Bouncing ball Sophomore year

Bouncing ball Sophomore year

                                              What was the project?

This project was an updated version of my freshman E9 bouncing ball project.  The first step was to make the sky layers. I colored the first layer blue for the sky using the fill tool and using the gradient tool to make the illusion of light. Next, I made new layer then used the brush tool and changed the look of the brush to look like long blades of grass.  After that, I made a new layer and made a circle using the circle tool.  I was assigned to make a circle using the circle tool on photo shop. I used the gradient tool to make the circle look like a ball. I copied the grass layer and put the copied layer in front of the ball layer and I offset it lower than the first grass layer to make the ball appear to be sitting in the grass.  I then added some clouds in the sky by using the paint brush tool. Next, I put my photoshop work into a project file in adobe after effects. In after effects I used position keyframes to make arcs that the ball will follow.  I used the scale key frames, after making the arcs, to make the squash of the ball for every time the ball hits at each bottom arc. After the squashes were made I made the stretch with the scale and rotation key frames. So, after and before each squash I made  scale key frames. Which narrowed the ball and the ball's height got taller. I then used the rotation key frames to tilt the ball to look as if it was in line with the sides of the arc. After, the ball was finished being animated, I made the clouds move across the screen by just using the position keyframes. Finally, I exported the animation and put it on my Youtube account.    

What did you learn?

I learned that animation takes a lot of time and that some animations are made up of many, many, and many key frames. I learned how to use Adobe After Affects and Adobe Photoshop. I learned how to use a gradient on the ball and the sky. I also learned how to change the paint brush tools' shape to look like grass. I also learned how to use Adobe After Affects. I learned how to make arcs in After Affects, by using position key frames. I also learned how to use the scale and rotation key frames to make the ball squash and stretch.

How did it go?What would be done differently?

The project was relatively simple. The animation turned out very good. However, I had a problem with trying to get the layer effect bevel and boise on the ball to get the ball to look 3D but it was not working so I had to opt for the gradient tool instead.