ILP#2

ILP#2

Lynda Tutorial

The 30-minute tutorial I watched was about 2D animation using a software called Harmony, but technically the same animation is do-able on a similar software. I love to draw and create little characters, but I have never really understood how animation works so I decided that I should go ahead a watch a tutorial on how to animate. I watched this tutorial mainly to get a grasp on what 2D animating requires of its animators and to have a better understanding of animation in general. I did not have the Harmony software, so I was unable to follow along, but I learned a great deal just by listening and observing. This tutorial made me really want to 2D animate and was so informative that I feel like if I had the software, I’d be able to easily pick up on operating it. I honestly think that maybe I will consider purchasing the Harmony software and watching some more of these guy’s tutorials.

Lynda.com tutorial log

Creating 2D Animation in Harmony

Rolling and Flipping Frame rates

         Learned the basics of 2D animation frame rates and when to draw on which frame.

       Notes: traditionally, animators worked on 24 frames per second

                For a standing pose, work with 6 frames in a 24fps and 7-8 frames in a 30fps

   Only use ones if a character is walking on a movie background or if that character    doing something really fast.

In japan, much animation is drawn on 3’s ( a 10 frame per second rate)

Drawing the extremes and testing poses

                Learned how to operate Harmony software when creating and smoothing out a 2D drawing. The character’s arm was roughly sketched, then thicker lines were drawn in to tighten up the drawing and give it an overall, crisp appearance.

Making charts for timing, spacing, and arcs

                Used harmony software to begin adding frames. The character transitioned pose was sketched on frames 1,13, and 25 while the actual transitions took place in-between these frames. After having the main actions of the character, you should then begin to make a model of the frames spacing. In-between 1 and 13 use the 7^th frame as the mid transition to the transitioned pose, and do the same(find the middle) between frames  13 and 25. Then continue to do this between all intervals so that each transition makes sense and is proportionate to the characters body. Sketch an arc that connects the character’s wrist to each arm movement in each frame so that a smooth flow is visible.

Using the Clone layer for breakdowns

                What you will do now that you have constructed an arc is return to the previous frames, and sketch in the transitional movements of the character. To sketch an anatomically correct figure, you have to use a clone of the original 1,13, and 25 frame sketches. Basically, you use harmony to apply the original sketch to each frame with a very faint brush stroke, kind of like when you put a dark image under a piece of printer paper and there are faint lines to sketch over.

Cleaning up lines and color

                The hard part was maneuvering through the frames on harmony and tediously sketching each position. But, those sketches are only rough drafts so now you go through all of the frames individually and add ticker cleaner lines and insert the colors. The best way to make sure that the colors remain the same is to write down the corresponding number each color has, and the later just type in that number in the color box.

Final Blog Post

       In the future, I hope to be a middle school English teacher.I have always loved literature, whether it be silly stories or dramatic prose, literature has always captured my interest. Though, even as an English teacher, I will still have to be able to organize and calculate my students progress through grading. Just recently, I have discovered how to use Excel. In the past, I knew that excel existed but it seemed foreign and difficult to use so, I usually tended to avoid it. Now, after finally conquering Excel, I seem to have a good grasp on how to use and apply Excel in the future. As a middle school teacher, I could use surveys to figure out what type of genres my classes are interested in. This would be a great way to keep the students engaged because they would have gotten a choice in what literature we would discuss in class. Surveys could also be used to evaluate students opinions concerning class discussions and previously read stories and poems.
     
After reviewing some of my classmates blogs, I found it reassuring that not everyone was super "techy." When I say "techy" I mean people who are technologically advanced, people who create amazing things using the internet and software that make you scratch your head in wonderment. I am not one of those brilliant "Techies", I am just an average Joe hoping to learn a little bit more about the worlds technology. When I read some of the other blogs, I had noticed that others felt just as unsure and uncomfortable when confronting technology as I did.
       One other thing I found very interesting about other peoples blogs were the Independent Learning Projects other classmates choose to do. I was very nervous when I uploaded my first ILP and I wasn't sure if I had followed the instructions correctly. So, being human, I went and snooped around on other peoples blogs for a bit and realized that everybody had created their own, unique ILP. It was pretty cool how each individual interpreted a set of instructions and used those instructions to create/complete an ILP of their own choice using which ever piece of technology they wanted.  
 
       Is there any one technology-related skill that I am dying to learn next?NO, because there are so many skills to choose from that I have yet to learn. I suppose that if I had to single out a specific skill, I would really like to learn how to use Photoshop.I have this piece of technology called a Wacom, basically,it is a drawing pad you hook up to a computer and it takes what you draw on the pad and transfers it to the computer so that you can edit it and what not. The only downside to this is that you cannot really edit your drawings if you are unable to operate Photoshop or any programs like it. Having such a huge love for drawing and creating makes it difficult to showcase your work in a society so dependent on technology. I want to learn how to use programs like photo shop so that I can manipulate my art in a different media.There is no way that learning this new skill would stop me from drawing on actual paper all together, but it would definitely help me to catch up with the changing times and possible get my artwork out there for the world to see.

Blog Post #9

       The "Flipped Classroom" is a form of  an instructional delivery system used to educate students in a not-so typical classroom set up. A flipped classroom allows the teacher to be helpful guide rather than the person teaching you new material. Instead of going to class and being taught a new subject, students actually go home and listen to recordings of video lectures assigned to them as homework. Then, the next school day the entire class comes together to actively discuss the lecture with their teacher acting  as a leader instead of a teacher. As leader of the class, the teacher is there to answer any questions or clarify any misunderstandings as well as make sure the discussion stays on track and thoughtful. Here is a link to some educational videos you can watch to learn more about the "Flipped Classroom."https://www.edutopia.org/blogs/tag/flipped-classroom

       In the podcast "Open Content Open Source",The term "open" means exactly what you would think it means- accessible. For something to be "accessible" means for it to be easily opened for anyone and everyone. If something is open content it is copyrighted but in a manner that allows its license to be free and permissible to use.The podcast spoke of 4 different R words - reuse, revise, remix,and redistribute, but the podcast left out one other R word and that is retain. Retain has to do with the controlling of content, specifically how it is transferred, stored, and created. Now before one can implicate these "R" words, they have to make sure that the content has an open license. An open license is what qualifies various content to be considered open or of free use. But even if content has an open license, you still must be cautious of its requirements and restrictions. Learn more about "Open Source" content at the website: https://www.opencontent.org/definition/ 

       While working on both of the power point assignments, I acquired some handy new skills. One of the skills I am most impressed with is my ability to hyperlink slides to other slides throughout a power point slide show. Before this class, I had no idea that you could even link slides to each other let alone navigate the slide show by clicking linked buttons! I also learned how to cover up certain words through the use of animations. While in public school I had always wondered how teachers were able to reveal each answer at a single time, and now I finally understand just how they did it! Even though I really enjoyed working with buttons in power point, I was very frustrated that the buttons image within the icon could not be changed colors. I tinkered with the format and features for quite sometime before giving in and allowing my buttons to remain a single shade of color. Maybe there is some way to manipulate the color of the inner image, and if someone knows how please tell me cause I had no luck. Next time I create something in power point, I will dive straight into it with confidence instead of feeling like I did not understand what exactly I was doing - next time I will not hold back.