Software Used: Animation Desk
Production Title: Roly Poly
What software did you choose and why?
I chose to use the software Animation Desk because I personally find cell animations more interesting and enjoyable to do than the other programs or styles that were offered. I wanted to use Animation Desk because I really enjoy creating things through drawing them myself. I found that being able to draw out what I was thinking or imagining certainly helped bring my animation to life without having any barriers in the way.
How your animation idea includes the theme of Biomimicry? Were there any changes or addition to incorporate the theme more? How well did you include it?
My animation included biomimicry as I showed the similarities between a Star Wars droid BB8 and a pill bug. The actual biomimicry of these two objects is the spherical shape that they both share, which helps them with movement. To help bring out the differences between the two, I created two different backgrounds. One of them, for the droid, has a dry, outer space look. Whereas the second background, for the beetle, is very lively and lush. Â This is to help show the vast difference between two things, yet they can still relate to each other due to biomimicry.
Describe the creative process of creating the animation. What worked, what didnât? How did you overcome issues?
During the timely process of creating this animation, there were obviously things that did and didnât work. I originally started out my creation by drawing a skeleton of each character repeatedly, this was until I realised there was a copy and paste button. Using this feature was very helpful and quite a time saver. I also found the layer feature on Animation Desk to be very helpful when creating finer details to my creation. Is for the creation of the animation, I used three different layers. The first one had a basic outline and block colour. The second had more colour-based details to give the characters their well-known features. The final layer was for fine details such as shading. Originally, I had my animation speed at 10 frames per second, I decided that this was too slow and that it would be better to up the speed to 14 frames per second. As Animation Desk does not allow the backgrounds to be changed in one file, I needed to create two different files. Once the animation was completed, I placed both animations into premiere pro and inserted background music.
What do you think did you personally did well?
Personally, I think my technique of creating the characters in my animation was done well. I put a lot of time and detail into each frame to show the small details of movements to give a very realistic effect. I also believe I did a fair amount of research into the characters as well as the theme.
What could you have improved?
I believe I could have drastically improved my animation if I had used my time more wisely. I often spent one whole lesson trying to perfect each frame, and only to gain a small benefit from doing so. This was because I wanted the quality of this animation to be as admirable as possible, but I think it would be fair to say that I didnât consider the time limit of this assignment. This does not mean that my next assignment will lack effort and quality, but I will need to find a more stable balance between quality and time.
 On a scale from 1-10 how complex is your animation? Why?
I would rate the complexity of my animation a 6.5 out of 10. This is because although my biomimicry idea was quite complex, my style of animation was basic. Everything shown was hand drawn. Due to the limitations of Animation Desk, such as pen options and effects, it was more difficult to make the animation look as realistic as others that had images sourced off the internet.
 Are you proud of the work you have produced? Explain why or why not?
I am proud of the animation that I have created over the past term. I have put a lot of time and effort into it and I am pleased with the outcome. However, there is always room for improvements, as mentioned earlier. If I were to follow these recommendations mentioned earlier, I think I would be more proud of the work I produced.
Space gun SFX:Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE3oqkcm10A
Desert wind SFX:Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CixDyo4OYHE
Rainforest SFX:Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=998KzMrrTXQ