Star Wars Project: S.W.O.T Analysis
Throughout this assignment I have felt both excited and very frustrated. The models were mostly comprised of box-like angular shapes which were easy to create. A strength of mine that I used to good effect was having a good eye for proportions and scale and so, using reference images, I was able to create accurate models with ease. I am more than happy with the way the AT-AT Walker and Snowspeeder turned out.
Whilst creating these models I came across many problems. The way the Snowspeeder's side were sloped made using the align tool very difficult and so had to be moved and rotated manually. Like wise I faced a problem when creating the head for the AT-AT Walker. I used the boolean union tool to model one of the side turrets onto the side of the head. Due to certain circumstance I could not revert to a previous save.
Overall I was not too happy with the Death Star model. The model was key for my animation but provided no real display of animation skill or techniques. To try and add more detail to the model I decided to create intrusions where the the texture detail lie. I'm pleased with the result and I feel adds extra depth to the model. However, it proved to be very time consuming so I restricted myself to a limited amount of detail. Given more time, and probably more patience, I would add more intrusion details.
A big weakness of mine, which I will have to work on, is texturing. I was able to create basic colours for my AT-AT Walker and Snowspeeder. The Death Star has a decent texture on it but because of it's basic shape this was very easy to texture. It did not help that I decided to texture my models after I animated them. This was a big mistake as it broke the animation I had created and I hadn't the time to re-animate. In future projects I will texture my models before animating them. Luckily the models were supposed to be a basic grey colour and so it is not that noticeable that they lack textures.
The animating process proved to be the most stressful but also the most rewarding. Using a video reference to animate my Walker galloping was very useful and I am very proud of the result. This was the reason I did not want to texture the walker after I had animated it. Making the head and body bop up and down in time with the galloping proved to be more difficult. The Death Star and Snowspeeder were easy to animate as there was no movement required on the models. However, I did find it difficult to get them to move when I wanted them to. For example if I wanted to rotate the Snowspeeder at a certain point I would set a key frame and rotate it to where I wanted. The problem was that it would start rotating from the most recent key frame and not from when I wanted it to. To deal with this I set a key frame just before where I wanted it to rotate and move the model ever so slightly so keyframe appears. This fixed my problem tho I need to research into setting keyframes without having to move the model.
The weaknesses I will need address in future projects include texturing, lighting and the skydome. As seen from the class exercises; I struggled with creating effective lighting for the scene. I ended up using the omni light for its ease of use and effectiveness as a mini sun. I also struggled creating an effective skydome and so resorted to using a set picture.
Thanks to an A-level in Media Studies; using camera techniques effectively was definitely strength of mine which, I believe, I put to good use.
My strengths are definitely creating realistic models, using camera techniques effectively and animating animalistic movement.
If we were given more of a time scale to animate I believe I would have created a better animation. I had more scenes I wanted to add. Hopefully I wont be limited by a time scale in future projects
