Looking back at this project there’s a lot I could improve on. The main thing for me is that I never got to do the 2D half of this project because of unforeseen circumstances. I’d put a lot planning into that idea, so it’s a shame it never came to fruition. This situation taught me how there isn’t always enough time (or money in many circumstances) to make what you really want to make, but it’s important to try and create a good end product anyway. It’s not uncommon in the animation industry to have a final product that’s vastly different to the creator’s original idea; ideas go through different iterations during pre-production and changes often need to be made to accommodate budget and time. For example, The Emperor’s New Groove was originally a very different film called Kingdom Of The Sun but it was overhauled after the executive producers disliked an unfinished version they saw, citing a confused tone and unbalanced pacing. Obviously my project was nowhere near that scale, but it’s a good example of how projects can change during production.

If I were to do this project again I would set aside a lot more time for the body mechanics animation – it didn’t turn out as smooth or natural looking as I would have liked. I should practice using the graph editor for more complex movements since I found editing the vault from there very difficult, it would be good to be more experienced for future projects. After running into problems with the Jill rig’s forward kinematics, I realise I should have done more research about my rig and figured out how I could have given her arm inverse kinematics instead. This taught me how important it is to understand the kinematics of the rigs I work with and how to use them, as well as a rig’s features in general.

I think I might continue to edit these animations even after this project has been submitted, then go through with my original plan to incorporate 2D. I think a more polished version of this project would be great material for my showreel, plus I can use my collection of playblasts to show how each animation improved over time.