Welcome! Week 1's Theory and Research (13-10-11)

Hello and welcome to my new blog! =)

Unlike my other blog, where I post the most recent news on my favourite games/films, this blog will be purely for my university work.

I will try and upload something at least once a week; my updates will be my drawings from my weekly life drawing classes (well, the one I like most =P), whatever research or information I have gathered from my weekly Theory and Research class and anything from my Maya classes.

(If you read my other blog, you'll know that I have two years experience with Maya)

I also have other classes I haven't started yet so I may upload other things.

My drawings may be uploaded next week as my camera is currently busted, but I'm getting a new phone this week with a much better camera so I'll upload double if I don't get them up in time.

Also, my Maya work from my last lesson is at uni, so I'll try get that back as well.

Buuuuuuuuuuut, I can give you what we went over during our Theory and Research class! =)

Theory and Research

Today we started our first module, From Pencil To Pixel.

We started with the definition of animation:

(Merriam-Webster) Etymology: Middle English, from Latin animatus, past
participle of animate to give life to, from anima breath, soul; akin to Old English
ōthian to breathe, Latin animus spirit, Greek anemos wind, Sanskrit aniti he
breathes.

(Chambers) liveliness; vivacity. 2 a the techniques used to record still drawings on
film in such a way as to make the images seem to move; b any sequence of these
images.
Animated Cartoon: (Merriam-Webster): a motion picture that is made from a series of
drawings, computer graphics, or photographs of inanimate objects (as puppets) and
that simulates movement by slight progressive changes in each frame.

For me, the definition of animation is to bring your imagination to life. There are ways to animate something you have found online, but to truly feel close to your animation and the joy it brings, you animate something you have created. Animating from scratch brings you closer to your work and allows you to make the most of your imagination and ideas. Early animations were incredibly enjoyable because it was a way for adults to act like children in a professional way.

We looked at some early animations from the early 1900's. They were very interesting and very funny. The animation was some of the best I have seen to be honest.

Well, not much else was said during the lesson, so that's it for that topic.

I will update soon with some more info!