Before I started at the University, I had very little knowledge on Blender, though I did have experience using Maya to animate and rig models, but that knowledge had since become dormant and lost in places.
In addition, I had not made 3D animated content in Blender before. Now, I have learned a lot from using Blender, not just in animating simple characters, but in modelling and creating objects like tables and swords.
In addition to this, I learned a great deal of techniques that can easily make my models look professional without any effort.
For example, the bevel edge technique can easily smooth out angular edges and make believable parts of a model. The subdivision surface tool can subdivide the blocky polygons of a model without affecting the original piece, so you can edit the original model and it would change the subdivision in kind.
Finally the mirror tool can create perfect replicas of your model and you can edit the original and the mirror can be affected.
I had some experience with Substance Painter when it came to my previous college work, but I was rather clumsy at it, using a single layer with various brushes for my character’s textures.
Now, with knowledge on using multiple layers, with multiple masks I could use the Polygon fill tool on and creating UV maps that can be unwrapped and still look good, any future projects that I may do will come out looking a lot better, both in terms of UVs and textures.
I had acquired knowledge of using HDRI textures through using Maya, which I applied to some of my projects in Blender for this course.
During my time at the University modules, I learned a good deal about how I approach the design of my characters. For example, I should never get the ideas for my designs from my own head, and that I should do research into the designs I wanted to tweak. A lot of ideas I have come from my own head, and I feel it is important for me to always reiterate designs I want to make. I did this by rolling up my character’s sleeves and making her wear red more pronounced on her body. I also adapted to any changes made to our project, such as removing the subplot where my character had to overcome her vice.