Reflections: Final

I am pleased with my progress this term and especially the speed in which I have completed my work and been able to use the Maya interface. At the start of this term I would have been impressed that I have completed a few different walk cycles, a character lip sync, as well as the Pirates of the Produce Aisle scenes and making the DVD.

Positives from the term:

• working within a team to create the Pirates film
• animating rigs that I have not created myself as this is likely what I will be doing in the Industry (normally I create my own rigs, so it was fun to get straight on with the animation and modelling not take up all my time)
• I haven't touched walk cycles for about a year, it's nice to get back to learning and improving my basic skills
• Same for the lip sync animation, I wish I had spent a bit more time on Verbal's expressions but I think his lip sync is pretty good
• Working to deadlines set by myself and the Pirates team to make sure all the scenes were finished on time
• Taking advice from the lead animators, it was nice having someone evaluate your work constantly and getting regular feedback
• Using a mac to make the DVD
• I have been far better at Blogging this term and have used it at every opportunity. I could probably have done some more research but I think this is easier for when you are creating your own characters or environments for pictures etc.

Negatives:

• It seemed to take forever to get the Pirates rigs, and because I was unsure of when I was getting them I kind of held back my other work until I had done it. I did not want to start something else major then have to leave it and lose track of it.
• I did not complete a lot of things I wanted to do, such as the water effects and also an animal walk cycle. This is going to especially be a focus for me during the summer.
• I also did not realise that I had to ask permission for my DVD music, and I have still not had a reply to my emails. This is something I will plan far more in advance.

Aims for the Summer

1. Animal Walk Cycle
2. Continue with my character animation - I would like to model and rig a character from scratch then use my own voice or record someone else and create my own scene from scratch.
3. So... modelling and rigging. I especially want to look at rigging as this is a sought after skill in the Industry and links well to animation so you understand how the structure works better
4. Life drawing!!!
5. Any other drawing!!!

By the time I come back to University in October I want a completely new Showreel with far more complex work on it. I may even look into creating a rigging and modelling ahowreel and also an animation showreel to showcase a variety of my work.

Overall:

I am pleased with my term of work, I know that I could have done a bit more to give the last finesse to my work, but I have learned a lot about what to do and what not to do for my own final project next year and I know I want to have my team finished far before this stage.