Reflection on my own capstone for N420

What did I discover this round of capstones? Not much really. Some project are really good. Some are just ehhh.. Those that really put in the effort showed it. Some students just don;t seem to take this seriously and for the life of me i cannot understand why. If they do not have the passion for this area, then find something they love to do.
It really just reinforced the fact that you can never start too soon and to be serious about this.

Capstone Questions

Capstone questions assignment for N420

Xian Guan:
   1. She chose her capstone based on her desire to be a 3D character modeler and / or 3D generalist
   2. Xian said not much changed between her initial "pitch" and final output. It as generally the same project
   3.  Xian said the time line was helpful to ally planning and alocate work time. however she sis not adhere to it.
   4. The only real change was she would not poly model the hair on her female character. She would have tried using the hair system in maya
   5.  Her advice was to come up with a cool idea and start in on it early. Don't be like so many others that wait until the last 3 weeks to finally work on it.


Lawrence Marshall
1.  He said he chose his project because he enjoyed the stereo class Albert has.
2. Lawrence said his changes were due to time limitations. That for most of his project he was doing " R&D" and that his vision was not fully realized.
3. On the timeline he said it was not very helpful
4.As to changes, he would have liked to spend more time on particles in maya.
5. His only advice was to start now.



Saviss Mahmoudi

1. He made this choice based on a need he saw at work. He worked at an eyecare facility and though a 3d walk through would be great for training.
2. Saviss said for changes, he really scaled down from his original intent. Initially he wanted a full facility walkthrough, but in the end had to settle for 1 piece of machinery.
3.He very much liked the timeline. He thought it was a good tool to help stay on track.
4.About the only things he would change are small details such as material used and lighting.
5.his advice, start now.

Capstone Timeline

Considering my capstone will not be until fall of 13, i broke my timeline kept my timeline in months at this point. using an 8 month plan, I broke my project down into manageable deliverables. An example would be, for month 2 film the live action. My final project will combine live action and cgi. So knowing I need to film live action elements put that piece into one of the monthly blocks. Month 1 is finalize story concept and story board. Again, that is a break down of the overall project. A much needed one, so it gets a month. This also gives me an entire month for " scope creep".
  As I get closer to the beginning of spring 13, i will begin to revise the monthly items and add in weekly sections for delivery. Also my adviser said at this point having the monthly breakdown was good.

Peer Capstone Support Group

General Catagory(s) for fitting in:
     3D, VFX, Compositing, Video

Technology I'm planning on using:
 
Maya
After Effects or Nuke
Mocha
Photoshop
Boujou or Matchmover
Final Cut Pro
Hopefully one of the better camera's from the school


Spotify is playing " Phantom pt II - Boys Noize Remix" by Justice

Look at the big picture outside yourself

I walked in late ( thanks for the call out Beth) and was fortunate enough to have Lacia Floyd come over and talk with me. although she had already talked whit someone else. How nice is that.  Funny that although her original thought was working with another person, she has now decided to go out on her own and do something she has a passion for. Good for her. And that's one aspect I took from the talk. Follow what you love. If not you will not be happy and the capstone experience will be dreadful.
As to Lacia talking about my idea(s), it showed that I need to focus on one direction ( they are soooo dreamy) and start pre- production. Otherwise it could all go tits up and I'll have a project about as enjoyable as an earache.

Spotify is playing " Midnight City" by M83

Capstone Ideas

Spitballing ideas as I’m not really sure yet what to do. In General terms I’m thinking a short film, maybe 5 min or so. In the short I’ll want to use 3d modeling, texturing, etc... and compositing with live footage. Subjects I’ve studied and have an affinity for doing.

1. Boy and his bot. I had the idea of doing a fun little short about a boy and his robot. Maybe starting with his father making it for him as a baby and showing little snippets of their adventures as the boy gets older. Playing hide and seek in the woods, the robot helping him fight bullies, etc.. I was kind of keen on this idea. however my wife pointed out the similarities to the movie "Ted". I've never seen the movie but a quick Wikipedia look up seems to agree with her. Although this is a student short to show off what I’ve learned, so I’m keeping this one on-deck.

2. Detox blows your mind. Best way to sum up this idea - a designer drug gives junkies going through withdrawal some type of super power. Say maybe they can make things explode! With a Bounty Hunter type guy hunting them down. Although as I type this I’m beginning to think of the movie "Scanners".

3. Don't you love me anymore? A short about a reality TV star waking up and being "erased" from the minds of almost everyone. Basically there is secret group that tries to stop reality tv and pseudo celebrities from continuing to be famous. Think of the A-Team taking out the Kardashians. The star tries to get their fame back. Not really sold on this one

4. So a kid gets into some type of accident, wakes up and has super powers. Can make things move with his mind, make people think certain thoughts, bend reality...Starts fighting crime.. turns out he is really in a coma.



That's kind of it for now. I'm going to keep working on ideas, as none of the above really strike my fancy.



To the question about inspiration.. I guess books by Philip K. Dick. Movies like Momento, Inception, Blade Runner, The Fountain and Shutter Island. I tend to enjoy works that play around with memories and reality.
 Really those are just inspiration when talking about a story to tell. For inspiration on the visual side, companies such as Weta, MPC and ILM do amazing work. I just watched The Avengers and found their work for New York amazing. 90% of what you saw was created /constructed in 3d and Nuke.


Oh...I suggest you check out the T.V. show Misfits. Brilliant show from England. It's on Hulu and the LOGO cable channel. You can thank me later.

Spotify is playing "Blue Blood Blues" by The Dead Weather

What is a Capstone

What is a Capstone? Well it's a hoop you have to jump through to graduate. Simple fact. A hoop that you use as a tool to showcase what you have learned, your passions and your creativity. Now that hoop can be a glorious item you plan and nurture. Giving it your all to show the world what you are capable of doing. Or, it can be a festering pile quickly assembled at the last minute.  Your choice. The outcome is in your hands. For me, I choose a glorious hoop.
To the question about time spent on a capstone.  From my experience in an independent study class last term, you can never take or use enough time. Planning is HUGE bitches! Use the two semester timeline to your advantage. Almost Every previous capstone presenter that I know has said they wish they had more time to work. Or that they had spent more time planning and fine tuning their idea. Take the knowledge gained from others and be smart, apply it to your capstone.
In my situation, I'm actually going to spend close to three terms on it as it looks as though I'll be graduating fall of 2013. Hopefully it will turn out to be three terms of fantastic, not three terms of poop.



Spotify is playing " Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order.