Final Project: Dialogue

Due 5/8, 11am-1pm

Choose a character from one of the provided rigs, or acquire a rigged model of your own (so long as it doesn't already come animated).  Use it to create a short character animation to a line of dialogue.

The camera can be focused on a bust shot (waist up) of the character.  Animating anything that's not showing on camera is not required, but make sure to animate everything that we do see on camera.  Avoid just a talking head shot - involve the character's body in the animation.

What I will be looking for during the final grade:

Lip Syncing:  Do the mouth movements match the dialogue?

Head and Body Accents:  Do the character's actions accent the dialogue?

Acting:  Does the character show personality?  Does the character feel alive?

Technical:  Are there any hiccups in the animation?  Is the rig being utilized to its fullest potential?  Are there any technical issues such as the model's body parts intersection each other (such as the hand going into the body)?

Student Examples

Project 2: Prop Character

Due 4/29

Design a character based on an inanimate object (ex: Luxo Jr., the cast from Brave Little Toaster, Beast's servants from Beauty and the Beast).

Something to think about is how can this character show sentience?  It doesn't have to involve facial features (Luxo, the rug from Aladdin, for example, don't have faces but show sentience).  What kind of personality does the character have?

It's recommended to work from references of the real life object, such as photos, when designing your character, figuring out what your textures/colors should be, etc.  However, it doesn't have to look like a real-life replica of that object.  How realistic or cartoony the object is, is up to you.

This project will be divided into several parts:

Preproduction
1. Gesture Drawings
2. Model Sheet

Production
3. Model/Texture the Character
4. Rig the Character
5. Animate the Character performing a simple gesture.

The project will be graded on:
Character Design:  Was there thought and effort put into the character design?  Does it show research and preparation?  This will be most prevalent in the preproduction stage.
How the Character Design Translates into the 3D Model:  Does the model look like the reference drawings/photos?  This refers mostly to the model and textures.
Model Functionality:  Can the model function properly?  It's not required to have complicated functionality, but can it do simple things like bend its body, move its limbs and show character?
Animation/Acting:  Does the final gesture animation show personality?


Student Examples

Assignment 5: Walking Legs

Due 3/6

Create a simple walk cycle with the Ultimate Walker rig.  What I will be looking for is:
    - A clean cycle (so there's no jump between the last frame and the first frame)
    - That the walk contains all of the poses needed to identify it as a walk (contact and passing positions)
    - The character shows balance and weight.  This can be done using the body/leg positions, squash and stretch and overlapping action/follow through.
    - Any technical problems - popping knees, choppiness in the animation, feet sliding, etc.
    - Use of the Graph Editor to smooth out problems in the In-Betweens
    - Bonus points if the walk shows character/personality.

The walk cycle will be rendered out in a front, side and 3/4 view, to show the walk at different angles.



Components and Character of a Walk Cycle

This Tumblr post has a man on a treadmill emulating many very different types of walks.

The character of the walk shows in a variety of ways, including the shoulder and hips position and rotation, the timing of the arms and legs, the weight of the character (are they stepping lightly, stomping down, do they favor one side or the other), how broad or subtle the steps are, etc.

When thinking about how your character can walk, visual references - whether they're videos or just people watching in a public space - can be very helpful.

The most important two poses that every walk must have are Contact and Passing.

A walk typically doesn't have any frames where both feet are off the ground at the same time (that's usually a run), but there are some instances where it may happen, such as a skip.

Example:

Assignment 4: Dynamic Poses

Due 3/4

Choose one of the provided rigged characters.  Take the character and keyframe them in 3 different poses.  The poses should push the figure into very different gestures (try not to have two gestures too similar to each other).  Push the rig as much as you can, to get as much exaggeration and performance from the character.  Use the camera to render a picture of each of the three poses (totalling three images).

You may edit any of the characters (such as changing their colors/textures) or acquire your own rigged model for the assignment so long as the character has a rig you can manipulate, and that you put the model into the poses yourself.

What I will be looking at with grading:
      - Does the character show weight and balance?
      - Does the character show personality?
      - What actions are they performing?
      - Does the figure push the rig, or does it play it safe?
      - Does the camera enhance the figure?

Helpful Hints:
      - References such as 2D drawings or photographs can be used to help figure out what pose to do and the mechanics of that pose.
      - When putting the character into a pose, especially if it's referencing a photograph, can that pose be exaggerated for more clarity?
      - Some rigs are more versatile than others.  Explore the rig and see everything you can do with it.

Student Examples

Project 1: Character Interacting with Prop

Due 4/3

For this project, you will animate a provided character picking up and interacting with a simple object that you design, texture, rig and model.

This project will be divided into sections:

Part 1: Model and Texture a Simple Prop.
     The prop should be an object with flat color textures.
     The object can have moving parts, including but not limited to:  A piece extending, such as a beam coming out of a light saber, or a piece that spins. 

Part 2: Create simple rig for the prop.

Part 3: Create a short acting animation piece with a provided character model/rig, interacting with your prop.

Part 4:  Add lights, set up your camera and render the scene.


Rubric
The project will have checkpoints throughout, but everything will be due on April 3.  The project's grade is broken down into the following categories:

Prop:  How well-modeled is the object?  How is the edge flow?  Is the object overly basic, or overly complicated with too many edge loops?  Are there any problems or mistakes with the textures? 

Animation:  Does the character show weight when they're interacting with the prop?  Is the animation snappy?  Does the character show appeal?

Technical:  Is there any popping or errors in the animation?  Are there any problems with the way the prop interacts with the character? Is the rig functional?  Does it feel like it's in the character's hand?


Recommendations
The heavier the object is, the more your character will need to show weight in order to pick it up and use it.

It is possible to use an object that the character tosses, changes hands (or changes what part of the body the object is attached to, such as the head, but it is rigging challenging because it requires building in parent constraints (or multiple instances of the object with visibility/invisibility switches).  It's allowed, but not required.


Student Examples

Assignment 3: Bouncing Ball

Bouncing Ball (Due 2/20)

Use a sphere in Maya to create a bouncing ball animation.  Include at least one obstacle that will change the speed and trajectory of the ball.  Render the animation as a video file and upload it onto your blog.

Please keep in mind gravity's effect on an object - how it will cause the ball to slow down as it nears the top of the arc, and then speed up as it descends.  Also, we don't want to just replicate reality, but exaggerate it.  Really try and show that impact of the ball striking the ground.  There is no set length - as long as the video is long enough to encompass the bouncing ball and its interaction with the obstacle, at 24 frames per second.

What I will be thinking about when grading:
     Animation:
              Timing and Spacing:  Does it slow down as it nears the top of the arc and speed up before impact?
              Arcs:  Does the ball movement naturalistic?
     Technical:  Does the ball's path become wobbly at any point?  Does the ball float through the ground?  Was the Graph Editor used to fine tune the animation?


Student Examples:

Assignment 2: Primitive Shapes

Due 2/11

Using only primitives in Maya, create a simple scene or creature.  You may distort, rotate and move the primitives as needed.  The purpose of this assignment is to get you comfortable with the interface.  When finished, move and position the camera then use it to render 3 images.

What I will be looking for when Grading:
     Creative use and placement of the primitives.
     Flattering use of the camera - taking images that show nice Composition and make your primitive models/scene look its best.
            - When taking pictures with the camera, you don't have to take a picture at every angle.  If the back of the scene looks wonky, keep your camera to the front, above or the side.
     Color can be added but it's not required.

Example: