European Alley Update, and Personal Insights
Euro_Unwrapped
Originally uploaded by mcbradd
I've got the scene all modeled out now, and the UV's are complete... forgot how tedious a lot of this can be, but it was excellent practice. I was feeling a little rusty in Maya, having used 3DS max almost exclusively this past year. After these last two projects I'm feeling better than ever, and I can see that I'm working noticeably faster. I wish I'd had the force of will to practice my craft every night this past year.
Which reminds me of a conversation I had with some friends the other day...
Anyone ever tell you, "I work really well under pressure..."? If I may, lets stop for moment and examine the contra positive of that statement, something along the lines of -" I work poorly without pressure." It's a crime I'm guilty of, in this month leading up to GDC I've made more progress towards completed projects than in the six months prior.
I begin asking myself how to get at the root of the problem. Am I dealing with general procrastination? Does this indicate a lack of focus? Perhaps I just need to learn to better incentivise myself.
In thinking through this mess I can rule out general procrastination, in my own case at least. I am always doing *something*. I think a lack of focus is again at the crux of my woes. I often find myself charging down a path of action, only to evaluate the usefulness of said action mid-journey.
I can't tell you how many half finished project I have on my computer. I can give you a hint though- I have a folder sitting on my desktop labeled 'projects.' It is the repository for all ideas, concepts, and incomplete works of art I've set out on. Right now it's just under 100gb.
Yep. The unfinished work sitting on my desktop right this moment would have more than filled the hard drive of my previous computer.
I'm glad to be blogging about my progress. It gives me a sort of subconscious accountability to press forward and complete the things I've posted about, simply because other people are now aware of what I'm working on.
Feedback, comments and criticism on my works in progress is welcome and appreciated.
Your final remarks about accountability hit the nail on the head. I have the same struggles. (My desktop has a folder called Desktop, which contains old misc. ideas/projects called Desktop, which contains... etc etc.) My analytical mind also gets in the way, like you said, when I begin on a course of action. However, other distractions are largely a cause of my own procrastination. My Gmail quotes web clip just displayed this: "The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once." -Samuel Smiles. For me, this is why I procrastinate; other things fight for my time and attention constantly. So I guess in some ways, I can definitely relate, in others, maybe not as much. Regardless, I think arranging for more accountability is definitely moving in the right direction.