Patrick Rushton

Welcome to my portfolio. Here you will find some examples of my work including websites, motion graphics, Flash experiments and interactive television applications.

Client: ROC Friesepoort
Format: Flash site, game & map tool

Summary: This site was produced as part of a campaign to recruit students for the ROC Friesepoort schools. Students can signup for an open day or play a game in which they discover which courses match their interests. The school locations which offer the courses are then shown on an interactive map in which the student can find out more about the schools and courses they offer.

Role: I came up with the radar game and map concepts after brainstorming around the central campaign message “dichtbij” which means “close by”. I first created some Flash prototypes to see what was possible using the Google Maps API before developing the interaction design, visual design, sounds and Flash animatics. The final Flash application was created with the help of Actionscript/PHP developer Roy Garnaat who implemented an elegant PureMVC-based framework for the site.

Tools: Adobe Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, Ableton Live

Link: http://dichtbij.rocfriesepoort.nl

Flash & ActionScript, Graphics Design, Web Design & Development

Client: ROC van Amsterdam
Format: Cinema commercial

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Summary: This commercial was produced as part of a multimedia recruitment campaign to attract students to the ROC which is the largest college in the Amsterdam region. The ad is being shown in cinemas within the college’s catchment area, allowing potential students to be well targeted in the weeks leading up to the open days.

Role: I animated the commercial using Adobe After Effects, making use of 3D layers in Photoshop CS4 Extended to animate the podium element which I modelled using Autodesk Maya. I also created the background music, sound effects and treated the voiceover to produce an audio mix suitable for the cinema.

Tools: Adobe After Effects, Photoshop Extended, Autodesk Maya, Ableton Live

Motion Design & 3D

Client: UPC
Format: Red button i-Ad

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Summary: During the broadcast of UPC’s commercial on the Netherland’s RTL channels, digital viewers are invited to press the red button on their remote control to enter an interactive microsite. The set-top-box application allows viewers to play a game in which they race against UPC’s new Fiber Power high-speed internet connection, and the slower ADSL competitor. The game is a fun and interactive way to communicate the message that Fiber Power is so much faster than ADSL. The viewer can also browse through product information and request a brochure.

Role: concept; interaction & visual design; animation; application build.

Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Mistral eTV-Studio

Graphics Design, Interactive Television

I’d like to draw your attention to this excellent new book on the open-source Flash 3D engine, Papervision3D. The book is written by Paul Tondeur and Jeff Winder and it is now available from Packt Publishing.

I had the pleasure of helping Paul and Jeff with the book as a reviewer / proof-reader, and I can testify that it is very comprehensive. What I particularly value about the book is that it can be read as an introduction for beginners, but also serve as a reference guide once you’ve grasped the main topics.

Beginning with the basics of setting up Papervision3D inside your development environment, the book takes you through the essential elements of primitives, materials, and cameras before moving into advanced topics including animation, effects and performance optimisation.

There are some free sample chapters available on Jeff’s blog, and the book can be ordered directly from Packt, or from Amazon.

Flash & ActionScript, Motion Design & 3D

Although I modelled this from scratch, I have to admit to getting a lot of help from a video tutorial. However since it kept me busy for over a week, I figured it would only be fair to post the results here.

Tools: Autodesk Maya

Motion Design & 3D

Client: IDBC
Format: Interactive television portal

Summary: I designed these mockups to present a concept for an interactive television advertising portal.

Tools: Adobe Photoshop

Graphics Design, Interactive Television

I based this campervan on a small toy version which really helped when modelling from various angles. I chose to use Maya’s smooth-polygon modelling rather than NURBS with a view to creating a low resolution version in Papervision 3D. This was exported as a DAE object to bring into Papervision. I had to experiment with using null objects and grouping hierarchy to get the wheels to turn on the correct axis. The next step is to add some geometry to fix the z-sorting issues around the wheel arches and try burning out some textures.

Tools: Autodesk Maya, Adobe Flash, Papervision3D

Flash & ActionScript, Motion Design & 3D

I’ve been working on this personal 3D project to develop my polygon modelling and texturing skills. Maya was used to model the building and create the UV maps which were then brought into Photoshop for texturing. Below is a photo of the actual building, the Paradiso in Amsterdam. As you can see, I haven’t yet got around to the chimneys!

Motion Design & 3D 3D, Maya, Paradiso

Client: Bond van Adverteerders
Format: Flash website

Summary: This website was created to present the interactive advertising and research findings of the IDBC. The project as been put forward for a Spin Award and AMMA Award.

Role: Interaction & visual design, video editing & encoding, Flash/ActionScript 3.0 development

Tools: Adobe Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, JavaScript

Link: http://www.dztv.nl/idbcpilot

Awards, Flash & ActionScript, Graphics Design, Interactive Television, Web Design & Development

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I’ve decided to update my 3D skills in preparation for getting stuck into some Flash Papervision work. My first project on the 6-month Maya course at Qantm is to create a chess set using only basic primitive shapes. It looks a bit surreal, but probably makes more sense after reading the brief below:

“Your first project is to create a chess set. One side is made using only spheres while the other side is made using only cubes. One side should appear light/floating/zero gravity while the other side should appear heavy/solid/weighed down. The pieces can be abstract/minimal but it should be clear what each piece is. The project is designed to practice your organisational skills (grouping,naming using layers) and also to develop your imaginative skills.”

Motion Design & 3D 3D, Maya