The last few days
A lot of work has been done in the last few days to put the whole project together, and I suppose that means some reflection is due. The project has has a lot of (previously mentioned) setbacks, so the last few days have been really long. A lot of editing has been done, and a lot has been changed, so I'll go over what has happened in the editing phase, and what I've realised about the project.
Lighting consistency has been a big issue, so I've done a lot of colour correcting to the images to make everything fit together more nicely. I had to peel back some of the extreme yellows in a few shots, because they clashes really hard with the light purple background in other shots. I don't actually see this as a mistake, strangely enough. I think that the editing phase is the best time to colour correct, and if you render at a high enough quality, fixing those colour issues isn't a problem. It's more important in the render phase to get a clear image that is framed right than a consistent brightness between shots.
Another thing that's changed is my planning. To get this project done, there's been a lot of renders and up to 4 render layers. This means that some organisation is needed. And, like I've seen in documentaries about production, It's helpful to have a progress chart to both motivate and track you. I've tried to do this here:
(Poor Photo Quality, apologies, it's the best I could manage last minute.)
This has been super helpful for me in terms of anxiety and motivation. Seeing the chart gradually fill in has assured me that the project will indeed get finished. The unfilled boxes is a motivator, as it means that there's still a ton of work to do.
This last stretch is a tough one, and I wish that we'd planned our film a bit better, because then there wouldn't have been as much of a crunch. Still, though, there were a lot of things to be learned in this project, and I'm glad that I've learned the basic skills of animation at this point, rather than later.
I think I've experienced the last-minute panic that comes in the editing phase. I feel like I've realised that the project isn't going to be what I had hoped, and that the project is flawed in terms of the story and structure. I think that in retrospect, we should have aimed for an easier setting and a less realistic style. This would have let us focus on polishing the product more. I'm happy with the project as it stands, but I think there are a lot of ways we could improve next time.
For the future: Keep track of everyone's tasks in a written agreement. Remember that new things to learn will take longer to complete, and don't aim too high or too low.
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