I should've blogged about this when it was fresh in my mind, and when I was fuming, but I just didn't get around to it. Topic for this entry : The exams that had just passed about a month ago! (Crap, I keep blogging things so late.)

For the semester that had just passed, I had 2 examinable and 2 project-based modules. For the exam-based modules, I had been worried about one of them from the get-go, which was Software Engineering (SE), since I had thought it would be a lot more programming-based than it really was. The other module was Human-Computer Interface (HCI), which I had initially thought it wouldn't be that difficult since it was theory-based and that's (usually) my forte.

Of course as it turned out, HCI was much more difficult compared to SE.

For the module lessons itself, Software Engineering was a pain in the ass. In UniSIM, we only have 6 lessons per module, and for SE, the lecturer squeezed in about 9 seminars worth of material into these 6 lessons. So, that was 6 classes of cramming of information after information after information until we were saturated already and then some. And I remember being rather unhappy with the way the lecturer taught too. Quite all over the place, with little structure. He wasn't the worst lecturer I've had though. So that was a plus. Relatively speaking. Haha.

Human-Computer Interface on the other hand... The lecturer knew his stuff, I think. But he was very beat-around-the-bush type of guy, and he would go into so much details telling a "story" which ultimately had very little, sometimes nothing, to do with the topic at hand. It got really ridiculous most times. He also kept giving these fill-in-the-blank for-fun "quizzes" in class which nobody can answer because the ____________ could have an arbitrary number of words, and could be filled in with any number of things and still would make sense. Which pretty much made the quizzes pointless since the students are left confused, rather than getting their memory jogged up. What is wrong with UniSIM lecturers? -.-

And the HCI exam. Gah. When I opened up the question paper and read the questions, I felt like I hadn't studied for the exam at all. And at the end of the paper, I felt a real chance of failing for the first time during my degree course. The questions asked were from very obscure sections in the textbook, and would require you to memorise the whole book to answer it. Most of the main topics taught weren't asked at all, and some questions were rather ambiguous that they could be answered in more ways than one. Just like the lecturer's for-fun "quizzes"! ><

But, enough ranting... It's over, and I passed the module! :D Will post my grades in the next entry. ^^

Moving on to the project-based modules. I had Multimedia Systems and Advanced Multimedia Systems, which were both based on Macromedia/Adobe Flash. I used Macromedia Flash 8 'cause I cannot be bothered to learn the new Adobe Flash CS4 interface. (Stupid Adobe. They broke one of the major HCI rules regarding UI!) The projects were pretty much the same thing since these 2 5-credit modules used to be one 10-credit module. During lessons, a few of us asked if we could combine the 2 projects into 1, and in the end, we were told we could use most of the same elements if we wanted to, but we would have to produce 2 separate projects. For these modules, we had to pair up to create the projects since we didn't actually have a lot of time to finish them, and I paired up with... Kyle, of course. Haha.

I could create several entire blog posts from our project meet-ups, but I shall try to keep the recollections short instead. We finally decided to create our project based on inline skating (since we both know how to, and we won't have to research too much) after some brainstorming, and we decided to focus on the Advanced Multimedia Systems (Adv MS) project instead since anything that is done to satisfy that module's criteria will also automatically satisfy (and more) the criteria of the other module.

I gotta say that I enjoyed working with Kyle on the projects! It was quite a riot! And since we live so near to each other, it was very convenient as well. Quite a lot of planning went into these projects and I think we definitely went overboard with what we wanted to achieve (and in the end, actually achieving them), as compared to what the requirements actually needed. Not a good thing being OCD, man. Even if we did bring down our collective OCD levels a few notches. Hahha.

Anyway, here are the completed projects. There are still some bugs, and I'm very tempted to edit a few things, but err... I think I shall just leave them as they are. At least, for now. =P

For the above project, Multimedia Systems, we created a Flash site teaching how to maintain inline skates. I created the preloading page, the site interface and the Home page, while Kyle did the Parts and Maintenance pages. I did the logo as well (which as I had said in my project presentation - "started out as a 2-second scribble"). :D And the spinning inline skate element? Me and Kyle took photos of his sister's skates, which I then painstakingly masked the background out and animated, frame-by-frame, to create it. Hahha!

And for the Advanced Multimedia Systems, we created a Flash site to teach people how to skate. I created the preloading page, the site interface (pretty much the same thing as the MS one, with a different colour scheme), the Home page, Equipment page and sub-pages, along with the Safety page. And I think I share a bit of credit with Kyle for the How To Skate page since the layout design was mine (his original was quite a mess! Haha!) and we did work together for the content of that page. Which, yes, was created by us. We went out to shoot tutorial videos on how to skate, and scripted them, and narrated them, and edited them! Haha! Talk about overkill, since the main focus of the project is NOT content!

And the rotating model (that's Kyle, by the way!) in the Home and Equipment pages were also created like the skate animation in the MS project. We didn't have a studio to shoot in, so we sourced for a nearby white wall to use as backdrop, and shot in front of it! The photos were all painstakingly edited by me again. Which was okay since Kyle had to edit all the videos. I provided the narration, as you can obviously tell if you play any of the videos in the How To Skate page. Haha.

While we were out shooting these photographs, we had several passers-by stop and stare at us. Haha. And a few even asked questions! There was an auntie who thought we were shooting for MediaCorp. -.-" I think she meant for TV... Using a D70S? Haha.

This guy stopped and stared at us for at least a solid 10 minutes while we were photoshooting. Then he started asking Kyle questions about his DSLR, and saying that he was planning to buy one, and asked Kyle for his opinion. Hahhaha.

And here are some behind the scenes photos. :D

Where we were shooting. Heh. It was in front of a block of newly-painted flats. As you can see, it's not exactly white in colour, but it worked fine. :) I bought the white cloth from a shop in the Woodlands Centre area for about 20 bucks, and it just served to create a seamless background for the shoot, and to assist me during the removal of background in Photoshop.

In the beginning, I had shot several test shots to get a good exposure, and Kyle wanted to take a pic of me in that pose. Hahaha. We used some of the photos in our presentation, but not this one. =P The object holding the cloth down on the left is my pencil case, and on the right is a safari bed's bag, which I use to hold my tripod and budget lighting kit. :D

The tortured model! Haha! He had trouble staying at one spot since the ground we were at was actually slightly sloping, and I had him pose a full rotation 3 times! =P We ended up with "54 photographs of Kyle in various rotated positions were shot, 17 were edited in Adobe Photoshop CS3 to remove the background, and only 16 were finally used in the final frame-by-frame animation" (direct quote from my report!).

I think I played quite a huge role in our pairing... I would even go as far to say I played the role of project manager, even if there wasn't an actual designation. Haha. I think this was actually more due to circumstances rather than choice/ability, 'cause Kyle is definitely more than able. But he had been very busy with his work and other commitments that he couldn't really pay too much attention to the projects, so I think I instinctively took charge. And I think I did a good job, overall. :D

So, was all the work worth it? Well, it was fun, no doubt! Took way too much time, though... Because of all the work put into these projects, time was taken away from studying for the 2 examinable modules. Was all the effort worth it? Maybe not, but we were the type of people who would do it anyway because we wouldn't have been happy otherwise. Hahaha. (In other words, obsessive-compulsive, yes, yes.)

I will reveal the grades I received for all these 4 modules in my next entry! :D