A4 Reflection

Reflection

With these last three studies using elements from earlier studies of the semester, I’ve found myself looking back at my creative process and seeing dramatic improvements in my ideas and inspiration. After having a fair time to use the program (MAX) its enabled me to know that there is almost a way to create anything I can think of, which has been super exciting to see as I have created things I would’ve never thought were possible at the start of the semester. My goal for the final studies of the semester was to create polished projects that have genuine entertainment and engage an audience. This was my goal because I felt as if all semester I was making things that weren’t so polished and didn’t have as much of a wow factor, as what they could. Luckily, with the development of my skills with the project I was able to take it up a notch and succeed in meet in my goal. The biggest motivator for me during this whole process of assignment 4 was finishing the semester off with a solid three studies that I can look back on and see the progress from study 1 to 8, which I can very much see now.

My design process is still relatively the same. From study 1 I always tried to make the patch look as simple as possible, as I thought that was the most engaging way to inform the user on what the studies were meant to do. I have definitely developed skills in this area by expanding my knowledge in the presentation mode, where I can make things look neat and be placed in positions of my choice. I has also used the inspector tool, which has been super helpful in making the presentation look even more appeal, adding colour, changing texts and ultimately making the study look more like an experience itself, rather than just a patch in a program. The inspector tool has been the most helpful with choosing what I want to appear when the patch was open. This was very useful in study 6 especially, as I knew this study would be shown at the studio exhibition, as so I needed to make it as forth coming as I could to help the user who was interacting with it. Ultimately, the inspector tool was used as a way to show my development in a way that I could make things look more professional.

Looking back at where I was earlier in the semester, I can say that my development with MAX has grown significantly. I was able to enhance my learning capabilities from simple effects and sounds, to full functioning games and exercises. What helped my development the most would probably be the in class exercises mixed with the tutorials on the MAX website. Both these combined offered so many new avenues of ideas and skills that I wasn’t aware of. I also found study 6 particularly useful as I got a chance to view the whole classes major project, looking into other peoples thoughts, skills and abilities with the program, allowing myself to learn off their studies and use theirs tool to add to my skill set and ultimately created bigger and better things. In study 8, I think I used my knowledge of the program and the wider community to the best of my ability, as I used bits and pieces from multiple tutorials to ultimately create my own patch. Having a greater knowledge of the program has meant that I have been able to expand my creative/ design process as I’m able to think of ore ideas to create and have a better understanding on how to do those things.

Overall, I still believe I have a lot to learn in Max with developing and taking my skills even further. What has helped the most in the past has been the actual experience I have with the program, so I know that the more time and effort I put into the program, the better ill become using it. I have outlined that I learn best whilst seeing someone else use the program, explaining why things happen and so without having actual classes I will resort to viewing more tutorials and using the reference and help tools to keep building what I’ve started.

Looking back at my last three studies, I believe I saw my biggest improvement. I was able to understand the program well enough to work on it by myself and solve my own problems, whilst using Camille to help me where I needed. If I had to take away anything from this program/course, it would be that trying new things takes extra hard work but once you get the hang of it, it all comes together nicely.

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