Homework 5-6

Below are the 2 projects I was particularly impressed with, followed by a write-up explaining why:

Michael Ybarra - The Jungle Book

Michael Ybarra’s project was about The Jungle Book. Upon visiting his website, I was greeted by a very organized, well-written page with tons of high-quality images from his project. The instructions for setting up the project were very clear and simple which allowed me to get the project up and running almost immediately. I thought the page was incredibly informative and well-thought-out, which allowed me to appreciate all the work that was put into this project. My only complaint was that the image targets were in a separate folder deeper into the project files, instead of in the designated screenshots folder.

On the front cover, several detailed models for trees, including branches that left shadows below them. Additionally, several animals are shown, including a tiger with a movement animation and a tiny monkey sitting atop an elephant. The back cover has a button that displays an overlay over the entire cover with reviews, as well as a video review. What I liked about the back cover was how easy it was to read the reviews. Thanks to the green panel overlaid onto the back cover, the text was very readable.

When I saw this project, I was immediately blown away by the implementation of shadows on the different types of trees. I thought Michael did a spectacular job of capturing the essence of a book taking place in the jungle. Compounded by his thoughtful use of music to give a stronger sense of jungle vibes, I was incredibly impressed. I was also particularly impressed by the quality of the models used, and how they were implemented. The monkey sitting on the elephant’s head was a really cute, but effective touch.

Additionally, I was really impressed that this was one of the few projects that had a script that only played the sounds while the image target was recognized. This made running the project myself and listening to the presentation much more enjoyable.

Frank Buttafuoco, Mark Chen, Justin Donayre - Rurouni Kenshin

The next project I demoed, I looked at Rurouni Kenshin, which was worked on by FranK Buttafuoco, Mark Chen, and Justin Donayre. Navigating to the project page shows us a simple list of instructions to get started with the project. Below that is a neat and succinct introduction explaining the project, followed by an extensive and detailed list of all the models used with good screenshots. The github was also very well organized from a filesystem perspective, though the README was surprisingly empty.

On the front cover, we see a ton of high-quality models that very clearly capture the theme of feudal Japan, giving an immediately detailed taste of what the book is about, as well as its setting and themes. What I enjoyed most about this front cover was how well the models fit the theme of the book and played off each other to give the prospective reader a good idea of what the book is about, and draw them in accordingly. The samurai lunging animation coupled with the ambient sounds were particularly effective. The back cover also had a very unique way of displaying content. Large reviews boards are visible offset from the book, which surprised me with how much I liked that idea.

I think what was most piqued my interest was how consistently the theme is applied in every aspect of the project. The Japanese street lamp was a great accent to the theme of the book, as well as the samurai dressed in traditional Japanese armor. A complaint I had was the use of the “anime girl idle” model. The lack of shaders and textures, and a complete disassociation from the book outside of being an “anime girl” from Japanese culture didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Ultimately though, this did not seriously detract from my enjoyment of the project. From the models to the sounds to the animations, I was thoroughly impressed by this project from top to bottom.