There and Back Again

1. Why did you take this class?

I originally decided to take this class because it was paired up with video and decided to give this a shot because I thought it would be good to get this skill, animation, under my belt for future projects.

2. In general, what did you like most about this class?

I think what I liked most about the class in general were the new opportunities that we got in the class. For example, the field trips, meeting new people, and learning new skills.

3. In general, what did you like least about this class?

I did not like the idea of you giving us a script for the final project. I understand why you did it and why it was necessary but I would've liked that little bit of extra freedom on that part. I also didn't care for how much time we got to work on it, even though the independent study project was my favorite I would've much rather have had that cut out so we would have more time on the final project but that's just me.

4. What was your most favorite project and why?

I liked the independent study the most because I got to try something new and different. Rotoscoping was a good experience to have so I know what to expect from it in the future. I also got to put magic into it to so that was a plus.

5. What was your least favorite project and why?

My least favorite project would have to be the 2D Short but that's just because of my experience with it. In my opinion it is the worst thing I have made in this class.

6. Discuss the overall effectiveness of the instructor (for example: preparation, availability, interest, content knowledge, expectations, etc.).

I feel that the instructor always helped when she felt it was needed. I think this was good because it meant that you couldn't rely on her all of the time and you actually had to do some of the work yourself.

7. What are the most valuable things you learned in the class?

The most valuable thing I learned in this class was probably was animating as a whole because before this class I had little to no clue on the process.

8. Do you feel that this class will help you achieve your future academic or career goals? How or why (or why not)?

Yes, even though I will not be going to college for animation I feel that this skill was great to have under my belt. This is because of the fact that I will be going to school for film and I feel that this skill will definitely come in handy once in a while.   

9. How could this class be improved?

I think you should cut one or a couple of the projects that aren't really necessary so that students would have more time to animate and fine tune for more quality animations.

10. Additional comments:

Overall I feel that this was a great experience and I don't know what I would be doing if this class wasn't around.

Final Project Analysis and Reflection

    "What is That?" is an interesting and open minded script. In other words, the script allows you to make it what you interpret it as. I tried to go for a spinoff on the two robots reacting to a human concept. I chose this way because I felt that it was different and original. You can interpret "What is That?" many different ways.

    There were many animation principles I used throughout the project. One animation principle that I used a lot in this project was squash and stretch. I used this principle most with the red robot, since his mouth couldn't move I used squash and stretch to give the impression that he was talking. Another animation principle that I used a lot was exaggeration. Exaggeration was another thing I really showed in the robots, a specific example of this is when the robots are being blown away by her screaming and when the yellow one is hanging on he spins, flips, and turns his head. Timing was also something that I used quite frequently as well. In 3-D alone timing is critical because you need to predict what frames will play the right speed, if you key the frame too early the action will be to fast and if you keyed the frame too late the action will be slow. A couple more principles that I used in my animation were anticipation and appeal. I used anticipation when the red robot was about to jump at the girl. Right before he jumped he bent and squashed down anticipating the jump as well as giving the audience the assumption that he was about to jump. I also tried to use appeal on the robots making them goofy and funny. Every animation should have at least some principles of animation.

    I feel very good about a lot of parts in my animation. These parts include my exaggeration used in the robots and the big reaction from the girl. Just the way the robots talk and move is exaggerated and brings goofiness and life to what may look like cold metallic robots. One thing I think I have gotten better at since the beginning of the course would have to be walk cycles. In this project I spent hours on the walk cycle to try and make it seem lifelike, loose not stiff. I have improved since the beginning of the year.

    There is always room for improvement. I still feel I need further improvement on my drawing technique as a whole. I just haven't had much practice with it making my 2-D animations look sloppy. This is especially seen in my 2-D short and 3-D storyboard. To fix this I will practice more until I can fine tune my style. I hope in the future I will improve in this area.

    Overall I feel very good about the project as a whole. It was a good concept and a good attempt at bringing it to life. I feel my strategy worked ok only for the fact that I didn't finish on time, if I spent more time on it I feel that I would've finished. I think I learned a lot about time management from this project and will not make the same mistake I made with it during this project. The project had its ups and downs but overall was a great experience. 

Final Project References

    This video was used to help me show exaggeration, which is used a lot in my animation

I used this video to help me figure out what my robots were going to be reacting to. When I saw the girl reacting and working with the robot I thought it would be cool to reverse this. This is why I chose them to react to a girl.

Since I never done a walk cycle in 3-D before I needed some help. So I watched this video and it helped out a lot. It explained a lot of good things to keep in mind when doing a walk cycle.

This is the video I used as reference when making my walk cycle to compare the one I was working on to this one.

This video was used to help me with using audio in maya. I used the audio to help me lip sync.

Weekly Comments #23

This week was stressful. I think I speak for everyone saying that this was one of the most hardworking weeks at least for me it was.I kind of wish we didn't have to do the independent study and instead got to work on this. I have been working all week and weekend on it. That being said I am starting to get worried about finishing it or not especially because I am under the impression that there are no revisions. Honestly that's all I really remember doing from the week. That being said really hard week.

Here is the Link of the Week:

This is probably one of the best couch gags I have seen so far. For those of you who are fans of Rick and Morty you will especially like this. I won't spoil anything else so without further ado enjoy.

Serious Time #44 Living in Fear

As a director you are always living in fear. Directors have many different fears but the main one seems to be if there movie will succeed or not. Directors say that it is really based on luck, its all calculated but you can never be really sure until you release the film. Directors also say that it is the fear of being typed as a cliche, Paul Greengrass points out though that everything has been done before so once you let go of worrying so much about that you can get to the point of the drama which is collision without knowledge of the consequences. Directors also point out that they notice good works but they mainly remember the bad ones which is what they fear that their film will become. They also bring up to be trusting and as open as possible with actors. Another fear directors have is that their emotions that they feel and reactions will be different from the audience at large. Director Quentin Terentino brings up that he tries to make the audience feel many different emotions when they are watching his movies. Overall directors have a lot of fears and anxiety when making a film as well as goals to be met in the film and on set.

I really enjoyed this video. I enjoyed it so much because you got to learn the different methods and fears that they have. It was really interesting to delve into the minds of famous directors. The only question I have is what were the directors being asked, for me it was very confusing to understand what they were answering, I just wish they showed the questions that they were being asked. That's the only issue I really had with this article though. This pertained to the video side of Digital Media. Overall interesting article.

Serious Time #43 Demo Reel Do's and Don'ts

To get a job in the animation industry is a challenge. One key part in the hiring process is your demo reel. For some people their demo reel can either make or break them. Here are some do's and don'ts on demo reels. To start off only have your best work in your demo reel, be as honest as you can with yourself when reviewing your demo reel. Another thing you should do is wow them at the beginning and the end, put what you feel are your two best works and put one at the beginning and one at the end. You should also keep in mind of the rhythm of the demo reel with the highs and lows in it, making a good order of clips in the reel can make it feel more engaging. Also make sure to include a portfolio of different stuff just as icing on the cake. A couple things not to do are having a 5-10 min. demo reel, keep it short 1-2 min. tops. Another thing to keep in mind is not to flood your reel with fancy transitions and titles, the focus is on the animation and you do not want any distractions in the process. Keep these tips in mind and your demo reel should be great.

This article was pretty good. The article brought up a lot of good points and facts that will definitely in the making of my demo reel. On the other hand though we already did learn about some of if not all of these things. That being said I don't have any questions about the article. This article pertained to the animation side of Digital Media. Overall solid and helpful article.

Weekly Comments #22

This week was pretty good. I got a lot of work done and am starting to feel less worried about the deadline, but that feeling will probably be short lived very soon. I also got to do the talent show this week which was really fun and worked out great, I might be able to get a video up soon of it. To be honest though that's really all that happened this week, a lot of fun but also a lot of work. That being said nothing really frustrated me this week. Overall awesome week.

Here is the Link of the Week:
http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/free-3d-models-10121127

This is a link of the Top 25 3-D Models. They are for Maya as well as Cinema 4-D. I thought there was some pretty cool stuff in this list though so I hope you enjoy!

Serious Time #42 DRAGONS!

Have you ever wondered how the dragons in Game of Thrones worked? Well the animators have shown the behind the scenes off in an interview. They said that each season they rebuilt the rig for the dragons and as the dragons grew so did their rigs. The rigs for the dragons got more complex as time went on because of how the detail in the dragons escalated, this meant more animation controls. Each dragon also uses the same rig with just different variations like color, horns, and so on. For the actual flying motion they used video references of bats flying. They also used video references of gorillas to see how the dragon would walk. One issue they said they had was trying to show feeling in the dragons without making the dragons look too human, they sated that it was really quite difficult. The animation crew also didn't do it alone they also had help from the simulation crew. The simulation crew helped with the folding of the wings. In the end the dragons have a lot of hard work and love put into them.

This article was really cool. Since i like the concept of Dragons in itself I would've liked this article no matter what, but this article showed the behind the scenes of the dragons in Game of Thrones which is even cooler. The little video they showed with the dragons being chained up made me sad and I don't even watch the show, this just shows how good the animators did on showing emotion in the dragons. The article was also really straight forward. This focused on the animation side to Digital Media. Overall great article.

Serious Time #41 The Science of The Avengers

This short video told us about the science of the avengers and what things in the movies could be transferred to real life. For example, the first Iron Man suit would've weighed about 150 lbs. because of how heavy and dense iron is, this makes it not so ideal for flying. The upgraded suit made it even worse because of the gold titanium in the upgraded suit makes it even weigh even more, around 350 lbs. If there was a working Iron Man suit in real life it would probably be made out of Nitinol which is strong but light. We also learn that when Tony Stark makes a new element in Iron Man 2 this can actually happen. This is done by combining atoms which Tony Stark does in the movie. We also learn that Captain America and Black Widows fast healing is due to super macrophages which are regular macrophages that just work faster. Another factor the video plays into is Captain Americas shield which is made out of Steel and Vibranium(this doesn't exist). The Vibranium actually takes energy that hits it and converts it into light energy. Just because it's in a movie doesn't mean there isn't any science in it.

This video was okay. The video was interesting but at the same time really short. Usually I don't complain about something being to short, but this was on a subject that could have been really cool. Instead of talking about more super heroes they just made a 3 min. video on three of them. That being said the parts they did focus on were still interesting. The video was also very straight forward. This video focused on the film side of Digital Media. Overall decent article.

Serious Time #40 Is Animation Slowly Turning Into Garbage?

Animation has been a timeless art for ages. Walt Disney and companies alike have created animations that are considered legends today, but is that trend starting to die? Walt Disney and similar companies still make good movies, but what about the internet and are these movies considered timeless? In a lot of ways animation today can be and is considered disposable, meaning forgettable or not very good. Disposable animation can mostly be seen on the internet. This is because of how easy animations are to make now, anyone can do it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is a bittersweet. Even though it is great that anyone can animate if they choose to do so, it can and does lead to poor short animations that are forgettable. What a lot of people are looking for is the next Walt Disney, someone who is going to make the next long wave of timeless featured animated films. In conclusion these people want someone who produces great animation for the sake of pushing things forward and making great, timeless art.

This article was eye opening, but also whiny at the same time. I never noticed how much animation fits under this category of being disposable, this is probably due to the fact that I don't usually analyze the quality of the animation itself but instead the overall premise/point of it. If animation makes me laugh or sad then great, if the quality is descent then great. The only time I ever notice the quality is if it is god awful, like so bad that you can even watch it. I guess I sometimes view animated shorts like a movie, the story and characters are more important. So I like the article in the regard that it showed me something new. I don't like the article in the regard of how in my view it was just a lot of complaining. I understand you want the next Walt Disney, but that doesn't mean you have to write an entire article whining about how everything else is inferior. That is just my opinion though. This is for the animation side of Digital Media. Overall disposable article.

Weekly Comments #21

This week was pretty good. I got to go to a magic convention to get some new material, including levitation and hypnotism stuff which was really cool. I also got to meet one of my favorite magicians there Garret Thomas who is a famous magician from Buffalo which was awesome. On top of that I got to see Avengers: Age of Ultron which was amazing and is one of if not my favorite Marvel movie at the moment, I highly recommend it. I got to go hunting to but didn't end up getting anything, but being out in nature away from anything urban is still a good experience to have in itself. Not everything was great though because I fell a little bit behind now on my Final Project which I am trying to make up lost time for, and my musical ended which was a lot more sad then I thought it was going to be, but it is what it is. Didn't learn a whole lot this week either, we got a lot of work days which was great. Pretty solid week though overall.

Here is the Link of the Week:

This week since I am now done with the musical Cinderella I thought I would show the song that I sang in case anyone was interested, and if you aren't interested it doesn't matter. I just thought it would be cool to show. Also I our musical was a lot better and a lot less  cheesy then this video, this is just the best one I could find on YouTube so just keep that in mind. That's really it, enjoy!

P.S. If you didn't know I am the one singing with the scroll.

Serious Time #39 3-D Printing and Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion is one of the most tedious forms of animation out there, taking a whole week just to make 4 seconds of film. This process though has now been made more efficient and easy thanks to the help of 3-D printing. Before 3-D printing animators had to spend a lot more time on modeling clothes, faces, different poses and so on which took up a lot of time. 3-D printing made this process a lot faster, for example in Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skelington had 800 faces made while the movie Paranorman had 1.5 million made thanks to the help of 3-D printing. They also use 3-D printing to make small objects or props that the characters use instead of computer generated ones making the movie look and feel more practical. Stop motion animation is a lot of work still, but is now made a whole lot easier because of 3-D printers.

This was a pretty nice article. It was easy to follow and a great source of information. I never fully realized about how much faster the process of stop motion can be because of a 3-D printer it's pretty amazing. Just look at the numbers, 800 faces used for Jack Skelington compared to 1.5 million faces used in Paranorman, that is a big difference! It doesn't necessarily make the animation process faster, but more so for the modeling. I am glad I read this just because I learned something from it. This was for the animation side of Digital Media. Overall great and interesting article.