Over these past couple of weeks, I have dedicated a majority of my time to polishing my animation for the submission date.
One of the biggest overhauls was the background, where I received feedback to allow light to shine through the trees, as that is what actually happens in real life with even dense forests. I also added extra details such as tufts of grass at the base of the tree trunks, to help them blend in with ground. I wanted the river to stand out amongst the dark shadows, so I added a textured add layer to create reflective highlights in the water.
I edited my animation together using Sony Vegas Pro 16, and I feel like I gained a good amount of useful experience from completing this task. All of my other animations had been edited in Movie Maker, and up to this point I had only edited videos in Sony Vegas. I learned how to import transparent images, how to crop and move different elements, and how to implement green screen effects.
While I am quite happy with the final product, I always hold myself to a high standard, and I realise that I could’ve smoothed out the animation more if I had made time to set up a clear schedule for working on the animation for these last few crucial weeks. And while I was able to work well with my group overall, I grew to realise that the original concepts of the Biolum world that existed in the beginning of the year had changed a lot, and that I was no longer invested in the new characters that replaced the older ones. Despite this realisation, I tried to make the most of this experience and work on the animation with as much motivation as I could muster.
I personally believe that I am capable of creating better overall animation, but from this experience I have learned to stick to the decisions I make and give my all to create a cohesive product. I have learned valuable lessons and skills from this semester, and I wish to further work on these techniques and develop my skills in both my free time and during the 2nd semester.
And here is the YouTube link for the full completed loop animation for the Bioluminescent world!