Day 2&3 Reflections - Yi Lin

1. I choose this project because I think it would be fun to learn about digital painting and how to use the photoshop application. I can also use the skills I've learnt in the future if I want to edit any other photos.

2. My role in the group: A member

3. I have encountered some challenges while working on this project like which tools to use, which layer to work on etc. I overcome these by clarifying with people sitting beside me and also paying more attention while the professor is explaining.

4. Through this project, I have discovered that editing pictures is not as easy as I have thought. It requires a lot of work to finish editing one picture.

5. As an individual, I have learnt how to use a new application and I can apply the skills for other future uses.

6. My aspiration is to be able to master how to use photoshop as what I have learnt is only one part of it.

Day 1 Reflections - Yi Lin

Plenary Session 1  - Importance of water - Dirty and Clean
From this talk, I have learnt that there is actually an increasing need to protect the water resources as economies develop. I have also learnt in this world, that about 1.1 billion have no drinking water resources, about 2.4 billion have no proper sanitation facility, about 3.4 million died from water based diseases and about 2 billion are facing the risk of having water based diseases. This emphasizes the importance of having clean water around the world.


Plenary Session 2 - Revolution of Microelectronics Technology
I have learnt that in 1947, transistors were invented and in 195, integrated circuits were invented, thus we have our slim handphones and ipod now. The "9Os" or the "BRAINWAVE": Bio, Radio, Auto, Info, Nano, Water = Hydro = H20, Audio, Video and Energy = m.c2. I have also learnt that the electronics are scaling down to nanoscale while biology and scaling up to nanoscale and this becomes the "bionanoelectronics". 


Plenary Session 3 - Innovative breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Nano-Technology 
Through this talk, I have learnt that 'smaller size for a fixed volume = larger surface area'. I also learnt that there are materials with ten times the strength of steel yet only a small fraction of the weight. One new term I've learnt are 'electrostatic'.


Plenary Session 4 - IT for Animation
I have learnt that animations uses geometry, linear algebra, calculus and physics. Several maths formulas are applied.


Plenary Session 5 - Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think
The speaker introduced herself as a geodesist who measures the shape and size of the Earth, the gravity field and how it changes over time. One important thing I've learnt is that the sea level rise will not be same all around the world.


The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is the talk 'IT for Animation'. What I like about it is that there are many videos during the talk and it does not bore me. 

Reflections for Day 2 and 3 - Tan Jian Hui

1. I chose this project because… 

I have explored Photoshop before and not fully understand all its basic essential functions. Besides, I am also interested in what is digital painting? How is it different from conventional painting? 

1. My role in the group… 

NA

1. Challenges I encounter when working on this project in the last 2 days and how I overcome these challenges… 

Occasionally the Prof Martin uses keyboard shortcuts too quickly and I could not get a glimpse of what the functions are. This is however understandable as he has been using Photoshop for very long and is well-versed in its programme. So as he is much more familiar with it than us, he knows how to tweak the small little details that could significantly increase efficiency when making the digital painting. 

1. Through this project, I discovered… 

The many faces of Photoshop and how it is such a popular programme. Other than editing photographs, it can be used for web designing and graphics designing. Basic functions, such as the brush, layers and masking are just some of the many learning points I this project. Of course, our products were not the best of the best, and I can certainly say that what we did was barely scratching the surface of the potential of Photoshop. After taking a look at Prof Martin’s work, it was incredible that just a normal digital painting could take up to two weeks just to refine the details. It really looked like a scene from a game and I was totally awed by it. I borrowed a few books from the library to read up and get a glimpse for myself before the project and it goes way more than what we did. It called for sketches and editing and painting to a great amount. It looked similar to Prof Martin’s work. Therefore there are still a lot more things to master before we truly know what is digital painting. It was also gripping to see how images were doctored and the many “secrets” of digital painting scenes. For example, Prof told us that in post-apocalyptic films, scenes that feature dilapidated and destroyed buildings were just normal digital paintings. As well as a “noise”, which can be in a swaying tree, rippling water or a flock of birds flying by. 

1. As an individual, how I have benefited from this programme… 

This programme has provided me with an awareness of image editing and the similar yet different painting. The skills I have learnt here will be a great asset as digital media is rising rapidly. Some of these quick tips and tweaking can allow me to make some minor adjustments that could prove to be crucial in design. And the vital learning point is that digital painting could do much more than conventional painting, with its editable layers and fast navigation, unlike conventional painting. However I still believe that these two types of paintings are on par with each other. 

1. My Aspirations… 

My aspiration is to further explore Photoshop and grasp the digital painting techniques, the true graphics in a game or film. It could all come from random pictures, but with editing, it could be altered to a totally new product. Resources are therefore very important. 

Reflections for Day 1-Tan Jian Hui

Key learning points from each session: 

1. Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean

There are a lot of global water problems that many are not aware of. This calls for a lot of actions in order to sustain our current quality of water in developed countries and improve the drinking resources in developing countries. When Prof Ng showed us some statistical data about water, it is baffling to realise that the most basic human requirements are lacking in some parts of the world. In addition, the quality of water plays a humongous impact on both the environment and people. Some harbour deadly diseases which cause for more than 3 million fatalities. Others do not have proper sanitation. And the unimaginable fact that we humans taint this precious resource ourselves. We get carried away when technology is improving in such an inconceivable way that we forget about the destruction left behind as a by-product. Much has to be done for the survival of our human race. Much like Prof Ng, he has been researching on sewage treatment and studying ways to  engineer better technologies to help these people in need. This is where engineering is used to improve lives and even save them. 

1. Revolution of Microelectronics Technology

As Prof Yeo advanced with a slight introduction of chips and the development of programming computers as well as a little history, I became aware that Singapore is actually the centre of a fast-growing industry. Especially integrated circuits and BRAINWAVE, an acronym. As the name of the presentation suggests, how can electronics be micro-sized? Through the integration of electronics and biology, nano-scaled technology will emerge. Programmable blood, electronic contact lens and brain implants are just some of the possible breakthroughs in the near future. Thus, all these technologies, that improvises our daily lives, are powered by engineering. As Prof Yeo presented, the twenty-first Century holds many engineering challenges for the ever-growing population of the world. And a quote I have taken away from the presentation, “Engineering is not about making a difference in others’ lives, you are improving yours as well.”

1. Innovative breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Nanotechnology

As derived from the heading, this talk was based around the revolutionary application of nano-technology of the products made today, in the fields of Nano-technology, Biotechnology and Defense Technology. Nano-technology base around a fact, that a smaller size for a fixed volume will result in a larger surface area. Prof Ma also explained nano-materials, some of which are natural or man-made. Shark’s teeth, for example, are natural nano-material coating. Nano-structures, classified as 0D, 1D and 2D, are particles, wires and films respectively. Some innovative products that apply nanotechnology are carbon nano-tubes, quantum dots and nano-particles. Additionally, with the development of nanotechnology, armour can literally stop bullets of a particular range of diameter. New and enhanced armour can boost a greater camouflage. Therefore these advancements will significantly improve our future. 

1. IT for Animation

Animation making is really tedious, therefore animations are difficult to produce. It involves a lot of processes in order to make a good animation, such as storyboarding and drawing countless frames. We had a little of this experience from our Secondary 1 ADMT project, however, to really make a digital animation, there is still digital painting and composition and shooting. Furthermore, it demands a lot of physics and mathematical concepts applied. Geometric modelling like vector paces, Calculus including functions and integrals and the complex formulas for the different types of lighting in an animation. Not to mention that 2D animations are way tougher to create than 3D animations, which was quite surprising, as it is costly and labour intensive. Hence we should respect their work by not taking it for granted and appreciating them. 

1. Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think 

I learnt that the phenomenon, that ice glaciers increase the sea level around it, is something new that I learnt. This process is called “self-attraction and loading” Sea level rise will not be the same everywhere. And therefore sea level rise will be highest farthest away from the glaciers. As ice glaciers melt, the pressure of the crust is slowly released so water flows away from the glaciers. It was a highly captivating presentation, with its many diagrams to better help us understand. Especially the work of Prof Emma Hill, it is really fascinating and intrigues me. A point to note, the title of the presentation is ingeniously crafted in my opinion. It is definitely different from other titles and sounds more appealing and interesting.

Deepest impression: 

The first plenary session left a deeper impression on me than others. It was certainly a good starter for a great eye-opener into NTU. Moreover, the professor is also likeable and it left a good impression on me. On top of that, what I really like about all the plenary sessions, is that all of them are related to engineering. Many fields, of which I never thought were associated with engineering, were in fact another sub-group of engineering. It is not necessarily just electronics and machines like its name imply. There are just so many opportunities out there in the discipline of engineering. Plus, we can improve the lives of others, make a difference and most importantly give back to the society. 

Day 1 reflections- Niloy Faiyaz

Key learning points from each session….

• Importance of water

• From this session, I had learnt that cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery are such sickness caused from drinking contaminated water and around 3.4 billion people die from it and 2 billion people are at risk.
• Smell, Infectious disease, chronic health risk, environmental effects, economic effects happen during the existence of water pollution.
• 1.1 billion people do not have access to fresh water
• The irony of societal & economic effects- key enablers- water+ energy
• Irony= economic development can compromise water resource.

• Revolution of Microelectronics Technology

• I had learnt that electronics make a difference in human interaction and communication through the integrated circuits that consist the BRAINWAVE (Bio, Radio, Auto, Info, Nano, Water(Hydro, H2O), Audio, Video, Energy).
• Electronics and Biology are converging at the nano scale which results to Bio Nano Technology.
• Epiretinal implant device is one such example of an integrated circuit in nanoscale which enables the blind to see.
• The semi-conductor industry adds value by discovering, designing and manufacturing.

• Biomedical Engineering and Technology

• This session had thought me how many things can a small nano chip do such as cleaning water, change the colors of contact lens, etc.

• IT for Animation

• Animation uses much mathematical ideas such as calculus and the laws of physics. The cost of making 2D animations are higher compared to making 3D animations as 2D animations work on a frame by frame drawing and needs skilled artists to do so. 
• There are 3 different types of lighting to make 2D look like 3D. They are the ambient lighting, diffuse lighting and specular lighting.
• Ambient lighting is adding color to the object
• Diffuse lighting is applying shadows to the objects
• Specular lighting is highlighting the objects in order to make it realistic.

• Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think

• From this session, I have learnt that sea-level rises are different all over in the world. This is largely due to the weight of the glaciers on the land as the mass actually weighs the land down, resulting in water being attracted towards the land which means that the water level will decrease. 

The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is “Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think”.

What I like about it is that this is the lecture had a lot of information that I do not know. The professor made the topic seem simple and explained thoroughly.

Day 3 reflections - Naveena

I chose this project because it sounded fun and interesting. I had never used photoshop before this, but i have heard a lot about it. It was an opportunity to try something new and was also an opportunity to explore an area of interest and so I thought it would be a good experience trying it out.

Some challenges I encountered were using photoshop as well as the tablet. I’ve never used photoshop nor a tablet before so it was a completely new experience for me and so it had sometimes been difficult to achieve the effect i wanted to achieve with the pictures because of the limited knowledge i had of both photoshop and using the tablet. The phrase "practice makes perfect" fits very well with this situation as the more times you work with photoshop, the more experience and knowledge you have and the more familiar you become with the software.

Through this project, I discovered that photoshopping images is not as easy as the professor makes it look but instead takes patience and skill. I have also discovered how useful photoshop can be for example, it can be used to make really nice designs and patterns and can also turn someone into a completely different person. But this also has its drawbacks as such edited pictures can be used to fool others.

As an individual, I have benefitted from this project as I have learnt how to use photoshop to an extent from someone with a lot of experience using it. I have also had the chance to use a tablet to design and draw, a really enjoyable experience.

I aspire to someday own a copy of adobe photoshop as well as a tablet so that I can practice and become better at drawing/ designing. 

Days 2 & 3 Reflections - Norul

I chose this project because among the other projects available, it seemed the most interesting and allowed most room for creativity. In this project, Photoshop is used as a platform for digital painting, and I've always wanted to try the software. I also liked the freedom of editing and compositing our own photos into whatever we wanted.

Some of the challenges I encountered working on the project is getting used to the tools in Photoshop and keyboard shortcuts. There were many times where I accidentally pressed the wrong key or tool, and it affected my photo composite. I overcame this by memorizing the most important shortcut of all: Option+command+Z, the step backward shortcut. Command+z only enabled me to undo the most recent edit. Another challenge was mixing up the layers. Sometimes I would mix up and draw on the wrong layers. I overcame this by checking every few seconds that I'm editing the right layer.

Through this project, I discovered the many possible uses of Photoshop. These uses can be used for good, but also for bad intentions. Some people might edit someone's face onto someone's body, and create gossip about the person. If posted online, people can be easily deceived and believe what they see. After all, it is common for people to believe what is captured on camera, or so they thought. Photoshop can also be used to distort faces, making them look extremely pretty or super duper ugly. There are many other things Photoshop can do, and although before this I did know not to trust everything on the internet, now I am more alert.

As an individual, I benefitted from this program as I learnt how to use Photoshop from a professional digital painter. I think if I wanted to learn how to use Photoshop outside of this program from a pro, it would be costly.

I aspire to own a copy of Adobe Photoshop and a tablet someday so I am able to explore the possibilities of digital painting on my own.

Day 3 Reflection - Pasakorn

For this reflection, I will reflect upon the project and its journey as a whole.

My main reason for choosing this project was mainly because of the artistic element, not found in any other project. I prefer my work to be limitless, and a project like turning myself into something completely different is an interesting prospect. The way a canvas can be filled with so many colours and messages is just intriguing.

The project mainly involved us, as individuals, editing one photo to its fullest potential. Therefore, everybody had a role to play for the perfect photo.

I would not really say the project was much of a challenge, because (again) of the artistic element in the project. But then again, Photoshop is a really complicated tool which, without proper guidance, could be confusing. Thank you, Professor!

Throughout the course of the project, I discovered that art is very subjective. Definitely. A zombie could mean 'cool' to one, and 'yuck' to another. All the things that we have learnt opens up a million and one possibilities, and these possibilities can only be explored through the opportunities Artists are given. Without a project to work on, an Artist can only do something vague and unreal, and the piece would never be perfected.

As an individual, I really liked learning about how visual arts and graphics make a real difference. To make it look nice, a lot of work must be placed. To make it look real, even more work must be placed. To make it 'perfect' (if there is such a thing), one must put his heart and soul into the work. The project really opened up opportunities for me, as I discover visual arts in a way I had never before.

Not really related to the project, but I find the animations shown to us by the NTU students very interesting. To create it frame by frame into a 5-minute animation would really require a lot of work. Nonetheless, I find the challenging prospect intriguing. Although I would personally prefer filming to animating (requires a lot less work), I wouldn't mind doing something to please the masses.

Day 3 Reflection - Roy Chua

I chose this project as I am interested in digital painting and wished to be able to develop my ability and judgement to use the right colours as well as improve my skills of photo-editing.

My role in the group is to learn how to and finally photoshop an image of myself into anything of my choice.

Challenges i encountered when working on this project in the last 2 days are being able to photoshop the image properly and add enough detail to the image, but not too much. I overcame these challenges by heeding the advice of Prof. Martin and editing the image to improve the quality of the image.

Through this project, I discovered the many possibilities of Photoshop and how it can be used by many different people to do work in many different areas of speciality.

As an individual, I have benefited from this programme by being able to utilise Photoshop more than before and make use of more functions like blend modes.

My Aspirations are to be able to own a copy of Photoshop myself and be able to continue photoshopping images and hopefully be able to improve my skills and knowledge of the program.

Day 3 Reflections~ Mirza

1. I chose this project as Art and designing is so much more interesting to me than the other projects and also, I wanted to know more about how people digital paint themselves because i have heard of it before but i didn't know what it is about and also the process of it.

2.I encountered several problems throughout the journey. At first, i really did not know what Adobe Photoshop looks like and i had no idea how to use it. I had to familiarize myself with the functions. Secondly, I am using Tablet for the first time and it took me some time to get used to it. Besides that, I had trouble with the painting and i am sometimes stuck and not sure what to do.

3.Through this project, i have discovered about how people can enhance their images to look nicer and also add a completely different thing onto something else like the turtle and the castle. I also discovered that photoshop is really a powerful software, although very complicated, it helps us a lot when we have something to do and it has many functions.

4.As and individual, I learnt about the different tools of photoshop, like the layerings, the marking and others. Also, i've learnt a lot about digital painting and the effects we need to add to make sure the picture really stand out and looks real like the shadows and others.

5.I aspire to be able to do digital painting easier and also, know a lot more about it and master it.

Day 2 and 3 - Stacey

I choose this project because I was attracted by the project title, Digital Painting. I was curious with what we would be doing as I have never tried it before and would be an opportunity to try it out. Honestly though, it sounded way more interesting then the other projects (in my opinion).

This project depended more of our skill with technology. Photoshop had many tools and functions as it caters to a diversity of users from web designers to movie makers. Selecting a wrong tool would disrupt the picture and you would have to find a way to correct it. I found it very frustrating when these small little mistakes comes out when you are already half way through and have to go back and review what was the mistake. I also did not label my layers and had difficulty locating which layer belongs to which part of the picture. I had to be careful and Prof Martin would help with making things better.

Through this two days I learnt how to use the basics of Photoshop to do a composite. The layers function helps a lot to record the process of your editing to the picture and it is easier to correct a mistake or improve the work. Adding highlights and shadows gave the composite more definition and blends it well. Color dot is one of the highlighting tools and multiply was one of the ways to add shadows. Masking was a very effective tool without destroying the original picture. Liquify stretches the picture and wrap allows you to "fit" the picture more convincingly when combining. With these basic knowledge, it is possible to good composite. However, doing the "best" one would take very long as it is easy doing the rough outline but doing the little details are the ones that make the difference between good and best.

My experience in this project made me consider doing this kind of digital art stuff. I would like to do this as a hobby and can use it to pass time. This project was an insightful and memorable experience.

Day 2 Reflection - Pasakorn

Today has been a wonderful day of learning. Especially when one can experiment on his own free will for the entire duration of 5 hours. Photoshop.

The section below will state and explain the 3 different learning points I have gained for today.

1. Layers make all the difference.

Photoshop's main function, Layers, makes it one of the most useful photo editing tools around. With Layers, artists are able to edit the photo, and un-edit it at the click of a button. With Layers, you are able to add a multitude of colours. With Layers, you can easily delete specific components of the photos. All these are important to an artist. Go Photoshop!

2. Troubleshooting is easy, if you know what you are looking for.

As our professor mentioned, troubleshooting for problems in Photoshop can be a bit of a hassle. Like programming, there are many spots where something could go wrong, causing the program to not run properly. I have encountered some of these myself with the extensive use of the complicated photo editing program today. However, I will not elaborate.

3. Art is subjective, or so everyone says.

This is definitely true. All works of art painted by each individual is different. The constraints may be similar, or even identical, but every work will be different. It depends, of course, on the artist himself, on the target audience and the theme. For example, the piece we were supposed to complete had many different variations. A person can be transformed from anything to an animal, a fantasy creature, a movie star... The various possibilities is what makes Art subjective, fun and interesting. By the way, this does include things other than visual arts, such as music, theatre, television, radio etc.

Before:

After:

Day 1 reflections - Naveena

-Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean

This plenary session helped me realize that just because we, in Singapore, have clean water/ obtain clean drinkable water easily, we should not take water for granted. I now also know of some of the diseases(Cholera, typhoid fever etc.) that can spread through water due to the good and bad microbes in the water.

-Revolution of Microelectronics Technology

From this plenary session, I have learn that electronics is pervasive meaning that it is spreading widely throughout groups of people/ areas and that asia is becoming a focal point.

-Biomedical Engineering & Technology

I have learnt that the smaller the size of a fixed volume, the larger the surface area. Also, something with a smaller surface area uses up less energy.

-IT for Animation

I have learnt that animation is a long process involving many people. Also that making 2D animations costs more than making 3D animations and this is because it is labor intensive.

-Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think

I found this talk the most interesting and insightful one. It was interesting to find out more about gravity’s part to play with rising sea levels. I also learnt that the closer the distance between two objects, the greater the gravitational force.

Day 2 Reflections (June 7) — Lim Hao Yang

Why I’d Chosen this Project

Project one Digital Painting appeals to me more as compared to the other projects. It seemed more interesting and fun as well as allowing me room for creativity and personality.

Challenges I’d Encountered and How I’ve Overcome Them

1. Understanding Professor Martin Constable Fully

When the group gathers to listen to Professor Constable at someone’s iMac, it was difficult to follow him as he used many keyboard shortcuts and work very quickly. I was able to overcome this by attempting what he had taught and asking for help when I required assistance.

How I’ve Benefited from this Programme

1. What Exactly is Digital Painting?

Digital painting is neither photography nor painting—it is in-between. Digital painting mainly uses photography as a base and painting as an enhancement to achieve desired effects difficult or even impossible to be done on either one of the above mediums.

1. Layers—Masking and Obscuring

Layers is the most popular function in Photoshop, it is enables users to quickly and accurately edit separate parts of the picture whilst leaving the option to rearrange them. Masking is basically “deleting”, but in a more versatile an user-friendly way. It performs non-destructive deletes by hiding the undesired areas which can be retrieved easily as compared to destructive deletes such as using the Eraser tool. Obscuring can be done through covering objects in (or nearer to) the background with objects in (or nearer to) the foreground. The effects can be used to give objects a sense of space and belonging to the picture.

This can be used to save time and effort as well as provide the option to be “fickle-minded”. It is used to create a sense of depth in the picture, allowing the use of multiple layers of foregrounds and backgrounds.

1. Putting into Context

Putting images into their appropriate context can be done through the use and position of the backgrounds, and the lighting effects. The context is important to determine an object’s “power”. A lower horizon can make an object hold more authority due to the low position of the viewer, vice versa.

This psychological concept can be used to inject more emotion and stronger messages into pictures and images.

Digital Painting 1

Before and after samples of a digital painting done by Lim Hao Yang on June 7 in School of Art, Design, Media, NTU.

Day 2 Reflections - Jurvis Tan

1. I chose this project because...
I like to be involved with stuff involving the creative industry, I found this project as the matching projects I'm looking for and really want to experience so I chose it.

2. My role in the group...
My role in the group is to do my very best in everything assigned by the professor, and make sure there is nothing less than my 90% in my work.

3. Challenges that I/we encounter when working on this project in the last 2 days...and how I/we overcome this challenges...
Some challenges I encountered were getting creative on what to paint and design, what I did was to go around looking at some other people's work, getting a good inspiration and idea of what I want to do.

4. Through this project, I/we discovered...
I have realized that the creative industry requires a big group of workers, constantly committed to the project that the group is completing.

5. As an individual, how I have benefitted from this programme...
I was able to demonstrate my creativity, innovation and application of concepts taught to me.

6. My aspirations...
My aspirations is to be part of the creative industry, constantly contributing and providing entertainment for the world. 

Day 2 and 3 - My Reflection - Serene

Day 2

Today, I learnt how to use photoshop to manipulate our pictures. I learnt several new functions:

1. Layering. Layering is how to have different images to be combined to a single image. It may consist of many colours.
2. Masking. Masking is colouring/ erasing part of the image while still leaving the original image intact.
3. Colour Blending. Colour Blending is to merge two images to create make it seem as if they came from the same photo.
4. Shadowing and Lighting. Shadowing and Lighting is used to make certain parts of the image lighter or darker to create an illusion of a contour

Day 3

I choose this project because I find that it is very interesting and unique. This project exposes me to a new area of art that I have not tried before. I thought that it would be able to teach me new skills that I will not usually be exposed to in school. Also, we know that there would be an experienced professor teaching this project. Hence, he can teach us many high level techniques to edit an image which many other courses cannot.

Some challenges I encountered when working on this project in the last 2 days are having to remember how to use the tools in photoshop. There were many tools and I had to be very careful which layer I was colouring on. There were a number of times whereby I accidentally coloured the wrong image or used the wrong tool. I had to redo some of the images and this wasted time. I overcame these challenges by making sure of where and what I was colouring before I would start. I would double check everything before I started to do anything and also asked questions when I was unsure.

Through this project, I discovered that photoshop is a very interesting tool. There are many tools available to edit an image. The end product of the image edited can be unrecognisable but brilliant at the same time. I also discovered that it is not easy to create a good image. There are many factors to a single image to make it look very nice.

As an individual, I have benefitted from this programme by being able to be exposed to a new area of art. It was the first time I used photoshop even though I have seen images edited in photoshop and heard of what photoshop was capable of. I learnt many skills and different tools in photoshop although I am still not very fluent and may make mistakes here and there. However, I find that I have gained new knowledge on how to edit images instead of simply taking a photograph.

I hope that I will be able to use photoshop sometime soon again as it is a very useful and interesting tool. I have only barely started to discover some of the tools that photoshop provides. There are still many things to learn in photoshop which I hope I will be given the opportunity to learn. I hope that I will be able to improve my skills in photoshop so that I will be able to edit images to make them look fantastic.

Day 1 Reflections - Jurvis Tan

Key Learning Points from Plenary Sessions


Importance of Water—Dirty and Clean

Water Pollution can affect a country's social and economical development. It bothers us based on the following: smell, infectious disease, chronic health risks, environmental degrading and it's impacts to the country social and economical development.

From this lecture I have learned something from a common stereotype: not all microbes are bad, some and in fact a fraction of them are good, some are even used to treat water.

Revolution of Microelectronics Technology

From this lecture I have learned that Singapore is trying hard to keep up with the transformation of the International electronics industry; to create higher value-added products

The supply chain has slowly been moving to Asia due to proliferation driving global demand. Electronics, over the decades have made these certain aspects of our lives possible: entertainment, medicine, manufacturing and transportation.

I have also learned the engineering and biology are converging at the nanoscale; with electronics scaling down to nanoscale and biology scaling up to meet nanoscale. Singapore's future is also based on the following: Research Intensity, Innovative and Entrepreneurial economy. Some of Singapore's steps to achieve this is the current Biopolis and the upcoming Mediapolis and Clean Tech Park.

Innovation Breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Nano-Technology

Singapore is seen as a very good location for the development of nano-science and technology; being in the center of Asia, we are the hub.

Basic Principle of Nano-Science Technology: smaller size for a fixed volume = large surface area

Some examples for the use of nano-science and technology are: cleaning water and changing the color of contact lenses.

IT for Animation:

Animation, being an optical illusion of motion created by consecutive of 2 or more composition static images, has evolved through time, from animations that are extremely labor intensive to computer driven animation. Some of these types of animations do include: Stop Motion Animation, 2D Animation and 3D Animation.

There are many tedious steps in 2D animation, making it more expensive than 3D animation, surprisingly. And they all start with the Script, Storyboard, Character Design, Intermediate Frame Drawing, Reference Frame Drawing, Sound, Painting, Composition and Shooting followed by final print.

Day 1 Reflections - Norul

(A) My key learning points from each session...

1. Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean
From this session, I have learnt that clean water must not be taken for granted, because in other parts of the world, people who are not as fortunate are consuming and using 'dirty' water. Water becomes dirty when it is contaminated by pollutants from the environment. Dirty water contains microbes and bacteria, which may cause humans who come into contact with it to be seriously ill through waterborne diseases. Millions of deaths each year can be prevented if only the water was clean. That is why it is important for us to know the importance of dirty and clean water; when we pollute the water, we are not only harming other organisms in the environment, but ourselves too.

2. Revolutions of Microelectronics Technology
9 O's:

1. biO
2. radiO
3. autO
4. infO
5. nanO
6. water = hydro = H2O
7. audiO
8. videO
9. energy = m.c^2 = m.c^twO

The 9 O's spell out B.R.A.I.N.W.A.V.E.

3. Biomedical Engineering & Technology 

From this session, I learnt that there are many uses of nano-technology. 

4. IT for Animation

From this session, I learnt about different types of animations, how they are made, and how Mathematics is applied in the making of animations. An animation is an optical illusion of motion created by consecutive display of 2 or more static images. There are mainly three types of animations: stop-motion, 2D, and 3D. All of them require labour and hard work to complete. Mathematics is used in the making of animations. Some aspects of Mathematics which are used are geometry, calculus and laws of Physics. 

5. Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think 

From this session, I learnt about what a geodesist does, how sea-level rise will not be the same everywhere when a glacier melts, and how much the sea-level rises per year on average. A geodesist is someone who measures the shape and area of the earth. The sea-level rise will not be the same everywhere because regions further from where the glacier melts would have higher sea-level rise than those nearer to the glacier. The sea level rises 3mm/year on average.

(B) Deepest impression...

The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is session number one, Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean. What I like about it is the way the lecturer presented on the topic.

Reflections on Plenary Sessions - Stacey

(A) My key learning points

Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean
- Economic development can compromise water resources. There is an increasing need to protect our water resources as economies develop.
- Singapore is like a water catchment. It is built in such a way that water is collected at various points and transported.
- There are currently many problems with the way we are using our water resources and there is no one solid solution that everyone can use. It is an expanding industry.

Revolution of Microelectronics Technology
- Computers were revolutionized from mega huge machines to a more compacted and portable one.
- Everything is being made smaller, thinner and lighter.

Biomedical Engineering & Technology
- Smaller size for a fixed volume = larger surface area
- With the same volume, nano-tech makes things smaller so that it will have a higher energy level.
- It does not reinvent anything, just modifying existing stuff

IT for Animation
- Animation uses much mathematical ideas. Such as calculus and the laws of physics.
- The cost of making 2D animations are higher compared to making 3D animations. This is so as 2D animations work on a frame by frame drawing and needs skilled artists to do so.
- There are 3 different types of lighting to make 2D look like 3D. They are the ambient lighting (adding color to the object), diffuse lighting (applying shadows to the objects) and specular lighting (highlighting the objects to make it more realistic).

Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think
- The sea-level rise will not be the same everywhere
- Closer distance between two objects = stronger gravitational force
- The factors that affect the distribution of the mass on Earth are mostly due to water and the mantle. 

(B) Deepest impression
The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is the plenary session: disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think. The information shared in this plenary session was new and interesting as I did not know how gravity starts a "chain" effect on the water distribution around the Earth. That the level of the seawater closest to a melting glacier is lower compared to the further areas due to the gravity pull of the water.

Reflections (Day 2-3) - Eunice

I chose this project because it caught my interest first when the list of projects were announced in school. I think it is because the chances of us using Photoshop is very high, and I have always wanted to learn it.

The challenges I have faced so far are more or less catching up with the Professor. Although I had not much problem with his accent, I am not very ‘eloquent’ at using the stylus, and I could not locate where the different functions are. Now that I am more familiar with the software, I can create my own works independently.

Through this project, I have learned more about the software, as well as how it developed from something small to a software so big that even a DVD can’t store it.

I have benefited from this program by learning more about the software, mainly the technicalities, such as how to achieve some features using Photoshop.

I aspire to create better pictures using Photoshop, just like the Professor.

3 things I learnt:
-How layers would reduce the amount of limitations you have regarding the limits as to what you can do to the picture without destroying it
-How to unify different photos using Photoshop functions
-How to make the photo more realistic using shadows and lighting

Day 1 Plenary Sessions Reflections - Mikhael Tyebally

Plenary Session 1: 'Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean'

From this plenary session, I have learnt the importance of water and the many kinds of bacteria that could be in it depending on the level of exposure to animals. I have also learnt about Singapore itself is a water catchment, due to its limited land space.

Plenary Session 2: 'Revolution of Microelectronics Technology'

I have learnt from this plenary session that a lot of equipment today depends on microchips to work as they are like the brain of the equipment. Microchips are advancing, becoming smaller and smaller each year and more efficient.

Plenary Session 3: 'Biomedical engineering and Technology'

This plenary session has taught me the different kinds of Biomedical technologies and their uses. The three main branches in the field which are Nano-technology, Bio-technology and Defense-technology.

Plenary Session 4: 'IT for Animation'

From this, I have learnt about animation and ome of the software that can be used to help animate automatically, and the number of frames per second needed to make an animation, 24.

Plenary Session 5: 'Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is more important than you think'.

I learnt a new job from this session, Geodesist. A geodesist is a person who studies the the shape and size of the earth, its gravity field and things that have changed over time.

The deepest impression...
The fifth plenary session had the deepest impression on me. The presentation gave me good information about the earth and some facts about the different gravitational strengths at different parts of the earth.

Day 1,2,3 reflections - Pei Shan

(A) My key learning points from each session

Plenary Session 1
I have learnt that water is very important to our lives. The water industry has yet to come up with a solution for water problems. Water pollution has also caused water to be very dirty. The Singapore river was an example of dirty waste water. Why should pollution bother us? Smell, infectious diseases, Chronic Health risk, environmental degration. 1.1 billion people have no access to drinking water resources. 2.4 billion people have no adequate sanitation facilities and 3.4 million people die year from water based disasters.

Key enablers = water + energy

Irony = economic development can compromise water resources

Need = Increasing need to protect water resources as economies develop

Protection = appropriate management of waste waters and waste

The speaker was also very fun and engaging, cracking up jokes once in a while.

Plenary session 2

The chip is very important to electronics as it is the thing that makes it work.

The next big thing would be integrated circuits.

the 9 o's

Bio Radio Auto Info Nano Water = Hydro = H2o Audio Video Energy = m.c^2 = m.c ^two

The initials is BRAINWAVE

Electronics is scaling down, and Biology is scaling up. This adds to Bionanoelectronics.

Asia would be the main focus of the electronic industry.

Plenary session 3

Nano technology makes an item stronger but smaller.

Plenary session 4

Animation

Stop Motion

-Story Telling

2d

Script -> storyboard -> character design -> sound -> reference frame drawing -> intermediate frame drawing -> printing -> composition and shooting -> final print

3d

-Geometry

-Linear algebra

-Calculus

-laws of physics

Motion capture

Image processing & computer vision

Computer Games

-animation networking

Everybody can be an inventor

- identify and analyse the problem

Take the first step, start something big, keep it simple and perfect it later.

Plenary session 5

*Sea level rise will not be the same everywhere

Self attraction and loading

One reason why sea level rises is because of the increasing temperature due to climate change.

Geodists measure the shape and size of earth, its gravity field, and how these things change overtime.

With space-based technologies, we can now measure these things in great detail.

(B) Deepest impression

The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is Plenary session 4 - IT for animation. What I like about it is how 2d animation is done. A video of the process was played and it seems tedious but fun and cool. The equipments are pretty interesting. I have an interest in this area so I find the talk pretty interesting. I hope to be able to experience creating a animation.

Day 2 & 3 reflections

Why have I chosen this project?

I like graphic designing and I was interested in using photoshop before the camp, I was delighted to see that there was such a project and hence decided to join it.

Challenges I have faced

I found it difficult to follow everything Professor Martin explained to us. I tend to forget what he said. I also destroy my painting a lot of times as i could only undo once. I really hope photoshop would allow us to undo more than once. I found that pretty irritating. It was also hard to make my skin tone the same as the person's in the picture. Which made my work look fake. However, thanks to Professor Martin, it was fixed and didn't look as fake.

As an individual, how have I benefitted from this programme?

I learnt how to use photoshop and many of its functions. I was also able to use a good tablet to draw. I could express my creativity.

My aspirations

I aspire to own a complete set of adobe applications like flash and photoshop. I also hope that I can own a good tablet for me to draw. I would like to work in this area (animation or anything that includes drawing graphically) in the future.

After :

Before:

Done By Tay Pei Shan
08/06/2011

Day 2 & 3 reflection: Celine Chee

3 things I learnt:

-How to be more observant in adding features

-Shadowing a picture to make it more realistic

-Layers and masking to help add more colour

I choose this project because I have an interest in art and I hoped that it would teach me more about drawing and animation

Challenges I encountered when working on this project in the last two days were actually trying to figure out the different uses of photoshop as there was so many functions and I overcame it by asking for help from the professor.

Through this project I discovered that I was possibly more better off drawing on paper, but that could also be due to my lack of experience.

As an individual, I have benefited by knowing more about drawing softwares, how to use the different functions on them and about animation.

My aspirations is to be an animator and hopefully make my own digitally animated short films that will soon become movies.

Day 1 Reflections Gwendolyn

1. Importance of water - Dirty and Clean

I learnt that water is very important. Pollution can result in smell, diseases, health risk and environmental degradation. 1.1 billion have no access to clean water, 2.4 billion suffer from inadequate sanitation, 3.4 million die every year from water-borne diseases and 2 billion are at risk of water-related bacterial diseases. Even though the flushed toilets were invented during the 1760-1500 BC, it was not until 600 BC did it appear again. The professor was engaging and charismatic, unlike the stereotypical lecturer. He crack jokes and make the entire plenary session captivating and entertaining.

2) Revolution of Microelectronics technology

I learnt that microelectronics would soon play a big role in our lives. The supply chain of this is mainly to Asia and Singapore is right smack in the center of it. In addition, the proliferation of electronics are driving global demands. This would mean Singapore would see more business as a trading port. The speaker was monotonous and change slides rather quickly, thus many of us could not jot down enough information.

3) Innovative breakthrough in Nano-science and Nano-technology

I learnt that Nano-technology has made what was considered impossible in the past possible now. You want a material ten times the strength of steel but only a fraction of the weight? Use Carbon Nano-tubes. Shrink all the information in the Library of COngress into the size of a sugar cube? It is possible with the help of quantum dots. Detect cancerous tumors when they are only a few cells in size? Nano-particles are the answer. Nano-particles deliver the drugs directly to the tumors and thus reduce damage to healthy cells. The speaker was charismatic and able to keep everyone’s attention on him.

1. IT for Animation

I learnt that traditional animation involves a lot of work and thus labour-intensive and cost more money to produce. Nowadays, with the aid of computer animation technology, animations are now less labour-intensive and thus cost less to produce. However, countries such as Japan still uses traditional animation to produce popular anime and it involves very little computer aid.

5) Disappearing Glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think

I learnt that geodesist, a lesser-known job, measure the shape and size of our planet as well as its gravitational field. Glaciers play a key role in the process ‘Self-attraction’ and maintain the sea-level all over the world. As the glacier melts, it will create a domino effect, decreasing the relative sea-level near the glacier and increasing the relative sea-level as the distance between the glacier and the area being measured increases.

Day 2 Reflection - Roy Chua

1. I learnt how to use blend modes correctly to be able to manipulate the colours and textures of an image. This can help me to make an image more realistic by helping the photoshopped images to be able to match their lighting.

2. I learnt how to make use of images in order to apply textures to surfaces. This can help me to be able to photoshop images that are more realistic and not have smooth and plastic-like surfaces.

3. I learnt about how clipping layers can be used to help one to colour certain parts of the layer. This can help to create minimal obstruction and mess when editing an image, allowing the photoshopping process to be shorter.

Day 1 Plenary Sessions - Roy Chua

1. Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean

This session helped me to understand the importance of water to us and how precious it is for our survival and development of society. Thus I learnt that we have to now try to save as much water as possible to enable us to advance as a whole society.

2. Revolution of Microelectronics Technology

This session helped to understand the extend of what electronics can do and the possibilities of what the human mind and engineering can do. Thus I have gained a deeper insight of the current level of technology can achieve.

3. Biomedical Engineering & Technology

This session helped me to find out more about how well advanced the modern technology is capable of achieving by just simply manipulating different materials and to use them at various sizes in order to help people in many ways.

4. IT for Animation

The session taught me about how much time and effort are put into the animated shows we have nowadays and that we should not take them for granted. The shows should be respected as having to repeat the animating process, especially for 2D animated shows, take a long time, and thus are hard to maintain their standard.

5. Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is even more important than you think

The session has taught me that we must get all sides of a story before making our own opinion to any situation. I also learnt about how greatly gravity has affected the sea levels and that countries near the equator are bound to be in more danger than those near glaciers, thus we, living in Singapore, have to care more about the environment in order to prevent sea levels to be higher than the land mass of Singapore and its surrounding countries.

Deepest Impression

The plenary session that leaves the deepest impression on me is 'IT for Animation'. What I like about it is because I am interested in animation and art. The session also featured the most videos, allowing us to be more engaged to the session than others. Furthermore, the theme of anime allows some students' attentions to be caught as some students are interested in anime.

Reflections - Day 1, Yu Xiang

Plenary Session 1: 'Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean'
My key learning points from this session is, water is crucial for survival, and is a wide market with lots of potential customers. I have also learnt that Singapore, the whole island by itself is actually a water catchment! Due to our limited land-spaces, the government has actually built water catchments in various parts of Singapore! I have also learnt that the various water-borne diseases will definitely be an origination of every living organism! A classic example would be the current epidemic, the E. Coli outbreak, and E. Coli bacteria can be found in animal faeces.

Plenary Session 2: 'Revolution of Microelectronics Technology'

From this plenary session, I have learnt that not only are the pay for working in this industry high, the value of such technology high, but also the worth of the Microelectronics.

Plenary Session 3: 'Biomedical engineering and Technology' 
I have learnt about the 9 'Os' from this plenary session, which are basically the various industries where biomedical engineering and technology are applied. A few examples would be Energy (E = MCsquared) and Auto. Therefore, this also means that biomedical engineering and technology are also applied to almost every product in the market. 

Plenary Session 4: 'IT for Animation'
From this session, I have learnt that the eye, in order for it to register a smooth animation, the video must be playing a minimum of 24 frames per second. 

Plenary Session 5: 'Disappearing glaciers, rising sea levels, and why gravity is more important than you think'.
From this session, I have learnt that sea-level rises are different all over different parts of the world. And this is largely due to the weight of the glaciers on the land. The mass actually weighs the land down, resulting in water being attracted towards the land. This also means that the water level will decrease towards the sea. 

The deepest impression...

The deepest impression left on me, was actually from Plenary Session 5. I had not previously known the knowledge derived before, making it interesting for me. It was also an interesting fact about our world. The main point that the educator wanted us to learn was that 'Sea-level rise will not be the same everywhere', as quoted from her presentation. I had learned that due to the effects of mass and gravity, had the sea-level rise been unstable. 

Day 1 Reflection - Pasakorn

(A) Key Learning Points

This section will attempt to bring out the things that I have learnt throughout the 5 different plenary sessions. While writing, critiques may be made about each presentation. Although, generally, all plenary sessions were quite interesting, to say the least.

1. Importance of Water - Dirty and Clean

First of all, I have to say that I like the title. It states very strongly the message given. The presenter enlightened the cohort with his little ‘muck’ jokes, and yet the message was still there. The whole talk talked about the importance of water (refer to title) and how we should not take the clean water of Singapore for granted. Big issue, of course. We all know that. But the statistics shown really shocked me. 2 billion, more than the Singapore population, is deprived of clean water. So, does this mean that the smaller the country the better the wellbeing of the citizens? I have no idea. Anyways, he moved on to talk about how Singapore filters water through things like desalination and NEWater. Not a new concept to all of us. We’ve been through the NEWater tour last year. However, there was one point I would like to bring out, that lab-created microbes should not be released into the environment. I was first wondering, why, then the speaker later explained that it could cause a complete disruption in the ecosystem and biological habitat. More relation to Environmental Science. The talk, on a whole, was quite enjoyable with laughs along the way.

2. Revolution of Microelectronics Technology

This speech revolved around the creation and advancement of electronics, and the possibilities of the future (if 2012 is not really “2012”). Throughout the talk, the speaker spoke about how electronics make a difference in human interaction and communication, the B.R.A.I.N.W.A.V.E. so to speak. In case you were not there, no, it is not a gadget that can stop the hole in the ozone layer, or one that can let you read in darkness. B.R.A.I.N.W.A.V.E. stands for the essentials in electronics: Bio, Radio, Auto, Info, Nano, Water, Audio, Video and Energy. The whole speech revolved around this ‘major’ component. Also, a point mentioned by a good friend of mine is also agreeable. She mentioned that with these technologies, personal space will not be respected to its fullest. This concept is already very apparent, especially when someone can disturb you while you are doing something really important, like studying for your finals. “I know that you want me to wash the dishes, Ma, but my History paper is tomorrow and I want good grades.”

3. Innovative Breakthroughs in Nano-Science and Nano-Technology

Long title, but the speech basically talked about the small stuff. About how we can use these small stuff to help us in the fight against many things. It is a very simple concept, yet so effective. Having something small would have more potential to grow, to work better. See, simple right? Definitely, these things can be applied in various ways, from camouflaging a soldier to killing viruses in specific parts of the body. It is also a combination of many different fields of study. Not that I want to be an engineer in the near future.

4. IT for Animation

This I have a lot to talk about. Animation has been going on for many, many years. Again, another simple concept. Although it does require a lot of work. But this work really pays off in the end, when the graphics shown are just beautiful. And to get to these perfections, a lot of knowledge is required. Mathematical knowledge, colors, storyline, sound, characters… So interesting. It is a wonderful blend of all these, that animation comes about. Of course, not much content was being covered in the speech. Although the speaker did point out that 3D animations are more difficult to make than 2D ones because of the monetary constraints. Really sad. If only people can draw easier… But then again, that’s what Photoshop is for, right?

5. Disappearing Glaciers, Rising Sea Levels, and Why Gravity is Even More Important Than You Think

I laughed at the title when I read it out loud. Firstly, the ingenious way of placing the words “even more important than you think” at the end of the sentence already makes it sound funny. Secondly, I made no sense of the linkage between glaciers and sea levels, and gravity. I really looked forward to this speech, thinking it was going to be a very good closer. In the end, it really was. The speech talked about the physics of the earth, and why sea level rise is not the same across the globe. I’m not one who’s easily interested in something so complex, but the speaker said it so simply that my mind had to slow itself down. The reason for the difference in sea level rise is due to gravity (linking the title together), and the push and pull of objects. This basically means that different areas affected by melting glaciers have different rise or fall in sea level because of the distance between them. Simple? Yes. If only exams were that simple… But, that’s another matter.

(B) Deepest Impression

Personally, I would find the animation (IT for Animation) one most interesting. Why? I just like having an intriguing storyline worked out and animated into something viewers enjoy. What is the point of doing something one doesn't enjoy? The speeches were not really driving me to join their respective careers. (However, I do think that it does have to opposite effect on certain people.) And I do like stop motion, 2D and 3D animation from the start. Of course, I would rather, if I could, go to Mass Comm, Arts or Social Sciences instead, but I shall not say anything more.

My Personal Reflection-Day 2-3 By Soe Yan Naung @ Norman

My Personal Reflection-Day 2-3

I choose this project because I wanted to learn how to paint digitally and have a new experience that is rare to come. It is also because of my interest in the subject that I decide to choose this project over the others.

Challenges I encounter when working on this project in the last 2 days .was with the many confusing functions of Photoshop mainly as there are so many and things become confusing at times and I overcame these challenges by just fiddling around with the application and getting used to it and also listening closely to the teacher, ”Dr. Martin Constable” .

Through this project, I discovered that the tool can be a very fun thing and the techniques such layering, lighting scenes, shadowing scenes and using your imagination to make the image that you want by taking things that are totally unrelated and redesigning them to suit your needs.

As an individual, I have benefited from this program by learning to have great patience and also how to use other things in ways to suit your needs by manipulating them.

My Aspiration is to be able to use the PhotoShop tool easily like Dr. Martin and produce very good quality pictures while having fun.