Course Schedule Instructor reserves the right to change… Week
Class
Topic
Session
01
Day
01
01
Basic
animation
in 3DS
Max.
Homework for next class – due at the
beginning of the next class.
DIGITAL TUTORS: “Introduction to
Animation in 3DS Max”, lessons 1-12.
Bouncing Ball (5points)
Create a realistic animation of a single
bouncing ball. Emphasis on timing and
spacing, arcs, ease in and ease out.
DUE: Week 01, Day 02.
Related
Competencies
1. Create and/or
transform
objects in a 3D
environment.
2. Apply
traditional
animation
techniques to 3D
animation.
In-class Activities
Intro to the class, syllabus.
Demo of basic animation in 3DS
Max.
“The Animator’s Survival Kit”,
video lecture on timing and
spacing.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
01
Day
02
02
Basic
animation
in 3DS
Max.
Ball with Tail (5 points)
Create a Bouncing Ball with a tail to
illustrate follow through, overlapping and
secondary motion.
Implementi
ng
fundamenta
l principles
in 3D.
For delivery: You should include your
first and second bouncing ball with the
movie of this one.
DUE: Week 2, Day 02.
1, 2, and 3. Set
up hierarchical
relationships.
Critique of Bouncing Ball
assignment.
Demo of linking and Spline IK.
“The Animator’s Survival Kit”,
video lecture on “More Timing
and More Spacing”.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
02
Day
01
03
02
Day
02
04
Linking
and Spline
IK.
MLK
Holiday –
school
closed.
• Timing
• Arcs
• Follow
Through
and
Overlap
ping
Action
• Seconda
ry
Action
• Ease in
and out
MLK Holiday – school closed.
Ball with Tail revised (10 points)
Revise your Ball with Tail assignment to
better illustrate follow through,
overlapping and secondary motion.
Address the five points for improvement
action plan based on feedback from your
group.
For delivery: You should include all
versions of the ball animation up to this
point. Include the QuickTime movie and
your 3ds Max file.
DUE: Week 3, Day 01.
DIGITAL TUTORS: “Introduction to
Rigging in 3ds Max”, lessons 1—15.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
MLK Holiday – school closed.
1 – 3.
Critique of Ball with Tail
assignment.
After your peer critique, write
down 5 (five) points for
improvement on your Ball with
Tail in a Word document. (For
instance: "1. Fix snapping
between frames 30 and 35.")
Turn this in by the end of class
to the folder "5 point action
plans" on the Drop Off drive.
This will count as 2 of the 5
points on this (Ball with Tail),
assignment.
Week
Class
Topic
Session
03
Day 01
03
Day
02
05
06
Snow
(Cold) Day
HI IK
Helper
objects
Constraints
The
mechanics
of walking.
Homework for next class – due at the
beginning of the next class.
Snow (Cold) Day
Ball with Tail and Legs (10 points)
Keeping the Ball and its tail, add a pair of
human-like legs. Using Inverse
Kinematics, rig the legs and animate four
steps, (left-right-left-right). When using
bones, make sure to turn "renderable" on!
Related
Competencies
Snow (Cold)
Day
1—3.
In-class Activities
Snow (Cold) Day
Critique of Ball with Tail
Revised.
Demo of basic leg rigging and
HI IK.
“The Animator’s Survival Kit”,
video lecture on “Building
Walks”.
For delivery: A QT movie of your “Ball
with Tail and Legs”, and your Max file.
DUE: Week 4, Day 01.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
04
Day 01
07
Creating
effective
walks.
Ball with Tail and Legs revised (10
points)
Incorporating the tips and techniques you
got in feedback and demos, revise your
legs to achieve a more natural gait.
1—3 and 4.
Develop an
animation that
uses cycles.
During peer critique session, you
should keep notes on the
suggestions of your cohort. After
the session, before the end of
class, turn in a Word doc file
listing at least 5 specific points
of improvement. This document
will count for 2 out of the 10
points on this assignment.
For delivery: A QT movie of your
previous Ball with Legs and your revised
version, your Max file, AND a Word doc
detailing how you addressed the points
for improvement from the previous
critique.
DUE: Week 4, Day 02.
“The Animator’s Survival Kit”,
video lecture on “Flexibility in a
Walk”.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
04
Day
02
08
Adding
flexibility
and
character to
a walk.
Week 04: Ball with Hips, Legs and Tail
(5 points)
Continuing your work on the Ball with
Legs, add hips to your walk. Use the tail
as an indicator of the hips motion. Pay
particular attention to the tilt, twist and
swivel of the hips as well as the
relationship to the feet and legs, (for a
good reference, look at "The Animator's
Survival Kit", pages 146 & 147).
For delivery: A QT movie of your
previous Ball with Legs, your revised
version, the Ball with Hips, and your Max
file. During peer critique session, you
should keep notes on the suggestions of
your cohort.
DUE: Week05, Day 01.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
Critique of Ball with Tail and
Legs.
Review of leg rig.
1—4.
Critique of Ball with Tail and
Legs revised.
“The Animator’s Survival Kit”,
video lecture on “Overlapping
and Weight”.
Week
Class
Topic
Session
05
Day 01
09
Homework for next class – due at the
beginning of the next class.
Ball with Spine, Hips, Legs and Tail (5
points)
Add to and revise your ball-with-tailwith-legs-with-hips-walk by creating and
incorporating a spine. Focus on
effectively incorporating the movement
of the hips upwards through the spine and
outwards through the tail.
Related
Competencies
1—4.
In-class Activities
Critique of Ball with Hips,
Legs and Tail.
After the critique session, before
the end of class, turn in a Word
doc file listing at least 5 specific
points of improvement. This
document will count for 1 out of
the 5 points on this assignment.
For delivery: Once again, all previous
version of the ball with legs, plus this
one, in a QT movie, (h.264), and your
Max project file.
DUE: Week 5, Day 02.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
05
Day 02
10
Ball with Spine, Hips, and Legs and
Tail revised (10 points)
Revise your ball walk with spine
animation to include more character.
Change your character's posture from the
beginning of the walk to the end.
Demonstrate a change in thoughts and
feelings with the spine, tail and legs.
1—4.
Critique of Ball with Spine,
Hips, Legs and Tail.
After critique: You must also
turn in a Word doc listing 5
points for adding more character
to your walk.
For delivery: As before, include all
previous versions of the ball with legs
with this one in a QT movie, (h.264), and
your Max file. You must also include a
Word doc listing the improvements you
made to your walk to bring it more
character.
DUE: Week 6, Day 01.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
06
Day 01
11
Skinning a
rig,
adjusting
for proper
deformatio
n.
"Ball" with Shoulders (10 points)
Create SIMPLE geometry for your
"walker", from the feet up to the
shoulders, (you may abandon the sphere
"Ball" at this point, but you should still
have some hips). Add a skin modifier to
your character mesh, and add all the
bones to this. Incorporate the shoulders
into your walk while adjusting the
envelopes on your skin for appropriate
deformation.
DUE: Week 6, Day 02.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
1—4.
Critique of Ball with Spine,
Hips, Legs and Tail revised.
Demo on working with the Skin
modifier.
Week
Class
Session
06
Day
02
12
Topic
Homework for next class – due at the
beginning of the next class.
Shoulders revised, (10 points)
Address the points of improvement from
the original Shoulders walk. Your
shoulders should roll, tilt and twist in
response to the movements of the rest of
the body and imply the weight of the
arms. Your mesh should deform
smoothly, twisting, wrinkling and folding
appropriately.
Related
Competencies
1—4.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
13
Arms, (10 points)
Extend your characters walk to its' arms.
Add bones and mesh, and 'skin' the arms,
along with the rest of your characters'
body, to walk and deform naturally.
Clean up any problems with the previous
assignment, and make sure that your
geometry is deforming appropriately.
Critique of Ball with
Shoulders.
In your cohorts, show your work
to your peers, and offer tips,
tricks and critiques for
improving your walk with
shoulders and skin. Turn in a
Word document detailing at least
three points for improvement in
both the smoothness and
character of the walk animation
and at least three points for
improvement in the technical
accomplishment of the mesh
deformation.
For delivery: Only this version and the
previous (shoulders) version of the
animation, in a QT movie, (h.264), and
your Max file.
DUE: Week 7, Day 01.
07
Day 01
In-class Activities
1—4.
Critique of Shoulders revised.
“The Animator’s Survival Kit”,
video lecture on “Arms”.
For delivery: ONLY this and the two
previous assignments, (shoulders and
revised shoulders), along with this one, in
a QT movie, (h.264), and your Max file.
DUE: Week 7, Day 02.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
07
Day
02
14
Arms revised, (10 points)
Address and implement the points that
you wrote down from peer critique. Be
ready to articulate what you changed and
how you changed it. DO NOT add a
head, (or if you do, DO NOT give it
character); we are after the structure of
the walk, the arms in particular, to reveal
our character. The head comes later. For
delivery:This and the three previous
assignments, (shoulders and revised
shoulders, arms), in a QT movie, (h.264),
and your Max file.
DUE: Week 8, Day 01.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
1—4.
Critique of Arms.
After peer critiques, write down
and turn in, (in a Word
document), 3 points for
improvement technically and 3
points for improvement in the
animation
Week
Class
Topic
Session
08
Day 01
15
Planning
out your
animation.
Step
keyframe
interpolatio
n.
Homework for next class – due at the
beginning of the next class.
Getting A Head, (10 points)
Add a head to your character. You may
add a nose, eyes, chin or other indicator
of "front", but do not animate the facial
features. Through body language alone,
and with a neutral facial expression,
animate your character walking on to the
scene, observing something it sees, (but
we do not), then reacting to it.
Success will be measured by how clearly
we understand:
1. who the character is
2. what they are thinking and feeling
3. what they see
4. how what they see changes their
emotions.
For delivery: This scene as a QuickTime
movie, (h.264), and your Max file, saved
in a folder labeled:
Lastname_Firstname_AHead.
DUE: Week 8, Day 02.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
08
Day
02
16
Acting and
staging.
A Head revised, (20 points)
Based on the 5 points for improvement on
your head, revise and improve your walk.
Through body language alone, and with a
neutral facial expression, animate your
character walking on to the scene,
observing something it sees, (but we do
not), then reacting to it.
Success will be measured by how clearly
we understand:
1. who the character is
2. what they are thinking and feeling
3. what they see
4. how it changes their emotions.
For delivery: This scene as a QuickTime
movie, (h.264), and your Max file, saved
in a folder labeled:
Lastname_Firstname_Ahead revised.
DUE: Week 9, Day 01.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
Related
Competencies
1—4 and:
5. Apply
industrystandard
storyboard and
scripting
techniques to
animation.
6. Identify
camera
techniques in
computer
animation.
7. Analyze real
world
observation and
apply to
animation.
8. Utilize
industry
standard
blocking
techniques in
the preplanning
process.
1 – 8.
In-class Activities
Critique of Arms revised.
Critique of A Head.
Week
Class
Topic
Session
09
Day 01
17
Transfer of
weight.
Using the
Link
Constraint.
Homework for next class – due at the
beginning of the next class.
Lifting a Heavy Weight, (20 points)
Your character walks in, lifts something
heavy and puts it down somewhere else.
Success will be measured on technical
achievement, (how the rig and skin
function), and a clear demonstration of
your understanding and use of the
fundamental principles of animation. The
transfer of weight should be clear and
evident.
For delivery: This version only, (heavy
v01), in a QuickTime movie, plus your
Max scene file.
DUE: Week 10, Day 01.
Related
Competencies
1—8.
In-class Activities
Critique/Presentation of
A Head revised.
[Est. time needed: 2 hours]
09
Day
02
18
Transfer of
weight.
Using the
Link
Constraint.
10
Day 01
19
Transfer of
weight.
Using the
Link
Constraint.
Lifting a Heavy Weight revised (20
points)
Using the feedback from your group,
revise and refine your first Heavy Lifting
scene. Again, you must demonstrate all
ten of principles of animation, and the
mechanics of the rig need to work.
For delivery: The first Heavy Weight
movie, and the revised Heavy Weight
movie, all QuickTime, h.264.
1—8.
.Informal peer critique
sessions.
1—8.
Critique of Lifting a
Heavy Weight
Continue work on
revisions.
1—8.
Critique/Presentation of
Lifting a Heavy Weight
revised.
DUE: Week 10, Class 02.
[Est. time needed: 8 hours]
10
Day
02
20
Transfer of
weight.
Using the
Link
Constraint.
Pushing OR Pulling a Heavy Weight
(20 points)
You may continue from your "Lifting"
assignment, or create a new scene. Your
character must either push or pull a heavy
weight in your scene. The character
should be "not pushing/pulling", then
"pushing/pulling", then "not
pushing/pulling". Show us the transfer
of weight, and how they feel about it. For
delivery: A QuickTime movie of this
scene only, in a 16X9 (HDTV) aspect
ratio, compressed with h.264. You may
use multiple camera angles.
DUE: Week 11, Class 02.
[Est. time needed: 8 hours]
Week
Class
Topic
Session
11
Day 01
21
11
Day
02
22
Transfer of
weight.
Using the
Link
Constraint.
Transfer of
weight.
Using the
Link
Constraint.
Homework for next class – due at the
beginning of the next class.
Related
Competencies
1—8.
1—8.
In-class Activities
Informal peer critique
sessions. Continue work
on revisions.
Critique final Pushing
OR Pulling a Heavy
Weight assignment.