End of year reflection- Animation

Technology take away

At the beginning of this yer, I wasn't the best at animation. I would get frustrated because it seemed like everybody but me knew what to do and how to do it. I didn't understand the programs and would easily get frustrated. Since then, I have gotten a lot better at animation, not saying I'm amazing, but Im certainly better than when I started. What changed is that I started to take notes when my teacher was talking and I read the online tutorials closer. I would also look for video tutorials online to help me. Taking notes really helped me in the future because a lot of things we worked on in previous projects, we applied to later projects. I have learned how to render on both Maya and After Effect, how to create an explosion with mattes, how to bevel and emboss, add textures to objects to make them look realistic, and the most important: how connect to the server :) and many more.

Collaboration take away

In animation, we only really had one group project that we had to collaborate on and that was our end of the year VFX project. We were put into groups randomly and how to come up with a story, which involved an explosion. We had to collaborate as a group to come up with a story and where we would go to film. At first, we were going to film in the gym, but there were P.E. classes going on at the time so we talked and decided to film it in the court yard. Collaborating is important because you need to be able to work with other people in life to be successful. 

Communication take away

(beginning of year project below)

The biggest take away I had in animation would be communication because I had to to communicate with my peers and teacher a lot of the beginning of the year. I had to learn to communicate when I didn't understand what was going on and I had to talk with others so they could help me with this project. At first, it was hard because I felt like I was asking too many questions, to the point where it as annoying. I learned to start taking notes and that helped me to lessen questions, but I would still communicate with the people around me about my project.

Project management take away 

I learned the importance of turing in projects on time because one week I didn't turn in a project and my weekly grade was a 5/10, which didn't reflect well in the grade book. I asked my teacher why my grade was the way it was and it was because I hadn't turned in an assignment. I turned it in and my grade went back up. What really helped me the most with project management was google classroom. Being able to turn in things to google classroom was helpful because it always tells you when its due so you are never unsure of a due date and it helps keep you organized.

Leadership take away 

I haven't always been a person to take charge, I'm more of a go with the flow kind of person. However, e-Comm has helped me take leadership because in groups we would assign people certain tasks that they would have to complete. Being assigned a certain task helps you stay focus and lead your group in that certain focus area. 

Overview of the year                                (end of year project above)

My growth has grown tremendously since the beginning of freshman year. At the beginning of sophomore year I had no idea what "Maya" or "After Effects" were and how to use them. I didn't know how to create a walk cycle or add explosions. I have built a good relationship with my teacher, Mr. Netterville because he knew my frustration at the beginning of the year and he helped me not to worry about it and to jut have fun with it. The biggest take away I have from this year is to just have fun animating because once you get the hang of it, it is pretty fun.