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Home ? How Do I ...? ? getting into "the zone" for creativity...

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22/01/2017 20:47:14

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		I'm curious to know how others access the phenomenon variously called
"The Zone"
"Putting on the animator's hat"
"getting the muse to talk to you"
"inspiration"
"letting the creative juices flow"

etc etc.

We all wear a variety of hats in a days time: employee, student, spouse, parent, craftsman, etc etc, and most of us find it difficult to transitionj from one role to another. The story of finding time to play at your creative hobby, only to sit in front of your computer without any clue of what to do next is all too common. But sometimes it works.

so my question for you: what is the common denominator among the times when it works? What helps you to unleash your ideas, and get past the bogged down state?
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23/01/2017 14:37:10

Rocque
Rocque
Posts: 359 		It used to be really easy to get into "the zone" when I used another animating program, but then the prices made it out of my budget for a hobby. I think life was more fun then, too. I would get a funny email or see something happen at work, and want to make an animation about it. It was easy to set up my scenes and the voices, or find people who would volunteer to record lines.

I still did not rush through the animations, but they seemed easier to set up. I have a plan to get back into "the zone" but it requires spending the necessary time and getting a new start with Muvizu. I see people doing things here with camera work that I have not been able to do, so I know somehow it has to be possible, but I have not learned it yet.

I watched Pro Hockey teams practice after losing a few games, and their practice started out looking like basic kids hockey, standing not to far apart and passing the puck back and forth. They went back to basics and progressed from there. I never thought I would see pro athletes doing simple drills, but you could see the improvement taking place.

My "zone" will be to become comfortable using Muvizu, and then the creativity zone will hopefully not be so easily destroyed. Lately each project I have started became bogged down by something as easy (?) as creating sets. So I stop because my time to be creative ran out, and something in the rat race demanded my attention.

I think I am stuck in the bogged down state.
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27/01/2017 03:04:44

Nahton
Nahton
Posts: 24 		I've always seemed to have ideas floating around in my head and sometimes something in everyday life will trigger an idea. I used to draw my own comic stories as a kid but one problem with that was that I couldn't draw very well. My discovery of the first machinima program I used was a revelation. It had it's limitations but one could adapt and write stories that fit within the engine limitations.

Modding expanded the story telling capabilities of the machinima engines but added to the production time. It could sometimes lead to too much time invested in modding your own props, animation, and sets to meet your vision. I say this a a precursor to addressing "getting into the zone". Sometimes, I'd just like nothing more than to write, record & solicit VO's, and use my engine of choice with it's out of the box options and pump out my story. In other words, skip the frills, and put my idea to pen and then screen in quick and painless fashion see it take some kind of form on the screen rather than languish in my mind with so many other ideas. I think of myself as more of a writer than an director and sometimes while do enjoy that aspect of film-making and it can be fulfilling I think my sweet spot might be to just take a pre-vis production approach, especially for longer form pieces, and resist the urge to over mod and over produce a piece.

Sometimes I find myself at the computer not being productive because I get bogged down trying to find wardrobe or appropriate sets and props and contemplate possibly get sidetracked modding my own assets. I guess in a roundabout way I'm trying to say, I don't necessarily have a lack of idea's at the moment but it's the tedious parts of the process the can sap the urge to create out of me. When I get to the point where I've got my sets in place, the VO's recorded and edited and can just put it all together in the engine, that's when I can't wait to get to the computer and put it all together, because for me that's when I'm having the most fun.
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27/01/2017 05:04:54

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		Ideas tend to come when you are doing something else, and its easy to lose them. In order to capture them, I have a PROJECTS folder for each of the software products I use. When I get an idea I create a project folder for it right way. I consider "capturing the idea" to be the first step. Sometimes when I'm in an "idea mood" I can capture a bunch of ideas at once. I find that "idea mood" is different than "execute mood", so I rarely try to work on the ideas while I'm capturing them.

For each project idea I make a list of steps required to complete the project. Steps might be something like:
1) collect reference images for modelling
2) create models
3) create music
4) write script
5) create character attachments
6) create dialog
7) find and collect sound effects
8) animate scenes
9) assemble scenes in editor
10) add visual effects and sound

Since I have to be in the right mood, (and each of those tasks requires a different mood) when I find myself with some spare time, I first decide what kind of mood I'm in. If I'm not in a very creative mood, then I'll just do something like search the web for reference photos or sound effects.

If I'm in a whimsical mood, I might write scripts or songs

If I'm in a practical mood, I might make models or record scenes

Point is that having a project folder full of ideas means there are always things to work on, no matter what mood I'm in.
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27/01/2017 09:15:39

ritsmer
ritsmer
Posts: 110 		"The Zone" is pure hell. Gruesome.

Talking about Muvizu projects as well as camera projects - and combination projects: when one has given the best possible effort and has thought about nothing but making that project for weeks or months it is such an anticlimax when the project is finished. Period.

Similar to driving over the edge of a tall cliff: suddenly hanging there - in the empty space - nothing one can do ...

All the -once so great- projects on the ToDo list seem so little interesting - why did I ever put them on that list ? - and the doubts are severe: will this or that idea ever reach the same quality as the last project?.... hardly?.... no! ... Aaarrrgghhhh!

Here - I'm just fighting through the 3.rd week after the last project - and it is not funny. Not at all....

The last couple of days I have turned the antennas on - slowly - and the ideas are popping up - although small and cloudy - and some of the ToDo list ideas even seem better...

... hmmm....

... especially that idea of having doors and lift doors opening to something surprisingly different from where you are - like the movie "The adjustment bureau"....

... Nice idea ...

You step into this lift on a rainy day in Copenhagen. Then you press the button B1:


... and when you have reached the basement floor the lift doors open up to:

You hear the birds and see the leaves moving slowly in the warm wind - and - and -

... let's dust off the green screens - and maybe let some Muvizu characters enter the scene - and -
Yes! Hell is over.
edited by ritsmer on 27/01/2017
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27/01/2017 15:09:03

PatMarrNCMuvizu mogul
PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738 		I like that idea Ritsmer! Can't wait to see it actualized!


Talking about Muvizu projects as well as camera projects - and combination projects: when one has given the best possible effort and has thought about nothing but making that project for weeks or months it is such an anticlimax when the project is finished. Period.


regarding the statement above, I've often thought that it's the creative person's equivalent to post partum depression. Except we don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to feed the baby or change diapers on top of being depressed.
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28/01/2017 23:37:39

DeannaC
DeannaC
Posts: 25 		PatMarrNC wrote:
Ideas tend to come when you are doing something else, and its easy to lose them. In order to capture them, I have a PROJECTS folder for each of the software products I use.


Thanks for sharing your process, Pat! I'm saving these steps for future reference.

I've just spent a few hours finishing my first set, feeling the Flow! It was a great learning experience and even though I ran across a few glitches, I found workarounds each time. It's a lot like life, but better. lol
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