Week 5B

Today we had all of class to work on our videos. Today, I got the last two sentences of my quote animated and finished. Then I began to look for a background.

Week 5A

Today in class we went to each person's computer in our row and found out where they used foreshadowing and recall. Then we had the rest of class to work on our animations.

Week 4 Outside of Class

Earlier this week outside of class, I completed putting my quote into Illustrator. This was my final product:

This weekend, I completed my symbolic scoring sketches. Im pretty sure that a lot of it will get changed once I see it on the computer screen in motion but here are my sketches:

I also transferred these sketches into Illustrator:

I also watched the After Effects videos on Lynda.com. Here are the notes that I took:

Understanding Precomposing:

• Precomposing is when you take a series of layers and group them together into another composition
• Select all of the layers you want, go to Layer, and choose Pre Compose. OR command + shift + c
• can now operate all the layers as one
• command + d to duplicate that layer

Navigating Through Compositions Quickly

• You can group pre-comps into more pre-comps
• Shift + arrow keys to jump from composition to composition
• the big composition is called the parent composition and the pre-comp inside that composition is called the child composition

Creating and Editing Text

• Point type is when you just click with the type tool and start typing - it creates one long line of type - or you can use the text box
• the character and paragraph panels are what is used to edit text

Animating Text Manually

• Use the text drop down instead of the transform
• Use the Animate button in the text drop down
• When clicking a property in the animate drop down creates a Range Selector and a section for the property you selected - both of these are grouped into a file called Animator 1
• only the text that is in the range selector will be applied with the property
• you can add more properties into the same Animator 1 file by using the Add button

Using Work Areas

• you can create a work area by dragging the yellow bar to where you want your work space to start and end
• if you double click the work area bar it resets itself
• you can press the letter "b" for the beginning of the work area and "n" for end
• Shift +home will take you to the beginning of the work area and Shift + end will take you to the end
• You can render just the work area

Creating Markers

• markers are a way to create notes for yourself or your team
• there are markers for the layers and markers for the whole composition
• select the layer, go up to "Layer", and click "add marker"
• OR click the "*" key - then click the * key again to end
• click on the shield on the right hand side of the screen and drag it to the left to create a comp marker
• double click markers to name them

Replacing Layers

• select your current layer, hold down the option key, and drag the layer that you want to replace it with down to where the first layer is

Mastering Timeline Navigation

• can zoom in and out of the timeline with the + and - keys
• to press "d" it will center you on the timeline
• option + scroll wheel will zoom you in and out of the timeline and Shift + scroll wheel will scroll you back and forward in time

Creating and Using Masks

• select the layer you want, select the rectangle tool, click and drag on the screen until you have what you want
• there are different mask modes
• if you open up the masks drop down menu, then click the "Add" drop down menu, and change it to subtract

Exploring Mask Options

• if you press the letter "m" you can reveal basic properties about the mask
• you can animate the mask path by clicking the stopwatch on "mask path"
• if you click "m" twice you will reveal mask properties and all mask options
• mask path, mask feather, mask opacity, and mask expansion

Masking Objects With Other Objects

• make sure you can see the modes column
• select the layer you want, in the "track matte area" and choose "alpha mattes *layer name*" - outline
• OR click the layer you want, in the "track matte area" choose "luma matte *layer name*" - brightness

Off Campus Artist Talk - How To Land A Job

Tonight I went to the artist talk at The Candy Factory about How To Land A Job.  Some of the things that Linda, Lauren, Justin, and Christine said about
First Interviews:
They said that in the first interview that you would most likely contact the creative director but would most likely be talking to more than just one person.  They said to ALWAYS BE PREPARED!! You should have more than enough resumes, arrive early, and dress appropriately.  Also, you should know the company that you are interested in.  During the interview, you should talk about yourself as much as possible as long as it pertains to the conversation. One big thing that they kept going back on was that you should make sure this job is a good fit for you and that you will love it because nothing is worse than having a job that you hate.
Their Favorite Questions To Ask in an Interview:
Some of the questions that they said they like to ask are what is your favorite game to play and why? What is something that you could have done to make your previous job better? What would you have changed if you were the boss? If you were in a circus, what position would you be? They ask questions about previous jobs or employers to see what the interviewee's tone is about that corporation.  They like to ask questions about previous projects you have done and environments you have worked in.
Questions For The Interviewee To Ask:
The panel said that some questions they would like to hear the interviewee ask would be why the job is open? What does the interviewer likes about the company? They all said that the interview should bring your personality out and that you should be yourself.  One thing that I enjoyed that they said was that interviewing should be a two-way street. You should be able to ask the interviewer questions to decide whether that job is the right job for you.  They also said that you should never say something that you don't mean because you might be asked to elaborate further.  Because you might be asked to elaborate, you need to be prepared to back-up your statements.
Talking About A Job You Quit/Fired:
The panel said to never harp on a topic and to never be extremely negative towards that company or boss. They said a good response would be, "it just wasn't a good fit for me." They said to try to stick to the positives and not the negatives.
How Can Candidates Set Themselves Apart From The Crowd:
The panel said that to set yourself apart from the crowd, your resume and portfolio are really important. Your resume should stand out from others but not be over-the-top. Justin said that one thing that makes people stand out is if they have the ability to think. This means how they ask and answer question and how they make the conversation fun instead of awkward.  They also said that you need to show up early with your resume and portfolio with you. Your portfolio needs to be organized in a way that shows that you respect your work. They all said that you should be enthusiastic. Even if you don't get the job at the time, the interviewer will remember you and your personality and maybe call you back for a future job. Less is more and you should ALWAYS follow up the interview with an email thanking the person for the interview. It will leave a big impression with the person. Your work should be accessible offline because there is a good chance that you won't be able to connect to their WiFi. When going over your portfolio, you should always end on your strongest piece. Justin said that you should have web and print and that you NEED to learn code to get ahead of the rest of the contenders. They ended by saying that one big thing that could help you get a job is to find a company that you want to work for and ask them, "What do I need to do to work for a company like you?"

I really enjoyed this talk because I felt that I was getting information that other people don't know and that it will help me get the job over those other people.  I loved how each panelist was laid back and willing to do everything they could to help us and give us every tip they could think of to help us get a future job.

Week 4B

Today in class we critiqued our quotes in Illustrator. Each row critiqued the peoples' that were in their row and voted on which they thought was the best. Then then the ones that were voted the best presented theirs to the class. Next, we were shown examples of what our final product would look like. Then we were taught what symbolic scoring is and how to do it. We had the rest of class to sketch out what we wanted our video to look like using symbolic scoring. Personally, I had a hard time sketching it out because I felt that what I was putting on paper might not look good on the screen and then my whole sketch would be wrong. Because I was having trouble thinking of ideas of how to portray my quote and struggling to get it down into a sketch I did not get very much done in class. This is what I got done:

Week 4A

Today in class we briefly critiqued our rhythm movies. Then we learned about foreshadowing and recalling. Then we were to find a quote or sentences that we liked to use for our next assignment.  The quote that I chose was "The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest." We then had the rest of the class period to start putting our quote into Illustrator using typography, color, position, etc.

Week 3 Outside of Class

Outside of class, I finished my rhythm homework assignment. Here is my finished product.



My thought process was to make the word look similar to a wave. I wanted it to look like the whole word was connected (like a rope) and that the R was making the rest of the word move. (Similar to the waves a rope would make when oscillated back and forth.


I also finished the second part of our homework assignment. We had to do the same thing as before, just in Flash, instead of After Effects. I ended up making 3. The like the first one but it was a little too plain. I like the second one even better, however, I'm not sure if it shows enough rhythm. Therefore, I created my last one. Here are all three:

Week 3B

Today in class, we ran through how to use Flash again. Then we had the rest of the class to work on our homework.  Our assignment was to use the word "rhythm" and show rhythm. However, instead of using After Effects we were supposed to use Flash.

Artist Talk - Alumni

On Saturday, I attended the Alumni Portfolio Day. Some of the things that people said that stuck with me were:

Alicia Taylor:

• start looking for jobs now
• networking is very important

Kate Anderson:

• agencies are a lot of work
• "stalk" companies
• never take a raise without knowing what the raise is for - are you being given more responsiblities?
• learn how to use InDesign and Photoshop

Erin Good

• get organized
• keep a list of studios you are interested in
• become an AIGA member
• be overly prepared for interviews
• send thank you's 
• ask a lot of questions

Michelle Winey

• freelance could be an option

Chris Willet

• make sure to have a website along with your paper portfolio
• cast a wide net - apply to a lot of places
• have to ask yourself "what are you willing to give up?"

Aaron Chu

• know what is going on around you in the world
• smile a lot
• don't put anything work related on Facebook
• Google is your best friend

I definitely enjoyed this talk.  Some aspects scared me.  I was thinking to myself that I would never be as good as these people, which means I will never find a job.  But then some of them said they were thinking the same thing and now they have jobs.

Week 3A

Today in class we briefly looked at some of our dream movies. Then we learned about motion principles rhythm and pace. We had the rest of the class to work on our homework assignment. We are to create a short animation of the word "rhythm" showing rhythm.

Artist Talk - Joshua Buckwalter

Today Joshua Buckwalter came and talked at Millersville. He is the creative director at Inovate and the president of the AIGA chapter. He took the time and talked to us about user experience. He said that user experience does not mean user interface and that many people think they mean the same thing. Some things that user experience include are: field research, data analysis, persona development, requirement documentation, and content strategy. Joshua also described two case studies of businesses that he has worked together with. The first one was Engine Yard. Joshua stated that communication skills are greatly needed because you get together as a whole team and talk everything out. He also talked about some of the exercises that his team would have the clients do. Things such as a word sorting game and scales. In the word sorting game, Joshua's team gives 60 word tiles and the clients are to choose the words that they would like to represent the product they are producing. The scales are to figure out where the product will be on a spectrum. The example Joshua showed us was a line of men each dressed more formal than the next. When working with clients, Joshua's team used user flows, wireframes, and moodboards. Joshua stated that the user flows were usually revised maybe 20 times before getting it right. The next case study that he talked about was 403 Labs, which were providing security to people. Joshua used the sentence, "a bunch of hackers preventing other hackers." Joshua's team had them look at their competitors' logos and websites and critique them.  They also did an "Open Design Hour." During this hour everybody had 20 minutes of individual exploration. The goal was to create as many ideas as possible. Then each person had 10 seconds to present their idea. Joshua said that if it took longer than 10 seconds to explain, it was too complicated. Then after everybody had presented, they would have everyone vote for the ones they thought were the best. Joshua's one piece of advice for everybody who is about to graduate was to always be curious.

I enjoyed today's lecture. I felt that it definitely pertained to me because the Experience Design class is all about what he talked about today. I also got to see another type of job that I could potentially go into.

Week 2 Outside of Class

This weekend I worked on the assignment of making a video about a dream that I once had. Above is my final product.

I based this movie off of a dream that I had about running. In real life, I wasn't allowed to run because of a volleyball knee injury. It had been almost 3 months since I was allowed to run when I had this dream.
- In the dream I was running as fast as I could through a big grassy area, like a park. I remember it being gorgeous outside. It was sunny, warm, and was absolutely beautiful. I remember feeling like this was the best day of my life and that I was on cloud nine. It felt like everything was absolutely perfect in that moment.

The beginning of the movie I use green textures and backgrounds to give the feeling that I am surrounded by green grass. I also used the words "jogging", "running", and "sprinting" to show that I am running through the grass. Then I move onto warmer colored backgrounds to portray that it was bright and sunny outside. In addition to the backgrounds, I use the words "warm", "bright", and "beautiful" to go along with the colors of the backgrounds. Then I went to yellow backgrounds to refer to the sun and used the word "sunkissed." And last, I used glittery bokeh backgrounds in different colors to portray how happy I felt in that moment of running. I also used the word "euphoric" with those backgrounds and ended the video with the word "perfection."

Week 2B

Today in class we went through the rows of computers as groups and critiqued each line video and guessed what emotion they were trying to portray. Here is my video:

This was the word I was trying to portray in my movie.

These were the guesses of the other groups. I'm actually not surprised of the different answers because my video could really go both ways. It could be seen as confused/confined AND as excited. Before turning this movie in I sent it to my family at home and to my boyfriend and half of them said excited and half of them said confused. 

The Rest Of Class:
We briefly reviewed some of the information that we learned from the Lynda.com videos that we watched in class last time. Then we learned a few basic principles, such as duration and pause. We then made a list of some of the dreams that we remembered and posted them on our blog. We were then introduced to our next assignment and we started brainstorming and compiling stuff for that assignment.

Dreams - Week 2B

• One night I dreamt that I was running around with my friends in the park. It was bright, sunny, warm, and gorgeous outside. I was running as fast as I could. To me it felt like the best feeling in the world and that I didn't want to be anywhere else in the world except right here with my friends.
• This happened when I tore my ACL and was not allowed to run.
• I dreamt that I was driving with my family and my boyfriend and all of the sudden the city started to be attacked. Bombs were falling from the sky.
• I dreamt that I was being followed and was abducted and taken to a house and abused. My friend was there but he didn't do anything to save me.
• I dreamt that I was a little girl again and was walking with my whole family down some sand and dirt path. All of the sudden I fell into a hole in the path. The rest of my family kept walking and left me behind. I tried as hard as I could to get out of the hole and scream for my family but I was trapped.
• I dreamt that I was going in for surgery for my torn ACL and I was put under anesthesia. They started to operate on my knee and I dreamt that I woke up in the middle of the surgery and could feel everything but couldn't tell the doctors that I was awake.
• I dreamt that my volleyball team went on to win the state championships. We had an undefeated season and were unstoppable. We went on to win the state championships and I was given the title of MVP.

Week 2A

Today in class we watched video tutorials on Lynda.com. Here are some of the notes that I took while watching the videos:

What Is After Effects

• creates motion graphics and visual effects
• can work with video, audio, still images, and Adobe Illustrator
• puppet tool can bend part of a 2D plane to look like it's moving

After Effects Workflow Overview

• do most of your work in the timeline
• Step 1. Bring stuff in.  2. Mess with it, change it  3. Output it

Bringing Elements Into After Effects

• to import, you go to "file", then "import", then "file"
• OR right click inside the project panel and choose "import -> file"
• OR double click in the project panel

Adding Elements To The Timeline

• assets or footage is everything you put in the panel (your "stuff")
• click and drag object from project panel to layers

Working With Layers

• can click on eye icon to remove visibility with layers
• each layer is represented by bars on the timeline
• to move the bar - click and drag bar to have a layer start and end later

Creating Animation Without Presets

• select a layer --> click stopwatch icon next to transition completion in the project panel --> click and drag property until it reaches 100% --> then move ahead in your video where you want animation to stop --> drag stopwatch back to 0%
• you can click the arrow next to a layer to show the elements of the layer

Previewing Your Work

• 2 ways to preview work
• hit spacebar to preview
• just gives you the gist --> it's not in real time --> and has no audio
• hit "0" key gives audio and in real time preview

Exporting Content As A Movie File

• Go to Composition --> "Add To Render Queue" or "Make Movie"
• Render Queue can change settings of your video

Touring The Interface

• if you press the tilde key (~) it will maximize the panel your mouse is over
• drop zones show where your floating panel will group
• you can change the layout with the workspace button

How After Effects Projects Work

• File --> Save - SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN
• After Effects crashes often
• can set up autosave
• when importing something into After Effects, it is not embedded, it is only a link
• if link can't be found, go to "file" --> "replace file"
• difference between opening and import
• import brings object into project panel
• open opens whole project
• you can only have one project open at a time
• you can import an old project into your new one

What Is A Composition

• composition is kind of like a storage container
• film strip icon creates a new composition
• compositions are the foundation of everything you do in After Effects
• you can't output a project, only a composition
• when making a composition a layer in a different composition, it's called "nesting"

Tips For Adding Content To Compositions

• command + ? (/) adds objects perfectly centered to the top of the layers
• OR you can just drag to the viewer
• OR you can drag to the timeline

Understanding The Properties Of Video

• time code is Hours: Minutes: Seconds: Frames
• to change settings of the composition --> click the composition --> go to the fly out menu on the right side --> composition settings or command + k
• standard definition is 720 px wide and 480 px high
• when dealing with pixels on computer they are square --> when working with tv, they are not square
• frame rate is the speed at which those frames happen
• standard for standard definition is 29.97
• if you are doing something for web, you might want to have a lower frame rate

Importing an Illustrator File

• double click in file panel --> click .ai file --> import as composition

Animation Basics

• expand layer with arrow --> then arrow next to "transform"
• when you click a layer and press "r" it shows the "rotation" property only
• click stopwatch --> move in time --> change value
• works the same for position, scale, opacity, etc.

Animation Opacity

• command + plus to zoom in
• open layer setting with arrow --> then transform arrow
• OR click layer and click:
• "a" for anchor point
• "p" for position
• "s" for scale
• "r" for rotation
• and "t" for opacity
• some people refer to them as TRAPS
• click stopwatch --> change to 0% --> move in time --> change to 100%
• can grab key frame and drag on timeline to slow down animation

Understanding Anchor Points

• most transformations take place around anchor points
• solo button allows you to see only that layer
• toggle transparency gets rid of checkerboard background
• pan behind tool - then you can move the anchor point
• press "v" for the move tool
• if you click "v" and then hold down "y" you can move the anchor point and when you let go of "y" it goes back to the move tool

Animating Position

• open layer, click "p" for position
• x position - left and right
• y position - up and down
• start with the end, then go back

Animating Rotation

• click layer --> press "r" for rotation
• if you press shift + p - position will be added to rotation
• the first number under rotation is how many full rotations the object would do

Animating Scale

• click layer --> press "s" for scale
• chain link means that the proportions are constrained
• stopwatch --> move in time --> change value

Copying and Pasting Key Frames

• select the layer and press u", which will show all of the key frames for this layer
• click and drag marque to select multiple key frames
• click command + c --> them move in time and press command + v
• can copy and paste all of those again

Animation Shortcuts

• press "home" key to jump to first frame of animation
• press "end" key to jump to last frame 
• press "fn" on a laptop to find those keys
• if you press "page down" and "page up" it will advance you one frame at a time
• add shift to the page up and it will advance 10 frames a time
• if you press "u + u" really fast it will show not only key frames but all of the properties changes from the default
• if you press "k" it will jump to the next visible key frame
• "j" is the previous key frame

Week 1B

Today in class we made thuamatropes and zoetropes, which are different ways to show motion. The top picture is of my thuamatrope and the second and third pictures are of my zoetropes. The video is of my thuamatrope spinning. We also took notes on Motion Principles, such as Time Code, Frame Rate, and Key Frames. We were then introduced to Flash and given an assignment to give a line emotion through motion. We were to make a 15 second video of a line moving and showing emotion through that movement.

Week 1 Outside Of Class

Outside of class this week I created a new blog for this class, created a YouTube account, and signed up for Lynda.com. I also finished my assignment of the 15 second video. I finished my video with the intent of portraying the emotion of craziness or excitement.  However, when I showed my video to different people, they didn't exactly guess my emotion correctly. Therefore, I wanted to try to create a video that portrayed my emotion more effectively. So I decided to create a second video. This video's emotion was also excitement but I feel that my second video portrays this better than my first one.