[charliehnz]

Final exhibition layout for Float Studios' VR title, Kraken.

[charliehnz]

Kraken Gameplay and Showreel

Gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsATadueK6k

Showreel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XFPucSVTOU

[charliehnz]

Digital Portfolio for Charles Hlavac - Creative Freelance

Check out the updated site!

[charliehnz]

Kraken In-Game Percussion

The backing percussion for Float Studios' VR title, Kraken.

[charliehnz]

I present to you, the plantbot! A compact, arduino-powered, automatic watering solution for the household plant or similar. Overall I am very pleased with how much the circuit was refined down to a compact solution and how the 3D printed housing turned out. See more on my website at http://hlavaccreations.com/plantbot.html

[charliehnz]

After ordering some more legitimate parts for my plantbot I managed to wire it up and write some code in order to get the whole system functioning as intended. My idea is to make the planbot a commercially viable product and in doing so refine the circuitry and make it tidy and professional. With the help of Matthew Warner, 2nd Year BCT the plan is to re-wire the system to make it all far more compact and aesthetically pleasing. If all goes as planned I also am hoping to print proper housing for the plantbot to keep the whole circuitry confined in custom casing with some sort of logo branding embedded in the design.

[charliehnz]

I decided to try and make my own soil moisture sensor for my automatic plant watering system to cut costs. I have been getting poor results from testing reading of the current between the two bolts I have fashioned into a small piece of wood to act as the sensor. It may be more ideal to fork out a bit of money towards some proper components and look towards making the small unit a commercially viable product and print some sort of 3D printed housing for the circuit.

[charliehnz]

Early sensor testing for my Intelligent Agents automatic plat watering system. I have been testing sensors to try and eliminate/include potential additions to the final circuit design. Here I am testing a humidity and temperature sensor with ideas of incorporating some sort of visual display to show values of sensor readings on an OLED screen or similar. 

[charliehnz]

Intelligent Agents - Project #2

For our second project in this paper we are required to create something involving AI. From the get-go my vision has been to create something that will aid everyday life and serve a role in easing some sort of activity/chore/hobby etc. One of my initial ideas is to design and create a small, artificially intelligent plant watering system for small-scale planter/box type solutions for those say living in an apartment or smaller home in a city or similar. (Below is a similar project I found on instructables to serve as inspiration and a base idea to build off) 

- http://www.instructables.com/id/Automatically-water-your-small-indoor-plant-using-/?ALLSTEPS

[charliehnz]

In recent projects I’ve been making an effort to upskill myself in Unreal Programming, specifically Audio. Progress at the moment includes implementing all of the ambient sounds for the smaller boat as it traverses the waters (Hull Creaks, Rope Creaks, Sail Flaps etc), ocean ambience, splashes, boat destruction etc.

[charliehnz]

Managed to fit in a decent amount of time for foley recording over the mid semester break. Above are just a few of the different sounds I managed to simulate including more layering for the boat destruction sounds. All sorts of different shaped and sized pieces of wood allowed for some much needed recordings for vital sounds and layers for the SFX library for Kraken.

A pool at my partner’s home in Gisborne was awesome for recording some more splashes and tentacle water wades. I have found that foley allows for me to have much more control over the sounds I want/record for Float’s projects rather than relying on pre-recorded sounds online which I have needed to apply multiple effects on and edit quite more before a final recording in audio software.

[charliehnz]

Ableton, Ableton and more Ableton

[charliehnz]

SM2 Kraken Project Update

My father’s workshop in Warkworth has proven to be an ideal location to double as a Foley recording space due to the vast number of objects, tools and all sorts to be used to create the VR audio and populate the world of Kraken with. SFX-wise, Kraken is nearing completion in terms of our upcoming deadlines. Some of the completed SFX include;

Boat Creaks

Boat Crunch/Destruction

Chest/Gold Pickup

Ocean Ambience

Water Splashes

Rigging Sounds

Rope Creaks

Round Transition

At the moment i’m still waiting on replies from pre-existing Foley Studios where myself and other members from Float could potentially post up for a day or two and pump out a large amount of audio recording using their libraries of physical objects used specifically for Foley. Until then i’ve been recording raw audio all over the place from my city apartment to the BCT studio & mech lab to even my home and dad’s workshop up in Warkworth. I’m currently at my partner’s home in Gisborne where they have a pop-up swimming pool which I will be utilising as a primary recording space for many of the water-related SFX that we are still in need of - (Kraken water movement, tentacle splashes, ship pieces scattering in water after being destroyed etc..) I’ve found that i’ve been enjoying my role as Audio Technician a whole lot more this time round for Kraken after getting into foley and more/new software. Typically I would be finding the sounds I need online and then editing/tweaking them in order to achieve the desired sound. Not only did this feel a bit too easy at times but also it’s not exactly the most commercially viable way of owning my role. This time round however getting into Foley means our audio is completely original (and legal). If we’ve needed a SFX ASAP however I have been able to find placeholder sounds online that are protected by CCO that I can replace further down the line when I get the chance to originally record the sound elsewhere.

[charliehnz]

Kraken Audio Update 16/8/16

Over the past few weeks I have been able to pump out the main theme and record some raw sounds to process and edit into SFX. Kraken Theme https://soundcloud.com/charliehnz/kraken-title-music

The theme for Kraken takes a lot of inspiration from similar sounding compositions such as the tavern music from WoW. Collectively we wanted to have a whimsical and catchy title/theme song containing a number of folk and piratey sounding instruments from Celtic Tin Flutes to the Accordion. The general feedback was highly positive from the rest of the team and even others passing by our studio space. To hear people humming it to themselves throughout the day was a good sign that it drew people’s attention and stuck with them-a memorable experience.

Next up is to start creating the track(s) of in-game music that will play during the playable state of Kraken. SFX Kraken is a game built on responsive and immersive SFX. Due to the whole nature of the game and high level of interactivity it requires a whooole lot of sounds to achieve the vision of what we set out to create. In the past I have found it easy to use pre-recorded sounds off the internet and then edit/apply effects to create SFX with minimal original recording. This time round, armed with a Zoom Mic, I aim to originally record & create all of the in-game SFX. We hope to kickstart Kraken upon completion and having completely original audio is quite essential.

[benjisbachelor]

As of today, Float Studios is an official registered/certified company. My role in this project (among other things) was to focus on making us and “Kraken” commercially viable. Registering our business was a big step for this to happen. This week I have also: set up a business bank account, arranged contracts for everyone in the team, applied for an IRD number, registered for GST, etc. This is a massive milestone for us and something we didn’t expect to get done so soon.

We are so excited to see what is ahead for us.

[charliehnz]

Kraken Development Log 02

The second development log for Kraken, a VR game made by Float Studios.

[charliehnz]

Working on a (almost finished) title/menu song for Kraken. I have found creating songs/composition in Logic as opposed to Ableton has been a far easier experience due to the diverse selection of instruments in the in the initial libraries and in downloadable packs. I managed to get some awesome “piratey” sounding instruments and have enjoyed writing a more whimsical and upbeat composition full of lively strings, woodwinds and percussion.