Introduction:
From: http://tinyurl.com/3m2z6gs
Learning Outcomes:
Students will have mastered the material when they can:
1) Identify, describe and differentiate different forms of non-computer-based animation
2) Identify, describe and differentiate different forms of computer-based animation
including virtual reality, augmented reality and motion capture.
3) Create, manipulate and animate objects in a 3-D world using the Constructive Solid
Geometry software Blender.
Learning outcomes for the Project are tied to these course goals:
Course Goal 2: Build digital media documents as a communication tool in the Internet
environment (creating a wiki page with images, descriptions & sizes)
Course Goal 3: Publish digital media documents in the Internet (building the wiki and
downloads work)
Course Goal 4: Apply multimedia in digital media publication (projects done using the
Blender)
Learning outcomes for the Tests are tied to these course goals:
Course Goal 1: Understand various forms of digital media in the Internet environment
Course Goal 5: Evaluate digital media
Learning Outcomes Assessment:
Learning Outcome #
1&2
3
Assessment
Activities
Project Test
Group A: 1, 2 & 3
X
Group B: 1-25
X
Activities Group A:
1) Animation: http://tinyurl.com/3m2z6gs
Introduction
Getting Started
The early years, the early techniques
The rise of computers
Motion Capture and Animated Films
Augmented Reality, adding Animation to the "Real World"
2) Animation powerpoint slides: http://tinyurl.com/3pwdmn9
3) Captured powerpoint lecture: http://tinyurl.com/3f3jr2q
Activities Group B: 1-25:
Play each of the captured videos found at:
http://tinyurl.com/3ta7gzc
Play the captured demonstration videos at the same time as you run Blender 2.59 and
follow along to pick up the techniques needed to complete the project.
1-Look through the online Blender 2.59 Manual.
2-Set up the Mouse and fly around the model.
3-Start Blender 2.5.
4-Save a Blender project .
5-Make a camera view window.
6-Add and Delete Objects.
7-Add color to the objects(s), render and save the rendered image
8-Change the output file format
9-Select, grab, move, scale and rotate objects.
10-Animate the camera
11-Animate a light
12
-Do a Boolean Intersection and a Boolean Union Operation on two objects(s).
13-Do both Boolean Difference Operations on two objects(s).
14-Change from OBJECT to EDIT mode & modify the shape of objects(s).
15-Reset Blender to factory settings
16-Animate the translation of an object
17-Animate the scaling of an object
18-Animate the rotation of an object
19-Place a plane behind your objects so that you can see shadows
20-Change the size (width and height) of the rendered window
21-Change the frame rate of an animation
22-Save a rendered animation as a quicktime movie
23-Place an image on a Blender object
24-Use Parent/Child connections between objects
25-Against a plane background with a image, parent a cube to a lamp, cause the cube to
rotate and translate
Assessment:
Number
Test
1
Type
Project
Graded
in-class
Test
2
Project 3;
Part 1
3
Project 3;
Part 2
4
Project 3;
Part 3
Description
Wiki readings including
videos, captured lecture
& lecture slides.
(See Appendix A for
specific question list)
Completion of project
defined at:
http://tinyurl.com/
3wuohba
Approx.
time to
complete
60
Location
Distributed on
thumb drive
20
Posted on
wiki.ggc.edu
Completion of project
defined at:
http://tinyurl.com/
3wuohba
40
Posted on
wiki.ggc.edu
Completion of project
defined at:
http://tinyurl.com/
3wuohba
60
Posted on
wiki.ggc.edu
5
Graded
final
exam
Wiki readings including
videos, captured lecture
& lecture slides.
(See Appendix A for
specific question list)
120
Distributed on
thumb drive
Key Topics/Terms/Skills:
Creating moving images in this class

Capture with a camera frames and then edit

miniDV camera with Mac iMovie editing

Use animation techniques to create frames
 There are a variety of techniques used to create animations

draw images on a flipbook

paint directly on film

cell animation

cut out manipulation or felt board

physical model manipulation aka clay-mation
 Cell animation

painting on clear plastic

different cells for different objects that move

stack several and photograph them together

Disney, Snow White, 1937

Organized a team of artists

Keyframe artists, the most skilled, create the key frames

Tweeners, physical interpolation between key frames

shadows must be individually painted

shading must be individually painted

requires a skilled artist to visualize these shadows

Simpsons

first 14 episodes were hand painted

subsequent episodes were created using software that simulates cell
animation
 cut out animation

Terry Gilliam, Monty Python's flying circus, 1969

South Park

Pilot was actually cut-out animation

subsequent episodes used computer animation that mimicked cut-out

Why use cut-out instead of cell animation?

Simpsons (cell animation) takes 6-8 months to produce

South Park (cut-out) takes 6 weeks

Cut-out lends itself to addressing more current current events
 Model creation

2D frames created from 2D models

shadows and shading must be hand-drawn

hand drawn

cell animation

cut-out

Examples: Simpsons, Snow White, South Park

2D frames created from 3D models

animator must manage the camera and the lighting

shadows are automatically generated

physical model manipulation (claymation)

managing the model movement is the hard part

examples: Gumby, Wallace and Gromit, Fantastic Mr. Fox

3D computer modeling (Blender)

building the model is the hard part

Examples: Toy Story, Up
 Key frame interpolation

physically done by animators called tweeners

linear interpolation involves equal spacing in time between key frames

quadratic interpolation involves spacing based on quadratic equations

gravity is an example of a quadratic
 Motion Capture

an actor performs the moves in a suit that has joints marked

cameras capture the motion

an 3D computer based model is created with joints marked

software maps the animated character's joints to the captured actor's markings

Examples: Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol, Avatar

Avatar created special tools to view the otherwise barren stage

There is a director's camera that implemented augmented reality

With a bare set and the actors in their motion capture suits, the director
could aim his computer monitor at the scene and view a low-resolution rendering
of the final scene
 Virtual Reality

two versions, fully immersive and 2D

fully immersive virtual reality

participant wears goggles or helmet that completely blocks the view of the
natural world and substitutes in its place two monitors, one in front of each eye

a computer tracks the participant's head position and facing direction in
3D space then presents one image for each eye

each image is a slightly different view of the scene presented causing the
illusion of full 3D vision allowing the participant to "enter" a world that is
completely generated by the computer

any object that is in the world that the participant can move around must
also be tracked by the computer

2D virtual reality (vrml or quicktime VR are examples)
a 3D space is created internal to the computer and is presented as a 2D
image on a computer monitor

navigation tools must be provided to allow the participant to move through
this internally 3D space

many games use this type of 3D virtual reality
Augmented Reality
unlike virtual reality, augmented reality lets the participant see the real world
around them
augmented reality adds information from the world computational resources on
top of the real world
it can operate using gps coordinates to discover its position in the real world
it can operate using a camera that captures and inspects the surroundings to find
its position in the real world
it can use that camera to do facial recognition and then project names over
people's heads







APPENDIX OF TYPICAL ANIMATION QUESTIONS
The image named image5.jpg could be best described as an example of what computer
based technique?
If an animator wants to make his 3D model move like a human what technique would be
his best choice?
When generating the frames that fall between the key frames in an animation sequence,
which form of interpolation would more accurately show the motion of an object under
the affect of gravity?
Which two animation techniques do not require the animator to create shadows
individually, frame by frame?
In 1937 Walt Disney brought Snow White to the screen using what form of animation?
In the 1960’s Terry Gilliam of Monty Python’s Flying Circus fame introduced the TV
audience to what form of animation?
If an animator decides to use 2D computer animation techniques rather than 3D
animation techniques, give one thing that they would have to produce, frame by frame,
that would be automatically produced had they chosen 3D?
Of the 4 types of animation techniques discussed in class, which type is Blender?
Of the 4 types of animation techniques we discussed in class, what type was used to
produce The Simpsons?
Of the 4 types of animation techniques we discussed in class, what type was used to
produce South Park?
Of the 4 types of animation techniques we discussed in class, what type was used to
produce Toy Story 3?
Of the 4 types of animation techniques we discussed in class, what type was used to
produce Wallace and Gromit?
Of the 4 types of animation techniques we discussed in class, name the form that would
allow the production of animation in the shortest length of time.
When using 3D animation techniques (instead of 2D animation techniques) to create 2D
animations you have to manage 2 additional things. What are these things?
In the recent movie Avatar what technique was used to create an animated fictional
creature that moves and looks very much like the actor portraying the part?
Which image in FinalPart3Images shows one version of the technique mentioned in the
question above?
For you to see your hand in a 3D virtual reality system what must the virtual reality
system do?
Determining the spacing of the frames that fall between the key frames is a matter of
interpolation. What two forms of interpolation have we discussed in this class?
What animation technique involves painting different picture elements on clear sheets of
plastic, stacking them and then taking a photograph?
What animation technique was used to create South Park?
What animation technique was used to create The Fabulous Mr. Fox and Wallace and
Gromit?
3D computer-based animation techniques automatically create shadows but they require
the animator to control what two additional 3D modeling elements?
Which two animation techniques require that you draw the shading and shadows on every
frame?
Which animation technique lends itself to addressing current events because it takes the
least amount of time to produce?
image2: shows an actor playing the part of an animated character in the movie Avatar.
What name is given to this kind of technology?
In fully immersive virtual reality the user’s view of the real world is blocked and replaced
by two images, one for each eye. These two images are produced by a computer. Why
two images, one for each eye?
Tweeners use interpolation to fill in the frames between key frames. Which kind of
interpolation would they use to fill in the frames so that the moving objects move at a
constant speed between key frames?
image4: shows a new kind of greeting card that requires the card, a webcam and some
special software to view. What kind of computer graphics technique is this card using?