Jumping Ball

The Task

Like last year, our first task in animation was a bouncing ball. Except instead of only using Photoshop, though, we also got to try out Adobe After Effects for the first time. But, we did pay attention to detail a lot more.

Overview

Instead of having to make 40+ layers for a 3 second animation, we instead made one separate ball layer in PS. Then in After Effects, we used movement keyframes to animate it. I have a pretty basic understanding now on how to squash and stretch using AE, but I still need to work on the whole speed thing.

Animation

It took me quite a while to get all way to animating. But when I did, I almost wished I hadn't. I had to fiddle around with all the different key frames and arcs and stuff like that, but when I finally got my ball's path plotted out, I had to figure out squashing. Then stretching and rotation. I'm still not too happy with it, though, mostly because I couldn't figure out a way to manually adjust the easing of the ball myself.

Procedure Video

ONW Procedure Video

Our first video project was a simple one designed to let us take the new video cameras for a test drive. Mine turned out awful. Three months out of practice, I was unable to spit out something I'm proud of. We decided to show the students how to be the best Raven ever.

We came up with a list of FIVE need-to-know items about ONW:

Secret shortcuts between hallways

Bathroom that almost no one uses

Out of the way staircases

The auditorium

Special drinking fountains for bottles

We didn't really storyboard at all, besides listing those five musicians-haves on paper. I was the camera man, though, and we managed to get a hold of the school mascot hat. We filmed all of our scenes in the span of 80 minutes, ending up with about 5 minutes of footage. Unfortunately, we got hit with the 30 seconds-only rule. So we lost over half of our clips.

We edited our own clips, and mine turned out alright, I guess. I definitely could have done better if there wasn't a time restriction. I would've made better transitions, an easier to follow flow, and actual audio. I did like all of the shots we got, though, so I'd keep those. 

Honestly, for the next project, I hope we get to pick our groups. I feel I could do a lot more with people I've worked with extensively before.

e9 Final

My fourth quarter project was quite the beast. The end goal was to create an imaginary product with a design team, and create graphics, animations, and even a video commercial for it. Overall, it took us about 2 months, I believe. We started out very well in graphic design, where we had the good fortune to be able to come up with our product idea - the Magic Pack. Our graphics were easily created, as you can see:

Our animation that Katie, Nick and I worked out smoothly, as I am quite proficient with SketchUp, after creating a three-story house.  Katie isn't bad either, as she's the one who made the surrounding campsite. Making something appear like a cloth backpack was different, but a welcome challenge:

All was well and good. Until we hit web design. Now, no one in our team could honestly say it's their strong suit, but I, myself in particular, am pretty much lost without a step-by-step tutorial. Which we had, but then we lost it. In the end it all worked out though, after much trial and error, and we managed to cobble together something presentable.

Over the course of production, I did have time to practice new skills, like listening to others, not being bossy, and how to work with difficult people. I also got to exercise my video editing in our YouTube commercial, which we recorded as a group, but edited individually ourselves. This was mine:

After our presentation, we were approached by many of our peers, who told us they had enjoyed ours the most, and it filled me with a sense of pride, but also trepidation, as if I'll have to do even better next time. But then again, I still have much to learn, so I have much to improve.

This whole time spent working was definitely not time wasted, I think. I do believe that I managed my time well, as my team and I were fully prepared to present at the end of fourth quarter. When we finished recording our video a little late, I stayed after school for three hours each day, for three days. I was determined to make a  good commercial I would be proud of, and ultimately, I am. This has brought me to realize that my strength is definitely video and film, and I will continue to grow in that area.

My weakness, though, is without a doubt web design. My solution is to stay as far away from that as possible.

This semester, my favorite parts were definitely creating a 3D house in SketchUp, and filming and editing our commercial for the Magic Pack. However, I would like to change how my group is still slightly awkward together, though that can only be fixed by constant exposure, but I fear that we won't be seeing all of us in e-Comm next year. Next, I will significantly improve my ability to film and edit, and how to incorporate animation into it. I have the next three years to do it.

What Have We Done

Once again, I write. Last blog I told you I had joined up with a specially operated squad. I am here to report my - our - success. we came up with our product the Magic pack. We then designed various logos and graphics for it as well.

This is our product logo for the backpack with infinite space

Our company was name Company Inc, and this logo took a lot longer than it should have

This was our coupon, still looking slightly evil

Our ad, enticing you to buy our product

As you can see, we put some good effort into our graphics, and basically just grew as individuals. We were all friends by the end of fourth quarter, and I hope they stay in e-Comm for the next couple of years with me. Maybe we could work together again.

Being In a Tee-am

Last week, like always, I went through something relatively new. I was apart of a team specifically designed for maximum efficiency. I was the sole "beaver" of the group, but we had 2 "otters" and one "lion" as well as an unknown. I am kind of the leader, but I think it's more of a shared position. We went through about 25 potential team names, like KC Zoo, We really want a good grade please give an A, and Monsters Inc. The last one was copyrighted though, so we just went with Company Inc. in the end, after a vote for each each name.

Then we went on to decide what type of product we wanted to showcase. The first brilliant suggestion by one of my fellow teammates was a 'cold microwave', which would could cool down, or even freeze food in the same amount of time it would take a normal microwave to heat something up. then my brilliant contribution was 'hot ice', mostly in jest. the idea was that it could keep drinks warm, like coffee, or hot cocoa. After some deliberation and determination, we all decided on introducing a backpack that's infinitely bigger on the inside, immortally named the "Magic Pack", aimed at travelers 18 to 33 years old.

After that, our team had to design a logo fro the product itself. We made it in Adobe Illustrator.

As you can see, it's more on the simple side, but simplicity was exactly what we were going for. It took us a bit to line up the swirls of the infinity sign, but after that it was just smooth sailing for us.

We even have our own slogan: "Be surprised with the size". Not the most original, but it fits. After that, we presented ourselves and our logo to the class. We dressed in black, so that made us automatically formal, and we had already decided who was saying what beforehand, so it went smoothly. We had clear voices, good posture, and good explanations of our processes. At the end, we managed to get a 10.

CSS and CARP Design

Once more I delved into web design, no clue what lied ahead. Because I didn't really pay attention to the intro. But, thankfully, I am extremely skilled at following detailed instructions, so I was able to actually complete the website. Two websites, actually. I linked them together, and the only difference is the absence of a layout on the second one. It's the raw version I guess.

As you can see, this is the best website to ever grace the  ungrateful internet















Contrast is used in the sharp colors tan and brown against an off-white background.

Alignment is shown where the poem lines up with the side of the page, and dog with the top part of the body paragraphs.

Repetition is where the colors are basically the same ones.

Proximity is used in how close the dog is to the poem, and the title to the sub title.

My First SketchUp House

For the past 2 weeks, all I have been doing was SketchUp. Building a 3D house from scratch, to be exact. We went to a website that had photos and floor plans of different kinds of houses, and everyone in my class picked one. In a burst of poor judgement, I chose the biggest house on there I could find, which was 37ft by 43ft, and 33ft tall, with the chimney another 5ft. 

It started out as just a rectangle on the ground, then raised up to 33 feet. Then, 10 hours of hard work later, I was done.

After my first experience with SketchUp, I can honestly say that I really enjoyed editing on there. So much so, that I'm going to download it on my own PC and put to use all the skills I learned.