For Washington State University Vancouver’s DTC 435 Advanced Animation course I was asked to create a 3D Maya animation. My idea behind my animation was to use bears that we had made in class and use them for my circus and ball idea. I wanted to use a ball and two bears to create a funny and lighthearted clip. I started off with a very complex idea and it ended up getting much more basic than i had ever thought.

I had a lot of issues with this assignment because I am not a 3D animator and specialize in 2D motion graphics in After Effects. However, with the help of my professor and others I was able to work day to day at each of my issues and learn along the way the basic tools and skills I needed to create something. In particular the modeling of the bears I had issues with as I am not familiar with rigging a fully functioning humanoid figure. But through lots of tutorials and guidance I was able to create a basic rig for each of them and control them using basic gestures and moves. After that it was a little easier for me to animate, and figure out that portion of the assignment. I am grateful for the opportunity, while I might not use this program as much in the future, I will always remember the fun and challenge I had accomplishing this assignment.