Course Description

This course presents the fundamental concepts, issues and techniques of three-dimensional computer animation as they apply to art. Both technical and aesthetic issues are addressed. Students learn to design, prepare for, and create expressive and convincing motion by creating several short animations. Originality as well as intellectual and emotional substance are expected in the students' work and are studied by analyzing professional examples. The Maya software package is used for instruction and assignments.

Entry Requirements

Students must take DDA-614, Intro to Modeling and Rendering course concurrently or prior to this course.

DDA-624, 3D Computer Animation is an introductory course. As such, students are not expected to be familiar with any of the concepts or techniques presented (although prior familiarity will definitely be helpful). Students are, however, expected to be familiar with general computer usage and file management.

Goals of the Course

The goal of this course is to develop a thorough understanding of the principles of animation and to enable students to translate theoretical knowledge into successful 3D animations with a fine-art orientation. Focusing on the quality of motion and the substance of concept in their own animations, students also learn how to evaluate and critique other animations.

Course Requirements

Assignments

There will be three major animation assignments. Each of these assignments will be evaluated based on originality, on intellectual and/or emotional substance, and on technical proficiency. Assignments must be handed in on the due date. If an assignment is not finished, you should hand in whatever you have finished up to that point. Your work will be graded based on whatever portion you have handed in as of the due date. If you hand in nothing, I will have to assume you did nothing.

There is also one research presentation & paper. See Research Presentation for details.

Please note that technical problems, lab problems, or being "really busy" do not constitute an excuse for unfinished work. Such issues are part of life and life with computers, and you should assume they will occur. It is your responsibility to schedule your time and your work to allow for this sort of problem and still get your work done well and on time.

Attendance & Participation

The classes will involve lectures, discussions, and in-class exercises. Each of these is considered extremely important and, because of this, attendance at and full participation in the weekly classes are required of all students.

Please note also that it is Pratt Institute policy that three unexcused absences constitute grounds for an automatic F for the course, and that two latenesses are considered the equivalent of one absence. Arriving more than 15 minutes after the scheduled start of class will be considered late. Arriving more than 1 hour late will be considered absent. Students are 100% responsible for their own attendance and must allow for delays due to subways, traffic, etc. If you miss class because of illness, you should bring in a note from your physician to avoid your absence being listed as "unexcused".

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

	Week 1	Course overview Setting up a project Frame rates, intro to keyframing, interpolation Editing timing in the Timeline Editing timing in the Dope Sheet Schedule presentations Soundtracks in Maya: viewing, synchronizing Assign Assignment 1: This assignment introduces keyframing, timing, observation, soundtracks, and animation principles. Click on the link for more detailed description.
	Week 2	Sketching movement Ghost and Create Motion Trail functions Principles of Traditional Animation (start) Pivot points and animation Playblast movies Interpolations, tangents, discontinuities, weighted tangents The parameter Graph Editor
	Week 3	Squash and stretch Infinity graphs Camera cuts Hierarchical Animation (forward kinematics) Student Research Presentation
	Week 4	Soundtrack synchronization Optimize Scene Size Staging the action Camera cuts The Connection Editor Student Research Presentation
	Week 5	Assignment #1 due. Group critique. Inverse Kinematics: Joints, IK Handles, Pole Vectors Sample character rig from Mastering Maya 8.5 Sample character rig, "Andy Rig" Pose-to-pose vs. Straight-ahead animation Anticipation, Follow-through, Overlap Assign Assignment 2: This assignment introduces the principles and techniques of character animation, using the pre-fabricated Inverse Kinematic skeleton and model, "Andy Rig". Projects are rendered frame by frame and converted to a movie file. Click on the link for a more detailed description.
	Week 6	Parenting non-deformable geometry to a skeleton SC vs. RP Solvers Snap Enable Aim, Orient Constraints Andy Rig controls
	Week 7	Rendering frames; making a movie file Recording frames to tape Changing skeleton proportions Set Preferred Angle Reroot Skeleton Student Research Presentation
	Week 8	Animating lights and textures Animating the camera; camera moves Student Research Presentation
	Week 9	Deformers: Sculpt tool, lattices, clusters, wire, wrinkle Motion Paths
	Week 10	Assignment 2 due; group critique Expressions Assign Assignment 3: This open-ended assignment allows the student to develop any concept or story and to focus on whichever technicalareas of animation he/she feels most interested in. Click the link for details.
	Week 11	Review & discuss storyboards for final project Construction History as it pertains to the animation process More Deformers: wrap, wire, wrinkle Blended keyshapes Student Research Presentation
	Week 12	Discussion: The Street (Caroline Leaf); Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies ( Quay Bros.) More Deformers: Sculpt tool, soft modification Spline IK Handle Tool Rendering for digital video; Burning a digital video DVD Student Research Presentation
	Week 13	Motion Capture with a mouse device Camera Sequencer Work on individual projects
	Week 14	Overview of selected advanced animation techniques: dynamics, scripting, character animation Work on individual projects
	Week 15	Assignment #3 due; group critique

Methods of Assessment

The weighting of grades for the various assignments is as follows:

First animation project = 20% of the final grade.
Second animation project = 25%.
Third animation project = 40%.

Research presentation = 5%.
Active attendance and participation in the classes, exercises and discussions = 10%.

Readings/Bibliography

Required Materials

Textbooks:
There are two required textbooks.

Animation: Genre and Authorship, Paul Wells: Wallflower Press, London, 2002. ISBN: 1 903364 20 5

Mastering Autodesk Maya 2011 . , Keller, Eric, et al., Sybex Press. A very thorough book (1000 pages!) for fundamentals to pretty advanced. You will be able to use this book for a couple of years and a couple of courses before you exhaust it.

Tutorials:
There is also one set of required tutorials. These are tutorials I have created. We will use these tutorials regularly, both in class and as home assignments. The tutorials are free and are available online at: www.3dtutorials.michaelorourke.com. The login is mayatuts and the password is morourke. (You can remind yourself of these by clicking on the link at the top right of the home page.)

Optionally you may also refer to the tutorials within the Maya documentation.

Maya documentation:
You will also be expected to use the Maya documentation frequently, independently and intelligently. This documentation includes extensive Help files as well as Tutorials. Both are available on our workstations.

Supplemental Materials

DVDs and/or CDs :
Assignments will be handed in on either DVDs or CDs.

Miscellaneous:
Each student must have a sketchbook, and a stopwatch.
Readings and screenings will also be assigned from my Pratt website.

DDA Resource Room

The Department's Resource Room carries a number of other technical reference books on 3D graphics in general, and on Maya in particular. Any of these books can be checked out of the Resource Room by a student taking this course. There are also tutorial DVDs available.

Books
Some additional books that may be helpful:

Introducing Maya 2011. , D. Derakhshani, Sybex. An official Autodesk publication.
Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen, Steven D. Katz (Michael Wiese Productions, 1991, ISBN 0-941188-10-8). Storyboarding and the language of film.


Websites

There are numerous helpful websites and internet forums devoted to 3D CG animation and specifically to the Maya software. Do a search to find what is out there. Here are a few to get you started.

www.cgsociety.org
www.creativecrash.com
www.3dbuzz.com
www.learning-maya.com

DVDs

There are several companies that make good instructional DVDs and CDs. Some are:

Gnomon
Digital Tutors
3D Buzz

Academic Integrity

(The following is copied from the Pratt Institute website.)

Pratt Institute considers Academic Integrity highly important. Instances of cheating, plagiarism, and wrongful use of intellectual property will not be tolerated.

• Faculty members will report each incident to the registrar for inclusion in studentsí files.
• More than one report to the registrar during a studentís program of study at Pratt will result in a hearing before the Academic Integrity Board, at which time appropriate sanctions will be decided. These may include dismissal from the Institute.
• The nature and severity of the infraction will be determined by faculty members who can: ask students to repeat an assignment, fail students on the assignment, fail students in the course and/or refer the incident to the Academic Integrity Board.

For more details about these procedures please see the Pratt Student Handbook, the Pratt Bulletins, and the pamphlet entitled Judicial Procedures at Pratt.

CHEATING

If students use dishonest methods to fulfill course requirements, they are cheating. Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• Obtaining or offering copies of exams or information about the content of exams in advance.
• Bringing notes in any form to a closed book exam.
• Looking at another student's paper during an exam.
• Receiving or communicating any information from or to another student during an exam.

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a bit more complicated, but the rules of documentation and citation are very specific and are tailored to different academic disciplines. Types of plagiarism include:

• Including any material from any source other than you in a paper or project without proper attribution. This includes material from the Internet, books, papers, or projects by other students, and from any other source.
• Using your own work to fulfill requirements for more than one course
• The extensive use of the ideas of others in your work without proper attribution.
• Turning in work done by another person or a fellow student as one's own.

Please remember that all work must be the student's own. If it is not, the source should be cited and documented appropriately.

If there are aspects of this statement that are not understood, ask faculty members for help.