What went well and why:
- Beryl’s final design was sufficiently modern yet Beano at the same time.
- The slingshot arc and follow-through in the final animation came out very fluid (perhaps because it was accidentally animated at 30fps).
- The lip syncing came out quite accurate due to trial and error and much personal facial mimicking.
- Mark’s walk cycle and turn near the end of the main animation turned out very smooth, likely because the cycle was animated on ones (and took a few days to get right).
- Beryl’s guitar rocked. In both 2D and stop motion.
- The fact that I finished animating the minimum 40 seconds on time as a side effect of me under-estimating how much I’d be able to get done before the deadline.
What could have been improved and what can be applied
in future:
- The 3D aspects of the module were personally difficult and I would like to practise this further to be more fluent with Maya. I would eventually like to learn how to make hybrid 2D and 3D animation with these skills.
- Though my puppet looked good, it was hard to move specific parts because they were heavy (the feet) or kept cracking (the arms). In future I know to focus more on the padding so I don’t bog it down with too much plasticine. However, developing props is not something I’d mind looking further into in the future.
- My bully was supposed to have an angry brooding walk but I think it ended up being more ‘vanilla’ than intended. Adding character to a walk cycle is something that I will need to practise further.
- Time was a big barrier when it came to the final animation and I found myself using ‘cheats’ to finish in time, like showing a brief flash of white instead of animating the slingshot actually hitting Mark’s face. That being said, I think I would apply shortcuts like this in the future if I find myself pressured for time.
It has been an incredible learning
experience but not without its obstacles. I may have had a conniption trying to
decide on a single colour scheme for my redesigned Beryl the Peril and as
amateurish as my artistic skills are, it was easy to compare my work to that of
my more talented peers (despite me being fully aware of everyone’s differing
‘levels’). I feel like my time was managed fairly well between the modules and
the feedback I received throughout the course has been valuable. I hope the
upcoming summer break will provide ample opportunity to bring my artistic
abilities closer to my personal level of expectation. Until then, I look
forward to another year of learning the wonder that is animation!
