Character and Narrative: Reflection

I have found this module to be extremely challenging yet satisfying. Not only has it challenged me as an animator, but it has also given me the opportunity to challenge myself as an individual and work on my skills as a team member. Not only this, but this module has also pushed me very far out of my comfort zone, which is something I struggle to do, and it has given me an insight into how well I can deal with learning and creating things with software and skills I am not very confident with. I also feel that I have gained a number of skills that I will be able to carry over into future modules and beyond university.

Reflecting upon the tasks that I had to complete for this module, I feel that I have made great progress with Maya. I have learnt how to effectively use Maya to create a working 3D model, as well as how to animate that model to a good standard. I have also developed a new range of skills in 3D animation that I can potentially use within 2D animation as well. For instance, I have learnt a lot more about key framing and the importance of it as a way to plan out an action. I’ve found that I have a much better understanding of how certain movements should be planned out, such as walking, and I feel that I will be able to adapt this to 2D animation. Not only that, but I have improved as an animator in general, my animation is cleaner and smoother than previous work.

In terms of team work I feel that this is an area I am going to have work on quite a bit, however, I feel that I did ok for my first attempt. Whilst I made a lot of effort to stay in constant communication with my partner, when they were unresponsive and uncooperative, I let it discourage me from trying to talk about work, which meant that I was unaware of what they were doing and the progress they were making. I also made little effort to speak to my partner after long periods of my partner not talking to me, as I felt that they weren’t interested in what I was doing and the progress I made. Another thing I need to work on is my communication of progress and ideas, as my partner and I struggled with certain areas of the project due to things being unclear. To do this, I am going to look at how I can improve the clarity of my ideas and thinking by writing it out first and then talking about it. Although this part of the module has pointed out that I’m not great at team work, I am really glad that I have had this opportunity to work collaboratively and it is definitely something that I am going to continue to do at every opportunity I get.

Although I feel that this module has gone really well in terms of self improvement and learning new skills, I have also encountered a number of technical difficulties that I haven’t necessarily learnt from. Whilst working with Maya, I encountered a number of problems that I wasn’t aware of nor did I have any understanding of how to fix the problems, as each time I encountered a problem, the fix was slightly different. I found the software extremely confusing and I lacked a lot of confidence when I came to use it because I found it very overwhelming. Despite this, I have managed to create an animation that I am proud of and I have come away with an understanding of how to model, rig and animate a character in Maya.
However, I feel that I did well with problem solving overall throughout the module, as I managed to produce solutions for problems that contributed to the quality of my animation.

Reflecting upon my time management, I feel that this has been my most managed project out of all the projects I have done. Not only did I have my sections of the animation done on time, but I also had a week left to make minor adjustments. I also feel that I managed to keep on track with my partner fairly well and I was never too far behind or ahead of them. This is something that I am really pleased with, as time management has always been an area in which I am either really good or really bad, but I feel that I have managed to keep it nicely balanced this project and I will work on keeping this steady balance throughout my future projects, as it has helped to keep my stress levels down.

However, motivation has been a big issue for me throughout this module. I feel that I was getting frustrated a lot throughout this module because I was working with a complex program that I didn’t fully understand. I also found that my interest in 3D animation quickly dissolved once I actually started to work with it, which made me lose interest in actually doing the work. In order to get over this, I balanced my work between this project and small self-directed projects to help boost my motivation and get the work done.

Overall, I have enjoyed completing this module and the opportunities it has provided for me. I have also enjoyed overcoming the problems I have encountered, as I feel that it has helped me to develop as an animator and an individual. Not only have I improved as an animator, but working with a program I am not at all confident with and producing a piece of work I am happy with has boosted my confidence in my own work and in myself. Having said this however, I don’t feel that 3D animation is the right form of animation for me and I don’t think it will be something I explore in this level of detail again.