I was excited to see what the 'Broadway' effect would look like in a 3D format, so I applied this to the bottom layer of text.

The 2D text was causing me issues at the beginning with the software slowing and crashing at times, though I continued to work with my constraints to my best ability, following along with the provided tutorials for my first composition, then pursued external sources and experimented with learned knowledge for my later compositions. I found it to be relatively simple once I understood the basics and continued to experiment with the focus on practicing elements which I struggled with initially, like the range selection and path animations. I feel that focusing on these specific elements helped me become more confident in my intentional choices for later projects, the last of the 2D compositions being my most challenging and favourite of the collection. In the future, I would like to experiment with more typefaces and drastic changes between text, and work on some smoother, seamless transitions between text or animation. I have always enjoyed creating animations and feel the use of 2D text being involved would not only be a benefit to my assessment 3 planned project, but more projects going further into my design career.

The 3D text caused me the most issues during production, many of the features not working or causing processing issues. I was particularly frustrated when I attempted to extrude for the first time, my device having trouble processing the change. Issues like such continued to prevail throughout, though after getting advice for how to alter the settings to prevent this, I became more confident in my own abilities to produce with less risk of my work being compromised by glitches and stoppages. I ended up thoroughly enjoying the experimentation process, aiming to experiment with something new with each composition. While I feel I could have tried some more drastic changes between each variation, I am satisfied with each of the outcomes and feel I benefitted greatly from the commitments I made. While I mostly use 2D elements in my personal work, these activities involving 3D animation are still beneficial to my personal practice as I often struggle with perspective and lighting. Creating 3D projects that use these elements with the knowledge I have gained from this will help me further develop my skills in perspective.

While I struggled at first going into these projects, I remain believing that despite having different goals in my personal design path later, learning these general skills within After Effects will be hugely beneficial to me when it comes to unexpected elements within client work, and I can confidently say I am proficient in and can work on. I plan on further building on these experiment compositions and using a 2D text element within my assessment 3 composition, whether it be through After Effects or using the skills I have learned and applying them to another software. Regardless, I have much of my learned knowledge to rely on as I continue to build on projects within my design career.