Wednesday, February 12, 2014

WEEK 6: Game Dev 2 DESN2017 Assignment 2: Leap due today!

Today's the day to hand in your second assignment on Blackboard. 

Onward to the next assignment! 

Assignment 3: Slide Under Object
*Note: If your run cycle didn't turn out as well as you had hoped, please redo it instead of the next action. You can still use the same hand-in parameters and call it Assignment 3. Just make it a run instead of a slide. 

DUE DATE: WEEK 9, March 7th (in-class) – 20 Marks
*ZERO marks for late submissions
Using the Stewart or Eleven Rig, create a slide animation for a bi-ped. The character should slide under an object of some sort (object can be invisible) as if avoiding impact. The feel should be consistent with the personality and emotion of the previous animation. Secondary animation, a broad range of movements and timing are encouraged to add life to the character.

SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING:

A) Thumbnails of key poses – minimum 6 key poses
B) Video file of 3D slide animation

REQUIREMENTS:

Filename:
DESN2017_A3_YOURNAME_thumbnails.jpg
DESN2017_A3_YOURNAME_slide.mov (.mov file)
EX -
DESN2017_A3_BIEBERJUSTIN_thumbnails.jpg (last name first, please!)

Please compress all images and videos to keep them small using the guidelines for Assignments 1 & 2

About the assignment:

What exactly is meant by a 'slide'? Well, that's largely up to you. If you give yourself an imaginary obstacle it could be easier, but the main idea is to continue moving the character forward but under something, causing him to duck and slide. 

Thumbs, thumbnailing, thumbnail posing... in animation these terms get tossed around a fair bit. They all refer to drawing quick, small gestures in planning animation.

Check out Pixar's Victor Navone's run study from The Incredibles. Can you guess which movie he used to source that action?

Oh, yes, the Breakfast Club ...


...and here's the clip from the Incredibles in which he used all that reference:




Drawing is the premier means of visual communication and it's absolutely essential in collaborating with other artists. Drawing is a learned skill that comes more easily to some than others -- but make no mistake, a few hours of dedicated study can make all the difference. Animators have to draw so darned many drawings that they've spent a century developing a list of tricks to streamline the process.  Here's a great article that might help you. 

WEEK 6: Asset Dev 2 DESN1086 Milestone 2: Walk/Run Due in next week

Having fun with your animated cycles? Please ask if you need any help.

While drawing away in your various softwares it's wise to remember the one advantage of hand-drawn animation: freedom. It's easy to paint ourselves into a restrictive corner without realizing, when every now and then you see something that makes you stop and see that when it comes to creative 2D animation cycles, the sky's the limit. I had one of those moments when I first saw this:

Evolution from Mehdi Alibeygi on Vimeo.



WEEK 6: Game Dev 4 DESN3012 Milestone 2 due today!

Today is an in-class critique of Milestone 2 and a chance to talk about your ideas for Milestone 3. 

Milestone 3:  ex 5-10 second piece of animation
Value: 20%
DUE DATE: WEEK 9 March 6th @ BEGINNING OF CLASS
* Late submissions will receive ZERO marks.
In-class you would want to show:
WEEK 7: thumbnails
WEEK 9: rough posing in 3D
WEEK 10: final animation - Playbasts are fine. No rendering required.

FILE NAMING:
3012_ m3_lastnamefirstinitial_001.mov (mp4, m4v, etc)
ex: 3012_m3_donovant_001.mov

I'm really happy with the progress so far from last term to this term. You guys are keeping it simple, which is allowing you more time for polish. At this level what people expect is that you handle all the basics well, even with mastery. It's ok if it's simple. Better simple and great than complex and mediocre. Right?  Here's a great example of something simple and polished - check out the nice silhouettes and the way the animator leads your eye where he wants you to look: