Kaytorrr

What went well this term?

Overall, I feel i was a lot more prepared, like many in the class this is my first ever experience with college and has been quite the change for me, last year i struggled to keep up but i feel as though i was able to carry myself better this semester.

What was the most interesting or important thing you learned this term?

Foot sliding. i could not for the life of me figure out how to stop foot sliding but i was finally able to get it! no more foot sliding from here on out.

What was your favorite part in one of your animations?

I like the anticipation i have in this one, its the best build up to an action that i have out of all my work.

What surprised about your work/animation in general this term?

What surprised me the most was how much more comfortable i felt using maya, last year i felt quite overwhelmed with the amount of buttons and shortcuts, now that we are half way through second year, i can say i have grown much more used to using it.

In what area(s) do you need to continue to grow as an animator?

I still need to work on weight distribution, and making sure I'm moving all the parts that need to move in an action, i find i focus in too much on one area which causes other areas to be lacking.

How have you evolved as an animator over the course of this term? 

I was a bit nervous about this class just because i was scared i wouldn't be good at it, and i still have a long way to go, but I'm now considering doing it as my specialty for 4th year since I've come to like it!

What new insights have you gained about yourself as an Artist?

What went well? Things have been going pretty smooth, Its nice to see the animation starting to come together.

What did you learn? I think I’m starting to figure out how to control foot sliding better, I understand what causes it and how to fix it.

What do you like about your animation? It already looks smoother than my past animations, and I can tell I’ve improved in keeping cleaner arcs.

What surprised you? I feel a lot more comfortable with the process and the tools compared to before.

What does the animation lack? The movement is solid, but it could use more energy to make it pop.

What do you struggle with or find confusing about animating? The graph editor is still a bit confusing, but I'm getting there slowly.

What do you need to continue to develop as an animator? I want to keep working on making movements look more natural and less stiff. Understanding timing and weight better will really help with that.

What went well?

I didn’t run into any major issues. I was able to plan, start, and finish the animation efficiently without too much of a struggle, It felt great to see everything come together without needing to constantly go back and fix major mistakes.

What did you learn?

I officially have foot sliding figured out! This has been something that’s frustrated me for a while, so finally understanding how to prevent it feels like a huge step forward.

What do you like about your animation?

I think this is my best animation so far, I can see the progress I’ve made, especially in areas I used to struggle with (like foot sliding, maintaining smooth arcs, and keeping consistent motion), and I am very pleased with the overall outcome.

What surprised you?

I was surprised by how quickly I was able to complete this animation, I think this shows that I’m getting more comfortable with the tools.

What does the animation lack?

My animation lacks exaggeration and personality, the basic movement is there, but it could be pushed further to make it feel more expressive.

What do you struggle with or find confusing about animating?

I still find the graph editor confusing, I’m starting to understand how it works, interpreting the curves and knowing exactly how to adjust them for smoother motion is still a bit tricky, I know what I want visually, but I’m not sure how to achieve it through the graph.

What do you need to continue to develop as an animator?

I need to focus on making my movements in my animation look more fluid, some areas still feel a little stiff, and I want to continue improving my understanding of weight distribution.

What are you looking forward to?

Now that I’ve figured out how to prevent foot sliding, I’m excited to take on more complex animations, with that problem out of the way, I can focus more on other areas to further better my animations!

What went well?

I feel as though I was able to create a relatively believable movement, obviously I have a long way to go and a lot more to learn but overall, I was able to do the assignment and make my model sit!

What did you learn?

I leant how to prevent foot sliding, it took me awhile to get it to work, but I eventually got it to work.

What do you like about your animation?

I like the initial step towards the chair, I think because of our walk cycles last year I was able to apply that knowledge here, once my character reaches for the chair is where I have the most critiques, so I'll have to pay more attention to detail next time.

What surprised you?

what surprised me most was realizing just how much each part of the body actually affects each other, I think that's where someone my more awkward movements come from, each time I moved something another thing would move, so that is something will have to look out for in future assignments.

What does the animation lack?

Arcs. the critique I received was that I'm missing my arcs, the comment saying "arm looks like sliding across tabletop" helped me see exactly what and where it wasn't arcing.

What do you struggle with or find confusing about animating?

I feel I struggled most with the arms, I was so focused on the legs and torso, the arms became a bit of an after thought.

What do you need to continue to develop as an animator?

Making sure to lock things into place, I had quite a bit of sliding and things moving at the same time.

What are you looking forward to?

I look forward to taking everything I'm learning and applying it to my future assignments hopefully resulting in less imperfections!

Q - What is your favorite animation and why? One of my favorite animated films has to be The Bad Guys in terms of animation, I really like how they handled fur I find that sometimes anthropomorphic animations make fur so realistic that it looks weird, but in The Bad Guys they made it look cohesive and stylized without overdoing. It suits the characters and its clear enough that you can comprehend that they are animals without that overwhelming fur.

Q - What do you enjoy about animation? I love how versatile animation is. There are so many different ways to do it 2D, 3D, stop motion, traditional or even a combination of them. It's been around basically forever. Even ancient cave drawings were made in a way that used firelight to create movement. That's what makes it so cool to me, there are no real limits to what you can do with it, and it's a constantly evolving field.

Q - What are you looking forward to in this class? I'm really looking forward to getting a better grip on Maya this year, especially working with rigs. Last year I felt like I was fumbling on assignments when it came to that stuff I got by, but I didn't feel super confident. So this time I want to really focus on understanding how to use rigs properly and getting more comfortable with the software overall!

Q - What do you think will be challenging? I think quadruped animations are going to be a tough one for me, animating two legs is already a challenge, throw in two more and it just feels like a lot to keep track of, but I'm still excited to try it out I know it'll take some work, but I'm hoping I'll learn a lot from it.3

Q What do you hope to learn? Like I've previously stated, I want to feel more confident using Maya. I know a lot of that is going to come from me messing around with it on my own time, just experimenting and getting used to how it all works. Now that I'm in my second year of college and have learnt what does and doesn't work for me I'm definitely more prepared this year.