Computer Science 39a
Introduction to Computer Animation

CS39a has been the most enjoyable class I've taken at Berkeley.
-- Westley Sarokin, 1998-04-10

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Overview

Welcome to the Home Page for the CS39a, the centralized place for information pertaining to the seminar Introduction to Computer Animation taught the Fall of 1999. We are affiliated with the Computer Science Division at the University of California, Berkeley. Without the great support from the people at EECS Instruction, much of the technology that drives this seminar wouldn't be possible.

This seminar will be a hands-on and gentle, top-level introduction to the field of computer animation. We will discuss geometric modeling, explicit motion specification, forward and inverse kinematics, spline interpolation, morphing and dynamics, and implement a subset of these topics. Guest speakers will be provided to present their research. Students will be provided with tools to create their own animations easily, with little to no programming. No prior knowledge of programming or mathematics is assumed. The seminar is limited to 16 freshmen and sophomores.

Throughout the seminar, we will be using one of the top-end 3D animation products for the Macintosh and PC, Infini-D by Specular, Inc.. There will be a final project beginning near November 1st which will team up 4 or 5 students to produce one large animation. The animations from the last time this class was taught were a great success!

Class Lecture Schedule
Lecture: Wed. 1-2pm in 606 Soda & Fri. 1-2pm in 405 Soda
Lab: 111 Cory, 24/7 a kool-aid smile.
Course Control# = 24593
Required book: "Digital Character Animation" by George Maestri, New Riders Publishing, IN, 1996
Recommended book: "Making Them Move: Mechanics, Control, and Animation of Articulated Figures" by Norman I. Badler, Brian A. Barsky, and David Zeltzer, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc. San Francisco, California, 1991.
Recommended reading: "Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques" by Rick Parent (parent@cis.ohio-state.edu)

Teaching staff

Instructor : Brian A. Barsky (barsky@cs.berkeley.edu): 785 Soda, x2-9838 (Office hours Tu/Th 5:00pm - 6:00pm)
Teaching Assistant : Lillian Chu (lchu@cs.berkeley.edu): 535 Soda, x2-9716 (Office hours We/Fr 2:00pm - 2:30pm)