Sample Syllabus Page Covid 19 online.
The
INTRO
TO
3D COMPUTER ANIMATION
SYLLABUS | SPRING 2021
ART 2704 Intro To 3D Animation
Mondays and Wednesdays 8AM-9:55AM ZOOM
Lesley Duffield, mfa. He|him|his
Contact: duffles@vt.edu
Office Zoom:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Intro to 3D computer animation introduces students to foundational approaches and concepts necessary for advancing in 3D computer graphics studio classes. This course uses Autodesk Maya as the primary tool and introduces students to the world of 3D modeling and animation as fine art and an influential form of visual culture. Modeling, lighting, texturing, and rendering techniques are explored along with the foundations of motion and animation.
OBJECTIVES
Develop a working knowledge of 3D modeling and animation processes.
Model, Texture, Light, Animate and Render 3D Graphic Objects
Produce original, expressive works of 3D art.
Identify current trends in 3D animation and CG Art.
Connect the medium to larger concepts beyond demonstrations of technical craft.
Reframe skill as craft.
Exhibit works.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Ability to create detailed 3D models using Autodesk Maya
Ability to light, texture, and render 3D models.
Familiarity with virtual cameras and cinematography
Identify and control for basic animation,
Articulate aesthetic research proposals.
Identify and articulate Intention in research proposals.
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR:
Bio: Lesley Duffield, whose pronouns are he|him|his, graduated with his MFA in Digital Art from Indiana University, Bloomington. He was hired at Virginia Tech directly after his Masters Thesis in 2016 and was promoted to Collegiate Assistant Professor of Creative Technologies in Fall 2018. In the School of Visual Arts, he serves on numerous committees, including the College of Architecture and Urban Studies Expanded leadership council, and the SOVA CT liaison to the Calhoun Discovery honors program.
As co-chair of both the MFA and BFA in Creative Technologies, he advocates for innovation in teaching, commitment to life-long learning, diversity, and critical inquiry. Courses he has taught at Virginia Tech include Intro to New media, Intro to Creative Technologies Intro to 3D, Creative Coding, 3D Soft Modeling Studio, Sound Art, Video Art, and Principles of New Media.
Fun fact: His research and creative endeavors have taken him to numerous remote places and residencies. He was at the Santa Fe Art Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, The Taft Nicholson Center in Modina, Montana- His field research with indigenous communities have taken him to Belize, Guatemala, Alaska, Greenland, and Iceland. He also holds a BA in communication studies from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis.
Contacting Me
I can be reached at duffles@vt.edu.
Email can be sent at any time, but will not be responded to after 5PM.
Exceptions for emergencies, of course.
When not in a pandemic, my office is located at Henderson 350.
Office hours are by appointment. Tuesdays are best.
Zoom Address:
Go up the stairs across from Souvlaki and enter the 2nd door on your left. ascend the stairs to the 3rd floor. Turn left, and then right at the junction, past the elevator.
350 will be on your left.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
A computer meeting SOVA’s Minimum Technical Requirements
A Three-Button Mouse
A downloaded student copy of Autodesk Maya 2020 and Adobe Photoshop CC
50 Gb of dedicated removable storage for backup.
A physical sketchbook with basic drawing tools, pens, pencils and an eraser.
Time to learn, study, and work on your projects.
OPTIONAL MATERIALS
Digital Tablet
A Rendering PC at home
A second or external monitor compatible with your laptop
A time-timer for staying on task.
TEXT & TUTORIALS:
The Autodesk Knowledge Network (free)
LinkedinLearning lynda.com Maya 2019 Essential Training w/George Maestri
VT login required (free)
OPTIONAL BUT VERY HELPFUL DESK REFERENCES (BOOKS):
Introducing Autodesk 2016 by Dariush Derakhsanhi
Autodesk Maya 2018 Basics Guide by Kelly L. Murdock
RESPECT THE ONLINE STUDIO and CLASSROOM.
We are working remotely and this class starts early. Make sure that you are awake and ready by the time class begins. A 3D Modeling practice takes time to develop. If you put in the time, you will reap the benefits, but only if you put in the time. You won’t just magically know 3D modeling. It is a hard skill to fake. In class we will often be practicing and going over techniques, processes, and in some rare cases, elaborate procedures.
We will abide by Zoom etiquette. When a demonstration is happening, please don’t interrupt. Please keep your cameras on, and your microphones muted. There will be temptation to sleep. Keeping cameras on keeps us just that much more honest.
Online learning is a challenge that you should at least be familiar with. The digital medium in particular is one of the few that benefits from a remote environment because it already demands that you be at your computer for longer durations. The great thing about this environment is that I can get a look at your computer, I can see what you are doing, and with luck, can help with any adjustments quickly.
The class is synchronous, meaning that you do need to be here on-time.
Our day begins at 8:00 AM. If you become habitually late, I will kindly request a check-in meeting with you to discuss strategies for early morning life and time management. If we can’t get to the source of the problem, and you continue to be late, we will try other interventions.
OFFICIAL ATTENDANCE POLICY
You are allowed 2 absences.
Each absence after 2 results in a 1/2 letter grade deduction from your final grade.
After 5 absences, you will automatically fail the course.
Given the limited instructional time in class, and the intensive nature of the course, it is highly advised that you don’t miss class. There will be times where we will have shortened class sessions, or one-on one’s where instructor-to-student contact will be limited. In these cases, you will be expected to put in studio time on the honor system. Please remain in the room unless you are excused.
TIME MANAGEMENT
The general rule for this class is that you probably will need to spend 2.5 hours for every 1 hours spent in class. CT classes are shorter than your usual studio classes to account for the time required to spend in the lab or at home practicing. This does not include render time. Plan to spend about 8 hours per week outside of class committed to your work.
TUTORIALS
There is no shortage of resources available for you to assemble your own technical learning curriculum. You could very easily spend all of your time practicing tutorials. When looking for special skills for a project, target what you need instead of starting random online courses and tutorials. The goal is to finish your projects. For each module, I will provide a list of suggested tutorials, links to technical concepts, as well as some of my own videos.
GETTING HELP
If you don’t understand a concept or if you need more time to digest a set of instructions, which I can certainly appreciate- please use the following mantra: google first, ask colleague second, instructor 3rd.
CRITIQUE
Critique is an essential part of reaching our creative goals.
We will be doing written feedback, and verbal hybrid in-class critiques.
Missing critique is forbidden. If you miss the in-portion part of critique, you will fail the assignment. Even if you have no work to show, no matter the quality or state of completion of the work, you must be here. Everyone is responsible for maintaining the quality of discussion surrounding a work.
GRADING
Grade scale
(No A+) A 100-93% A- 92-90%
B+ 89-87% B 86-83% B- 82-80%
C+ 79-77% C 76-73% C-72-70%
D+ 69-67% D 66-60% F>59%Summary of Graded Works
GRADED WORKS FOR THIS CLASS
Structured Modeling Practice (due at midterm)
Project: Morphology of an object over a century. Part 1.
Deliverable Materials Due
Research Notes and Proposal.
Models 1-10, .ma files
1 high quality polished rendered image of each model. 10 total
4 renders of the collection
15pts/15%
PROJECT 1
Re-Imagining Public Art, Monument Project.
Deliverable Materials Due
Research Notes and Proposal
Images//Sketches of 3 prototypes
.ma file
4 rendered perspectives
Critique notes
Revision Plan
35pts/35%
Mid-Term Projects Turned in March 7 11:59
Loosely Structured Animation Practice
Project: Morphology of an object over a century. Part 2.
Deliverable Materials Due
Research Notes and Proposal.
Models 1-10, .ma files
An animated .gif sequence of the
15pts/15%
PROJECT 2
FINAL PROJECT: Animation Processes
Project: Sacred Altar
Deliverable materials Due
Research Notes and Proposal.
alter .ma file
1 high quality polished rendered image of each model. 10 total
4 renders of the altar from different points of view
Critique notes
Reflection
35pts/35%
TENTATIVE OVERVIEW WEEK BY WEEK
At any given time, before mid-term, you may be working on multiple scenes.
The scene we are making in class- for demonstration purposes, a room.
The scene that you are building for your morphology // SOVA object library project.
The scene that contains your monument.
Any other practice scenes that you decide to go after on your own.
Week 1, 2. Download and Install Maya , Know how to set a project, = polygonal modeling , build a room, the primitives, extrude, keyboard shortcuts (qwer) global, scale, move, rotate, tools extrude, moving things around, the outliner, understanding 3D space and cartesian coordinates, local versus, different modes: Vertex, face, edge, object. Modeling toolkit. The art of googling. Good tutorials versus bad ones. Shift+Select. Floating Values. Snapping, deleting edges, selection, tool manipulation.
Monday WK 2
Introduce Project 1: monuments
Soft Selection, Deleting faces, combining vs grouping objects.
Other parts of maya- the Hypershade, layers menu, hiding things. Working with a reference image//image plane.
More outliners. Setting and freezing transformations.
HW:
In-Class working model: Make a room- continue the room on your own.
Practice George Maestri
Morphology Proposal Due Sunday with sketches of Week 2 11:59
Begin working on this right away. This is your additional practice.
Week 3
Quick Go-around the class sharing monument and morphology ideas.
Begin lighting/shading & Material application in our rooms.
UV mapping. Maybe substance painter/designer.
Explanation of rendering and significance.
Arnold renderer.
Time to practice. Definitely should have begun modeling your morphology models at a rate of approx 2/week.
Week 4 UV mapping applying textures/images, details in modeling. Edge-flow.
Monument proposals Due. More rendering. Should be able to model by now, definitely apply textures and render an object. Should know the importance of organization in a scene and able to identify the parts of a maya project from folder structure, to names of things in the scene, or at least be familiar with the process. Should be able to make a scene by now- Morphology project should have four objects in it by the end of this week.
Turn in the room. Move onto your other projects.
Week 5 Flexible week, depending on what we need to go over. We might struggle with some concepts so review might be necessary.
The next 3 weeks are us in the studio basically working, getting stuck, getting unstuck, getting frustrated, and then being relieved.
Monument project should be well under way. 3 weeks to go until mid-term.
Add two objects to the morphology project by Sunday, bringing total to 7.
Monument should be coming along, ideally ready for texture, but might need some finishing touches. Practice practice practice.
Week 6 two weeks to go for the mid-term submission. Your prerogative: choose which project to focus on. Maybe the monument, maybe the morphology. Both are due at mid-term. We will talk about “cinematography” and cameras in maya to prepare for animation.
Week 7 Tying it all up for mid-term. Getting everything in place. Files cleaned up, organized, labeled, details worked out. Identify your best object in the morphology project. Work on your monument. Critique breakdown explained. Make sure your google drive folders are working. Hopefully you have checked in with me and I have checked in with you. Ideally you want everything done by Sunday at 11:59.
Introduce Project 2: The AltarWeek 8 Switching gears. Moving into animation, what Maya is good at. We now begin applying principles of motion to your models. We are focusing on mechanical animations for the remainder of the semester. Exporting image sequences. Limitations.
Written critiques are due at the end of week 9. Rigging a ball.
Week 9 Animatics, automation, parent-child relationships, basic rigging. Graph editor. Spring Break day #1 No class on Wednesday.
Week 10 Altar Designs are due. Thinking about the occult, witchiness, what is virtual, what is real? Other applications for 3D beyond CG, rigging your objects. Atmosphere- Breaking your computer with Bifrost and X-gen.
Week 11 Working on Animation, rigging and animating the morphology. Putting your stuff on the shelf. Setting values, conveyors. In-progress critique.
Week 12 Studio. One- on one’s. All energies go toward the altar. Written critique to in-progress critique due.
Week 13 All energies are devoted to the sacred altar.
Week 14 Two WEEK WARNING! :) The altar continues. The morphology should be finished.
Week 15 Studio. Exporting + Rendering
Week 16 FINAL EXPRESSION !!! You’re ready for the next level! (or to take a nap) Exhibition/screening of works.