I have't updated this blog in a while, for a variety of reasons. Everything began to snowball towards the end of the semester last year - I got news that my mom was seriously ill in the hospital, I was working 18+ hour days to finish my project, trying to juggle my day job that pays the bills, and generally laser-focused on things a lot more pressing than updating a blog I'm not sure anyone reads. ;)
But rest assured - things turned out all right. My mom is doing well, I escaped sophomore year with my sanity
Hot Pursuit from Kat Walker on Vimeo.
Sorry about the video quality, I know it's a bit dark. Unfortunately we didn't go over lighting in environment class very thoroughly, and I think compression issues exacerbated it. Turn up your monitor's brightness a couple of notches and you should be fine. :P
And by far the things I was most proud of were the texturing and the models. Not bad at all for what is a first real attempt at both:
Lani and Robot Turnaround from Kat Walker on Vimeo.
I am happy that it got done; considering how far behind I was from the start it's a small miracle that I was able to turn it around as quickly as I did. That alone is an accomplishment.
Looking back on it now that I have an extra year of experience, I can see all the glaring animation flaws. Yes, I did have a notoriously bad rig to deal with, and I was pressed for time, but I can certainly admit I would have done things differently if I had the chance to try again. It was the thing I focused on the least, which is kind of ironic considering that is what I've chosen to specialize in for our new collaborative film.
And, to be fair to myself, our class was put at a major disadvantage -- since this project was an experiment for a totally new curriculum, the instructors made a lot of costly mistakes in planning our classes. We're highly overworked to begin with as animation majors, but the stress load increased at least threefold (remember that whole "sabbath rest" thing Seventh-day Adventists are supposed to be all about? Because I sure don't). We had to learn extremely difficult concepts from the ground up in an unrealistic timeframe. Honestly, a lot of the classes did not seem worth the amount of money I was paying. In my darker moments of frustration and hopelessness I began looking into other schools, and even considered dropping out of animation forever and focusing on my web career.
Thankfully, I was able to ride it out and despite everything got motivated again in time to finish right on the deadline. I'm not even joking - the final product finished rendering 2 minutes before presentation time.
It also seems as though the staff has ironed out the wrinkles in their lesson plans, because last year's freshmen (who are now this year's sophomores) seem to be developing amazing projects without running into too many serious setbacks. Even work the incoming freshmen students are doing is excellent. I'm sure they'll be even more prepared when its their turn to run the gauntlet. It's become a bit of a running joke among us animation majors that sophomore year is like a rite of passage... much like a primitive tribe putting some poor adolescent on the cusp of adulthood through horrifically painful rituals.
Unfortunately, I still have a lot of catching up to do if I want to be where I should be by now. I've managed to build a better rapport with my instructors, I am feeling useful as an artist, I'm enjoying myself a lot more, and I don't regret choosing my school -- but there is still a teeny little bit of bitterness lingering. I guess ultimately the only thing you can do is rely on yourself, maintain your confidence even when things don't go your way, and take the initiative to make stuff happen.
Anyway, I will have lots more to share in the near future. I've been animating several shots for a new film and worked on some storyboards for a while. I'm also signed up for painting classes next year. I have my heart set on possibly directing a senior project, but we'll see how that goes.
Until next time! :)
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