A Self Graded Check-in
Last month I learned that I need to stop my project at the 3rd week and re-evaluate what tasks I need to finish for my month long project(s). This forces my to take a critical look at what needs worked on before the deadline arrives. Here are the topics I decided to grade myself on so far for the Carnival project, Scene 1 (of 3), at the end of week 3.
Realistic Animation / Overall Animation Effect: B+
The overall effect of the animation on the carnival grounds is outstanding! However, 3 out of 3 people I briefly showed it to was expecting the Ferris Wheel to be animated. Blinky lights was not enough?! My audience wants the wheel to spin! Ugh! Because of this, the grade is dropped down to a B+ until I get that wheel animated.
Used Thoughtfully: C-
I used animation to denote which elements had interactivity. I thought this was a good use of animation, but a critical look at the overall presentation shows a lack of animation while serving the photographs… the photographs just appear and disappear. Additionally, there is no artwork surrounding the photograph to separate it from the background.
Quality of Art: B-
The vector art created for the animations was created quickly, and many of the lines are not straight or don’t perfectly line up… but this is what I intended. This causes an overall effect of being hand drawn that works well with the carnival theme. Some of the photographs are compressed too much though, and will need to be replaced with higher resolution photos.
Cross Browser: A
This grade is mostly due to the HTML5 Canvas object working well with modern browsers already, but I’m especially glad it’s working as expected on the large Samsung TV.
Cross Device: D-
I didn’t know how this technology would play out on mobile, and it really fails. While it does actually load on mobile, the power needed to run the carnival simply isn’t there and provides a poor experience. Lesson learned is to have an alternate plan for the mobile experience with this type of large HTML5 Canvas project.
Time Management: A
This is because my Best Self Planner book is helping me work on what’s important to my goals. I love planning, writing a diary, and documenting my achievements in colored pencil.
Self Correcting Action Plan, Next 7 days
I won’t be able to produce an entirely alternate site for mobile this month, but I should look to get the desktop scene 1 completed as much as I can. Work planned for the next week is:
- Users are already crying out for an animated Ferris Wheel
- Add animation when opening, and closing, the photographs. Use size & bounce effects
- Add vector artwork frames around the photographs
- Preloader animated GIF is not centered, will need custom preloader
- Keep better time records, be more exact
