Fantastic Voyage - Playblasted Animation

The Life Cycle Of A Mushroom

Time restrictions meant I was only able to 'playblast' my animation instead of rendering through Arnold. Nonetheless, I'm happy with my current outcome and the advancements it demonstrates when compared to my previz. It was a huge relief to solve the issues around smooth preview (Maya would crash when I pressed 3 on the keyboard) by changing the render engine from 'OpenGL' to 'DX11'. This solution was vital to the strength of my final animation as I would've had to submit a 'rough display' version, the same quality of my previz. Along with improvements to the quality of my models, texture is also another element that is far superior and will look even better once properly rendered. 

I found it challenging to create consistent lighting, especially when each shot was a separate Maya project. I either had to replicate lighting by eye, or record the settings and copy them over. Image planes and different materials meant that the same lighting settings would differ for each shot e.g image planes would obstruct light and make scenes very dark. It was therefore easier to approximate lights. If I had more time to complete this animation, I might have explored Premier Pro's lighting settings to create better consistency. 

Time limitations also meant I recycled the same typography from my previz. This wasn't a severe problem, as I was very contempt with the graphics I created. By re-using colours from my compositions and applying them to text, I was able to use type to solidify my style and theme choices (graphic novels). I would develop on this element of my animation by including more complex 2D animated graphics, which are limited to jittering lines and the 'nuclei fusion' in this outcome. This would require a better understanding of Adobe Animate, but would definitely polish-up the overall animation. 

I think that the narrative has strong ties to the original brief:

"you are asked to develop, design and execute creatively a 'fantastic voyage' through a micro-biological environment/ scenario. You are challenged to transcribe a biological process accurately and dynamically and consider ways in which complex ideas and data might be represented engagingly to different audiences".

My narrative is engaging through considered styling and covers the basics of a mushroom's life cycle, very fitting for my target audience (GCSE Biology students). A more in-depth approach to this project might be aimed at A-level students. I have tried to make the process narrated in the animation as accurate as possible. Admittedly, creativity and cinematography would often distract me from the main aims of this project. However, that's why my target audience is young and appreciative of engaging visuals and fun education, allowing me to be loose with the science aspect of this project. 

Cinematography and storytelling are some of the strongest elements of this outcome in my opinion. I tried to stick to original ideas as much as possible, creating a 'flow' throughout my blog that communicates the evolution of ideas into moving pictures. This workflow is why my previz and animation came together so nicely; I didn't try to push and expand on ideas too dramatically. I think this would've resulted in a stiff and turbulent outcome as creative indecisiveness would've been evident in the animation.    

I look forward to seeing my animation fully finalised through proper rendering. However, I think this current outcome conveys its full potential, even without all the trimmings. In my opinion, I think this demonstrates the strengths of the animation and indicates substance behind the aesthetics.