Narrative: Reflective Statement

This project has been a real challenge from day one, it can be/is often difficult to collaborate with others but I feel that I have done the best that I could. I have learned a lot of useful skills in After Effects such as special effects for snowfall and different ways to create shadows outside of Maya. I feel I have become much more familiar with After Effects with the amount of experiments I tried out for the animation. The process within Maya to create 2D animation has been a real challenge as I did not fully expect all of the issues that were encountered, but I feel it has helped me better understand other techniques within Maya such as the use of projections and alpha channels. As the project progressed I found I was able to model, texture, and organise everything much faster. It was reiterated that organisation is key, especially in a group project, from planning production to labelling files/folders and assets for the animation clearly for other group members so things could be easily found. I feel I was able to further expand my knowledge of Adobe Audition and I feel I did a decent job making the sound effects and soundscape, although I wish I had time to experiment more and record my own audio. I also feel that this project has taught me about 2D for 3D enough for me to determine I'd rather use other techniques within Maya to create models and animations. While I learned I dislike 2D for 3D, it'll help inform me in the future of how I choose to make my work, and it also improved my skills with texturing, animation, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition. Overall, this project has taught me that all you can do is try your very best, ask for help when you need it, be honest when you are struggling, experiment with new things, and to try to get on with making progress no matter what.