Goodbye Class of '08

The End
Well, this blog was discontinued in November and the project was relocated to the St Columb's VLE - Virtual Learning Environment. The project was finished behind schedule at the end of April. Representatives from Ilex - Derry Regeneration Company who are in charge of the actual redevelopment of Fort George came into the school to talk to us about the company and to look at what we produced. Videos of the project was uploaded onto Youtube and Blip.tv. Talkni.org set up a discussion thread about the site and the videos were linked there too. Feedback on the projects was very positive and the course itself was also a positive experience.

Time to move on to much bigger and better things, aka University next year if all goes well with the exams and hopefully I will remain in contact with the School that I expect to actually miss for some reason. The teachers were all very friendly and helped out quite a lot even if I did end up annoying them. I thank them for all their support and help througout the past seven years and hopefully wont have to see them again in September. I wish them all the best and once again, thank you for all the hard work you put in to help me throughout this year.

Class of '08 Student
Philip Rabbett

Weekly Update (Oct 26th - Nov 9th)

Work I have done over the last week.
Over the past week, I have designed three draft ideas on Google Sketchup for what I believe to be valuable, innovative, creative and necessary projects that should happen in Derry. I have spent the past number of Days constructing quick drafts of these ideas and writing an explanation on how the Designs fulfil the criteria in the project brief given to use at the start of the project.

Evaluate the work you did over Halloween.
The work I did over the Halloween break was not done to as high a standard that I have posted below, I did draft sketches free hand on 3 sheets of paper but upon returning to school decided that the sketches would be better done on Google Sketchup for presentation purposes,etc.

Write about how you intend managing your time to get this Coursework completed by Christmas.
I intend on getting this coursework done well in advance of the Christmas break, I will be using my laptop during my "study" lessons to continue on the coursework, I will be asking questions when I am unsure of what I am doing and I will also be continuing the coursework after school each night to make sure that the work is done to a high standard and handed in on time for corrections, if needed.

Fort George Proposals 1... 2... 3...

IDEA 1: New Mini Hospital How does this idea fulfil the criteria in my project brief?
This Idea is a must in Derry. A new hospital with a sophisticated and modern transport system will help the city in a number of ways.

1. There is a demand for the current hospital to be upgraded
2. It is economically sustainable in terms of time
3. It creates many new jobs
4. New transport system will ease traffic conditions

The current situation is that Altnagalvin is running out of room for all its patients. Many patients are long term patients and many are short term. With Derry and the surrounding area's population increasing, then the demand for hospital beds will also be much greater. Therefore, I propose a solution with this brand new, modern, patient friendly and much more technologically advanced hospital to act as a new A&E department. This will mean that new jobs will be created from cleaners to technicians and of course more doctors and nurses.

Also, a new Train/Tram system in place throughout the city will ease the current traffic situation in Derry. A special link between the two hospitals could also be made through this new transport system for emergency purposes. This new hospital is economically sustainable in terms of time, the new transport system is economically sustainable in terms of money and time. Both of these also help the local economy by the particular service they provide.


IDEA 2: Leisure Centre How does this idea fulfil the criteria in my project brief?
In preparation for the London 2012 Olympics, I propose a brand new, state of the art leisure Centre to be built within the grounds of Fort George.

This new Centre will provide a range of leisure and fitness facilities for the local people of Derry and also for the Olympic athletes. Being situated next to the River Foyle will be an extra bonus for the athletes to practice canoeing and sailing. This new Centre is not only Economically Sustainable, it is also Environmentally Friendly and promotes the local culture currently within the city.

Templemore Sports Complex is out-of-date and there have been calls for a new leisure centre to be built within the city for a number of months now. This new leisure centre will create hundreds of new jobs from cleaners to trainers and generate a lot of revenue for the local economy. In this particular design, the top of the roof is completely covered in solar panels to reduce the cost of heating and electricity. The design is ultra modern and would bring life to the location where it will be based.

Local people of Derry demand a new leisure centre, many teenagers attend gyms often and many kids go to the leisure centre on a daily basis. Therefore, a new leisure centre would be a definite success with a new train/tram transport system in place throughout the city.


IDEA 3: Bar/Restaurant & Nightclub
Brand new and innovative design for a floating bar and restaurant accompanied by a high-tech nightclub on the main land of Fort George is a most for a city like Derry.

A city like Derry with its high demand for restaurants and nightclubs is starving for a new and creative nightclub and restaurant on the banks of the River Foyle. The River Foyle has so much potential for development to increase tourism to the city, the culture craves for it, the economy will benefit from it and best of all, the restaurant is environmentally friendly with the roof being tiled with solar panels.

A Nightclub generates a very high amount of revenue when in operation and a bar/restaurant also generates a large amount of revenue. The tax on this revenue can then be used to fund much more ideas into the city and make the city a better place to live in. Also, the proposed train/tram transport system would be handy for this type of establishment as it will provide the people of Derry an easier method of transport to the establishment and to other locations around the city.

3D Transport Model (Report)

3D Transport Model - What I Did.
To be able to make a 3D model, I needed to use an application that had this functionality. Google Sketchup is a 3D modelling application and is also very easy to use. The layout is very easy to work in and the functions of the application are also very understandable.


Above, you can see the Toolbar that can be found inside the Google Sketchup Application. From left to right, the functions are, draw, create square/rectangle, create circle, create arc, create component, eraser, guide/measuring tape, fill/colour, push/pull face, move object, rotate object, Offset Tool, Orbit around Object, Pan, Zoom and zoom extents. The next three are linked to Google Earth and the last two are for retreiving and sharing 3D models with the 3DWarehouse.

I used the majority of these tools for various parts of my Model, I started out first by making the Train Track. For this, I used the rectangle Tool, drew out the base of the track, then I used the Guide tool to measure accurate spaces between each Wooden Track supports which was made into a 3D shape with the Push/Pull Tool. After the track was laid out the way I wanted it, I used the colour tool to make the tracks looks like normal tracks and convert them into a 3D component using the Component Tool.

Next, I began the structure of the Train by measuring out, with the guide tool, accurate spaces for the wheels. I then used the Push/Pull Tool to extrude the wheels for the 3D effect. After i made my wheels, I began to make the basic box structure of my Model with the rectangle tool. I then got the Arc Tool and started to make the arc-like roof. I then used a combination of tools, line, arc and rectangle tools to create the outside design complete with a door and windows. I then used the colour Tool to colour the inside and outside of the train before i proceded to making the interior.

On the Google Sketchup Website, there are a number of bonus packs available for download in addition to the application, these bonus packs give you more components and textures than the standard version of Sketchup. These bonus packs are also in addition to the large number of other models on the 3DWarehouse Website.

To be able to add various components, I needed to use a number of tools, especially for making the objects the correct size and placed in the correct location facing the correct way. Firstly, I would add a component by either;

A) Choosing a component from the 3Dwarehouse using the Get Models Function.
B) Going to the Window Menu and then clicking on Components, this then opens a dialog box from which you can navigate through all your installed Models/Components.

Then I would place the object inside the train, use the guide tool to position it accurately, rotate tool to rotate it in the correct direction, move tool to move it into the final position and possibly scale each component if it is too small by going to the Tools Menu and selecting Scale.

After I have placed all my pre-assembled components in place, I now need to custom make my engine room using the rectangle tool, guide tool, push/pull tool and colour tool. After all that is done, I have a finished Model. Also, for the see through door and windows, etc, I used the transparent colour scheme from the textures available in the Colour Tool.

3D Transport Model (Exterior & Interior Screenshots)

Exterior
[Photo]Front of Train
[Photo]Left Side of Train
[Photo]Right Side of Train
[Photo]Back of Train
[Photo]Top of Train

Interior
[Photo]Top/Front of Train
[Photo]Top/Side of Train
[Photo]Top/Back of Train

Photo Shoot Day (Fort George)

Composite Image (Report)

Composite Image - What I Did.
First, for me to make my composite image, I had the options of using various applications to make my composite image. The application that I used to make my composite image was Adobe Fireworks as I am much more familiar with the functions and layout of the application.

Now that I knew what application I should use, I would need to find my two pictures that I could merge together as one. One picture had to be of some place in Derry and the other picture had to be a clear image of my chosen method of Transport, The Train. Although my chosen method of Transport was the Train, A Tram and Monorail are also types of Trains so I ended up making 4 Composite images. Each image went through the same procedure.

Take the Train image, to make this i needed to use 4 functions, I opened the image of a Train and then using my eraser, removed most of the unneccessary "junk" within the image leaving me with a rough outline around the train.

Next, I would remove the "junk" surrounding the Train using the Magic Wand tool which selects a chunk of the image depending on how strong the tolerance is set and also depending on the Edge type from the options of Hard, Anti-alias and Feather. I generally tend to use the Feather edge type when using the Magic Wand tool and then with the Eraser Edge set to 50%, erase around the edges to make sure that all is smooth. This method is known as feathering and is used quite regularly in any professional image manipulations, etc. After I have all the "junk" removed from my train image, I made the background canvas transparent and copied the image and pasted it into the image of Derry.

The image is almost done but still needs some tweaking. We now need to make the train fit much more into the background image, i.e., have the gradient/direction of the Train match the gradient of a building or road. To do this, I would need to shear the Train image so that it fits in perfectly.

Composite Image Progress Update

[Photo]Monorail in Strand Road Version 1
[Photo]Monorail in Strand Road Version 2
[Photo]Train on Derry Walls Version 1
[Photo]Tram in the Guildhall Version 1

6) Using a TABLE, compare and contrast the features available in these 3 graphics packages?

	Microsoft Paint	PhotoShop	GIMP
Cost	FREE	Normal=£569.88 Extended=£887.12	FREE
Tools	Selection Tools, Eraser Tool, Fill Tool, Eyedropper Tool, Zoom Tool, Pencil Tool, Paint Brush Tool, Airbrush Tool, Text Tool, Line Tool, Curve Tool, Shapes Tools	Elliptical Marquee, Rectangular Marquee, Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Slice, Healing Brush (Photoshop7), Brush (Paintbrush), Clone Stamp, History Brush, Airbrush, Background Eraser, Paint Bucket, Blur, Smudge, Dodge, Horizontal Type, Horizontal Type Mask, Direct Selection, Pen, Add Anchor Point, Convert Point, Rounded Rectangle, Polygon, Custom Shape, Colour Sampler, Notes, Hand, Colour Selecting box, Mode Selector	Selection Tools, Brush Tools, Transform Tools, Color Tools, Path Tool, Color Picker Tool, Magnify Tool, Measure Tool, Texttool
File Formats	BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG	PSD, BMP, GIF, EPS, JPEG, PCX, PDF, PCT, PXR, PNG, RAW, SCT, TGA, TIF	XML, GIF, JPEG, JNG, MNG, PNG, SVG, TIFF, XMP, DNG, XCF plus many more.
Where to Buy	Free with Windows Operating Systems	Online or Local Retailer	Free online under GNU Documentation.
User Friendly	Easy but basic	Slightly complex	Easy to use but the GUI is not so nice.

5) What are the characteristics of the following graphics file formats?

5) What are the characteristics of the following graphics file formats?
Bitmap: A pixel based image which is of low quality but are also easy to use and manipulate

GIF: A 256 colour or 8 bit image format with a 72dpi resolution. Supports transparent backgrounds.

PNG: Two versions are availabe, Flattened PNG or Fireworks PNG, Flattened PNG does not support layers or transparent backgrounds whereas Fireworks PNG does. Fireworks PNG shows up incorrectly in Internet Explorer 6.0 and older although a javascript fix is possible for versions 5.5 and 6.0. Internet Explorer 7.0 supports this file format much better and Windows Vista uses this file formats compression to allow zoomable icons while still using reasonably low file sizes.

JPEG: JPEG maintains a higher resolution/standard of color. When uncompressed, JPEG can be used for high-quality printing,storing and reproducing images on the internet. Widely used in digital cameras.

XCF: A GIMP image file format that is unsupported by web browsers. It can save layer information and other information that you may want to use again, e.g. text layer.

PSD: A bitmap file format used for Adobe Photoshop. PSD stands for PhotoShop Data. Widely used on both Macintosh and Windows Operating Systems. Supports layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths and doutone settings.

SVG: An XML markup language for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and animated. Can be used both by Web browsers and desktop publishing to produce vector graphics which are very fast and easily transmittable files.

(Sources: www.google.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org)

4) What is an alpha channel? How can this be useful in your coursework project?

4) What is an alpha channel?
An alpha channel is basically a mask that specifies how the pixel's of one image should be merged with another pixel from another image when the two are overlaid, one on top of the other, allowing transparency
(Source: www.merging.com)

How can this be useful in your coursework project?
Alpha channels can be helpful and useful in my coursework as it allows me to merge two or more images together to create a realistic image, e.g. placing a tram system from Germany into the Guildhall, by making certain parts of the tram system transparent and placing it in another image with the guildhall as the background.

3) What does “RGB” have to do with graphic files?

3) What does “RGB” have to do with graphic files?
RGB = Red-Green-Blue. Computer monitors use RGB to define the colours that appear on screen. Each color in the RGB combination is measured from 0 - 255. An example would be the colour blue, the RGB combination for this colour would be 0-0-255.
(Source: www.artisan-ds.com)

2) What is the difference between VECTOR and BITMAP graphics? Explain both terms.

2) What is the difference between VECTOR and BITMAP graphics? Explain both terms.
Vector: A graphical image that is made up of shapes and lines called paths. Vector graphics appear smoother and crispier regardless of how magnified an image is on screen. Therefore they can be enlarged as big as you want without distorting the image.
(Source: www.adigitaldreamer.com)

Bitmap: A graphical image that is made up of pixels (see below for definition). Bitmap graphics are the opposite to Vector graphics, ie, they are resolution dependant. If the bitmap image is magnified, you will begin to get jagged edges and a distorted image.

1) What is a pixel?

1) What is a pixel?
A pixel is a dot which makes up a Digital Image. This dot gives the image it's colour and brightness, it is also used in measuring image size and resolution, ie, 640 x 480 is the pixel resolution of most VGA Monitors. A pizel exists in both a video (shaped as a rectangle) and an image (shaped as a square)
(Source: www.photoshopelementsuser.com)