DDA 624, 3D Computer Animation
Due
on fifth session, Sept. 30
This
assignment consists of doing a short 10-20 second animation of a realistically
bouncing ball, plus one or a few other moving object(s), set to a simple soundtrack. At least one of the other objects must be
hierarchically animated. This
hierarchical model should not be a human, humanoid, or animal character. Use camera cuts to stage the action well.
In planning your project, think of how your animation
will have artistic merit. No matter how
simple the techniques involved, your animation can and should have intellectual interest and/or
emotional impact.
Begin
with a realistically animated bouncing ball first. Do not use any cartoon conventions such as
squash-and-stretch on this ball. (You
can use it on the other objects if you wish.)
Only after getting good, realistic animation on this first ball should
you proceed to additional objects. Begin
by observing and studying how a ball bounces.
Pay special attention to the timing, the angles, and the rotations of
the ball. Sketch and/or videotape a
bouncing ball to serve as a visual reference.
For
the soundtrack, select or record a short piece of audio. This can be music, street sounds, spoken
language, sounds of nature, etc. Your
audio should be single-track – that is, should not involve multiple tracks that
have to be mixed together later (unless you already know how to do this well).
Use
the camera to stage the action of your animation well. Do NOT use any moving cameras for this
animation – only camera cuts. (We’ll use
moving cameras in later animations.)
The
modeling of your other objects should be kept simple to allow you to focus on
the observation and timing of the animation – geometric primitives are fine. As you animate the additional objects, pay attention to the
relationships of direction, speed, and rhythm among your objects. Also, pay attention to the soundtrack rhythms
and emphases. You can synchronize the
objects exactly to the soundtrack or deliberately create a counter rhythm, but
your objects should move in relationship to the soundtrack. If you wish to, you may exaggerate effects
and/or add squash-and-stretch to any of these objects. As your work, create playblast files to test your results.
On
the due date, hand in a CD or data DVD containing your scene files and at least
one playblast
movie file. The movie file should in
shaded mode and include the soundtrack. Make sure all your files are named
clearly so that I can find them easily.
Your final scene file must be called assign1final.mb. Your final playblast movie file must be
called assign1final.avi or assign1final.mov. Name
any other files clearly.
Also,
on the due date restore your files to the class machines so that we can look at
and critique them in class.
(N.B.
There is a module in Maya
that allows you to simulate motions and collisions using motion dynamics. Do NOT attempt to use motion dynamics for
this exercise. Part of the point of the
exercise is to improve your powers of observation and to learn how to control
timing and movement.)