Tuesday, November 22, 2011

WEEK 12: Texturing & Shading 1: Reflection Maps, Nonliteral Textures

Epic Citadel
Reflection maps are used for all sorts of details - shiny metals, mirrors, water, windows.. But real reflections are very slow to render. Solution: reflection maps -- entirely fake reflections created with textures. We'll apply some basic reflection maps and talk about some potential uses for your game.

Prince of Persia
Our other topic today is "nonliteral textures" - meaning non-photographic realism.
Texturing in the style of a specific game often requires us to conform to a specific art style. We'll look at some popular games that use alternative art styles and talk about how they achieved the look.





Monday, November 21, 2011

WEEK 12: Character Acting 1 -- Acting for Cinematics 2: Monologues, long-shots

Do you feel lucky... to get acting classes? Hellz ya!
We'll continue with our close-up monologues and start working on the long shots. The new scenes  require you to do a little more acting -- you may have to walk around, gesture, perhaps storm off in a huff or plead your case.  As with last week, spend some time listening to the tracks.  Choose one to use for class this week. Download and bring in the track on an mp3 player and don't forget your headphones. You're welcome to bring props, cameras, etc.


Here's the link to the tracks for this week:
http://soundcloud.com/taranimator/sets/monologues-long-shot/

Click here to download all the script excerpts to study or print.

Assignment 6:  Monologues Long Shot
Assigned: November 23th
Due: December 4th
% of Final Grade: 10%
Please keep file sizes under 2MB
Filenames:
tdonovan_longshot.avi

Description:
Choose one of the long-shot monologues and deliver a compelling performance to the voice track. Record it on video using a camera or webcam.  Make sure the audio and video sync well, it's in focus, well-lit and well composed.

WEEK 12: Animation Direction 1 - Transitions to Run Cycles

Usain Bolt = fast
Transitioning from walk cycles to run cycles this week -- we'll start dealing with blending cycles together. I don't want to see just any ol' computer-tweened morphing from you guys! I want a real transition! Think about how you'd go from walking to running. Slap on those runners, hit some pavement or a treadmill and feel the difference between the two gaits. Make sure it's obvious in your animation that you understand a new action requires an anticipation.
Does your COG drop a bit lower before it springs higher? Do you need to lean forward? Do you take one big walking step before your first running step? Exaggerating things like this to make the audience appreciate your analysis.

We'll look at some video analysis of running. There are so many kinds of running -- sprinting and long-distance running, jogging, barefoot running, and all sorts of speeds (spm) and styles, including cartoony.