Monday, July 14, 2008

Soot & UMBC: a reflection

It's been almost a month and a half since I completed "Soot" and graduated from college. After anxious waiting and the thought of many resumes still floating in the employment void, I luckily found an adorable little full-timer at Travel Channel Media.

Within a week I went from rolling out of bed at 9am and walking to class in a sweatshirt to rolling off my bed at 6am, donning heels and driving off to the metro station. It's been a rude awakening realizing that there will be no more summer breaks, much harder to spontaneously see the fabulous friends I've made in Baltimore.

This senior year was incredibly challenging. Spain was an entirely different animal and "Soot" really feels like a triumph with the time constraints that we aligned too. Of course there was more I wanted to do with it, farther I wanted to take it, but sitting in the puddle of funtastic mud won't help me move onto better ideas and challenges.

Looking at this short, there are a million things I would wish to change, scenes I didn't want to leave behind and corners I wish had been cut. If time had permitted I would have bumped the frame rate from the 10-12 fps (frames per second) back to 15 at the very least. Two short environmental scenes that were cut could have been reworked to help draw the time out. Most of all abandoning the Venus and birth of creativity concept was depressing and necessary. It was tough, don't get me wrong. My life was absorbed by this thing. There would be days where I would forget to eat, would stay up all night in that crummy little window-less lab we affectionately called the "dungeon," kids from the 3D Intro classes would walk into the engineering labs exclaiming "You're still here!?"

But really...it's not right to beat myself up about it. "Soot" was not as deep or dramatic as I had first envisioned, but if that was the case I probably wouldn't had had as much fun with it. I love the classic and modern cartooning styles, and getting to explore those quirky movements was possible with my little caveman. Some people see this thing and call it "avant garde," but really I think it just weirds them out, haha. I'm just happy people can feel something from it.

So anyway, here is the final version of "Soot" a little cleaned up visually. The delay came from my lack of software to shrink down the size since leaving school. (I'm still awaiting answers to my drum circle ads, so hopefully one day for kicks it'll get a real soundtrack)

video

If I had to sum up my experiences from the past fours years up, it would go like this:
College is what you make it. I made it awesome.
Being involved with the UMBC Animation program and organizations like ArtCOM and ArtWeek opened the doors to incredible opportunities, but most granted me some of my most cherished friendships. These individuals are challenging, honest, creative and I miss them incredibly. They were my rivals, my fuel and my greatest teachers. When looking at art schools, don't just look at where the faculty is coming from, look to the students because that is where the real learning will take place.

K

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Silly things

Katie graduated, lol. This was on my cake. Thanks Mom!


This is how I stay "creative" at work (except that I did this off the clock...waaaah) by designing things to make our newsletter not-ugly. Hopefully I'll be getting Photoshop for spiffing up presentations too.
/cry Baby steps Katie, baby steps.

Anywho, I'm going to convert this into my everything and anything blog, so keep eyes peeled for things involving my hobbies, travel and crafts. Yay!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Summer Projects

So I find myself working 40 hrs/wk, wondering what to do for the summer to keep my artistic muscles nice and beefy.

Siggraph is coming in August (which is always a huge motivator) where I will be student volunteering for my 3rd year. My former classmates and professor Eric Dyer will be showing off their project "Bellows." Congratulations and best of luck to you all! I will see you there as one of the goofballs in a red vest.

After finishing up some artworks I owe to loved ones, I'm thinking of reopening WoW commissions and other such nerdy delights and brainstorming for a new short (one that wont be rushed in under a month, nyuk nyuk). Not sure which idea to go with, but I think it will have a lot to do with star constellations. It will be perfect for becoming more intimate with After Effects. Otherwise finding the energy to complete Maya tutorials may require a bit of coffee. I'd love to do a collaboration, but it'll have to wait till I have a hold on my new schedule and routine.

This stuff isn't worth a grade anymore, and it makes it that much more valuable. How exciting!

K

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Anatomy of a Video Game


Last night the Anatomy of a Video game class, taught by Katie and Justin of BreakAway Games LTd., at UMBC had our final game presentations shown to an audience of our peers, professors and a crowd of industry professionals. Nervous? You bet we were!

The three groups, Melifador's Bridge (Fighting), Purgatory Heights (SRPG) and my group, Argyle Knights XIV (Sandbox Adventure) rocked the house and made some great impressions, showing off all the work these teams of artists and programmers put together.


I'm going to try to snag some screenshots from other groups, but until then above is my groups manual, and go on my word that I've worked with some of the most talented people in the whole damn school and that if they don't get incredible jobs after this experience, than I'm assuming they will make their own and eventually hire me at their awesome company.

Note: My classmates and I will be presenting our games again at the...
IDGA Baltimore Chapter Meeting
May 29th, 7pm
at BreakAway Games Ltd.

K

Saturday, May 10, 2008

"Soot"

video