Project Evaluation - Channel Ident

Overall i think this project has been my most successful. I managed to think of a decent idea at the beginning of the project and started development and production on time. This is very unusual for me however i feel that the competition brief before this one has hugely impacted on the fact this project has be fairly successful.

I really enjoyed this project but again i think that's due to the fact i like what i have created. I especially enjoyed working in Maya although i had loads and loads of tutor help however if i had chosen to work in a different programme i wouldn't have built up some extra skills on modelling and animating in 3D. I have continued to look at modelling in Maya in my spare time to make sure i don't forget how to use it and try and improve my skills so eventually i won't need much help! Overall i think the ident looks good however i think it could have done with a few more tweaks, like with the legs as they seem to twist and bend in the air. I spent ages trying to correct them i even asked Matt Geeling and Steve to help me and we still couldn't do it properly but for a first attempt at Maya i am very proud. It also got a great response at my portfolio visit so that's always a bonus!

After i finished the frog i had to look at the splash and i tried everything and i couldn't make it blend in or look professional so i decided not to use that idea. I think it would of been nicer if i could of got my head around this but i think the fade in looked a lot cleaner than what i was trying to do.

Sound is very important in the final piece so i wanted to get it right. I used the ambient sound of other frogs croaking in the background to give it a rainforest type feel which i think works extremely well. I then needed a sound for when the frog hits the water aka the splash and it took me hours and hours to try and find quite a delicate splash sound like something tiny and streamline hitting the water. I attempted to record this myself but i was unsuccessful at that as well as i couldn't find the right object to drop into the bath to make the right sound. So in the end i went for a stock sound that i think fits ok but is not as good as i think it could be.

So in conclusion i think this has been by far my most favorite project although i was helped a lot by Rick i feel that i have learnt so much about Maya and animating in 3D. It is a very satisfying feeling to show people and tell people that you have made a 3D animation because it is very rare outside of our moving image course (for students to use). If i had more time on the project i would of liked to have made more idents like the hippo and giraffe animatics because i think a series of idents with the white background idea would of been lovely.