Project Evaluation

I did enjoy this project. This project taught me the importance of time management and how useful a schedule really is. Although the finished outcome and idea was not what I had originally set out to do, I am still pleased with the way it turned out, particularly the animation of the flying saucer/ UFO. Three weeks away from the final deadline I decided to change my choice of clip and animation idea completely as I reached a point where I could no longer progress with Maya Live as the initial clip lacked sufficient useful tracking points. I decided to choose the clip which my brother chose for his project, as it was a locked off camera shot and roughly 30 seconds long. I wanted to avoid tracking in Maya Live as it was confusing and tedious, plus I did not fully understand the way the tracking system worked. In addition Maya Live seemed to decide for you when it thought a tracking solve was successful.Even when the majority of the track was in the green. Needless to say I found Maya live rather annoying. I also wanted to avoid as much masking as possible as masking can sometimes look cheap and awkward to look at. I do not mind masking straight hard edges of buildings for example, but masking moving characters and objects is complex and laborious. I put of pride and effort into my work however time was running out which is why I made a conscious decision to change my idea radically to a much simpler idea in order to finish the project in time. I wanted to make sure I met the deadline and show something completed.

I learnt to appreciate the planning stages and that ideas can change radically during the project's development. I felt that during this project my modeling skills improved as I was able to model a simple 3D model design that was close to the original drawing. I also felt that my animating skills also improved as I was able to animate an effective fluid flight path, I also began to get to grips and understanding the graph editor. This project informed me of how crucial lighting is in order to create the illusion that the 3D model exists within the film footage. Lighting is what makes something look real or fake. My lighting was not spot on by any means but it was close to what was required and seemed to fit the lighting of the original footage. My knowledge of lighting within Maya and Lightwave is certainly improving and I am beginning to understand what settings do what and how to change light modes, colour and drop offs.