Introduction
Greetings! You may refer to me as Panha (pronounced phonetically: /pɒ’nə/) which is short for Panhavuth.
I am a student in WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) majoring in IMGD (Interactive Media and Game Development) in the Technical path.
Experiences
Over the years I have practiced traditional and digital art; some my best works are usually made with graphite pencils and ink pens. I have also created digital art with a Wacom tablet and stylus pen. For digital art software I am familiar with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate, as well as Maya for 3D modeling/rigging. I have taken courses for 2D animation and digital art with Professor Gutierrez, as well as Motion Capture Techniques as an experimental course with Professor Chery.
In terms of programming I am familiar with website creation languages such as HTML5, Javascript, CSS3, and am also proficient in Java, Python, and am learning C/C++ as well as C#. I am familiar with the game development applications GameMaker and Unity. I have taken Software Engineering, Human-Computer Interactions, Algorithms, Discrete Mathematics, and Systems Programming as well as some introductory CS courses within WPI.
Some of the projects I partake in had my teammates and me to create a VR scene. We were allowed to set up a futuristic theme! Of course, the models were used for free from Sketchfab.
Another interesting thing we made was a web page that, if allowed access to use the computer’s front-facing camera, can read emotions of the user from using the Affectiva API.
Inspirations
Ever since I was a child, I am inspired by realistic representations of the world through types of media, whether paper, computer screens, etc. From this point onward, I have been interested in hyper-realistic drawings, sculptures, etc. This is especially true when spectating scenes that do not exist in the real world but is visually striking that may just exist in another world. Great visual examples include when playing Witcher 3, or Star Wars: Battlefront (albeit gameplay-wise not so much). Immersive visual media such as these are very appealing which is why I have been leaning towards Virtual Reality (VR) kits and headsets.
Recent breakthroughs in graphics media allowed better visual quality productions. Special effects in Star Wars: Rogue One and Episode VIII were very appealing. Walt Disney’s Pixar Animations Studios was able to produce movies like Inside Out, Moana, Coco all of which are visually appealing in their own right.
Other Interests and Projects
I enjoy dancing! Almost every two weeks on Friday, Goat’s Head of WPI hosts a Just Dance event allowing students to dance in front of an Xbox Kinect, which visually tracks the limb movements of the player. I thoroughly enjoy this as no controller is needed! I have also been taking Healthy Alternatives: Zumba to (not only fulfill my curriculum’s PE requirements but also) have fun!
Here’s a video of the combined interest of my dancing and the motion capture technology provided to my classmate and I in Motion Capture Techniques by Professor Chery! We (almost) tracked and rigged the movements onto a Sketchfab model of Homer Simpson.
This isn’t much of a visual project, but I was proud to create this along with several teammates for Game Audio I!