Today during Animation 2, we continued working on the animated logo project. So far, we have been able to fully model everything we will need for this version of the animation. Alongside this, we have added a mesh light to the triangle part of the play button, so it is able to light up when we need it to. We still need to do the texturing and animation of this, but it is coming along very well. Aside from this, I have also worked on my SkillsUSA technical render today, more specifically making a texture for the door so it does not blend in with the rest of the cabin. Other than adding to and changing the notebook, I should not have much more left of that project. I have not had many problems with either of these, and I look forward to working on the logo project more on Monday.

Today during Animation 2, we continued working on making the logo animations. So far, I have been able to make the wire on one side of the button. I ended up forgetting to add edge loops to the cylinders, so I had to go back and add them manually. This was a bit tedious, but at least I caught it when I did, because otherwise I would have had to repeat this process for the other side. I haven’t had many other issues with this, but something that will pose a bit of a problem is getting the arrow of the play button itself to maintain its shape when smoothed. I will likely be able to solve this by adding edges, but it may be a bit uncooperative knowing Maya. Other than this, I have had no problems with this, and I look forward to working on it tomorrow.

Today during Animation 2, we continued working on the logo project. So far, we have finished coloring the storyboards and have started modeling one of the versions of it. Most of the period was spent coloring the storyboards, so there isn’t really much to document about the modeling process. So far, what has been made is the play button itself, which was made by taking a cube, turning it into an extruded triangle, and using the difference boolean with a cylinder to give it an indention. There have not been any problems with this project yet, so we have been making relatively good progress. I look forward to continuing to work on this tomorrow.

Today during Animation 2, we started working on a project where, as a group, we have to make an animated logo for an actual customer. So far, we have two ideas and have storyboarded them. We do not have any images to show for it yet, but we will hopefully be making good progress on this throughout the next few weeks. The timing of this project does pose a problem, because it will be happening while we are out on the SkillsUSA trip for State. We will not be able to work on the project during that time, but we do have a flexible deadline for it. We are aiming to finish this by April 8th, but if we do need more time, we will hopefully be able to get it. Other than this, we have not had any major problems. I look forward to working on this tomorrow.

Today during Animation 2, I continued working on improving my SkillsUSA project. So far, I have been able to texture the axe. I did initially have a major issue while working on this, that issue being the fact that I forgot the USB with the axe files at home. Because of this, I had my mom go and plug in the USB while I was accessing my computer through Steam Link on my phone. In doing this, I was able to upload the saves to Google Drive, thus also allowing me to download and open them on the school computer. However, this means that I also had to upload the most recent save of the axe and the textures for it into Google Drive as well. This, compared to not having the files I need to work on the project, is just a mild inconvenience, which I am more than willing to deal with. This also poses another problem, with the fact that if I forget to upload ANY files that I need to work on this, then I will not be able to work on it as much as I can. Despite my tendency to forget things easily, I am confident that I have uploaded everything that I need. With that said, I look forward to working on this over Spring Break and I hope to make a good amount of progress on this project.

Today during Animation 2, I continued working on my SkillsUSA technical render project. So far, I have modeled an axe that will be added into the scene as a prop. I feel like the model for it has turned out really well, and from what I have been told by my classmates, it looks almost exactly like what I drew for the concept art. I was also given advice by these classmates that helped me identify what I needed to adjust in order to make it look good.

Today during Animation 2, I finished following through tutorials to learn about XGen and MASH. The fur tutorial (shown in the last image) was a bit tedious and mildly annoying to deal with in terms of XGen not exactly working properly, but other than that, it was all relatively easy. I want to say that I have used MASH a bit to make a tree for my SkillsUSA technical render, but other than that, I cannot say that I have used it much. The last tutorial, where we had to make grass, just had us use a pre-made asset from a library of assets. I have not had any issues with these projects. With that said, I look forward to working on my SkillsUSA project tomorrow.

Today during Animation 2, we continued learning about using XGen to make hair. So far, I have gotten through 2 of the tutorials and am about halfway through the third. Working with this has been honestly kind of fun, but it does get a bit tedious after a while. As of right now, I have not had any issues that have prevented me from working. With that said, I look forward to continuing to work on this tomorrow.

These past few days during Animation 2, we have been working on making an animation in a limited time span. I would have made more blog posts about this over the past few days, but I have been rendering, which uses as much of the computer’s resources as physically possible. As a result of this, I have not been able to make blog posts while it was rendering. We have had problems with it rendering, more specifically how long it took to render it. The cause of this seems to be that multiple objects within the scene were very reflective, so this increased the time it took for it to render greatly. Other than that, we haven’t had many issues with this, and we should be almost completely done with this.

Today during Animation 2, we continued to work on our timed animation project. So far, the robot, boulder, sign, and a couch have been made. We are working on texturing the environment as of right now, so hopefully we can get that done soon and start on animating. There have been a couple problems, but nothing that has been too terrible on progress. Other than that, I look forward to working on this project again.