GMU:Immersive Essays

Lecturer: Jörg Brinkmann
Credits: 6 ECTS, 4 SWS
Date: Thursdays, 15:15 – 18:30
Venue: Performance Platform, Digital Bauhaus Lab (Room 001)
First meeting: Thursday, 17.10.2019, 15:15

Description

While looking at online platforms like YouTube or Vimeo you might have come across videos that could be described as video essays. A video essay is a piece of video content that, much like a written essay, advances an argument. Video essays take advantage of the structure and language of film to create a thesis statement. While the general concept has its roots in academia, it has grown dramatically in popularity with the beginning of online video sharing platforms.

As a relatively new media form, video essays have yet to conform to any structural guidelines. At first glance a video essay could be described as an online video which cuts together footage from one or more films in order to reveal new insights about them. But when looking further you realise, that it doesn’t always have to be about the original content. Footage from different sources can also be used to illustrate an argument that is not directly concerned with the meanings or intensions the original material is referring to. This is also what makes this form of analytic framework interesting. There aren’t any rules, or rather there is no firm set of such rules. Video essayists tend to make up the rules as they go along.

In the course we want to take the concept of a video essay and translate it to an immersive environment. How can we work with found footage like pictures, film, sound, 3D objects or text for example in a virtual space, created with the help of VR-glasses like the HTC Vive ? How can we illustrate an argument in a 3-dimensional world based on found footage? The practical part will be an Introduction to the game engine Unity 3D and an introduction to working with HTC Vive VR-glasses. Furthermore, students will work on their individual immersive essays that will be presented at the end of the semester.

Registration

Send an e-mail until October 8th to joerg.brinkmann@uni-weimar.de. Please include the following information:

Subject/title of your e-mail:
Immersive Essays

Content:
– your full name
– program and semester
– matriculation number
– describe in a few sentences why you want to take the course
– If you have any material about your creative work online or digitally available, please send links or attach files to the email

Criteria for passing:
In order to successfully participate you will have to develop and document your own project on the GMU Wiki. Also, regularly attend to the sessions and participation is mandatory.

Please read carefully:
If you don’t apply on time or don’t get accepted, you can’t participate in the class

Criteria for passing

In order to successfully participate you will have to develop and document your own project on the GMU Wiki. Also, regularly attend to the sessions and participation is mandatory.

Student works

• Hsiao Pei Kao
• Maxi Götz

Syllabus

17.10.2019

introduction

24.10.2019

no class

31.10.2019

reformation day holidays

08.11.2019

class from 18:00 to 21:00

14.11.2019

class

21.11.2019

no class

28.11.2019

class

05.12.2019

no class

12.12.2019

class

19.12.2019

class

26.12.2019

christmas holidays

02.01.2019

new years holidays

09.01.2019

class - midterm presentation

16.01.2019

class

23.01.2019

class

30.01.2019

class

06.02.2019

last class

VR TOOLBOX

Dropbox folder with our class material
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/236vfumto2evj0m/AACs9st-ILFBvFU9bzexjqRVa?dl=0

Software
Unity 3D - cross-platform game engine
https://unity3d.com/de

Blender - open-source 3D modeller with many features
https://www.blender.org

Autodesk FBX Converter – convert OBJ, DAE, and 3DS files to or from multiple versions of the FBX format
https://www.autodesk.com/developer-network/platform-technologies/fbx-converter-archives

Meshmixer - "Swiss Army Knife" for 3D meshes
http://www.meshmixer.com

MeshLab - open source system for processing and editing 3D triangular meshes
http://www.meshlab.net

MakeHuman - open source tool for making 3D characters
http://www.makehumancommunity.org

Open Broadcaster Software - free and open-source streaming and recording program
https://obsproject.com

Online Tools
Mixamo - Rapidly create, rig and animate unique characters
https://www.mixamo.com

NormalMap-Online - create a normalmaps directly inside your browser
http://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/

Freesound - collaborative database of Creative Commons Licensed sounds
https://freesound.org

Abstract/Technical/Synthetic Sounds (under Packs are several Free ones)
https://glitchmachines.com/

Some Glitchy Fx Sounds
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xEROZN9QJvdf26D-hOzlK4D2IfxzxZSO?usp=sharing

3D Models (for download and use)
http://www.myminifactory.com
http://www.sketchfab.com
http://www.thingiverse.com
http://www.turbosquid.com
http://www.lincoln3dscans.co.uk

Unity 3D Tutorials
Tutorials from the Unity 3D page
https://unity3d.com/de/learn/tutorials

Brackeys Unity 3D Tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/user/Brackeys/videos

Unity 3D Assets
Standard Assets
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/essentials/asset-packs/standard-assets-32351

Free HDR Skyboxes
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/textures-materials/sky/free-hdr-sky-61217

Blender Tutorials
Blender Beginner Tutorial Series by Blender Guru
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjEaoINr3zgHs8uzT3yqe4iHGfkCmMJ0P

Interface and Navigation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT2mtoDnSzM

Modeling - Creating a kitchen (ignore part 2)
https://www.blenderguru.com/tutorials/create-a-realistic-kitchen-part-1-of-2

Modeling - Modeling a simple character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiIoWrOlIRw

Materials - Basic properties of materials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AHxuoYyJJk

Texturing - Applying textures to an object
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gRUUeFteQg

Rigging - Rigging a character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGvalWG8HBU&t=

Animation - 12 Principles of Animation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDqjIdI4bF4

Animation - Animating a bouncing ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUocrcIQfp4

Different (aesthetically) interesting Tutorials for Blender (2.8)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuNhGhbemBkdflZ1FGJ0lUQ