Minor Project: Art Of + Reflective Statement Of Project

 Today I created my art of for the Minor Project which can be seen below. If the slideshow does not load click the three dots, select more and download PDF.

Reflective Statement 

I found the Minor project to be an interesting experience as it was a continuation of the work I did last year. This meant I did not initially have to come up with a concept for the project and could instead begin producing the work I said I was going to complete for Minor. My goals for the unit were originally just to have all of the 3D  models completed however this idea quickly shifted as I started the project. After receiving a new tutor for the course, it was interesting to see what their interpretation of my project was. Having a different background in the industry they advised me to focus my attention away from the modelling and instead insure my project had a solid foundation. 

This caused me to take a step back surrounding anything 3D and instead focus on what it is my project is conveying and how effectively is it doing this. I decided to conduct research surrounding industry standards for creating storyboards, specifically for a fight sequence, creating compositions, camera compositions and colour. In order to further understand my research I then applied its knowledge to fight sequences I had gathered in order to identify how the key stages of composition were represented. Once I had found many examples in which I liked representing good composition, I then deconstructed my story and realigned it to fit with the rules of composition. With each shot I tried to apply as much knowledge that I had learnt while also keeping in mind the events of the story. Certain points lead me to rewrite a scene is portrayed in order to be more interesting for the audience. Once I was happy with the keyframes of the animation being understood, I then applied my research of storyboarding to create my initial and final version. The final version of the storyboard took a long time however I am proud of how it turned out, being a full representation of how the character interact while also featuring compositional techniques. The animatic as a whole is a step up from any animatic I have made up until this point, from drawing quality to more fluid animations. I feel this part of the project was crucial in my success in completing the rest of the project as it was a solid point of reference going foreword. 

After the animatic, in preparation for modelling the characters, I reflected upon both characters designs. Having made mock up of the characters previously in 3D, I learnt how hard it is to model if you do not understand how what your modelling fits together. I therefore redesigned the Samurai character to represent a more anatomically correct figure, which has an outfit designed in a more realistic way based off research of actual Samurai armour. Although I have researched the armour in the past, I made sure this time I understood why and how the outfit fits together. Having then understanding both characters I was then able to create test models of both the characters in 3D. I chose to make test models rather than the final things so that I could test how the geometry interacted when rigged and skinned. This was essential for my project as animation is the key component. I was able to test the models by making the pre-viz, which showed me both characters successfully worked for their intended use. With this knowledge I then went on to finish both models, which I am satisfied with their outcome. I feel I successfully translated my thoughts from paper to 3D, which I was unsure of my ability to do at the beginning of the project. However through my research and help from online resources and my tutors, I was able to create both the models, my new goal for the end of the Minor project. 

I feel I did not come across any issues which prevented me from completing the project. I think this was mainly due to the long planning of the Premise project. There were slight annoyances such as with importing and exporting Maya scenes. Normally the solution was to delete the history on the models and ensure they were on the grid. If this was not done the models would dramatically rescale when imported into a different scene. However this solution did not work all the time, in the case of the test models I rigged and skinned them in different scenes. When I wanted to bring them together for the pre-viz, I found Maya really didn't like importing rigs. For this reason I ended up having to import the Cyberpunk character unrigged and re-rig him in the scene with the Samurai. This was annoying but was fine as I was using the auto rig feature, however I need to ensure this does not happen with the final rigged models. I feel my main problem came from my confidence in modelling. I found that at the beginning I would overthink clean topology, which lead me to question whether I would be able to complete the final models of my characters. However my confidence was lifted once I saw the two characters working in my pre-viz and continued to grow through the creation of the Samurai character. This helped me to complete the Cyberpunk character a lot quicker. 

Overall I feel I learnt a lot more this project when compared to premise as all of my ideas actually had to be applied. This was a scary idea initially as I was worried I had bitten off more than I could chew for the time limit I had. However I feel the turning point of my project was once I understood composition. This made the process of creating so much clearer as I now knew the full process of why certain things attract the eye and why others fail to retain the viewers attention. The idea of why I like certain animations never really crossed my mind however by learning the techniques of good compositing I now understand a bit better how I can create an interesting animation. 

I feel I am at a strong point going into Major in which I hope to complete the texturing, rigging, final modelling of environment, animating, lighting and editing. I am a lot more confident I will achieve this goal by the foundation I have set from this project. 

All posts related to the project are tagged as 'Minor' and have the same in the name of the post