Exploring a 2D/3D Interactive Game and Pop-up Book Form

In Week 3, I started to think about the direction of my project for this term. I have always wanted to make an interactive work that feels similar to a game. I am interested in combining 2D and 3D visuals, so the viewer or player can explore a space instead of only watching a linear animation. However, at this stage, I still did not have a very clear story, so I began by looking at the forms and media that I was interested in.

I am especially interested in pop-up books, because they naturally combine flat images and three-dimensional space. When the book is closed, it looks more like a 2D image. When the book opens, the images stand up and become a 3D scene. This change from 2D to 3D is very close to the kind of interactive game I want to make. It made me think about whether I could use Unreal Engine to create a pop-up book-like space, where the player can change the camera angle, move around, or click on objects to discover hidden information.

This week, my main focus was not to finish the full story, but to decide the basic form of my project: a real-time animation work that combines 2D/3D visuals, interactive exploration, and the structure of a pop-up book.

Visual references of pop-up books. These images show how flat pages can become three-dimensional spaces when the book opens.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1DcSyBPE9d/?spm_id_from=333.1387.favlist.content.click&vd_source=b2580088e5c503f31a61b075d562b3f2

Seeing the past students’ assignments that Serra showed in class gave me inspiration to create a game interaction.

Learning / Related Links：

Science Friday. How To Make A Pop-Up Book With Engineering.
https://www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/pop-up-book-engineering/

Paper Engine. Pop Up Books.
https://paperengine.com/pop-up-books/

This week, we learned how to use a 360 degree camera in Unreal Engine. The tutor introduced the difference between a normal camera and a 360 degree camera. A normal camera usually captures one fixed direction, while a 360 degree camera can capture the whole space around it. This can give the audience a more open and immersive way to view a 3D scene.

In the class, we looked at the plugin settings in Unreal Engine and learned about some plugins related to 360 capture, media production, and panoramic rendering. Through this session, I started to understand that Unreal Engine is not only used for traditional cinematic animation, but can also be used for VR, panoramic video, and immersive spatial experiences. This connects to the idea of Expanded Animation, because it made me think that the way the audience views the work can also become part of the animation experience.

OWL 360 Degree Camera and Component

A 180 and 360 Degree Stereoscopic Camera and Component for Unreal Engine with precise Viewport color matching, output to a Render Target, Alpha Channel support, Movie Render Queue integration and various other features.

Learning introduction links ：

Unreal Engine Community. 360 Panoramic Captures and Sequencer.
https://dev.epicgames.com/community/learning/knowledge-base/2JkM/unreal-engine-360-panoramic-captures-and-sequencer

Off World Live Documentation. OWL 360 Degree Camera and Component.
https://knowledge.offworld.live/articles/6031298-owl-360-degree-camera-and-component

In the first week, we were introduced to the course brief and the main project options for this term. The brief explained that animation can be used not only to tell a story, but also to build a world, test ideas, and create different kinds of experiences. After reading the brief, I decided to choose Brief 1: Expanded Animation / Context and Practice. I chose this brief because it gives me more space to explore my own interests, such as 3D animation, real-time environments, and interactive storytelling. I think this direction is suitable for my project and can help me experiment with new tools and workflows.