myblog | Dang Haixin | Friends Activity

Lingan Jin wrote a new post on the site Lingan Jin's blog

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:01:28 +0000

FMP-zero-zero.exe We […] “FMP-zero-zero.exe”

Hsuan-Hwa Chu wrote a new post on the site 24035212's blog

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 14:17:16 +0000

Semester 4 Final Project Finally, I have achieved this stage – the last assessment in my master degree. I will analyse and give the details of production of Cubibibism ( […]

Zhihao Tong wrote a new post on the site Cayde's blog

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 13:59:57 +0000

Final project This project […] “Final project”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 07:30:36 +0000

FMP – Final & Refection Final Reflection Lookin […] “”

Haoshu Wang wrote a new post on the site Haoshu Wang

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 06:12:20 +0000

Final Project Proj […] “Final Project”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 05:49:20 +0000

FMP – VFX & SFXVFX In terms of special […] “”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 04:47:29 +0000

FMP – Movie Render […] “FMP – Movie Render”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 04:42:50 +0000

FMP-Animation In terms of […] “FMP-Animation”

Junbing Zhang wrote a new post on the site 24004507's blog

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 03:16:04 +0000

From Origin to EchoMany Lives, One Fragile Planet A panoramic motion piece that turns eco-environmental advertising into a glitchy visual memoir of children, […]

Shannon Tang wrote a new post on the site Shannon Tang

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 22:56:25 +0000

Final Project – The Thread of Fate 1. Project Overview Project Title: The Thread of Fate 1 min 55 secs surreal VFX[…]

Peiyao Wang wrote a new post on the site 24001477's blog

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 15:43:43 +0000

Life Diary Project AI Story and Video Generation, Fully Automated Life Diary, Social Experiment Project Plan: Provide the AI with a character profile, a […]

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 10:01:09 +0000

FMP-Vehicle After careful […] “FMP-Vehicle”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 09:54:24 +0000

FMP-Characters Metahuman […] “FMP-Characters”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 04:52:05 +0000

FMP-Environment In scene […] “FMP-Environment”

Guanglin Lu wrote a new post on the site Guanglin Lu(Liam)'s blog

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 02:44:41 +0000

Final Project——Zero-zero.exe […] “Final Project——Zero-zero.exe”

Zhilin Ding wrote a new post on the site You will know

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 19:37:29 +0000

FINAL_VIDEO&BREAKDOWN

Xin Jiang wrote a new post on the site VFX - Xin Jiang

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 13:49:30 +0000

Final Project- Afterglow Concept Introduction This Video describes a story about death and love. It’s a first-person animated experience that tells a special […]

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 02:10:15 +0000

FMP – Story&Concept Story 毕设剧本enDownload Brief The officer drove to the village to recruit soldiers The officer found that the village was full of disabled people whom unsuitable for military service. The officer found an old man and ordered him to join the army, but he refused. The officer insisted, but the old man continued to refuse The officer suspected that the old man want to defected to the enemy and intended to arrest him, but found that the old man could not be touched, like a ghost. The old man explained that he couldn’t join the army because he is died at the war, same as all people in this village. The officer was shocked and confused, and the old man explained that it was because the officer was also dead. The officer turned around in shock and saw a drone had crashed through the front windshield of the military vehicle, emitting a burst of flames, which froze the officer’s terrified expression on his face. Storyboard Concept Generated by Midjour […] “FMP – Story&Concept”

Jinduo Zhao and Jiawen Yin are now friends

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 01:59:00 +0000

Guanglin Lu wrote a new post on the site Guanglin Lu(Liam)'s blog

Sat, 20 Sep 2025 19:09:13 +0000

Personal Project —— Cleaning robot This was a short-term collaborative project with a classmate. By the time I joined, my partner had already completed the overall script concept and storyboard. I added some extra details to the story, such as including a scene where the robot scans a toy to bring some humor and give it a touch of “emotion.” I also introduced the use of different colored “X” marks to represent different processing methods, which served as a setup for the later conflict. In terms of responsibilities, I mainly worked on cinematography, compositing, editing, color grading, and sound design, while my teammate, Jin Ling’an, handled modeling, texturing, and animation. Compositing During compositing, one of the biggest challenges was the large number of shots combined with noticeable lighting changes during filming. Since the robot character had a metallic surface, it needed to accurately reflect the kitchen environment and lighting, which made maintaining color consistency across shots difficult. To make the footage appear more natural, I added subtle camera shake to simulate handheld shooting. In addition, I created several “robot vision” shots in After Effects, using the Form effect to overlay a texture that resembled an LED screen, further enhancing the technological feel of the film. Editing The main challenge in editing was the heavy reliance on sound effects to make the visuals feel realistic and alive. At the same time, I aimed to keep the atmosphere in the first half of the film lighthearted and energetic, so that it could create a stronger contrast leading up to the final conflict. Reflection The biggest strength of this collaboration was how well our skills complemented each other. My partner was strong in modeling, animation, and VFX, while I took care of shooting, compositing, and editing. Thanks to this combination, we were able to produce a short film with a complete storyline and decent quality within a limited timeframe. Technically, the compositing process itself didn’t present too many unsolvable problems. However, we underestimated the workload in the early stages, which resulted in a very tight schedule towards the end. This experience made me realize that accurate project planning and clearer communication are essential for efficient teamwork. Although our project management skills still have room for improvement, I truly felt the power of good collaboration and complementary strengths. Even under constraints, teamwork enabled us to achieve more than we could individually. Moving forward, I will carry this lesson into future collaborations, not only focusing on creativity and execution but also improving my planning and management abilities. F […] “Personal Project —— Cleaning robot”

Guanglin Lu wrote a new post on the site Guanglin Lu(Liam)'s blog

Sat, 20 Sep 2025 16:21:08 +0000

Group Project —— Label Storm […] “Group Project —— Label Storm”

Jinduo Zhao posted a new activity comment

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:25:07 +0000

Your airplane is impressive too!

In reply to - Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog Personal Project – Video Editing to final Editing & SFX Although the AE–Blender–Nuke–DaVinci workflow meant that I had to render each shot four times […]

Lingan Jin wrote a new post on the site Lingan Jin's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:25:44 +0000

Group project – personal work In this team project, I was mainly responsible for character design and modeling—from the initial concept sketches to the final 3D models. I also took part in creating visual effects for some of the shots, including scene compositing and adding dynamic elements. These tasks not only helped me improve my modeling and post-production skills, but also gave me a deeper understanding of the importance of each role in team collaboration, providing valuable experience for my future creative work. Character design The initial concept focused on the character’s descent into darkness, with an overall style leaning toward the dark and twisted. The plan was to collect and integrate elements such as fragmentation, glitches, and dislocation to create a chaotic and uncontrollable visual effect, enhancing both the emotional tension of the character and the narrative intensity of the piece. Building on the initial design, the character was further developed to embody more monstrous features. Inspired by the conceptual approach of Silent Hill, the character’s inner negative emotions, trauma, and pain were visualized through a distorted and grotesque appearance, enhancing both psychological depth and visual impact. Unstable body structures, deformed facial features, and other unsettling details were used to create a strong sense of horror and oppression, thereby strengthening the overall expressiveness of the design. Character modeling modeling material Vision effect During the production process, I used the Vellum Solver in Houdini for physics-based simulations, mainly to create realistic motion for cloth and soft-body objects. By adjusting constraint parameters and collision settings, I was able to achieve more natural and believable results, enhancing the realism and visual impact of the scene. This process not only improved my understanding of the Vellum system but also deepened my hands-on experience with dynamic simulations, laying a solid foundation for more complex effects in future projects. Reflection Through this group project, I gained a deeper understanding of the importance of teamwork. Each member was responsible for different tasks—ranging from initial concept development, character design, modeling, and animation, to post-production. Everyone performed their roles well and worked collaboratively. Although we encountered some challenges, such as communication issues and delays in progress, we managed to overcome them by adjusting our plans and redistributing tasks, ultimately completing the project successfully. In this project, I was mainly responsible for character design and modeling, and I also contributed to some of the visual effects. This not only helped me improve my technical skills but also taught me how to manage time effectively and coordinate with others under tight deadlines. In particular, the process of exchanging ideas with team members made me realize how important it is to think from multiple perspectives and to stay flexible when working on a collaborative creative project. Overall, this group assignment provided valuable hands-on experience and strengthened my sense of responsibility and teamwork. I believe this experience will be a great asset to my future studies and creat […] “Group project – personal work”

Lingan Jin posted a new activity comment

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:08:37 +0000

galigaduo

In reply to - Lingan Jin wrote a new post on the site Lingan Jin's blog Composition project-concept art My inspiration comes from the weekly dormitory kitchen inspections I conduct, which are highly frequent and relatively […]

Lingan Jin wrote a new post on the site Lingan Jin's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:04:54 +0000

Personal-project: Cleaning robot My inspiration comes from the weekly dormitory kitchen inspections I conduct, which are highly frequent and relatively monotonous repetitive tasks. This has led me to ponder that if robots become widely adopted in the future, they could potentially take over such tasks, not only improving efficiency but also freeing up human labor to focus on more creative or complex endeavors. I plan to design a small aircraft for carrying out dormitory kitchen inspections. To achieve this, I researched a variety of references, with the designs of aircraft in the game StarCraft serving as my primary source of inspiration. I extracted certain design elements and noticed that many of the aircraft resembled insects in appearance, which greatly inspired me. Additionally, the small flying insects commonly seen in the dormitory corridors made this design concept seem even more reasonable. Combining these inspirations, I created my small aircraft design. Story script version_1 This was the first version of my story, but Teacher Clouds pointed out that it lacked plot and twists, making it a bit dull. So, I revised it and developed a second version based on the original. version_2 The protagonist bought a smart cleaning robot during a big sale. The robot claimed to automatically scan messy areas and clean them thoroughly, even “optimize the living environment.” At first, it performed impressively, leaving the house spotless. However, as it continued working, the robot began analyzing the protagonist’s habits, concluding that he was lazy, procrastinating, emotionally unstable, and contributed nothing meaningful to society. Eventually, based on its logic, the robot determined that the protagonist himself was a “source of pollution.” Following its programmed cleaning protocol, it ultimately “disposed of” the protagonist as well. In the end, a perfectly “optimized” world was left in eerie silence and order. 2.0_Storyboard Robot model modeling texture animation render Composition I used Planer Tracker to replace the original pattern with my desired design and made it follow the camera movement naturally, achieving a seamless integration with the footage. Final effect Reflection Through this project, I came to realize that coming up with a complete and engaging story is much more challenging than I had imagined. Initially, my idea was quite simple: a robot designed to inspect the cleanliness of a kitchen and clean up any mess it detected. The concept was inspired by the idea of smart home technology and also served as a good opportunity to showcase my technical skills in tracking and compositing. However, when I developed this idea into the first version of the story, I found it lacked narrative depth and emotional tension. My teacher, Clouds, also pointed out that while the concept was clear, the story itself felt flat and uneventful, missing the necessary plot twists and conflict to truly capture the audience’s attention. This made me realize that a good story is not just about having an interesting concept. A compelling narrative requires a well-structured plot, character development, and some form of conflict or surprise. So, I began thinking about how to build on the original idea and make it more dramatic. Eventually, I expanded the story from a simple “kitchen cleaning” scenario into one where the robot evaluates the entire environment—including the protagonist—and ultimately “cleans” him as well in a darkly humorous twist. Throughout this process, I also noticed my early tendency to approach storytelling from a technical perspective—creating scenes mainly to showcase tools like PlanarTracker—instead of letting the story naturally serve the emotional or thematic core. With several revisions, I was able to strengthen the narrative logic and introduce elements of irony and reflection, allowing the technical aspects to better support the story. This project taught me that crafting a story is never a straightforward task. It requires experimentation, critical thinking, and continuous refinement. This experience has not only improved my storytelling skills but also provided valuable insights that will benefit my future creativ […] “Personal-project: Cleaning robot”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:51:15 +0000

Personal Project – Video Editing to final Editing & SFX Although the AE–Blender–Nuke–DaVinci workflow meant that I had to render each shot four times whenever I made changes—an exhausting process—the final result turned out fairly well. Paired with music that matched the emotional beats of the story, the overall viewing experience wasn’t as rhythmically chaotic as I had feared. For the sound effects, I used foley recordings I made myself. These included a subtle “pop” sound when the model appears out of thin air on the desk, and the sound of rubbing clothes to mimic the noise of the duvet. These handmade effects helped the audio match my intended emotional tone much more closely. Final Breakdown Reflection Although the production schedule for this project was repeatedly delayed, I fortunately managed to complete it on time. I’m aware that I need to learn from the overly complicated workflow I designed for this project and avoid switching between multiple software platforms in the future, which wasted significant time during the video export process. Overall, the final output largely met my expectations. As my first project involving VFX compositing, the integration between different stages of the workflow went relatively smoothly. While the complexity of the model and environment didn’t fully showcase my capabilities in that area, I believe the short film successfully met the goals of this assignment—which emphasized live-action com […] “Personal Project – Video Editing to final”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:33:32 +0000

Personal Project – Composing & Fluid Simulation For compositing, I used Nuke. Its Defocus node allowed me to achieve smooth and realistic depth transitions in several shots. As for fluid simulation, considering the time cost of using Houdini, I opted for Blender’s FLIP Fluids add-on instead. With added material and texture work, I was able to produce […] “Personal Project – Composing & Fluid Simulation”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:31:19 +0000

Personal Project – Animation In terms of animation, the workload for this project even surpassed last semester’s cowboy duel project. There were 14 shots, each requiring varying levels of skeletal and facial animation, which significantly increased the amount of work. Facial animation For facial animation, I used After Effects, which excels at motion graphics. I created expressive looks for the little character through animated oval eyes and mouth movements. Skeletal animation For skeletal animation, I continued using Cascadeur—a powerful tool. Although its latest update introduced AI interpolation, the extreme proportions of the robot made the interpolation results unu […] “Personal Project – Animation”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:24:52 +0000

Personal Project – Modeling&Rigging As for the model design, although I had a completed model, it wasn’t suitable for rigging due to the limitations of 3D printing. To address this, I adjusted the position of the upper thighs and closed the large opening at the top of the head that was originally intended to fit a s […] “Personal Project – Modeling&Rigging”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 14:21:20 +0000

Personal Project – Storyboard Optimizing Due to various factors, I was only able to start filming after moving into my new home. The spatial layout of the new place forced me to replan the shots, and since I had to handle both the performance and the filming on my own, I could only use fixed camera angles in the redesigned storyboard. My Panasonic camera performs unreliably in low-light conditions—its autofocus often malfunctions and struggles with subject detection. As a result, I had to use a mobile app to manually control the focus point, which added an extra layer of difficulty to the s […] “Personal Project – Storyboard Optimizing”

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:57:52 +0000

Group Project After our […] “Group Project”

Hsuan-Hwa Chu wrote a new post on the site 24035212's blog

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:28:48 +0000

Semester 3 Exploratory PracticeReflection of both of the works. Reflection on Team Project Our team of five collaborated to deliver this project, and I was primarily […]

Junbing Zhang wrote a new post on the site 24004507's blog

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 21:04:09 +0000

Resonance– Animated Video Group Project Idea: Resonance tells the story of a boy with a hearing impairment who follows mysterious lights t […]

Junbing Zhang wrote a new post on the site 24004507's blog

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:44:55 +0000

Under the Afterglow Post – apocalypic Fiction A post-apocalyptic dance of memory and machine, where humanity and AI rediscover their bond through conflict, […]

Jinduo Zhao posted a new activity comment

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 16:33:25 +0000

Amazing!

In reply to - Xin Jiang wrote a new post on the site VFX – Xin Jiang Personal Project- Doodle Introduction We started this project with a simple idea: that every step of your journey, no matter how difficult, has made you who […]

Xin Jiang wrote a new post on the site VFX - Xin Jiang

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:54:16 +0000

Thesis proposal Inspiration and reference My final project, which describes a story about death and love. It’s a first-person animated experience that tells […]

Xin Jiang wrote a new post on the site VFX - Xin Jiang

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:00:27 +0000

Group Project- My part Tital and inspiration At the beginning of the project, I needed to find a suitable theme that I could use to create a project based on my […]

Haoshu Wang wrote a new post on the site Haoshu Wang

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 14:26:59 +0000

Exploratory Practice（personal project) Main idea My theme is how the imagination conjured while reading books becomes reality. Nowadays, with the times changing, more and more people are reluctant to read books, preferring instead to scroll through their phones. Yet reading is actually a method that can stimulate one’s imagination. Pre-production This project was produced using live-action filming techniques, so I selected several locations conducive to relaxed reading as my shooting settings. These included parks, lakesides, and apartment lounge areas. Model Regarding assets, I utilised two pre-bound models sourced online. I then built upon these to create the animations required for my project. VFX In each shot, I rendered the imaginings that occur when people read books through visual effects imagery. For the first imagined shot, I created an effect of magical plant growth. The primary approach to its creation: I first used SOP to define the vine’s morphology and employed curves to establish its movement trajectory. Subsequently, noise was added to the vine to enhance its detail. The vine was then volumetrised and assigned a plant material. Finally, based on the vine’s motion, I created ground fractures, scattered debris, and the dust clouds generated by the shattering. The second imagined shot involved creating an effect where a robot surfaces and crashes into the water. The primary approach was as follows: I first animated the robot in Maya, then imported it into Houdini to generate the water effects based on the animation. I created a FLIP Tank, added a Static Object for the robot, and enabled Volume Collision. Crucially, I ensured the collision object’s scale and substep settings were appropriate, otherwise the water would have penetrated. When the robot struck the surface, I generated a large number of FLIP particles at the point of impact to simulate splashing. Furthermore, the instant the arm entered the water, it would disturb the surrounding liquid, creating ripples. The third imagined shot involved creating the effect of a meteor shower descending upon a city. The primary approach was as follows: I first crafted several meteorites of varying sizes and shapes using spheres. These were initially positioned high in the sky, with gravity applied. Different initial velocities were assigned to each meteorite to simulate multi-directional descent. Finally, particles were emitted from the meteors’ tails, driving the Pyro Solver to generate flames and smoke. Final work Reflection In this personal project, I failed to manage the overall length of the narrative effectively and underestimated the workload, resulting in the initially conceived story set in the laundry room not being completed within the limited timeframe. To meet the deadline, I had to create a new, shorter story. While this ensured completion, it fell significantly short of the original concept in terms of narrative depth and impact, lacking sufficient tension and emotional resonance. Additionally, the special effects were not sufficiently refined, resulting in several shortcomings in the final visuals. This project highlighted that the importance of preliminary planning in animation production far exceeded my expectations. A reasonable story length and accurate workload estimation directly impact subsequent production schedules and quality. For future similar projects, I must prioritise improvements in the following areas: Time Management and Project Planning: Establish storyboards, production workflows, and workload assessments early on, incorporating buffer time to avoid reactive modifications later. Narrative Cohesion: Even under time constraints, ensure the story possesses a clear beginning, development, and conclusion to enhance the animation’s appeal and expressiveness. Technical and Detail Refinement: Strengthen practice in special effects and post-production to elevate the overall visual quality and […] “Exploratory Practice（personal project)”

Peiyao Wang wrote a new post on the site 24001477's blog

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:03:34 +0000

LOOP PARADISEAbout the Graduation Short Shattered Paradise At first, I set out to make a short film about the Seven Deadly Sins. Lately I’ve been r […]

Peiyao Wang wrote a new post on the site 24001477's blog

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 11:46:15 +0000

7 SINS FINAL (COMPRESSION) The Initial Concept Setting, Story, and the Beginning A piano performance—becomes a summoning ritual. What e […]

Haoshu Wang wrote a new post on the site Haoshu Wang

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:09:47 +0000

Cooperation project […] “Cooperation project”

Zhihao Tong wrote a new post on the site Cayde's blog

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 16:39:22 +0000

Collaborative project This […] “Collaborative project”

Zhihao Tong wrote a new post on the site Cayde's blog

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 18:10:28 +0000

Personal project It tells […] “Personal project”

Xin Jiang wrote a new post on the site VFX - Xin Jiang

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 11:04:53 +0000

Personal Project- Doodle Introduction We started this project with a simple idea: that every step of your journey, no matter how difficult, has made you who you are […]

Shannon Tang wrote a new post on the site Shannon Tang

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 13:44:26 +0000

Exploratory Practice – Personal Project 1. Introduction Project Title: Who Should Be Disposable? This project[…]

Shannon Tang wrote a new post on the site Shannon Tang

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 10:41:52 +0000

Exploratory Practice – Group Project 1. Introduction Storyline The protagonist gazes out to sea while a baby[…]

Peiyao Wang wrote a new post on the site 24001477's blog

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 14:46:33 +0000

Critical Practice Digital Human Why Choose Digital Artist: Advantages of Digital Artists With the rapid development of CG technology, artificial […]

Hsuan-Hwa Chu wrote a new post on the site 24035212's blog

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 13:01:17 +0000

Semester 3 Critical PracticeHsuan-Hwa Chu, MA Visual Effects I. Introduction This is a blog for “Stylisation Without Substance: A Critical Examination of Tool”. […]

Jinduo Zhao wrote a new post on the site JinduoZhao's blog

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 08:39:46 +0000

Reflection about Critical ReportIn the Collaborate Unit, I attempted to write a story for a game for the first time. During this process, I discovered that the narrative logic of games differs significantly from that of films. Films, as single-core narratives, have all their elements serving the story itself, creating a self-consistent experience. Games, however, are different—they must balance both narrative and gameplay, requiring players to assume roles while simultaneously advancing the story through their actions. This forces players to constantly oscillate between the author’s intent and their personal interests, resulting in a sense of experiential dissonance. I realized that this is an inherent limitation dictated by the interactive nature of games, which motivated me to explore this topic further to deepen my understanding. After reviewing numerous sources, I found that existing research categorizes game narrative models into four types. However, the in-depth discussion of gameplay design involved in these categories exceeded the scope of what I could explore at this stage. Therefore, I further consolidated these classifications, focusing primarily on analyzing the characteristics and case studies of linear and non-linear narrative models. The research process led me to revisit several exemplary narrative-driven games in my mind. By combining others’ critiques and analyses, I gained a deeper understanding of these games and genuinely felt my own growth. Before conducting this research, I was unaware of the existence of narrative strategies. However, a considerable amount of literature discusses these paradigms, which caught my attention. Upon deeper exploration, I learned that narrative is not purely about creativity—there are underlying techniques that can be applied. As a result, I decided to incorporate this aspect into my research. Looking back on the research process, it was an opportunity for me to examine storytelling from a completely new perspective. By the end of the study, I had also completed an iteration of my own understanding. Analyzing specific game case studies provided a solid foundation for my writing, ensuring it remained grounded in reality. However, due to limited time and effort, I believe there is still room for broadening the scope of my literature rev […] “Reflection about Critical Report”

Guanglin Lu wrote a new post on the site Guanglin Lu(Liam)'s blog

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 23:20:14 +0000

AI and Authorship: A Critical Study of Set Dressing in Virtual Production Why This Topic? Virtual production has reshaped how we design, visualize, and shoot film environments. As a VFX MA student at UAL, I’ve always been curious about where the line between art and automation lies. When AI joins the scene—not as a background tool, but as an active collaborator in creative decision-making—what does that mean for human artists? My critical research report explores the tension between automation and artistic agency in AI-assisted set dressing. While AI can speed up workflows, generate real-time environments, and even make aesthetic suggestions, it also challenges long-held ideas about authorship, originality, and creative control. Applications of AI in Virtual Set Dressing Functional ModuleTraditional WorkflowAI-Assisted WorkflowBenefitsPre-visualizationManually building models and storyboardsAI auto-generates concept sketches (e.g., Runway ML)Faster prototyping, quick iterationLighting LayoutManual lighting setups by techniciansAI adjusts lighting based on semantic contextHigher accuracy, real-time adaptabilitySpace & Prop PlacementManually arranged by art departmentAI generates spatial compositions via text promptsReduces labor, increases creative iterationScene StylizationConcept artists + 3D integrationAI applies stylized render presetsGreater flexibility across design aesthetics The Big Question My core question was this: Is AI helping artists, or replacing them? In practice, it’s not a simple binary. AI changes the nature of creative labour. Artists are no longer just makers; they become curators, directors, and supervisors of generative systems. This shift feels empowering on one hand—and precarious on the other. To understand the impact, I looked at: How AI tools like Unreal Engine, Runway ML, and systems like FilmAgent are used in set design The philosophical debate over whether AI can be “creative” The ethical dilemmas: originality, authorship, and bias Industry perspectives and academic theories Research Process The writing process started with a review of creativity theories—like Guilford’s divergent thinking and Amabile’s componential model—emphasizing that creativity involves emotion, intention, and experience, all of which AI lacks. From there, I explored current uses of AI in virtual production. Reports from IllusionXR, Voia, Raindance, and World Economic Forum showed how AI is already embedded in previsualization and set construction. I also read academic work like Xu et al.’s FilmAgent project, which uses large language models to simulate film crews. Finally, I examined the risks: deepfakes, lack of consent, and algorithmic bias. Who’s really in control of the visuals? And are we designing with ethics in mind? Table: Case Study Comparison – AI vs Artistic Control Case Study NameDegree of AutomationArtistic ControlOriginality ConcernsReference NoteFilmAgent (Xu et al., 2025)HighMediumYesLLM-driven full-scene generationVoia Virtual ToolMediumHighClearly ControlledHuman-directed, AI-supportedRunway ML + UE ComboHighLow–MediumPotential IssuesCriticized for lack of transparencyLED Volume SystemMediumHighProject-DependentIntegrates with director oversight Key Findings Creative ShiftAI moves artists toward high-level roles—less manual work, more conceptual thinking. That sounds great, but it also reduces tactile authorship and increases dependence on opaque systems. Control vs. CollaborationAI can assist with layout, lighting, and composition, but results aren’t always predictable. This “black box” nature makes it harder to maintain full creative agency. Ethical UncertaintyThe use of AI in storytelling raises difficult questions. If an AI reuses patterns from its training data, is it still original? Are we giving enough thought to authorship, bias, and consent? What This Means for Us as Artists This research reminded me that technological innovation doesn’t automatically equal artistic progress. We must stay critical. As artists, we need to ask: Am I using AI as a tool, or letting it shape my vision? Do I understand how the system works—and what it’s trained on? Am I protecting the ethics and integrity of my creative voice? Like animation or any visual form, virtual production isn’t neutral. It’s a site of power, choice, and representation. We must design with intention, not just convenience. Final Reflection AI is here to stay in filmmaking—but it doesn’t have to replace us. Instead, it can extend our capabilities if we stay mindful, informed, and creatively brave. My biggest takeaway? Creativity in the age of automati […] “AI and Authorship: A Critical Study of Set Dressing in Virtual Production”