Procedural Generation and Simulation

Prof. Dr. Lena Gieseke | l.gieseke@filmuniversitaet.de

Session 01

This session is due on Wednesday, April 16th before class.

This assignment should take <= 4h.

Syllabus

Task 01.01

  • Which of the chapter topics given in the syllabus are of most interest to you? Why?
  • Are there any further topics regarding procedural generation and simulation that would interest you?
  • Is there a different tool than Unreal that you would prefer to do the exercises with (e.g. Unreal, Houdini, Unity, Maya, Blender, JavaScript, p5, GLSL, …)? If so which one, and why?

Submission: Answer in your markdown submission file.

Introduction

Task 01.02 - Seeing Patterns

Take at least one picture of a natural pattern and at least one of a man-made one (patterns can be two or three-dimensional). Try to include at least one pattern with self-similarity. Taking pictures with your smartphone is just fine.

Submission: Link all images in your markdown submission file.

Task 01.03 - Designing Patterns

Create a visual pattern yourself. The pattern must be repetitive and abstracted - and hand-drawn :D. Give pseudo code for its creation algorithm.

Submission: Link at least one preview image in your markdown submission file.

Task 01.04 - Seeing Faces

As an exercise to see and understand the environment around you (and to have some fun 😊), try to find at least two faces. Link all images in this file.

faces_around_us

[Image sources left to right, top to bottom: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Submission: Link all images in your markdown submission file.

Task 01.05 - Abstraction in Art

Choose one “traditional” painting that is inspirational to you. The image can come from the script or you can refer to any artist or image you like.

Explain briefly what you like about the painting and how it might inspire you for your own work.

Submission: Answer in your markdown submission file and link all images there.

Task 01.06 - Abstracted Artistic Expression in CGI

Chose one CG image, which you like and of which you think that it has an artistic quality to it. The image doesn’t need to be from the script, again you can choose any CGI image you like (it should use 3D graphics). You can find more examples in the Summary of Artists section.

Explain briefly what you like about the image and why you consider it to be artistic.

Submission: Answer in your markdown submission file and link all images there.

Unreal Engine

Task 01.06 - First Steps

This task is about installing and getting to know Unreal Engine and the basic functionalities. If you already know Unreal, learn something new about it and summarize it.

You will need to select a tutorial, or whatever resource you want to use, yourself. This task has also the indent that you familiarize yourself with the resources out there regarding Unreal. Don’t forget to also consider Epics’s Learning Materials.

We started a collection of tutorials and resources for you in the Unreal script, e.g. First Steps Tutorials. You can pick a starter tutorial there, or choose your own one.

We also collected various explanations that we think might be helpful in the Unreal script.

You have to submit at least one preview image of the scene that you worked on (for now screenshots are just fine). This can be a really simple scene, e.g. just a couple of elements. Even though the scene can be simple, also try to design the scene a bit in whichever visual direction you want.

Hint: Make sure to plan in a bit of time for the installation of Unreal as it takes a while.

Submission: At least one preview image, linked in your markdown submission file.

Beauty in Maths

On a side note: This script includes formulas and GitHub’s markdown preview will not display them. To read the script with properly set formulas, you have the following options:

  • Read the script online (this links to an online .html version of the script - in case you do not see the proper formulas, try refreshing the page, that usually helps, don’t ask me why)
  • Download the script folder and open ‘pgs_03_mathsbeauty_script.html’ locally in your browser.
  • Download the script folder and open ‘pgs_03_mathsbeauty_script.md’ in Visual Studio Code with the Markdown All in One plugin installed. Then the preview of the .md within VSCode will render the formulas nicely.

Task 01.07 - Multiplication On A Circle With Modulo In Unreal

Deadline for this task: July 31st.

Adjust the final scene of Tutorial 1: Multiplication On A Circle With Modulo and come up with your own visual. It is up to you, whether you build the scene from scratch (which for sure would be the better learning experience) or if you work with the completed scene directly.

Submission: At least one preview image (for now screenshots are just fine), linked in your markdown submission file.

Learnings

Task 01.08

Summarize your learnings (text or bullet points - whatever you prefer but you must use whole sentences). What was challenging for you in this session? How did you challenge yourself?

Submission: Answer in your markdown submission file.

Answer all questions directly in a copy of this file and also link and display all of your images in that file. Submit your copy as pgs_XX_lastname.md in your submissions folder (replace the XX with the number of the session).

Happy Abstracting!