Tuesday, October 9, 2012

WEEK 6: Character Acting 1: Walk Cycles using mocap data

Animation speed drill o' the day: lifting a heavy box. Here's a very nice example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHkxieQ_Z7c&feature=plcp

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Walk Cycles using mocap.
We'll get started this week with some refresher concepts about cycles and animating walks in Maya.  This time around we will be using mocap data as the basis for our walk cycles. You may record this yourself or use prerecorded data.

Your Walk cycle must be a character-specific study backed up with video reference, thumbnails etc.

I want character walks, not just any old generic tutorial walks. You shot reference, you can shoot more. This is where all your animation principles and study all come together. Make it yours and make it awesome.



For next week, please read the chapter on walks from page 102-163 in Richard Williams' "Animator's Survival Kit".

A metronome is very handy for animating walks and many other actions. There are tons of free metronomes online and free metronome apps.
Click here for a handy chart comparing metronome beats to frames per second.




Assignment 4: Walk Cycle using mocap
Assigned: 10/10/12
Due: 31/10/12
% of final grade: 20%
Use the pre-built humanoid skeleton or your own rig.
Animate a treadmill walk based on mocap data. Walks should clearly shows the personality and attitude of the character. The timing (both frames per step and timing of secondary actions such as arm swings and head drag) should support the attitude and personality. The character should have a believable weight. Steps should be symmetrical and the motion should be fluid and smooth without obvious pops or bumps. Body parts should be offset from one another a bit so every part of the action doesn't occur on the same frame.

Rubric:
Exemplary: Clear personality and attitude, strong apparent weight, fluid motion with a strong grasp of all animation principles.
Excellent: Apparent personality, weight and almost entirely fluid motion with a good grasp of nearly all animation principles.
Acceptable: Some personality and weight. Motion is mostly fluid with minor errors or missing animation principles.
Not Acceptable: Generic walk not convincingly heavy or not fluid with quite a few glitches or missing animation principles.

Please submit files to our shared DropBox folder.

Please hand in 2 files named as follows:
tdonovan_walk_000.ma
tdonovan_walk_000.mov
tdonovan_walkref_000.mov (for video reference files)

File Format: QT
Encoding: H.264
Quality: 100
Image Size: Custom
Width: 560
Height: 316 

Include any referenced files and video reference. Please watch your naming conventions. No caps, extra characters or spaces. Feel free to number the files up to 999 as you like. It will help differentiate the files should you need to resubmit.

WEEK 6: Motion Studies - Anatomy of Movement 1: the Skeleton


Please note that for this week and next week the class has been moved to Room 520 at 3:00 pm  Bring drawing materials, and a stylus.
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 Animation speed drill o' the day: handstand idle
It can be a funny handstand or a serious one. Once the pose looks nice see if you can turn it into an idle cycle.
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Human Anatomy 1 + Photoshop Basics
We'll work in the Cintiq labs (TBA) and begin part 1 of our Human Anatomy study: the skeleton.

Motion Studies Assignment 3
Anatomy of Movement:
Part 1: Skeleton
Part 2: Muscles
Assigned: October 12th
Due: November 2nd
% of Final Grade: 20%
Work large (ex 2048px) but save final version at 
1024 px x @ 72 pixels/inch

Filename:
tdonovan_skeleton_001.jpg
tdonovan_muscles_001.jpg

Please hand in by FTP
Description:
Part 1: Skeleton

Using a photo of  an action pose as a base layer, draw the underlying skeleton. Aim to make your drawing a portfolio piece that shows both your knowledge and your artistic skill. The drawing can be very detailed or you may generalize forms as shown in the study above.
This is most easily done digitally, but you can draw on tracing paper and scan it. Find your own photo or use one of these from ESPN's body issue.

Use lots of reference for the skeleton -Visible Body is very helpful but it  costs >$30.

Another great idea -- create a pose-able mini skeleton using a cheap model and sculptor's wax. Available on Amazon.com. I called around and didn't find any in town.
http://illustrationfixation.blogspot.com/2011/05/skeleton-model.html

Another option is to download a 3D model. The good ones are expensive (>$150). I searched Turbosquid for models under $25 and this is what popped up. One or two aren't terrible.
http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm?keyword=skeleton&max_price=25

More here (these actually look better)
http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d-models/people?cat=1071

Looking for good skeletal system study reference? Click here!

WEEK 6: 2D Digital Art 1 - Sidescroller Level Design

Assignment 3 - Sidescroller Level Design

CREATE A 2D SIDE SCROLLING BACKGROUND FOR A VIDEO GAME.
SELECT ONE OF THE GIVEN THEMES TO BETTER YOUR ART STYLE.
(DESN1130 CROSSOVER ASSIGNMENT)
YOUR PHOTOSHOP FILE MUST HAVE:
PROPERLY NAMED...
  • BACKGROUND FOLDER AND LAYERS (PARALLAX)
  • MID GROUND FOLDER AND LAYERS
  • FOREGROUND FOLDER AND LAYERS
THEMES:
A) MEDIEVAL B) UNDERWATER C) ARCTIC D) SPACE

DELIVERABLES
PSD SOURCE FILE WITH AN IMAGE SIZE OF 600PX(H) x 600PX(W) 72dpi (Ground)
PSD SOURCE FILE WITH AN IMAGE SIZE OF 600PX(H) x 1000PX(W) 72dpi (Mid ground)
PSD SOURCE FILE WITH AN IMAGE SIZE OF BACKGROUND 600PX(H) x 2000PX(W) 72dpi
(PARALLAX / LEVEL DETAIL)

FILENAME: donovant_level_000.psd

DUE DATE
WEEK 10 - Thursday, Nov 8, before class!
MUST HAVE SOURCE FILE AVAILABLE TO WORK ON IN CLASS!

MARK BREAKDOWN
2D SIDE SCROLLING LEVEL: 30 marks
VALUE 30%
Followed Brief - 5
Layout - 5
Repetition Parts - 5
Contrast Parts - 5
Various Obstacles/Entities - 5
Aesthetic details - 5


* Late projects are subject to a penalty of 5 MARK per day.
All projects must be submitted within 1 week of the
due date or they will NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

WEEK 6: Texturing & Shading 1 - unwrapping more complex models, creating texture libraries

Our next texturing challenge is a bit more complex -- a beat-up old fire hydrant. Together we'll work through the UV'ing of a pre-built model.

century-old hydrant at King & Jarvis
Click here to download the model.

Next week we'll wrap up the UV's in class and answer any questions that may have come up.

To help you continue your work at home, we've made you some very helpful tutorials which we'll go through over the next couple of weeks.
6 UV Layout

But let's not get stuck UV'ing for the whole class -- the next assignment is all about how texturing shows the effects of time, use, and weather. You will be going into the wild to start taking photo reference of urban decay.  Using these photos you will be creating a style guide for your upcoming texturing project.

Assignment 4: Texture Reference Library & Guide
Value: 20%
Click here for the rubric for this assignment
Assigned: 10/10/12
Due: Wednesday, Oct 31st, before class

1) Shoot and process a library of at least 10 photo textures related to your fire hydrant project. In addition you may include related reference images such as backgrounds, ground and wall treatments.
2) Create a reference guide using your photos showing how you will approach the texturing of the hydrant assignment.  (Note: you do not have to follow the guide exactly for the texturing assignment.)

Make your photos look their best by fixing levels, contrast, hue & saturation to bump up details and get rid of fake-looking colour casts. Images should be clear, in focus, and free from extraneous detail.  Textures should be ready to use with shadows or highlights removed. Shoot in flat light, dry weather, perpendicular to your subject. Avoid perspective and warping by zooming in from a few steps back. If it's potentially tileable, shoot a large enough surface area.  If it's a detail, get close enough to the subject.

Remind yourself of keys to good textures on this site:
http://www.cgtextures.com/content.php?action=tutorial&name=shootingtextures

SAVE your images at any resolution.
SEND me your images only as NON-interlaced PNGs.
Measurement of longest edge: 2048
File naming convention:
tdonovan_descriptor_001.png

ex:
photo textures:
tdonovan_peelingpaint_001.png
tdonovan_scratches_001.png
tdonovan_brickwall_001.png
tdonovan_grafitti_001.png
tdonovan_grafitti_002.png

reference images:
tdonovan_streetcorner_ref_001.png

reference guide:
tdonovan_texref_001.png