1. Topic & Questions Define exactly what you want the reader to learn. Break your topic down into a logical flow of main questions and detailed sub-questions.
2. Sourcing & Critical Analysis
Source Types: Use both Primary (original artifacts, interviews, raw data) and Secondary (academic books/articles analyzing a subject). Use reliable platforms like Google Scholar.
Be Critical: Never take sources at face value. A good thesis analyzes the context and compares the different biases or perspectives of the authors.
3. The 4 Stages of Research Explore, Plan, Execute, and Finalize.
4. Planning & Structuring
Build an Argument: Structure your thesis to make a specific point; do not just list events in chronological order.
Take Control: Dictate the structure yourself—don’t let your raw notes guide you. Group relevant notes by chapter, assign supporting literature to each section, and ruthlessly cut irrelevant material.
A thesis will usually contain most or all the following sections:
Title page
A clear title or research question
Abstract
A short overview of the reasons for and the aims of the research.
Acknowledgements (Optional)
You may wish to acknowledge any significant contributions to the research from others
Contents page(s)
Examples will be provided.
Introduction
Here you should provide context for the study, briefly outline the methods of the study and establish the overall and specific objectives. The reader should clearly understand what they will learn.
Literature review
Review all the literary materials and sources you plan to use in your research, establishing how they will provide a foundation to support the enquiry and enable the study to reach viable findings and fulfil the research objectives.
Methodology
This section should review approaches and methods applied to develop findings, including any not covered in Literature review. This might include literary comparison, case studies, surveys, interviews, experiments, exhibitions and events. It should explain how these methods will generate relevant findings or results.
Themed topic chapters
This will form the main part of the discussion and the number of topics /chapters will vary. Main chapter headings should be clearly labelled e.g., Chapter 1. Contexts in Animated Documentary.
Chapter subtitles should be labelled as e.g., 1.1 Enactment and Re-enactment of Documentary, 1.2 Interview and Animated Documentary
Results/or Findings (Optional)
This section will present findings and discuss the implications. Consider the practical value your findings will provide to practitioners, educators, and other academics in your field, any ways your work can challenge existing theories and assumptions in your field.
Conclusions
Conclude the study by evaluating and reviewing the implications of the study identifying any policies that could be impacted by your findings, problems your work can potentially help to fix, or how your work might contribute to current or future research. Identify any limitations and recommendations for future research.
Reference list
List all the sources cited in your thesis. Arrange your references alphabetically by author surname.
Bibliography
List books that you have consulted but not cited. Arrange your references alphabetically by author surname. You may also require a filmography
Image list
For academic referencing, visuals are categorised as either:
Illustrations (artwork, photos, screenshots, film stills, charts, graphs etc.) or,
Tables (numbers or text in columns and rows)
Appendices
Materials such as letters or relevant documents can be presented here.
From this week, I got the information about this unit and next task and process. In particular, Thesis Proposal Approaches, Thesis Proposal Structure. These are link for these topics.
Select a Topic: Choose a motivating topic with potential impact that meets your assignment’s learning outcomes.
Define your Target: Clearly identify your Audience (who will read it) and Purpose (what you want them to know).
Plan the Research: Read the brief, break your thesis into logically ordered main questions and sub-questions, and plan your investigation.
2 Structuring the Thesis
Establish a working title and use the following 5-part structure:
Introduction: State the main issue, the topic being investigated, and the report’s purpose.
Methodology: Explain your chosen research methods, why you selected them, and how you applied them.
Literature Review: Critically evaluate the existing sources and literature that inform your research.
Investigation: Present your main discussion, options, and findings based on evidence (use citations and sub-headings).
Conclusions: Provide final takeaways or recommendations for your audience based on your findings.
Key Guidelines for Thesis & FMP
Sources: Use and properly cite academically recognized sources (books, media, etc.).
Practical Project (FMP): Base your project on your career goals. Decide how to exhibit it and whether it connects directly to your written thesis.
Format: Choose an approach (experimental or commercial) and a medium (screen, installation, interactive, AR, games, etc.).
Research Value: Define your audience. Clearly state why your research is original, important, and how it advances existing knowledge.
Assessment Focus: You will be graded on deep research (Enquiry), skill synthesis (Knowledge), experimentation (Process), clear articulation (Communication), and professional quality (Realisation).
Original Storyboard during winter vacation assignment
This film engages the viewer to see the screen from left to right with showing the character appear from left to right. Not only that, thanks to this technique, the narrative structure can maintain consistency.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Self-Study Resources
Activity/Quiz: Storyboard – Creative Adaptation
For this storyboard, I changed the story after the father picks up the baby to a different one than in the main story. Specifically, the father puts the baby in a stroller and walks away, but the baby wants to chase after his father. We changed the camera composition to depict this story as the father walking away and the baby wanting to chase after him.
Two Storyboards of 5 + 5 emotions
I created two stories that show what the main characters are doing in the bar and what emotions they are feeling in five shots. In this assignment, we shared the two stories in a group work, and then we chose one of the two and worked on it in pairs, one as a director and one as an animator.
In this class, I started by learning the 12 principles of animation and was able to build a solid foundation in animation. I worked on many animation exercises, such as bouncing ball, pendulum, small creature jumping, weight shift, walk cycle, and body mechanics. Through these exercises, I realized again how important it is to carefully observe references and make a clear plan. I also found that drawing movements by hand in 2D is very effective for imagining the motion. In addition, I learned that planning must always include timing, space, and the number of frames.
This was my first time using Maya, so I faced some difficulties, but I feel that I learned the basic knowledge and skills needed for animation. I actively asked my classmates and teacher for advice and tried to use an objective perspective to notice points that I would not have realized on my own.
In the next semester, I want to further improve my animation skills and expand the range of what I can create in my animation projects.
Maya Animation class with Ting
In this class, I focused on animating characters. I learned not only the 12 principles of animation but also many useful tips for creating animation. Working on exercises like “Juice Box” and “Golden Pose” helped me strengthen my basic skills and improve my knowledge.
The “Golden Pose” exercise was important because it taught me how to show a character’s situation and emotion clearly. I also learned about other important points in character animation, like the center of gravity (COG). Through the “Franky Pose to Pose” and “Body Mechanics” exercises, I gained more experience and understanding of animation. These exercises were challenging, but by asking my classmates and teacher for feedback, I was able to improve steadily.
I also really enjoyed the time at the end of class when we shared and presented our animation works.
I want to use what I learned in this class in the next semester and continue to grow as an animator.
UE5 class with Serra
In this class, I focused on learning UE5. I had never used UE5 before, so I worked hard to keep up with the lessons. Especially, UE5’s UI and controls are different from other software like Maya or Blender, so it was challenging at first. I also struggled with UE5-specific terms like “Sequence” and “Level.”
However, through the class, I realized that UE5 has a lot of potential. I found it very useful that rendering time can be shorter, there are many ready-to-use assets, and it is a very versatile software that allows modeling, animation, and rendering all in one.
For the final project, I used UE5 to create my work, and I was able to greatly improve my skills. But there are still many things I don’t fully understand, so I want to continue learning on my own next semester to use it more confidently. In the future, I hope to be able to do modeling in Blender, motion in Maya, and camera work and rendering in UE5.
Showreel
This is my Unit 1 showreel. I included a lot of motion in it. I put together everything I learned in the 3D Computer Animation Fundamentals class in this showreel. Through this project, I really felt that I grew a lot as an animator. Next semester, I want to use what I learned here to improve even more and keep working hard.
This presentation is a three-minute talk based on my critical report. It was the most challenging assignment for me, mainly because I am not confident in speaking English.
However, through this task, I felt that I had a valuable opportunity to improve several skills, including academic writing, reading books, and speaking in English. Although there are still many areas where I need to improve, I would like to continue studying and practicing so that I can develop these skills further.
First, I followed the reference video closely and created the basic movement. The teacher gave me feedback that it was done well. However, I felt that the movement was a little plain, so I decided to add some exaggerated motion. I focused especially on overlapping and anticipating, which made the movement feel more vivid.
At first, when adding overlapping, I moved each backbone one by one. The teacher advised me that it is better to select all the bones and move them at the same time. When I tried this, the movement of the back became more unified.
Also, I learned that for the arm bones, it can be better to switch from IK to FK depending on the motion. Each type of bone has its own characteristics, so it is important to choose the right one according to the situation.
This week, I added keyframes between the previous blocking poses to make the animation smoother. I paid attention to small details, like how the feet land and the movement of the toes. I also focused on overlapping and anticipation in the body’s movements.
My teacher gave me advice that the left and right sides of the body move in the same way, which makes the motion look less realistic. So next week, I plan to create a spline animation while making the left and right side movements different.
Blocking 2:
When I am doing the blocking, I noticed that the lines in the Graph Editor often look jagged. This is because the motion is still rough and the keyframes are placed in a simple way. Through this process, I realized that it is very important to only put keyframes where they are really needed. If you add too many keyframes, the motion can become stiff and look unnatural.
So, it is better to start with only the minimum number of keyframes and gradually add more to adjust the movement. This method helps create smooth and natural motion, and it also makes it easier to understand the timing and rhythm of the animation. Blocking may seem like just a rough step, but in fact, it is very important because the way you place keyframes here has a big effect on the final quality of the animation.
In Cut 1, the character walks from left to right along a path in the forest. In this scene, I focused on the sense of scale of the character and the movement of the surrounding plants.
Cut02
In Cut 2, the character walks toward the camera from the background to the foreground. In this scene, I wanted to clearly show the character’s facial expression. Therefore, I used a low-angle camera to make the character’s face more visible.
Cut03
In Cut 3, the character walks toward the cave. To emphasize the vastness of the background, I used a panning camera while gradually pulling back. This allows the viewer to clearly understand the scale of the environment, the smallness of the character, and where the character is going.
Cut04
In Cut 4, the character pauses in front of a Japanese torii gate at the entrance of the cave before walking inside. During this scene, I rotated the camera 180 degrees while maintaining focus on the character. By adding this dynamic camera movement, I aimed to clearly convey that this moment marks a significant change in the narrative.
Cut05
In Cut 5, the character walks inside the cave. In this scene, I kept the interior of the cave simple in order to draw attention to something ahead. As the character moves deeper into the cave, I emphasized this focal point by using brighter blue lighting toward the end of the cave.
Cut06-1
In Cut 6, the character arrives at the end of the cave. Rather than revealing what lies beyond, I focused the camera on the character to build anticipation.
Cut06-2
In Cut 6, I depicted a scene where the character stops and is overwhelmed by the view beyond the cave. In this scene, I did not reveal the entire interior of the cave; instead, I showed only a part of the tree to create a sense of mystery.
Cut07
In Cut 7, we focused on a Japanese shrine at the base of a tree. This shrine is visually connected to the torii gate we saw earlier at the cave entrance. By combining mystical elements like the cave and the shrine, we aimed to create a more beautiful and sacred atmosphere.
Additionally, we illuminated the shrine with orange and yellow lighting to highlight it and convey a warm, welcoming feeling.
Cut08
In Cut 8, the camera pulls back to show the entire cave interior. To emphasize the vastness and grandeur of the environment, I positioned the camera slightly above eye level, using a gentle high-angle shot.
UE5 Set up
Scene 1:
Foliage
When creating the background, I needed to place a lot of plants, as the setting was in a natural setting. I used the Foliage tool I learned in class to efficiently place plants and trees within a specified area. This function exists in other software, but it can often slow down processing or cause data loss. However, I felt that UE5’s greatest strength was that it runs stably and allows you to work quickly as long as you make sure to save regularly.
Based on this experience, in future background productions I would like to create the main objects and props in Blender, and then place plants and other elements later in UE5 to complete the background.
Scene 2:
When creating this background, I was conscious of guiding the eye naturally into the cave and of expressing the grandeur of the background. To that end, I duplicated and layered many assets to enhance the sense of three-dimensionality.
This method is not often used in other software, as it can cause strange surfaces and textures when rendering, and can also cause problems with light reflection. However, when I checked the sample background environment assets for this production, I found that many objects overlapped, creating a wonderful sense of three-dimensionality and working normally.
For this reason, I decided to incorporate this technique into my own work.
Scene 3:
As this background is set inside a cave, it is a dark environment with no sunlight. Therefore, we placed many point lights and spot lights to ensure brightness. Furthermore, by setting the light to blue, we emphasized the mysterious atmosphere.
We also positioned the base of the tree slightly below eye level so that the entire tree could be seen. Furthermore, by using lake assets, we were able to create a realistic and tranquil atmosphere.
Rendering Settings
What I Learned About Rendering in UE5
While working on this project, I tried different rendering settings in UE5 and noticed some important points. Here’s what I learned.
1. Save Often
Even though UE5 is stable, big scenes can sometimes crash. I realized that saving frequently is very important. I made it a habit to press save bottom regularly.
2. Lighting Matters
Adding many lights can sometimes make things look too bright or strange. I learned that adjusting intensity and radius carefully helps. Also, light color changes the feeling a lot: blue feels mysterious, while orange feels warm.
3. Reflections and Shadows
Reflections and shadows can be tricky. I noticed that using Reflection Capture and Lightmass helps make them look natural.
4. LOD (Level of Detail) Helps Performance
High-polygon objects can make the scene slow. I found that using LOD allows the polygons to decrease when objects are far away, which makes everything run smoother.
5. Object Placement
I also noticed that putting too many objects in one place can be heavy for the scene. Nanite in UE5 helps a lot, because it can handle high-polygon objects without slowing down the scene.
6. Rendering Settings
I tried different settings and learned:
Anti-Aliasing makes edges and movement smooth. TAA works well.
Post Process Volume helps adjust brightness, color, and contrast.
Ray Tracing gives realistic shadows and reflections, but it can slow down the scene.
7. Preview Before Final Render
I found that it is better to preview in low resolution first. When everything looks good, then do the high-resolution render. Temporarily hiding unnecessary lights or objects also saves time.
