APD Week 5 - Play and Forces

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVjrgSHPyKo&ab_channel=PeterMavro
 

Context
I struggled to figure out how I can incorporate forces into my work. I went into Houdini to see if I could do it there, but I could not work it out at all. The examples this week were inspiring, but I really do not have the skills to code, and I did not want to do a sound related task as I saw too many of them already. I went through my software to see which ones were compatible with forces. Once I found some compatible ones, I began searching through YouTube to find something to be inspired by. I found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IHn2uTW8nA&ab_channel=BlockSimulations). I liked this idea of an object falling and causing mayhem, so I created this response. According to Murphy, "...nature remains embedded in technology and so does its potential to escape control" (2008). Blender simulates gravity well, and its methods make it much like its real counterpart. The way I approached this project really made my control limited.

My vision for this project was to create falling that started off with a few objects and as time progressed more objects fall in a cluster state. I wanted the beginning to ease the viewer in and there was a satisfying effect I got from watching them fall for a while. I then added some different shapes as they would affect the other objects differently.

Method
I created this project in Blender. I started trying out gravity-based simulations and could not get it to work for a while. I then watched some YouTube videos and tried various types of simulations, such as soft body, rigid body, etc. After getting things to work, I randomly added more objects to fall and selected mass at random.

Response
I created an animation of shapes falling from the sky. Play and forces were a tricky concept for me. I really could not work out what I wanted to do. I first tried to do some random number generators but that did not work out for me as I could not really figure out to incorporate it. I really wanted to push the gravity aspect and started creating objects very high from the ground and randomising their properties. I then moved onto adding different shapes and got a very explosive result at the end. I was happy with it once I saw it as it was a surprise I did not intend, so I decided to not change anything as the forces of gravity and randomness got me here, I did not want to start tinkering and ruin it.

Reflection
For a task that seemed easy to make, I struggled a lot to get things to work; rendering also took a long time and I had to pre-bake everything for any animation to animate at all! I learnt a lot experimenting in these types of simulations, and I think it will prove useful one day. I gained new skills in the art of simulating and looking to extend on my learning with this. I ultimately do feel that this project is a little bland. Yes, I like it, but it would have been nice if I were able to make something more advanced. As a steppingstone its good but I feel uneasy about this task as it may be overly basic in concept, even though I spent a long time struggling to work things out technically.