Animation I Syllabus

ANIMATION I :: SYLLABUS
ARTS 4060 Spring 2013

Tuesdays and Fridays, 10:00 am to 11:50
am Sage, VAST Studio, 2411
Professor: Silvia Ruzanka
Office: Sage 4202
Office Hours: By appointment or Mon. 2-4
Email: [email protected] (please include ARTS 4060 in the subject heading)
*Note this information is subject to change over the course of the semester.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Animation I is an introduction to 3D animation. Students will complete several small assignments that are
designed to encourage creativity, develop a familiarity with the tools and learn animation terminology.
REQUIREMENTS
1. There will be several small projects leading up to a final project. Satisfactory completion of projects
and participation during in-class critiques is mandatory for credit. Critiques are not optional.
2. Late arrivals, early departures and unexcused absences are frowned upon. Only 3 unexcused absences will
be allowed. If you need an official excuse, go to the Student Experience office: 4th floor of Academy Hall,
x8022, [email protected]. Every additional absence will result in the lowering of the final grade by a letter. Do not
arrive late or leave early. Three tardies or early departures are considered one absence. It is the student's
responsibility to make up material missed due to absence; the professor does not provide lecture notes to
students who miss class.
ASSIGNMENTS
All assignments are due at the beginning of class and will be marked down if turned in later. Work must be
submitted in the format listed in the assignment. Late assignments will be lowered one letter grade for each
day late. Satisfactory completion of projects is mandatory for a passing grade.
Budget in time for technical difficulties. Losing your files due to a computer crash or other means will
NOT be allowed as an excuse for turning in work late. You are responsible for backing up all of your
files. Backing up files is very important. Printer malfunction will NOT be allowed as an excuse for
turning in work late. You are responsible for printing your images ahead of time.
MATERIALS
Required
Laptop computer (bring laptops to every class)
Active RCS account
Video Camera for shooting reference footage
Flash Drive or portable hard drive: You are responsible for backing up all your files.
Maya 2013 ( you can download it for free from Autodesk)
Bamboo or Wacom Tablet ( this will really be useful!) or a really nice 3 button mouse or both
Sketchbook-for keeping ideas, drawings, photographs, and notes. Bring this to class.
RECOMMENDED READING
The Animator’s Survival Kit, Richard

Williams The Art of Maya, Autodesk Maya
Press [digital Modeling], William Vaughan
ARTS 4060 Syllabus Animation 1, Spring 1

2013
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By completion of the course:

 Students will be able to use basic 3D modeling techniques
 Students will be able to use basic shading, rendering, texturing, and lighting techniques
 Students will be able to apply animation concepts learned in Fundamentals of Animation to a 3D
environment
 Students will create a short 3D animation
COURSE EVALUATION
Students must demonstrate satisfactory achievement of course objectives through fulfillment of course
projects and by contributing to class discussions and critiques.
All appeals must be brought to the instructor during office hours or at a scheduled time convenient to both
parties. Keep in mind that an appeal has the potential to raise or lower your grade.
If a student completes all assignments adequately, participates in class discussions and activities, and has a
good attendance record, she/he can expect to receive a grade of C.
Grades of B and A are given for work, participation and engagement that substantially exceed the
average expectation.
Letter grade equivalents for the course are as follows:

A=4.0, A-=3.67, B+=3.33 B=3.0, B-= 2.67, C+= 2.33,
C=2.0 C-= 1.67, D+=1.33, D=1.0, F=0.0
Grade Breakdown:
Attendance & Participation: 10%
Projects: 90%, equally weighted.
Note: Since this course covers an overview of the whole pipeline, some projects build on the project before.
For example, you will need to have Project 3 (Character modeling) completed before starting Project 4
(Rigging), which will need to be completed before you can start animating. Budget your time accordingly.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Trust: Student-Teacher relationships are built on trust. Students must trust that teachers have made
appropriate decisions about the structure and content of the courses they teach. And, teachers must trust
that the assignments that students turn in are their own. Acts, which violate this trust, undermine the
educational process.
Plagiarism: All work produced in this course must be original and created by the student. First infraction will
result in a failure for the course and a report to the Office of the Dean.

2013
COURSE CALENDAR
Week Introduction: Homework:

1 1/22
1/25 Introduction to the course Post your best work from previous classes onto
Vimeo and email Vimeo address to
Introduction to Maya, keyframe [email protected]. Remember to include ARTS 4060
animation in the subject line.
Project 1: Environment and Bouncing Ball

Due: 2/1
Simple environment with a bouncing ball
Lit and rendered
Week 2 Introduction to Modeling Project 1: Critique

1/29 primitives construction
2/1 basic lighting
basic materials
rendering
timing and spacing
shot composition
Week 3 Polygon Modeling Project 2: Still Life

2/5 Components, Mesh Tools Due: 2/26
2/8 Extrusion Create a still life composition with real objects,
Combining Meshes both man-made and organic. Recreate the still
Normals life in Maya, with creative use of lighting, render
Using Reference images and print a high-quality final image.
Week 4 Texturing Work on:

2/12 UV mapping and unwrapping UV map and texture still life models, using all
2/15 Using pre-made textures original textures.
Editing and creating textures in
Photoshop
Week 5 Lighting Work on:

2/19: no Light and render still life
class Recreating studio lighting in 3D
2/22 Basic exterior lighting

2013
Week 6 Character modeling Project 2: Critique
2/26
3/1 Character design preparation Project 3: Character
Basic anatomy Model Due: 3/19
Creating reference images Design an original character, humanoid, realistic
Topology and edge flow or stylized. Create a low-poly model with good
Box modeling topology, suitable for animation or for games.
Modeling for animation
Week Character Modeling Homework:

7 3/5
3/8 Hand modeling 3/5: Character designs, reference images
Head modeling
Construction techniques for
clean edgeflow
Week Spring Break No Class!

8 3/12
3/15
Week Rigging Project 3 Critique

9 3/19 Rig construction fundamentals
3/22 Planning a rig Project 4: Rigging
Bones and IK Due: 4/2
Skin weight painting Create a control rig for your character
Week Rigging
10 3/26 Constraints
3/29 Control curves and objects
Custom attributes
Driven keys
Expressions
Week Character animation Project 4 Due

11 4/2 Principles of character motion
4/5 Effective poses Project 5:
Walk cycle tutorial Walk Due:
Blocking 4/16
Animate a character walking using yourself as
reference
Week 12 Spline control Homework:

4/9 Graph editor 4/9: Reference video and planning sketches
4/12 Moving, inserting, deleting
keys Spline cleanup
Week Planning for animation Project 5 Critique

13 4/16 Planning, shooting reference
4/19 thumbnailing for animation Project 6: Animated
timing Short First draft due 5/7

2013
Week Character animation Homework:
14 4/23 Arcs 4/23: Reference video and sketches
4/26 Ease-in/ease-out
Week 15 Studio Homework:

4/30 4/30: Blocking Pass
5/3
Week 16 First draft critique Project 6 Critique

5/7 Final Critique will be done Project 7: Polishing
during the scheduled final

2013

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ANIMATION I :: SYLLABUS

ARTS 4060 Spring 2013

The Animator’s Survival Kit, Richard

ARTS 4060 Syllabus Animation 1, Spring 1

By completion of the course:

Letter grade equivalents for the course are as follows:

ARTS 4060 Syllabus Animation 1, Spring 2

Week Introduction: Homework:

Project 1: Environment and Bouncing Ball

Week 2 Introduction to Modeling Project 1: Critique

Week 3 Polygon Modeling Project 2: Still Life

Week 4 Texturing Work on:

Week 5 Lighting Work on:

ARTS 4060 Syllabus Animation 1, Spring 3

Week Character Modeling Homework:

Week Spring Break No Class!

Week Rigging Project 3 Critique

Week Character animation Project 4 Due

Week 12 Spline control Homework:

Week Planning for animation Project 5 Critique

ARTS 4060 Syllabus Animation 1, Spring 4

Week 15 Studio Homework:

Week 16 First draft critique Project 6 Critique

ARTS 4060 Syllabus Animation 1, Spring 5

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