Processing in JavaScript
When I was 11, I got introduced to Khan Academy. While exploring the website, I saw the programming section. From what I remember, it had only four computer courses back then: Intro to JS: Drawing & Animation, Intro to HTML and CSS, Advanced JS Games and Visualizations, and Meet the Professionals. I had heard about the JavaScript programming language from my parents and wanted to know more, so I decided to start the Intro to JS: Drawing & Animation course. The structure of the course made it very easy for a beginning programmer like I was. I loved doing the computing challenges and did not move on to the next lesson until I finished it. Occasionally, I would take a break from the course material and make animations on my own. I made my first animation when I was in sixth grade, even before I learn how to write if statements in JavaScript. I even made an animation for my parents’ anniversary. The biggest difficulty in this project was getting the rectangle to go from the sides to the bottom. I originally had a single conditional from my if statements, but then I realized that I needed the put multiple conditionals. By the end of the course, I learn the basics and JavaScript as well as some object-oriented programing. I also learned debugging techniques and to never give up when the program doesn’t work. Most of all, I got interested in programming and computer science in general.
Into the World Full of Animation
Like many young children, I loved watching animation movies from companies like Disney and Pixar. To this age, I find watching animation movies to be more entertaining than a non-animated one. My favored scenes from an animation movie are the ones which show a mystical world. I always gape in awe while watching these wondering how so many different textures and lights can be added to one scene, without the image turning into one bright glob of colors. Being able to create more scenes like them had always been a dream.
When I was in ninth grade, I took an online one semester class on 3D modeling and animation. Upon reading the course description, I felt a rush of excitement throughout my body. With the aid of a computer, I could finally learn how to create nearly perfect models and drawings, which I longed to do in my regular art classes. It was also my first chance to learn the basic animation techniques used for making my favorite animated films.
The course focused on teaching the basics of Blender, a 3D modeling and animation software. Through this course, I developed introductory 3D visualization skills as well as created basic 3D models. Although I had encountered a few bumps along the way, I had perceived this to be my fun and easy class of the semester as I mostly worked on it at the end of a long and exhausting day. One aspect which surprised me while working on this class was how engrossed I was in it. Normally, I need to put on some music at night to help me focus on my work, but I soon realized that I did not need any when I was creating these models.
During that semester, I had gone to the theater to watch the movie Coco and I clearly remember associating with the short video clip from Pixar before the movie. The clip showed a preview of the scene when Miguel goes over the bridge and sees the majestic Land of the Dead for the first time. It mentioned that it took over 1,000 lights to make that scene. Not only do I like the view of the Land of the Dead, but I also was captivated by seeing the leaves glow every time something makes contact with them. I loved experimenting with the different lamp types and intensities in my course and hoped that I could use the knowledge to create something as intricate as that scene.
Disney – the driving force for my interest in animation!