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OVERVIEW This section documents the last stage of the projects creation process. Here I will reflect my thoughts on the outcome of the movie, how it varied from the planning stage to realization, possible improvements and future ideas. Initially my premise of the project was to ‘learn and demonstrate skills in 3D animation and to a lesser extent music composition ...’ And this involved the following aims and objectives,
Aims ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultimately the creation of the short film provided me with a greater knowledge of 3D animation skills and techniques and allowed me to explore the possibilities 3D animation offers. From working in 3D I have become more aware of everyday objects and in particular learnt to appreciate how they reflect and refract light, how they are textured, how the structure of the object could be mimicked and manipulated in 3D. I feel I have developed a better eye for colour, shapes and shadows that I did utilize enough before. The capabilities of 3D are vast and I feel I only covered a small but key section. I have learned how to integrate 3D into other multimedia i.e. from a software package into a movie with original music that can be viewed with a click of a button. The underlying theory of SOL (Self Organized Learning) was responsible for the time management skills I obtained by planning my project and managing my time with other modules. I developed a system where I would work on the Final Year Project in the morning and late at night whilst working on other modules during the day. The system did not allocate much time to myself, but it was efficient and allowed me to get a lot of work done. But I did find that by working on the Final Year Project partially over a period of time I never had to rush the making of scenes.
Possible Improvements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are certain aspects of the movie I am not satisfied with the first being the size of the render. Although rendering to 360 x 288 has its charm and keeps everything compact I did have a few people asking whether it would be rendered to a larger size (i.e. 720 x 576 full British TV Size). After experimenting with the different render sizes I found that my computer system would not be able to cope with the large render times. So I decided it would be best to keep the size small and the content full than the other way around. I may re-render the movie one day but I also feel that once the movie is finished I should leave it at that and not revisit the project. Just learn and move on. But if re-rendered I would probably use still TIFF image sequences with no initial compression applied. I would like to add a couple of more scenes but I was unable to find the time to model them and so they were cut from the storyboard. These scenes would have linked the robot morgue to the fight scene and another scene that linked Ravensville town to Jed’s Tower. I also found it difficult to attach the biped (the diverse bone structure) of the characters to their mesh. This meant that I had to animate the characters with the ‘stop-motion’ key framing technique which took far longer than it would have had with a biped system in place. Although the animation of the characters and objects was eventually successful, the process was extensive. Another part of the movie I would have like to improve is the editing of the film. Because of the duration of my film (over 8 minutes) I found it difficult to cleanly edit the movie without causing my computer system to slow down. This became intensely irritating and the software also had problems when previewing the movie before rendering so each scene had to be previewed individually and not collectively as it should. The tightness of the editing was tweaked after the exhibition but I still would like smoother transitions. The length of a number of scenes could be reduced but this would inevitably retract from the style of the film if the spacing of the shots is too regular. As far as the music for the film, I spent many hours writing the music and feel it works well. I may improve the volume and mixing of the tracks but otherwise I am satisfied with the music. The music compliments the film well and I have received good feedback from testing.
Future Ideas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3D animation is a subject I will certainly keep practicing and feel this project has given me a good foundation to build future ideas upon. I might develop this story further and redefine the models for a future project or completely start over and tackle an area of 3D I ignored during this project. I would like to learn biped animation and using HDRI lighting to produce realistic scenes. I would also like to use 3D to create a music video or to learn compositing (and camera tracking) to produce an original work. I think that the unquestionable increase and appreciation of 3D in the advertising industry is something to investigate and exploit. I would one day like to work for a design studio such as Studio AKA, Pixar or BlueSky and I feel with this project I am learning the skills required to apply for such positions. I would also like to explore writing music for films or television programs but I would require a lot more knowledge of instruments and their interaction with each other to be able to write for professional productions.
Conclusion Summary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am pleased with the outcome of my project. I particularly like the music and the modelling but feel the animation could have been a little cleaner. I took on this project with the faintest knowledge of 3D but feel I have learnt more than I anticipated and have found something I really enjoy. I am happy with the response from the audience and I feel creating an 8 minute short film with original music is an achievement for a first time solo film maker. The finished artefact stayed true to Multimedia and demonstrates one way of communicating to an audience through this medium. The story was a little strange and I hoped people would take it as it is and not dwell on the film making sense and I think it was received in the right way. Through testing I found that people genuinely liked the story and the twist at the end of the film so I am pleased it has been well received. With comparison to my original aims and objectives, I achieved all of them and did not stray away to new goals. I think I managed to show my influences from other films in particular the films of Tim Burton and the Pica Towers animated series. But without a shadow of a doubt the greatest incentive in creating the film was that I enjoyed making it and the long creation process that took many months can be demonstrated by clicking the play button. I never lacked interest or motivation because the process was enjoyable. I have learned how to use 3D Studio Max to realize my ideas and gained knowledge in the techniques involved in creating textures using Adobe Photoshop. I have developed my skills in film editing using Adobe Premiere and increased my music creation skills through FL Studio 4 and Sonar 1.0. These technical skills will surely prove invaluable for future projects. I have also learnt about time management and dealing with submission deadlines through multi-tasking. I have learnt that the beauty of computer animation is its endless possibilities. The capability of 3D to reproduce realistic objects and breathe life into inanimate objects gives it the power to overcome seemingly impossible ideas. My journey began not knowing anything about 3D and at the end I am still eager to learn and very excited about carving a career in this industry using the skills this project has taught me. Overall the project was extremely successful and I do not regret choosing 3D as an area to study. It has taught me a lot and it has been an enjoyable journey.
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