This project was one of my earlier tests in using After Effects as a student project. It was the first project over a few seconds that I attempted, and the first result was, at a minimum, a good lesson in what to do and what not to do. These were my largest takeaways.

Lesson 1: Sketching is not the same as story boarding. 
A pencil and paper is always a part of my process. Finding the ideas on paper makes it easier to transition to digital later on. The way I sketched created a feeling of moving from station to station in the video. Presenting the same type of visuals became repetitive quickly, so the revision process included less linear sketches which transition between different scenes with ease. After implementing those visuals, the video became more dynamic and continuous. 

Lesson 2:  Motion files need to be organized differently.
One constant in my work is tidiness. I keep my desk clean, laptop tidy, and my files understandable. Video editing took my common tenets and threw them out the window. The first pass file was difficult to understand and almost impossible to edit. I had to relearn how to keep a file organized and understandable.

After learning these lessons, and more through the course of another few projects, this project still stood out to me. I revisited the  project and fixed some of its problems, and I can say that I’m happier with how this project turned out the second time around. There is still more to learn, and I intend to keep learning every project.