Semester 2 Review

Review of semester 2

Why do we always have to cut these things so damn close?

Semester 2 was not quite as good as semester 1 in terms of pace and organisation however everything was handed in to a standard of quality I was pleased with. The semester began with my sincerest concern for the lack of time I had to complete my animation. I had not come in for the 5 hours a day I had planned to in the mid-year holidays and therefore had not completed the work I had planned on completing. I had recorded most of my sound, which gave me an advantage when we had to do a rough of our soundscapes a few weeks into the semester.

Once Jack explained a battle plan for creating the animation I felt more confident about where I was in the production process. I followed the plan carefully. I set up the cameras within the first two weeks and by the third week had created the first playblast for my animation. Once I had the playblast I combined it with the sound. I discovered upon matching the two up that the pace was off and many of the shots needed to be given more time then I had originally planned. Around half way through semester 2 I lost some motivation and ended up spending a week on a personal project of mine. While this project taught me skills I would end up utilising for my animation’s backgrounds I feel it still wasted a lot of time.

After that project was completed I returned diligently to my work and set up basic animation for each shot. In the last few weeks of term 3 I was finishing my long shot background and preparing for the holidays. The holidays consisted of a massive work-a-thon. I spent nearly every day of my holidays at uni and completed the majority of my character animating except for a few shots. I compiled my questions and any issues I had and sent them to jack who helped me out with said issues. I left my press kit, my show reel and my essay till the last few weeks of uni focusing all my energies on my Machan. Because of this my show reel and press kit where late.

In the last few weeks I ran into several problems involving exporting the animation, compiling it and editing it. All of which I did not know how to do and that Jack assisted me with. The animation ended up taking a week longer then I had anticipated and when I handed it in there where issues with the way it had been exported and I had to hand it I again. There ended up being a lot of crossed wires between the teachers in terms of hand in dates, screening dates, to whom the animations had to be submitted to and the format in which they had to be submitted. So in the end I handed my animation in to all my teachers half in data format, half in DVD as it seemed the only way to cover all my bases.

I feel a lot of the issues I had and subsequent panic attacks that occurred this semester had to do with that fact that I had not done 3D before. I spent much of the time feeling like I was in the dark not knowing that all along I wasn’t doing too badly. While I feel I was always running behind I was never too far behind where I should have been. I don’t think this will be quite as much an issue in the future as now that I have done it once I have a slightly better idea about how long everything will take.

I’m not entirely sure where the future will take me but I feel ready to step out in the industry and give it my very best shot.

Dooooooomed!!!!

2 weeks to go till the end. I feel doomed. My project feels doomed. Last week jack and i finished my backgrounds which is all good and well but my concerns are ridiculously high. i feel over whelmed. And this is why.

I spoke to jack about my concerns and he gave me a list of things to do which would set me back firmly on track.

- put rocks on my wall

- import all cameras into the scene with my completed background

- import high quality doors after exporting them from the scene where they where completed

- render out a single frame for each shot.

I completed the first of these tasks before the end of jack's class. However the 3 hours after jacks class where a spiral into frustration and despair (if i'm going down, i'm going down writing in a flowery way god damn it). When Jack explained importing the camera’s from all the scenes it sounded simple enough but once I was alone trying to do so was much more difficult. I simply DO NOT understand how/ why. If I imported the cameras into the scene machan would not be in the scene and the composition I was supposed to make would not make sense. Furthermore I could not figure out how to export the cameras.

So I decided to import the doors, only to discover that they have been modelled backwards so when they are imported into the scene the slope at the top of the door is opposite to the slope on the wall. Garrett and I wrestled with trying to turn them round the right way/ make them match up to the wall but to no avail.

We then returned to trying to decide how to import all the cameras. We decided that maybe what jack meant was that we should export a frame of the camera shots for every scene to use as a flat background for the shots that did not move. Using that layering system to save on rendering when the time came. Garrett tried to show me how to do it and though I began carrying out the task of making these extra layers I did not understand the method of what I was doing.

Huni kindly offered to create the robot screen faces for me which was really great because I was worried that I was simply going to have to scrap that idea being so close to the end. Even though jack showed me how to do the screen faces/ eyes I can’t remember how.

I also have not done a show reel or a press kit.

This is why I feel doomed. Truly, unequivocally, completely, utterly doomed.

The Rocky Shore

We have arrived. Final term, first week. 3 weeks to go.

I am fairly happy with how my animation has been coming along. The animating itself is pretty much done and i completed the texuring on tuesday. Jack and i worked on the background today and the actual ground is pretty much done. I have to do the wall the doors and the panning shot sets which shouldn't be too difficult or time consuming. i am freaking out a little bit though. Mostly cause we have our animation, our 2000 word essay, our show reel and our press kit to complete over the next 3 weeks. i just don't think i will have enough time for it all. at this stage i'm beggining to proritise what's left and what i am ok with coming in late. This sucks so much. i wanted so much to be early with everything this year and i'm thinking things are probably going to end up coming in late. I'll just have to see how i go.

Test Run 2 and "Holidays"

Hooo kay

I animated pretty much all throughout the holidays. During the first week i completed a rough draft of every animation with a plan to polish those drafts the second week. During the second week while i did polish a lot of the animation i also ran into several problems and realised serveral short comings of my plan. I realised that there where props i would have to include in all the scenes in relation to the characters (the rock machan sits on in the beginning must be featured in the rest of the video, the trail the bug leaves must remain in the scene once the bug has passed machan). The characters should be interacting with the back grounds in some scenes. I have yet to put colours on my characters. No comfortable at all with where i'm at. no idea if i'll finish on time. All i can do is work hard and hope for the best at this stage.

over and out

Before After

I posted a pic! yay! i've been mat painting today and i was so psyched bout the difference between the old version and the new that i had to post this (and also because apparently i should have been posting pics for ages now).

c out

Reload

Unhappy but have put the white flag away for possible usage later. Last week i worked on my run cycle and a fall. Both of those shots are doing much better and are both almost finished. With the tut jack did on backgrounds as long as i get to work on making my background fit my maya layout better my layout should be done fairly soon. Need to tweek my sound and am a little concerned about the 2000 word essay. I will not be working this holiday much at all, will spend most of it here working hard and trying to get stuff done.

I'm screwed

it's offical. i'm pretty sure i'm screwed. my animation isnt even close to finished, i haven't done my lighting of textures and i don't know how. i offically hate 3d at least if i was doing 2d i'd have some kind of acurate idea about how close or far i am from being finished. i'm screwed. i'm screwed i'm screwed. i'm shopping for a white flag as we speak.