End of Year Animation Reflection

This year is animation was pretty cool. I learned so much, and made some really neat projects. All of the things I've done here made it one of my favorite classes, not just in this year, but in my entire time in school.

One of the most important and relevant skills in animation is the technical knowledge of the programs. I learned how to do a lot of things in After Effects this year, and even more in Maya; from the basics of just making something move, to more complicated things with Mattes and stuff. I even taught myself how to rig a 3-D character for the final video. I'm definitely not perfect yet, probably wouldn't even be considered great, but that's why I'm continuing on next year.

Aside from the final project, there wasn't a whole lot of collaboration in animation. But on that final project, there was a lot. It kind of felt like I was part of a real movie studio (a really amateur one, anyway), with everyone kind of contributing a different part of the whole project.

That group project was also where communication came in. We all kind of discussed the idea for the story, and later on communicated what everybody was doing so we could get the project done on time. Besides that, this blog is kind of the main communication thing for me. It tells my thoughts on all the projects I've finished and what I learned from them.

Project management was pretty vital for a lot of animation, especially in software that kind of goes crazy on you if you put something in the wrong place. I've always been an organized person, and that really helped this year. While other students' desktops are super cluttered, random png's all over the place, I have mine sorted out pretty good. I have folders and subfolders, and more folders in those. It's actually probably too organized, now that I think about it...

There wasn't really a lot of opportunities for leadership in this class. The only example I can think of is on the group project. I was kind of in charge of a lot of the special effects stuff, so my group members kind of consulted me occasionally. Maybe there will be more leadership stuff in the future, but leadership isn't really my best quality, either.

Sophomore Animation was really fun, and I learned a ton of new skills. Even though I still know very little compared to how much there is, I've gotten a lot better, and plan to get even more so next year.