My task was a very small part of the animation production: drawing bubbles rising in a water scene. I completed the first version, but it wasn’t what the seniors expected. Honestly, I’m not good at communicating with others, and it’s not just a language issue—even in Chinese, I struggle. This put me at a disadvantage in this animation practice. I had to push myself to communicate with the seniors about my work, but I misunderstood their requirements, so my first version of the bubbles wasn’t what they wanted.
This made me realize that even in a simulated work environment, clear and frequent communication is crucial. It’s better to confirm the requirements multiple times, even if it feels like you’re bothering others, than to deliver something unexpected, which makes the work meaningless. At first, I thought bubble movement was a completely new field, different from what I learned in class. But I realized that the basic principles of motion I learned could still be applied. Bubbles are deformable and can split, so they can’t be fully explained by simple ball movement principles. The seniors provided me with some reference videos to study. I think if I had watched more reference videos or spent time observing real bubbles, I could have done a better job. Also, the bubbles’ rising motion could have been more dynamic. Unfortunately, my skills aren’t there yet!
I think this kind of task and process will be common in future industry work, and the clients might be even more demanding. This experience was very valuable to me, and I’ll definitely apply what I learned to future assignments and work. It was a really enjoyable experience! Even though I’m not good at communication, the seniors and classmates were very kind. From this simulated work experience, I not only learned how to communicate better but also got some software tips and technical support from the seniors. For example, during this task, I was also working on inserting audio for the Lip Sync assignment. But because I wasn’t familiar with CSP’s animation features, I couldn’t find the option to insert audio at first, and even after inserting it, I couldn’t hear the sound. This made it hard to adjust the keyframes and character’s speaking rhythm based on the audio waveform. Thanks to the seniors, they answered my questions and taught me some extra tips!
Leave a Reply