Applied animation - Evaluation

This has been what I would say is my most experimental module of the year because of the introduction of new software as well as the pooling of knowledge I have gained from my first year in animation. The module was split into two halves, one brief where we got to choose our area of focus from three different sub briefs, and a brief that focused on tasks to teach us the basics of Maya the 3D animating software.

With the three briefs to choose from, I chose the most narrative driven one where we chose a book and created a title sequence for said book. I wanted to focus on working towards narrative and stories so I was immediately drawn to the idea of working from a book, but I feel this led to my down fall. I chose to use the book ‘Eragon’ a fantasy novel that I had read when I was younger but had not read recently, I hadn’t read a book in quite sometime for that matter, and I chose it under the presumption that I could read it in a short space of time. I then had the fact I had dyslexia brought to my attention and told I read at half the speed of a normal person, I’ve always been a slow reader but after learning this I felt even more lethargic and I only read 100 pages. So I didn’t have enough backing from the story I felt in my research. And after this when I returned home over spring break I realized there were other books that I could of chosen to use and I could of created much more elegant animations based on new knowledge I had ascertained about the idea of using after effects, motion graphics and being more conceptual with the theme instead of having the characters and story practically there. I realize looking back that it felt very animesque, in the aspect of being very action oriented with fast movements and action shots and after it was too late I wanted to try and work from a book that would have allowed for something more elusive.

Maya has been very up and down for me over this module. Just when I think I’m getting the hang of it a new problem arises and I need the help of my tutors as I’ve learnt if there’s a problem in Maya, there are 100 possible reasons why. My worst experience was with the issue of saving my work, I had tried to save the scene separately but it had become a document and not a Maya file, which, essentially meant the work from that day, was lost causing me a lot of stress and panic. I’ve come to learn that when rendering in Maya you need to be doing it at the latest a week before your deadline. I found this out the hard way and had to render my animation unfinished due to time constraints. That being said I do want to improve in Maya so I am determined to first go back and complete my final animation for this module and secondly go on to practice further with Maya as I want to try combining 2D and 3D again in third year but this time by overlaying the two elements on top of one another like with Paper man.

While an extension is good in the aspect that I can get my work done I wasn’t happy to have it, as for me there’s something unprofessional about having an extension. In the industry I don’t feel there are second chances so I begrudgingly took it. I don’t want to have to have extensions again in future modules so I will endeavor to manage my time more effectively in future modules.