Ryan's Blog

 Hello!

My name is Ryan Sandoz and I am currently a senior at The University of Tampa. Majoring in Communication Studies, I look forward to finishing my college journey over the next two semesters on a high note. 

For 2D Animation, I expect to learn a more creative way to express myself, as well as learn more about the world of media and mass communications. 

Assignment 1: Timing/Spacing 

This week, our assignment was to begin working on our timing and spacing skills on Harmony using numbered lines to help us organize our animations. In using the numbered lines, we were able to learn how to animate segments in an ease-in and ease-out sequence, which will assist us later on as we develop more complex animation techniques throughout the semester. 

Assignment 2: Bouncing Ball 

For our second assignment, we animated a bouncing ball that displayed the effects of weight, gravity, and impact. For my bouncing ball, I decided to change the ball's color each time it came in contact with the wall. 

Assignment 3: Overlapping Action 

Our overlapping action assignment consisted of a pendulum with a ball attached to it. As the pendulum moves across the screen, we're able to see how the impact of weight and gravity asserts itself on the ball as it reaches its high and low points throughout the swing. 

Assignment 4.1: Flour Sack Gestures  

Moving into the character animation segment of this course, our assignment was to create several gestures of a flour sack. This gesture sheet will assist us later on as we tackle the actual animation of our flour sack characters as they move and come alive on screen. 

Assignment 4.2: Flour Sack Animation 

Continuing with our use of our flour sack characters, we can now witness our flour sacks in full animation. For the first time in this course, we were able to animate a character as it moves and changes like a real character. 

Assignment 5: Head Turn 

As we continue to practice our character animation skills, this week we tackled head turns. Trying to emulate a realistic movement for a character, head turns exhibit how characters interact with one another, as well as tell their own stories through movement and expression. 

Assignment 6: Weight 

As our character animation techniques progress, we come to see how animated characters engage with the concept of weight. Our characters had to interact with something that had substantial weight, therefore demonstrating how animation can be complex in the sense that technique is crucial to animating a clean skit. 

Assignment 7: Walk Cycle 

This week, we animated a character executing a walk cycle. As animators, we can see how a character's walk expresses the character's personality. A walk cycle is crucial to delivering a story - what is our character doing, what is its mission, and how does our character communicate through movement? 

Assignment 8: Dialogue 

For our final assignment, we were given the task of animating using dialogue. Through dialogue, our characters are literally able to tell a story with the accompaniment of speech. Using many of the techniques we've covered throughout the semester, our dialogue sequence demonstrates the complexities of animation and unites the journey from start to finish.