Midterm Final Self Critique

One thing is absolutely certain after working on this piece all weekend- I severely underestimated the amount of time and thinking it was going to take in order to arrange my assets. This piece was incredibly difficult for a number of reasons- first, whenever I updated my assets with new layers, it screwed up the entire comp and I would have to re-puppet everything. Second, my main character has 4 puppetted limbs, which just took a long time getting everything working absolutely correctly. Third, a number of assets had to be remade or made from the ground up, forcing me to drop momentum in AfterEffects in order to get everything made. Lastly, on top of all the work necessary for the piece, I also had the obligation of the Literacy Midsouth Gala, which I, and a few others, had the job of getting every decoration done by the day this was due as well, meaning I was working on two big projects at once, 4 if you are counting my other classes.

All of this led me to have poor time management. I worked in the lab every day of the break from 7 to 2, and it still wasn't enough. I honestly should have held off on everything until I was sure this project was ready to go. It just continuously astounds me the amount of work you have to put into the program in order to do what you want.

And of course, since all of the things mentioned previously, my project is only half-finished, despite the amount of time and effort I put into it. I will take this with a grain of salt, and will know what to expect for the next project.

This all being said, I really like what animation I do have. The assembly line could use a few touch ups, and the velocity of a lot of the movements, especially the walk cycles, could use work. Of course, the story isn't done, and the main female doesn't show at all, which is a huge disappointment. But there are moments I really enjoy, like when he begins pushing the cart and when he shakes his hand. Even if I won't be getting a grade on it, I will be finishing this piece in my spare time if I ever have any. It was rewarding to work on, and I learned a hell of lot about the program- I can now puppet, parent, time remap, and key frame like a boss. I now know exactly what to expect from the program. So, even if I take a hit for this project, I will have walked away from having learned a lot of valuable info. Next time, AfterEffects is going down.