Overview The week of submission is always a stressful one, and this was no exception. Despite the fact that I’ve managed to stay on track over the entire course of this unit, I found myself rushing to complete and format the work in time for submission. Formatting my work into PDFs, JPEGs and organizing everything into the final folders is something that always takes a considerable amount of time, and my own time management will be something I continue to work on throughout the course. As a whole, however, I am happy with the work I have produced for this submission. Looking back at my work, I feel as if I have improved since the first unit, with me putting in more effort to maintain an up-to-date blog documenting my time on the course and focusing more on iterative development in all of my assignments.
Fantastical Creatures Having produced a finished creature model, my focus this week was on rendering and compositing: exploring various lighting and rendering options in Maya, and completing a final turntable animation of my model. This allows artists to put a 3D model on display, allowing the model to rotate slowly whilst the audience can look at it properly. After experimenting with several iterations in Maya, I was able to produce a final turnaround that matched my initial hopes for the model.
My first iteration was ultimately too flat and fast and lacked a foundation. My main focus for the turnaround sequence was to use a unique light set up to generate some strong contrast in shadows in the model, clearly demonstrating its geometric, low poly and stylised aesthetic. With this, I was able to complete a successful turntable sequence, and compiled the frames into After Effects to complete the process.
Having produced the final turnaround sequence, my next move was to begin the photo compositing process. For this, I chose three photographs from the provided selection that I felt would work best with my model and using the image plane and skydome light in Maya, played around with placing my creature in the image. After this, I rendered the single image and opened up Photoshop.
The actual compositing process was rather straight-forward: having had experience with this before, I found that compositing the images in Photoshop was somewhat faster and more intuitive in comparison to After Effects. Having discussed this with my peers, I found this was a shared feeling. Having enabled shadows in my original Maya render, it was simply a process of adding masks and experimenting with lighting, levels and overlays to achieve the finished result.
Despite this, I would have liked to composite the model with my own background. If I had more time, I would have liked to explore the potential of creating a low poly cave for the Hethronid to lurk in, or simply developed an abstract background illustration that better matches the stylised aesthetic of my model. I feel this would be a more successful final outcome, and it’s something I want to explore in my own time.
Alongside this, my team and I worked to produce a simple cast line up sheet featuring our final 3D rendered models. We were able to discuss how these creatures would survive if thrown into the same ecosystem, which would likely have ended up in a conflict. In comparison to my Hethronid design, my peers had created characters that could interact with each other with various degrees of anthropomorphism.
It hasn’t been a simple process, but I have managed to create a final product that successfully realizes my initial vision for the Hethronid. Looking at my creature model sheet, I feel as if my final model is a successful adaption of this creature and my own ideas. On this blog, I was able to delve deep into the creature design process through iterative development and independent research and have been able to produce an engaging final creature model and turnaround sequence.
Showreel Having completed all of my other assignments, this week I was able to develop a final showreel for submission. As a whole, I feel my final showreel is a success: with a minimal type-based design inspired by a few of my project mood board examples and my own personal touch, I was able to embrace the minimalist clean look to these successful showreels that I was analyzing: as I found, a minimal visual language and design elements can go a long way in the production of a showreel, and demonstrating our maturity as artists and designers. At only a minute and one second in duration, the reel is a good length including the lip sync sequence. The actual showreel itself is only fifty seconds, which is arguably the ideal time for a successful motion design showreel.
Despite this, there are a few things that I would improve with this final showreel. Whilst the animated title cards are appealing, I would have liked to create a small ident. This was in response to my research into Ben Marriot and showreel creation as whole: industry professionals, specifically freelance animators and motion designers, often open or close their reel with a short animated character or object that works to represent them as a personal brand, similar to a logo. The absence of an ident leaves my showreel feeling somewhat devoid of a strong personality, and I would have liked to explore developing an ident for this project.
Through this assignment, I have been able to finalise, present and reflect on all of my project work produced during Units BA1a and BA1b, and developed my understanding of the showreel form. Researching and analysing industry examples has taught me important ideas about how to construct a successful showreel, and I feel this knowledge will help me significantly as I progress through the course. Having had experience with showreel creation in the past, I used this assignment as an opportunity to develop my skills within the post-production process. From this, I’ve also been able to hone in on my own interests within animation and identified my focus and passion for digital 2D animation. As such, this will be my primary focus over the summer and beyond.
Lip Sync Having completed my final lip sync sequence, my focus this week was put towards formatting weekly summaries into reflective journals for submission and writing the final critical evaluation for the project.


















