with Nigel
This week’s session continued to explore potential research topics, while also introducing strategies for structuring a literature review. The lecture clarified that a literature review is not simply a summary of sources, but a critical engagement with existing research.
At this stage, I began reconsidering my initial topic due to the lack of available literature identified in the previous week. Instead of completely abandoning the idea, I attempted to broaden and reposition it. I started exploring related areas such as animation theory and visual perception to create a more sustainable research framework.
This shift changed how I approached reading. Rather than focusing only on gathering information, I started paying attention to how different authors relate to each other, where they agree, and where they disagree.
Through this process, I realized that research is not linear. Topics evolve, and flexibility is necessary in order to adapt to the realities of academic research.
with Ting
This week focused on refinement and iteration.
Facial animation continued with improvements to connecting poses. Applying feedback required careful adjustments, particularly in maintaining control over small movements. Facial animation remained a challenging area due to its precision.
This week’s feedback on Heavy Object & Change of Mind led me to focus more closely on the movement of hands and feet, particularly in relation to arcs and asymmetry. I realised that smaller details, such as hand positioning and the trajectory of movement, significantly affect the overall quality of the animation. Refining these aspects required more attention to detail than I initially anticipated. Ensuring that movements followed clear arcs and avoiding uniformity across limbs helped improve the believability of the animation.
In terms of Project 1, based on the previous observations, I experimented with creating a stepped blocking animation inspired by skating movement. This allowed me to test how real-world motion could be translated into animation.