Not The Same Old Thing (posted Feb.25/08)

So far, I’m really excited about term 2. There’s a lot of material to go through, and I’m kind of starting to get the hang of all the tools that we use in program. Right now the trick is to stick to my plans for time management. As we start heading into the 2nd week of the term, I’ve actually been able to juggle my time more or less accordingly to the necessities of my life and the work that I need to put into my projects.

On the weekend, while I was at a friend’s house, I was introduced to a game called Drake’s Fortune for the Playstation 3. Although I didn’t really get to play much of it, from a Digital Animation student’s viewpoint, I was intrigued and inspired. Much like the extra and behind-the-scenes footage that they include with feature films on DVD, I was watching tech footage for this video-game.

Most of the behind-the-scenes footage that you watch on DVD’s don’t tend to get very technical, but I was glad to be watching the technological segments and being able to understand what they were talking about. Just like what all our instructors in the program consistently tell us to do for our own projects, the company that made Drake’s Fortune had to collect a lot of reference throughout the production to make it believable and appealing.

Compared to the video-games that they made when 3D graphics were first introduced, the technology that industry uses today has jumped by leaps and bounds. With new boundaries and limitations that have evolved this much, people are definitely expecting companies to fill gaps and go beyond their expectations. Therefore, I thought that it was an excellent idea to have a video-game that displays the level of work that goes into these productions.

Often, there is a misconception about work related to state-of-the-art technology that it is accomplished with just the push of a button. Being in the program for the past few months has absolutely taught me otherwise. If any production is to be done in the industry that looks good and works well, a lot of work has to be put into it.

With that being said, I look forward to moving full-steam ahead. As the challenges progress, I can’t wait to get whatever industry related material and reference I can get my hands on. I don’t yet have any of the most recent “next-gen” consoles, but I definitely am inspired now to get one. Time management, on the other hand, must come first!

Naughty Dog Inc.’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

http://www.naughtydog.com/comingsoon/index.html