Computer Animation
Art 384 (3 Credit Hours)
Fall 2011
Instructor: Ching Lau, B.F.A.,
Phone: (301) 520-7371
EMail: clau22@gmail.com
Office Hours: Call or Email and arrange
Course Description and Rationale:
This is the first 3D animation course at UMBC. In it, students should learn the basics of a computer modeling in Maya and prepare models for animation.
Students will learn something about all of the steps of making 3D models:
planning, modeling, materials assignments, rigging, lighting, and rendering.
They will also be encouraged to think about these activities as artistic activities, studying related work both ancient and recent and to also think outside the box when it comes to problem solving.
This is a gateway class. You must make a “B” or better in this class to move on in
your AIM classes.
Textbook: N\A
Additional Texts, not required:
There are many, many “Mastering Maya 5” (or 8.5 or 4.5, or 3) books, or
“Learning Maya 3.14” and the like, most by Alias, all more or less technically helpful.
The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams and The Animator’s Workbook by Tony White are fine books on how to do frame animation.
There are many books about the making of movies under the title set “The Art Of …” (X-Men 3, Monsters Inc.2 , Toy Story 12)-- good for knowing the field. Mostly they are advertising. Similarly, movies on DVD usually have “making of” extras that can have interesting information on them, securely embedded in nonsense about the director’s vision and genius. Take with grains of salt.
Maya Visual Effects: The Innovator’s Guide, by Eric Keller- nice, weird tutorials.
Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting by Lee Lanier- the best guide to the hypershader, texture tools, and the advanced Mental Ray stuff that I’ve found.
Puppetry, by Eileen Blumenthal-- good for inspiration.
Prerequisites: You must have completed ART 212 and ART 213 with a grade of C or better and the Visual Arts Milestone (portfolio review process) before taking this class.
Required Materials:
If you are going to use computers other than the ones in ENG005 to do your work, you must use Maya 2012. If you used Maya PLE or (somehow) a newer version than Maya 2008, you will not be able to use the lab computers to open your files, which is unacceptable, and, since you’ve been warned, your fault.
If you insist on using computers outside of ENG005, you take on sole
responsibility for maintaining that hardware, even if you do not own it. For example, if
you make your final project on your girlfriend’s computer, and it crashes, and you lose
everything, you get a 0, because you chose to work outside of ENG005.
I recommend owning a flash drive (minimum 1GB). We’ll
end up using vART disks, but having backup storage and transfer storage is very useful.
Lab Hours:
You will have swipe access to the lab, so there are no lab hours.
Special Assistance Notice (from the Americans with Disabilities Act):
If you have a disabling condition that will require an accommodation in tests or class structure, please advise the instructor or the department accordingly.
Course Requirements:
1) Attendance/Late Policy: I take roll every day. One of your grades is for
attendance. Every time you’re absent, I take three points off this grade. Being late is the
same as being absent.
To get an excused absence, send me an email no later than 1 hour before the start of class.
No Athlete may miss class for practice in any sport. If any athlete misses a class due to a game, he/she is responsible for contacting the instructor to make up work. One week prior to the class to be missed due to a game, the athlete is to present a form from the Athletic Department with the time and date of the contest signed by either the Athletic Director or the Assistant Athletic Director. If this is not done, the absence is unexcused.
2) Academic Integrity
"Academic integrity begins with respect for deep-rooted cultural and spiritual values. It builds on the moral support and guidance of our families and home communities, and, ultimately, results in countless decisions, large and small, that strengthen our community and enhance individual development and character. In sharp contrast, failures of integrity unfairly disadvantage members of our community, bring shame to our families and communities, and, in some cases, destroy the academic career of a member of our community. The linguistic relationship between “disintegrate” and integrity appropriately symbolizes these latter effects.
The precepts underlying academic integrity consist of clear directives (e.g., do not represent verbatim information without appropriate citation), as well as general principles (e.g., treat others as you would like to be treated). Universal adherence to these directives is a critical component of our path to academic integrity. Similarly, reliance on our core principles to guide consultation and discussion when we confront complex and novel ethical situations represents an equally important approach.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presenting of others’ ideas as if they were your own. When you write
an essay, create a project, do a project, or create anything original, it is assumed that all
the work, except for that which is attributed to another author or creator is your own
work. Word-for-word copying is not the only form of plagiarism.
Plagiarism is considered a serious academic offense and may take the following forms:
• Copying word-for-word from another source and not giving that source credit.
• Cutting and pasting from internet or database sources without giving that source
credit.
• Paraphrasing the work of another and not giving that source credit.
• Adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own.
• Reproducing any published or copyrighted artwork, both fine and commercial.
• Digitally duplicating or downloading any copyrighted software, programs, or files.
• Paraphrasing another’s line of thinking in the development of a topic as your own.
• Receiving excessive help from a friend or elsewhere, or using another project as
your own.
[Adapted from the Modern Language Association’s MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: MLA, 1995: 26.]
Bottom Line: If you wish to use work that it not your own, give attribution.
Evaluation:
Technical proficiency gets a B; good art gets an A. We are responsible, not only
to the demands of academia, but to the demands of the industry. If you get an “A” in this
class, for work that can’t get you a job, I have failed you.
All assignments are weighted equally.
Projects: There will be 5 projects. Each one counts equally toward your final
grade.
Tentative Schedule
Week of:
Jan 26 Thurs: Intro, Syllabus, 3D concepts, Project A assigned
Jan 31 Tues: Basics to Maya's interface
Feb 2 Thurs: Polygons: vertex pulling, selection modes, face operations
Feb 7 Tues: NURBS modeling A: lines, points, lofting, revolution.
Feb 9 Thurs: Basics to the Uv Editor
Feb 14 Tues: Project A due-- critique. Project B assigned
Feb 17 Thurs: Edge Extrusion Practice and Principles.
Feb 21 Tues: Uv Layout Practices and Principles.
Feb 24 Thurs: Zbrush or Mudbox
Feb 28 Tues: Texturing with Photoshop.
Mar 1 Thurs: Tiling Textures vs Self contained Textures in Photoshop
Mar 6 Tues: Project B due-- critique. Project C assignedPresentation.
Mar 8 Thurs: Setting up an model for either rigging or animation with groups.
Mar 13 Tues: Basics to rigging. Includes the basics to bones and inverse kinematics (IK)handles.
Mar 15 Thurs:Quiz No1: Sculpting off of a Basemesh.
Mar 19-22 Spring Break
Mar 27 Tues: Basic Camera Animations and Key framing Principles.
Mar 29 Thurs: Understanding Normal Maps and Bump Maps.
April 3 Tues: Project C due-- critique. Project D assigned
April 5 Thurs: Basics to Lighting
April 10 Tues: Review and Refinement of the UV techniques learned in Maya
April 12 Thurs: Review and Refinement in Texturing.
April 17 Tues: Polygon Review. Good time to see if there are any question need answering. Last minute modeling needs.
April 19 Thurs:Quiz No2: Texturing a Premade Asset.
April 24 Tues: Project D due-- critique. Project E assigned
April 26 Thurs: Setting up an image for Portfolio purposes.
May 1 Tues: Modeling Practices and techniques.
May 3 Thurs: Polish Day. Good day for trouble shooting.
May 8 Tues: Polish Day. Good day for trouble shooting.
May 10 Thurs: Polish Day. Good day for trouble shooting.
May 15 Tues: Project E due-- critique.