Portfolio

Major Project - Reflective Statement

Looking back at the entire major project, I am satisfied with how I managed most of the project. Similar to my experience of the minor project, it went well overall but still had a few small problems along the way. I am happy with the animation and 'art of' document I have submitted and feel that it reflects a lot of hard work in areas that I had only rudimentary experience in beforehand.

These main two areas were animation and lighting. In previous projects on this course I had perhaps not pushed myself far enough in these areas to properly prepare for a year long project creating an animated short. Thankfully I manged to overcome these problems before they threatened the project significantly. However, this experience definitively shows that I need to work more in these areas after this course in order to bring them up to the standard of the rest of my skill set.

There were also a few moments during the project where I didn't work smartly enough and some areas were left too long. This mean't I had to pause everything else just to complete things that should already have been done. Due to moments like this there was time lost that should not have been.

The project as a whole went very well despite these few setbacks and I am very proud of the animated short I produced. I was able to work to some of my strengths creating the animation and I very much enjoyed working on it. 

Major Project - Final Submission

Major Project - Colour Fade Effect

A quick update to show the colour fade effect I have created for my animation. It was made by animating a radial ramp that is projected onto the object in maya.

Major Project - Lighting Tests 02

After making the lighting changes Alan suggested I have these reworked shots. Shot 8 still has some issues which I have yet to figure out how to solve.

Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3

Shot 4

Shot 5

Shot 6

Shot 7

Shot 8 (A)

Shot 8 (B)

Shot 8 (C)

@Alan Major Project - Screenshots of Shot 2 and 10

Shot 2 Ambient Occ

Shot 2 Point Light

Shot 10 Grid Reference

@Alan Major Project - Lighting Tests 01

I've been working on lighting the scenes and tweaking texture maps where necessary. This is the progress so far on the first 10 shots. The shadows still need a bit of work but I think the brightness and vibrancy of the shots are very close to what I want. I would appreciate any feedback on lighting issues I may not be seeing.

Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3

Shot 4

Shot 5

Shot 6

Shot 7

Shot 8

Shot 9

Shot 10

Major Project - Interior Texturing Continued

This weekend I've taken a break from animating to get most of my texturing done. I am happy with the majority of these textures but some still require more refined detail and slight colour alterations. The only textures yet to be completed are the van and front garden. For now though I will get back to animating my shots.

Kitchen

Living Room

Baby's Room 

Hallway (Basic Lighting Only)

Major Project - Animation Blocking for shot 08 and 32 Continued

I have tweaked these two shots after talking through them with Alan.

Major Project - Animation Blocking for shot 08 and 32

This took longer than expected as there were a few bumps and restarts as I worked it out. It could likely do with a little more refinement before proceeding onto refined animation.

Major Project - Sound Collector's Van Modelled and UV'ed

I have completed the final model for the animation. This is the van the sound collector arrives in at the start of the animation. It has been modelled after a Ford Transit MK1.

Major Project - Animation Blocking Continued

I have blocked out the majority of the shots for the animation now. I have only included shots with animation in the video above.

Major Project - Environment UV's Complete

This weekend I decided to take a break from animation blocking to complete the UVing for my house environment. Once I have set up all of my shots, there may be some small additions of props if it seems necessary.

Baby Room

Bathroom

Hallway

Kitchen/Living Room

House Front

Major Project - First Animation Blocking

I have now started blocking out individual shots for the animation. Progress with these has been initially slow, but I am feeling steadily more confident with the process as I make them.

Shot 04 Blocking

Shot 05 Blocking

Shot 11 Blocking

Major Project - Second Modelling Update

I have now modelled the majority of the environment props in my house set. With just a few extra details to finish, including the two houseplants that currently exist as two empty pots. The next thing to complete is the model of the sound collector's van.

Model of the Front Gate Lock

Major Project - Modelling and Texturing Update

I've been continuing with modelling the environment sets. The hallway has all of its main pieces of furniture and the front door is complete. I've also modelled the majority of the exterior set. The front gate still requires more work and the van still needs to be modelled. Since receiving my feedback for the minor project I have also made some tweaks to the textures in my living room/kitchen set. I've added wooden detail to the front of the sofa, changed the design and colour of the ceiling lamps and removed the artex from the ceiling beam in the kitchen.

Hallway Main Furniture Modelled

Front Door Lock and Door Bell Speaker

House Front Modelling Progress

Early Doorbell Shot Test Render

Kitchen Texture Changes

Living Room Texture Changes

Minor Project - Altered Contraption Turnaround

In the video I submitted for the minor project, the window in the side of the contraption was completely opaque. As such I have uploaded a new version with a translucent window to correctly preview what the contraption will look like in the animation.

Major Project - Continuing to Model the Bathroom and Baby Room

Baby Room Set with Main Furniture

Bathroom Set with Main Furniture

Since the minor project hand in I have been continuing to model the house interior for 'The Sound Collector'. I have now modeled the main furniture for the bathroom and added the skirting and coving for both the bathroom and baby room. The next task is to model the main furniture for the hallway.

Minor Project - Reflective Statement

When looking back at the complete minor project, I am content that I managed the project well overall. There are however two incidents I experienced during the project that highlight weaknesses I have yet to overcome.

The first of these incidents was at the very beginning of this project. I had continued this project on from my Adaptation B project, where I had designed and created an animation ready character model and an animatic adapted from a poem. At the start of the minor project I knew I wanted to improve upon the character model I had last year. While I was happy with the overall model, there were parts that I knew I needed to change. It took longer than it should have to figure out the things I wanted to change about the character. I didn't get off to a running start with the project, despite having the resources of another project behind me to drive me forwards. Slow starts have been a problem for me with projects throughout this course, and as evidenced by the minor project I have yet to overcome that. It is something I will have to pay close attention to with work in the future.

The second issue I faced during this project was with the storyboard and animatic. At the end of the Adaptation B project, the animatic I submitted underlined the weaknesses in my skill set regarding shot direction and pacing. With this in mind I gave myself extra time during the minor project for improving my animatic. I struggled more than I thought I would. I believe this was in part due to putting too much pressure on myself to make something perfect for the story. As I came across a lot of problems it required a great deal of help from tutors to get my work moving in the right direction. In the end a significant amount of time was lost to this endeavor and that has weighed on the rest of the project afterwards. However, I do feel content with the quality of the animatic I produced in the end.

While these two problems cost time during the project, there is one thing that I did better than I expected I would. When we left university over the Christmas break I had a clear list of the things I wanted to achieve and have ready for the deadline. I managed to be efficient with my time and stay undistracted throughout. As a result I was able to produce a good amount of work and push myself to a satisfying hand in. I have had problems with working efficiently while away from university on previous projects. As such I feel very positive about overcoming that obstacle during this project.

Overall, I am pleased with my progress on the minor project. I have only become more enthusiastic about my work as it has steadily improved in quality during this project.

Minor Project Submission