It has been three years and if I am honest I do not know how I feel. From a technical standpoint I found almost all aspects of using Maya and Photoshop an incredibly challenging yet enjoyable task to be completed from texturing, rigging to animation. I feel that I have managed to acquire some skill and work flow around these areas. However there are still large gaps in the work that I have made in terms of design and animation. This was down to poor management of time, something which I regret. There were many features that I wanted to implement such as swaying grass that reacted to the explosion, extra particle effects for dust, smoke and debris, fluid smoke being vented from the gun when the breach was opened leaving a trail from the ejected casing and so much more.
By choosing this project and narrative it was important to me that I gave the story and its people the respect and justice it deserved. To me the tone, emotions and ending note had to be correct. One aspect that was central to joining the animation course was the ability to tell a story and I am more than glad that I have been given the opportunity and resources to do so. Around the minor project I had left a large amount of work that had to be completed which arguably is still not complete. My tutors have imparted invaluable knowledge, messages and morals. I regret not spending more time to communicate and develop further as a student alongside my peers.
The project overall has proven difficult and stressful. It has shown that I still have a long way to go before I reach a 'professional' standard be it in time management, communication, graphic design or technical know-how.
If I were to restart this project I would make myself transparent, and communicate more regularly alongside coming in more often. I would address the issue of design and ensure more time could be devoted to the 'art of' and animation.
