Lighting Interactive Design - Assignment 3: Final Production and Project Presentation
Ting Wen Yi / 0361799
Lighting Interactive Design/Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Assignment 3: Final Production and Project Presentation
INSTRCTIONS
ASSIGNMENT 3: FINAL PRODUCTION & PROJECT PRESENTATION
Week 6 - Final Production Execution
For Task 3, we need to execute the final video. Mr. Shakir suggested using the storyboard from Task 2 and applying opacity adjustments and masking effects to create the animation.
XiaoHui and I are responsible for producing the video, so we decided to divide the work between us. I prefer working from the back, so I started with Scene 7 first. This scene required a strong sense of depth and perspective, so I resketched the floor grid lines and refined the cityscape in the background to make it more structured and visually appealing. Since I planned to animate different elements separately, I made sure to layer my sketches properly, allowing for more flexibility in animation.
Figure 1.1 Scene 7 Resketched - Week 6 (13/3/2025)
For character animation, I used Mixamo to speed up the process. I uploaded the 3D character model into Mixamo, selected the actions I needed, and then downloaded the animation. After that, I imported it into Blender for further adjustments. Mixamo was helpful in handling basic movements like walking, but it had its limitations.
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Figure 1.2 Mixamo - Week 6 (13/3/2025) |
One of the creative choices I made was to depict a specific character as a silhouette to create a dramatic effect. To achieve this, I intentionally avoided adding any direct lighting to the model. Instead, I only included the BCI (Brain-Computer Interface) device on top of his head, which served as the only illuminated element.
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Figure 1.3 Scene 7 Character Animation- Week 6 (14/3/2025) |
Since I needed the animation to have a transparent background for compositing later, I adjusted the render settings in Blender accordingly. I exported the animation in MOV format with transparency enabled, which allowed me to overlay it in After Effects.
Figure 1.4 Transparent Background - Week 6 (15/3/2025)
Once the rendered footage was ready, I imported it into After Effects for post-processing. Here, I applied masking effects and adjusted the opacity to create a flickering light effect, adding more atmosphere and realism to the scene.
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Figure 1.5 Scene 7 After Effects Progress - Week 6 (15/3/2025) |
As mentioned above, Mixamo has limitations since it offers only a limited set of poses. To resolve this, I decided to rig the character manually in Blender and animate the movement myself. After setting up the rig, I switched to pose mode to refine the character’s actions.
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However, I ran into a major issue—when I rotated certain parts of the body, the clothes stretched incorrectly, causing unnatural deformations, particularly around the arms. The distortion made the character look completely off, and I realized that I had to go back and fix the rigging.
Figure 1.7 Technical Problem Faced - Week 6 (15/3/2025) |
For Scene 6, I worked on creating a dynamic word explosion effect. I modeled a set of random letters in Blender and used force simulation to apply gravity and explosion effects. By tweaking the force settings, I was able to make the letters scatter and break apart in a controlled yet chaotic way.
Figure 1.8 Words Explosions - Week 6 (16/3/2025) |
For another visual effect, I worked on creating a water droplet animation with color shifting. I manipulated the textures and colors in Blender to achieve this look, experimenting with different materials and reflections. However, I ran into a problem when trying to make the tears appear transparent. No matter what settings I adjusted, the transparency wasn’t rendering as expected. Instead of spending too much time struggling with it in Blender, I decided to move forward and fix the transparency issue in After Effects using keying techniques.
Figure 1.8 Tear Drop Effects- Week 6 (16/3/2025) |
For the hand animation, I manually animated the hand movement to make it look natural. I added lighting to the palm to highlight it since I wanted to show the tear landing there. The idea is that when the tear falls, it will turn into the main character’s name.
Figure 1.9 Scene 6 Hand Animation- Week 6 (16/3/2025)
I worked on Scene 6 and Scene 7 for Mr. Shakir and Mr. Zeon to review our progress and provide feedback.
Figure 1.10 Scene 6&7 Progress- Week 6 (16/3/2025)
Week 7 - Developing & Refining
I received some feedback from Mr. Shakir about our video. He mentioned that the masking looked too rigid because the edges were too stiff. To fix this, he suggested using the mask feather tool to make the edges softer and blend better with the scene. He also recommended using some online particle videos, applying keying techniques, and merging them with our footage to add more visual effects.
Figure 2.1 Particle Videos Online - Week 7 (18/3/2025)
For Scene 7, he pointed out that the human character should be resized to be smaller, about half the size of the front screen. This adjustment would help balance the composition and improve the overall look of the scene. So I improve on these aspects.
Figure 2.2 Scene 7 Amended - Week 7 (18/3/2025)
Figure 2.4 Scene 6 Amended - Week 7 (18/3/2025)
At this point, I was feeling extremely frustrated because I had already spent a lot of time on it, and the errors made me feel stuck. I decided to take a break for a day to clear my mind. After coming back with a fresh perspective, I carefully re-rigged the character, paying extra attention to weight painting and joint influences. This time, the rig worked correctly, and I was finally able to animate the character without issues.
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| Figure 2.5 Scene 1 Blender - Week 7 (19/3/2025) |
Another issue I encountered was with the character animation downloaded from Mixamo. While the motion itself was correct, the textures became completely messed up when imported into Blender. Some areas appeared stretched or broken, which ruined the visual quality of the model. To fix this, I had to manually reapply and adjust the textures in Blender before rendering it again.
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| Figure 2.6 Mixamo Technical Issue - Week 7 (19/3/2025) |
I worked on the character animation for Scenes 1 to 5 using the same methods I mentioned earlier. For each scene, I adjusted the lighting settings to match the background colors. Since the backgrounds had multiple colors, I added several light sources to create the right atmosphere. I also experimented with different angles, positions, and light intensities to make sure the character blended well with the background.
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| Figure 2.6 Blender Lighting Progress - Week 7 (19/3/2025) |
While I was working on the 3D character, XiaoHui helped with Scene 1-3 and handled the particle effects for all the scenes that needed them. For the main character’s father, she also used the particle method to create the effect we desired.
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| Figure 2.7 Scene 5 - Week 7 (20/3/2025) |
For Scene 5, I wanted to show an explosion with rocks to represent the destruction part of the storyline. I learned how to create a slow-motion explosion in the middle of the scene, which I think adds more impact compared to having a fast explosion like the one with the letters. The slower effect helps highlight the destruction and makes the scene feel more dramatic.
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| Figure 2.8 Scene 5 Rock Explosion Slow-mo - Week 7 (20/3/2025) |
For Scene 4, I animated the boxes (representing memories) to move up and down, making them appear as if they were floating. To create a smooth and natural movement, I used the loopOut() expression, which allowed the animation to repeat seamlessly without having to manually animate every frame. This helped save time while maintaining a consistent floating effect.
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I was responsible for animating all the characters in Scenes 1-7 and fully completed the animations for Scenes 4-7. This included refining movements, adjusting lighting, and making sure everything looked smooth and natural. Once I was satisfied with the final animations, I exported all the footage and uploaded it to Google Drive. After that, I sent everything to Xinran, who is in charge of video and sound editing. Xinran will work on arranging the clips, syncing the audio, and adding any necessary effects to enhance the final video.
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With the animation work completed, I shifted my focus to preparing the presentation slides. The slides will showcase our process, including how we created the animations, the challenges we faced, and how we improved based on feedback. This will help explain our project clearly when we present it.
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| Figure 2.11 Presentation Slides - Week 7 (20/3/2025) |
On March 22, we had our presentation at Muzium Telekom. After presenting our work, we received feedback suggesting minor amendments to improve the final video.
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| Figure 2.12 D-day Presentation - Week 7 (22/3/2025) |
Based on the feedback, I made the necessary adjustments to Scene 4, specifically feathering the mask on the hand. Once I completed the amendments, I re-exported the updated footage and sent it to Xinran so she could incorporate the changes into the final edit.
Figure 2.13 Scene 4 Amended - Week 7 (23/3/2025)
Final Outcome
Figure 4.1 Resonance Final Video - Week 7 (25/3/2025)
Figure 4.2 Resonance Mock Up View - Week 7 (25/3/2025)
Figure 4.3 Miro Board - Week 7 (25/3/2025)
Figure 4.4 Muzium Telekom Presentation Slides - Week 7 (23/3/2025)
Figure 4.5 Presentation Slides Compilation - Week 7 (25/3/2025)
FEEDBACK
Week 7 (post-presentation) :
Scene 4 (0:29): Try to feather out the human hand part, make it look less cut.
Week 7:
For Scene 7, make the human smaller, about half the size of the front screen.
For Scene 6, add some particle effects to make the scene look more filled.
Week 6:
- Keep animation minimal, focusing on one scene at a time.
- Not everything needs to move—use simple motion for background, lines, and particles.
- Utilize online resources for particles and other effects.
- Reference examples like screen particles for inspiration.
- Frame-by-frame animation in Procreate (time-consuming).
- Use silhouette footage or stock silhouettes instead of full character animation.
- Transitions should be simple, mainly changing colors or lighting.
- Find 2D animation elements online instead of creating everything from scratch.
- Use existing abstract content and refine it to match the style.
- Use layering in Procreate to create subtle movements.
- Avoid excessive movement; opacity and lighting effects work well.
REFELCTION
Throughout this semester, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of learning about lighting design. It was an eye-opening experience that deepened my understanding of how lighting impacts visuals, mood, and storytelling.
Working with both 2D and 3D space in lighting design was a valuable experience. I learned how to balance highlights and shadows to guide the viewer’s attention effectively. The process of layering light effects and using color temperature to set the mood was particularly interesting. I also gained insights into how lighting interacts with different materials and surfaces, adding realism and depth to my work.
Another important aspect was learning how to use after effects to do animation. I experimented with subtle movements, opacity changes, and glow effects to bring more life to my designs without making the animation overly complex. I also appreciate my team members for their support and collaboration throughout the journey to produce the final video.
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