Spring 2008 Information

| calendar and deadlines for this semester | instructor's home |
Sandro Corsi's other classes: | Intro to 3D Graphics | Dimensional Design | 3D Modeling |

This is a 3-units class that teaches animation, building on the students' basic understanding of modeling, texturing, lighting, animating and rendering scenes created with 3D computer graphics programs. The class can be taken twice for credit.

Semester 1 students focus on the fundamentals of animation, sketching increasingly complex motions in 2D, then applying what they learned to 3D.

Semester 2 students create a short animation for their demo reel, developing and implementing a complete production pipeline, from storyboard to final rendering.

• Class goals:
  • Demonstrate operative skills on the computer hardware and attendant peripherals used in the class.
  • Analyze, differentiate, and operate the controls of selected 3D animation programs.
  • Interpret shot descriptions to devise appropriate combinations of object choreography, effects timing, and camera motion.
  • Produce animation segments for a variety of applications, evaluating the benefits and challenges of using 3D computer animation techniques as artistic devices.
  • Evaluate hardware and software suitable for creating and displaying 3D animations, identifying trends in the market and in the development of standards.
• Evaluation:
  • The final course grade will be based on the student's performance in class and in completing assignments. Grade weight will be specified for each project.
• Required textbook
  • Character animation: 2D skills for better 3D, 2nd ed.
    • by Steve Roberts
    • Focal Press, 2007
    • ISBN 0-240-52054-8

  The book will be available for purchase at the Fullerton College bookstore.

• Optional texts
  • A number of printed manuals are available in the lab: ask the lab aide for them, with your student ID in hand.
  • Several relevant magazines are available in the Graphics lab. These are especially useful because of their timeliness.
  • Program reference manuals:
    • A variety of books are available providing step-by-step instruction and reference information. Make sure that any books you choose match the versions of the software you use.
    • The programs available in the lab usually come with electronic manuals and/or online help, which you can view directly on the computer.

Class Calendar

• unit 01, how animation works 1/18
• unit 02, observing regular motion 1/25
• Media Arts Competition deadline 1/31
• unit 03, observing irregular motion 2/1
  • This lab session, too, is about simple movements of inanimate objects. And, once again, we will compare the motion described in the book with our own observations of actual moving objects.
    1. The key difference is that this time the movement is less predictable--there will be complex changes of direction and shape.
    2. Our observation technique will also have to be different. We won't be able to rely on the sound of the object (though you can still create a 'click track' by tapping the microphone in sync with the motion of the object). And you will have to observe more closely the path and shape of the object, possibly by repeating the motion several times and 'averaging' the results.
  • We will start with a leaf falling. The motion is relatively slow, and there will be little change in the shape of the object.
    1. Follow the directions in the ACME Leaf Drop Challenge (part 1 and part 2) to create a 2D animation (keep your drawings as simple and quick as possible).
    2. Now choose an actual leaf and drop it. Observe how it falls. Try again with a different-shaped leaf. Try it with a fan blowing the leaf around. Now use your observations to create a second, simple 2D animation. Fine tune it until the moving drawing 'feels' like a leaf.
    3. Finally, use the field chart to transfer the animation to 3D. Use a flattened sphere as the leaf model (just ignore any shape changes for now). When the animation is done, move the camera to find the best vantage point.
  • Next we tackle the motion of a water-filled balloon. This is more challenging, because the balloon drops quickly, and it deforms significantly.
    1. Start with the textbook's directions for a water-filled balloon (dropping and rolling, pp. 33-35 and 44-45) to create an animation in 2D.
    2. Follow this with your own observations to create another 2D animation. Careful--the balloons may burst. Drop them and roll them in the paint trays to catch any spills. Don't let them fall from higher than about two feet. And keep them away from the computers!
    3. Translating this animation to 3D will be fairly complicated, so we'll cover it in class next time. If you want to try your hand at it, look a the directions in Maya_bouncy_balls.pdf, in the Chapter 2 folder on the CD-ROM.
       1. Note: you will have to read the entire document (especially the part about the soccer ball) to make sense of the water-filled-balloon section.
       2. VERY IMPORTANT: the author will tell you to draw on the computer monitor--this is wrong and evil advice, DON'T DO IT!
  • At home: read pp. 49-54 of chapter 3 in your textbook, explaining basic human anatomy and motion.
• unit 04, putting observations to imaginative use 2/8
  • It's now time to use your observations of actual moving objects as a guide in animating a cartoon character. In other words, it's time to use your imagination--while remaining grounded in real experience that the audience can relate to.
  • Start by looking at these ACME Network guidelines (you will have to login first--this will be discussed in class).
    1. ACME Sack model sheets & turnaround
    2. ACME Bean Jump challenge
  • We don't want to run ahead of ourselves--so we will focus at first on a character very similar to our bouncing balls and balloons. We'll call it Mr. Blob--essentially like ACME's Mr. Bean-Boing, but without the complication of having arms. We will see in the lecture how this character can be built quickly in 3D--these are the highlights:
    1. Create-->Subdiv Primitives-->Cube. Use the Scale tool to stretch Mr. Blob vertically a bit, so he will have a greater range of motion.
    2. Switch to X-Ray view (Shading menu in the modeling panel). Choose the Animation menu set, then Skeleton-->Joint Tool. Create a simple skeleton for Mr. Blob, with three spine joints ("hips", "waist", "chest"), and a joint for each "arm" and "leg", properly connected to the spine. This is similar to the process described on pp. 83-84 of the textbook (and in the corresponding Maya PDF on the CD).
    3. Finally, select the cube and the first joint ("hips"), then Skin-->Bind Skin-->Smooth Bind-->options; Edit-->Reset Settings, enter 2 for Max Influences, click Bind Skin.
    4. Now try moving, rotating, and scaling the various joints to see how they affect the shape of the cube. Each of these changes can be keyframed, just like the ball positions in your previous animations. To return to the initial shape of the cube, select a joint then Skin-->Go to Bind Pose.
  • After getting this brief bout of modeling out of the way, focus on the important part--making Mr. Blob jump.
    1. Jumping is similar to bouncing--but because the jumper propels him/her/itself, he/she/it may return to the same height at each jump (while the height attained at each bounce declines until the bouncing object stops).
    2. Jumping is also similar to the water-filled balloon, in that the jumper will change shape. In the case of Mr. Blob, the similarity to the water-filled balloon is especially strong.
    3. Finally, jumping is similar to a falling leaf in that the motion is not entirely predictable--jumpers are not inanimate. In other words, they have a mind of their own.
    4. Refer to your motion observations to fine-tune the jumping motion. You may want to do a 2D sketch with a click track first, or you may prefer to go directly to 3D, adapting your previous 2D animations. After perfecting the jump, consider setting it within a simple storyline (like Mr. Bean-Boing's pit-jumping adventure).
  • At home: read pp. 55-63 of chapter 3 in your textbook, explaining the design and animation of a human character. Then read pp. 80-86, explaining the construction and rigging of a 3D human character. Then do some jumping around--it's good exercise, and it will help you get ready for the next animation.
• New Strand Film Festival 2008 deadline 2/15
• BEFILM The Underground Film Festival 2008 deadline 2/15 to 3/22
• Lincoln's Birthday holiday 2/15
• Art Institute of Vancouver, Character Art Competition deadline 2/21
• Portland Women's Film Festival deadline 2/21
• 5th Annual Jackson Hole Film Festival deadline 2/22
• unit 05 2/22
  • Work on flying leaf animations. These will be composited over the landscape flyover that will be used as the intro for FC's animation podcasts. The leaves will be based on your leaf drop observations, with exaggerated flexing and twisting (just like Mr. Blob's jump is an exaggerated version of the bouncing ball).
  • 2D flying leaf: see Follow-through of inanimate objects in the textbook, p. 97.
  • 3D flying leaf: reshape Mr. Blob into a flattened leaf shape, and rig it wih a suitable skeleton. Adapt the swimming motion shown in the textbook, p. 164.
  • 3D sinusoidal wave leaf: try your hand at animating with simple deformers to create a wavy motion (similar to the example in the textbook, p. 159). Add a Sine Handle to your leaf selecting the Animation menu set, then using Deform -> Create Nonlinear -> Sine. In the channel box, experiment keyframing the Amplitude and/or Offset of the Sine input of the Sine Handle.
• Siggraph 2008 Student Volunteers application deadline 2/24
• Independent Exposure 2008: 13th Season deadline 2/29
• AniFest 08 deadline 2/28
• South Beach Animation Festival 2008 deadline 2/29
• Brooklyn Animation Block Party 2008 deadline 3/3 to 6/4
• unit 06 2/29
• Orange County Chapter of the International Game Developers' Association, 4th Annual Demo Reel Night 2/29
• unit 07 3/7
• An Evening with Blizzard event 3/12
• unit 08 3/14
• Newport Beach Film Festival (see 4/27), Orange County Animation Project student reel deadline 3/21
• Spring Break 3/17-3/22
• Anima Mundi 2008 deadline 3/26
• unit 09 3/28
• San Francisco 2008 Frozen Film Festival deadline 3/31 to 5/31
• Animate! -- La vida Suzuki deadline 3/31
• Helen Victoria Haynes World Peace Storyboard & Animation Scholarship Competition deadline 4/1
• 2008 Student Academy Awards deadline 4/1
• Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival 2008 deadline 4/1
• 17th Woods Hole Film Festival deadline 4/1 to 5/1
• unit 10 4/4
• unit 11 4/11
• Brainwash Movie Festival 2008 deadline 4/15 to 5/10
• unit 12 4/18
• unit 13 4/25
• Newport Beach Film Festival, Orange County Animation Project screening 4/27
• Autodesk Student Design Challenge deadline 4/30
• 2008 Stony Brook Film Festival deadline 5/1
• 2008 Chicago International Children's Film Festival deadline 5/1 to 5/31
• unit 14 5/2
• 2008 Adobe Design Achievement Awards deadline 5/2
• unit 15 5/9
• Siggraph 2008 SpaceTime Student Competition deadline 5/15
• finals day, complete projects 5/16, 9 to 11 am
• 2008 Orange County Fair - Animation Celebration deadline 6/2

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Created 2007-08-03. Last modified 2008-02-21. This document originally at <http://www.sanedraw.com/LEARN/ACG/ACG_150.HTM> Copyright 2008 by Sandro Corsi.