Early Animations

Since my last post dealt with my early drawings, I decided that this one should showcase my early animation attempts. I created these animations in my Computer Aided Drafting and Design class while I was a sophomore in high school. My instructor liked to let his students experiment with all different types of software, including AutoCAD, Autodesk VIZ, Garage Band, etc. As a result, I was able to try using VIZ to get a start on some animation basics. This first video is the result of both on-my-own experimentation and some of the pre-loaded tutorials.

After I got comfortable with the software, I decided to try creating a longer animation. I have always been fascinated by warplanes, so I decided to try creating a P51-D Mustang using VIZ and have it fly around for a bit. This is the early result.

I was pretty pleased with the result of my efforts, but my instructor wanted me to do better. He encouraged me to add more details and make it look more realistic, so I did. When I was finished, he entered me into the Southeast Polk Technology Expo, which was a regional competition for high schoolers in all different areas of technology and design. Here is the video I submitted.

I was going up against four seniors who had far more experience than I did, so I wasn't expecting to win anything. I was shocked, then, when I received two blue ribbons and two gold medals in my respective categories.

That's all for now. Thanks for taking a look! I'll be back soon with some more recent stuff.