Wrapping up ‘Flight’

Well this is as much a message to myself so I don’t forget the lessons I learnt from ’said project’.

Here’s a compilation of a little of the material I built up in the making of…

{Flight of the Victory in the making}

I knew when I took this thing on that a) it was going to devour a lot of time and b) I would never get the result I wanted. Boy did I underestimate. On the positive side, in the last couple of months I’ve doubled my knowledge of Maya - heck I think I’d almost say I know what I’m doing now. Did it devour a lot of time? SO much more time than it should have. Rendering a test image in the middle of the night on a painfully slow computer is enough to have you rocking back and forth chanting ‘come on.. come on’… And yes I did.

I’m glad I did it (now) but if I’d known the trials… The problem with learning is you do something - and it’s wrong. So you have to do it again. Or you persevere all night and achieve nothing. And the problem with 3D is that it is an intricate and painstakingly slow process. Anyone who has painted skin weights will know what I mean. To wait for a 10 minute test render when you want to sleep, only to see an error that needs fixing. Arrgh.

With a week to go to deadline I had chucked it in. I had worked every spare hour for weeks on end, built and rebuilt models, rendered and re-rendered scenes. And I realised when it came to the final renders that I had major problems with both of the central pieces - the main characters rig SUCKED. And for some reason the dynamics on the ship absolutely REFUSED to calculate in the final render. I built. And rebuilt. And rendered. And nothing. I reached a point one night where I felt I had to rebuild and re-animate the character, and then, somehow, forget the hard work I’d put into the ship dynamics and rebuild it ’static’. I didn’t think I could cope with going back after all that work and redoing it. I had been at it for so long and I was totally shattered. So I swore, quit, and went to bed. And lay there.

Now this wasn’t about finishing an animation. It was about sticking something out, it was a mental battle. I knew the result wasn’t going to be the masterpiece I wanted. But could I quit after so much thought, research and work. Leave something ‘almost finished’. Unfortunately.. no. So against my better judgment, when I craved just lying in front of the TV, I carried on.

The last week before deadline was hell, a voice nagging while I worked ‘you’re not going to make it, give up’. Now you may laugh! I do now. And then the last night, trying to pull it all together - yes I might actually do it. It won’t be anything to be proud of, but it will be finished. Then closer to the deadline and realising there was a good chance I wasn’t going to make it and three months of day in, day out hard work could be wasted. The website countdown ticked - 5 hours to go, 4.. 3…2… and then suddenly, click - 17 days to go. An extension?? Are you joking? Was I happy? Hell no. Strangely I felt bad for those who HAD finished (not many) and I couldn’t cope with another 17 days. I was gone. I could finish up and send in what I had - or I could make the most of the extra time and re-do a few things. I couldn’t bare the thought, I just wanted it done. But again, sending in what I had seemed a cop out. SO after a few days holiday I went back and re-worked things. Again.

Am I proud of the final result? The concept, a little. The actual animation, not really. I haven’t delivered the world and tale in my mind. But the base is there for something better, and with more work (what am I saying??) I could tell the story I wanted to tell. I have pushed myself hard and have learnt so much. I’m proud of that. What I loved about this competition was that there were so many other artists facing the same battles. That was great to be a part of and so great to see people come up with some amazing stuff.

Things I learnt, technical and otherwise.

1) I need to learn how to build a rig I can animate. Like battling a broken umbrella I tell you.
2) Mental Ray hates Maya dynamics - I simply had to turn off some custom MR setting and hello, the dynamics worked. Are you joking??
3) Doing 3D has got to be akin to waterboarding, or some other form of torture. I don’t think I’ve done one project that hasn’t pushed my stress levels through the roof.
4) It’s not the result that matters, it’s how you got there. And the harder it is, the more rewarding, and the better a person you are for it.
5) A simple comment from a peer like ‘looks good’ is enough.. pressure.. haha to keep you going for another week.

It’s a weird thing to basically write a personal diary entry online. Forgive my rant.