I Don't Know

It seems as if I have a love/hate relationship with the stuff I make.

This week, I did this.

It was for the AE Challenge I set myself, where I was planning on designing something every other day during the Christmas holidays. This was the second one.

I used Particular to get the whole line stuff, and then other stuff to get the other stuff. Very informative information, there.

Anyway, considering I made this in under two hours or so (and off memory, too), I'm rather pleased with the result. But, there seems to be something off with it.

At first, I thought it was the kerning, the fact that (for example) you can see the end of the 'y' inside the 'D', or that there's a shadow for the text but not for the actual lines. I have no idea.

I also have trouble labeling the style of this. Is this style suited more for a poster promoting dubstep or house music more than a personal desktop background?

I don't know.

And that's something that seems to be my saying of the last few months.

For some reason, I just say I don't know if I have no idea how to explain myself or something I've been asked about. Some times, it's because I have no idea about it.

Other times, mind, it's think it's because I assume that I'm instantly wrong, therefore I instantly think that I shield myself by just saying I don't know rather than just saying what I believe, right or wrong.

Is this real life? Or is it just idiocy?

Like many things, I don't know.

In other news, I've failed the whole AE challenge thing that I gave myself, and I failed it miserably. No idea why. I was really up for it, but then my mind decided that thinking about things was more important than developing my After Effects skills. If it does the same when I'm in my second half of my placement, I'll go ape shit.

And that's another thing, In about two weeks, I'll be starting my second placement, this time with Burning Red. my fuck, that's both worrying and brilliant at the same time.

In other, other news, I've started to write scripts for videos for some reason. I've finished one, and I've almost written the second one. Both of them make no sense, both of them involve After Effects and both involve at least one character lying on the ground in pain. No idea why I've suddenly thought you know what would be funny? If one person stands for something they wrongly believe and punishes another person by putting someone else in a world of pain. 

Brilliant, brain. Absolute brilliance.

Anyway, the ideas aren't original. Someone, somewhere has already done it three thousand times, and they've done it to a higher standart that I'll ever hope to reach. I just really need the practice in After Effects that involve live action. Not really had enough practice with it.

Ah well.

Anyway, I should leave for now. It's time I should go to sleep if I want to get back into waking up early before I go back to work.

- Back in the day, we didn't finish blog posts with a stupid sentence and putting FIN in there somewhere. We had decent endings, ones that made you feel loved and happy and had a message about not smoking or something.

Half Way There

Yesterday was the beginning of the end of my work placement.

I've finished in my first half of my placement, and when I go back in January I'll be starting again in new surroundings.

Well, not completely starting again. I'll still (probably) be working on the same projects as I have been these past few months, and I do know most of the people who I'll be working with next year, but you get the idea.

Anyway, my last day was yesterday, which was another failed doomsday prediction. I now have a few weeks of doing absolutely nothing. No more edit this or render that or stop doing that, you're doing it wrong, you need to do it like this, yadda yadda yadda. Nah, I'm joking, nobody was like that. I think.

Anynoodles, for the first time in about six or so months (give or take a few days for being ill and that), I'm not going to be doing work for someone else. If I do anything, it would be for my own benefit, my own experience.

And to be completely honest, it's like my mind's in two places about it.

I planned to do something productive during my two or so weeks off. If you're not one to read things on other websites, I basically challenged myself to create things using After Effects as the main programme.

I kept thinking that I could give myself like extra challenges in it, like in one piece I would forbid myself for using any form of 3D layers, and maybe one where I'm not allowed to pre-comp layers, and a God mode, where I need to do an animation using Comic Sans and make it look professional. And considering I can't make anything professional, that's going to be one challenge and four halves.

But the thing is, it's like my mind can't think for itself, but at the same time it wants to be active.

I'm not one of these people who has a rest. I rather hate it when I have nothing to do, because it feels like all I would do if I do nothing is rot inside. If I don't have work to do or exams to study for, I just feel like I'm wasting time. Time, and my mind.

What lovely thoughts I have.

So, the first day in my Christmas and New Year holidays, and I'm already wishing that I'd be back in work on the Monday.

It's the same every year, and I say so each year. And I do absolutely fuck all to combat it each year. Why? I have absolutely no clue whatsoever. Maybe because I have no idea how to. Maybe it's because I just have an inherit feeling in my head that whatever I try to do, I'd just fuck it up somehow.

And yes, I'm perfectly aware of the saying "the only ones who truly fail are those who don't try" or whatever it's called.

I'm not saying it's true, mind. I'm just thinking of possibilities.

Anyway, that's if for now.

- Kill Bill Vol. 2 just finished, so I suppose it's an optimal time for me to write FIN at the same time, eh? No, didn't think so.

Pixel You In

Oh, how do I think of these blog names...

Anyway, this blog is just to ask you something.

What do you think of this?


DC1S01 Sound Sync Animation from Gareth Aled John on Vimeo.

This is a rubbish version of the final project for university. I was supposed to do a 60-90 second animation on either sound syncing (matching imagery to sound) or moving picture (having an image and animating it), using Adobe's After Effects to create the animation.. As you can tell, I went for the sound syncing option.

I had no idea what to do. Then, I though fuck it, I'll do it about Wicid. So, this is my university assignment about advertising Wicid. Ha.

For some cocking reason, it didn't upload in widescreen format. It turned it into 4:3 ratio. No idea why. I would up it onto YouTube, but it'll be taken down due to it having a song by Gob called Face The Ashes. Grr to them, I say.

Anyway, what do you think of it? Any good? I know that the text's a bit odd and slightly shit, I honestly has no idea what to write for it.

In other news, I'm off to Sealyham tomorrow for a residential with Wicid. Should be decent. I'll write something about it when I get back.

Ah, a nice short update here. Lovely.

- You got it. A FIN FIN FIN FIN.