Yr 2 Reflection

Year 2 Reflection Essay The end of a year is always something that is full of aspects to reflect on and think about. It always fills me with both a feeling of triumph due to trying my best, learning and improving new and old skills and abilities, but also feeling of disdain when it comes to thinking of the what ifs and the things you could and should have done better. Reflections for me always help round off the end of something and then create a really good base for the start of the next objective. This time around however I feel I have grown, matured, gotten better and learnt the most by far. My way of thinking as a whole has matured and the way in which I go about completing tasks. Especially I feel when it comes to receiving constructive criticism. Starting this year I still did not understand that a tutor cannot mark work I haven’t provided proof of, that just because I have mentioned that I have done some work doesn’t mean it’s gradable. Since I then realized that my marks were not a personal issue, but that they were there based off of work I myself provided and were given to help and push myself to improve my work better. Then to eventually be able to do the job I want to do at the standard required and the level of quality I by now should be achieving and know I can achieve. I was then able to take the constructive criticism given much better and was able to follow it more cohesively to improve my work. I then realized that the feedback doesn’t apply to that one project and that it applies to all future projects I do both personal and academic that it all helps create much a better outcome. As it is now the end of my second year I feel a certain amount of pressure to have decided the direction I would like to pursue within the games industry, when in fact I am still a little unsure on the type of company I feel is best suited for me, whether that’s an indie company, free-lance or in a large AAA company. However analysing my current level of abilities, enjoyment and area I most excel at, I feel is environment art. I feel fairly confident with creating world assets and props, from organic to man-made and I find I quite enjoy it. So I do feel that it is definitely an area for me to pursue and hopefully continue to get better and do well in. One of the main things I have learnt to get better at and feel competent and comfortable with is, being able to work within a team to produce a good outcome. I’ve always been ok with team work but I personally feel that with in the circumstances of producing a level/game to as the highest possible quality not just for myself but also for my team to create the best outcome possible whilst still being a little unsure of if you’re good enough yet. If you are up to par with the rest of the team and if you’re ready for industry level projects, it really added to the pressure of doing good which for me made it all so much more intense. The film room project was where I had gotten a real taster for good team work and a feel for fully producing game ready assets within a team environment. Even though that didn’t turn out so well it was still a really big learning curve and one that I know I needed to make sure I went through and tried my best at. So when it came to the Off the Map project still with all the nervousness and apprehension in mind I still felt at least a little prepared and confident. Which made it a much more enjoyable and exciting team project experience to go through and learn from. I feel that working within a team really helped my managing skills and the team provide a good amount of pressure to get things done that I find really helpful tailoring your own timing to others that fit into producing a good outcome. That isn’t to say that this time around my own time management was perfectly polished as it wasn’t and once before Easter with personal reasoning it did make my team fall a little short which is a lesson I have definitely learnt from. I feel that at times my management were greatly improved and fairly good, providing myself with time to be able to act on feedback to better my assets and work along with not having to rush and cut corners on some areas. I have also come to realise that it is much easier, faster and better to ask for help. That it’s ok to pester a little rather than spend triple that time trying to understand something you are really struggling with and that the person providing you help could give you easier tips and explain it a lot better for you to understand faster. As I feel sometimes a tutorial online can only explain so far, where as a tutor or peer are able to describe it in a way that is most suitable and coherent to you. Looking my back I can honestly say I look forwards to Team projects now and don’t feel that when it comes to industry I will be as unsure and unprepared, as I might have been without the learning experiences provided by some of the team projects this year. This year I have also been able to extend my knowledge of Unreal which is a huge achievement for me. For example For the off the Map project I took on the roles of creating a flame particle effect, with movement, light emitting and also a flicker, at the beginning of the year I wouldn’t have even tried to attempt to try it out. I still have a long way to go however I now have a little more confidence working with the programme and being able to push myself to learn new techniques and not find the whole prospect of it too daunting. I no longer let myself from shying away when it comes to learning and using unreal engine. If anything it has provided me with a small drive to want to expand my knowledge and experiment further to be able to do other various things. Presentations are a big part of growing up and part of most jobs, especially the industry I am striving to get into and excel in. Even though I've come to understand this and through my three years at university practising them and trying to become comfortable with public speaking, I still felt as though it was much worse then it actually was. This year was no exception. I still feel fairly uncomfortable and second guess myself before, during and after each presentation. However strangely for me practising presentations are a conflict of outcomes and emotions. On one hand I am terrified and feel practise doesn't and will never help, where as on the other hand I feel as though I am gradually finding it easier to complete them, that my body language and ways of expressing my presentations subject are getting better and much more professional. They also make me more aware of how I am presenting myself, the type of visual aids and language I am using and getting my ideas across to a person, not only before a group of people but also just non formally on a one to one basis. Which is a skill that needs to be practised and used more, so that at interviews or within a job I am able to professionally, coherently and fully explain ideas and it is a gradual skill that is building. One thing that has always popped up in my actions plans and reflections in the past is to practise and get better at texturing as that was not a strong point for myself which let my work down further. However I feel pleased that this year I have been able to achieve a large milestone in that goal by upping my level of standards for texturing which has helped ,myself in the long run and I plan to continue to practise them skills to be even better and closer to industry stands in time for third year. I have also have been able to come to the conclusion that some of the areas I excel the most in, is creating foliage and organic assets and materials, such a woods, barks or foliage. I find myself also extremely enjoying the processes that come with them. As this year I have learnt and improved on many different levels in different software’s and skills; such as engine, concepting, z brush, substance painter. My action plan for this summer and for third year is to do a little further research into the industry and job roles, whilst comparing my own skills and strengths to be able to determine the direction I would most succeed in and benefit from practising the most in. I know that also by doing this it will help me greatly when it comes to deciding the direction, theme and feel for my FMP. Which I sometimes take a while to come up with ideas and concepts as I either struggle to expand my ideas due to having one idea and being stuck on that, therefore I have to fit all research and surrounding areas to fit that one idea. However on the other hand I struggle to open up my mind to other possibilities and let myself get fully creative. So I feel that by thinking and exploring my FMP now just a little will be a big advantage can provide myself with right now. I really need to Progress and build up on my portfolio over the summer, with higher quality work. Also with more of a range of mediums and subjects whilst still tailoring it to my strengths, I would still like to show that I can still do and explore other things. Next time around I want to better my work and personal balance skills. As sometimes I myself having good, exciting and original ideas but when I then comes to turning them into 3-d models and pushing them further, I am not fully executing my ideas well which then ends up creating a huge disadvantage for myself and my progression. As I don't fully get to show my abilities and be able to explore that process of iterations from 2-d to 3-d as much as I could and should. As I sometimes come across struggling with initial creativity when designing, within my action plan I also want to complete tasks to help with being creative such as creating projects for myself, re doing past projects from the start, creating things with no initial idea to see where my creative mind set can take me . I also think it will just generally help my skills and abilities, as practise improves everything," after all, creativity is sparked when theory and practise meet." says McDougall & O'Brian (2008) I do find that collecting various sources of reference such as going out and taking pictures, books, movies, concept books such as "The art work of Tomb raider", playing videos games to understand not only how things are created and textured but also what people like in gaming. I feel that being able to understand what makes a good game along side being able to help create them will get me further then just trying to create them alone. Newman,2004) Says " A video game must provide a novel or exciting situation to experience, stimulating puzzles to engage with, and interesting environments to explore. Moreover, it must offer the player not merely suitable or appropriate capabilities, but capabilities that can be earned, honed and perfected." Even though it may seem common sense I still that by immersing myself further and deeper than just dipping into them when it is only needed really pushes me and inspires me to be like the creators of games I love to play or draw like my favourite artist. I also want to push my knowledge further in general about the industry, roles, companies, games and make sure I am always getting up to date with new ways, details and software since the industry is forever changing. I am also eager to continue to learn and feed my mind with more knowledge and ways of doing things. In conclusion there will always be ups and downs on any and all reflections and i feel that making sure to still look at the negatives but counteracting them with a positive and an action plan to move ahead and progress, is far more helpful then just focusing on the good which could create a stale feeling of not needing to progress, as then there would be no action plans to better your self and there are always ways you can improve you skills and outcomes. Reference List McDougall, J and O'Brian, W, (2008). Studying Videogames. Auteur, Poland. Newman, J, (2004). Videogames. Routledge, London.