Castle Project

Main Point

For our first 3D animation project we had to build a castle which helped teach us a lot of the tools in Maya and help us get used to the program. For me the main point of doing this project was to get used to Maya because it is very different than other programs I am used to and all the controls on it can be very confusing.

Process

Before we started on this project we had to learn the basic controls of Maya through instructional videos and then also we watched our teacher create a castle and talk through what he was doing so that we had some idea of the process before starting. Then we stated creating our own castles staring with making one tower by combining cylinders through the difference and union tool. We then took the top of the tower and used the extrude tool to raise every other face making a castle top look. Next we copied our tower 4 times and made was in-between the towers. Finally the door was cut out by combining a cylinder and cube and then citing them out of the wall. To add some personalization I added color, a moat, and a hill for the castle to rest on.

Learning 

While doing this project I learned a lot about how to use Maya and about some of the cool things that it allows you to do with shapes. For the project i mainly use the extrude, booleans (union, difference), basic shapes tools and also the color tool. I also learned how to change between four perspective window and the one perspective window. These windows made working on my castle much easier because sometimes you want to see four perspectives at once but other times it is better to have a close up of one perspective. The hardest thing we learned was how to add texture to our castles because the process was kinda confusing and messing up one or two things could mess all of it up. Finally I learned how to switch between object mode and face mode and why using these two modes can help make creating the project much easier.

Change

If I could redo this project the ting i would change is make my castle have five towers and be in more of a pentagon shape or try to add more small details such as cannons or flags for the castle. I feel like these would help make my castle more unique and interesting.

Favorite

My favorite part of my castle is the moat because it is something I figured out how to do by myself and isn't something that was required for the project r taught but just something I wanted to add. I would defiantly keep the moat if I redid the project and I would also keep the double layered walls because it helps the castle look more realistic.

Takeaway

My main take away from this project is that when doing 3D animation keep things simple at the start and make them more complicated later. this project helped teach me that if you make the project fit the requirements first and make it simple but well made it is then easier to add things and make it more complex. If you try to complicate things early problems can arise and not always be easily fixed.

Conclusion

In conclusion this project was very fun and taught me a lot about how Maya works and how it can be used to make many interesting and fun things. There were some difficult parts if the project but by running into them now i am more prepared for them in the future and will be able to deal with them more efficiently on a large project.

How to Create a J and L Edit

What they are for

J and L edits are used to make videos more interesting to watch by putting B roll over an interview sound byte so the viewer does not have to watch someone talk for long amounts of time.

 What is a J and L Edit

A J edit is when a sound byte has been playing from an interview and you have been watching someone talk but then it changes to a B roll clip but the person's voice from the interview is still going and you are still hearing there response. A L edit is similar but occurs at the start of the interview sound byte. you are watching B roll when the voice starts form the interview sound byte but B roll still plays over it then changing to the interview vide after a while.

How to

To create a J or L edit the first step is to have video from an interview and video for B roll.

Next import them both into the video editing program you will use.

Then drag the video into you time line to prepare to edit. (shown below)

Now that you have the clips we want to use you need to unlink the video from the audio so they can be moved independently form one another.

Then create you L edit by clipping part of your interview video at the beginning off and deleting it. Then move your B roll video into this space (shown below). Line up the audio from your b roll under the audio of the interview and make sure to turn the volume level down so the interview can be heard over it. If done properly when you play the video the interview sound will be over B roll

As seen above the videos overlap each other.

Now to create a J edit you delete a small amount off the end of the interview video, delete it and move the B roll clip into this space once again you must put the B roll audio under the Interview audio and turn the volume level down. (seen below)

Thats the end now you know how to create J and L edits and can make your videos much more interesting to view which will extend your audiences. 

Feature Story

What I Did 

For my latest project I did a feature story on the affect of new teachers on the school environment. This topic seemed interesting to me due to the fact that we have lots of new teachers this year in part because of our new principle. I interviewed 3 students on what they think new teachers are brining to the classroom and what they think these teachers can improve on.

The Process 

Pre interview

To create this video I had to first brainstorm a topic and decided what angle I was going to take on the story. This was one of the most difficult parts since there are so many topics to chose from and the angle you can take on your video drives everything that comes after including the interview and final project. Next I set up my interviews and started to brainstorm questions for my interview keeping in mind the angle 

Interview

During my interview I had to find good angles for the camera and make sure there wasn't to much headroom while filming. The most difficult part of the interview was making sure I got enough footage for my video and was able to cover everything I needed.

Post interview 

After the interview I had to film B roll and create and record a voice over to put in my video. finally edit the video and sound to make it a complete feature story. I then exported my video and posted it to my Youtube account.

Conclusion

This video was a lot of fun to film and helped me learn a lot about how to set up and conduct an interview. I also was able to learn a lot about how much natural sound can add to a video and how J and L edits really help add appeal to a video. My favorite part of my video is my interview clip, I feel like they are good quality and i was able to use them to tell my story. If i could go back and fix anything I would film more B roll.

Interview

For our second project in class we picked partners and interview them about their summer vacation. Through this project we learned how to setup an interview, what type of questions you ask while interviewing and also how to write a voice over and create b roll. Our final product did not include b roll or images over audio from voice over due to time restrains and inability to take video of the places our partner visited over the summer.
If I were going to do this project again I would change the angle of the camera during the interview so my interviewee is facing more towards the camera and i would make sure i know my angle of the story before I interview. The biggest thing I would change would be even out the sound when I am editing the video. I would keep my questions the same and the order in which I had my clips in the final package.