We've moved on from working with video and are now starting with 3D modeling, which looks like it will go well so far. I've done 3D modeling before in previous years, but I used a much more basic software that was not as smooth as 3ds Max. So far the only problem I've run into with 3ds Max is losing my model to the abyss and not being able to find it, but that can be fixed by changing the view a few times. So far we've only made a snowman, but it sounds like we will be making much more before testing time comes around. We have only just been introduced to 3ds Max, but most of its features are simple enough to understand, even from someone who is new to it. My favorite part about 3ds Max is that you can edit numbers (instead of dragging) for precise changes. This makes centering objects and creating standard sizes much easier. After doing some additional research I found out that 3D modeling is not the best choice of career, but can pay well if you do get a job in the field. The reason for it not being the best choice of career is because it requires a high skill with 3D modeling and job slots are easy to fill with underpaid workers. Of course it is possible to have a good job as a 3D modeler, but other careers can be more reliable, especially for new people looking for their first job.
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Citations: https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?283134-Is-3d-modelling-a-solid-career-option-for-the-future https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/3d-modeler-salary-SRCH_KO0,10.htm
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After working in Premiere long enough to understand it and know how to use it effectively, I enjoy its features. From the start of working with video I knew that Premiere would probably be the best video editing software I ever work with, so I quickly tried to figure out how to best use it. As we got more assignments to do in Premiere my understanding of it grew, and I began to look for software I could use at home for free for video editing. Premiere inspired me to record hours of footage at home so that I could edit it and maybe turn it into something interesting. The only problem is that I don’t have Premiere at home, but I’ll likely find some other video editing software. As for the time I used Premiere at school it has been great, I learned many things about the skills it takes to create a good film such as how to make motion flow and what camera angles work best. Working with Premiere has been interesting, but not as fun as some of the other software we have worked with. The only reason for it not being as fun is because the amount time it takes to create a finished product is unpredictable and it always left me with a sense of unaccomplishment. Given the tools of Premiere I felt like I could have done much more than what was required for the assignments we were given, but for time’s sake I didn’t. That is why I am currently looking for a free video editing software at home, because video editing may become a hobby if I can work with it long enough to feel accomplished. Now that it is the fourth quarter I’m pretty sure we will be moving on to 3D modeling, which will hopefully be fun and similar to the work I did in eighth grade. At least I have some skills I will be coming in with for 3D modeling, unlike the other things we have worked with, but I most likely have forgotten my skills by now. After doing some additional research I found a few free video editing softwares I could use at home to expand my knowledge on the use of video editing. Most of the free video editing softwares are free versions advertising their professional full versions, but still function fully as video editing software. I was planning on using Movie Maker because that’s what some of my friends and brothers had used in the past for video editing, but it was discontinued over a year ago. I might end up using Shotcut, but I haven’t looked into every single option I have yet, hopefully I find a reliable software that can get the job done soon.
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Citations: www.pcworld.com/article/3240982/software/the-best-free-video-editing-software.html https://www.lifewire.com/best-free-video-editing-software-programs-4128924 In my group for the video project I was the person in charge of making the graphics, but I also helped out to complete the other roles because we had a smaller group. For the first two days we were planning and researching on our topic, then I got to making logos for our PSA. It took me some time to think of unique logos, but we eventually agreed on a professional-looking logo to put in our video. My partner and I worked together to make the script, and he also made a storyboard to plan out the shots of our video. When we went outside for recording I made sure to get things done quickly and with a plan. My partner and I took multiple shots of each scene and attempted a few different camera angles as well. Because Premiere can only be used on one computer to effectively edit a group’s film, my partner worked with the video on his computer, and I gave suggestions. We worked together to choose which clips we thought were the best and how to edit them. In the end we both filled each other’s roles somewhat, but we also made sure to do the core things of our role before filling another. This helped to make the project go efficiently, even without a third member of our group. Of course though, our work did end up being rushed because our videos will be presented tomorrow and we had just gotten to editing today. Overall I think my partner and I equally contributed towards our final product, checking each other’s work along the way to make sure we weren’t doing anything completely wrong.
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Of course because the quarter is nearly over we now receive tons of projects, all due within a week. These projects can help boost our grade tremendously for the quarter if done well, or tremendously weigh them down if we fail. So far my group has been working kind of slow but we are getting the work done. One of our largest problems has been with organization. I get to class, login to anything I need to login to, then get to work right away. My partner on the other hand has to go through several authentications to login to something as simple as Schoology then spend a few minutes going through his Google drive folders to find our document. There is nothing wrong with protecting private information, such as login credentials, or organizing files into documents, as long as it doesn't slow down the workflow. As I have said in many other blog posts, organization is important for success in high school, but over-organization can sometimes slow you down more than being unorganized would. Luckily this has been one of our only problems and it can be easily fixed if the time is taken to do so. That is another common problem with group projects, because each group member works at a different speed scheduling can often be a hassle. However, it is still very important to divide up the time you have to work in order to get the project done efficiently and without confusion. For example my partner and I know that groups for this project are supposed to be groups of three, but we still chose to work in a group of two because we are pretty sure we can get the work of one extra person done in the time allotted. Often there is a group member who doesn't do any of the work anyways, so we somewhat saved ourselves from that. Because we are working in a group of two we split up what would be the third member's role between us and created deadlines to finish each part of our role (pre-production, production, post-production). I hope that the plan we made for this project works out and that the other assigned projects also go well.
Now that we understand photography we've moved on to creating and editing videos with audio. Our first video assignment was similar to our photography assignment in that it had to be an exact duration and all relate to one theme. This has been one of the funnest assignments this quarter because we are working with moving images, editing a still image can get monotonous because it is not as dynamic. I've also never worked with editing videos before, but even being my first time I felt like I understood most of it. I always thought video editing would be over complicated, but in reality it was actually pretty easy. It sort of reminds me of making a PowerPoint presentation because you work with multiple slides and have to decide the order in which they are presented to the viewers. It also includes my favorite part of PowerPoint which was the slide transitions, I always used transitions in all of my presentations whether I needed them or not. In the case of making this video in Premiere though transitions were required so I had fun exploring the different effects I could use and remembering the best ones from PowerPoint. After doing some additional research I found out that small additions such as music and sound effects can greatly enhance a film. Music, sound, camera angle, and lighting all create the mood of a movie and can tell a story much greater than just the film alone. Even lessening dialogue to enhance other effects is a great way to make an overall better film.
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Citations: https://nofilmschool.com/2016/02/6-elements-great-film http://learnaboutfilm.com/making-a-film/ We've finally moved on from Illustrator and into photography by first learning about the exposure triangle. The three parts of the exposure triangle are ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed, which each alter the image in a different way. ISO can increase or decrease how much grain/noise is in a photo, the less grain it has the darker the image will be. Aperture changes the depth of field of an image, increasing it makes the image overall clearer but darker, while decreasing it brings the depth of field in closer and makes the image brighter. Shutter speed can make an image of movement sharper, the higher the shutter speed is the sharper but darker the image will be. All parts of the exposure triangle change the lighting of an image, if they are all set to max the image would technically look really good, but they all increase the darkness so it is instead pitch black. To avoid this problem, the options of the exposure triangle need to be balanced, so it must be decided which options will benefit the image the most. For example, a picture of someone running would probably need a high shutter speed in order to keep the runner sharp, while the other two options could be used to balance the lighting of the image or put the runner into focus depending on how far away they are. After doing some additional research I found out that some people don't like the exposure triangle and say it could actually be detrimental to new photographers. This is because the exposure triangle isn't exactly equal and doesn't always balance the settings to fit in a triangle. It would make more sense to new photographers if the elements were just listed instead of put into an unequal triangle. As for my opinion on this, I'm not entirely sure if it helps/hurts because I haven't done much with photography yet and don't completely understand the triangle, but I'm sure it will end up helping once I can understand it.
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Citations: https://petapixel.com/2016/07/18/never-teach-exposure-triangle-beginners/ https://digital-photography-school.com/learning-exposure-in-digital-photography/ For the past few weeks we've been working in Illustrator to create a variety of finished works, each demonstrating how to use a particular skill in Illustrator. I enjoyed all of these assignments except for the last one in which we had to create a postcard of somewhere in North Carolina. The assignment itself is fun and pretty easy, but I overthought it and caused my self to do a lot of extra work. The main part of this assignment that I went wrong with was choosing a bridge to trace for my location. It was tedious but I learned a lot from spending several hours tracing a bridge and some mountains around it. The main thing this assignment taught me was to work smarter not harder, there were a lot of ways I could have taken shortcuts in making my postcard which could have saved me hours of work. However I think I like how my postcard turned out, having traced every single line rather than grouping some together makes it a little more realistic. All in all this was basically just an assignment I spent more time than I needed to on, but at least I learned something and had fun doing so. Through additional research I have found out that other people agree with my work strategy, claiming that something done right is better than something done quick. In the example of my first source, the author works in the automobile industry and claims that if the job gets done right the first time, people will likely not need to come back as often. Whereas if it is done quickly and sloppily, the customer is likely have to come back and the job will be rushed again, causing more problems. The author also brings up the point that you wouldn't want your heart surgeon to rush your heart surgery.
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Citations: https://www.ericthecarguy.com/kunena/15-Technicians-Only/69027-working-efficiently-vs-cutting-corners https://www.tdisdi.com/business-shortcuts-vs-cutting-corners-the-good-and-the-evil/ Just like with Photoshop, I didn't understand how to use Illustrator at first, but that was expected and that is why learned how to use it over the course of multiple class periods. Even after learning about the pen tool I still didn't really understand the point of using it because it was way too complicated to manipulate. As with most things this can be worked around though, and luckily not much of our work required the pen tool. Getting the practice from working on assignments helped me to understand Illustrator more because I got to personally find out which controls do what and where to find them. I don't know much about Illustrator yet, but so far it has been the same as learning Photoshop although more focused on the selection tool. The speed at which you can work seems to be much faster in Illustrator though, mainly because you can just create a shape then alter it instead of having to alter piece by piece of an image. Illustrator also has practical uses too, many people make a living off of using Illustrator daily. Jobs such as Medical Illustrators and Graphic Designers require the use of Illustrator daily. Medical Illustrators mainly use Illustrator to aid with the teaching of anatomy and surgical procedures by creating visual representations which can also be used in textbooks and pamphlets. Graphic Design is more straightforward, illustrators will literally illustrate images needed for their jobs using Illustrator. Both of these jobs can make $50,000 per year, but Medical Illustrators can make anywhere up to $175,000 per year. Therefore, not only can you make a living off of Illustrator, you can also become rich just by using a simple Adobe software.
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Citations: http://www.mshealthcareers.com/careers/medicalillustrator.htm https://ami.org/medical-illustration/enter-the-profession/careers https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/graphic-designers.htm Recently we've switched from working in Photoshop with bitmap images to working in Illustrator with vector graphics instead. So far we've mainly learned about the pen and shape tools as well as the differences between bitmap and vector images. I haven't had much experience with Illustrator yet so I can't say whether I like it or not, but Photoshop was easy once I got the hang of it so hopefully Illustrator will be the same. Due dates and the end of the quarter have all been shifted due to the snow days and honestly its kind of confusing, but hopefully schedules will straighten out soon. My favorite part of Illustrator so far has been the simplicity and flow of it, just about anything can be made with simple shapes and there are several options to join shapes together. I prefer bitmap images to vector images mainly because for me it is easier when zoomed in to edit pixels rather than the smooth lines that vector graphics maintain no matter the zoom level. We haven't learned everything about vector graphics yet so this may be wrong, but I feel like having many pixels that make up an image allows for more color variations in the image, especially for small areas where there are several colors. Vector graphics are better for items that are often displayed in many different sizes though, such as company logos. After doing some additional research I found that vector and bitmap images are actually part of our daily lives, and sometimes we can't even tell which format an image is in without taking a closer look. Everyday we see hundreds of examples of vector and bitmap images whether we're conscious of it or not, websites are made up of bitmap images while vector images are used for logos as we well know. Therefore without a close examination they may not appear different, but vector and bitmap images are made in completely different file formats using different software all to make a similar picture.
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Citations: https://designshack.net/articles/layouts/vector-vs-raster-what-do-i-use/ Now that we have learned how to make 2D art for video games we have learned one of the essential components of making games. Even with coding and an innovative idea for a game, it would be incomplete without art for the components of that game. So by learning simple ways to make art, we have finally somewhat started getting into the creation of games. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll be able to make more complex art and maybe even become more skilled with animation at home so that I'll at least be able to animate. I'm not quite sure what I want to do for a living, but animation appeals to me as something interesting and worthwhile so maybe now is the time I start practicing for the future. Hopefully this class continues to help me build my digital art skills so that I can continue to use them later in life.
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AuthorMy name is Andrew Prichard and the this is my first digital arts class, I look forward to a good year with lots of hard work. Archives
May 2021
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Last updated 5/14/21
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