The End- Analysis Of Work

This is what I have accomplished for the Character Design Project. I didn't manage to finish Minnie's 3D design and animate her, but I managed to do a short 2D animation of what I would have done if I had managed to get to that stage.

It's the last day of the project, and I feel as if I've done okay, despite all the problems that cropped up. I feel as if I've learned a lot, and I have a clear view of where my strengths and weaknesses lie. I would like to analyse my work in this post.

What did I enjoy doing?
I thoroughly enjoyed doing all the sketchwork and early development of Wilhemina Biliams. I have always loved doing traditional drawings, and this was no exception. I also had a lot of fun modeling on Mudbox. That program made modeling high resolution 3D models a lot easier. I would recommend that program to anyone.

What did I dislike doing?
I found the research a little bit tedious, but it was fundamental to the development of my character. It also enabled me to rewatch films and clips and look at them from a different perspective, like "The Sword In The Stone", for instance.
I really didn't enjoy modeling in Maya. I don't really like Maya in general, to be honest. In a way, I am glad I modeled mostly in Mudbox because it saved me a lot of stress and frustration. But in other ways, it made some things harder to accomplish.

What did I struggle with?
Although Mudbox was great at making a decent looking model, I think it caused a lot of the problems that we encountered.
I have struggled with Maya, as always. I guess I'm more of a 2Dimensional person really, but I am annoyed that Maya is getting the better of me.

Have I worked well in a group?
I think me and Tom worked well together, and we were able to help eachother with our work output. He helped me with my modeling and rigging, and I helped him with my storyboarding. We have designed characters that have a similar "style" and I think I can picture them in a film together. Minnie and Wee Eck were made to be a romantic interest, and Me and Tom discussed ways in which we could do this successfully. We have listened to eachother's advice and we have communicated well. I don't think we had any issues of laziness or disagreements of any sort. I think we both pulled our weight and have come up with some good work because of this.

What have I learned during this project?
I have discovered some new programs that I have never used before, such as Puppet Master, Toonboom and Mudbox. I have learned to use them for the benefit of our work. I have also discovered what I really struggle with and what I really suceed with. I don't think my talents lie with modeling, rigging and texturing, but I am glad that I tried to improve in these areas. I think I know more about Maya then I did before the project, so that can only be a good thing. I feel that I am much better at doing quick sketches and drawings, and I should ensure that I use these skills to the max when working in a group in future

What could I have done differently to improve my work?
If I were to redo this project, I would not experiment as much with new flashy programs. I think I would have tried to stick with Maya and learn to model and rig and texture the hard nitty gritty way. I know I would have absolutely hated doing that, but I think I might have become more confident in Maya if I had emersed myself in it more.
I think I would have given myself a bit more time to do the 3D work aswell. We may have been able to back track and reconstruct Minnie to look and operate better if we had enough time. I was disappointed that I had not been able to animate Minnie at the end, because I was looking forward to doing that.
If I was given the choice again between doing Character Design, Environment Construction, or Animated Idents, I would immediately choose the ident project. I'll leave the Maya experts to do what they do best, and I would try and hone my drawing and animating skills!