For Week 1, we were given our first assignment to create a table, chairs and a snowman. We were given a demonstration in class on how to do so and were aided by videos on the Blackboard course group. I initially was very nervous about starting this as I have no formal experience in 3D other than the odd messing about, but I quickly got comfortable by how simple the Blender interface really was once you got past the hype. The table and chairs were made with simple cube shapes that were scaled to size which I saw fit. I rendered the final image with a simple background.
I also worked on a snowman, which we were tasked with animating and doing a background for if we felt inclined. From the demonstration, I learned how to use the joining and parenting features, which allows objects to be grouped together. I also had to move the pivot points of each individual object while grouping so I would be able to successfully animate them in the later parts of this project.
I found the animation aspect interesting. I found the keyframes easy to navigate, but I struggled with timing and had to dedicate some extra time into making sure I got it right. I decided to test myself with the background, and I added a scarf to the snowman, too. I decided to give the background some low poly styled trees, as well as a subtle mountain the back. I played around with the camera setting on Blender and worked in a depth-of-field effect too, as well as giving a subtle purple light to give the scene a cold feeling. I found it tricky to animate, but I got the hang of it after playing around with timing.