Over the course of the past few months, it has been bit of a
roller-coaster ride on researching, developing, creating and finalising the
product. Along the way there have been decisions and choices that have been
made, some have been to alleviate the work load whereas others were made for
creative reasons and to ensure that a finalised product had been created.
In the initial research process I would have dearly liked to have
visited the Imperial War museum in London to gather more information and
inspiration for what it would have been like for the soldiers fighting in the
war at that time. Unfortunately, the museum was closed to the public for
refurbishment meaning that the resources I sought were almost found entirely
using internet resources. When I initially started the research I used images
to inspire me. I found this to be fairly effective but what this lacked was
real depth into understanding the attitudes of the soldiers that were fighting
in the war. In hindsight I should have delved further and researched into books
written either by or about soldiers so that I could further engage this within
my story structure.
Overall the story in which I had initially wrote for this animation was,
looking back, too vast as the time spent on learning software and building and
texturing models meant that much of the story couldn’t be told or represented
in the manner in which I would have preferred. Although I understand compromises
must be met many times when creating a visual product I had to on numerous occasions
strip down many aspects to the bare bones and in as many cases remove them
altogether. This at times left me with disappointment that these changes had to
be made, as in the final product, much of my initial idea has been left out.
After I had written the script I then concentrated on developing the
storyboards. For this I used the programme FrameForge 3D. Although this is a
powerful yet simple programme to use I had to cut some corners to ensure time
was maximised in other areas, such as creating models, and because of this in
an attempt to colour the soldiers in red (killed), green (collateral), blue
(angels) to make the storyboard easier to understand I had in fact made them confusing
to follow. From this I have learnt I should keep the storyboard relevant and
make it positively clear to as what is going on in the shot. I did however
offer numerous directions in the text boxes below the shot that would aid the
reader of these storyboards. However, it appears that this may have been
overlooked.
The first programme I attempted to use was Flash and as a beginner to
animation I found this a simple but enjoyable programme. The Sunrise Animation
I made, in which I followed an online tutorial, was basic and I feel that had I
gone on to choose this method of creating my final product I would have been
able so fairly competently. However, the characters I would have had to create
would have to look a lot better than the one I created for during the tutorial.
I enjoyed creating the animation and character in Flash and I can see the
appeal in creating an animation in the programme – for those who aren’t
animators, anyway.
After trialling Flash I moved onto a more advance piece of software –
Maya by AutoDesk. I found the process of learning this software fairly
straightforward and with my first attempts I was able to create a Spaceship, of
sorts, and a chair (in which the file got corrupted). However, as I was quickly
learning the time needed to model, texture and then animate was going to be a monumental
task and with that I switched to 3DS Max.
The reason for the switch was for two reasons. On the one hand working
with my collaborator, Simon Dormer, who had vastly more experience and
knowledge than I have was able to facilitate when I was building models. I
started off building basic models such as the shovel and the bollard. With
these basic skills I was able to then put these into practice when I created
the Lamp Post and the Metal Stairs. These initial models, in the most part,
turned out well and I was happy with the final outcome of them. I came across some
problems in which were mainly problems that would be met by anybody that is
learning a programme for the first time.
This does bring me on to using the programme itself. Initially it took
me a little while to learn the programme. There were numerous functions and
options that I felt that I would never get my head around, but by sticking by
it and taking it one step at a time I was finding that I was slowly becoming
more comfortable with it. Some problems that I did face on occasions were at
times the vertices were getting out of sync and this was because I wasn’t
selecting the vertices I couldn’t see. The way I had to ensure that this didn’t
happen was to continually rotate around the object I was building to ensure
that all the vertices were in fact selected.
Another feature that I had problems with was when I was unwrapping the
model for texturing. I often found that the co-ordinates were out of alignment
and this caused the mapping to be distorted and twisted. I had to spend time to
ensure that all the vertices and edges were aligned so when I went to texture
the model this would have had limited effect on the final outcome and that the
texture would be projected correctly.
Another programme I had to ensure that I learned was Photoshop. Although
I used this programme on a couple of occasions I was using it for a process
that was new to me. Initially I found this hard to get my head around and to
ensure that I was able to texture more efficiently I created a basic guide to
enable me to refer to so that I was
able to have more fluidity in my working procedure. This is evidenced in
the blog that I wrote in about the trial using Photoshop.
Because of the time I spent building models, unwrapping and texturing,
it had become apparent who monumental this task had become. Although I
endeavoured to do as much as much as I could learning to create an animation
from scratch was a task too big and this is a reason why, despite my initial
intentions, was unable to try to use After Effects on the product.
Overall, considering I was working on an animation project, an area out
of my expertise and skill set, I feel I have learnt a considerable amount in a
short space of time. I would of course preferred if the initial idea had
retained its original story but during the processes many things had to be
changed to enable that, at the very least, a final product was created. There
were choices made that despite the time and effort spent on developing the
models they do not feature in the final product.
In relation to the final product, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand
I am disappointed that huge amounts of the original story are no longer part of
the final product. I feel that this maybe the case, and the result of my
initial fears, when at the start of the project it was suggested to add another
element to it. It was during this that the attention went away from creating a
World War Two animation and turned into an animation set in World War Two. I do
acknowledge that things change and evolve but I feel the attention went away
from the initial idea. Having said that, it is me that should have ensured that
this was the case as the initial idea came from me. Having said that the final
product does look amazing considering the time scale, the fact I was, and still
am a novice to animation, and of course the copious amounts of work and effort
that was contributed to by my collaborator.
At the start of this assignment it was suggested that we should consider
creating a product that we are not familiar with. Being someone who is
interested in making films I feel I have learned and developed a lot in an area
that I had no interest or understanding of before. On the one hand I am happy
with my contributions, but equally disappointed as the task that I set was far
too ambitious for my skill set and many things I wanted to do and achieve were unfortunately
not achieved.
Anyway, here is the link to the final product.
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