Wednesday, March 26, 2014

WEEK 12: Game Dev 2 DESN2017 Assignment 4 due

The final stretch! This is the last assignment for your course, hopefully one that will bring your character smoothly back into his run cycle you started off with this term.  Think about how you can help this deceptively complex action look believable. It's not just a matter of letting the computer do the inbetweens for you - at this level we would like you to plan some interesting, subtle animation that will show your mastery of the tools and the animation principles. Ok, maybe "mastery" is scary. How about "facility" :D

What IS this 'recovery' of which I speak? Well, that's up to you, really - what happens after the slide, after the stagger, before the run cycle starts again?  There's only one way to do this properly - act it out! 
Don't forget to stretch!


Assignment 5: Recover
DUE DATE: WEEK 15 April 18 (in-class) – 20 Marks
*ZERO marks for late submissions
Using your bi-ped rig animate the character recovering from his stagger and transitioning back into your run cycle. The feel should be consistent with the personality and emotion of the previous animation. Secondary animations 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 recovery animation
REQUIREMENTS:
Filename:
DESN2017_A5_YOURNAME_thumbnails.jpg
DESN2017_A5_YOURNAME_stagger.mov
EX -
DESN2017_A5_BIEBERJUSTIN_thumbnails.jpg (last name first, please!)

DUE DATE
SUBMIT TO BLACKBOARD WEEK 15 IN CLASS

Please compress all images and videos to keep them small using the following guidelines:

Videos:
Quicktimes, 560 pixels by 316 pixels, H.264 codec, max 10MB. You can use a variety of tools such as Handbrake, Adobe Media Encoder, Quicktime Pro and more to format your videos. I use the 11-second club guidelines for all submissions:
http://www.11secondclub.com/helpful_hints/encoding

Images:
JPGs between 500-1200 pixels along longest edge, 72-300 dpi/ppi, max 5MB. You can use a variety of tools such as Photoshop, Gimp, and online programs to compress files.

WEEK 12: Asset Dev DESN1086: Assignment 4 due Next Week

Assignment 4 - action -  due next week!
Today is a work period - bring your questions & I'll have a look at your work in progress.
Make sure you put lots of time into the planning stages - thumbnailing animation is a really important skill. There's a lot of documentation on how to create nice thumbs online and on this blog. Remember to make the drawings readable in sillhouette. Think CLEAR not clean.  The thumbs below are low-detail but very very clear.

WEEK 12: Game Dev 4 DESN3012 Milestone 4 Due

Final stretch! 
Just 3 weeks left.
Please sign in and let me know if there's anything I can help you with (animation, uv'ing, texturing, painting)

Please upload your assignments to Blackboard. 

Your last assignment is due on the final week of class. 

Milestone 5: ex 5-10 second piece of animation. Value: 20%
DUE DATE: WEEK 15 April 17th on BLACKBOARD
* Late submissions will receive ZERO marks.

It is recommended that you show work in progress each week. Aim to have everything animated by Week 14 so you can spend the following week on revisions and polish. Playbasts are fine. No rendering required.

FILE NAMING:
3012_ m5_lastnamefirstinitial_001.mov
ex: 3012_m5_donovant.mov

Videos:
Quicktimes, 560 pixels by 316 pixels, H.264 codec, max 10MB. You can use a variety of tools such as Handbrake, Adobe Media Encoder, Quicktime Pro and more to format your videos. I use the 11-second club guidelines for all submissions:
http://www.11secondclub.com/helpful_hints/encoding


As you approach the end of your program, here's a good question to start asking yourself?
'What is your workflow?'. The idea of WORKFLOW in animation is a very personal one.

Generally most animators will do at least most of the following:
  • read the script/watch the leica/look at the storyboard
  • draw some thumbnails for key actions
  • act out the scene on video
  • block the broad strokes of their shot using stepped keys or very pose-to-pose timing
  • approval or peer review
  • start breaking it down 
  • approval or peer review
  • add polish, layering, offsetting
  • final approval
  • revisions or retakes  
Some variations:
- key all controllers on each pose, adding all the detail needed to sell the posing
- key only the basic controllers on each pose and layer the complexity in subsequent passes
- work straight ahead keying only the main controls and adding finer detail in subsequent passes

.. and there are more where that came from.

With 3D, it's important to stay SIMPLE because of the complexity of fixing animation on several controllers moving on different frames. That said, you need to show the director what you're planning, and that means adding even expressions and finger controls from a very early stage.

What you don't want to do is randomly start working without any plan.  Think! Plan, then start animating. "Measure twice, cut once"

See this example of VFX workflow from John Carter from Animator Patrick Giusiano