CLASS 14 : Modeling and Animation II: Maya "Action Analysis"

Our last official class of the year, already!  Has the poor orphaned topic of 'Newton's Laws' been left til the very end? Horrors! I'll make some time for that and talk about how we can use them in our animation.

We'll also do a quick review of the 12 Principles of Animation - can you name them all without checking? 

 Disney animation genius Milt Kahl puts all the principles together 

I'll have time to give you feedback  you get your final projects closer to the finish line. I can also help you decipher any of the critiques you got on previous assignments and offer some tips for how to make your future projects even more awesome.

Don't forget your WIP Animation is due today at midnight. Please keep an eye on your file sizes - we'll go over this topic in class.

Reminder -- your Final Animation is due: 08/08/12 at midnight!

CLASS 13 : Modeling and Animation II: Intro to 3D Animation in Maya. Final Assignment - "Action Analysis"

Please note time change to Wed July 25, 6-9 pm in room 503
Please welcome guest instructor Jakub Pazera who has several years' experience as an animator in character animation and visual effects.

The next level of applying the Principles of Animation is the most elusive: adding personality to our characters. Staging, solid posing and appeal will come into play even more in this last 3D animation assignment for this course.

You'll be taking a few weeks to find, analyze and animate a short live action clip of your choice or creation.

student examples of action analysis

Assignment 5
Luxo Lamp: Action Analysis
Assigned: 10/07/12
Your animation is due in 3 stages following the typical stages required in a studio.
Blocking Due: 25/07/12  -  show this to Jakub in class
WIP Animation Due: 01/08/12 
Final Animation Due: 08/08/12
% of total mark: 20%

Find a live action clip no longer than 10 seconds. Download it using 'Save Vid' or another downloading tool (see sidebar links).  You'll need to save the video file locally as a QT so you can stop-frame through it easily. Analyze it frame by frame looking for keys, breakdowns, arcs, timing, and any other noteworthy details that make the clip interesting to you.  Take notes on paper or draw over stills. You can also import the clip into Maya. 


Animate Luxo acting out the clip using any other primitives you need to sell this piece. Zero marks are given for modeling, lighting, or texturing. This is entirely an animation assignment. The camera angles do not have to match the live action reference but make sure they're flattering to your action.

As with the jump, be sure to make the lamp look heavy by showing the effort required to move that weight. Now's your chance to add a little character and personality to your lamp.

The final output should be 3 files: your reference, your playblast, and your maya file.
Try to optimize your videos so they are as small as possible while maintaining image quality.
Please no .wmv's. No weird codecs.

Files should be named as follows:
tdonovan_luxo_vid_ref.avi or .mov or .mp4 or .m4v
tdonovan_luxo_action_000.avi
tdonovan_luxo_action_000.ma

The file number (000) should be whatever version of the file you hand in. You can hand in any version up to 999. This could come in handy if you need to resubmit. You can simply send me the new file with the new version number. Careful with your file naming. No caps. No extra spaces. No extra descriptors.

Rubric:
Exemplary: Advanced grasp of animation principles evident. Luxo has unmistakable weight, clear, snappy timing, convincing overlapping action.  Camera angles should frame action so that it is clearly staged for maximum readability with strong sillhouettes. Luxo has a clear personality and appeal.
Excellent: Strong grasp of most of the animation principles with few mistakes. Luxo has consistent weight, good timing, and good use of overlapping action. Camera angles frame the action well. Luxo has some personality and appeal.
Acceptable: Reasonably executed animation utilizing most of the animation principles with some minor mistakes. Luxo has mostly consistent weight, timing and overlapping action. Action is staged reasonably well. Luxo has a somewhat clear personality.
Not Acceptable: Lack of evident understanding of the animation principles with several mistakes. Luxo not heavy or smoothly-timed with little to no overlapping action. Camera doesn't frame the action well. Luxo doesn't appear to have any personality.

CLASS 12 : Modeling and Animation II: Intro to 3D Animation in Maya. Using video reference for animation.

We'll have a look at the Bouncing Balls and Luxo Jumps in class.

Working with Video Reference
We studied photographic reference of jumping to help us animate our Luxo lamps. We'll spend the next few weeks using video reference to help us bring more realism into our animation. 

When animators copy video footage frame by frame it's called "rotoscoping". This can lead to dead, lifeless animation such as you might see with bad motion capture animation. The trick to using video reference properly is to identify and clarify the keys in the action and subtley exaggerate the timing.

In the example below I used a live action reference video to quickly map out a simple Luxo lamp jump. The animation is not identical to the live action but an interpretation. You'll quickly see that with just a little exaggeration you can make your animation even better, heavier, and snappier than the live action footage.

Check out the video to see how I turned one of my students into a lamp... 

In-Class Exercise: 
Animation using Video Reference.

Assigned: July 10th
Due: July 10th in class
Total Value: 10%
Short in-class exercise to practice working with live action reference. 
Please download this tennis clip from our shared DropBox folder:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/la6g3v2u343ocrv/tennis.mov

Create a new scene with Luxo and a ball and animate at least some of the action from this video.
Upload it to the folder "tennis exercise".

tdonovan_tennis_000.ma
tdonovan_tennis_000.avi

You can bring your video right into your 3D scene and have it on an image plane. This is a 2-step process: create an image sequence, and then play the sequence in Maya. If you import the movie and project it onto an image plane, it will not scrub in the viewport.

Creating Image Planes From Video Reference
-Find and trim the reference video you want and save it.
-Create a jpg or TIFF image sequence for it at 24 fps, aiming for the lowest tolerable quality setting (I got 11 kb/fr)
You can do this easily in QuickTimePro.
You can also use Premiere, Final Cut Pro, AfterEffects, etc.
In Premiere: -->File | Export | Media. Select TIFF as the format, and set source range to Entire Clip.

In Maya:
-create a new camera from the main menu:  Create --> Camera
-in the viewport, look through your new camera: Panels --> Perspective --> Camera 1 (or whatever you named your camera)
-in the viewport, create an image plane: View --> Image Plane --> Import Image, click on the first frame of your image sequence.
-View --> Image Plane --> Image Plane Attributes --> Select "Use Image Sequence"
- in Image Plane Attributes, select the visibility Display --> In all views
Animate through the perspective window or the camera if you like


Reminder: no class next week, July 18th. 
Next class: July 25, 6-9 with Jakub Pazerla

CLASS 11 : Modeling and Animation II: Luxo Jr - the short that launched Pixar

We'll do a follow-up on your bouncing ball assignments before moving on to our next task: Luxo Lamp jumps!

Click here to watch "Luxo Jr" from 1986

The Luxo lamp is for 3D what the famous flour sack has been for generations of 2D animators -- a tool for perfecting & demonstrating a mastery of the 12 Principles of Animation. We'll watch "Luxo Jr", Pixar's short from 1986. As you watch this famous film, bear in mind the primitive tools the artists were working with at the time. This is a remarkable first film for what was then a fledgling industry, which has grown into the multi-faceted world of CG movies, shorts, and games we know today.

From Wikipedia:
Luxo Jr. is the first film produced in 1986 by Pixar Animation Studios, following its establishment as an independent film studio. It is a computer-animated short film (two and a half minutes, including credits), demonstrating the kind of things the newly-established company was capable of producing. It was the first Pixar short to release within a Pixar film.  It is the source of the small hopping desk lamp included in Pixar's corporate logo. In a subsequent re-release after Pixar became popular, a pretext was added to the film reading, "In 1986 Pixar produced its first film. This is why we have a hopping lamp in our logo." Download and view other examples of Pixar's shorts and learn more about their production process here:
http://www.pixar.com/index.html

Before jumping from a bouncing ball to a complex humanoid, the Luxo lamp gives us an opportunity to use a simple multi-jointed character to practice using the 12 Principles to create not just weight and timing, but also personality.

It's also a great opportunity to analyze live action reference.

Eadweard Muybridge's classic photo of the long-jumper has many clues we can use to bring life to our animation.

Download the Luxo Rig for Maya here.

Assignment 4
Luxo Lamp Animation:
Assigned: 05/07/12
Due: 10/07/12
% of final mark: 15%


Animate the Luxo lamp doing a simple jump forward. Using video and photographic reference if possible. All the Principles of Animation should be in this assignment, especially nuts-and-bolts tools like Anticipation, Action, Reaction, Weight, Timing, Arcs, and even more esoteric ones like Appeal. Spend your time on the mechanics of the jump. If you have time, you can add a little personality.  Think about how heavy the base of the lamp would be. Show the effort required to move that weight. 
The final output should be 2 files: an .avi and an .ma file.

Files should be named as follows:
tdonovan_luxo_000.avi
tdonovan_luxo_000.ma

The file number (000) should be whatever version of the file you hand in. You can hand in any version up to 999. Careful with your file naming. No caps. No extra spaces. No extra descriptors.

Rubric:
Exemplary: Advanced grasp of animation principles evident. Luxo has unmistakable weight, clear, snappy timing, convincing overlapping action.
Excellent: Strong grasp of most of the animation principles with few mistakes. Luxo has consistent weight, good timing, and good use of overlapping action.
Acceptable: Reasonably executed animation utilizing most of the animation principles with some minor mistakes. Luxo has mostly consistent weight, timing and overlapping action.
Not Acceptable: Lack of evident understanding of the animation principles with several mistakes. Luxo not heavy or smoothly-timed with little to no overlapping action.

Assignments to be handed in via DropBox and Vimeo

CLASS 10 : Modeling and Animation II: Intro to 3D Animation in Maya

Welcome back from the break!

Updated Schedule for the rest of term:
Class 11: Thursday, July 5th 3-6 pm
Class 12: Tuesday, July 10th, 3-6 pm
Class Cancelled: Wednesday, July 18th 12-3 pm
Class 13: Wednesday, July 25th, 12-3 pm with guest instructor, Jakub Pazera
Class 14: Wednesday, Aug 1st, 12-3 This will be your last formal class.
Wednesday, Aug 8th: Supervised work period

----------------------------

Intro to 3D Animation in Maya: 

For some of you this will be your first look around in Autodesk Maya so we'll get a feel for the interface with some simple exercises.
First up .. everyone's favorite assignment - BOUNCING BALLS: Part 3!

Why am I so cruel making you do this for the THIRD TIME..? Because there is no other more effective way to practice animation principles while getting used to the Maya tool set.

You can always animate simple primitives by keying the geometry. By all means, if you're new to Maya, you may do so. On real productions, however, we interact with our models via a control rig so I'm providing you with a simple one. Normally we do not animate directly in the rig file, we have the file reference the rig from another location. 

Click to download Maya Ball Rig

http://game.georgebrown.ca/~tdonovan/Rigs/ballMaya.zip

I've given you both .ma and .mb files and we'll talk about the differences.

We'll also talk about file referencing and how it's used on productions. 

http://tarateach.blogspot.ca/2011/01/file-referencing-for-maya.html

Here's how to make a Playblast preview video:
http://tarateach.blogspot.ca/2011/01/previewing-animation-in-maya.html

I'll introduce you to the Graph Editor, a dark and scary fun and friendly tool that is absolutely essential for working with timing and spacing. By the end of class you should be able to know without a doubt what different types of action will result from different types of curves in your Graph Editor.  Digital Tutors has some excellent video explanations of the Graph Editor -- a powerful tool that you should be very comfortable using by the end of this assignment.

'Cause and Effect' art installation by Ana Soler

Exercise: Bouncing Balls in Maya

Assigned: 04/07/12

Due:  05/07/12

% of Final Grade: 5%
Animate at least 2 contrasted bouncing balls showing as many of the principles of animation as you can. Balls should be in the same file. Be sure the balls have very obviously different weights. Animate them either until they exit the screen or come to a stop. You may add primitives such as cubes, planes, and use them to create simple obstacles such as stairs, a wall, a room, or a sloping plane. Find a flattering camera angle from which you can see your animation clearly. Tracking camera moves to keep the balls in the scene are permitted but keep the camera move very simple.

Rolling, squashing, and stretching is totally optional.

You may make the objects different colours if you wish. Please do not light these or apply any special textures. No marks are given for rendering.

The final output should be 2 files: an .avi and an .ma file. 

Files should be named as follows:

tdonovan_ball_000.avi

tdonovan_ball_000.ma

The file number (000) should be whatever version of the file you hand in. You can hand in any version up to 999. This could come in handy if you need to resubmit. You can simply send me the new file with the new version number.

Careful with your file naming.

No caps. No extra spaces. No extra descriptors.

Rubric: 

Exemplary:  Advanced grasp of animation principles evident. Balls have unmistakable and contrasted weights.

Excellent:  Strong grasp of most of the animation principles with few mistakes. Balls have clear and contrasted weights.

Acceptable: Reasonably executed animation utilizing most of the animation principles with some mistakes. Balls bounce clearly and believeably with some contrast.

Not Acceptable:  Lack of evident understanding of the animation principles with several mistakes. Balls not clearly contrasted.

CLASS 9 : Modeling and Animation II: Pixar Story Quiz

Looking ahead to the 3D part of our course, it would be impossible to overlook the enormous influence of one studio: Pixar.  It's fitting that this week is the long-anticipated premiere of Pixar's "Brave". We'll be able to discuss it next week in the context of all they have accomplished from their very earliest experiments with motion graphics decades ago. 

This class aims to provide you with some basic general knowledge about the company that started the whole industry of CG animation.

We'll screen a feature documentary called, "The Pixar Story" and complete a short multiple choice quiz worth 5%.  The film will be screened in class and the quiz will only be open during class time (Wednesday, July 27th from 12-3pm). If you're away you can view the film on your own and complete the quiz remotely. If you are unable to complete the quiz during the scheduled time please contact me to make other arrangements. The film is available on YouTube in 9 parts or it may be available on Netflix. Click here to view the first 11 minutes.

Click here to take the quiz. 

(Note - this quiz will only be opened while the class is writing it)

Good luck!

Have a great break, everyone! 

CLASS 8: Modeling and Animation II: Anijam due! Wrapping up 2D Animation in Flash

Last class before the break!
First: our Anijam Debut! With any luck, everyone's films will cut together seamlessly and we'll have a few minutes of cinematic glory. It's a chance to sit back and ponder how well you've handled learning the complex process of hand-drawn animation, and a chance to look forward to a new set of challenges with 3D. Everything you've learned so far will make the next steps easier as all the animation principles are necessary to bring life to your 3D animation.

"DESN 1119 Anijam 2012" premieres 20/06/12

But that's not all we're doing this class! We'll leave shortly after our screening for a studio tour and it will take the rest of class. Bring TTC fare. 

Kathy Shultz, filmmaker of "A Sea Turtle Story"

As befits the end of our unit on hand-drawn animation, this week's tour is of the National Film Board of Canada -- a hotbed of independent film making for over 75 years!  As many of you may not yet appreciate the proud history of animation in Canada, the NFB has put together a short program of award-winning short animated films just for YOU. We're also fortunate to have as our personal tour guide NFB filmmaker Kathy Shultz who teaches stop motion at George Brown College. Kathy's film "A Sea Turtle Story" is currently showing in international film festivals. Sadly, the NFB's public viewing facilities are scheduled to close this Fall so enjoy them while they last!

we even got to try some stop motion animation!

CLASS 7: Modeling and Animation II: Anijam posing critique,

More intermediate animation techniques --

• Moving from blocking to animation
• Overlapping action with Alison Saunders
• Combining straight ahead and pose-to-pose animation: tips from Richard Williams p 61-67

We'll look at some kee-razy examples of very exaggerated cartoon animation from back in MY day -- the 1990's -- when animation for grownups went completely off the rails.

Pose-to-pose animation from Ren and Stimpy* -

and straight ahead animation from the Roger Rabbit shorts -

*If this doesn't traumatize you, you might be interested in seeing Canada's inimitable John Kricfalusi live in person at the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International July 6-8.
  http://taafi.com/events/taafi2012/schedule/?id=58

CLASS 6: Modeling and Animation II: Character design with Guest Instructor, Rachel Kahn

After patiently drawing the flour sack for a few weeks, I know a few of you would like to be able to use your own characters.  Today we'll talk about finding a style and look at some examples of simple designs that work well for animation. And we have a guest!

Please welcome Rachel Kahn who will be sharing her expertise on character design --

Rachel Kahn is a freelance concept artist and illustrator. She has a BFA from York University and has been continuing her studies at Max the Mutt Animation School in between projects. Rachel has been working as a designer and artist in independent mobile games, and will also have illustrations appearing in literary and comic anthologies in the upcoming year.

Rachel's professional website is www.portablecity.net

________________________________

Also in this class we'll review some of the Flour Sack Jump assignments and start the next assignment:



Assignment 3: Flash Anijam!
Assigned: June 6th
5% Key Posing Due: June 13th in class
10% Finished Animation Due:  June 19th end of day
Group critique: June 20th, in class
Re-submission allowed up until June 27th

This is a group project by the entire class using ye olde tradition of an 'animation jam' or 'anijam'.

Using the layout & prop provided, animate your character or the flour sack catching and throwing the prop. Follow the design and stage direction exactly as the layout indicates so that all the scenes will cut together seamlessly.

The way your character interacts with the prop should be the focus of the scene. The animation should indicate that it's heavy and very dangerous. You may include a brief beat before the prop enters and after it leaves.

Please do not destroy the prop in your scene - it should be passed, intact to the next scene. They'll be edited together to make one continuous scene.

You may add a simple BG in your scene but keep it low-contrast.

You may design your own simple character for this piece but be sure it fits the scene and that it's simple enough to draw many times.

Create a 640 x 480 QT with H.264 compression.

Please upload to our group folders/albums called "Flour Sack" on DropBox before the start of class. Please do NOT place your files inside a folder. Watch your naming conventions.
File formats:
tdonovan_anijam_001.fla
tdonovan_anijam_001.mov

The layout for this scene will be on DropBox in the folder "flash animjam"

CLASS 5: Modeling and Animation II: Flour Sack jump, continued

Continuing on with the flour sack...
Intermediate traditional animation techniques in Flash --

• Working between Keys to create breakdowns and inbetweens. 
• Combining pose-to-pose and straight ahead animation 
• Timing & spacing for weight
• Adding the secondary action

Posing is the most important key to making your animation great - 

Take a look at these flour sack poses you guys did last week & think about how they could communicate more clearly through a stronger line of action, simplification, and clearer weight.

http://bit.ly/floursackposes

Similar to the flour sack, the personality-filled rug from Disney's Alladin

This will be partly an in-class work period so I can help you work out the staging and timing for your flour sack assignments. I'll also be showing you some more tips and tricks for giving your flour sack weight & personality, both in the drawing and the timing.

And I have more 'toons for you: an incredible film by Ryan Woodward called "Thought of You" as well as the 'making of' that shows his expert use of the very tools you're using to animate the humble Flour Sack

Ryan Woodward's amazing digitally hand-drawn "Thought of You"

CLASS 4: Modeling and Animation II: Animation Principles, Part 3 - The famous Flour Sack

The Flour Sack: Disney's pioneering

device for learning personality and

timing

The world-famous half-filled flour sack has been used by countless animators to learn animation principles. The deceptively simple shape has many possibilities for creating personality and weight.

More Animation Principles:

• Anticipation
• Follow through and overlapping action
• Secondary action
• Appeal

The key to making nice flour sack animation is really solid drawing. We'll study some tricks for drawing 3-dimensionally and test our skills by creating drawings of the flour sack in 4 distinct moods. For example:

Confident
Sad
Wasted
Shocked/bamboozled 

Assignment 2: Flour Sack Jump in Flash
Animate the flour sack doing a simple jump. Show as many of the principles of animation as you can. All the Principles of Animation should be in this assignment, especially nuts-and-bolts tools like Anticipation, Action, Reaction, Weight, Timing, Arcs, and even more esoteric ones like Appeal.
Spend your time on the mechanics of the jump. If possible, add a little personality. Think about how heavy the sack of flour would be. Show the effort required to move that weight. Try to keep the volumes consistent and use timing, spacing, and solid drawing to keep the four sack looking heavy in both his movements and posing.

Create a 640 x 480 QT with H.264 compression. Create a simple BG - just a ground line will do. You can add other props such as a wall but keep it very simple.

Assigned: May 23rd
Total Value: 15%
5% Posing Due: May 23rd end of day
10% Finished Due: June 3rd end of day

Please upload to our group folders/albums called "Flour Sack" on both DropBox and Vimeo before the start of class. Please do NOT place your files inside a folder. Watch your naming conventions.
File formats:
tdonovan_floursack_001.fla
tdonovan_floursack_001.mov

Rubric:
Exemplary: Strong apparent weight, snappy timing and fluid motion with a strong grasp of all animation principles including secondary/overlapping action.
Excellent: Apparent weight and almost entirely fluid motion with a good grasp of nearly all animation principles including a good attempt at secondary action.
Acceptable: Mostly apparent weight. Motion is mostly fluid with minor errors or missing animation principles. Some attempt at secondary action.
Not Acceptable: Not convincingly heavy or not fluid with quite a few glitches or missing animation principles. no apparent secondary action.

CLASS 3: Modeling and Animation II: CASO presents "Optimizing the Production Process in VFX and Animation": $10 for GBC Students

These events are always enlightening! Go if you can - and if you're in the Summer session for DESN1119, you must! :D

Join us Friday, May 18th, 2012 from 12:15 -1:30 pm
at the NFB/ONF Mediatheque
150 John Street, Toronto
Just North of Richmond Street

*SPECIAL GBC Students Price $10.00 +HST
Lunch included

Regular Pricing
Student $15
Members $25.00 Advance $40.00 Door
Non-Members $40.00 Advance $55.00 Door
+ HST

Sign up here:
http://bit.ly/CASO_Opt

CLASS 2: Modeling and Animation II: Animation Principles, Part 2 - Flash!

Your Flipbook marks are up! Click here:
http://bit.ly/DESN1119_Winter2012
The class average is 3.25/5 which is exactly 65% or a C+
Let me know if you have any questions. A grey cell means I don't have it. :D

Intro to 2D animation techniques in Flash

A step up from a flip book, and not quite as involved as hand-animating on paper, creating traditional (2D) animation in Flash is a great way to learn to control timing and spacing to create weight.

What goes up must come down, and in the case of anything inanimate that leaves the ground, it will always come down at exactly the same speed and follow the same exact arc as it did going up. A mirror of it, of course.

Tennis Ball 

Golf Ball

Basket Ball 

Strobe photos are fantastic for showing the beautifully symmetrical parabolic arcs followed by everything that leaves the Earth... except a rocket. Also check out the video "Ball Tests" by Brendan Body (also in sidebar links -->)

How the ball moves and how it shows the effect of Earth's gravity is all a matter of timing and spacing. Things slow down as they leave the Earth and speed up as they descend. The bouncier the ball, the more 'hang time' or slow-in and out to its zenith (!) - you want to pile your timing up at the top of that arc and space the descending inbetweens to show increasing speed. The moment on the ground should be very fleeting. Don't overuse squash and stretch - it shows too much - just keep it very subtle and study your reference.

I have some great reference vids for you and if we have time I'd like you to shoot your own reference videos.  Animators tend to shoot a lot of reference to study and learn from.

We'll continue our study of the 12 Principles of Animation with a closer look at some new principles:

• Squash and stretch
• Staging
• Solid drawing
• Straight Ahead and pose to pose animation

Assignment 1: Bouncing Balls in Flash

Animate at least 2 contrasted bouncing balls showing as many of the principles of animation as you can. Start with the setup provided for you to create a 640 x 480 QT with H.264 compression. Create a simple BG - just a ground line will do. You can add other props such as a wall but keep it very simple.

Assigned: May 16th
Total Value: 10%
5% Posing Due: May 16th in class - make sure I see your WIP!
5% Finished Due: May 23rd in class - please upload to our group folders/albums called "Flash Bouncing Balls" on both DropBox and Vimeo before the start of class.
File formats:
tdonovan_ball_001.fla
tdonovan_ball_001.mov

Rubric: (click image to see it more clearly)

CLASS 1: Modeling and Animation II: Animation Principles, Part 1 - Flipbooks!

Welcome to "Intro to Animation"!

Make sure you sign in, read your outline and ask me any questions you may have about your course.

availability survey results

Over the next 14 weeks, we'll be studying the Principles of Animation in detail - first in 2D using Flash, then in 3D using Maya.

Reminder: Please BRING YOUR TABLET PENS to all classes for the rest of the term.

Availability survey results show the best times to reschedule make-up classes are 3-6 Tues-Fri. Thanks for letting me know!

----------------------------------
Intro to Animation Principles
2D animation, also called traditional or hand-drawn animation, is drawn frame-by-frame with pencil & paper or digital drawing tools.

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. 

For nearly a century animators in all media have used the "Twelve Basic Principles of Animation" to bring life to their animation. These 12 principles, pioneered by Disney's 'Nine Old Men', were  documented by Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in their 1981 book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation.

I highly recommend reading the lengthy and beautifully illustrated chapter on the Principles of Animation, "The Illusion of Life" Chapter 3, from p 47.

We'll be studying the 12 Principles of Animation in detail in the coming weeks. Here's a brief overview of the 12 Principles with the concepts we're highlighting today, well, highlighted:

1 Squash and stretch
2 Anticipation
3 Staging
4 Straight ahead action and pose to pose
5 Follow through and overlapping action
6 Slow in and slow out
7 Arcs
8 Secondary action
9 Timing
10 Exaggeration
11 Solid drawing
12 Appeal

Bouncing Ball:
The very first exercise assigned to aspiring animators is usually the bouncing ball exercise. There is no better tool for teaching animation timing. This is such an important assignment that we'll be visiting this 3 times over the term.

We'll talk about how to show the effects of gravity using just a few simple concepts.

First we'll try some flip-book animation. Flip-books are one of the few things in this world that are FAST, CHEAP, and GOOD -- see how insanely fun these can be to create watching this awesome flipbook tribute film: "(notes on) biology" 

 "Robot Elephant" - hero of "(notes on) biology". Also my hero. 

Try a few different weights and styles as you can. We'll go over the rubric in class.

In-class exercise: Bouncing Balls Flip books

Animate at least 2 contrasted bouncing balls showing as many of the principles of animation as you can.
Assigned: May 9th
Due: May 9th in class
Total Value: 5%
Rubric and marking form here:
http://bit.ly/BallFilpBook

WEEK 15: Modeling and Animation II Assignment 5 In-class show & critique

Last class!!!

Can't wait to see your final assignments!!

The deadline is Wednesday, April 18th in class, however, I'm sticking around in case you want any last-minute advice to tweak your project before submitting it to the FTP by midnight. I can also help you decipher any of the critiques you got on previous assignments and offer some tips for how to make your future projects even more awesome.

Thank you for being such a great class this term. For those staying in the Animation stream - I look forward to working with you over the next couple of years.
For those going into Modeling - see you around the school .. perhaps you'll be in my Texturing class!

Have a great summer everyone. Good luck with all your deadlines!

End of year deadline!

DEADLINE FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS: 

FRIDAY, APRIL 20th, 2012 at Midnight

all files must be submitted via our 

FTP or the shared DROPBOX file for your class

Please check that:

• your name is on all your files (first initial, last name, underscore, project name, underscore, iteration.filetype) ex, tdonovan_tapdancing_012.avi
• your images or videos are a decent size - not too big or too small, or weirdly proportioned. Good settings are: 720p (1280×720 pixels) or 1/2 that size, (640 x 360). 
• you save a standard filetype that can be opened in QT or any picture viewer: .avi, .mov, .mpeg4, .jpg, .png, .tga, .tif. (NOT .flv, .swf, wmv, .psd) 
• you used a standard codec -- by far the best is H.264
• ask me if you have any questions!

Good Luck!

WEEK 14: Modeling and Animation II - WIP critique and work period

We'll continue our discussion about 2D walks and have a look at how everyone's work is going so far. You will have some time to work in class on the final assignment which is due April 18th.

I highly recommend you map out your entire project by keying all the major poses before digging into the breakdowns and inbetweens. If you run out of time, focus on taking one section to completion. "Complete" means all the animation is finished on 2's. You can have holds, moving holds, and cycles, but the action should all be smooth and the volumes as consistent as possible.

I will be going over your WIP to find areas of improvement in the timing and spacing, emphasizing all the principles of animation we've been focusing on.

But there's always time for cartoons!

We'll have a look at a highly creative piece by Sjors Vervoort called, “Cardboard, a Cardboard animation!” While often mislabeled 'stop motion', this piece is really just traditional, hand-drawn animation but rendered on epic-sized cardboard cutouts as you can see from the 'making of' still below. If you ever find yourself thinking Flash is a pain, remember this film and think how much work it would be to create!

WEEK 13: Modeling and Animation II - Character design and pitch group critique

We'll have a look at everybody's designs and hear their ideas for their final assignment. Last year there was a huge variety of styles -- some extremely creative and funny -- from zombie weightlifters to Ninja strawberries to eels hiding in underwater caves. 

Over the next couple of classes I'll show you a couple of essential Flash tools for integrating your characters with your photo or video environments.  

some of the widely varied designs from last year's class

Next .. Walk Cycles: The walk cycle is a tricky but basic part of every animation curriculum.  You're going to learn the nuts-and-bolts of bipedal locomotion, and try to apply them to your character.  If your character doesn't have 2 legs, that's ok, just practice with a generic guy or stick figure for now. This is a topic that needs revisiting to really sink in. 

We'll have a look at some beautiful 2D reference from some of the masters of animation who really pushed the medium to the limit.

Pencil Test Depot

http://www.penciltestdepot.com/

Living Lines Library

http://livlily.blogspot.com/

Walk Cycle Depot

http://walk-cycle-depot.blogspot.com/

The classic 4-key walk cycle. There are other types of walks, but this is the most common

WEEK 12: Modeling and Animation II - wrapping up "Flour Sack Escapes" + Final Assignment handout

Last chance to show me your Flour Sack Assignments before the midnight deadline!  I'll have a look and help you with any technical difficulties.

It's time for your 5th and final project.

This is a 2D/live action integration project that will bring together everything you've learned so far - the animation principles, working with video reference, 2D animation techniques in Flash - and adds the key component of design.

Yes, finally, you get to make up your own characters and stories.

Your mission is to create a little world of Flash-animated characters in a live-action environment.  You have a lot of creative freedom with this assignment. You can work by yourself or as a small group.  It can be line work or colour, it can be serious, cartoony, depressing, or rude (well, keep it SFW). This is a chance to let your creativity shine. Your character needs to be able to move around and ideally walk around.

Rex the Runt - simple = funny

We'll do some brainstorming in class so you can get started. For inspiration we'll be looking at a brilliantly whacko piece of Flash animation from the video "Animals" by Minilogue.  Anything goes in Flash -- have some fun with it!

"Animals" by Minilogue. A few simple shadows and voila! integration

We'll discuss character design techniques -- finding a style using at all kinds of media including what's in your fridge. I'll show you some classically simple character designs from comics, TV, games, and movies and give you some hints about finding inspiration.

Homework for next week:

1. Design a character for the final project. Have a printout of it ready to hang on the wall. Three words of advice: Keep.  It.  Simple. 
   If you can't draw it in less than 10 seconds, it's too complicated.
2. Create a pitch for your idea. Your pitch should include a description of your scenario, as well as drawings to show how your work will all fit with your live action plate.

Here's the full description of your final assignment:

Assignment 5: 

Assigned: 28/03/12
Due: 18/04/12 IN CLASS & FTP
% of final: 20%

Please use a movie file type compatible with QuickTime: AVI, MOV, MPeg4

File naming convention:
hhoudini_final_001.avi
hhoudini_dcopperfield_final_001.avi

In small groups or individually, create a short film starring your animated character integrated with a locked live action background plate. You may download or shoot the video yourself. It should be between 12-16 seconds long including credits.

If you don't have an original idea, use one of these:

• Busking for bugs 
• Everybody in the salad 
• 5" UFO 
• Leaps tall buildings in a single bound 
• Other uses for the toilet 
• Badly disguised 
• Things on my foot 
• Urban Emissions

Good luck!

Bobby Chiu coming to GBC! March 29th 7:00-9:00pm at room 515.

Character designer Bobby Chiu (Alice in Wonderland, MIB3) is coming to George Brown to give a one time only digital painting lesson that is not to be missed. 

Mark your calendars and spread the word for us.

March 29th 7:00-9:00pm at room 515.

Open to all students and friends of GBC Game Design