ART INSTITUTE OF COLORADO Course Syllabus Instructor: Steven Pierce Contact: Voice Mail ext. 4986 Office Hours: TBA Term: Winter 2009 COURSE TITLE COURSE DESCRIPTION Three Dimensional Animation CA2356 Tuesday 7:30-11:30 A.M. An introduction to basic 3D animation concepts, and applying key framing techniques along a timeline. Students also apply changes in translation, scale and rotation through space in time, and are introduced to camera control.
COURSE LENGTH 11 weeks CONTACT HOURS 4 hours per week… work out of class1-2 hours/week PREREQUISITES COURSE OBJECTIVES Introduction to 3D Modeling The student will be able to: Animate objects with transform tools Understand timeline key frame animation Manipulate dope sheets, animation curves in the track editor in 3ds max Create particle systems, forces, and deformations for dynamic environment animations Manipulate controllers and trajectories paths Understand IK bones, and select and link functions for animation of geometry Trade Magazines Storage devices. 3ds max 2009, Adobe Photoshop 100 points possible: 2 Quiz 5 points 2 exercises 5 points each Midterm exam 10 points, Final exam 20 points Bouncing ball animation 10 points Flying logo 10 points Particle animation 10 points Mechanical animation 20 points
TEXT MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES TECHNOLOGY STUDENT EVALUATION
GRADING
100-95=A 94-90=A89-87=B+ 86-83=B 82-80=B79-77=C+ 76-73=C 72-70=C69-65=D+ 64-60=D… 59 and below = F Evaluations are based on: Fulfillment of requirements Originality and creativity Professional qualities of materials, (papers not bent, cleanliness, spelling glitches, etc.) Quizzes cannot be made up. Failure to present final project on the last day of the course will result in 0 points for that project. Late work will receive a 20 percent penalty or more, and redo’s are at the discretion of the instructor. Redone projects must be turned in by the 11th week. Attendance: Students are expected to arrive on time and stay until class is dismissed. Tardiness is not tolerated and more than 3 tardies will result in a 1 point deduction for every tardy, from your final grade. If you miss more than 16 hours of class you will automatically fail this course. “2 Week” Rule - Records Office – 5th floor A student who has been recorded or otherwise determined by The Institute to be absent (or not in attendance – required or otherwise) for two (2) consecutive student-scheduled weeks during any quarter period without notifying the Registrar’s office in writing, will be automatically withdrawn from his/her program of study. The following shall apply in all cases: The student will receive a course code of “W” or “WF” for each and every course for which the student was registered during that quarter, regardless of course portion or content completed at the time of withdrawal. A student who has been withdrawn from his/her program will not be allowed to return to The Institute during the withdrawn quarter. Academic Honesty Academic honesty is at the very foundation of teaching and learning. Since trust is so important, the sanctions for presenting the work of
CLASS POLICIES
others as your own are severe. Students are ultimately responsible for maintaining academic honesty. Sometimes, students are uncertain about what constitutes appropriate citation of work by others. If you are unsure how to document work written or presented by others, it is your responsibility to ask for help. Resources are available in the Academic Services Center located in Room 401 in the Library. (4th Floor) All work is expected to be your own and all referred sources included in the work must be appropriately cited. Plagiarism is the act of taking credit for any work, or portion of work, without proper reference. Plagiarism, as well as other forms of academic dishonesty, is a serious offense and may result in the assignment of a failing grade or expulsion from The Art Institute of Colorado. Please refer to the Student Handbook for a full description of the Academic Honesty/Dishonesty Policy. Services for Students with Disabilities - Student Affairs Office 2nd floor It is the Art Institute of Colorado policy not to discriminate against qualified students with a documented disability in its educational programs, activities or services. If you have a disability-related need for accommodations in this class, contact the Disability Services Coordinator at 303-824-6095 and/or Student Affairs, 1200 Lincoln Street (2nd floor), Denver, CO 80203. Students are responsible for submitting all work on the syllabi regardless of if they are reminded in class. Classroom disruptions, cursing, or abusive behavior, will not be tolerated. Please act with decorum, and courtesy. CALENDAR Week 1 Introduction, syllabus, class structure, student expectations. Review 3ds max. Review terms and discuss animation fundamentals, key framing. Assign Project 1, Bouncing ball animation, due week 3. Week 2 More 3ds max animation tools: controllers, track editor, curves/dope sheets, and trajectories etc. Keyframing a bouncing ball animation on the time line with auto key. Exercise 1 Animation of parametric deformations due by end of class. Week 3 Using the Curve editor to control key frame types. Animating ease in and ease out, plus out of range types. Anticipation, appeal and stretch and squash for animation of bouncing ball. Assign Project 2 Flying Logo animation, due week 6. Project 1 due. Class time for work. Week 4 Quiz 1. Flying logos, path constraints, trajectories, and animating, lights, cameras, textures, plus Sfx. Slow in/slow out, Arcs,
2nd motion. Class time for work. Week 5 Introduction to particles, forces, and deformations. Assign Project 3 Particle/forces animation due week 8. Review for midterm exam. Project 2 due by end of class. Class time for work. Week 6 Midterm exam. Particle flow basics, deformations, space warps, and forces. Timing, staging, appeal, exaggeration. Class time for work. Week 7 Individual reviews. More particle flow, PArray, fragments and explosions, etc. Exercise 2 Animating a particle flow sequence, due by the end of class. Week 8 Primitives, custom objects, shapes and animation, introduction to Bones and IK animation systems. Assign Final project, due week 11. Project 3 due. Class time for work. Week 9 Quiz 2. IK, & solvers, plus mechanical animation tips. Class time for work. Review the principles of animation in preparation for planning the final project. Week 10 3D considerations: compositing, track mattes, alpha channels, light and color matching. Review for Final. Class time for work. Week 11 Review Final project. Final exam. Make up day. SAVING WORK It is the student’s responsibility to save his or her work to a storage device. Multiple copies should be saved and verified prior to leaving the classroom. The teacher is in no way responsible for the saved work on hard drives nor is he or she bound to give an extension on work improperly saved. The hard drive will be purged regularly. Skills needed to successfully complete this course include a visual eye, time management, creativity, and awareness of 3D space. AIC Drug free classroom policy notice: The Art Institute of Colorado promotes a college wide commitment to, and tradition of drug free classrooms, labs, shops, housing units, and parking lots. If a student exhibits behavioral signs of illicit drug use before class or during a break AIC will ask the suspected student to leave the premises immediately and then specify the steps the student must take before the student is readmitted to class, and AIC. The drug free classroom policy is outlined in the AIC Student Handbook.
NOTES
This is not a contract and elements of this syllabus may change as the class moves through the quarter.
THE ART INSTITUTE OF COLORADO 3D Animation Project 1 Animating a bouncing ball 10 points For this project you must create an animation of a sphere as a bouncing ball. Please apply these principles of animation in your presentation… slow in/slow out (snappy moves), anticipation, stretch and squash, plus appeal for the animation of a bouncing ball. I suggest rendering two views of your animation then editing them together in Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. It must be at least 10 seconds, long no more than 20 seconds. Please create a textured environment for your bouncing ball, with lights and set a camera view for rendering your animation. Render your presentation in a 1280x720 frame as a QT .mov (H.264). 16 bit stereo, 44 KHz audio. Render the camera views, (long shot, and a close up), of your 3D environment, and fill the frame! Please turn in a .max file, to the network data drive in the appropriate folder. Be prepared to discuss your work in class. Due week 3. THE ART INSTITUTE OF COLORADO 3D Animation Project 2 Flying Logo 10 points For this project you must create an animation of a flying logo with transformations. Please include text, and geometry, and it must be in color. A broadcast graphic or motion graphic approach is encouraged, (for example: company logo, movie production company logo, opening title, next on, menu, bumper, station ID, etc.). It must be at least 5 seconds long, and no more than 10 seconds. Please create a textured environment with lights and set a camera view for rendering your animation. Render your space in a 1280x720 frame as a QT .mov (H.264). 16 bit stereo, 44 KHz audio. Render the camera view, of your 3D environment, and fill the frame! Please turn in a .max file, to the network data drive in the appropriate folder. Be prepared to discuss your work in class. Due week 6.
THE ART INSTITUTE OF COLORADO 3D Animation Project 3 Particle animation 10 points For this project you must create an animation using particle systems, forces, space warps, and deformers. Particles and space warps can simulate various ephermal dynamic properties, simulating water, smoke, explosions, etc. It must be at least 20 seconds long, and no more than 40 seconds. Please create a textured environment with lights and set at least 2 camera views for rendering your animation. Render your space in a 1280x720 frame as a QT .mov (H.264). 16 bit stereo, 44 KHz audio. Render the camera views, of your 3D environment, and fill the frame! Please turn in a .max file, to the network data drive in the appropriate folder. Be prepared to discuss your work in class. Due week 8.
THE ART INSTITUTE OF COLORADO 3D Animation Project 4 Mechanical Animation 20 points For this project you must create an animation that has narrative qualities. It must have a beginning, middle, and an end. You can key frame it, use motion paths, particles, deformers, forces, IK solvers, bones, etc. to create a visually challenging and well paced animation presentation. It must be at least 30 seconds long, and no more than 1 minute. Please create a textured environment with lights and set a camera view for rendering your animation. Render your space in a 1280x720 frame as a QT .mov (H.264). 16 bit stereo, 44 KHz audio. Render the camera views, of your 3D environment, and fill the frame! Please turn in a .max file, to the network data drive in the appropriate folder. Be prepared to discuss your work in class. Due week 11, at the beginning of class.
THE ART INSTITUTE OF COLORADO 3D Animation Exercise 1 Parametric deformers animated on primitives. 5 points Please create an environment with 4 primitives animated in various ways, like bending twisting stretching. Transform changes like move, rotate and scale are acceptable. Fill the frame please. Render your space in a 1280x720 frame as a QT .mov (H.264). Run time of at least 10 seconds not more than 30 seconds. Due by the end of class.
THE ART INSTITUTE OF COLORADO 3D Animation Exercise 2 Particle flow animation 5 points Please create an environment and define a particle flow event. No materials required. Default lighting is fine. Animate a change over time of at least 2 different events. Render your space in a 1280x720 frame as a QT .mov (H.264). Run time of at least 10 seconds not more than 30 seconds. Due by the end of class.