This year-long course is targeted at students with backgrounds in art, film, or computer science who intend to work in the visual effects, animation, and entertainment industries. It will build upon students' knowlege from related courses to guide them through the digital animation production process in an environment similar to industry production houses. We will survey many advanced topics and allow students to focus on a subset they find interesting while collaborating with their team to develop a 30-second animation piece. The course will be enhanced with industry guest lectures.
In the fall of 2009 the topics will include story and character development, manual and procedural modeling, advanced character rigging, set design, manual and procedural camera animation, and manual, procedural, AI-driven, and data-driven animation.
In the spring of 2009 the topics will include visual art design, sound and foley design, visual effects, shading, lighting, rendering, optimization, and advanced image composition.
In order to take this course, you need to have taken atleast two courses from the following list:
If you sign up for this course, you are committing to taking it in both the Fall and Sprng semesters.
| Weeks | Date | Instructor | Lecture Topic | Readings Due | Assignment Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Mon 2009.01.19 | --- | NO CLASS | ||
| Wed 2009.01.21 | All | Review work done over break | |||
| Week 2 | Mon 2009.01.26 | Dan | Pastel to Pixels | ||
| Wed 2009.01.28 | Brian | Color: Physics and Science of Color | 3DSFP: Chapter 4 | Color Pallette Ideas | |
| Week 3 | Mon 2009.02.02 | Jim | Color 2 | ||
| Wed 2009.02.04 | Dan | Effects 1 / Mini Crit | Colored Frames | ||
| Week 4 | Mon 2009.02.09 | Matt Wong (Pixar) | Effects 2 [houdini and maya demos] | 3DSFP: Chapter19 | |
| Wed 2009.02.11 | --- | Critique Effects | Coloring & Effects (Pinocchio: pdf tiff) |
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| Week 5 | Mon 2009.02.16 | --- | NO CLASS | ||
| Wed 2009.02.18 | Jeremy | Rendering / Mini Crit | 3DSFP: pp370-377 | ||
| Week 6 | Mon 2009.02.23 | --- | Critique | More Effects | |
| Wed 2009.02.25 | Tony Apodaca (Pixar) | Rendering Optimization | |||
| Week 7 | Mon 2009.03.02 | --- | Critique | Even More Effects | |
| Wed 2009.03.04 | Daniel McCoy (Pixar) | Shading 1: Texture Maps | 3DSFP: Chapter 13 | ||
| Week 8 | Mon 2009.03.09 | ??? | Shading 2: Procedural Shading | ||
| Wed 2009.03.11 | Paul Kanyuk (Pixar) | Shading 3: Advanced Procedural Shading [ppt, demo] | |||
| Week 9 | Mon 2009.03.16 | Dan and Brian | Lighting 1 | 3DSFP: Chapter 18 | |
| Wed 2009.03.18 | --- | Critique | Shading | ||
| Week SP | Mon 2009.03.23 | --- | NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK | ||
| Wed 2009.03.25 | --- | NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK | |||
| Week 10 | Mon 2009.03.30 | --- | Critique | Lighting/Shading | |
| Wed 2009.04.01 | Stefan Gronsky (Pixar) | Lighting 2 | |||
| Week 11 | Mon 2009.04.06 | --- | Critique | Lighting | |
| Wed 2009.04.08 | Adam Chin (PDI) | Lighting 3 | |||
| Week 12 | Mon 2009.04.13 | --- | Critique | Lighting | |
| Wed 2009.04.15 | Jeremy | Compositing 1 (repo) | 3DSFP: Chapter 20 | ||
| Week 13 | Mon 2009.04.20 | --- | Critique | Compositing | |
| Wed 2009.04.22 | Tarek Elaydi (EA) | Compositing 2 | 3DSFP: Chapter 21 | ||
| Week 14 | Mon 2009.04.27 | --- | Critique | Sound | |
| Wed 2009.04.29 | Will Files (Skywalker Sound) | Foley | |||
| Week 15 | Mon 2009.05.04 | --- | Critique | ||
| Wed 2009.05.06 | --- | Critique | |||
| Week 16 | Mon 2009.05.11 | --- | Critique | ||
| Wed 2009.05.13 | --- | Studio Visit Day | |||
| "FINAL" |
Sat 2009.05.18 1700-2000 |
Screening and Wrap Party |
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Required - First Semester: Inspired 3D Short Film Production |
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Required - Second Semester: Advanced Renderman |
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Required - Second Semester: Digital Lighting & Rendering |
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Useful - First Semester: MEL Scripting for Maya Animators |
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Useful - First Semester: Complete Maya Programming |
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Useful - Second Semester: The Renderman Companion |
Dan Garcia
- OH: M 10-11 Hearst Field Annex C-30
Brian Barsky
- OH: Soda Hall 785
Jeremy Huddleston
- OH: M 1:30-2:30, Soda Hall 535