#sae blogs

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Blog01-Twin-Stick Shooter: Top-down 2D Character Controller

The first prototype game of three to be made within the ‘Unity’ game engine this trimester would be a ‘top-down twin-stick shooter’. My main goal for the first two weeks was to create the 2D character controller itself so that the movement of the character could be controlled with the keyboard and the mouse could be used to aim a weapon. I also intended on setting up the player’s health so that when the character comes into contact with an enemy, they lose points and to set up a health bar which would reflect how many health points the player had left.

There are multiple ways that a game object - such as a game character - can be moved around the game world. This video below shows the different ways it can be done within Unity and the differences between them:

When I spoke to one of my lecturers, he reminded me that ‘Transform.Translate’ (or using ‘Transform.Position’) doesn’t actually ‘move’ a game object, but ‘teleports’ it to new coordinates. This is a quick, easy way to make a game object appear as though its moving, but because it isn’t really, physics aren’t applied to it when it’s first acted on. Doing things this way can cause odd situations like game objects appearing to ‘move’ into or through other game objects because they didn’t technically come into contact with one another when one of them changed locations. This way is only useful when one knows that the game object they will be ‘moving’ doesn’t need to collide with anything or be affected by gravity.

‘Rigidbody.MovePosition’ is similar to ‘Transform.Position’ in the sense that one is simply giving the object new coordinates - It doesn’t add velocity or change the velocity. However, it does recognise and interact with colliders between its original position and new position per fixed update as long as the rigidbody isn’t set to kinematic (which means it doesn’t use physics at all).

He also said that ‘Rigidbody.AddForce’ is considered to be the most realistic way of moving a game object, however it’s more complicated and requires more tweaking to get the desired movement.

‘Rigidbody.Velocity’ allows one to move a game object with physics, however, isn’t as realistic as it just simply changes the velocity directly. This is a good way of actually moving something with physics, and at the same time, make it easier to control how an object moves. This is the way I decided to have the player control the character.

I then looked up how to get the weapon to aim in the direction of the mouse and fire using the left mouse button:

For some reason, despite following along with the tutorial, the projectiles were being spawned with the wrong rotation as well as would travel in random directions that didn’t link up with where the weapon was pointing at the time.

I had asked for help, and it turns out that the projectile script had been written in a way that meant that the calculation had a double up. ‘Transform.Translate’ - by default - uses a game object’s local transform information, however, what was needed was for the projectile to move based off of the world space’s coordinates. So, therefore, ‘Transform.right’ (also local) needed to be replaced with ‘Vector2.right’ (global).

I am concerned that moving the weapon with ‘transform.rotation’ may cause some issues in future. I’ve been trying to keep the character controller physics-based, however, setting the game object’s transform rotation directly (like in the tutorial) isn’t consistent with this goal. I may look into another way of doing this later in the project (e.g.: using Hinge Joint 2D). I will next look into setting up the player’s health and health bar as I’d planned.

References:

Blackthornprod (2018). HOW TO MAKE A 2D RANGED COMBAT SYSTEM - UNITY TUTORIAL [YouTube Tut], Retrieved February 8, 2019, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY4Hr2x05p8

CodeJunkies (2018). Unity 2D - 8 Direction Player movement using Physics [YouTube Tut], Retrieved February 8, 2019, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km-04aUJy4o&t=99s

Unity3d College (2017). Unity 101: 5 ways to move Unity3D Objects [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtOcDryKv4&t=194s

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Blog02-1st Try at a Random Dungeon Generator

This is a blog detailing how the random dungeon generation tutorial series (3 videos) that I was following for my twin-stick shooter prototype game went for me: the problems that occurred, my successes and failures.

Despite following the tutorials, the random dungeon generator wasn’t working. No tiles would spawn. Rather than having to try to search through what was done in my project versus the YouTuber’s, I decided to start it fresh, hoping that if I redo the steps I would find out what I did wrong or at least notice more the second time around. This worked well. I was able to make progress past my first time trying it and successfully spawn random tiles that would make up the game’s level.

The next problem was that the random dungeon generator was spawning too many tiles one time around and too few another. I wanted more control over how many spawned. I had given it a go myself; trying to alter the tile spawner script, but it appeared to be ignoring my current tile count variable. I ended up asking a lecturer for some help with this. He ended up recommending a static variable in order to make sure that all copies of the spawner script would have the same number of tiles remaining before it would stop. I feel I may have also put the count variable I tried within the wrong if statement brackets.

I didn’t have time to fix the gaps that were left open during some level spawns. In the tutorial, there was a closed gap tile with no openings to plug up the rooms with spare gaps at the end. For me, they would spawn in some situations where they were needed, but not others. I feel that if I had added a condition to that if statement: that if the spawn point detects no other spawn point in its location after a certain length of time, a closed gap tile should be spawned, then this may have fixed the problem. I didn’t have time to try this out.

In the end there wasn’t time to get the random dungeon generator fully functioning, however I don’t regret giving it a go as I have a better idea of how it can be done now that I have tried.

As touched on in the last blog, I had relied to much on finding solutions that others had already come up with on different websites and different video tutorials and didn’t think up my own ideas enough. In future, I’ll go about my scripting research in this way:

Research into how people go about a particular task

Try to use this as inspiration for coming up with my own ideas/plan as to how to go about it

Write up a document on the details as to how I want to try and get the scripts to behave and interact with each other (plus, colliders/triggers/tags etc.)

Look up multiple tutorials that will help me towards my new goals

References:

Blackthornprod (2018). RANDOM DUNGEON GENERATOR - EASY UNITY TUTORIAL - #1 [YouTube Tut], Retrieved October 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAf9axsyijY&list=PLBIb_auVtBwA-qr2-WnWX0LjZXkqKu5Aj

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Blog01-The Start of a Twin Stick Shooter

At the very beginning of the twin-stick shooter project, I had taken a look over the requirements of the Unity prototype game and made a summary version of a game design document in order to write out the details of what I planned on doing. (This was in terms of game design only, not the details of how I planned on having the scripts behave & interact with one another). I decided to make a forest dungeon where the dense trees would act as disguised walls to prevent the player from roaming around outside the level.

After doing the planning for this, I looked up different Unity tutorials on YouTube to find out how others have gone about things and followed along with some of them. One of the things I looked up was how to make a random dungeon generator. This wasn’t a part of the requirements, but I was excited to give it a go.

Unfortunately, the random dungeon generator ended up taking longer to try out than I anticipated, so I eventually had to leave it and move on to the necessities of the project. I should have left the random dungeon generator until I had completed the base requirements first. Prevention is easier than trying to get myself to move on while in the middle of a task, however I still need to work on ‘temporarily giving up’ where I can.

I used the level tiles to construct a level by hand as the random dungeon generator was still generating levels with openings into the nothingness of the 3D scene.

Figure.1 (HRGN-MyLevel-Handmade.jpg, 2018).

I had created all of the greybox sprites within Unity itself using the primitive shapes Unity has in order to save time. I had a small, brown rectangle, a medium-sized, yellow oval and a giant, white diamond to represent the three different monsters I was spawning into the scene. They each had different speeds and different attack levels depending on the monster type. While the enemies were overlapping with the player, they would each seep away the player’s health points.

I also created trees, large and small rocks and a water block that I could use duplicates of to create rivers. These were going to be used as obstacles to get around within the level. I was tempted to have the internal obstacles randomly spawn upon each tile - which involves a similar process as the random dungeon generator I tried and the enemy spawner, however I was able to stop myself from acting on it when I didn’t have the time for it.

The enemy spawner script that I had tested on a single tile had to be altered for my larger dungeon as there were now multiple enemy spawners (one for each tile - except some) in the scene at once. The problem was that all the enemy spawners would spawn enemies regardless of how close or far away the player was. This wouldn’t be very realistic and would mean there would be an overwhelming number of monsters after the player all at once.

I wanted some areas of the level to be safer or to at least limit the number of enemies spawning by stopping more monster from being spawned as long as the player doesn’t disturb ‘the hive/nest’. I decided to add copies of a trigger zone that took up the whole of a tile onto the enemy spawner game objects and added to the enemy spawner script so that if the player entered a particular trigger zone, enemies would spawn at that spawner, and if the player left the zone, the enemies would cease to spawn (although the monsters the player has disturbed will continue to come after them). I was able to think of this and get it working successfully without the use of tutorials.

The player is a purple oval with a crosshair for aiming. It took me a while to find a tutorial that explained how to make it so that the crosshair would follow and rotate around the player, but I eventually got it working.

I had misread the assessment documentation and had ended up setting it up so that the arrow keys controlled the crosshair and the WASD keys controlled the character. I need to double or even triple check details like these as I go along in future - just to be safe.

References:

Blackthornprod (2018). RANDOM MAP GENERATOR - EASY UNITY TUTORIAL [YouTube Tut], Retrieved October 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4EOgZyNk-k

CouchFerret makes Games (2018). Unity Crosshair and Aiming in a Top Down Game - Tutorial [YouTube Tut].  Retrieved October 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdqCbydJ8xk&index=6&list=PLM83Z6G5iM3mnAd3MVJeZh7b7ilHd73V5

HRGN-MyLevel-Handmade.jpg [Image] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

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SAE Blogs (Uni: 2016-2019)

+ SAE Blogs (Games Development) +

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+ GAM111 Blogs (2019): +

Blogs for the ‘Scripting for Game Devs’ Unit:

+ Blog01 - Twin-Stick Shooter: Top-down 2D Character Controller

+ Blog02 - Twin-Stick Shooter: Level Functionality

+ GAM111 Blogs (2018): +

Blogs for the ‘Scripting for Game Devs’ Unit:

+ Blog01 - The Start of a Twin Stick Shooter

+ Blog02 - 1st Try at a Random Dungeon Generator

+ SAE Blogs (Animation) +

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+ ANC220 Blogs (2018): +

Blogs for ‘Animation Studio 2′ Unit:

+ Blog01 - Project Management (18T1-ANC220)

+ Blog02 - Transferrable Skills Meeting Reflection (18T1-ANC220)

+ Blog03 - Getting to Know Adobe Flash/Animate

+ Blog04 - Basics of ZBrush

+ ANC220 Blogs (2017): +

Blogs for ‘Animation Studio 2′ Unit:

+ Blog01 - 3D Animation Pipeline & Process

+ Blog02 - The History of Animation

+ ANI210 Blogs (2017): +

Blogs for ‘Animation Studio 1’ Unit:

+ Blog01 - Greybox of Control Room/ BPS Geometry

+ Blog02 - Underwater Scene (Part A - Research/Planning)

+ Blog03 - Creating a Terrain - Basics (UE4)

+ Blog04 - Reflection on Transferable Skills Meeting

+ Blog05 - Coping Under Pressure

+ ANI210 Blogs (2016): +

Blogs for ‘Animation Studio 1’ Unit:

+ Week 3 - Blog 1 - Iterations

+ Week 3 - Blog 2 - Planning & Scheduling

+ Week 3 - Blog 3 - Publishing on Tumblr

+ Week 7 - Blog 4 - XRef in 3DS Max

+ Week 8 - Blog 5 - Sketchfab

+ Week 8 - Blog 6 - Modular Assets

+ Week 8 - Blog 7 - Treatment & Concept Art Iterations

+ CIU111 Blogs (2016): +

Blogs for ‘Overview of Industry’ Unit:

+ Week 1 -  Entrepreneurship & Intrapreneurship

+ Week 2 -  Residencies

+ Week 3 -  Copyright

+ Week 4 - Secret Interview Techniques/Social Networking

+ Week 5 - STEM Woman & Sexism

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Blog04-Basics of ZBrush

As this tutorial is for those who have never used ZBrush before or have used it very little, I will show you an image of the ZBrush user interface with text I have typed over the top pointing out (and for some, describing) the basic elements within. This image will act as a summary of some of the essential ‘need-to-knows’.

Figure.1 (HRGN-ZBrush-UI-Basics_v2.jpg, 2018).

When you first open up ZBrush, it will have a blank canvas. To start, either import a ‘Tool’ (which is what ZBrush calls the geometry you work with) by clicking the ‘Load Tool’ button under the Tool Palette to the far right (You’d probably be importing a 3D model that you had made in a 3D software like Maya or 3DS Max if you were choosing this option). Or, to create a ‘ZTool’, click where there is a large ‘S’ image within the Tool Palette. It will be the top left icon at the bottom of that palette. ZBrush will show a variety of primitive 3D meshes to choose from. Once you’ve selected one, it will replace the ‘S’ (for ‘SimpleBrush’) with whichever 3D mesh you chose. Click and drag on the canvas to add a copy of that particular tool. To ‘Clear Canvas’, press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘N’. Press the ‘Edit’ button (or ‘T’) to work on a 3D tool that’s on the canvas.

[The ‘Draw’ button allows you to add new 3D tools or to draw using SimpleBrush. SimpleBrush is used for drawing/painting in 2.5D]. ‘Edit’ = 3D Canvas, ‘Draw’ = 2.5D Canvas.

This is how to move around in 3D:

Rotate = Left Click on Empty Space & Drag (or within outside boarder if zoomed in on a tool)

Pan = ‘Alt’

Zoom In & Out = ‘Alt’ + ‘Click & Drag’ + Let go of ‘Alt’

If you use a graphics tablet, these hotkeys may be useful:

Make Brush Bigger Size = ‘]’

Make Brush Smaller Size = ‘[‘

Go up Subdivision Levels = ‘D’

Go down Subdivision Levels = ‘Shift’ + ‘D’

Add Subdivision Level = ‘Ctrl’ + ‘D’

[To Assign a Hotkey: Hold ‘Ctrl’ + ‘Alt’ & Click on Button, then press a key to assign it]

References:

HRGN-ZBrush-UI-Basics_v2.jpg [Image] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

Marshall, J. (2015). Introduction to ZBrush 4R7 [Pluralsight Video Tut]. Retrieved March 27, 2018, from: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/intro-zbrush-4r7-2090/table-of-contents

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Blog03-Getting to Know Adobe Flash/Animate

A while back, before starting to use Flash, the first thing I looked up were the hotkeys that I expected I would be using most regularly and wrote them down to help me remember them. I know that some creative software are alike with details like this, but I like to check to be certain so I don’t waste time figuring it out myself when I don’t necessarily need to do that. Even if I don’t remember, I feel that writing them down is still worthwhile as I can then use those notes as a quick reference point for myself while working or for if I need to update my graphics tablet’s properties.

To affect frames within the Flash/Animate Timeline, one needs to remember to select/highlight the frames (or soon to be frames if one’s action is to create new frames) that they would like to apply an action to beforehand.

The Timeline Hotkeys:

To insert a Frame (extends a frames length), press ‘F5’.

To insert a Keyframe (automatically fills new frame with the previous frame’s contents), press ‘F6’.

To insert a Blank Keyframe (does as described), press ‘F7’.

To Delete a Frame (can delete any of the above frame types), one can press ‘Shift’ + ‘F5’.

[Clear a Keyframe = ‘Shift + F6’].

Step Forwards a Frame = ‘>’, Step Backwards a Frame = ‘<’.

Figure.1 (frame-types.jpg, 2018).

Representation of Frame Types: A keyframe is shown as a dot on the frame. If a frame has something on it, it will show a black dot and the frame itself will be grey. If it shows an outline of a dot and the frame is white, it means there isn’t anything on that frame. If the frame looks blank and white, that means there isn’t any keyframe there and that the previous keyframe is blank. If a frame is blank but is grey, that means it is displaying what was put on the previous keyframe. A rectangle shows where the gap between two keyframes ends.

Notes about How to Move Around the Stage (The Flash/Animate name for ‘Canvas’):

Zoom In = ‘Ctrl’ + ‘+’...OR... Zoom Out = ‘Ctrl’ + ‘-‘.

I had made a custom hotkey (for me = ‘Ctrl’ + ‘5’) for ‘Fit in Window’ by going to: ‘Edit’ > ‘Keyboard Shortcuts...’, selecting a command and pressing the plus arrow below to create a new shortcut (hotkey). It is also a good way of checking for the commands and their hotkeys that may appear hidden or may not be mentioned by others on the internet.

Pan Stage (Canvas) = Hold down ‘Spacebar’.

I had also written down hotkeys for some of the tools that can be used in Adobe Flash/Animate, however I personally don’t use them. I prefer just clicking on a lot of these buttons with my stylus as I don’t see them as being too far out of reach anyway. I will still place the ones that I felt I would be most regularly using down below in case anyone reading this would prefer to use them (although you can just hover over the tool buttons & Flash/Animate will tell you anyway. The hotkeys for the commands in the menus that do have one are clearly displayed too):

Pencil Tool: ‘Y’

Brush Tool: ‘B’

Eraser Tool: ‘E’

Paint Bucket Tool (add/change colour of fill): ‘K’

Ink Bottle Tool (add/change colour of stroke): ‘S’

Creating a custom hotkey for the ‘Free Transform Tool’ may be a good idea

[Extra = Pen Tool: ‘P’ (to create neat vector paths)]

The Pen Tool seems to have more to using it than the others. This YouTube tutorial by Alphonso Dunn is the best I’ve found at explaining the Pen Tool and how to use it (It’s relevant for Photoshop too):

Here are some general tips that I have gathered over time:

One can import scanned sketches or create draft sketches on one layer within Adobe Flash/Animate and then create the clean, final lineart of the drawings over the top on another layer.

When doing 2D animation, have the separate body parts on separate layers (it makes it easier to alter drawings as it lessens the chances of destroying what’s there unintentionally).

Make a habit of locking layers not in use.

The Flash plugin ‘Keyframe Caddy’ would be worthwhile downloading if one is making and animating graphic symbols (As it makes the process quicker and easier) [Look within references for details].

Select and right click on a layer to choose ‘Guide’ if you’d like whatever is on that layer to not show up in the final render/export (Do the same thing to change it back to a normal layer again).

I found the Pluralsight tutorial: “You’re First Day in Flash” by Alex Hernandez very useful in getting to know the basics and what Adobe Flash/Animate could do overall (Naturally Flash and Animate would be pretty similar as they are two versions of the same software, so this is relevant for both).

After researching into the software itself, I looked for information on what I was planning to make by this point: a 2D rig. So, I researched into animating with symbols and animating with bones, and it turns out that it is possible to combine the two 2D rigging methods together. After finding this out, I decided to make that my goal [The three tutorials I found useful (in their own ways) when it comes to Flash/Animate bones are in the reference list below]. I had to experiment a little afterwards to get my 2D rig working though (It seems my 2D rig turned out to be a little more complex than the tutorial examples, so I’m not sure if all of what I did with my 2D rig would be in them).

Here is a tutorial on the differences between the different types of Flash/Animate symbols:

There is an option in the properties window when a movie clip symbol is selected that allows you to alter how the movie clip behaves. The options are: ‘Loop’ (go through the frames within that symbol continuously throughout animation), ‘Play Once’ (only go through the frames within that symbol once) or ‘Single Frame’ (don’t move through the frames at all = static image, unless animated manually) (Crowne Prince, 2013).

This is quite a good tutorial on how to use symbols to construct a flexible 2D rig:

This 2D bone rig tutorial is probably the most useful of the three mentioned earlier:

I had also found a tutorial on how to create looping backgrounds as I thought that it would be a good way of showcasing my 2D animation cycle(s). (But I only plan on acting on this myself if I have time). [This tutorial can be found in the reference list below].

References:

ArtTips (2017). Bone Tool Animate CC Character Rigging Tutorial [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v84zAJi704k&t=914s

Crowne Prince (2014). How to make a dang infinite looping background in Flash [YouTube.com]. Retrieved April 19, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_614195711&feature=iv&src_vid=YTJvLBrSkIU&v=lkFz91K6Dvs

Crowne Prince (2013). How to make your own dang Flash puppets [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTJvLBrSkIU&t=192s

Draw with Jazza (2016). How to make Flexible Character Animation (For Games and More!) - Animate CC Tutorial [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLkrOTEJugg

Draw with Jazza (2014). How Flash Symbols Work - Graphics, Buttons and Movie Clips [YouTube Tut], Retrieved April 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiJr3gqTcPM

frame-types.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

Hernandez, A. (2014, Sept). Creating Sprite Sheets in Flash for Edge Animate [Pluralsight Tut]. Retrieved April 9, 2018, from: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/sprite-sheets-flash-edge-animate-1795/table-of-contents

Hernandez, A. (2014, Aug). Your First Day in Flash [Pluralsight Tut]. Retrieved April 9, 2018, from: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/your-first-day-flash-1741/table-of-contents

hexjibber (2011). How To Animate with Bones in Flash CS5: 004 Symbols [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved April 19, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vg5-HcAXdg

KnowFlash (2011). FlashLearner.com - Animation Made Easy With The Bone Tool [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L3W4QsOgQk

MonkeyCrazy (2015). Absolute beginners easiest guide to using Keyframe Caddy tutorial [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APsL1iY-9k8

Trav, T. (2016). [How To] Get KeyFrame Caddy for Adobe Animate CC 2015 [YouTube Tut]. Retrieved April 14, 2018, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tByUd1oeKKc

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Blog02-Transferrable Skills Meeting Reflection (18T1-ANC220)

Half way through this trimester, on the day of the Transferable Skills Meeting, I had filled out a self-assessment form on how I felt I was going so far. (This trimester was an individual project). I have also taken notes on what the lecturers thought during the meeting itself on my mobile so that I can use them as reminders of what was said for when I’m typing up this blog later on.

Figure.1 (Work-Ethic-300x277.jpg, 2015).

As per usual, I feel I have done quite well so far when it comes to having a ‘Strong Work Ethic’ as I had spent a good amount of effort on the design document, had thought about and had gathered quite a few reference images to help me figure out how I was going to design my dragon character and had also made my art bible (within the design document) to a certain level of quality that I’m satisfied with. However, due to not being able to control my perfectionism particularly well, I have ended up spending too much time on the pre-production work. This will probably affect how much I can do during the production stage as there isn’t as much time left because of how things have gone.

The lecturers that I was having the TS Meeting with agreed that I haven’t ever had a problem when it comes to work ethic, but I should either be trying to move through the process quicker, lessen the work load by reducing how many tasks are required to complete the project, or possibly change the direction of the overall project to something that takes less time to get through.

It was also recommended that I break up the tasks more and plan out in advance which of these I will allow myself to be a perfectionist about, and which I should push myself to move past at ‘good enough’. This will make it easier to control my perfectionism even during stressful times where it feels there isn’t as much time to think about it.

In response to this, I created Trello cards with more specific tasks on them then before and created a couple of extra labels: ‘Important’ and ‘Average’. If a task is labelled ‘Important’, I will spend more time on it but if it’s labelled ‘Average’ I will try to push myself past the task once it has reached a state of ‘good enough’.

Figure.2 (Labels-of-Importance-Screenshot.jpg, 2018).

I feel that overall I have been able to maintain quite a ‘Positive Attitude’ towards my work, especially at the beginning as I was particularly excited about what I was planning to do and as I like to learn new things, this project gave me a great excuse to continue doing that. The lecturers agreed with me on my level of having a ‘positive attitude’.

The lecturers felt I had been managing quite well when it comes to keeping track of where I am and adjusting my goals based off of this (‘Time Management Skills’). I feel that doing research into a better (& still free) way of planning out my schedule/gantt chart has been the main difference between now and how things were before this trimester. The new way simply makes things easier.

I used to use Excel, but the ‘Elegantt’ Chrome extension for Trello is better as it allows all the important planning details to be on the one page so you can see at a glance where you are and what you need to do next. The gantt chart is also quicker and easier to adjust as you go seeing as the schedule and gantt chart are directly linked. The gantt chart itself doesn’t involve any manual formatting and is clearer to interpret.

Figure.3 (Elegantt-Chrome-Ex-Trello.jpg, n.d.).

I didn’t feel that where I placed myself for ‘Self-Confidence’ before the meeting was particularly accurate as it was a decision made very last minute and I think I may have misinterpreted what the full meaning of this category was. The more I thought about it, I would have placed myself a little bit lower. I feel I have confidence in my ability to do the tasks themselves based on my progress in previous trimesters, however, my concern has been on how long I’ll take doing it.

The lecturers had placed me as successful in this area, but had also explained that I need to work on my confidence in moving forward in the project and be less hesitant in attempting tasks sooner and allow myself to let go of previous ones that have been acted on enough. The sooner I try something out, the sooner I can find out whether it works well and can act on a different idea if it doesn’t work out. I agree with them that I need to be more flexible and adaptable (‘Flexibility/Adaptability’). I’m aware of this as I have been finding it difficult to find ways to cut back so far, and when I have found ways, I have found them difficult to act on.

Both I and the lecturers believe that I haven’t done so well when it comes to ‘Working Well Under Pressure’. I feel I have made some progress, but it seems this is still something I need to work on. One of the main ways of doing this would be to prevent the snowball of work that I’d need done by the end of the trimester via suggestions mentioned earlier in this blog.

Overall Summary

+ Positive (from both myself & lecturers):

+ Strong Work Ethic, Positive Attitude, Effective Communication Skills, Time Management Skills, Problem Solving Skills, Acting as a Team Player, Self-Confidence, Ability to Accept & Learn from Criticism.

- Negative (from myself or lecturers):

- Flexibility/Adaptability, Working Well Under Pressure.

After the Transferable Skills Meeting, I had done some research into what truly makes a person successful in their occupation in the hopes that I may be able to shift my own mindset away from the typical perfectionist way of thinking (as it is as has been the main thing holding me back and causing personal issues for me). The video below has the best advice I have found for so far in regards to this and has helped to ease some of the pressure that I had placed on myself:

I have made a summary of the main points of the video talk below:

Daily Work - It all adds up/Plan to do it in future & it probably won't happen or there won't be as much time as expected

Agree to do the smallest amount of work possible (e.g.: draw one line) = Getting yourself to start

Volume, Not Perfection - The more you do, the more likely you'll get something right

Get Inspiration (I think that how Andrew Price describes this point in the talk is misleading. I feel it’s more accurate to say: copy ‘elements’ from different things you love & combine them to create something new)

Conscious Learning - Practice without meaning/research is a waste of time

Rest/Switch to Other Things - The best ideas/solutions come when they aren't forced (& you can come back with "fresh eyes")

Get Feedback (& Iterate) - Everything sucks at the beginning

Create What You Love - It motivates you & you work will be better for it

References:

Elegantt-Chrome-Ex-Trello.jpg [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2018, from: https://elegantt.com/

HRGN-Labels-of-Importance.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

Work-Ethic-300x277.jpg [Image] (2015). Retrieved April 29, 2018, from: https://www.thetimedoctor.co.uk/build-a-strong-work-ethic-and-get-things-done/

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Blog01-Project Management (18T1-ANC220)

When I first started setting up the online portion of the project planning documentation, I, out of habit, created a board in Trello and typed up the tasks in the form of card that could be put into one of the four list categories: ‘To Do’, ‘Doing’, ‘Leave (Done)’, and ‘Done’ (Figure.1). These lists are to show the status of each of the tasks. [Note: I’m using the (Agile) Kanban methodology (LeanKit.com, n.d.)].

Figure.1 (HRGN-Trello-Lists_v1.jpg, 2018).

I had later added the ‘Leave (Done)’ list as I want to encourage myself to be able to drop a task as ‘good enough’ rather than ‘finished’ even if I don’t see it as finished. This is for if it’s taking longer than expected and there are more important tasks I need to move on to. I could always come back to a task if there’s extra time later in the project and finish it off. However, I won’t be using this list if the task that’s taking longer to do is an important and essential one for the progression of the project.

In the past, I would create a gantt chart from scratch using Microsoft Excel, but this takes a while to do and wastes time I could be spending on the project itself. So this time around, I made a point of searching online to see if I could find a piece of software or a website that could help me create one quickly and allow me to alter it easily if or when I need to update it later.

Figure.2 (HRGN-Monday.com_v1.jpg, 2018).

At first I found Monday.com (Figure.2), which allowed me to create a gantt chart based off of a schedule list of tasks I type up on it. This was quite ideal as it meant there wasn’t a double up of having to create the schedule separately to the gantt chart. It updates the gantt chart automatically if any changes are made to the schedule list. It turns out, however, that I was simply using a trail version of what was normally a paid service. As the trail would only be for a limited time and I’m a student that doesn’t work, I had to find another way. It would be risky and a hassle to use it when it would inevitably lock me out and demand that I pay monthly to continue using it or even just to view it.

I was then careful to look up and make sure that the website or software I intended to use was ‘open source’ or ‘free’. I found Bitrix24 (Figure.3), which did the same think as Monday.com, however, it wasn’t very clear to interpret or as easy to use. It would have taken a little while for me to get use to it, so I decided to look for a better option.

Figure.3 (HRGN-Bitrix24_v1.jpg, 2018).

Eventually I found a Chrome extension for Trello called: ‘Elegantt’. This is what I’ve chosen to use. It means that the task cards I put up on Trello can be used to create a gantt chart within Trello. Once again, no double up, and it’s free so I don’t have to worry about time running out on me.

In order to use ‘Elegantt’ properly, I ended up having to use the labels within Trello (which I hadn’t used before) to colour code and categorise the tasks by project stage. I set it up so that red is for ‘design and planning’, yellow is for ‘reflections’ and/or ‘research and development’, orange is for the ‘art bible’, green is for ‘production work’, and purple is for ‘post-production work’ or ‘final versions’ (Figure.4).

Figure.4 (HRGN-Trello-Labels_v1.jpg, 2018).

(NOTE: A pencil icon will appear if you hover the mouse over the top right of any task card. If you click this, the options above will appear).

I also added letters before the label names so I could control the order that they appeared on the gantt chart (as it lists the different categories in alphabetical order) and toggled the visibility of the ‘Leave (Done)’ and ‘Done’ lists to off so that only tasks I still need to do appear on the gantt chart (Figure.5).

Figure.5 (HRGN-Trello-Lists-&-Gantt-Chart_v1.jpg, 2018).

Using ‘Elegantt’ made me realise that I had to make some of the task cards within Trello more specific so I could judge how much time I would be allowing for each task properly. For example, I originally had one card called: ‘3D Character’, but felt I needed to create more specific cards out of the tasks within the ‘3D Character’ card’s checklist instead. E.g.: ‘3D Chara. - Modelling/Sculpting’ card, ‘3D Chara. - Create Texture Maps’ card, ‘3D Chara. - Rig Model’ card, etc. In the process, I’ve created my own due dates for each of these specific tasks throughout the trimester, which is something I haven’t done before now and will probably make Trello a more reliable guide for me as a result. After getting to know Trello a little better, I feel I’m now using Trello more effectively.

I’ve linked Trello with Slack (which will be one of my main means of communication) so that whenever I move a task to a different list, tick off a checklist item or the due date, or if I comment on a task card then it will send a notification to my personal Slack channel for others to see (Figure.6). My Slack channel is where I announce updates on my progress within my project.

Figure.6 (HRGN-Trello-Slack-PowerUp-Options_v1.jpg, 2018).

(NOTE: You can add the Slack power-up by going to ‘Menu’ -> ‘Power-Ups’ & you can access/setup the options above by clicking on the ‘Slack’ button on the top right of the Trello board afterwards).

For my risk management table, I did some research online about how others create and use their risk management tables and after looking up multiple versions, I used bits and pieces from those different versions to create my own template in a way that works best for me.

I also looked up what documents are within a project planning document, however I found nothing new that would be relevant for my project. I simply used it as one of my guides for the structure of my planning document.

I plan on using Padlet to gather reference images for inspiration and/or for my moodboard(s), and to embed videos into it so all my animation references are in the same place.

References:

Aston, B. (2017). 9 Project Management Methodologies Made Simple: The Complete Guide For Project Managers. TheDigitalProjectManager.com. Retrieved Feb 18, 2018, from: https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/project-management-methodologies-made-simple/ 

Atlassian (2011). Trello. Trello.com. Retrieved Feb 7, 2018, from: https://trello.com/

Guay, M. (2017). The 18 Best Free Project Management Apps. Zapier.com. Retrieved Feb 7, 2018, from: https://zapier.com/blog/free-project-management-software/

HRGN-Bitrix24_v1.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

HRGN-Monday.com_v1.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

HRGN-Trello-Labels_v1.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

HRGN-Trello-Lists-&-Gantt-Chart_v1.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

HRGN-Trello-Lists_v1.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

HRGN-Trello-Slack-PowerUp-Options_v1.jpg [Screenshot] (2018). Perth, Australia: Norman, H.

Kontest Team (2015). Elegantt. Elegantt.com. Retrieved Feb 8, 2018, from: https://elegantt.com/

LeanKit.com (n.d.). What is Kanban? LeanKit.com. Retrieved Feb 18, 2018, from: https://leankit.com/learn/kanban/what-is-kanban/

Monday.com (n.d.). Monday.com. Monday.com. Retrieved Feb 7, 2018, from: https://monday.com/

Moreti, R. (n.d.). Project planning: the 8 essential documents. Blog.RunRun.it. Retrieved Feb 14, 2018, from: https://blog.runrun.it/en/8-essential-project-planning-documents/

Slack Technologies (2009). Slack. Slack.com. Retrieved Feb 7, 2018, from: https://slack.com/

Wrike.com (n.d.). Project Management Guide: II. Choose Your Project Management Methodology. Wrike.com. Retrieved Feb 18, 2018, from: https://www.wrike.com/project-management-guide/methodologies/

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