Context and Research
When I first started my FMP I created a mind map where I came up with my first ideas on what to do for this project. My ideas were 3D Environment, animation or an asset pack. Within these 3 categories I came up with ideas on what I could possibly do for them such as a baseball swing or a weapons pack. After brain storming it more in depth, I decided to do a 3D Environment and base it in Ancient Japan. Upon deciding on what kind of environment to create, I had two ideas in mind. Either an outside environment based at sunset with mountains or an interior environment of a Dojo.
I ended up going with the idea of an interior environment of a Dojo, and so I started to gather images online from websites such as ArtStation, where there had previously been an art contest on here based on Feudal Japan, which was very helpful to me as this is the same theme as my project so I was able to grab a lot of reference images from there
After establishing a theme and a basic idea of what it is I intend to create, I wrote out my SWOT analysis. By doing this I discovered opportunities such as how I can use my Unit 07 project (which was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances) to help me with this project. This is because my intentions for Unit 07 were very similar to what I want to make on this project, that being a Japanese Dojo. I will be able to reuse assets from Unit 07 that I never got to put to use, and so with that I began conducting research into what I wanted to create. I gathered images and used PureRef to put them all together. I looked into creating props such as a table, shelves, screen doors and Tatami mats. This helped establish a better image in my head of what I want to make, and will help me later down the line when I come to creating a 2D Floor Plan. I wanted to have this project accurate to Feudal Japan, and so I conducted research into the time period, and got an understanding of what happened during this time and I conducted further research into Tatami Mats, and found references on the sort of patterns that were typically created with them indoors that I can replicate in my project.
I then created a form of which the purpose was to gather information on how I should create this project, and included questions such as what ArtStyle I should do. I sent this survey to my College Class, and gathered the results which guided me in the direction that the majority think would be right for my project.
A weakness I had with creating this project as discussed in my SWOT analysis, was the fact that I had little experience and knowledge on how to UV in Maya. So after creating my form, I decided to research into tutorials online on how to UV assets, and I found a video which I saved on my site for me to watch and follow along later in the project.
Another key aspect of creating this project was for me to get inspiration, and so I did specific game research into video games with the same genre as my project such as Ghost of Tsushima, because with the results gathered from my survey, the majority voted for me to use a realistic ArtStyle for this project, which Ghost of Tsushima and the other games I conducted research upon have.
To ensure that I could create this project before the deadline a timeplan was needed for me to understand when I should be working on certain elements of this project, and so I made two on Excel. One for my research and the other for practical. I feel that this timeplan was successful as I managed to create what I needed to do from the timeplan, and the time of which I planned to create them was accurate.

Overall, my Context and Research went well and I am happy with what I achieved in terms of the theory. Through this I have gained knowledge not only about how I should create my project, but also historical knowledge of Ancient Japan which may or may not help me in future projects that could potentially be set in the same time period, but nonetheless it was very intriguing to learn about


Pre-Production
The first part of Pre-Production I did was creating an Asset List of the props I want to be creating for this project. This helped me with the next part of pre production I worked on, which is the 2D Floor Plan where I created my initial idea for the environment from a top down perspective showing the locations of each of my assets. This helped me tremendously, as it was from here that I got the perfect idea in mind of what my project will look like and made my job easier when it came to building the environment. After doing this, I moved onto specific reference gathering of the props I intend to create as listed on my asset list, which I would use to help me model them in Maya, and through doing this and the 2D Floor Plan I started to realise that I didn't quite need all the props I put on my asset list. This was due to two reasons, one being that it would take too much time and the other being that it wasn't necessary as the environment is small and doesn't require too many props to look good.
I then went onto reference gathering of the type of lighting I would like for this project. The main source of lighting will be coming from the sun beaming into the open doors, and so I gathered images of sunsets. This in return helped me understand the colour of the lighting I should go for, and also helped me create the sunset in the background of my environment. After doing this, I used photoshop to create a 2D image from the cameras point of view of the environment using the 2D Floor Plan I made which will further help me when it comes to creating the scene and placing in the camera.
I looked into existing images of similar environments. I analysed one and took notes of what was done in that image, such as where the focal point was, which helped me see what can be done with the type of scene I'm creating, and how to make a focal point.
Lastly, I got some reference images of wood and cloth textures that were accurate to what they would have been in Feudal Japan, and I knew this thanks to my research I conducted

Overall the Pre-Production of this project went very well, and I set up everything I needed for starting the practical, and it definitely helped, especially with the 2D Plans I made as they really set an image in my head of what I am aiming for


Production
I started my production by taking the reference images I gathered in my Pre-Production part of the project, and used them to aid me in creating the specific props. I went to model on the props in Maya, starting with the simplest first being the Tatami Mat and ended with what I would find the most difficult to make, the Katana. Creating all the props I planned to make in Maya went according to plan, and was very satisfied with the outcome. I was lucky to have made some of the props that were on my list before, which I was unable to use in my other project and so I was able to use them in this project instead, which helped reduce the time it took me to create the entire scene.
After having all the props in Maya ready to go, I wasted no time and imported them into Unreal and from there I began applying materials to all the assets and then I started to place all of them in position according to my 2D Floor Plan layout. After doing this I made the lighting, which thankfully due to my pre-production I knew exactly what kind of lighting to go for. After completing the lighting and adding in the camera, my scene was pretty much complete. Although, I felt that it was not quite right, and did not match the idea of having it be realistic which people voted for in my form. The reason for this, was the basic colour only materials on the assets, so I then decided to add realistic textures onto them which I got for free from Unreal. After doing this, I didn't want to call it a day there, so I looked into what I could improve/add. I had a perfect idea of creating a lake outside of the open doors with cliffs which I modelled in Unreal in the background, with a Torii Gate in the middle of the lake becoming the focal point of the image, which I had already made but never used like some of the other assets.
It was at that point where I felt satisfied with the outcome of my environment, and so with the camera in place I took the final High Resolution screenshot.

Overall my Production of this project went very well and exceeded my expectations of the final outcome, and I have gained experience in Unreal with the landscaping tool which I used to create the hills in the background, and this is now something I'm familiar and confident with.

Summary
In conclusion, this project went to plan. I gained valuable transferable skills from creating this project, such as time management which before I was not great with, but now after completing this project I can say that my confidence with managing deadlines has certainly boosted. There were some issues here and there, and nearer to the end of the project I had to make a lot of improvements, including me working from home late at night to really improve this site overall. All issues that I encountered were resolved in the end, and I can say that I am very happy with how this project turned out
If I were to change anything, I would have expanded on the narrative background of the image, and perhaps even have made it an environment in Unreal that you could walk around and pick up objects that can tell a story. This is something I may have done if I had more time to create this project.
Based on the feedback I received from people in my class, I can say that I succeeded in what I intended to create. I was given ideas from my class on how I could improve my scene, and people liked what I made and felt that it really matched the idea of Feudal Japan, and they said that I captured the realistic Artstyle I was going for really well. This was great to hear and I am so happy with what I have accomplished and I would say that it has been my best and most enjoyable project I've worked on yet.