (VFX Tutorial). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iDnTaf-d90

Renée, V. (2014, December 03). SFX vs. VFX: Two Effects Artists Discuss the Differences Between Practical & CGI. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://nofilmschool.com/2014/12/sfx-vfx-two-effects-artists-discuss-differences-between-practical-cgi

Video Editing

September 28, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

Video Editors have many different softwares to choose from, but it is said that since they all accomplish more or less the same thing , it doesn’t really matter which one you use, as long so you are skilled in the program of your choice. However some of the standard programs that are respected by high industry professionals are Final Cut pro, Adobe Premiere pro, and DaVinci. At the beginning of their editing process, they must first compile and sift through the footage they either shot, or received. This can take a substantial amount of time seeing that they can sometimes deal with hours of footage at a time. After they have sifted and sorted/labeled their footage in an organized fashion, they can now begin editing.

This process includes: dragging your mouse through the timeline (the window showing you the sequence of clips) to scrub through the sequence, making cuts to clips, adjusting the position/ rearranging of clips, adjusting speeds of clips , assessing footage, adding visual elements (text, effect elements, and other illustrations), placing and synchronizing music and sound effect files to the video, adjusting the overall sound of the video, frequently re-watching sections of edited sequences, and color correcting/color grading the sequence. This process can get very complex as editors work with more and more footage and elements. All these afore-mentioned steps are standard across all softwares and programs.

The editing process uses a heavy combination of the mouse and the keyboard. The mouse is used mainly to drag, navigate, scroll, and make adjustments. Technically speaking, although it would take more time, aside from naming clips the entirety of the editing process could be done with only a mouse. The biggest use of the keyboard is the use of shortcut commands for efficiency, and the input of numbers to attain exact values for certain effects.

Insight
[I have noticed that editors need to frequently move their hand from the keyboard to the mouse and back again. The combined time of this extremely frequent motion must significantly decreasing efficiency.]

Sources

Walbeck, P. (2020, April 28). 8 Steps to Edit a Video in Premiere Pro (Start to Finish). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQDGJn89uNk

Why Long Hours? Focus Areas

September 28, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

So what is the reason why creative industry individuals sit for so long a a desk and on one application?

This Post will Give and Overview of what each group in the Target Market does.

Video editors mainly spend their time in their editing software. at the beginning of their editing process, they must first compile and sift through the footage they either shot, or received. this takes a substantial amount of time seeing that they can sometimes deal with hours of footage at a time. after they have sifted and sorted/labeled their footage in an organized fashion, they can now begin the editing process which can take hours or days to complete.

for Video effects Artists, they mainly spend their time in their VFX software. There are many fields within VFX such as :

Illustration
Chroma Keying (using green screens)
Stop Motion Animation
2D & 3D Motion Capture Animation
2D & 3D Animation
Compositing

Modeling/Sculpting
Rigging
Character Animation
Environment/Physical Effects (explosions, fog, smoke, set extensions, destruction)
Rotoscoping (tracing over motion picture footage)
Tracking
Camera Matching

Most if not all of these fields have commonalities in the VFX Process. Most of them work with individuals frames (and keyframes) and must animate the position of those frames to achieve a moving sequence. This process can take hours, days, and in the case of high profile movies, months to complete. They also must use their creativity to achieve the look that they desire for that particular sequence (some shots require a different aesthetic and thus require a different method or approach to the shot).

vfx process

CAD Professionals spend most of their time in their modeling software. once they have a design that needs to be either produced (in the case of Design modeling) or passed on to the VFX artist (in the case of VFX&Editing), they can begin their modeling process. whether it is CGI or CAD design, modelers need to create entire models with intricate parts and elements usually from scratch. this process can take hours or days to complete.

Insight
[A lot of tasks of VFX Artists either are, or directly tie into the tasks of a CAD modeler]

Sources

Walbeck, P. (2020, April 28). 8 Steps to Edit a Video in Premiere Pro (Start to Finish). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQDGJn89uNk

MayoClinicStaff. (2020, February 01). Carpal tunnel syndrome. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20355603

Lesley University. (2020). Visual Effects (VFX) at the College of Art and Design. Retrieved September 28, 2020, from https://lesley.edu/visual-effects

Working Posture

September 24, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

Having a comfortable chair, height-adjustable screens, and wrist supports are good ways of tackling neck pain

“Some people even work from bed — ‘a terrible place to work,’ he says. ‘Even if you prop yourself up with pillows, sitting puts you at a 45-degree angle with your neck craned forward looking down at a screen.

‘This puts a significant amount of strain through your neck — your head weighs about 8kg and the muscles which support it are designed for rotational movements — not load carrying.’ So what is the best solution? ‘Reduce the amount of time you spend leaning forwards over a laptop to a maximum of 15 minutes,’ says Tim.”

[insight
Design a mouse that insights/works in tandem with correct back and neck position]

“‘Your spine naturally wants to be in an extended position with your shoulders back and your bottom slightly sticking out, but a chair with no lumbar support can allow your spine to move into a “c-shape”, which puts strain through the supporting muscles,’ says Tim”

References

Atkinson, L. (2020, Jul 21). Has working from home given us all back ache? [scot region]. Daily Mail Retrieved from https://ezproxy.kpu.ca:2443/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.kpu.ca:2443/docview/2425527275?accountid=35875

WMSD’s

September 24, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

“Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are injuries or disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are conditions in which:

The work environment and performance of work contribute significantly to the condition; and/or
The condition is made worse or persists longer due to work conditions”-CDC 2020

References

CDC. (2020, February 12). Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) Evaluation Measures. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/health-strategies/musculoskeletal-disorders/evaluation-measures/index.html

Washington state department of Labour & Industries, WMDS,https://slideplayer.com/slide/6219170/

analysing Problem Research

September 24, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

Click here for full analysis

Compiling Important Factors & Insights

“Ergonomic criteria
• Decreasing or eliminating the wrist deviations as ulnar and radial deviation and dorsiflexion;
• Prevention of user for controlling the mouse by leaning his hand on top of the desk;
• Considering a supporting surface for wrist that preventing callus creation on the skin of this region;
• Preventing forearm from pronating with excessive angles;
• Preventing from Static and powerful grips;
• Prevention of user’s fingers bending, stretching or lifting up while clicking;
• Following the product’s form from the form of user’s hand and being non-symmetrical;
• The mouse size and the user’s hand size being equal; Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 440 195
• The mouse key possessing enough length to cover the users’ hand size difference and fingers position in relation with it;
• Designing a right hand mouse for left-hand users;
• Designing the surfaces that are in touch with user’s palm, somehow that preventing user’s palm from perspiration;
• Restriction of the Index finger for left click and scrolling and the Middle finger for right click. Functional criteria
• User quick ability in interaction with keyboard and no time consuming mouse grip;
• Accuracy decreasing that happening in mouse control by forearm, compensating with some arrangements;
• The keys position being somehow that does not active accidentally;
• Cursor possessing maximum movement with minimum scroll wheel rotation;
• Designed mouse must be light and portable;
• Designed mouse must not have additional keys;
• Designed mouse must be cordless;
• Final product price should be maximum 20 Euros. Aesthetical criteria
• Product gestalt should not be very strange or very innovative to make rejection in customers;
• Product dominant color should be black, particularly in areas that are in touch with user’s hand;
• Product gestalt should induce professional sense, modernity and being lovely.” Taken from

“So what is the best solution? ‘Reduce the amount of time you spend leaning forwards over a laptop to a maximum of 15 minutes,’ says Tim.”

[insight
Design a mouse that insights/works in tandem with correct back and neck position] Taken from

[insight
Design a mouse that insights/works in tandem with correct back and neck position]

Taken From

Insight
[A lot of tasks of VFX Artists either are, or directly tie into the tasks of a CAD modeler]

Taken From

The editing process (as well as the VFX and Modeling processe) uses a heavy combination of the mouse and the keyboard. The mouse is used mainly to drag, navigate, scroll, and make adjustments.

Taken from

very long hours are being spent with the mouse doing very presice movements

Taken From

Insight

[Most of the work done in the Creative industry uses a combination of mouse functionality, and keyboard shortcuts to increase efficiency. ]

Insight
[Most of the mice on the market use the same technology, but the components in different locations, or house all the components in a different looking housing]

Taken From

An Ergonomic Computer Mouse for Professional Designers

September 24, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

OVERVIEW

A study was conducted to develop design criteria by asking a questionnaire and observing groups of professional designers who work with design, graphic, animation, and engineering softwares.

Hand major motions and its relation with CTS
Faraji & Farahmand express four motions that are predictable within an interaction between a user’s hand and a regular computer mouse:
• Pronation of forearm;
• Ulnar and radial deviation of wrist;
• Dorsi flexion of wrist;
• Extension, bending and lateral motions of fingers.

“If these motions exceed the excessive values, it leads to WMSDs in upper limbs. In fact these excessive situations will increase the carpal tunnel pressure”. -Faraji, A., & Farahmand, M. R. (2013).

STUDY

The study was broken up into categories group A being Designers working with Design, Graphic, and animation softwares, Group B being designers working with Other sofwares and Group C being Designers working with engineering softwares. Sub groups (Example A-1, A-2 etc..) were also made.

Designers working with Design, Graphic, and animation softwares
(group A) [Insighst]

” Sub group “A-1” consists of users who work professionally with graphic design softwares like Photoshop, 3ds max, Maya, Corel draw, etc. When they are working with their specialized softwares, they use keyboard very few (while have lifted their hand from mouse) and grip the mouse continuously for long time.“

“Sub group “A-2” consists of users who work professionally with engineering design softwares like AutoCAD, Solid works, Catia, Rhinoceros, Alias studio tools, etc. In comparison with previous sub group, this one has more keyboard use for data and dimension entering.”

Other (Students, employees, secretaries etc..) (Group B) [insights]

Rather than spending long periods of time with a specific program, this group would usually spend long hours over multiple applications (Ex, Word, PowerPoint, etc..)

Designers working with engineering softwares
(group C) [Insighst]

“Users of group “C” use engineering softwares like C++, Matlab, Spss, Etabs, MS project, Primavera, Minitab and so forth. In this group mouse use is far less than sub group “A-2”. In this softwares data and text entering with keyboard is much more than design, graphic and animation softwares.”

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

The following is a list of design criteria that this study created by assessing the questionnaire given to users:

References

Faraji, A., & Farahmand, M. R. (2013). “An ergonomic computer mouse for professional designers.” Applied Mechanics and Materials, 440, 194. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.kpu.ca:2080/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.440.194

Carpal Tunnel Syndrom

September 24, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

“Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by pressure on the median nerve. The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway surrounded by bones and ligaments on the palm side of your hand. When the median nerve is compressed, the symptoms can include numbness, tingling and weakness in the hand and arm….Proper treatment usually relieves the tingling and numbness and restores wrist and hand function.” -MayoClinic

“Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most important disorders
for computer users. Nearly 260000 carpal tunnel syndrome surgeries happening in a year [,] 47% of that is associated with users job”. -Faraji, A., & Farahmand, M. R. (2013)

“If these motions exceed the excessive values, it leads to WMSDs in upper limbs. In fact these excessive situations will increase the carpal tunnel pressure”. -Faraji, A., & Farahmand, M. R. (2013).

References

MayoClinic. (2020, February 01). “Carpal tunnel syndrome.” Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20355603

Tilted Mouse & Mouse pads

September 24, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

A study was conducted to test wether different mice, and mouse set ups could decrease carpal tunnel pressure and/or improve comfort. they used a traditional Dell mouse a base line (1) and the proceed with the following setups: Dell mouse with a gel mouse pad (2), Dell mouse with a sliding wrist guide (3), a vertical mouse.

They found that “[b]ecause the vertical mouse and wrist pads did not limit the increase in carpal tunnel pressure, the findings of this study do not endorse a strong recommendation for or against any of the ergonomic devices commonly recommended for patients with CTS. There may however be other mechanisms apart from changing carpal tunnel pressure by which ergonomic devices may exert potential beneficial effects. For instance, they may reduce pressure over the palmar branch of the median nerve which travels outside the carpal tunnel but can cause symptoms mimicking CTS”

References

Annina B. Schmid, Paul A. Kubler, Venerina Johnston, Michel W. Coppieters,
“A vertical mouse and ergonomic mouse pads alter wrist position but do not reduce carpal tunnel pressure in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome”,
Applied Ergonomics, Volume 47, 2015, Pages 151-156, ISSN 0003-6870, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2014.08.020., http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687014001598

Initial Direction

September 18, 2020 / Xavier Drysdale / 0 Comments

Reason

This topic is of interest because from personal experience, computer mice are generally not cohesive with the working environment, and their traditional shape is not comfortable to work with on a consistent basis. ” According to a report by Forrester Research, there were over one billion PCs in use worldwide by the end of 2008, and over 2 billion by the year 2015.”(Worldometer, 2020). Especially now with Covid-19, more people are working from home on their computers. Carpal tunnel has been combatted with new designs, however newer more ergonomically designed mice although minimalistic, tend to be quite bulky and/or cannot be easily transported in a seamlessly portable manner. Another issue that mice seem to have is that as a mouse becomes increasingly ergonomic, the presence of secondary features and functions is likely to also increase; most of which are normally non-intuitive and require long manual reads to utilize.

SCOPE:

Focus
- To find a computer mouse design solution that is more ergonomic, efficient, effective, and low profile.
Industry
- Creative industry/tech industry

Target Market (this may change)
- Primary Focus: Creative industry users who spend long hours on a set few of applications including: Video Editing, Visual Effects, Graphic Design, and CAD software.
- Secondary focus: everyday users / general public Individuals who use computers on a daily or frequent enough basis (at
Exclusions
- Most computer mouse designs that are at market stage have specifically designed PCBs (printed circuit boards) that are small enough to fit into the enclosure. Although my research will ensure that it would fit, this project will not be finalized with a functioning PCB. Instead I will likely be using Arduino.
- A base level and/ or a steak holder taught level of coding will likely be utilized, however very high levels of coding will be considered out of the scope of this project.

Methodology

I intend to use the school library online database, along with the internet and primary observation to accumulate the initial bit of research. I will then conduct user interviews with some friends that are within my target demographic, and then with other users (drafting a form 7 if necessary).Eventually I will transition into ongoing user consultation with some of the more experienced users. After the bulk of my research is collected, I will analyse the data using a series of tables and graphs. I will then synthesize this data using a list of pros& cons and with a table of product requirements that I will develop over the course of the project. After my research and data is synthesized, I will then begin initial concepts based on the requirement and pros & cons lists. I will subsequently produce many iterative designs, models, and prototypes (much of which will likely be lightly tested). once I have some concepts that are to full scale, I will begin full testing. I will then go back and forth between revisions to come up with a final working model. This model will not include a PCB and will instead be utilizing Arduino or another coding device such as raspberry pi. I will then produce a series of posters and video demonstrative elements to showcase the full conceptual design.

Anticipated Obstacles

one obstacle I may face is if the design solution includes secondary mouse functions, some of these may require a high level of coding that is outside the scope of this project.

References

“How many computers are there in the world?”, Worlometer, 2020, worldometr, retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/computers/#:~:text=The%20second%20billion%20mark%20was,billion%20by%20the%20year%20201.

SEE DESIGN PROCESS

SEE FINAL DESIGN