Intro to 3D Animation Fall 2013

Overview  Attendance required – people who do not come to class tend to create not-very-good projects!  One assignment: a complete architectural scene  Indoor or outdoor  Complete  Elegant  Due dates  I will announce them on  Training videos  On

Reaching me   Please do not use my CU – it is overflowing   We will work on projects in class

you will need autodesk maya: students.autodesk.com (free!) a video editor a sound editor an image editor

Importing content you can import textures only You can use content from the Maya “Visor” But only for minor content

Important you need a storyline You need a modeling and story inspiration Consider storyboards

equally important No models inspired by any proprietary context whatsoever no downloaded models take on only what you can finish properly! that is why i am here...

resources 47 intro videos on the classroom and lab machines have maya premiere final cut pro

The biggest stumbling block Time for rendering your project! Please keep in mind that a full, crisp rendering is required

Crafting an animated video animated video  setting up a story

Inspiration A model A scene A message Sounds

Reference images Photographs Stuffed animals YouTube, Vimeo videos Pieces of art A audio recording

Choice of modeling technology Polygon modeling for angular models NURBS for organic modeling But there are no firm rules at all!

Building a scene Rough out the environment geometry - a cube or a sphere, or a ground and skyline Put in placeholders, for characters, furniture You may want to use the placeholders as the starting points for your models - turn a cube into a couch Use the natural boundaries of organic and non organic models when creating a hierarchy Consider painting on textures

Giving a scene a feeling Lighting, shadows, materials Fog, transparency, length and sharpness of shadows A moving camera can reveal a scene incrementally or make us dizzy Skyline (perhaps with an environment material)

Pay particular attention to.. Building a model with materials and animation in mind Outliner! A model and movement that is the focus of the viewer ’ s attention and is engaging

Textures & materials This makes or breaks a model Budget time to do this right No ugly tiling No wrap-around seams No uneven projections Consider bump maps and layered materials

UV Texture Editor Prep textures carefully Consider the UV Texture Editor Comparison Normal texture - uses the object ’ s normals Projection texture - uses texture ’ s normals UV Texture Editor tools allow for careful assignment of materials

Consider Soft and hard body dynamics Cloth Fluids and fluid containers Motion cycles and the Graph Editor The skeleton generator Basing animation on deformers and/or blend shapes

Overriding goals Create a scene you can finish completely and elegantly Try to create a scene and models that are compelling Don ’ t compromise on materials/textures, modeling details, fleshing out the surrounding scene, or rendering your scenes they way they look best

Reuse & scaling Build out of components that are then put together in hierarchies - then the job of building a complex scene will scale more easily Make the components reusable Damage, dirt, aging of models can add a lot to believability - and hide obvious reuse