Sunday 2 December 2012

The End of the Beginning

So, my first year as a university student is finally over (well, my last assessment was due over a month ago) and I couldn't be feeling any better, really. I finished the year with so much confidence with my work and why wouldn't I? In the process of a year, I have worked my way to becoming a third of a professional animator. Even though that doesn't make much sense, it really is a fantastic feeling. Honestly, I want to do something animator-y over my 3 months or so of holidays, like make another 3D animation or just model something. To know how to create these things just makes me really happy on the inside.

So, now that I'm on holidays, what am I doing? Well, playing all the games I missed, for one. My PS Vita is getting the love it deserves with the haul of games Sony is releasing for the Christmas holidays and there are so many fantastic JRPGs that are surfacing. No doubt, I'll be writing a few positive reviews (and maybe some not so positive ones) for those.

I'm not doing a whole lot of drawing at the moment, despite my planned Pokémon Nuzlocke challenge in the makings an all this animating that I want to do. I just need a break I think. A small one, another half a month or so, before my hand is ready to co-operate.

But since uni is over, I am totally happy to showcase what I've done!


Animation History and Practices:
So, the basis of this assignment was to create something that was influenced by something else. A silly and naive student like myself thought that 2D would be absolutely stunning and easy but... well, it really wasn't. Never-the-less, I did finish it, thank god.


Despite not knowing much what I was doing, I was extremely happy and surprised to get a 7 in this subject (for those who don't know, that's basically an A). The video isn't exceptionally long and it makes me tired thinking about how much more I had planned for this. Still, I finished this subject on such a good note.


Animation and Motion Graphics
This assignment I probably found the 'easiest' in a way that it wasn't difficult, just tedious to put it all together. I based the animation off Atlantis Arising, which you may or may not have heard of (I've mentioned it maybe a billion times in previous entries) and basically made a TV show opening for it. 




I know the criteria said a movie and it did suffer a little since I seemed to have styled it like that. Overall, I got a 5 for the subject, which I am happy with. I learned a lot of tidbits from the subjects and I can actually use After Effects! Hurrah!


Introduction to 3D Computer Graphics
Before now, I had never touched Maya in my life. Sure, I'd heard about it but never had I actually thought about giving it a whirl, since Blender's splash page was too intimidating for me. But, really, after a little time of practice, I found modelling to be a really relaxing experience for me. Everything was so structured and mechanical and logical, so it's a little hard to try and be creative when there's a grid staring at you and telling you to stick between the lines. Once you got the hang of symmetry vs. spontaneity, I could sit for hours at a time trying to try and work out how a bump map works or UV mapping.



I was really happy with my finished product but I did finish the subject on a 5, which was a bit of a bummer. I probably would have gotten a 6 if I had stuck a bit of sound in my video. Ah well, I'm still happy with my work overall. 

Drawing for Animation
The subject overall really felt like a direct copy pasta from last semesters 'Drawing for Design', but with more .gifs and a little more about how movement works. I'll just go ahead and upload EVERYTHING!!

... Okay, not everything. Just the stuff I liked.


 


 

 







The last is a group project which I found both hilarious and amazing. I'm sure you all will too. Overall, I grabbed a 6 from this subject which didn't expect at all.

So, that's what I did in the past 6 months; schooled, worked, gamed, hung outed and was pretty bad ass at it too. Now, excuse me, I gotta get back to Virtue's Last Reward. It's plot twisting my brains out.
Today's song; Nascence - Austin Wintory

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