SWOT Analysis

This is officially the last post I will be creating for this blog, which is a SWOT analysis table of myself.

Strengths

• I work hard and try to do my best
• I enjoy any module that is interesting and exciting
• I have patience which you need for this module

Weaknesses

•   I have never used 3D's Max before
•   I do get worried about the final outcome
•   I do not feel comfortable about learning something new that seems complex

Opportunities
 

• I have taken a lot from this module that I hope to use later in life.
• I have also taken from this module what 3D's Max is capable of and also what Adobe Premier does also.

Threats

• I did not think I was going to have an animation that was worthy
• I did not think that I was going to finish this module on a high, but how wrong was I

Everything Must Come To An End

This is going to be my last post for this module (apart from the SWOT analysis diagram I am going to do in the post after), which is going to be my evaluation of the module.

I think that I have really enjoyed this module and have had lots of fun with the software that I have been using. There have been some up's and down's but have managed to sort them out in the end, with it eventually all coming together and I am pleased with the final outcome. However as mentioned before there could have been some improvements but I think everything works well within the animation.

Overall I haven't really wanted this module to end but I am glad for the long break, and am pleased with the final animation, I have created an will be handing in, this is a great module and can't wait for next years 3D module's.

There Could Be Improvements

For this post I am going to comment on the improvements that I feel I could put in my animation.

Firstly the I feel that I have created a good attempt at my first animation in 3D's Max, as I have never used this software before, however I do feel there could be inprovements.

One improvement could be the lights, I think they need to be better placed as some parts of the animation are too bright.

Another could be the length of the animation, I think it might be a bit too short and some parts of the animation rushed, which means better planning should have been taken.

Next improvement could be the smoothness of the animation, where I have rendered the animation and attempted to join together using Adobe Premier it is slightly jumpy.  

Finally the biggest improvement that could have been made is the 'Pro Boolean' I have used in the animation, this is because I think that without it my animation could have been better, but unfortunately I needed it for my animation to work.


Overall though I still think that my first ever attempt at creating an animation in 3D's Max is till better than I thought it was going to be when I started this module.

Don't Stop The Music

This small post is going to be commenting on the sound track that I have added to my animation.

My first plan was not to add any music into my animation, however whilst I was creating my animation I thought that it was missing something, that something to make it better, which I eventually realised was sound.

I decided to add a sound track that have a war/battlefield feel to it, and was forever searching for that right sound, and I believe I have got there with a rock song.

I added it through Adobe Premier which was very simple just needed to drag and drop, then shorten the sound to the right length that I needed and hey presto we have a finished animation with sound.

The sound that I have used is a personal sound track however I will reference it

Soundgarden. (2012) Live To Rise, Soundgarden. [Digital audio file], iTunes. Available from: <apple/iTunes> [Accessed 2 May 2012].

Why Is It So Dark?

For this post I am going to comment on the lights that I have inserted into my animation.

I originally planned to not have any lights in the animation, however I felt that having them within the animation made it clearer to see for the audience.

The lights that I used where the 'omni' lights, these are not the best lights but felt that is all that was needed, but I did have to put in two or three lights for each render, because the light didn't stretch over the whole stage.

The lights also don't move they are static as I didn't think they needed to be animated in anyway.

However I do feel that the lights could have been placed better as some parts of the animation I feel are too bright, but this will be explained in more detail in another post.

I will screenshot an example of how the light is working in the animation.

This screenshot is of the lights that I have used in my animation as you can see the shadow on the top of the tower.

1000 Words Paints A Picture

This small post is going to be commenting on the text that I have used with my animation.

I decided to add to my original idea and make the animation more humorous by adding in a couple words of text, for example the crossbow and the catauplt are having a battle and I inserted the text 'Champion' for the crossbow and the words 'Contender' for the catapult.

The text was simple to create, just typed what I wanted into 3D's Max, placed the text where I wanted it to show by rotating and moving the text into position. I also had to extrude the text to make it 3D, but I do think that by using the text it fits within the animation and seems to be funny. Below is a screenshot of an example of the text that I have used within my animation.

This screenshot is of the text that I have used in my animation you have to watch the whole animation to understand

And Were Rolling!

This post is going to comment on the camera that was used within the animation.

For the animation I was going to use multiple camera's however I realised I would need to do multiple camera's and didn't feel I had the time to fit them in the animation. However once I had come to the end of animating I realised I could have done my original plan as I needed to do multiple renders anyway, but this will be explained in the render post which is to follow.

However back to camera's for my animation, I used a target camera, as I felt using a free one wouldn't capture what I really wanted, with a target camera I could position exactly what I wanted the audience to see, and I think I have achieved this quite well. I will screenshot a camera view from the animation.

This screenshot is of a camera view from my animation, I zoomed out at this point so that you could see the catpult fall apart