Unreal Engine is the video game engine behind Fortnite that has been used by many game developers as the building blocks for their creative ideas and interactive experiences. However, it’s becoming increasingly popular to see game engines be used outside of the game industry due the (seemingly) endless possibilities that are provided by it’s real-time 3D rendering capabilities. One noteable mention is Disney’s Mandalorian, for this series the team built entire 3D environments using massive screens that rendered real-time digital scenes through Unreal Engine which proved a great asset to the actors on-set, providing them context during their performances. Having…

When I was a child I dreamt of many things. From acting, singing, drawing and dancing, I wanted to do it all! Just like most children, the world was my oyster and I could see no reason why any of this could be unattainable.

But then I grew older and started to become more aware of how others perceived me and what made me happy in life. I started pushing my wants and needs aside to focus on a more ‘realistic’ way of life and, just like the grades that defined my education, I became critical to the point where…

Suicide.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Don’t worry, I’m not contemplating doing the act itself. I mean, I’ve been thinking about why people commit it. Why someone might choose to end the only thing we have ever come to know: our existence. What feelings drive a person to want to end their own life, how these feelings develop, if anyone or anything is to blame and if anything can be done to help those who are contemplating such a thing.

What emotions can cause a person to believe that a permanent escape is the only solution? Sadness…

This past year I have been chosen as one of the first 9 Raspberry Pi Creative Technologists in the UK; each of whom have come from different creative backgrounds, such as animation, photography and even magic! Throughout this programme we were shown various uses of the Raspberry Pi, a miniature and affordable computer, as well as the basics of how programme in Python, create functioning circuit boards and use hardware form the Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins. We learned this all with the ultimate aim of using this new technical knowledge to enhance our creative skills that we already had; helping…

After days of getting my head around what best video qualities to use for these super stretched-out 360 videos and how to create one from my digital assets as well as what in the world FFmpeg was, and ultimately battling with my computers constantly overloaded hard drive, I have finally created my very own 4K resolution 360 interactive music video!

Now I’m writing down all of the steps that I used to reach this point for my own benefit as well as yours as I intend to be playing around with 360 video a LOT more! …

As I sat in my university room, stressing over deadlines to meet and work to be completed I scrolled through Twitter and saw of a decision that I had thought to be simply illogical. A debate that had been talked about for the past week, that had called for marches and gatherings all around the UK, that had been the forefront of every social media website and newspaper article that I had looked at. Of course I’m talking about the decision for the UK to bomb Syria. …

What I learned from moving to the hustle and bustle of London from a small, seaside city and why I’ve now decided to leave.

I awoke groggy, alcohol still lingering in my system from last nights leaving drinks. Co-workers, senior management, ex-colleagues, all of whom I class as friends were there to give me the best send off by buying me endless drinks, recounting my first days at the company and eagerly questioning where my next adventure lays…

Reaching my usual London underground station, I pass the crowds of busy people rushing to get to work, but suddenly feel the…

It’s my birthday tomorrow!

Most people will automatically think this will involve clubs, booze and cake. But oh no, not this tech loving, YouTube obsessor! (Apart from the cake part, that’s definitely happening!)

Instead I’ll be hosting a Live Stream event on my YouTube channel (YagmanX)which will stream a home-coded twitter feed, using Twitter’s API, which will run through the Raspberry Pi. The twitter feed will look for tweets in real-time with the hashtag, #YagmanXBDay, and spit them out in my console log which I’ve turned into some sort of pretty rainbow using colors node module.

I’ll also be jumping into the live stream at random intervals, saying hello and getting to know all of the wonderful and wacky people of the Internet (yes, that’s you!) …